And Mary said:
“My soul exalts the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has had regard for the humble state of His bond slave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
For the mighty One has done great things for me;
And Holy is His name.
And His mercy is upon generation after generation
Towards those who fear Him’
He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things’
And sent away the rich empty handed.
He has given help to Israel His servant
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his offspring forever.”

When I saw this morning’s passage I thought, “Uh oh, I’m up against it today. How am I to relate to the mother of God?” I am not a woman. I’m not from the same race of people. I’m not under the Law of Moses. And I am two millennia removed. However, as I take some time with the passage, something alive begins to stand out in it and in my heart (as is almost always the case). This is typically my invitation to proceed.
My initial thoughts were, “Mary is rejoicing…as well she should! I guess I would too, if I had”…and I was stopped dead in my thought-track. I didn’t get to the balance of that thought, which was, “if I had God in my womb.” His Spirit reminded me that, in essence, I do. He is in my heart—an intended birthing place of new life. I have Christ in me. This passage is known in Latin as the Magnificat, meaning, “my soul magnifies.” The NASB has interpreted the original Greek to say, “My spirit rejoiced”. My soul too magnifies the Lord as I grapple with the reality that Christ is being birthed in me! In us!

We tend to read the scriptures and idolize characters such as Mary as those with greater callings than us. Without demeaning them, God disagrees totally with us. He has a much higher opinion of us than we do of ourselves. Jesus himself might edit the tapes running our hearts with the following: “Are you listening to me? Really listening? Let me tell you what’s going on here: no one in history surpasses John the Baptizer; but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him (from Matt 11:11-15).

To those who are really listening, who have given the Lord all editing rights, Jesus would further say: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force… He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

A few friends have called my writing style “stream of consciousness.” Since I don’t know the established categories of styles, I often think of my posts as “expository testimonial”—giving a verse-by-verse account of the hope that is within me. My prayer is that my writing, whatever its style, leaves clues, especially for my friends and family as to how the Holy Spirit works in the interior of our lives where his kingdom is being birthed.
When we are commanded by Jesus to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, what thoughts come to mind? I know that my evangelical wineskin response has been: to fulfill the great commission and follow through with all that entails. When I hear about the kingdom today, something entirely different comes to mind. This morning I would like to share my account of this particular aspect of my hope.

A few years ago, after a long season in which things were not at well with my soul, when I was seeking any wind of revival that might be blowing, my ship hit a dead calm. I even tried rowing for a while, but it was just more futility and striving after the wind. My only resort was to ask God to let the revival I had tried to run down simply catch up with me. I prayed (you may think I am crazy), “Lord, if you need an address and zip code, please let revival begin in my heart, I can’t go another step without you.” As I abandoned the pursuit of corporate revival, God did facilitate a personal revival in my heart. The story involves many chapters, but I wanted to share one specific one, which I associate with the kingdom of God and the idea of taking it by violence.

As I was being lifted by God’s kindness out of my slough of despond, I felt new life and energy stirring in me. Since my tank had been empty, and I had been asking to be filled, I was convinced something good was about to happen. George Eldon Ladd says in his book, The Gospel of the Kingdom, “The kingdom of God is an inward power which enters into the human soul and lays hold of it. It consists of a few basic religious truths of universal application.” This makes me think of Paul’s comment:

I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus…let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. Philippians 3:12-16 (NASB)

I felt as though something had laid hold of me. Whether this was the violence of Matthew 11:12, I cannot say for certain. I only know that something potent was being birthed within me—a powerful resolve to possess my birthright-identity and destiny, for which Christ had paid handsomely. To best describe the contraction I was experiencing, I will refer you to a few of George C. Scott’s lines from the movie Patton:

I’ve always felt that I was destined for some great achievement, what I don’t know… The last great opportunity of a lifetime—an entire world at war, and I’m left out of it? God will not permit this to happen! I will be allowed to fulfill my destiny! His will be done.

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite time in the future.

All I can say is that out of my restored identity there was some kind of uprising within, saying, “I have a great destiny—a kingdom-destiny.” There was more, though: this resolve wasn’t just a me-thing; it was an us-thing, “We (the community of God) have a great destiny—a kingdom-destiny.”

I am comfortable with such an apparently egotistical and presumptuous thought solely because Christ lives in me. I am assuming that since Christ lives in us, the emergence and expression of his vibrant life through us will be the prime catalyst for expansion of God’s kingdom. I have come to believe that God is saying that the Church has a corporate appointment with kingdom destiny:

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14 (NASB)

In the past 5 years, I have been converted from a worship leader and teaching elder in a local church (whose heart was nearly comatose) to an untitled person who’s influence has expanded by acknowledging what Ladd called “a few basic religious truths of universal application.” Paul may have called them standards. I simply call them “kingdom values.” Here are seven that come to mind:

1. God is building a kingdom culture that will never end. Construction began with Jesus Christ. He was the corner stone.

2. We are the living stone, which, in their ever-increasing resemblance to their elder brother (Jesus), are the material from which this kingdom is being constructed. It will eventually glow as a city set upon a hill for all the world to see.

3. The beachhead for the kingdom of God on earth is the human heart where Christ dwells and aspires to rule.

4. Before significant kingdom construction can begin right-of-way must be procured. Kingdom citizens and builders are those who have ceded title over of all that they are to Christ—the Chief Engineer.

5. Before significant construction can begin demolition of old thought structures must be located and torn down.

6. Each of God’s children are strategically located and gifted to fulfill essential kingdom tasks.

7. The role of spiritual fathers is to cast this vision and help sons identify their individual gifts and kingdom assignments.
In closing—a declaration from the Psalms and a prayer:

How blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion (God’s kingdom)!
Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength,
Every one of them appears before God in Zion (His kingdom).
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Psalm 84:5-8 (parentheticals mine mine)

Father, We magnify and honor your name above every name. May our hearts yearn for Zion—where your rule of love and law of liberty prevail, where your enemies are vanquished and your friends and children radiate the Life of Christ within them. May our hearts be the ongoing birthing centers of your Life here on earth. Yes, Lord, we magnify you’re name. Amen.

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