Mary’s Song; God’s Refrain
Luke 1: 46-56
I want to talk fast food with you. Just to make this a bit more fun and interactive, I want you to type in your favourite Fast Food joint. It doesn’t have to be a Canadian one or even one in Canada. Go ahead…
One of the discoveries I made when immigrating to this continent is that there are a whole lot more fast food outlets here than on the African continent. Especially in America. And so, I remember my first Tim Hortons, A & W and Cora’s breakfast in Canada but also my first Taco Bell and Jack in the Box, Sloppy Joe in America. Not to mention that lovely cheap Costco hot dogs. Fast food is how I ensure that my body won’t outlast my pension.
Today I want to talk to you about a specific diner, an American one I have never been to. It called “Waffle House”. Who of you have been to a Waffle House in the states? They are concentrated in the South of America. One of their claims to fames is that they are open 24/7, 365 days of the year. It must be the reason why they do not really advertise. Now who frequents Waffle House? The best answer would be to say ordinary people. Labourers that work early shifts. Bikers. Loners. Long haul Truckers. Lovers. Writers. Struggling artists. Ordinary, salt of the earth people. Many of them. Two percent of all eggs consumed in the USA are consumed in Waffle House(s).
One of the things Jesus does in our lives, he makes us love ordinary people. He makes us see their value. He also makes us see our value as ordinary people. He makes us treat ordinary people with respect and sometimes He even makes us love doing good things for ordinary people. He makes us realize that all people are ordinary people love extraordinarily by God. God chose a very ordinary person to be a vessel of one of the greatest miracles the world has ever seen. Mary was one the of kind that, had she lived today, one would probably find her in a Waffle House. The message of Jesus was perceived bad news to the ruler Herod. It made him feel threatened. It was good news to wise men from far away, shepherds and to young Mary.
It was such good news to ordinary Mary that she instantly became a songwriter. This song that she sang to Elizabeth…its speculated that she probably sang it as a lullaby to Jesus in the womb and later in the crib. We tend to skip over it. We tend to leave Mary for the Catholics, but we miss out if we skip over this song because she created it under guidance of the Holy Spirit, and it contains gems of theological reflection that must have far exceeded her education at the time.
Now in a highly creative way, Leonard Sweet has linked this song to the hash browns served at the Waffle House in a way that makes it easy to remember. Let me explain. You see, at a Waffle House you can get hash browns with your breakfast, but you can order it either Covered, Chunked, Scattered, Topped or Smothered. And this song of Mary describes God’s actions in a similar fashion…Our God is one known by verbs, by what He does.
God Covers…
Mary testifies about the effect God has had on her soul and spirit. It is like she is saying that God so covered her with his goodness and mercy that He seeped right into her innermost being. It makes me think of a story about Mecca. At Mecca you are not allowed to point the underside of your foot in a certain direction because that direction is believed to be the direction where God is in. I don’t know if you perhaps remember how when Sadam Hussein’s Statue was toppled you saw people hitting it with their shoes. It is a sign of disrespect to point the bottom of your shoe or foot to someone in the ancient near east to this day. They once found a man and was horrified to see that he laid on his back with his feet pointing in the very direction God and Mecca was in. They reprimanded him but the man calmly replied: “Show me a place where God is not present, and I will point my feet in that direction”. Psalms sing of God’s goodness covering the earth. When we read that God covers us, it is so much more than an insurance policy promising that we will never suffer or feel bad. It is an assurance policy by which we know that nothing can separate us from his love and that his goodness rather than our own mistakes or lowliness will have the last say.
It is funny how when you see a parent lovingly covering a child, it reminds you of God automatically. Yes,we cannot cover people to the extent god does but when we cover a child or just somebody’s back, we embody the God we serve. Insurance can cover you for only so much. Even a vaccine can cover you for but one virus. But God can cover your whole being and saturate your being. We often hear the words: “Don’t let it get to you”. People say it when something bad happens. It is a way to encourage people to not let the bad seep inside their souls and eat away at it until only cynicism is left. The thing is that is only possible if God covers you and seeps into you more deeply than the bad stuff.
God covers us. Our community of faith is one way in which He does that. You are covered. He has your back.
God Chunks…
In verse 50 Mary says that Gods mercy extends from generation to generation. She realizes that God has one coherent big plan but that that plan is stretched out or if you will, chunked up between generations and people. In all the things she mentions about God in this song, this one might be the most difficult to remember and accept about God. We tend to want God’s plan the same size as our life and as our plans. Like Freddie Mercury sang: We want it all and we want it now. At least then as far as his plan for our lives go.
