Mary’s Advent Carol

Delivered December 18, 2011

Luke 1:39-56

The music for one of the most well known Christmas carols, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, was written by a man who did not want his music set to Christian words. Furthermore the man who wrote the lyrics did not want his words set to lively music. They both did not get their wish. The lyrics were written by Methodist hymn writer Charles Wesley. The melody for this familiar carol was composed by Felix Mendelssohn almost a hundred years after Wesley wrote the text. Neither Charles Wesley nor Felix Mendelssohn would have wanted this music to be joined with these words. Mendelssohn, a Jew, had made it very clear that he wanted his music only to be used for secular purposes. Wesley, on the other hand, had requested that only slow and solemn religious music be coupled with his words. However, in the mid nineteenth century, after both men were dead, an organist named William Cummings, joined the joyous Mendelssohn music with Wesley’s profound words to create the carol we know today! If you hear some rumbling underground when we sing this carol on Christmas Eve it might be the sound of both of these men turning over in their graves.

Today we are looking at an Advent carol. We sing Christmas carols at this time of year, but there are also wonderful Advent songs. I love hymns like “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.” Our text today is also an Advent song. It was written by Mary the mother of Jesus, and inspired (we believe) by the Holy Spirit. It is known as the Magnificat, named after the opening words: “My soul magnifies the Lord!” But before we get into the song, I want us to first explore the setting of the song – how it came about.

The story of how the Magnificat came about is found in Luke 1:39-45. ³⁹ Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

In the passage right before this (that we looked at last week), Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she was going to bear a Son. This was going to be no ordinary son nor ordinary birth. It was to be a virgin birth and the Son of God. To give Mary some confirmation and support, the angel told Mary in verse 36 “Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”  So Mary hurried right off to see her cousin Elizabeth, who lived in the hill country south of Jerusalem. As soon as Mary walked in the door and greeted Elizabeth (presumably with a hug) the baby in Elizabeth’s womb moved. Elizabeth actually says that the baby leapt for joy! Suddenly Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, confirming to Mary what the angel had told her. As soon as Mary heard these prophetic words from Elizabeth, suddenly she also is inspired by the Holy Spirit and spoke this passage known as the Song of Mary, or the Magnificat. There are four things I want to say about this Advent carol.

I. First, it is the song of a Magnifying Soul. It starts off “My soul magnifies the Lord!”  I love that opening phrase. It sums up the spiritual life. It is the purpose of our lives. The most famous statement of the purpose of human life is found in the Westmister Shorter Catechism. It says, “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” I think the main reason so many people are confused and unhappy in life is that they do not know why they are here on earth. They do not know the purpose of their lives. They assume they are here for themselves – to be happy or stay healthy or get wealthy – to be successful or famous or fulfilled. They might embrace more noble reasons – to serve humankind or serve others or to make the world a better place. These are great causes, but they are not the chief purpose of our lives. The chief purpose of our lives is to glorify God. To use Mary’s word to “magnify the Lord.” Judge everything you do by that standard.

The word “magnify” is instructive. It means to enlarge. Our lives are to be like a magnifying glass. A magnifying glass enlarges the appearance of things. My father-in-law (a retired pastor) has bad eyesight, but he loves to read. So he reads with a magnifying glass in his hand. A lot of people have a hard time seeing God. Even though to me the presence of God is obvious, I know that many people cannot sense God in the world, in the universe, in history, or in the church. They have bad spiritual eyesight. I talk to people and I read books by people who simply cannot see God.

I am presently reading a book now entitled “Why I became an Atheist” by John Loftus. This is a man with three advanced theological degrees. After years as a pastor and an apologist for the Christian faith, he changed his mind about God. He is now an atheist and a college philosophy professor. All he sees now in the world and in the universe is suffering and evil and meaninglessness.  He does not see God. It is a very challenging book and is being used as a textbook for seminary students because it so thoroughly explains the chief arguments against theism and Christianity. Any thinking Christian has to work through such philosophical arguments. I find the book theologically intriguing. But I also find it sad, because this man cannot see God.

Our purpose in life is to be a magnifying glass for people who can’t see God. Unfortunately I think sometimes Christians and churches sometimes do just the opposite. We can obscure God. One of the things that led this man John Loftus to atheism is what he calls the "lovelessness in the church." This man was hurt by a church and church people, and his decision against God is as much emotional as it is intellectual. For him the church obscured God so much that he could no longer see God at all. That is sad. The church’s purpose, and the purpose of our lives is to magnify God – to be a magnifying lens so that people can see God through our lives.

