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In this season of holiday joy, one of the highlights each year is certainly the songs - ­the songs of Advent, and the songs of Christmas...

Songs of the First Nativity: Mary's Song - Luke 1: 46-55 - December 14, 2008 - Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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In this season of holiday joy, one of the highlights each year is certainly the songs - ­the songs of Advent, and the songs of Christmas. Throughout these weeks we've heard such beautiful songs - and this morning is no exception. Granted, some years, by the four thousandth time you've heard it, you're probably ready to shoot the partridge out of the pear tree. But songs are still part of what makes the season bright.

And songs were written into the stories of the birth of Jesus from early on, and we have the biblical writer Luke to thank for writing some of them down for us. Maybe he composed them himself, or maybe he caught them as someone was singing them. Either way, he gives us at least four of them; and, allowing for the fact that what a first century Greek writer would consider a toe-tapping song would be different from what you and I would, I'd like to read these songs over the next few weeks, and hopefully find in them many wonderful reasons for you and me to sing the birth of Jesus this year.

The first of these is Mary's song, known in Christian tradition as the Magnificat. It is recorded in Luke 1: 46-55, and it lifts up at least four great themes that should set our hearts to singing. Mary begins her song like this: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Mary's first theme, then, is Praise. Mary praises her Savior to the depth of her spirit.

It seems to me that a lot of what we do to celebrate Christmas that falls far short of that spirit of praise. I spent some time in the mall recently, and praising the Lord wasn't connected to a lot I overheard. For example, I saw one father, clearly at the end of his rope, saying to a boy of maybe eight or nine, "You want to put what on the Christmas tree?" I'd give anything to know what that boy had said - my imagination has been running wild. But it wasn't a prudent time to ask. That man was clearly not in a praising mood. A lot of people are not. So, here are some essential questions:

Do we realize that God has done something wondrous? Do we realize that salvation has come into the world? If that makes us gloomy and discouraged instead of hopeful and peaceful, then we're doing the wrong things. When you look at the full meaning, how can this be a time of anything other than praise and joy?

The word Mary uses for her praise is 'magnify.' 'My soul magnifies the Lord.' I've always thought that was a strange word for praising God. God is already greater than the universe; how can he be magnified beyond that? But then I realize that magnifying refers more to an attitude inside us, and it should be very familiar; it is something we do all the time. For example, last week I read a little note about Joe the Plumber. As you know, Joe the Plumber became part of this presidential campaign we've just been through. When he became the big headline in the paper for a few days, it was probably a good sign that the campaign had gone on long enough. But Joe now has an agent, and is looking to make a deal to write a book. And I imagine he will; and people will buy it!

And by any stretch of the imagination, why would Joe have an audience for a book?  Well, he's been magnified.  He's in the spotlight now, like any number of celebrities who have dozens of photographers following them around wherever they go, to record whatever they do.  Here's Brad Pitt starting his car; here's Paris blowing her nose.  Here's Britney scolding her dog.  These people live constantly under a magnifying glass.

We know how to magnify celebrities. We know how to magnify problems. We know how to magnify Christmas to commercialism beyond all control. Do we know how to magnify the Lord? Do we know how to bring Jesus to the place he deserves in our lives? That might be a good test for this season - I would think it would make all the difference. If we are doing something for the holiday - maybe even something we've done for years - and we're not finding any joy in it, then maybe we might pause and ask ourselves­ - "How is this magnifying God? How is this placing the Lord where He should be?" And if we can't think of a good answer, then maybe we're doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons. Maybe it's time to step back and recapture the joy of praising God.

The next part of Mary's song goes like this: " ... for (God) 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." The second great theme of Mary's song is Blessing. Mary is moved to praise God because she is aware of the great personal blessing that has come upon her.

