Christmas Songs
Christmas caroling is meaningful to almost everyone who goes because as Will Ferrell observed in the movie Elf, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” Some of us are not great singers, but people don’t seem to mind too much (except for the folks in our group who actually know what a musical key is as opposed to a key that opens a door). I feel kind of badly for them. We’ve sung to patients who have Alzheimer’s who remember so little yet they can recall the words to the songs they learned as children. We got to sing with and visit a number of folks from our church including Warren Peterson, Janet Graham, Carol Foresman, Betty Linnell, Ann Rahte, Charlie Griffin, Howie Strum, Lynn Van Hoeven, Betsy Clarke and Jean Hopkins as well as many residents and staff at Epoch, Pleasant Bay, and The Woodlands. Inevitably when we go caroling I find myself thinking about the folks we sang to last year who are spending their first Christmas singing in heaven.
December 23, 2012
Luke 1:39-55, Christmas Songs
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
[vimeo 56244937 w=500&h=375]
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Singing is something that is so associated with Christmas – whether it’s going caroling or the Who’s down in Whoville (the tall and the small) or driving in your car singing those brilliant, deep, soul stirring songs like Dominick the Donkey or I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas (Only a hippopotamus will do Don’t want a doll, no dinky Tinker Toy, I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy…) In the Gospel of Luke there is singing associated with the birth of Jesus and not just from the angels heralding Jesus’ birth. Months before that, Elizabeth and Mary both end up breaking into songs of praise to God when they greet each other and learn that both are expecting to give birth to a son. Listen to Luke 1:39- 55, “In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43
And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
“And Mary said, “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. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; 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. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
In Luke 1:39-55 we meet two women (actually three) who, moved by the Spirit, raise their voices in praise of God. First is Elizabeth, cousin of Mary, wife of Zechariah (a temple priest in Jerusalem), and mother of John the Baptist. Elizabeth was, like her ancestors Sarah (Genesis) and Hannah (1 Samuel), unable to have children; until the unexpected birth of John. Elizabeth is not just important because of her family relationships, however. When she greets her pregnant cousin Mary she is filled with the Holy Spirit, and “exclaimed with a loud cry … ” This phrase in Greek means to shout as though one is using a mega-phone, literally a “big” or “mega” voice. This is how Elizabeth speaks a prophetic word to Mary, and to us — in what we might call today her “outdoor” voice.
Second is Mary (we actually meet her first, but her song comes second): cousin of Elizabeth, wife of Joseph, mother of Jesus. Like Elizabeth, Mary is important for what she has to say, in addition to whose mother she is. Mary’s spiritual situation and words are very similar to those of her cousin Elizabeth. They each express their own song of faith praising God for moving in their lives.
Christmas is a time when God invites us, like Mary, to make a decision about the direction of our lives. Mary had faith that God’s promise to her would be fulfilled; that is what Elizabeth commends her for. Mary needed to trust God and so do we. Just as some of us like old songs at Christmas time, Mary’s song is patterned after the ancient song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and it’s a classical statement of God’s activity: God brings down the mighty and lifts up the lowly. Hannah, Mary, and Elizabeth all had to trust God in difficult circumstances and we are challenged to do the same. What Christmas song is the one you like or identify with most this year? What song are you singing?
Some of us may find it hard to trust God after the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut; it is simply beyond our comprehension how God can allow something like that to happen. But we can struggle with trust over issues smaller or less dramatic than that. Some of us have trouble trusting God if we’ve been in Elizabeth’s position – of years of waiting, hoping, and praying and not seeing an answer or getting an answer we didn’t really want.We may find it hard to trust after years of emptiness and seeming silence from God. “What have I received for my service, devotion, and prayers – there are still problems in my family, with health, with finances, God why haven’t you done something?” Sometimes it’s like we’re holding one piece of a puzzle and wondering why it doesn’t seem to make sense to us. God had something special planned for Elizabeth and Zechariah in their old age which enabled them to be a blessing to the world in a way they couldn’t have imagined when they were younger. Sometimes people think life has passed them by or that they have already made their greatest contribution, but like Elizabeth and Zechariah God may surprise you when you’re older with a very significant contribution to make. And we still remember Elizabeth’s song of praise all these years later.