II. Second, Mary’s song is the song of a Joyful Spirit. She says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Again the catechism says, “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” Joy is one of the hallmarks of a Christian heart. In his letter to the Galatians, the apostle Paul lists the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit – those spiritual qualities that should be present in every Christian’s life. The first one is love; the second is joy. Mary sings, “my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” 

If there is no joy in our faith, do we really know God? The apostle John makes the case in his first letter that if a Christian does not love, then he doesn’t really know God or Christ. I would make the same case about joy. It is one of the basic qualities of the spiritual life.  How can you know God and not be joyful about God? Joy is contagious and it is attractive. If we want to attract people to church all we need is to exhibit joy.

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" is a poem written by Henry van Dyke in 1907 which was musically set to the famous "Ode to Joy" melody of the final movement of Beethoven's ninth symphony exactly 100 years ago in 1911.  Van Dyke wrote this poem while in Williams College, Massachusetts. The words are a wonderful exclamation of joy – exactly what Mary is talking about. 

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

Van Dyke described his lyrics with way: “These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time.” I am not so sure they are so common today 100 years later, though they should be. I recently read one of the networks of blogs by the magazine The Christian Century. The author is a minister and pastoral counselor named Katherine. She and her husband went to the symphony in Fort Worth Texas and heard Beethoven's Ninth, with choirs from Texas Christian University, University Christian Church, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary -- over 350 singers on stage behind the orchestra.  She writes in her blog: “Oh! When they suddenly burst out with Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee (in German, but hey...) I thought I had died and gone to heaven…. After the concert, as we're walking to our parking garage, we encountered the street preachers on the corner. They're there every Friday night, shouting their hate-filled version of the gospel to all passersby. Usually I just want to get away from them, but strangely last night I felt myself getting very angry. After having come from this truly sublime experience of Beethoven's Ninth that filled me with joy, touched my soul, and took me to the mountaintop, to then come out into the night and hear this filth filling the air -- it was horrible.”

Those are the two extremes that Christians can embody. We can turn people off to God or turn people on to the joy of God.

III. Third, Mary’s Advent carol is the song of a Blessed Life.  She sings: ⁸ For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.”  Mary felt blessed. She knew that her life from that moment on was not going to be easy. If she had any doubts about it at this point, then they were erased when her child Jesus was born. At the infant Jesus’ dedication ceremony in the temple, a man named Simeon prophesied that her child would be a sign to be spoken against and that a sword would pierce her heart. Then after the visit of the wise men, came the death squads from King Herod trying to kill her child. Mary’s life as the mother of this child was not easy, but it was blessed.

That is a model for seeing our lives. Our lives are not easy. No one’s life is easy. It is hard to grow up as a kid and a teen these days. It is no easier getting older.  As Bette Davis said, "Old age ain't no place for sissies!"  Being a Christian believer does not make life easier. We still have all the normal trials and tribulations of life. And many Christians who live in countries hostile to the gospel suffer religious persecution on top of that! But the difference between faith and unbelief, is that we see the trials in the context of a blessed life. Life is a mixture of good and bad. You can focus on the bad or on the good. When you see life as blessing, you focus on the good. Ultimately all of life works out for good because the Ground of our lives and of all life is God, who is Good. Mary knows that no matter what happens in her life, that God is real and she is blessed.

IV. Finally, Mary’s Advent carol is a song to a Magnificent God. When you read the words of this song carefully, it will surprise you. It is like no Christmas carol you have ever heard. It isn’t what you would normally expect in a story leading up to Christmas. Mary sounds like one of the Old Testament prophets. This is a revolutionary song of political, social and economic justice. Listen to her words:

       ⁵¹ He has shown strength with His arm;
      He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
       ⁵² He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
      And exalted the lowly.
       ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things,
      And the rich He has sent away empty.
       ⁵⁴ He has helped His servant Israel,
      In remembrance of His mercy,
       ⁵⁵ As He spoke to our fathers,
      To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

Mary is exalting a God who acts in history on behalf of his people and of the poor and powerless. This is not an otherworldly “pie in the sky when we die” type of spirituality. She is not talking about heaven. This is down to earth stuff. Christmas can be a time of fluffy sentimentality; lots of movies, television specials and songs have that tone. Christmas has become mostly about family, food, presents, and warm and fuzzy feelings. But Mary’s song rings a different note. Mary sounds more like John the Baptist than a Hallmark card. Her message is more like the Christmas card that John Davies was telling me about a couple of weeks ago. On the front it says: “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come!” And inside it says, “Merry Christmas from John the Baptist.”  Well, there are no warm fuzzies here in Mary’s song either. Mary’s Advent carol reminds us that Christmas is about God and justice and righteousness – God setting things right - not themes you hear in too many Christmas carols, but it is in some if you listen.

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is a Christmas carol based on a poem written by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Christmas Day 1864 during the American Civil War. His wife had recently died in tragic fire, and he had just gotten word that his son Charles had been seriously wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia. On that Christmas day he wrote these words. It is not in our hymnal or we could sing it, but I will read it for you to end this message:

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!