There is something seriously unfair about having Advent 4 and Christmas Eve on the same day. Beginning with the crunch it places on those of us preaching and leading services, not to mention the laity who help us to create a worshipful and prayerful atmosphere. And, again, I spent this week dealing with a head cold. The only upside of it is that I didn't drive to Valdosta on Wednesday, but instead stayed home and locked myself in our home office for two days to get my sermons finished for Sunday. Hallelujah!
Hopefully, these words reflecting on Mary's Song the Magnificat will linger in people's heads for the few hours before we celebrate Christmas Eve. Of course, they can always come here to read them if they need a refresher. :-)
See what you think.
Text: Canticle 15 in the Book of Common Prayer
+++
“My
soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
It
was March 1965.
The
campus of Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was
gathered for their Evening Prayer service.
There
was a young man at the service…one of the second-year students…singing these
words that we know as the Magnificat.
He
was getting swept up in their meaning.
“He
has shown the strength of his arm. He has scattered the proud in their
conceit.”
As
those words and the music of Mary’s song filled his head and his heart…this
young man’s thoughts turned to the announcement he had heard on campus that
week.
Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. would be leading a march in Selma, Alabama, and would
appreciate having seminarians join with him in standing up for the black
population.
As
this young man sang words about “lifting up the lowly” he knew what was
happening:
God
was speaking to him….through Mary’s song…and was calling him to respond to Dr.
King’s request to go to Alabama.
That
young man’s name was Jonathan Myrick Daniels.
Not
only did Jon Daniels go to participate in the March; he stayed in Alabama to
help with voter registration, tutoring black children, and challenging the
segregation of Alabama’s Episcopal Churches.
The
march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge challenged him to think about his
privilege.
It
would have been so easy for him to go to Alabama…take part in the action…and
then retreat back a comfortable distance to Massachusetts.
But
Daniels felt he needed to stay.
This
ended up being a fatal decision.
Later
that year…he was shot to death in Hayneville, Alabama, while protecting a black
teenage girl from a white man at a package store.
Daniels
is one of the many remembered as a martyr of the civil rights movement in
Alabama.
Jonathan
Daniels is one of my personal Episcopal heroes.
I
love him both as a fellow native of New Hampshire… and even more so for how he
lived out his faith…even when it cost him his life.
It's
not surprising to me that the words of Mary’s song moved him so deeply.
It
is a stirring poetic tribute to the power of God and the way God empowers us to
accomplish things beyond our imagination.
The
Magnificat is a remix of another power packed song of praise…one which young Mary
no doubt knew from her Jewish ancestry.
If
we remember our Old Testament stories… Hannah sang God’s praises when she
birthed her son Samuel…the last of Israel’s judges.
Hannah
also sang of a God who “raises up the poor from the dust….to make them sit with
princes.”
This
song is one for any of us who have felt ourselves looked upon with the
harshness of judgment…or have felt our knees knocking as we stand before those
with more power.
It’s
a song to have in our hearts whenever we face any kind of struggle or
potentially difficult situation.
Think
about Mary’s situation.
A
young… teenager…betrothed to a carpenter named Joseph… has just been told that
she’s going to become pregnant…and her child will be holy and called ‘Son of
God.’
Luke
tells us that she was “much perplexed” by this angel and his message.
(Gee:
I can’t imagine why?)
I
think perplexed might be a bit of an understatement given the circumstances.
Amazingly…she
doesn’t tell Gabriel to get outta dodge with this crazy idea.
Instead…after
hearing him out…Mary steps up. She accepts this role.
And
then she immediately heads off to see her cousin Elizabeth…maybe to seek the
wisdom and comfort of a much older woman.
Perhaps
she wanted to find a person who might hear this story and give her some kind of
rational explanation for what was happening.
And
why wouldn’t a young woman seek the counsel of an older woman?
When
Elizabeth sees her…not only does she get excited but her own child in her
womb…that rascally John the Baptizer…starts leaping for joy.
Before
Mary can even say anything…Elizabeth is like…” Woot! Here comes the mother about
to bear the brother to deliver the light of love that comes from above! Woot!”
It’s
this affirmation…this praise and recognition from a trusted member of the older
generation that launches Mary into her song.
“My
soul magnifies the Lord”
Her
soul…her innermost being…is expanding with this hope…this peace…this joy…this
love!
This
task…becoming the God-bearer…is no small work.
She’s
accepted a role of helping to birth a new future for her people.
Her
act will help to lead them out of from the tyranny of despair.
She
has a purpose…and is praising God for choosing her to rise to this occasion.
Love
is on the move…and she is a key part of the movement.
And
by the way… so are we!
While
we may not be God-bearers in the same way that Mary was…we are still the ones
today who bring forth that life…that light… that love of Christ into every
place we go and interact with others.
How
well we listen to others…and how we respond….makes all the difference in how a
person who doesn’t know Christ discovers the God they might’ve heard about but
have never experienced.
They
might find in us the spirit of Christ meeting them without prejudice or malice
or indifference…but instead seeing them as a fellow traveler…seeking a
connection to something that gives them a sense of purpose and meaning.
Through
us…they might see a soul that is magnifying the light of Love represented in
that last candle on the Advent wreath. The candle of Love.
May
each of us shine so brightly as we enter into this Christmas season that those
whom we meet will feel that presence of God’s love for them…and be glad in it.
In
the name of God…F/S/HS.
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