Mary’s Song/Joy
Mary’s Song/Joy
December 11, 2022
Luke 1:47-55
47 In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
48 He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
49 because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
50 He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
51 He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
52 He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
54 He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
55 just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.”
How does music change your mood and the ways you interact with the world?
Responses
For me, music brings me joy. I experienced this yesterday as I was walking along with my grandson. Suddenly, we were hearing the music of Jingle Bells. My gate became lighter, and I began to clap and sing. Romy too had a big smile on his face.
I also LOVE to dance. So, music brings me great joy as it encourages me to move – to move to more than just the music in my head. Moving to music others are also hearing and experiencing is much more socially acceptable, even if it always embarrassed my daughter. My moments of movement and music and joy include:
· halftime dance routines
· Friday night high school dances
· college frat parties that were almost too crowded to move
· waltzing with my husband on our wedding day to Patsy Cline’s “Always”
· dance classes on cruise ships
If anyone ever wants to organize a flash mob, I’m your girl. And I personally would advocate for a Fresh Expression of church called Dancing with the Divine. But, if I’m honest, after college the dancing really slowed down in my life. Why do we stop dancing? Do we stop singing too? Do we stop listening to music or decide the expression of joy is not appropriate?
I think there is something of value for us to reflect on here. Perhaps one of the things Mary teaches us in her countercultural song of joy is that the spontaneous expression of joy is always countercultural. There will always be people around us who do not want us to be happy or who think the expression of that happiness at this moment is not appropriate.
What’s most important is who do you credit as the source of that joy, who are you singing to, and why do we sing or joyously express ourselves? If the answer is God on all accounts, then nobody but you and God matter in your expression of joy. This was the case in our scripture text with Mary’s song.
Mary arrives at her cousin Elizabeth’s home. Elizabeth’s unborn child, who will grow up to be John the Baptizer, leaps for joy at Mary’s greeting, and in response, Mary sings for joy. In this scene there is joy everywhere. Do we allow ourselves to see and express joy everywhere?
Mary had plenty of reasons not to sing. She is a Jewish unwed and pregnant teenager in a society that does not value youth or women and oppresses Jews. Her “blessing from God” brought hardship, confusion, and it would definitely bring her grief. Yet Mary is still able to experience the joy of this moment, of what God is doing through her, and what God is doing in the world. There is much for us to learn from Mary. There is much to be gained from us following her lead. There is much blessing we can bring to the world as we joyously allow God to work, speak, love, and live through us.
In our world, blessing is usually equated with good health or long life and financial wealth that results in an abundance of material possessions. That is NOT the kind of blessing of which Mary sings; actually, it’s exactly the opposite. The blessing Mary experiences is one of purpose. Mary is participating in what God is doing in the world and so can we. We never hear of Mary’s worthiness or any achievement that made her God’s choice; so each and every one of us is just as likely a choice to be instruments of God’s redeeming love. What is the deep love and joy God is birthing in you this Advent season?
In this season of gift giving and so we can better understand and share the gifts with which God has blessed each of us, let me review the nature of a gift. Something is not a gift unless it is given away. God blesses us with gifts, we are all uniquely created for a purpose, like Mary was given the gift of an unplanned pregnancy. Once we receive, or perhaps discover is a better word, once we discover God’s gift, if we cling onto it, we become like those of whom Mary speaks in her song today, “those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.” The fact that we received a God-given gift does not make us special or better than anyone.
God doles out gifts faster than we can wrap our brain around our true wishes. We are ALL gifted, not always in the ways we’d like to be, but God has given us all things we can give away, just like Mary had to give her son away – to teach in the temple as a child, to his ministry with a few close friends and many others who would become his chosen family, and finally to the cross. We too are in the business of giving away the gifts we’ve been given.
The prayer of Saint Francis says it is in giving that we receive; so please note, this giving is not like the world gives, the “Oh woe is me. There are givers and takers in this world, and all I do is give, give, give, while others take, take, take, and I don’t have anything left to give.” NO, Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving. God continually pours into us. We need to keep opening ourselves to receive. Again, the key here is who are you looking to as the source?
Our greatest gifts – the capacity to love, share, and create – all involve risk and in certain ways will bring pain into our lives. They will also bring GREAT joy. God desires a relationship with us, and God wants our participation in bringing heaven to earth. It is an honor and a joy-filled way to live.
Marie Kondo, a Japanese organizing consultant, helps people clean out and clear space for joyful living. She says one of the ways you decide what to keep is by asking what things “spark joy.” If an object brings joy, you keep it. If it doesn’t, if it’s lifeless, useless, or a burden to you, you release it (and I would say, let it bless someone else).
We can make Marie Kondo’s insight into a spiritual practice by looking at our life each day and asking, “what sparks joy for me today?”
· What does joy look like? Feel like? Taste like? Sound like?
· What/where/who “sparks joy” for me today?
· What do you want me to know, God?
· What do you want me to do?
We also need to also understand Mary’s song inside God’s justice. Mary is a young girl in need of justice, and she gives voice to the justice of God that we hear over and over again throughout scripture, both the Old Testament and the New. Mary reminds us that the good News of Jesus Christ often comes in the form of what sounds like bad news for those of us that are already considerable blessed in this world. Mary’s joyful song this day involves God scattering those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations, pulling the powerful down from high places and lifting up the lowly, and filling the hungry with good things while sending the rich away empty-handed.
Ouch! Generally, we are the proud, the powerful, and the rich. It is our humility that allows us to sing along with Mary. Where do we connect with the lowly in society? Mary recognizes herself as a lowly servant and yet she speaks with confidence and joy. We must never forget from where we have come. We are all still sinners in need of a savior. Mary doesn’t wait for everything to turn our right in order to express her joy. She shouts for joy, for what God is up to for the future generations that are yet to come.
May we, like Mary, examine ourselves, our lives, our faith community to discover, receive, develop, and give away the gifts we have been given. God intends for us to give these gits away. Perhaps by reflecting on what brings us joy, we can discover how we can offer joy to others. As we look at the community around our church building, perhaps we can discover where the world needs joy and like Mary, we just might discover we are favored in the eyes of God as we bring joy to those in Rockford Park and the Highlands area. Maybe as we bring and share in joy that is building in this area, we too will find ourselves singing and possibly evening dancing for joy.
Let me leave us with a blessing this morning from another one of the lectionary readings for today, Rom 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Amen.