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<\/a>If you would rather, you can listen to the talk here<\/a>.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s kind of hard to imagine Christmas without the Christmas music, isn\u2019t it? Just a quick show of hands: Who gets really into the Christmas songs, It\u2019s one of your favorite parts of the season? Who gets really tired of the songs?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s interesting to me that when Luke tells the story of Jesus\u2019s birth, every now & then his characters just spontaneously break into song. It\u2019s like a Roger\u2019s and Hammerstein musical or something. There\u2019s Mary\u2019s Song & Zechariah\u2019s song, the Angel\u2019s Song & Simeon\u2019s song. That\u2019s four songs in two chapters. It sort of makes you wonder, why so much music?<\/p>\n
Could be that music is more evocative than prose? Could it be Luke\u2019s trying to convey more than just information; he really wants us experience the story? Could it be Luke\u2019s trying to communicate something that is far too mysterious (not as in unknowable, but endlessly knowable) for anything but a song?<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s what he\u2019s doing, maybe music isn\u2019t a bad choice. In fact one of the most basic concepts in music theory says: at a foundational level, what good music does, nearly always, is take the listener on a journey.<\/p>\n
In the simplest terms this journey is signified by the pattern: Home \u2013 Away \u2013 Home. If you\u2019ll pay attention you\u2019ll begin to notice that the first thing a song does (almost always) is to show you where home is.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s try this song & see if you can feel it. Sing along.<\/p>\n
Hey Jude, don\u2019t make it bad; <\/em><\/p>\n
take a sad song & make it better.<\/em><\/p>\n
Just remember to let her into your heart,<\/em><\/p>\n
then you will start to make it better.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In just a few notes the song establishes a sense of home in our minds, and we don\u2019t even think about it because it all happens subconsciously.<\/p>\n
Next, what a good song will do is take you Away somewhere. It will introduce some type tension. You\u2019ll think, \u201cWhat\u2019s this? This isn\u2019t my home? Where are you going with this?\u201d The Beatles signal this with a single note\u2026 (Play the 7 chord). You hear it and think, what just happened? They actually switch from key of G to key of C to build the tension.<\/p>\n
And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain, <\/em><\/p>\n
Don\u2019t carry the world upon your shoulders<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There\u2019s that note again! It\u2019s saying, \u201cwe\u2019re still away people\u2026 not home yet!\u201d<\/p>\n
Once that Away section takes hold of you, it will produce in you a longing for Home. The longer the Away section lasts the more we long for Home.<\/p>\n
For well you know that it\u2019s a fool who plays it cool, <\/em><\/p>\n
by making his world a little colder<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Then they just lean on it! How high is it going? And now what\u2019s the only thing you want to sing?<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Jude! Don\u2019t let me down, <\/em><\/p>\n
you have found her, now go and get her\u2026<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Because the Beatles are brilliant, when the end of this song rolls around the Home feels so good that they just revel in it for like give minutes. And nobody cares because it feels so nice. Sing with me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNah nah, nah\u2026 Hey Jude!\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Music theorists believe that the reason this element of music is so powerful is that it rings true w\/our lives. Home-Away-Home stories resonate so deeply because they match our own experience.<\/p>\n
Home, in our lives can mean a lot of different things, and it changes over time. Sometimes it goes Away for periods of time. This is just part of the human experience. Tension, pain, suffering, loss, those things are unavoidable, and they create in us a longing for Home.<\/p>\n
As Christians we believe that our soul has a Home in its relating to God, but much of our life feels Away from God in some sense. Our lives follow this pattern of Home \u2013 Away \u2013 Home.<\/p>\n
You grow up in some kind of a Home, and that feels normal. At some point you move Away. You go to work, or school. There\u2019s tension in that move\u2026 some dissonance.<\/p>\n
