Hymns of Faith Part 2

 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. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”  Luke 1:46-55

I admit it...I sometimes wish my life was a musical.  One, I love musicals.  I love the creativity of having to sing all your dialogue...and making it rhyme.  I love that you can tell the mood of the moment based on the chords.  I love that people spontaneously break out in song.  That never really happens in my life.  But in Scripture, we just hear Elizabeth just sang a blessing...Mary responds by singing right back.  But Mary doesn't just sing any song...she sings that confronts our comfortable world.  One where the lowly are lifted up.  The lowly like the word, "Mamzer" we heard last time.  The lowly like those who struggle.  The lowly, those we say should pull up themselves up by their own boot straps...not bothering to notice some of these children of God don't have boot strap!  Or even boots at all.  God has what is called a preferential option for the poor.

Now sometimes that causes middle class folks like me to get our feathers ruffled.  What do you mean God cares more about the homeless than God cares about me?  Should God love us all equally?  But this isn't just about love.  God does indeed refer to all of us a beloved.  However, when it comes to issues of care and compassion and cries for justice...when it comes to the truth that we are not dealing with a level playing field and some are forced to dwell in the valley economically or racially or due to gender or sexual orientation or all sort of ways we categorize and classify "others"...than this preference can start to take on a new light.  I once heard it explained that the fire department has a concern for all houses...but we want them to have a special concern for those whose house is on fire.  God cares especially for those who struggle.  Yet, as people of faith, I am not sure we have always understood this or lived it.  Because the logical consequence is that if God is concerned...so should I be also.  I should be concerned about poverty rates and wages and those who struggle to make ends meet.  I should be concerned about costs of living and haves/have nots.  I need to see my role in the systems that oppress and deny and even when I benefit from those systems.  And all of the sudden, I can't just consume my way through this life.

Faith stakes not only a claim upon my heart for the hour of worship on Sunday...the hymn Mary sings is to resonate and roam around my life every single day of every single week.  This hymn is often called the "Magnificant"...as in to "Magnify"...make larger.  If want to see God's grace in this world, perhaps I can begin with those who struggle.  If I want to not let God's love be a means to an end for my own life, but guide my living, it is going to challenge the ways I look at my calendar, check book and words/thoughts.  If I want to get caught up in a Mary-like life that can Magnify God...then I need to let her words take hold of every hour.  And that will require more than my will power, but a willingness to let God sing through me for such a time as this.  What song is your life trying to sing?  How can you be Mary-like and let God's love author a hymn of love for this world and to let God's presence be magnified in you?  Those questions might help each of us listen and let our daily living be guided by a sacred song that is still being sung today.

May each of us have more than a trace of God's love and may it be so for you and me.

Blessings ~