Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Here's a twist for you. In Luke 1:46, Mary exclaims: "My soul magnifies the Lord!" Does she mean that her soul makes God great? Wasn't God already great? The greatest, in fact? How can God be made greater than God already is? But she says it and the ensuing verses are even called the Magnificat.

At Christmas we sing the 1700 year old hymn, Angels We Have Heard On High. It's a great hymn and sounds even better on bagpipes than horns. I once hired a French bagpiper to play it and it was magnificent. So magnificent that he had to stand outside. The refrain we all know is: "Gloria in excelsis Deo." Glory to God in the highest! We increase our praise. Turn the volume up. Adjust the dimmer switch to make the lights brighter. Keep making our praise larger and larger, sharper and sharper. Sometimes we have to do that because human vainglory makes it so hard to see God's real glory.

This Sunday we'll celebrate Christmas Eve in the sanctuary at 10:50 a.m. with a service of lessons and carols. We'll even magnify the Lord. That means we'll look at Him through the magnifying glass of our praise. It doesn't make God bigger or greater, but it certainly improves our eyesight as we anticipate the Christ child in the manger.

Now to find a bagpiper ...