Mary’s Rebel Anthem
Greetings dear friends,
Merry Christmas! As I look back on the goodness of God to me this year, I also want to look forward. I pray you are strengthened as you join me in this reflection.
I encourage you to read Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55.
Mary’s Song is for the downcast, the exiled and oppressed. Mary’s song is all about reversals, and the status quo being turned upside down. The Magnificat, as this text is traditionally called, is indeed a rebels’ anthem. Mary’s Protest Song is the first Christmas Carol ever composed. These are the longest recorded words spoken by a woman in the whole of the New Testament.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Mary’s Song is a strong, relentless hymn about the toppling of the thrones and the humiliation of the lords of this world, about the power of God and the powerlessness of humankind.”
Throughout history, Mary’s song has been the cry of the downtrodden. These words have brought comfort in sorrow and glimpses of relief from the crushing web of evil people who mercilessly oppress the weak.
The revolutionary lyrics in Mary’s song can be frighteningly powerful. There was a time in India when the British rulers were so afraid these provocative words would inspire an uprising, that they banned the singing of Mary’s song. In the 1980s, the government of Guatemala banned Mary’s song from public recital.
In the late 1970’s the ruthless military dictatorship of Argentina, abducted, tortured and murdered up to 30,000 activists, many of whom were young people and university students. In protest, and defying laws prohibiting public gatherings, the mothers of the missing or deceased, would march silently through the city wearing their children's nappies (diapers) as headscarves. Then together with one voice, they would recite Mary’s Song. They became known as The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. Their voices brought international attention to the crisis, and triggered the downfall of the regime.
When Mary sang, she didn’t just name those promises but she also entered into them. Notice, that the verbs in Mary's song are all in the past tense. See for example, V.53, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, but he has sent the rich away empty.”
Mary knows these promises have not been accomplished, but she yearns for the day when Jesus, the baby she is carrying, will unmask and disarm the powers that in her time were driving unthinkable oppression of women and the poor. Mary’s song gives us hope too. More than two thousand years later, dictators and oppressors still rule much of the world. For many, evil seems unstoppable. Yet, the beauty of the Christmas story is this: The light has come, Jesus has come, darkness is defeated and that changes everything! No Herod’s of today, nor even death itself can stop the life and joy we celebrate this Christmas as we remember Jesus entering our world. Wonder upon wonder, He promises to return soon, bringing His justice, His salvation, His peace and His renewal of all things.
Whatever your struggle this season, I encourage you, recite and sing Mary’s song. Hold on to these promises, and like Mary, enter into them. Hide yourself in them. At Project114 we keep working tirelessly to strengthen women and children and the most vulnerable in places where evil never sleeps. We toil as foretaste’s of that future Kingdom revealed now.
Together, with us, you are serving, giving, and praying. We are indeed seeing lives changed and “His Kingdom coming, and His will (being) done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10).
Blessings in Jesus to you all,
Simon Rattray - Founder & CEO, Project114