Some of us may identify with Mary. She is a young woman with hopes and goals of her own, but God gives her an opportunity to be the instrument of tremendous blessing to the world. But it means changing her goals and expectations and trusting God. God invites her to something unheard of and unexpected. For Mary, following God’s plan requires being vulnerable to having her own heart and hopes pierced which is true not only of her but of all parents.
Mary stays with her older relative Elizabeth for three months and then goes home, presumably after Elizabeth gives birth to John. What a joyous time it must have been for those two women. What mother has not waited for the first stirrings of a child? The joy of Mary and Elizabeth is the joy of all who look forward with wonder and thankfulness to the birth of a child – even as we do at this time of the year. Joy is peaked by waiting. Just ask a child in these last days before Christmas.
Joy is a recurring theme throughout Luke’s Gospel. The joy bursting forth in the angel’s visits and announcements and the births of John and Jesus is heard and seen again in the joy of forgiveness, healing, new beginnings, redemption, and the transformation that we see in those who trust Jesus. The Gospel ends with the disciples returning to Jerusalem with joy and praising God in the Temple.
Our response to God’s sending Jesus to save us and to save the world, is one of joy. Elizabeth praises God and blesses Mary for two reasons: She’s been chosen to be the mother of Jesus. She’s believed the word of God. We can be thankful that Jesus came for our sake and we also can believe that God’s word is trustworthy.
How are you feeling as we approach Christmas? John Lennon’s song Happy Christmas, begins:
“So this is Christmas and what have you done
Another year over And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones The old and the young.”
Christmas is a good time to reflect on how we have invested the last irreplaceable year of our life – what have we done with it? A new year will begin soon – what will we do with it? Like Mary and Elizabeth, what is God longing to birth and bring to life in and through you if you will only believe? What song captures your hopes for Christmas and the coming year?
And so this is Christmas: A time of angels and dreams and mystery.
A time of reversals and surprises. A time to believe and trust and dare to say yes to the Mighty One whose name is holy.
A time to remember the words of Mary’s song, whether we like them all or not, that God opposes the proud, the powerful, and the rich, and is on the side of the humble, lowly, and poor. A season in which a merciful God will helps us no matter who we are if we will only ask. Whether we are struggling with grief, emptiness, or pain; with finances, health, or hunger; or whether we’re grateful for the abundance of God’s blessings in our life, or some combination of all of the above; we can lift our voices in praise because God has sent Jesus for us.
One of my favorite songs at this time of year is, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day which is based on the poem Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow wrote the poem on Christmas Day, 1864 in the midst of the American Civil War after learning that his son Charles had been wounded in battle. It says in part, “And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
Each verse ends with the words “Peace on earth, good will to men.” One hundred and three years later, in 1967 when our nation was also engaged in war, as we are now, Stevie Wonder released the song Someday at Christmas. The hope expressed is similar to that spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, Mary, and by the 19th century American poet. The lyrics of freedom, peace, sufficiency, safety, hope, and love resonate all the more in light of the tragedies that continue to happen in our nation and around the world.
“Someday at Christmas men won’t be boys
Playing with bombs like kids play with toys
One warm December our hearts will see
A world where men are free
Someday at Christmas there’ll be no wars
When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life’s really worth
There’ll be peace on earth
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime
Someday at Christmas we’ll see a land
with no hungry children, no empty hands
One happy morning people will share
a world where people care
Someday at Christmas there’ll be no tears
All men are equal and no man has fears
One shining moment, my heart ran away
From our world today
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime
Someday at Christmas man will not fail
hate would be gone and love will prevail
Someday a new world that we can start
With hope in every heart
Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime
Someday at Christmastime
May God bless you with hope, joy, and peace this Christmas.