A Song of Joy and Hope

I was reading Luke’s telling of the song that came to Mary in Chapter 1 Verses 28- 35. It’s known by the familiar title “The Magnificat”.

I wondered as I read these words, “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.” Could she possibly be talking about us?

It’s easy to feel that Mary is talking about them, that lot over there, who’ve got more money and power than we’ve got.

But Mary’s song of praise is really saying, God’s divinity has transformed my humanity – personally, economically, socially, politically. God is transforming my life the way pregnancy’s transforming my body, making it full of promise and expectation. And that’s what Mary’s saying to each one of us today. Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to sing a song of joy and hope through you?

Here is a conversation I’d like to encourage you to have. Tell me about the ways in which you are rich. Tell me about the ways in which you are poor. Let me tell you about the ways in which I am poor. Let me tell you about the ways in which I am rich.

That’s it. Of course how you’re likely to have the conversation depends on who you’re having it with. Listen to this conversation I just made it up but it could go something like this. You’d say, “Tell me about the ways in which you are rich.” And your friend might say, “I appreciate the way you see me for what I am and not just for what I’m not. My childhood was difficult, but I feel rich in the number and variety of people my parents brought into my life. My education wasn’t very successful on paper, but I feel rich in the way I learned to read people and look into their hearts. I’ve never lived in a luxurious home, but I feel rich in the wonder of the birds and their song and the dawn and its beauty and the pouring rain and its refreshment. I’ve never had many great talents, but I did learn to play the harmonica and I’d love to play you a song I made up myself. I’ve never had much money, but I have a wealth of friends and somehow, maybe because I’ve always tried to help people out, there’s always been someone who’s stepped out of the shadows to help me when I couldn’t manage everything myself.”

And then maybe you’d say, “Tell me about how the ways in which you are poor.” And your friend might say, “You’re probably expecting me to talk about how I can’t pay the rent and can’t find a job. But the real way I feel poor is when I see a person who’s a lot worse off than me and I feel powerless to help them. The real times I feel poor are when I see a newcomer to this country trying to make their way and I can’t speak enough of their language to be much use to them. The real times I feel poor are when I think of my daughter who died when she was just two and I was just 19 and I miss her with more sadness than I have in my whole heart.”

And then maybe you’d say, “May I tell you about the ways in which I am poor?” And your friend might say, “Please do. I’d never thought of you, or someone like you, as poor.” And you might say, “My brother was the talented one. I felt like my parents really just wanted boys. I felt I had to apologize for being a girl. All my life I’ve struggled with envy and jealousy. I’ve always hated my brother, even though I’ve never told him and anyone would think we were the best of friends, and I’ve never been able to trust that the love and achievements and possessions I’ve had weren’t just about to be snatched away from me. In some ways I have a lot but I’ve never been able really to enjoy what I have. I wonder if I’ve ever trusted anyone enough to show them who I really am.

“But I’m also rich. Let me tell you about how I’m rich. I’ve always had the ability to concentrate. I can listen, or read, or even be silent and pray, for hours. And I can paint. I can paint a watercolor, I can paint a miniature, I can paint a wall, I can paint a face, I can paint anything and make it laugh and dance and spring to life. I find it hard to talk to and trust people, but I share my heart through my paintbrush.”

When the two of you have shared your wealth and your poverty with one another in this way, you may want to leave it there. But you may choose to go a little further. Your friend may say to you, “You’ve told me about how you’re rich. Let me tell you about how you’re rich. You’re rich because you don’t have to spend every waking moment of your day earning money so you’ve got time to do beautiful things and walk with people who’re in trouble. And let me tell you how you’re poor. You’re poor because you’ve never found a way to love your brother. You’re poor because you’ve never let anyone into your inner circle. You’re poor because you don’t have enough people like me around you to tell you the truth about yourself.”

And then, ever so tentatively, you may find the courage to say to your friend, “You’ve told me about how you’re rich. Let me tell you about how you’re rich. You’re rich because your laugh is infectious and exciting. You’re rich because every child you ever meet loves you. You’re rich because you’ve already been through the worst that life can bring so you live without fear. But you’re also poor. You’re poor because you’ve got a servant heart but no one wants what you have to give right now. You’re poor because you’re deeply hungry to do something really useful to others but you can’t find a way to do it.”

That’s the point where it’s time to ask Mary’s question. “Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to sing a song of joy and hope through you?” Through your poverty and through your riches. Can you each see it in one another? Can you each see it in yourselves? Are you letting God turn you into Mary’s song?

“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.” Turns out Mary really is talking about us. God takes that in each of us that is rich, and sees through it to our poverty. And God takes our poverty, and sees past it to our deeper riches.

And it finishes like this: “Lord, turn me into Mary’s song. Through your Holy Spirit, sing a song of joy and hope through me.