My soul magnifies the Lord,” Mary rejoices after being blessed by her cousin Elizabeth, who received the Holy Spirit as the two women met each other in the house of Zechariah. All of Israel had been waiting for so long for the Messiah to come and set this people free from their captivity, a promise he made to their forefathers, and now the moment was here! Elizabeth’s baby leapt in her womb for the joy of it all. Mary was about to give birth to that long-awaited Messiah, Jesus.
J.R.R. Tolkien coined the word “eucatastrophe” to describe a sudden and favorable resolution of events in a story, which ensures that the protagonist does not meet some terrible, impending, and very plausible and probable doom. Among the eucatastrophes in God’s saving history of Israel and all the nations, one stands above all others. Jesus was made incarnate “for us and for our salvation,” we recite in the creed each week. As Christians, those who follow Christ, we have the opportunity to magnify the Lord in our waiting, because we wait with hope. This does not mean, however, that we will not have sorrow or hardship as we wait. We know that God is steadfast and unchanging in his love for us, and still we cry “How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?” (Ps. 89:46). To magnify the Lord in our waiting simply means placing our trust in a God who is greater, a God who proves himself to ultimately be bigger than all of our worldly problems, a God that will not, indeed, hide forever. Truly, he is coming soon!
What have you been waiting for? Some of you have been waiting on an unrealized promise and you wonder if you will ever see its fulfillment in this life. Some of you are expecting the birth of your own child, any day now. Some of you anticipate news that could change the direction of your life entirely. We do not wait knowing God’s promises are empty, but rather our hearts are full because we await the eucatastrophe that is second coming of Christ, when “He will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore.” (Rev. 21:4)
These playlists are put together to help you in your waiting during this season— not simply to pass the time, but to point to the deeper meaning of our waiting. You will find some settings of the Song of Mary (which many of us refer to by its Latin name, the Magnificat), which gives meaning to our discomfort and humility, and some songs that invite us into the comfort that awaits us in the refuge of Christ. We at Restoration hope you have a blessed Advent.
