4th Sunday in Advent
Common Lectionary Readings: Micah 5:2-5a, Luke 1:46b-55, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45
As I’m looking at talking about the Mary’s Magnificat – here is the version that is found in the United Methodist Hymnal. This text takes the place of the Psalter today, and so is presented here in a call and response formate (one side/person can read the normal, (an)other read the italic).
CANTILE OF MARY (MAGNIFICAT)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, who has looked with favor on me, a lowly servant.
From this day all generations shall call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is the name of the Lord, whose mercy is on those who fear God from generation to generation.
The arm of the Lord is strong, and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
God has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich empty away.
God has come to the aid of Israel, the chosen servant, remembering the promise of mercy, the promise made to our forebears, to Abraham and his children for ever.
I wonder how often I, myself, have overlooked the latter part of the magnificat in the excitement of the first section. But, when slowing down and reading, or even speaking, the second section I realize just how politically charged, prophetically challenging to the powers that be Mary is. Mary stands in the long line of prophets that her Jewish culture has produced through all the years. In the midst of our consumer culture (especially during this season of celebrating Christ’s birth) Mary is calling for no less than a total reversal of the way we have structured our society. Our society, too, is built upon power and violence and greed.
Mary calls us to be prophets of the kingdom. To envision a new way of living that is based on justice, mercy and peace. Mary stands alongside John the Baptist.
Does this call mean that we should be standing up and protesting? Perhaps. But there are other ways to protest. How we live our very lives can send messages of how we envision the world to truly be organized. Look at the difference normal, everyday people have made to the grocery industry by demanding organic food. Or what about the difference that is made when everyday people insist on buying local products, or fair-trade items? While the UN Summit in Copenhagen is important, I am reminded that the power really is still with the decisions every day people make. How far am I willing to drive? How often will I use public transportation? What will I support with my purchases and from where will these products come from and what conditions of production are acceptable to me?
Scott and Helen Nearing come to mind as a couple who decided that there was an alternative way to live their lives, and then spent 30 + years living out their “experiment.” (See Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life.)
I conclude with a story that Wendell Barry relates in which a nuclear power plant was proposed to be put across the river from where many of the community was farming. There was a large protest action organized, carried out, and in the end “successful” as the power plant was “cancelled.” But Barry looked across the river to one of the farmsteads and is disappointed that the couple has not participated in the protest marches and picketing. As dusk comes, Barry realized that this couple still lights with kerosene, and protests the electrical needs at a more basic and daily level than he was.
Mary’s Magnificat is a powerful reminder that Christ’s birth changes the world. This birth changes the world, and invites changes in you and me. Changes that take courage. For seeking to live out justly and peacefully is a courageous activity. But a blessed one, too.
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