Singing with Mary
Isaiah 11:1-3 and 6-9; Luke 1:39-56
Reverend Anne Benefield
Geneva Presbyterian Church, December 6, 2015
Introduction: Our passage includes the Magnificat, which has inspired some of the most
beautiful music ever written. There’s a lot to this passage, which I’m going to explain in this
introduction, because sometimes I think that my explanations interrupt the flow of the
scriptures. I don’t want to interfere with our chance to hear the story and song.
As Fred Craddock explains in his commentary, “The visit of Mary to Elizabeth joins
the two larger units of the annunciations of the births of John and Jesus and the accounts of
their births, thereby accenting the similarities and contrasts between the two sons.” [Fred
Craddock, Interpretation: Luke, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), p. 28]
We aren’t really given a reason for the trip, but in her commentary Sharon Ringe
asks, “Was it joyful exuberance? Or the need to think through her situation with someone
older and presumably wiser? We can imagine both.” [Sharon Ringe, Luke, Westminster
Bible Companion, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. 1995), p. 33]
Although the two women are very different, they are relatives and are joined in a
common experience: an unexpected pregnancy. Again, Fred Craddock puts the contrast of
their two roles simply and eloquently: “The one is old and her son will close an age; the
other is young and her son will usher in the new. Even the unborn John knows the
difference and leaps in the womb when Mary enters. Luke is here offering a historical
reminiscence and making theological point. The historical allusion is to Rebekah in whose
womb Esau and Jacob struggled, the message being in both cases, ‘The elder shall serve the
younger’ (Gen. 25-21-23). The theological point is that prenatal activity, because it
precedes all merit or works, witnesses to the sovereign will of God.” [Fred Craddock,
Interpretation: Luke, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), p. 29]
In the Magnificat, what Mary says of what God has done for her, will be what God
will do for the poor, the powerless, and the oppressed of the world. The lowly will be
raised and the lofty will be brought down, a theme throughout Jesus’ ministry. The choice
of Mary is evidence that the change has already begun.
Ringe explains, “The themes and style of the hymn would have sounded vaguely
familiar to Luke’s audience. The cadence of the poetry and the images of God’s mercy and
power recall Hannah’s song in particular, but if we check the text of that song, we find it is
not quoted…There are echoes of several psalms in the Biblical book of Psalms, as well as in
Jewish literature not found in the Bible, but again none seems to have been quoted
directly…[The songs and canticles…seem to have come fresh to the Christian tradition.”
[Sharon Ringe, Luke, Westminster Bible Companion, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox
Press. 1995), p. 35-36]
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Luke 1:39-56
39In
those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country,
she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard
Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
42and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of
your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.
45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to
her by the Lord.” 46And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47and my spirit rejoices in
God my Savior, 48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from
now on all generations will call me blessed; 49for the Mighty One has done great things for
me, and holy is his name. 50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to
generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the
thoughts of their hearts. 52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted
up the lowly; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55according to the promise
he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” 56And Mary
remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
40where
Prayer: Dear Lord, as we pause to meditate on these holy words, we ask that your Holy
Spirit would startle us with revelation. May there be a word that calls each of us by name
and uniquely speaks to each of us. We pray in the glorious name of Jesus. Amen
It has been a difficult week to be an American. We are confused and frightened by
the terrorism in San Bernadine, CA. It shakes the very foundation of who we think we are
as a people, and for the past few months we have been questioning who we are in issues
like the refugee crisis, the slowly improving economy, and the terrorist here inside our
borders. If we want to find a way to handle our fears Mary gives us a model. Mary sings
her way through doubts, questions, and fears.
Mary was a peasant in an oppressed land. She was Jewish in the Roman Empire.
Now she is pregnant and she is not married. Make no mistake: she was in danger of being
stoned for adultery. Her situation was precarious. And yet, she sings the Magnificat.
That is why over the centuries Mary has been a great inspiration. For those who are
downtrodden she brings hope. For those who are lonely, she brings love. For those who
despair, she brings joy. And we are looking for hope, love, and joy, but we can’t find it on
our own. We need the love of the Lord and the inspiration of Mary.