To understand the full importance of that, we need to take a time machine back to Mary's day. Her song in Luke 1 is the result of a meeting between her and her cousin Elizabeth. And both of them are pregnant, and that is a great joy to them. But these pregnancies take place in a context of pretty gloomy existence for women. Elizabeth and Mary live in an occupied country, which makes them extremely vulnerable in a land filled with foreign soldiers. But even among their own country folks, a young woman like Mary was vulnerable, and could look forward to a very limited life - an arranged marriage, no legal rights, hard work, and, heaven forbid early death should come to her husband. Being a widow almost certainly meant poverty, and probably starvation.

What carrying a child meant to Elizabeth and Mary was hope in the midst of a limited life. God brought the blessing of hope to those who lived in discouragement and gloom. I believe that is exactly what this season can represent. There are many people today who only see limited life before them. Many of them enter this season so aware of the losses they have sustained - losses of loved ones; losses of dreams; losses of jobs; losses of possibilities; loss of youth. There are more people than we realize who approach the holiday season with a considerable amount of dread.

I believe that Mary's song can remind all of us that God has blessing for those whose lives are limited by loss or discouragement.  For me it's significant that this portion of the song lifts up holiness - ‘Holy is his name.'  I've often wondered if that reminder of holiness could rescue the meaning of the season for those who are having a rough time emotionally.  It's a pretty miserable feeling to believe that the whole world is having a holiday party, and you're just hurting inside.  But what you might do is to take the word 'holiday' and turn it back to what it is supposed to be in the first place - 'holy day'. God is doing something very holy for you. God is sending love to find you. God is sending healing to touch you. And you don't have to join the party; you don't have to hang a single bulb. Just know in the quiet prayer of your heart that God in the Christ child is now born in this world for you and me, especially in the lonely and hurting moments.

But there's more. Mary's song continues: "(God) 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." The third theme in the song is Justice. What it recognizes is that the limitation for many people in this world goes beyond their own individual losses. Their lives are limited because of the way we humans have set up the world. It is a world where the proud, the powerful, and the rich get all the advantages, and the lowly and the hungry get barely enough to live. This is where the song gets dicey for us. Because even though we might feel a little pinched at the end of some months, and even though we might be a little concerned about the current economy, by the living standards of the world, we are much closer to the proud, the powerful, and the rich than we are to the lowly and hungry. So to hear in the song that God is going to scatter the proud, bring down the powerful, and send the rich away empty has to grab our attention.

What the scriptures would say to us is that it was not God's intent that we would have so much, and so many in the world would have so little - that's not justice. Part of what the birth of Jesus means is that the world will be put right. And the Advent-Christmas season is a great time to remember that. Again, we celebrate the holidays like it is a great big party, and most of the people in the world are not invited. They're just trying to survive until tomorrow. So clearly one of the compelling calls to us who have plenty is to be ever mindful of those who do not, and to respond with passionate hearts to bring God's justice into this world for everybody. That baby in the manger grew up into a teacher who was very clear about what he wanted his followers to do: Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, set the oppressed free. It's amazing to say those words while standing behind this great outpouring of gifts for Westside Ministries. I think if we had two more weeks for this there'd be no room up here for the preacher and the choir. It is beautiful, and it is a visual aid for what this season in really about - a Savior born to bring justice and salvation into this world, and to invite you and me to be messengers of that hope by doing what we can to turn the balance back to the lowly and the hungry. There's still a lot more we can do, and a lot more we will do - mission trips, the tutoring program, special offerings, food offerings - wouldn't it be great if everyone here resolved in 2009 to take a major step forward in sharing the bounty of our blessings with those in need?

There's a fourth amazing theme in Mary's song, but alas, that will need to reamin a mystery until next week. 

We talk a lot about hope.  Mary reminds us of what hope is made of:  a praising life that magnifies the Lord; a humble life that realizes the blessings of God's holiness, and a serving life that works for justice for all of God's people.  Focusing on these things of God will keep a beautiful song of Advent within us.  God is doing a wonderful thing for this world He loves.  Let the song be heard in your life and everywhere.