“Mary’s Revolutionary Song”
Luke 1:46-55 … December 11, 2011
Rev. Phillip R. Fenton
The congregation sings “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness, O God”, from Holden Evening Prayer, by Marty Haugen.
I know there are others here like me who are children of the 60’s and will recognize this song by a trio named Peter, Paul and Mary:
If I had a hammer,
I'd hammer in the morning,
I'd hammer in the evening,
All over this land,
I'd hammer out danger,
I'd hammer out a warning,
I'd hammer out love between,
My brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
Familiar also will be this offering by a group named The Youngbloods:
C'mon people now
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try to love one another right now.
And there was this from Reggae’s most iconic figure, Bob Marley:
Until the philosophy which holds one race
Superior and another inferior
Is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned
Everywhere (there) is war …
That until there is no longer first class
And second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes
(There is) war.
Until the basic human rights are equally
Guaranteed to all, without regard to race
(There is) war.
And my personal favorite - John Lennon singing:
Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I’m a dreamer,
but I’m not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.
What do all these have in common? (Allow other responses) That’s right, they were “protest songs”
As I was doing my research, I came across the most recent offering in this genre:
Welcome to the US Occupation
To win the hearts and minds
Defend all humankind
Tell the banks and the corporations
We're here to occupy the USA
We support our unions and our right to organize
Students, homeless, immigrants are strengthening their ties
We have struggled far too long now let this be a sign
1% in power … Meet the other 99!
You guessed it - it’s the theme song of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. John Payne, writing in The American Conservative, says:
You may think these are mostly young kids who have enjoyed the fruit of American capitalism but now talk of tearing down the system that weaned them…but these are not bomb-throwing radicals. You may call their trust in participatory democracy naïve, but they are relatively ordinary Americans who looked around one day, saw the obviously dysfunctional political and economic systems, and decided to do something about them. As I interviewed some of the protesters, I discovered that many of them were not driven by a blind rage against capitalism but were simply trying to assert some modicum of control over institutions they believe are running over them roughshod. And although the media portrays them as polar opposites, the same can be said of the Tea Partiers - both are attempting to come to terms with (what is wrong). (The American Conservative, Nov. 3, 2011)
Isn’t it what all protest songs have in common? Someone looked around one day, registered a great dis-ease with the way things were, and dared to imagine a re-ordering in the web of human relationships.
You know where I’m going with this don’t you? That’s right, back to Mary’s protest song:
You have brought the mighty down from their thrones
And uplifted the humble of heart
You have filled the hungry with wondrous things
And left the wealthy no part.
Many of you have told me how you have come to love this song we sang earlier. So soft, so lovely here in this season. So poetic, so calm, so meek, so mild, so feminine. Who are we kidding?! If our appreciation of Mary’s words begins and ends in such unexamined sentimentality we’ve really not heard what she’s singing.
It is easy to be mesmerized by the music or tranquillized by the poetry. And when that happens we fail to perceive how radical and revolutionary the song of Mary actually is. When Mary sings, two questions should cross our minds: Who should be reassured by the song? Who should start worrying?
That kind of singing could destabilize a society, upset our way of life. There is one word that is used by every single commentator in regard to this passage: “revolutionary”. E. Stanley Jones, a famous preacher of two generations ago, said that the Magnificat is “the most revolutionary document in the world.” Willilam Barclay, the English theologian, said it is “a bombshell.” He said that people have read it so often that they have forgotten its “revolutionary terror.” Martin Luther said that the Magnificat “comforts the lowly and terrifies the rich.” Gilmore said that it “fosters revolutionaries in our churches. It makes the church stubborn against poverty.”
Revolution - it means “a radical and pervasive change”. Some examples: the Gutenberg printing press revolutionized the information industry in the 15th century. The press could produce 3,600 pages per day, compared to just a few by hand-copying. The Protestant Reformation which coincided with the advent of the Gutenberg Press would not have realized the success it did without the ability to mass produce the writings of Luther and other reformers. The invention created a societal revolution. People began to speak of life before the press and life after. In the 18th century it was the Industrial Revolution. The invention of the cotton gin completely changed the way cotton was harvested. Before, by hand, after by machine. In our lifetimes computers have again totally changed our lives. We find ourselves often speaking of life before computers and life after computers and easily mark the radical changes in our lifestyle.
“A radical and pervasive change” of lifestyle is what Mary sang of. The Magnificat is the basic, fundamental document of God’s revolution - like the Magna Carta. Carol and I saw the original in a London museum - this document on which freedom is based in English common law, is widely viewed as one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy. You don’t change it. So also the Magnificat - it lays down the fundamental, unalterable principles of the Christian revolution - a revolution for right relationships among the people of the world. The Magnificat says that God is biased. You may say they are dreamers, but according to Mary, according to the prophets, according to Jesus, God takes sides with the poor and against injustices.
Consider the verbs in the Magnificat: God REGARDS the poor, EXALTS the poor, FEEDS the poor, HELPS the poor, REMEMBERS the poor. Do you get the rhythm? Does your heart get the rhythm? I think you do. After all, look at the outpouring of concern for the poor in the days ahead of Christmas. Goodfellows gets it. Faith Mission gets it. So many of you get it as you come with special gifts for those who do not have access to some basic things you take for granted. You are getting it: that as long as there are those who have much existing beside those who have little and lack access to the basic things, there exists a great wrong in human relationships. Biblically speaking, this is injustice. The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of right relationships. Biblical justice is about righting wrong relationships.
So the important question for us this morning is this: Has God’s revolution occurred in your life? Is God’s revolution happening in your life? When Jesus gets a hold of us, Jesus revolutionizes our lives; he turns everything upside down and we look at the world differently.
When a revolution occurs in a country, the citizens there often use the phrases, “before the revolution” and “after the revolution.” Before God’s revolution in my life, I regarded myself. Before God’s revolution in me, I exalted my ego. Before God’s revolution in my values, I fed my family. Before God’s revolution in my heart, I helped my friends. Before God’s revolution within, I remembered my relatives. But when God’s revolution happens in your heart, you regard the poor people and their needs. After God’s revolution in you, you exalt the energy of the poor. After God’s revolution within, you feed the hungry. After God’s revolution to your heart, you are always remembering people in need. Life can be summarized by what life was like before the revolution and after the revolution. (Some of the above is the inspiration of Rev. Edward Marquart, Sermons from Seattle)
Mary’s song causes me to stop and think: what if Christmas 2011 were to come and go with no change in me, no revolution in my spirit? Would that be right? Would that be God honoring? Have I changed all I need to change? Is God 100% pleased with me as I am? Has God nothing more to show me? Have I done for God and my neighbor all that needs to be done? Do I understand, passionately understand my intimate relationship with the poor of Brenham and beyond? Mary causes me to think of all the ways that I myself am powerful, prideful and wealthy – living as a white, male, educated professional person in the richest country the world has ever known. Is this God knocking me from my throne this Christmas, scattering my pride and sending me away empty?
If so, it’s not punishment. It’s grace, bringing me into the Kingdom and employing me in the most hopeful, the most important work of all.
Let us pray: Lord God ….
Give us pure hearts, that we may see you;
Humble hearts, that we may hear you;
Hearts of love, that we may serve you;
Hearts of faith, that we may abide in you. Amen.