If you ask children what they like the most about Christmas, they will quickly tell
you they like the presents. If you ask adults what they like most about Christmas, they will
tell you it is the music. And the music began with Mary’s song, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
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Magnifying the Lord means opening ourselves to the hope of God, the hope that
things can get better. This week many of the news shows have begun talking about the
victims in San Bernadine. They were wonderful people. If we listen carefully to the stories,
we can find ways to make those stories live on in us. The stories are of kindness.
We can take this tragedy as others do – focusing on the bitterness and hate, but if we
do, we are turning from the Lord. Being hopeful takes discipline and hard work. Being
hopeful means seeing things through the lens of faith.
This past week, Olya had Lasik surgery on her eyes. Suddenly she sees well. After a
life of seeing poorly, she sees great. Everything is clear.
Magnifying the Lord is like putting on a new pair of glasses or having eye surgery. It
is looking for goodness and finding it. I challenge you this week to look at all the things
that bug you, or disappoint you, or make you angry to see if you can find some good in
them. If you hope to find good, you will because you will be seeing with the eyes of faith.
Mary’s song is about God’s love. God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten son so that whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
That is some kind of love.
As you all know, I can be opinionated. One thing I’m opinionated about is parenting.
I believe that successful parents do two things. One of them is to teach their children how
to make decision, which is no easy task. If you are going to teach your children how to
make decisions, you have to allow them to make mistakes. They learn from their mistakes
and they also learn that making a mistake is not the end of the world.
The other thing that I think good parents do is to teach their children how to love.
You simply can’t learn about love in the abstract. You have to learn about love by
experiencing it.
The late Dr. James Loder from Princeton Theological Seminary had a theory about
how children came to believe in God as good. His theory was that newborns can only see
about 12 inches, which means they can only see their mothers’ faces. Of course, at first the
baby thinks it is one with the mother, but over time the infant senses that there is someone
else – the father. If the mother loves and is safe with the father, the child will come to trust
and believe that there is something greater – the father and by extension God. His theory is
the foundational to the maturation of the newborn is the sense of being loved by the
mother and others.
I love that image. I’m sure that Jesus as a newborn learned about love from His
mother, Mary, and her relationship with Joseph and God.
Finally, Mary models joy. Even in her poverty and her dangerous circumstances,
Mary is joyful.
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Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision, reflected on his visit to a church in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti nearly a year after the devastating earthquake. The church's building
consisted of a tent made from white tarps and duct tape, pitched in the midst of a sprawling
camp for thousands of people still homeless from the earthquake. This is how he describes
the church and the lesson he learned in Haiti:
In the front row sat six amputees ranging in age from 6 to 60. They
were clapping and smiling as they sang song after song and lifted their
prayers to God. The worship was full of hope … [and] with thanksgiving to
the Lord.
No one was singing louder or praying more fervently than Demosi
Louphine, a 32-year-old unemployed single mother of two. During the
earthquake, a collapsed building crushed her right arm and left leg. After four
days both limbs had to be amputated.
She was leading the choir, leading prayers, standing on her prosthesis
and lifting her one hand high in praise to God. …
Following the service, I met Demosi's two daughters, ages eight and
ten. The three of them now live in a tent five feet tall and perhaps eight feet
wide. Despite losing her job, her home, and two limbs, she is deeply grateful
because God spared her life on January 12th last year … "He brought me back
like Lazarus, giving me the gift of life," says Demosi … [who] believes she
survived the devastating quake for two reasons: to raise her girls and to
serve her Lord for a few more years.
It makes no sense to me as an "entitled American" who grouses at the
smallest inconveniences—a clogged drain or a slow Wi-Fi connection in my
home. Yet here in this place, many people who had lost everything …
expressed nothing but praise.
I find my own sense of charity for people like Demosi inadequate.
They have so much more to offer me than I to them. I feel pity and sadness
for them, but it is they who might better pity me for the shallowness of my
own walk with Christ. [Richard Stearns, "Suffering and Rejoicing in a Haitian
Tent Camp," Christianitytoday.com (1-12-11)
So often we miss joy because we are weighted down by all our worries, but
the joy is there. We can sing with Mary who teaches us about hope, love, and joy. Amen.
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