Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Luke 1:46-55; Psalm 85
December 6, 2020
James Kornelsen
Reflection on the Magnificat
We lit the candle of Peace today, and when we think of Peace, we might think of tranquility, quiet, rest, stillness, safety, security…all of these can describe peace. However, we especially recognize peace in times of conflict, disquiet, unrest, insecurity, or uncertainty. The story of Mary, a young girl and her song, actually hints at a revolutionary activity that God is doing through the meek and lowly (or so they seem); but remember her context is one of empire and occupation. Mary, the young girl, knows that the news she heard about herself is going to be about revolution. Images of Mary as a docile or empty vessel through which God delivers Jesus the Christ don’t really fit for me. Meekness is not necessarily passivity. Remember, Mary is the mother of Jesus, who becomes a revolutionary—provokes the top leadership, speaks out on behalf of the disenfranchised, openly challenges social norms, and breaks laws that are unjust. He does this from a place of deep peace and inner quiet. Mary mothers this person. She parents the revolutionary who would go on to say “blessed are the peacemakers”.
There are others I can think of who might just be a little bit like Mary:
Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban after publicly speaking out about her fight to protect girls’ education. After surviving the attack, she went on to share her story around the world.
Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Cree woman and indigenous activist, wrote the song Universal Soldier when she was 23, proposing pacifism and challenging ideas about war.
Greta Thunberg was first pictured sitting alone outside Swedish parliament in a strike that she hoped would raise alarms among lawmakers. She spurred an international movement of students striking to demand action on climate change.
A German-born Jewish girl who moved to the Netherlands during the Nazi regime, Anne Frank influenced generations after the publication of the diary she kept while hiding from the Gestapo. After her family was discovered and arrested, Frank died at a camp in 1945 at the age of 15.
Amid the upheaval into which these people shared their beliefs and ideals, they had to have come into them from a place of deep inner peace: security, confidence, I think Mary’s story fits with these, not just because of who she gave birth to, but because of who she was.
God visits us at times and gives us news about great things. We may not recognize it, or be recognized for it. If you are like me, you feel the lack of that divine peace when faced with challenging circumstances. Let us pray for that peace to fill us while we live in times of change and revolution. Let’s celebrate when we recognize it in others. And let’s hear Mary’s song one more time, and let’s recognize her in new and revolutionary ways.
[BADEN reads while James shares images]
I’m bursting with God-news;
I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I’m the most fortunate young woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.