And at some point, that new place starts to feel more like Home. Then something happens to disrupt it\u2014you get married, or take a job in a new city\u2014and all the sudden you\u2019re Away again.<\/p>\n
When that new situation becomes established, it will feel like you\u2019re Home again. Then you have kids, and you\u2019ll worry all the time. They spend all your money, and you never sleep. It\u2019s a total Away experience.<\/p>\n
This Home \u2013 Away \u2013 Home pattern runs all throughout our lives. And it\u2019s the pattern music often takes, & throughout our text for today as well.<\/p>\n
Which is one of the most beautiful songs in scripture, Mary\u2019s Magnificat<\/em>. Mary\u2019s story began in a well established Home. She was a good Jewish girl from a good Jewish family. She lived in Galilee, in a little town called Nazareth with all of her Jewish family & friends, and she became engaged to a man named Joseph. The bible says he was a righteous man, which meant he kept the Torah. It was a good match. It felt like Home. Mary\u2019s plan was to raise a family, and live as her mother lived, and her grandmother before her.<\/p>\n
But, as the story goes, the angel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth to carry a message to Mary, and this is what he says (Luke 1:30-33):<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Mary\u2019s says, \u201cHold on a sec. I\u2019m a bit confused. How can this be? I\u2019ve never been with a man.\u201d The Angle replied:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.\u201d Then Mary said, \u201cHere am I, the servant of the Lord; may it be unto me according to your word.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And in one instant Mary is thrust into an Away moment so intense that most of us cannot imagine it. Try putting yourself in Mary\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
Jewish engagement was a legal marriage in every way except for the sex. Then Mary has this experience with the angel in which she is told that she will become pregnant. This is a huge problem.<\/p>\n
Imagine a young Jewish girl (scholars estimate that she was 13 or 14years old), still living with her parents in a small town with all her relatives & friends. If she consents to this, she\u2019s got to go tell her mom and dad, she\u2019s got to tell Joseph, she\u2019s got to tell her community that she\u2019s pregnant. And her story is that there was this angel, and her child is the Messiah. So\u2026 surprise! It\u2019s a miracle!<\/p>\n
Biology wasn\u2019t any different back then than it is now. Nobody is going to buy it.<\/p>\n
This is actually a common situation for cultures that still practice arranged marriages. A young boy & girl fall in love, but she\u2019s given to another man to marry. The two sneak out to spend one night together, and she turns up pregnant.<\/p>\n
It was so common in Mary\u2019s day that they had a whole procedure for it in the law. If Mary did not claim to have been forcibly violated, and if Joseph did not claim the child as his own, then she would be put on trial for adultery and could be executed.<\/p>\n
Joseph, we are told, was planning to divorce her quietly, which would leave her destitute. Even if Joseph claimed the child and stood by Mary (which he did only after a dream), she would never lead a normal life. Her family & friends would never look at her the same way. She would be shamed, humiliated, even ostracized. Joseph\u2019s integrity would be called into question. Her baby would be called, a mamzer<\/em>\u2026 an illegitimate child. He could be excluded from the temple, from Jewish ceremonies.<\/p>\n
So, when the Angel said, \u201cYou will conceive a child by the Holy Spirit,\u201d Mary\u2019s life as she knew it was over, and yet she didn\u2019t even hesitate.<\/p>\n
So, why did she do it?<\/p>\n
Would you have done it if you were in her place?<\/p>\n
One could say that Mary saw an angel. That\u2019s cheating. That\u2019s a metaphysical trump card. Remember, though, how Zechariah saw an angel too, & he doubted. He went mute for nine months. So, why did Mary say yes, given all that meant for her?<\/p>\n
Scot McKnight is a New Testament scholar & author. He wrote a book called The Real Mary<\/em>, he said the reason is,<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she knew God. She knew from the pages of her people\u2019s history that the God of Israel was a merciful God who would look after her. She knew the stories about other women who were threatened in Jewish history who were protected by God.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s been about ten years since Scot McKnight wrote The Real Mary<\/em>. I sent him an email last week, asking if he\u2019s learned anything new, or noticed anything new over that time. He said two things. First, he lamented the fact that most Evangelicals still don\u2019t get what an amazing figure Mary is. Anti-Catholicism blocks interest in her, and we miss out. Second, he said he is struck by the fact that, in his words, \u201cMary & Joseph began to suffer for Jesus before he was even born\u2014that in itself is worth knowing and contemplating.\u201d<\/p>\n
