"The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Advent is a season of the coming of joy into this world and into our lives. The good news of Jesus’ birth brought great joy in the hearts of the shepherds. Internal joy is not dependent on external elements. It does not depend on the gifts we give or the gifts we find under the tree. Material things can never give us complete joy. The source of joy that flooded the hearts of the shepherds, the angels, the wise men, the hosts of heaven, and Mary and Joseph was not from this world. They were all full of joy in spite of the circumstances around them.
Luke’s gospel starts with five important songs related to Christ’s birth. They are: Elizabeth’s Song or Benedicta (1:42-45), Mary’s Song or Magnificat also called canticle of Mary(1:46-55), Zechariah’s song or Benedictus (1:68-79) at the birth of John the baptist, the angels singing Gloria (2:14) at the birth of Jesus, and Simeon’s prayer known as the Nunc Dimittis (2:29-32) when Jesus was presented at the temple.
Mary’s song or the Magnificat is considered to have a special place in the worship of the church. Many churches include this prayer in their worships as a reading every Sunday. Bible commentator William Barclay wrote, "Magnificat is the most revolutionary document in the world.” It takes “the standards of the world and turns them upside down.” Barclay teaches that in the Magnificat, there are three revolutions: “an economic revolution; a political revolution; and a moral revolution.” Martin Luther said that the Magnificat “comforts the lowly and terrifies the rich.”
Barclay said It has the power to transform individuals that he called it is “revolutionary power.” During the time of British rule in India, The East India Company banned the singing of the Magnificat in church services in India. The Bishop of Canterbury wrote, "It’s a revolutionary canticle that may cause the Indian nationalists to revolt against the British rule".
Mary’s song describes a new divine order that totally changes the order of things that we are used to. God takes that which is on the bottom and places them on the top. In the kingdom of God, everything is upside down in comaprison with the system of the world. God revolutionizes the way we think, the way we act, and the way we live. Living in this world, most are impressed with money, power, status and education. We are impressed with beauty, bucks and brains. But God revolutionizes all of that and turns them upside down. The poor are put on the top; the rich are put on the bottom. The Magnificat clearly tells us of God’s compassion for the economically poor. The poetry of the words in the Magnificat is beautiful and the words are lovely. God regards or respects the poor, exalts the poor, feeds the poor, helps the poor, remembers the poor. When God’s Spirit comes into our hearts, we too have a renewed compassion and response to the poor and the needy.
In that same chapter in Luke, we hear the story that God chose a poor girl Mary, to be the mother of Jesus. God did not choose the beauty queen or a millionnaire's daughter. God exalted a servant girl from a country side to be the mother of the Savior of the world.
Mary's Canticle is a song of rejoicing in the middle of doubts, uncertainty and anxiety. It is a celebration of her soul’s joy. What would make you celebrate without inhibitions and full of triumph? May be when you become engaged, or became a dad or a mom, or a grandmom or granddad. Perhaps it would be the news that someone close to you who had been very sick was getting better and would soon be home. Perhaps it would be seeing that the pandemic that threatens our lives is finally getting under control with the vaccine. Perhaps it would be the message that all your money worries, or business worries, had been sorted out and you could relax. Perhaps it would be the telephone call to say that you had been offered the job you always wanted. To some it may be a box of chocolates, or bowl or ice cream.
To some others, it may be getting straight green lights in a row while driving. I had to travel 28 miles one way every day to work for a few years. I had to pass 32 traffic lights. I used to count every green light that I get. Every day, I would pray to get more green lights than the day before. Some days, I felt like they make only red lights. One day, out of the blue, I got all 32 lights green. I was so elated and excited, I wanted to get out and dance in the street. Whatever it might be, you would do things you normally would not. You might dance around, or throw your shirt in the air, or just scream aloud. Mary's song is such an expression of an enthusiastic, excited, and exuberant expression of supreme joy.
