Vicar Brett Wilson – Mary, Mother of Our Lord – Luke 1:46-55 – August 15, 2010
Downstairs, in the t.v. room at my parents' house, on the back wall you will see proudly framed and carefully preserved one relic of my dad's past. It's a poster from a protest he participated in against the war in Vietnam. This sermon is not about war, but it is about protesting. Our first reading, from Isaiah, of course the psalm, and our gospel reading, Mary's Magnificat all share something in common – they're all songs. Songs.
If I had a hammer. Blowin' in the wind. We Shall Overcome. These are all protest songs. I didn't realize until I read that “This Land is Your Land” was written by Woody Guthrie as a protest song. We can probably all hum the tune – this land is your land. . . And it's not that the song isn't patriotic like we all think it is, but it is a protest song. Guthrie wrote it as a replacement for “God bless America,” which he thought was too unrealistic. But the last couple verses that are most prophetic, most protesting, are often left out. They read -
As I went walking, I saw a sign there,
And on the sign it said, “No Trespassing”
But on the other side, it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.
In the squares of the city, in the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry,
I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
These more “realistic” verses of Guthrie's anthem are not too hard for us to visualize here in America today. With no trespassing signs a common sight in the city and how hotly debated the Mexico border has been lately, is there something deeper and harder about singing those words – this land is made for you and me – or do we think we should get to choose who the “you” is? East Point, Georgia, made the news this week because 30,000 people lined up in the streets to apply for a voucher to get help paying rent. This story, maybe not on such a scale, could take place here in Lancaster. And right here in Lancaster seeing 100 or more line up for the community meals couldn't we echo Guthrie's tongue in cheek last verse – As they stood there hungry – I stood there asking, Is this land made for you and me?
Mary's song is our gospel reading for today, and I think it is important that we take note that she sings. Singing takes a passion and power that changes our words, and Mary's too. But consider with me for a moment, that Mary's song here shares much with protest songs. A protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change. This is what Mary's song is. She is calling in social change. After all, couldn't Mary's song be the protest song of those people weighed down by their rent in Georgia and in Lancaster – couldn't she sing with them - “God has brought the powerful down from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.” And for those who wait in line for community meals or for those people I saw when I visited India in January waiting for water trucks so they could just get their container filled, Mary sings with them “God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”
We might picture Mary, at least in part, as this submissive, quiet, motherly, serene figure, and of course, always with the blue veil, imprinted in our minds by hundreds of paintings and Christmas pageants. But Mary's song, the testament of her faith inspired by the Holy Spirit and proclaiming God's action – there's nothing timid about it. And in many ways, it's a protest song. It's not about politics, but it is about justice. And yes, justice sometimes gets political. Mary's faith, which was later reflected in the person and mission of Jesus, is revolutionary. It's about social change. God is about social change.
But something sets Mary's song apart from most modern protest songs. There's a fundamental difference. It is protesting, advocating social change. But it's also something deeper. Mary sings, “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.” These words do not just protest the way things are, they proclaim. This song proclaims first that God has acted in Mary's life individually. It proclaims how God has acted in the world for social justice, and in Greek the tense is like a snapshot, and can include the present. Mary is proclaiming God active in the present. She is not just protesting for social change, she is calling out God's past and current action to make that change real, here and now, in visible ways.
In the gospel of Luke Mary's song does not stand alone as a voice for social justice. In this gospel repeatedly Jesus talks about a radical reversal and leveling of fortunes. This change, social change beyond our imaginations, is real. And with the resurrection, this equation of justice is sealed once and for all, which the one who was high, lifted up on the cross so that in the end, you and I, just as lowly as the next one in the pew or on the street, so that you could be lifted up in the end. And in the end, this justice will be fully realized.
Protesting is a good thing, and we are called to do so, it's the first step to proclamation. Recognizing where social change needs to happen is the first step - protesting, and then calling God's action as you see it in that change is the second step. God gave Mary the faith to proclaim. As God gives you faith, given Mary as an example, you too can proclaim. Proclaiming is just calling out God's action where you see it in the world. You can proclaim God in what you see in the everyday – in your family, in the people you happen to meet in errands you run, wherever. Sometimes, we find it easier to remember our words when we sing them together, so we gather here each week to proclaim God active in our lives, in Lancaster, in the world. And sometimes we cannot find words to say but we know a song that fits just right – maybe it's a hymn that helps you get through your day. I have been taught that the hymn of the day is the congregation's opportunity to proclaim, pray, and preach back to the preacher.
So with the fifth verse of our hymn of the day, pray with me: Give us lips to sing God's glory, tongues God's mercy to proclaim, throats that shout the hope that fills us, mouths to speak God's holy name. Alleluia! Alleluia! May the light which God sends Fill our songs with Alleluias, Alleluias without end.
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