Keep Singing It!

Luke 1:39-55

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he 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. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He 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. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

No sermon this week… okay, just a little sermon. Last month I preached a sermon on Hannah’s song. Hannah’s song goes like this in 1st Samuel:

My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory …The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn…. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail. The Lord! His adversaries shall be shattered; the Most High will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed.”

In that sermon, I told you that Hannah sang her song boldly and loudly right into the face of a world that lived and believed and sang a VERY different song. Nevertheless, Hannah sang her song into that world! She was able to sing her song louder, longer and more powerfully than the world sang it’s song, because she sang her song as a duet with God.  This week we hear Mary’s song from the Gospel of Luke, which you’ll notice, is an amazing remake of Hannah’s classic hit!  Mary too sang her song boldly and loudly into the face of a world that lived and believed and sang a VERY different song than the song of justice that Mary sang.  She was able to sing HER song louder, longer and more powerfully than the world sang it’s song because she too sang her song as a duet with God.

Now, notice how much time they both spent... how much energy they gave… how much of their songs are spent railing against the evils of the empire and the injustices in their culture. It’s in there, for sure.  Neither woman is in denial about the world around them. Neither has their head buried in the sand or wears rose colored glasses as they sing.  But NOW notice how much of their songs describe the power of God and present a model of the world as God intends it to be. As I read the lyrics of these two amazingly powerful songs…  the realities of the world are acknowledged.  They make up the verses of their songs.  BUT the world as God intends it to be.... THAT is the constant refrain!  Every verse comes back to the truth, that the Holy One... the Mighty One has done, is doing, and promises yet to do great things!  Over and over and over again, the refrain pounds home the truth that God WILL!  That God IS!  Even NOW... making all things new in the lives of these women AND in the life of all of creation! 

In that sermon last month I asked you what song YOU sing into the darkness of the world as a duet with God. I asked you what song you sing louder and longer and bolder... head on, at full volume, into the face of the evils of this world because you sing it as a duet with God.  Today, since I’m not preaching, I’ll just recycle that same question.  What song do you sing?  What song… like Hannah and Mary’s songs do you sing with a powerful refrain of persistent, outrageous, seemingly impossible hope.  Keep singing that song with God, who persists in giving birth to impossible hope... story after story, woman after woman, testament after testament, Advent after Advent, Christmas after Christmas.  Thanks be to God! Amen.