I BELIEVE it would prove helpful if we all spent a little time over the Christmas period thinking about the famous song that the virgin Mary sang following her visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Popularly known as ‘The Magnificat’ it must surely be one of the most powerful passages in the New Testament.

Sadly, we can miss the revolutionary implications, with its talk of rulers being overthrown, the poor being fed and the rich being sent empty away when it’s sung by a cathedral choir. But that’s not always been the case. As a friend pointed out recently Guatemala’s government discovered Mary’s words about God’s preferential love for the poor to be too dangerous and revolutionary during the 1980’s. About the same time the military junta in Argentina outlawed any public display of it when the mothers of children who had disappeared during the ‘Dirty War’ tried to display words throughout the Plaza de Mayo.

Given this It’s easy to see why one commentator has suggested that Mary could be seen as a radical advocate for social justice. Jesus certainly displayed great concern for the poor and the marginalised which is why Christians have also shown such an interest in the issues of justice, poverty and peace over the years. The Jesus revolution needs to continue too given the inequality and injustice that still scar our world. God’s people must not avert their eyes and treat politics as something ‘dirty’ but do everything they can to make the world a better place.

They must be actively involved in society then, but they need to exercise great wisdom as they fulfil their God- given calling to make sure their politics do not compromise their witness and shape their presentation of the Christian message. One church leader highlighted the danger recently when he said Christians will obviously want to ‘put Christ at the heart of Christmas’ but that means something very different to the aggressive ‘Christian nationalism’ that seems to be emerging in the UK.

Having said this though I don’t think I can finish without saying a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the colleague who introduced me to the story of Muretus, a poor scholar who wandered from place to place during the Middle Ages. As I understand it he fell ill and was taken to a hospital for the poor, and while he was there one of the doctors suggested that they might use ‘this worthless wanderer’ for medical experiments. They were talking in Latin, little realising that he was able to understand every word they were saying!

Mureus proceeded to tell them that they should call no man worthless for whom Christ died. I think I’d like to give this story a Christmas twist and remind us that no one is worthless because Jesus left heaven, was born as a helpless babe, and even became a refugee for one simple reason: He thinks every one of us is very precious.