The shaming Mary and Joseph would face from their community would\u2019ve been rough. It makes me think of that great Walter Brueggemann line, \u201cMost of us are willing to die for Jesus. We just don\u2019t want to be inconvenienced.\u201d Her life would be more than just an inconvenience from here on out.<\/p>\n
Maybe that\u2019s why Mary set out to go see her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth was way past childbearing age, yet she was as pregnant as could be, carrying John the Baptist. When Mary walked in, Elizabeth broke into her own little song, \u201cBlessed are you among women; blessed is the fruit of your womb.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then comes one of the most famous songs in all of history. This song, believe it or not, is way bigger than Hey Jude!<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cMy 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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s not exactly, \u201chush little baby don\u2019t say a word,\u201d is it? He has scattering the proud? He will bring down the powerful from their thrones? Who is Mary talking about? Herod the Great? Caesar? Within the year Herod would order her son\u2019s death. They had to flee to Egypt. Caesar\u2019s man, Pilate, would put Mary\u2019s son to death. How does a meek little girl from Nazareth write this song?<\/p>\n
If you know your psalms you know this song has its basis in Psalm 35, \u201cMy soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit has found gladness in God my Savior.\u201d Mary obviously knows this verse. In fact she probably knew most of the Psalms by heart. Her education would have involved memorizing all or most of the Psalms. Scholars tell us that in her short song there are dozens of illusions to Old Testament Scriptures.<\/p>\n
The Torah, the Psalms & the Prophets had shaped Mary\u2019s imagination. So when she sang her song, she sang about the God she had come to know & believe in through the scriptures. She was longing to see the Redemption of Israel, & she believed God would look out for her.<\/p>\n
Mary made a theological leap here, and she was actually the first human to ever make it. She was convinced that what God had promised in the prophets was coming to fruition. Her son would be Messiah. And if Jesus was going to be king, then Herod was going to go down.<\/p>\n
This was going to be a very different life than she imagined.<\/p>\n
So when she said, \u201cLet it be unto me according to your word,\u201d it was a stunning act of submission\u2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s interesting to think about the reaction of all the players in the story. Everyone was amazed, they marveled at what was said. The angels sang. The shepherds quaked. The wise men followed. Herod fumed. But Mary, we are told, \u201ctreasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
We usually hear that in a sentimental way\u2014like she was knitting him a blankey. The words used here are a technical description that is typically used in reference to the prophets. The Word of God comes to the prophet, and the prophet ponders it. The Word becomes joined to their soul, and then they bring that word to the people.<\/p>\n
This is exactly what Mary is doing. Mary was given the Word, joined to the word, and brought the word to the people. Through Mary, the word became flesh & dwelt among us. Mary is the preeminent prophet of the New Testament.<\/p>\n
Her life is so much more than just a cute story. Mary teaches us what it means to submit our lives to God. It\u2019s not just Home, Home, Home, Home\u2026 there\u2019s always an Away section.<\/p>\n
When called upon by God, Mary\u2019s answer was, \u201cMay it be unto me\u2026 your word.\u201d<\/p>\n
What will your answer be?<\/p>\n
If we could have Mary here as a guest speaker, and she told her story\u2014and think how incredible that would be\u2014she would wrap up her message by presenting us a challenge. \u201cThe question I want to leave you with,\u201d she would say, \u201cis: what wants to be born into the world thru you?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a good question.<\/p>\n
Over the past few years, there\u2019s a particular song about Mary that I have fallen in love with: It\u2019s called O Magnum Mysterium<\/em>\u2026 (start song \u2013 translating as we listen).<\/p>\n