This is Mary’s song of praise when she realizes God’s promises are coming true. Her baby Jesus and her cousin Elizabeth’s baby John will change the world. What I hear her expressing in this song is a power move that God is accustomed to making in the scriptures. A tamed version of this power move would be something like this: *HANDS* he has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. We might call it the divine equalizer.
But a more radical and I would say faithful rendering of the power move that we hear today in the magnificat and throughout the Bible is: *HANDS* he has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. Let’s call it the divine reversal. A power flip in which the powerless become powerful and the powerful powerless.
See, this is what is happening for Mary. In first century Palestine occupied by the Roman Empire, she along with most Jewish people have been waiting for centuries for a savior, a new king to arise like King David and restore their power. One might expect such a grandiose figure to come from an esteemed Jewish family, perhaps of the religious elite. But GOD says the savior will come from a teenage brown girl who is controversially pregnant out of wedlock. She will be the one to bear in her own body the Son of God. It’s the divine reversal.
Mary’s song actually mirrors quite closely the song of Hannah, who was an ordinary person from the Old Testament. Hannah was a barren woman who was constantly ridiculed by another woman who was able to have many children. While praying for children one day Hannah was even accused of being a drunkard. And yet, GOD grants her prayer to bear a child, whom she names Samuel, and he becomes a great minister before the Lord. This is the divine reversal.
There is no doubt that this is the character of our God, because even farther back in the Old Testament, the Exodus story reveals much of the same, and this story is key to the identity of God’s people. The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians for many generations, powerless before the powerful throne of Pharaoh. And yet, GOD eventually hears their cries and leads them on the long road to deliverance and salvation, freedom from their oppressors. The oppressed Israelites walk through the Red Sea on dry land, while their pursuing oppressors - Pharaoh and all his army - are drowned. The divine reversal.
We could look at countless stories from the scriptures, but what about today? As we seek to know God more deeply, let us wonder where God might be making such a power move today. Where is the divine reversal taking place in our lives and in the world around us?
In my life, I experience God making this power move when I am humbled in my pride, especially in the most petty things. For example, some of my roommates walk with a heavy foot. And to say the least our house is not the biggest nor best insulated on the block. So it is not an uncommon occurrence that I will be trying to focus on something or even sleep when I hear their heavy feet thunder throughout the house to distract me. And immediately I become frustrated that they can’t walk more softly like me.
And then, on several occasions - sometimes only minutes sometimes hours after I have puffed myself up in my righteous walking habits - it will happen that I catch MYSELF thundering throughout the house heavy-footed. In that tiny moment my proud spirit is overwhelmed and humbled by God. My petty righteousness is shattered. As Mary says in the magnificat, God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. It is the divine reversal. The proud humbled. And in newfound humility I am more able to be in life-giving relationship with my roommates.
Again, this is consistent with God’s character in the Bible, especially in the life of Jesus, which Mary celebrates in her song. Jesus enacts this divine
reversal by calling out hypocrisy wherever he sees it. Jesus calls out the Pharisees for keeping up religious appearances that make them seem righteous while in their hearts lacking true love for their neighbors. And so rather than identify with these hypocritically proud religious folks, Jesus identifies with those on the margins of society. The divine reversal.
In our wider context I can think of an image of power no clearer than that viral video we all saw back in May, in which a black man named George Floyd was suffocated beneath the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. It’s a perfect example of where God makes this power move. We have the LOWLY - black men like George Floyd who are so often held down by racism like racial profiling, mass incarceration, and police brutality. And we have the POWERFUL - police officers charged with too many responsibilities and too little education and training to fulfill them all well, leading to such cases of too much unchecked power.
But the Good News is the divine reversal. God has brought DOWN the powerful from their thrones, and lifted UP the lowly. Negligent police officers like the man from the video are being charged with crimes, and systems of policing are being reimagined more and more for the sake of more just and equitable treatment for people of color. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones.
Meanwhile, the voices of people of color like the late George Floyd are being amplified more and more through movements like black lives matter. Antiracism work is in many places becoming a household conversation, including and especially the church. God has lifted up the lowly. This is the divine reversal.
Depending on where we find ourselves in these contemporary societal issues, the divine reversal may not feel like Good News. I sympathize with that, often finding myself objecting to some of the changes in power. My
prayer for us though is that God would open us to see that where the divine reversal is happening it truly is Good News.
Jesus himself literally embodied this divine reversal. He was from God and indeed God in the flesh. The power which was his that created the heavens and the earth, he traded for the limitations of being human, of being born as a helpless baby. And the power which was his to crush nations like the Roman Empire which so oppressed the Jewish people, he traded for the power of self-giving love and ultimately a human death as humiliating as public execution.
This Jesus did so that ALL lives who know him might know the riches of the fullness of new life, BEGINNING with those most marginalized lives, the ones with the least amount of power.
Siblings in Christ, Jesus made it clear that prostituted lives matter. That disabled lives matter. That foreigner Samaritan lives matter. That female lives matter. That young lives matter. That even extortionist tax collector lives matter. And so because of this embodiment of the divine reversal, we can with confidence believe that Jesus now says Black Lives Matter. Amen.
Prayers of the people
Let us pray for the church, the world and all of God's creation.
God of power and might, humble us to see your work not only in the divine reversal that Mary sings in her song, but also in our world and in our lives today. Lord in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of healing, you accompany us in sickness and suffering. Strengthen caregivers, health workers, and all whose work ensures the safety and well being of others. Bring relief to all afflicted with the coronovirus or other illnesses including: David, Jacqueline, Sandy, Beverly, Bob, Brad, Ruth, Margaret, Linda, Dan, Cori, and Lucas. Bring the knowledge of your presence to all those feeling isolated especially those in care facilities including Jane, George, Ramona, Lois, Helen, Bev, Carolyn, and Herb. Console, heal, and nourish all those we name before you including those we now name silently or aloud.................. and those you know who need love and care. Lord in your mercy..Here our prayer.
We continue to remember those who have died and those who mourn. We remember: JoAnn Bloom, Gail Frost, sister of Jane Bork, Representative John Lewis and all those we name, silently or aloud.... Lord in your mercy... Here our prayer.
God of connection, you call us to make your presence known. Where the sin of racism fractures our relationships, bring repentance and reconciliation. Open our hearts for attentive listening so that our places of connection are filled with your Spirit. Lord in your mercy....
Receive these prayers, O God, and those too deep for words; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.