The Soundtrack of the Revolution

The Soundtrack of the Revolution--December 12, 2016

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...." [Luke 1:46-49]

Be careful the songs you listen to--they will get stuck in your head... and from there, into your heart, and then into your whole self.

You know, even from day to day experience, what's it's like to get a catchy jingle or the latest bit of pop bubble gum top 40 music in your head.  You may not know what the song is about, or be able to decipher all the words... but you catch yourself singing bits of it days later, in the shower, on the way to work, or under your breath as you get your lunch.  Be careful what bits of melody and rhythm you let into your ears--they will lodge themselves there while you don't even realize it is happening.

Then there are songs whose words get inscribed on your heart. Those are even more permanent--you'll find them coming back to you not just days later, but years, or decades.  They may be words of comfort, or words that provoke and haunt you.  I remember a year ago this Christmas-time, how a group of carolers from our church family went to sing at a nearby nursing home where a member who is over 100 years old lives as a resident. And even though she couldn't muster a conversation with us, when we sang, "Silent Night," she began singing along with us from her bed, the well-worn words having never been erased from the deepest part of her memory. Or it's the way Martin Luther's famous words from "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," make your knees straighten and your body stand at attention like it is the national anthem for your soul, when you hear, "We tremble not, unmoved we stand--they cannot overpower us."  Or in my own experience, I think about the way my head and heart were changed, like waking from a dream and seeing with terrible clarity, the first time I heard Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit."  Songs are powerful, and once we let them into our ears, they have a way of taking root in some corner of our spirits like seeds and spreading like kudzu or creeping myrtle.  And the ideas contained in their lyrics have a way of becoming implanted in us until they come to full bloom and bear fruit in our actions and habits.

All of that is to say, don't dismiss the power of songs to change the world--they are often the catalyst for changed hearts that then spark change in others.

And that brings us to these words of Mary's, which for two millennia the church has heard as a song.  It is Mary's song, but it is also the song of longing and fierce hope sung by all those seeking for the world to be put right.  Mary herself is riffing on the song of Hannah from 1 Samuel, who also sings after news of a miraculous birth and the table-turning power of God.  And both Hannah and Mary see God as One who lifts up the lowly and breaks the pride of the arrogant and the pompously puffed-up.  Mary, like Hannah and like Miriam before, is one of a chorus of brave and faithful and fierce women who knew to look for God on the side of those most-stepped-on, and they knew the right response to such a God was a song of praise and thanks.  Mary's song is not bitter, even if it is urgent with divine fire.  Mary's song is not empty wishful thinking, even though it envisions a world and a day beyond what we see before our eyes.  Mary's song is not saccharin sanctimonious escapism merely promising a better life in the great hereafter--it is unapologetically grounded in this world and the feeding of this world's poor... and even, yes, if we dare to take her words seriously, sending the overstuffed rich away empty.

Mary's song is radical.  Here is your warning now--if you dare to read the Bible on Mary's terms, it will change you.  If you dare to let Mary's, Hannah's, and Miriam's chorus into your ears, their song will take root in your heart.  It will affect your vision so that you can no longer ignore the people the world and the powerful would rather label "losers."  It will affect your ears so that you can no longer ignore the angry grief of mothers grieving their sons who were beaten, shot, or lynched.  It will affect your voice so that you can no longer comfortably stay silent when other people are being stepped on.  It will affect your heart so that you are no longer content to have a comfortable life for yourself--you will long to see things set right for all people, everywhere, even when it comes at an inconvenience or sacrifice for you.

So be warned now.  We are delving into the words of Mary's song, and our insulated comfort will not come out unscathed.  Her song is the first cut on the soundtrack of the revolution of mercy God has begun, and once we hear it, it will become our song, too.

Lord God, let our ears be open to the song of the women you raised up like Mary, Hannah and Miriam, and let our hearts be ready to be changed by your table-turning power.