Isaiah 11: 17, 9

Luke 1: 39-56

Brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! I have been invited with words to the effect of "Pastor, we know that the Children's Pageant is this morning, won't you take a few moments to open the Gospel a little bit and preach just for a while?" And so I graciously say, "Yes, thank you very much for the invitation." This is a homily, not a sermon. It is going to be brief.

This morning in the scripture we read of a young girl named Mary who had a visit from the angel. The angel told her that she would give birth to the Son of God. After the mysterious encounter with the angel Gabriel, Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth. And when her cousin Elizabeth saw her, she said, "Oh, Mary, when I saw you and heard your voice, the baby within me jumped for joy!" And Mary burst into song.

Have you ever known a little child who would spontaneously burst into song when something was going to happen? "Honey, we're going to the movies." All of a sudden a song comes out: "We're going to the movies, the movies, the movies. We're going to the movies, fa la la la la." Isn't that great? Nothing can put a damper on that joy. You can say, "It may rain." The child answers, "It may not." You say, "It may snow." The child says, "Snow is good."

I invite you to have that kind of joy in your hearts this week, dear friends. Won't you put the kind of joy in your heart that Mary had in hers? I know you may be saying, "Oh, Pastor, I have worries." I know. I care. I've got worries, too. So did Mary. She has that long ride to Bethlehem in front of her. She's got a lot of explaining to do. But still, she goes to Elizabeth 's house and she sings a song. Her song is "My soul doth magnify the Lord! My soul doth magnify the Lord!" That's her song.

What does it mean to magnify the Lord? To make something bigger and clear. I wonder if you have the experience that I do lately, of confronting the conspiracy of shrinking print. It's a conspiracy – that print is getting smaller, I tell you! The ingredient list on the aspirin bottle – please! Ingredients on a box of something from the supermarket? You get the idea. I put my glasses on and it becomes clear.

Friends, I have two invitations for you this week. In the midst of all your worry and your shopping and all you have to do, won't you sing a song of joy to the Lord? Because you have worries, but you also have a pocketful of miracles and things to thank God for and things to sing about.

And secondly, does your soul magnify the Lord? When people look at you, does the image of God get bigger and clearer? When people look at you, can they see, through your eyes and your sparkle and your love and your actions, the face of God? May it be so. May there be a song in your heart and may your soul be the magnifier of God, because you may be the only Bible that some people ever read. God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.