Courage

Luke 1:46-55

I like the Magnificat for many, many reasons. Magnificat is a word in latin for the first word of Luke 1:46-55 when it is read from its latin translation: Magnificat anima mea, or “My soul magnifies the Lord.” And it is a song--one of the reasons I love it as a church musician! This text in scripture is frequently composed for choir, and my advent experience is not personally complete without this text being uttered in one way or another.

I particularly love the very, very old plainchant versions of this text. In our more ancient traditions, the magnificat was a text that was always uttered during the Evensong services which is the second to last service of prayer in the day that held other times of prayer that those who lived monastically would observe--and is a service our Catholic/Anglican Christian siblings still observe today.

In many communities, they sang these texts in plainchant--which is haunting, beautiful, and peaceful to hear and/or sing. One of my favorite composers of this text to plainchant is a remarkable woman from the 12th century named Hildegard von Bingen--she was a benedictine Abbess, founding monasteries in Germany at that time, she also composed music for the organ, and wrote about botany, theology, and medicine.

She is also a mother of brewing beer --and is one of the first people in human history to innovate the use of hops with malt to create a fermented beverage, "bier" that was healthier to drink than untreated water. So, basically another reason I, a choral-conducting and homebrewing pastor, love this amazing woman who is a profound and often unsung hero of our christian history.

Being unsung heroes happens to women a lot in our Christian tradition, doesn't it?! I grew up with an understanding of Mary being, essentially, a passive participant in Jesus' arrival to creation. But Mary was far from passive, and the Magnificat text is a perfect example of this.

Long before Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah to his hometown to preach liberation for the oppressed in Luke chapter 4, his mother was singing out words of justice while he was in utero in Luke chapter 1:

"…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."

We protestants could learn a few things from our Roman Catholic siblings about honoring Mary. Their own problematic teachings about women in ordained ministry aside, they venerate Mary; and so do our Eastern Orthodox siblings who name her "theotokos," or, "mother of God."

Mary's life was repeatedly in danger throughout her journey of giving birth to Jesus and raising him. From the danger of being exposed as pregnant before her betrothed, Joseph, was married to her--to trekking 90 miles on foot to be counted in an imperial census while pregnant and giving birth among livestock--to fleeing Bethlehem to Egypt to protect her son from the genocide of all boys under 2 years of age by King Herod. Mary had unbelievable courage.

So when we look at Jesus' life, I think we can clearly see where his courage came from. It didn't come solely from being the son of God--Jesus was also courageous because he was a momma's boy! Let's give Mary her due, and consider how we might give due to many in our midst today who have wisdom, courage, and competence we might not expect from them.