And Mary sang: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name.”
When I was growing up there was a china closet in the dining room. In the china closet was a punch bowl that had been handed down in the family. Actually, the punch bowl still has a special place on the closet’s shelf. It is made of beautiful cut glass and reflects colors in the light. Our family has only used it on special occasions. The rest of the time it sits apart safely on the shelf where I admire it every time I go visit my parents.
What does it mean for Mary to say God’s name is holy? One definition for “holy” is set apart. Is God and God’s name like the punch bowl sitting on the shelf, set apart and brought out only for special occasions? Well, some folks may view God that way, but I don’t think that is what Mary is talking about. In fact, I think the opposite is true.
Martin Luther reminds us in the shorter catechism that to make God’s name holy, one is offering in prayer that God may become holy in us. This does NOT mean we are going to become perfect little holier-than-thou creatures. We will always be flawed on this earth. And it does NOT mean that we withdraw from the everyday and sit on a shelf apart, so to speak. Rather, to make God’s name holy means that we give God priority in our lives by what we say and by what we do. We give God room in our ordinary lives to live and love and work and share through us.
Where would a punch bowl be if it were holy? What if we brought the punch bowl out of the china closet and gave it a space of prominence on the table? What if it held our ordinary milk for breakfast cereal and later in the day our root beer for a pizza supper? Maybe even our popcorn when it was time to watch a movie. Then it becomes a treasure that participates in our ordinary meals and ordinary lives.
In advent we think of pregnant Mary having the treasure of the Word of God, the messiah Jesus, physically growing inside her. Meanwhile, we too let God’s name be holy when God’s treasured Word is growing in us…all the time, all the very ordinary time.
And holy is God’s name!
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