“WHEN IT’S GOOD NOT TO OBEY JESUS”



"FIRST CHRISTMAS CAROL"

December 11, 2016

Third Sunday of Advent

Joseph Andrew Slane

Southminster Presbyterian Church

Isaiah 35:1-10 Luke 1:46-55 James 5:7-12 Matthew 11:2-11

Grant, O God, that with Your servant, the Virgin Mary, we will receive Jesus in our bodies, that being filled with the living Christ other will see him in us and be led to magnify Your holy name. Amen.

There's a difference between Christmas carols and Christmas hymns.[i] What's the difference between a carol and a hymn?

Some contend a carol is a hymn which tells a story. For instance, today's final hymn, "Gentle Mary Laid Her Child Lowly in a Manger" was written by Joseph Cook to help children learn the story of how Mary came to be the mother of Jesus.[ii] On the other hand, "Creator of the Stars of Night" does not tell a story, but leads us to praise the child of Mary in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Therefore it's a hymn, not a carol.

Others contend Christmas carols are secular songs about the season, but not necessarily religious. For instance, "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle Bells" are carols, but not hymns.

Yet a third understanding of the difference will be experienced next Sunday in one of the most highly attended services at Southminster, the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. In that context, a carol describes what the choir sings and a hymn is what's sung by choir and congregation.

I contend all three definitions are met in what can be viewed as the first Christmas carol, the Magnificat, the Song of Mary. We heard it beautifully intoned by choir member Kimberly Green. It can also be sung by choir and congregation which we will experience following the sermon. So it meets the third definition.

Mary's Song is also a story, or at least a song born out of a story. Zechariah and Elizabeth learn they will be the parents of one who will prepare the way for the coming of Christ, namely John the Baptist. Next the Angel Gabriel appears to Mary who surrenders her life to God to become the mother of Jesus, the Christ. Then Mary goes away to visit her older relative Elizabeth. When the two women meet, Elizabeth exclaims to Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy." Then Mary responds to Elizabeth by proclaiming what the church calls the Magnificat, the Latin term for a word which occurs in the very first line of the song, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

Only with the story is Mary's Song pregnant with power. The Magnificat can be viewed as the first Christmas carol because it meets all three criteria: it can be sung by choir and congregation, and it tells the story of the birth of the Savior of the world. And while Mary's song is clearly religious, it's also extremely secular.

The Magnificat is not a lullaby. It's a revolutionary freedom song. Mary praises God who brings down the powerful and lifts up the lowly, the God who feeds the hungry with good things and lifts up the oppressed.

Mary announces the best way to help all people is to give special attention to the poor and impoverished. That's also the theme of Jesus' ministry. The Magnificat makes poverty not just a matter of economics and politics, but a strong religious issue as well.

Because of the witness of Mary and her Son, the church has always led the way in the development of social service agencies, hospitals, food banks, and homeless shelters. With the emphasis on justice Mary's Song is secular - in the best sense of the word.

The first Christmas carol, the Magnificat acquired deeper meaning for me some years ago when I attended a Bible and Preaching Conference in Virginia. The Bible study leader was Dr. Buzz Myers. How would you liked to be called Dr. Buzz? That's how people addressed this respected professor from Gettysburg College.

Leading a study on the story when the Angel Gabriel appears to the Virgin, Dr. Myers - or Dr. Buzz - noted how we Protestants have often overlooked the importance of Mary. He pointed out how all the letters of Paul present the theme of Christ living in us. Then he asked, "Do you realize Mary was the very first person to bear Christ in her body?"[iii] His question awakened me to this truth: Mary was the first person to receive Christ. In that sense, Mary really was the first Christian.

Over the thirty-five years of our marriage Krista gave me a collection of ceramic plaques made at a Benedictine monastery in California. They are all displayed in a hallway in our home.

I usually pray standing in front of those plaques most mornings. Partly because of that conference I began to give greater attention to this one. I've used some others as visual aids before, but never this one.

It's Mary, Joseph and the child fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod's persecution. When I'm able to be still and really listen, I sense Mary saying something like this: "Here, I give you Jesus. Receive him. He is your life, your all in all."

I wish I listened to Mary more frequently and with greater intensity. She has so much to offer us. We do not worship the Virgin Mary, but in the communion of saints she helps us say "yes" to God and receive Jesus in our bodies!

That's why celebrating Holy Communion is so important. Receiving Jesus in our bodies through Word and Sacrament is the heartbeat of Mary's witness. When that happens, we will give birth to great love.

My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior: in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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[i] Southminster's Director of Music Ministry, Dr. Larry Hardin, and organist, David Renaker, helped me understand the different definitions. I also consulted the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Oxford Press, 1976, page 76.

[ii] Presbyterian Hymnal Companion, Westminster John Knox Press, 1993, pages 36-37.

[iii] My recollection of the Bible study led by Dr. Buzz Myers was aided by my friend Betty Rice, who took excellent notes at the conference.

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