Magnify
Magnify: Borrowing Mary’s “Wow” This Advent
Hello friends, and happy Advent.
Welcome to week three of our journey toward Christmas. This week, we turn to the familiar and beautiful story of Mary, visited by the angel Gabriel and told that she will bear a child—the Savior of the world.
Mary’s response is simple, courageous, and costly. She says:
“May it be with me according to your will.”
That response becomes what we call the Magnificat, named for the first word of Mary’s song in Latin: Magnify.
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
Mary doesn’t speak these words off the cuff. Her song has been woven into her soul—shaped by the Psalms she memorized and by Hannah’s prayer. Scripture has formed her, and now it flows out of her.
What It Means to Magnify
When Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord,” she’s not saying she’s making God bigger.
Magnification doesn’t change the object.
It changes our ability to see the object.
Mary is saying: my soul is the lens through which I see God—and through which others may see God through me.
Think of a pair of reading glasses. The words on the page don’t change, but suddenly the blurry becomes clear. Or think of a telescope: stars that look like tiny pinpoints are revealed as massive, blazing balls of fire. The telescope brings what is far near.
That’s what our souls do with God.
God is vast and beyond comprehension, but our souls magnify God enough for us to catch a glimpse of His greatness.
Seeing the Invisible
Or consider a microscope. Scoop up a glass of lake water and it looks clear and empty. But under magnification, an entire world appears—alive, moving, unseen before.
God is like that.
God is always at work, often invisibly.
Our souls make visible what is invisible.
Or think of a magnifying glass held up to the sun. Light is gathered, focused, and suddenly there’s enough intensity to spark a flame.
Mary likely felt that kind of holy intensity—God’s light igniting courage and love within her.
When Mary said,
“Here I am. Let it be with me according to your word,”
she became God’s magnifying lens for the world.
Learning to Say “Wow”
In the Magnificat, Mary teaches us how to say “Wow.”
Wow—God is mighty and has noticed humble little me.
Wow—God is taking action again in the world.
Wow—God has seen me.
And wherever you find yourself this Advent, maybe wow comes easily. Joy might be bubbling up naturally.
Or maybe wow feels hard to access because discouragement, anxiety, or fear are front and center.
Mary reminds us that sometimes we borrow someone else’s wow.
Maybe today you borrow Mary’s wow.
Or the shepherds’ wow—surprised by angels in the middle of the night.
Or Elizabeth’s wow.
Or Zechariah’s wow.
Cleaning the Lens of Our Soul
Sometimes saying wow requires cleaning the lens of our soul.
Life can feel like dropping your glasses in the slushy, gray, salty mess of a grocery store parking lot. Until the lenses are cleaned, everything is blurry.
Our souls need that kind of cleaning, too.
And there are practices that help:
Scripture clears our vision
These Advent stories remind us who God is
Singing Christmas carols—the familiar words, the physical act of singing—can lift the fog
Worship turns our attention back toward God
Generosity loosens our grip on things
Serving lifts our eyes off ourselves
I remember someone once saying after serving at the Denver Rescue Mission,
“Wow, I really needed that.”
Serving others has a way of reorienting us. It cleans the lens so we can see again.
Advent Begins with Magnify and Ends with Wow
When our souls are clear, they magnify the Lord.
Advent begins with magnify
and it ends with wow.
So this Advent, may your soul—like Mary’s—catch fire with God’s love.
As God’s light shines in, may it be magnified through you.
Advent blessings, my friends.
We’ll see you next time.