It is not how God works with people. Yes, we do have highlights where we feel super aware of God acting and breaking through, but everything does not happen instantly and all at once. God’s plan, even just for your own life, unfolds in chunks. Sometimes the chunks in which you experience God feels disconnected but in time they all come together in a way that astounds you. Keep faith. Make the most of every chunk that comes your way but also stay calm and patient in between them coming.
When it comes to studying methods there is a study method, they call chunking. Sometimes, it goes, chunking up huge volumes of the new is the only way to learn them all. I think God uses chunking to teach us how to eventually make sense of his big and awesome plans.
God Scatters
God scattering is mentioned in relation with Him scattering the prideful. It is possible, even highly likely, that one of the stories that Mary fed on while growing up and uttering this was the tower of Babel story where God scattered those who were to prideful. Some people and threats look overwhelmingly big and powerful. Too much for you to take on. Some are. The Roman Empire at the time sure looked like that. But God scatters. Somebody that is big today could be forgotten tomorrow. The next big thing seldom stays the biggest thing. To either tie your hope or fear to much on a single entity is not to reckon with a God who can scatters idols and enemies alike.
Interestingly enough, the new chapter Jesus wrote showed us that God not only scatters enemies but also his children. The story of the early church in Acts repeatedly tells how God’s children were scattered and spread throughout the world. The disciples that Jesus has called together and walked with each other so intimately are at the end send out away from each other to other people. When we are scattered it messes with our feeling of security, but it also makes us grow as we form new bonds and learn new contexts. One needs wings and roots. Sometimes God needs to clip our wings lest we become too full of pride. Sometimes God needs to prune our roots lest we suck up all that was meant to give others life. And when he scatters his children, they remain connected through faith. Us being scattered doesn’t destroy our unity.
God Topples and Topps
This one is much like the previous scattering. There is a upside down dynamic in God’s kingdom where the first are last and the last are first. And this is a wonderful thing for it gives those without power hope and it keeps those in power humble and mindful of the plight of those without power. When I walk the streets of Whalley and see homeless people whose circumstances and status are commonly viewed as much lower than mine, I always try to ask myself what I would appreciate from a person in my position f I were homeless.
What makes Job such an inspiring character in the Bible was that he did not only want to have something to do with God when he was on top. He also sang God’s praises when he was at the bottom. Even though he also questioned, struggled with, and protested God’s ways as he was down and out. If you are at the top right now, enjoy it and thank God. But be humble. God gave and He can also take away. If you are at the bottom remain hopeful. You wouldn’t be the first one God scooped up from the bottom and took to the top. He loves doing just that.
God Smothers
To smother is an interesting concept. Yes, it could mean to stop life giving airflow to lungs. But it could also be referred to as something positive. In this sense it would mean to overwhelm something or someone with something pleasant. Mary sings that God does not only feed the hungry. He fills them. The rich aren’t only made to pay taxes, they go away empty handed which shouldn’t be seen as God being against the wealthy because their empty hands then can become again the hungry reaching hands God could fill once more. Elton John sang about the circle of life. Maybe what I describe here is the circle of grace.
God being God in your life can feel like the positive kind of smothering, but it could also feel like the suffocating kind of smothering. Like I said who Mary was about to give birth to, wasn’t received as good news by all. So, if you experience Gods acts as overwhelming and life giving in the positive sense, it means God has done something inside of you to make your receptive and responsive to his acts. The joy of noticing God act is a gift. A gift that makes one want to sing.
The life that Jesus gives is wonderful, but it also feels like dying. The old dying making space for the new can be an immensely painful process. I think it might be what we are experiencing as a society at this point in history. When Jesus enters, new things begin but also old thing we have come used to and learned to depend on wither away. This process makes us better human beings.
Close
In the midst of the monotone and dreariness of Roman occupation, an arid climate and much hopelessness, the knowledge of Jesus being on His way to enter this world put a song in a woman’s heart. This song was new and fresh as it came from Mary. But it turned out to be God’s refrain. He still Covers, chunks, scatters, topples and smothers. And because he does, ordinary people like you and I can find nourishment, encouragement and meaning to live lives that bring honor and Glory to God.
Die lewe is ‘n lied, sing geliefde sing.
Amen