Songs of the Season: Mary

Luke 1:46-56  (NRSV)

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

    and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

    from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

    and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

    and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

    in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

We all know the story --- Mary is engaged to be married to Joseph and she is "great with child" and they traveled by foot and maybe on the back of a donkey the 90 miles from their home in Nazareth to the city of David --- Bethlehem --- a trip that would have taken 5 to 10 days --- probably closer to the 10 when you consider just how pregnant Mary was.

And while they are there --- the time came for her to give birth --- and they are forced out into a stable or cave because there was no room --- and she delivered a baby boy, whom they named Jesus and placed in a manger --- a feeding trough.

But that is not the context for our story this morning.

For our story we must go back at least six months, and maybe even a few more.

Mary has been visited by the Angel Gabriel and told that she will become pregnant --- which is a shock to her -- since she is a chaste virgin.

And instead of arguing with the angel --- she says: “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.”

And she heads off to a city in the Judean highlands --- which tradition says is Ein Kerem, a small town east of Jerusalem and north of Bethlehem.

She is going to visit her elderly relative Elizabeth who is also miraculously pregnant and we studied Zachariah's song two weeks ago

When Mary greets Elizabeth, we are told that the child (John the Baptist) in her womb leaped for joy --- and Elizabeth cried out: “God has blessed you above all women, and he has blessed the child you carry."

Mary responds in our song this morning.

What is interesting is most "modern" music that has been composed based on the Magnificat skip major portions of Mary's song.

According to Spotify, the most popular English-language version of the Magnificat is by ZOEgroup --- and it leaves out the parts about the rulers being brought down and the rich being sent away.

In 2009 the Irish rock band U2 covered Mary's song in their song Magnificent

But they too leave out the parts about the rulers being brought down and the rich being sent away

Parts of the Magificat are very challenging to our privileged ears --- when we are willing to accept the reality that we are privileged.

         Often we don’t want to believe that we are privileged --- but we are

To be in the top 1% of income in the world one only needs to make $32,000 per year

         and by that definition alone --- I think we are all privileged

Throughout history --- many people --- particularly those who have been oppressed and marginalized have found great hope in Mary's song

For them it is a song reminding them that God can bring liberation to their lives.

It has been reported that at least three governments have attempted to thwart the use of the Magnificat in their countries.  Guatemala in the 1980's, India and Argentina.

Before being executed by the Nazis, Dietrich Bonheoffer spoke these words in a sermon during Advent 1933:

“The song of Mary is . . . at once the most passionate, the wildest, one might even say the most revolutionary Advent hymn ever sung. This is not the gentle, tender, dreamy Mary whom we sometimes see in paintings.…This song has none of the sweet, nostalgic, or even playful tones of some of our Christmas carols. It is instead a hard, strong, inexorable song about the power of God and the powerlessness of humankind.”

Kathleen Norris wrote:

The Magnificat reminds us that what we most value, all that gives us status—power, pride, strength and wealth—can be a barrier to receiving what God has in store for us. If we have it all, or think we can buy it all, there will be no Christmas for us. If we are full of ourselves, there will be no room for God to enter our hearts at Christmas.

Mary’s prayer of praise, like many of the psalms, calls us to consider our true condition . . . And if we hope to rise in God’s new creation, where love and justice will reign triumphant, our responsibility, here and now, is to reject the temptation to employ power and force and oppression against those weaker than ourselves.

Mary sings a song of trust --- trusting that God can make the world the place that all of God's children can grow and find peace in.

D. L. Mayfield in an article in the Washington Post last year wrote:

This year, I will be reading the Magnificat as it was meant to be read. . . .

It might not feel like good news to me, as someone who is neither hungry nor poor. But Mary and her song are good news for my neighbors, both locally and globally, who continue to be crushed under a world that thrives on exploitation and injustice. And as someone who is trying to take the Bible seriously, I know that loving my neighbor is the No. 1 way I can love God in our world.

. . . (Mary) has helped me understand the true magnificence of how much God cares about our political, economic and social realities.

May we all have ears to hear Mary's song in a new way:

Luke 1:46-56    (CEB)

Mary said,

“With all my heart I glorify the Lord!

    In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.

He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.

    Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored

        because the mighty one has done great things for me.

Holy is his name.

    He shows mercy to everyone,

        from one generation to the next,

        who honors him as God.

He has shown strength with his arm.

    He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.

    He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones

        and lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things

    and sent the rich away empty-handed.

He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,

        remembering his mercy,

    just as he promised to our ancestors,

        to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.”