The Blessing of Humility
Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.”
Luke 1:46-49
These words of Mary are very similar to the Old Testament prayer of Hannah when she learnt that she was pregnant. It is hardly surprising that Mary used these words. She was a young Jewish girl and in the four-day journey from Nazareth down south to her cousin Elizabeth, she would have had lots of time to reflect. It would have been only natural for her to recall the famous prayer of Hannah. That often happens with scripture. When we face a challenge or a new opportunity, suddenly words from the Bible will come to mind and, ancient as they are, they often express just what we are feeling.
There are two things about these verses that strike me. First of all, that Mary was humble. She knew that she was a lowly servant girl. She had only recently learnt that she had an incredibly important job to perform in the purposes of God, but that hadn’t gone to her head. She was still Mary, probably a teenager, and still open to doing whatever God wanted her to do. In his ministry, Jesus saw humility as the most crucial qualification for his followers; indeed, he assured them that unless they became like children they would never be able to enter the kingdom of God.
Secondly, Mary recognised the greatness of God and the amazing things that he had been doing in her life. A proud person wouldn’t have been able to see that. But in her humility, she had a clear view of the mighty God that she was serving and, as her song continued, she illustrated the revolutionary things that God wanted to do in the world.
Mary offers us a powerful example to follow. Like Mary, God calls us to be humble and also to open our lives to his revolutionary power.
QUESTION
What do you learn from Mary’s words?
PRAYER
Lord God, teach me the blessing of humility so that I too may see your greatness and power. Amen