When the angel Gabriel told Mary that she was going to conceive and bear the Son of God (1:31), her life has changed forever. The news was shocking to her that she was bearing a baby when she was betrothed to Joseph. He was trying to divorce her to avoid problems for him and for her, because the Jewish custom would punish her with death. I am sure that Mary and her family had gone through a lot of stress and decision making. When we are called to take up a higher calling, there will be a lot of stress. There will be doubts, questions and even resistance. I am sure Mary had the same situation. She asked the angel, “how can it be?” The angel came with the most inconvenient message to Mary and Joseph at the most inconvenient time for them. Why didn’t God send this message before she was betrothed or engaged? Or Why did not God wait until after she was married? So often we think that inconveniences cannot possibly be part of God's will. Afterall, God can do anything He wants. So if He is doing His will, then why does He allow such inconvenient things to get in the way? If there was ever an event which was the will of God, we know it should be the birth of the savior. But it happened in the middle of all sorts of inconveniences.
Finally, her family settled on the divine calling of Mary. Then Mary decided to take a break by going on a trip. The trip was to visit her relative Elizabeth who was also carrying a baby at her old age. The angel also told her that Elizabeth, her relative, had also conceived a son, and that she was in her sixth month of pregnancy (1:36). She probably thought it would be good to spend some time with her. So Mary arose and went with haste to visit Elizabeth (1:39). The meeting between the two relatives was a time of great joy and celebration. Elizabeth burst out singing the Benedicta, pronouncing blessing upon Mary. Mary responded with equal joy and elation by singing the Magnificat.
Mary began her song by expressing supreme joy and delight because of God’s condescension toward her. It is not about her, but about what God has done in her life. God is the subject of this song. She praised God that he took notice of her. She said in verse 47b, “For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” It is not the ruling Caesar or the rich or the religious leaders are the powerful. But God is the the Almighty. Joy comes when you recognize the source of ultimate power. Her is God is big and great. How big is your God? How powerful is your God? The angel told Mary that “Nothing is impossible for God.” We all can rejoice like Mary because God has chosen us to be his children. We can’t make any contribution to our salvation. It’s all of His mercy and grace. "His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation."
God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). "His Mercies never fail, they are new every morning." The Greek word used for NEW (chadash (khaw-dawsh') new -- fresh, new thing. ) is defined as “something that was never before.’ It is a brand new mercy every morning when you wake up. If you can count your age in days, (as Moses says in Psalm 90, “Teach us to count the days of our lives”), you can see how many new mercies you have already received. By the time a child is 10 years old, he/she would have received 3650 new and unique mercies, when you reach 18 years of age, you have experienced 6517. When you are 60 years old you have received over 21900 new mercies from God. Add the numbers every day. That's how God showers mercies are on you and me. Each day, we need a new mercy, because the life situation is different from yesterday. Someone wrote a little booklet titled, "Today's Mercies for Today's Troubles; Tomorrow's Mercies for Tomorrow's Troubles."
Mary rejoiced because there is hope for mankind. “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” The second part of this song is a prophetic testament that the coming of Jesus into the world is the fulfilment of God’s promises. Mary also understood God’s covenant with his people. She knew that God had spoken to her fathers, and in particular to Abraham. God had promised to make from Abraham’s spiritual seed a great nation that would be a blessing to the world. And now Mary saw that God was carrying out his covenant faithfulness in bringing the promised deliverer into the world through her. No wonder she was so filled with joy and excitement! We who believe in Jesus are now the family of God, and can call Abraham our ancestor.
It would be difficult to imagine Christmas without lights, good food; without new clothes, new shoes, new toys for the children, without parties; without merrymaking. So great is the emphasis upon merriment and the buying of gifts that we tend to forget the true message of Christmas. It is about rejoicing in the Spirit even in the middle of difficultuies as Mary sang: "My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." True joy enables us to face reality with hope, because we do so with the assurance that when God is working in our lives, even the things that cause us pain will bring blessings.
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