"He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty."

 

         The song of Mary is a song of hope. It is part of the music of Christmas, though in many ways it does not seem like a Christmas song to us. It is a song that proclaims the salvation of God, the determined will of God to save his people, and the realization of the promise of God through the birth of Jesus.

         The music of Christmas speaks to our hearts. The promise of the Scriptures and the story of Jesus birth and the joy of the Good News of God come to us in music, and we remember it, and treasure it. We have heard it this season in the singing of our choir, in the carols played by our children and explained in the children's messages, in the blending of new and old we experienced in the Christmas program last Sunday evening. The salvation of God through Jesus Christ comes close to our hearts in the music of Christmas.

         There is more to Christmas music than songs of hope, songs of the birth of Jesus. Christmas is also a party, and all kinds of other themes and expressions become part of the package. We went to a wonderful Christmas concert at the high school this week. It was such a good experience, fun and inspiring and beautiful. When it was over I realized we had been to a true Christmas concert, a concert that tied together the whole cultural package. Side by side were the secular Christmas songs that seem to carry no message at all, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and the like, and the Christian songs that have carried the Gospel through the generations and through the various branches of the church. So we heard "Ave Maria," which has had such a special place in the Roman Catholic Church; and we heard "Silent Night," which expresses so much of the Northern European feeling about Christmas; and an African song sung to the beat of a djimbe; and the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Messiah, which seems to unite people in a deep way and speaks beyond human division.

         So when you put all those songs together, it creates a package we call Christmas, and the elements are very different, and yet it all works. To that list I would add Mary's Song; in fact it is part of the cultural expression of Christmas, sung as "the Magnificat." For Mary's song has had great influence in shaping the hope of all Christians, and I think you cannot really understand the account of the birth of Jesus apart from this song.

         But Mary's song also stands apart from the Christmas package, apart from the messages of peace and joy that have become our Christmas. Mary's song is about the determined will of God to save his people, and we need to hear it apart from a cultural experience of Christmas, or we may miss its message, which is not entirely comforting.

         The song that Mary sings does not appear to have been composed by her; it is not a spontaneous bit of poetry. It has such close ties with Hannah's song in I Samuel chapter 2 that we need to see its roots in the Old Testament and in the deep promises of God. The song of Hannah is about the birth of a child of promise, Samuel, and it speaks, as does Mary's song, of the triumph of God over the proud and haughty, the mighty and the wealthy. It is a song of hope in that what is expressed in the birth of Samuel does not find the beginning of fulfillment until many years later, when Samuel anoints David as king. So these songs are prophetic, they praise God for his salvation that is not yet evident or complete.

         Mary sings of the salvation of God, a plan of God that has a long history, a salvation that includes the bringing low of the proud and the oppressive rulers, and then speaks of the humble being lifted up. This is a song that fits all of life into God's salvation; it is a political, economic, societal, and very personal view of God's thorough salvation.

         It is a song that brings to mind very startling pictures of this worldly fulfillment. Here is Saddam Hussein, a proud, rich and oppressive ruler, whose uncounted atrocities seemed to have no limit, and people for years cried out for mercy. Then, he is discovered hiding in a hole. He was brought down, he was humbled. The song of Mary describes it. God does in fact cast down despots and cruel, corrupt people. God does in fact listen to the cries of people for mercy. God does in fact bring horrible secrets to light. Here is Gary Ridgeway weeping as he expresses sorrow for murdering 48 women, and so he receives 48 life sentences, and what he did in secret is made known to all. The song of Mary describes the activity of God in the affairs of human history.

         Martin Luther read this song and became so convinced of its truth that he wrote it out and sent it to Prince John Frederick to inform him that these verses were to be a standard for faithful government and, he wrote, "ought to be learned by all who would rule well and be helpful lords." Luther saw that this song of Mary described real life and he used it as a warning and as a guiding light for the rulers of his day.

         So we should realize that God's salvation reaches not just to rulers and despots, but into our hearts as well. In Christ it is our pride and our sin that is confronted, exposed and broken, brought low. Mary's song speaks also of our humility. It leads us to Christ the Savior, and we come weeping. One essential part of every Christian's spiritual pilgrimage is the experience of being brought low, of being humbled, of becoming contrite, truly sorry for our actions, of being broken in spirit. We should not try to avoid that part of the pilgrimage.

         There is a clear warning in this song. A life of wealth and privilege with an uncaring attitude towards the poor, a disinterest in people of other races or cultures and their struggles, a willingness to ignore justice; will not be overlooked by God in his great work of salvation. God humbles the proud, now on earth, and then completely, without exception, at the coming of the Kingdom. Our lives are lived in the path of the light of salvation, and it does shine on us all. Repentance is essential to kingdom living.

         But this song is not just a warning; it is a song of true, practical hope in God:

         "His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation."

         "He has brought down rulers, but has lifted up the humble."

David Tiede points out that this song helps us to see the strength of God's arm in the birth of Jesus. In this humble and obscure event is the scattering of the proud, the humiliation of the high and mighty, the exaltation of the humble, and the satisfying of the hungry. It speaks of that which has not yet happened as if it was accomplished. Tiede writes, "The vision of the feast God has in store for the hungry is a prophetic word which challenges realities that appear to us to be unchangeable."

         The Good News is that in the birth of Jesus the Savior has been born. As we receive that Good News this Christmas, we begin in humility by repenting. Now is the opportunity to change our lives, to adjust our lives, so that we might agree fully with the purposes and will of the Savior, so that we will indeed welcome God's salvation.

         Next, we turn to the Savior for grace, for renewal in heart and mind, for victory over the addictions and sins and attitudes that defeat us. We read in Hebrews, "We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." In the power of the cross and resurrection of Jesus we are lifted up, we have victory over that which threatens us and defeats us. This is the season to receive grace; this is the time to believe.

         Finally, we began this series on the songs of hope with a passage from Luke 21 that instructed us to "lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." In the birth of Jesus the long awaited salvation of God takes human form, the promise becomes reality, something great and beyond our imagining begins and it cannot be stopped. We wait for a great and glorious day.

         Amen.