The Church and the World, Part 4

Ken ends this article by quoting parts of the Magnificat. The entire scripture follows:

And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers." (NIV)

The Magnificat is a beautiful song of praise to the Lord. Mary starts by praising the Lord for what He has done for her. She then goes on to praise him for his great mercy and for the great things he has done. The operative phrase is "the great things He has done." It is unfortunate that Ken used the words "personal revolution,"" political revolution,"" social revolution" and "economic revolution." The ideas expressed in the Magnificat are revolutionary, but they don't espouse starting revolution. God does things that are revolutionary when compared with the way human powers and authorities do things. Certainly God does these revolutionary things in the areas of our personal lives, politics, social structure and economics.


God does these things because these are God's values. He loves people. He is a just God. Christians should certainly have these same values. Therefore the Magnificat says something about how we attempt to live our lives. Jesus Christ came showing us how to live that kind of life. Jesus ministered by touching lives, mostly individually. He healed, he comforted, he taught. Yes, he also confronted when confrontation was needed. Should a Christian be involved in politics -- or even a revolution. Perhaps, but this is not the teaching of the Magnificat. Certainly it isn't a charter that we should have a certain kind of political/economic system. It is about God's action in the midst of human systems.