The most politically dangerous Christmas carol
by: Dave Belden on December 22nd, 2009 | 11 Comments »
I love a column by John Ortberg in last week’s Christian Century about the song of praise that Mary sang when she was told by an angel that she would bear the son of God. I wanted to link to it for this Christmas week, but it’s one of their few articles not online. Then I found this sermon, “That Mary Sure Could Sing,” that quotes Ortberg’s piece and riffs off it. Here are the opening lines from Ortberg’s piece, followed by some quotes from the sermon.
The greatest Christmas carol in history was not written by Irving Berlin or Nat King Cole. The greatest carol is not “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” or “White Christmas” or even “Silent Night.”
The greatest carol was composed 2,000 years ago by a pregnant teenage girl who was visiting her cousin Elizabeth. After Elizabeth pronounced a blessing, Mary poured out her song.
New Testament scholar Scott McKnight notes that in the 1980s the government of Guatemala banned this song, or prayer, as it’s also called. Unlike “Away in a Manger,” this prayer was apparently considered subversive, politically dangerous. Authorities worried that it might incite the oppressed people to riot.
Mary begins with words of praise and gratitude, then goes on to note that God has brought down rulers from their thrones.
And here is the end of Doug Murray‘s sermon:
Many expectant mothers-to-be love to play music and to sing to the babies that are growing inside them. They vow and declare that their children are born with that music planted in their hearts. “Yep, no wonder my boy loves Springsteen so much, that’s all we played while I was carrying him. Why, in the delivery room when the doctor slapped his rump, he started singing “Born in the U.S.A. …”
Well, think of Mary carrying the baby Jesus in her womb, singing her song to him over and over…
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…He has brought down the ruler, but lifted up the humble;
He has filled the hungry, but sent the rich away emptyAnd think of Mary raising that boy, teaching him how it angers God when people are selfish or violent, or when rich people watch poor people go hungry and do nothing, or when the powerful push around the weak because they can get away with it. (Ortberg)
No wonder then that Jesus learned to sing this song himself, in his own way. No wonder, when he began his work as the Messiah, that he began with these words:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives…to let the oppressed go free,
To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (from Luke 4: 18-19)And when it came time to complete his ministry and take up his cross, and Jesus prayed to God, “not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42b), where do you think he got that? From his mother, who long ago had said: “I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to his word.” (Luke 1:38) It was part of the song she had begun to sing long ago while she carried Jesus in her womb.
CONCLUSION
That Mary sure could sing…
She was the woman who was anointed to sing the greatest Christmas carol
And Herod was the king who was terrified to hear it,
and so has every unjust ruler ever since has been terrified to hear it
And Jesus, he was Mary’s Son who learned to sing it;
he was the Messiah who came to finish it.
Well, not everyone (including myself) agrees about the last line, there, but I believe we can all — atheists, believers, Jews, Christians and people of other religions — agree that this vision of lifting up the humble and feeding the hungry is the one we long for to become reality. And let’s not forget the innumerable people who do make it a reality every day by the work they do.
LOVELY, THANKS SOOOOOOO MUCH………HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND LOVE AND BEST WISHES FOR 2010….
Tony Roeber
I have added this article to my saved list on Tikkun Daily.
Mary (actually she would not have responded to that name–she was known as Miriam) was singing themes that were part of her Jewish heritage, both from the book of Isaiah and from the book of Psalms. Consider, for example, the last part of Psalm 113 (one of the 6 psalms that Miriam would have heard sung every New Moon and every Jewish Festival): Psalm 113
1 Praise the LORD. [a]
Praise, O servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
2 Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.
4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
8 he seats them with princes,
with the princes of their people.
9 He settles the barren woman in her home
as a happy mother of children.
Praise the LORD.
God is the Force of Healing and Transformation–YHVH–and His goal is to shake up the class structure so that the poor and the needy are equally rewarded with the princes. Think it can’t happen? Well, the psalm continues, God even can change the physical laws, so that those who are barren can become pregnant and have children. That, of course, was the story of Sarah, the Mother of the Jewish people, when she got pregnant at age 80. And the story of Hannah who gave birth to Samuel. Nor is that Transformative Power confined to childbirth. The very next psalm, 114, also part of the Hallel prayers said on each New Moon and each Jewish Festival, talks of how, in bringing the Children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery, God caused the mountains to skip like rams, and the river to change its direction (to allow the slaves to pass through).
In short, Mary’s “Christmas Carol” was a typical Jewish song that made great sense to the Jewish people as they faced the increasing oppression of Roman occupation. Christian Palestinians today may be singing these same psalms and thinking of the newest oppressor in the area–those Jews who occupy the West Bank and who have devastated Gaza. I wonder if there are comparable songs or psalms in the liturgy of Islam.
The Magnificat
awakens the souls who read it. thanks much for this exquiste meditation, and that of the Rabbi’s to follow.
BTW if the minster was actually familiar with bruce Springsteen, he would realize that the message of his music minstery is just in full harmony with the song of Mary.
Thanks for this beautiful, wonder-full meditation…it will nourish all the way to the Epiphany! Thanks again, Hope
Dave, My favorite piece of music is Bach’s “Magnificat.” I have to admit, it’s mostly because of the exquisite setting of this text, but the words also move me. And I love the way Doug Murray makes clear that Mary/Miriam was instrumental in Jesus’ ministry to the poor and humble. Whether you see her as the Mother of God or as the Mother of the Messiah or as the Mother of a man who changed the world, Mary sang the same tune as her son.
Why should an atheist agree with the Mary’s sentiment?
What about atheist should incline anyone in any political direction except perhaps towards those regimes that protect atheists?
Would Ayn Rand agree?
Would Joseph Stalin agree?
Rev. Al Carmines, in his CHRISTMAS RAPPINGS has put Mary’s Song to music. Anyone who has not heard it, should find it and listen to it. CHRISTMAS RAPPINGS has played for 40 years in New York City during the holidays.
My understanding from my Scripture studies was that this Christian hymn from the first century was put into Mary’s mouth by the writers of Scripture. Whether she sang it or not is questionable.
Biblical Scholars and Cultural Anthropologists consider The Magnificat of Miriam authentic as it was found in other texts not included in the New Testament and reflects the sentiment of the poor among the Jews during the Roman Occupation. It is a wonderful and empowering prayer as well as inspirational. It is one I take to heart whenever I think of how the marginalized are treated in this world today, even here in The Land of the Free.
To quote some contemporary poets: Greg Lake and Jeremy(?) Sinfeld, to all I say:
I wish you a hopeful Christmas,
I wish you a brave New Year.
All anguish, pain and sadness,
Leave your heart and may your road be clear!
Let us carry the message of The Magnificat into this coming year and help make it a year of healing and salvation, not a year of more pain, death and destruction.
Can an Atheist agree with what the Magnificat says? I think so.
The message of compassion and change is not just for believers.
It is for all.
Pax vobiscum,
John Davis
the better we’ve learned, the easier it is to dream for the best
whether we sing it or pray it
dance it or play it
the words often cause disputes
but the hope is
it’s the same dream in everyone
no matter how it sings or sounds, or whether it’s historical references are complete or misinterpreted, distorted or well intended….Motive counts; actions speak louder than words, etc. etc. etc.
What can be more perfect but perfection
everything else we must accept as being a bit less
and we need (want) to improve it
therein begins our differences…..But we ought to never stop wishing and trying, reforming and healing….