It’s no secret that Mary isn’t given a lot of credit in the Lutheran church compared to other church bodies. We don’t hold her up on a high pedestal. We don’t venerate her as the epitome of womanhood or motherhood.

Guess what? She didn’t think much of herself either.

Look at her words. She calls herself a servant in a humble state. That’s a nice way of saying she was probably poor or lower class. Later in the book of Luke, we learn that she and Joseph could only afford an inexpensive offering to sacrifice when they presented Jesus at the temple.

Mary knows she is not some noble lady from an upper echelon of society. Going back to her earlier question of “How will this be?” she might even be asking, “Why me? Are you sure? Don’t you mean some other woman?”

I wonder if Mary would question all the honor and prayers she receives even today, generations after her death. Her words sure indicate that very thing because she knows it’s not about her. It’s all about God.

“My soul glorifies the Lord.”

“My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

“From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.”

It’s all about God. It’s not about Mary, and she knew that. She might have been scared and nervous and questioning the rightness of what was happening, but she knew that it was all because of God. She would only be remembered for generations because God picked her to be a part of the fulfillment of the promise he made to Adam and Eve, the promise that still impacts us today: a Savior.

Can we say that? Can we say, “It’s not about me; it’s about how God can use me to share this good news of promises fulfilled?” This is no time to pat ourselves on the back for being a good person. It is all for his glory.

So should we give Mary more credit as Jesus’ mother? I would say yes, we should. Mary’s own words direct us to glorify and rejoice in God. But Mary also certainly had the most unique motherhood out of anyone in the past, present, or future. And she did it all without taking credit.

She pretty much had the right to gloat about her perfect child, but I’m guessing she didn’t. She tried her best in unusual circumstances without the benefit of wealth or status. She was just humble, normal Mary with an extraordinary son. Can you imagine how she could have boasted that her son saved the world, but at what cost? A “weight of the whole world” cost she couldn’t imagine. She endured the pain of watching her son, her baby, dying a horrific death on a cross, but also found joy in her resurrected Savior.

Call her blessed. Give her credit—not for her greatness, but for her testament of faith bringing the focus back where it belongs: to God who did and does all these things. Holy is his name.