August 11/15 - Mary, Mother of Our Lord

Mary's Song
Luke 1:39-55
Mary, Mother of Our Lord – August 15, 2010

Fan of music
earliest memories are of singing
as a baby
Sesame Street records that told a story, that invited us in – to sing along, to dance, to laugh, to imagine we were there with them, that we were a part of whatever was going on

So it makes some sense that I would like musicals.
The Sound of Music, West Side Story, Singing in the Rain – where the story is told through song & dance
know some spoken quotes, but can sing whole songs

But not everyone likes musicals – they require a certain willing suspension of disbelief.
Really, who responds to a situation by bursting out with song out of nowhere? And dancing too!
Everything flows naturally – song, dance, countermelody, everyone knows what to do; People don't do that in real life.

But that's kinda what happens here in the gospel -
Mary meets angel Gabriel, who tells her she's gonna have the Son of God, the one who will be the savior of his people.
And Mary, young, teenage, unwed Mary, says, “Okay! Sounds good to me!”
& off she goes to visit relative Elizabeth
and Mary, well she does what anyone of us would do -
she starts to sing!
Luke says, “and Mary said...”, so maybe she herself did not actually start to sing
says this amazing poem that has since been set to music countless numbers of times; it's been used in evening prayer for centuries
have it memorized from the Holden Evening Prayer version -

“My soul proclaims your greatness, oh God,
and my spirit rejoices in you.
You have looked with love on your servant here & blessed me all my life through...”

And like much good music in my life, it has sunk down in me.
It reverberates long after I stop singing it
It echoes; It wells up; It sings itself within my heart and my mind
Like those Sesame street records of old, like the musicals I have come to know & love, it has taken up residence within me; it invites me in – to sing, to pray, to enter into Mary's story & hear it, to sing it as my own

It does it the way all good music does
without my even really noticing it
I know the words, but I don't give them much thought

Except once in a while
like when they show up in the lectionary
and I read them instead of singing along
and I realize again that these words of Mary are not just a song of praise
they are a song of sedition
they are words that could get a young, teenaged, unwed mother-to-be killed
Because this is not just a song between a young woman & her God
It is not just a song about their personal relationship
This is not just a song that gives thanks to God for doing great things for Mary,
for looking on his lowly servant with favor & blessing her
Mary goes on to sing this song of a God who turns the world upside-down
God shows strength with his arm
God scatters the proud
God has brought down the powerful & lifted up the lowly
God has filled the hungry, but has sent the rich away – empty.
This is not a sentimental little song you'd find printed on the inside of a Hallmark card
This is a protest song!
This is a song against the powers that be!

Sing these words in the midst of an oppressive regime,
and you're likely to find yourself accused of treason or rebellion or worse!

And read the words to this ancient Christian anthem
even in a democratic nation proud of its unalienable right to free speech
and you might start to get a little uncomfortable.
Not because you are worried that you'll be hauled off to jail
or accused of stirring up rebellion,
but because you start to wonder whose side God is really on
because you get to thinking about who the proud are in this world
who the powerful are
who the rich are
And it might dawn on you
citizen of the most powerful country of the world
resident in the richest nation on the planet
as it stands here near the beginning of the 21st century
after the birth of this savior we have so longed for,
and you start to realize that the people Mary is singing about God overturning
are people like
us.
This colossal role reversal that she celebrates –
that the church has celebrated down through the centuries –
that Christians have celebrated in the millennia since Luke 1st wrote this gospel down –

This is a role reversal that will upend not just those people we choose
It's a role reversal that will upend us too.
It'll pull the rug out from under our feet.
It'll take away our certainty about all of those things we have used to make us feel confident
to make us feel secure
to make us feel safe.
This song,
springing forth from the mouth of a young, teenaged, unwed mother-to-be,
sings of the end to life as we know it.

But it sings of a new beginning
The beginning
Of life as God has intended it to be since the beginning of time
Where the valleys are filled and the mountains are made low
Where the crooked are made straight and the rough ways smooth
A new beginning
Where the hungry are fed
And the lowly are lifted up
Where the imbalances and injustices of our world are made right

And it starts here & now
as God chooses the young, the insignificant, the vulnerable
to bear the only Son of God,
to bring forth the Savior of the world,
and she breaks forth in song
Reminding herself, reminding us of what God has done
and is doing
and has promised to do
in a world that needs to be –
not turned upside down –
but finally, amazingly
turned right-side up
through the grace and love of God
entering the world
in lowliness
in poverty
but in great,
unending love.

May this be the song of our hearts
It is calling for us to enter the story
and make it our own.
Amen.