The Forgotten Social Justice Song of Christmas
The Forgotten Social Justice Song of Christmas
In my household, the Christmas season has not begun until we put on the Christmas music. The clean baritone of Nat King Cole soundtracking the putting up of decorations and the mulling of wine. He is joined by Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Mariah Carey and Sufjan Steven as they cycle round the stereo for the month of December.
The western Church also has a substantial canon of Christmas carols. Most of these are from the 19th century and the melodies, language and theology tend to reflect that. But there is a curious omission for most churches; a hymn that actually appears in the Gospel accounts of the Christmas story.
The Magnificat is the song Mary sings after she has been visited by the angel and is told she is going to give birth to the Son of God. It appears in the first chapter of Luke.
MAGNIFICAT
My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant
For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed
For he who is mighty has done great things for me
And holy is his name
And 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 mighty from their thrones
And exalted those of humble estate
He has filled the hungry with good things
And the rich he has sent away empty
He has helped his servant Israel
In remembrance of his mercy
As he spoke to our fathers
To Abraham
And to his offspring forever
The Spirit of God didn’t just place a baby in Mary’s womb, but also planted a vision of the Kingdom in her heart.
You would think a worship song written by the central character of the Christmas story would be well known to Christians. It should have numerous versions and inspire dozens of songs. It should be as familiar to a church-goer as the shepherds, the donkey and the angels.
Most likely, you will pass through the entire advent season without hearing it at all. This is because it doesn’t quite ‘fit’ with how we perceive Christmas and how we approach this holiday in our churches.
The lines at the center of Mary’s song do not contain much Christmas cheer for the proud (scattered), the mighty (brought down) and the rich (sent away). While conversely, the poor (exalted) and the hungry (satisfied) are the ones who are going to benefit from the coming Son of God.
Mary’s sharp predictions are almost immediately confirmed when King Herod (mighty, rich, proud) chooses to kill every baby boy under two years old in a desperate attempt to protect his crooked power.
The same spirit of self-preservation that Herod displays is the reason why we don’t hear this song in our churches. Clergy from traditional denominations are too cosy with the kind of powerful people Mary is denouncing. It also doesn’t jive with those who peddle positivity and prosperity in their preaching.
We prefer Christmas to feel magical. We want it emphasize vague notions of light, hope and joy. But Mary wants to give us a justice revolution that upends the social order.
Does this seem like making too much of a few lines in a song? No, it actually harmonizes with the rest of the story.
The main protagonists are two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. Their husbands are side characters, who simply need to get out of the way of what God is doing. The main action takes place in Bethlehem; smaller town known only for being the site of Rachel’s tomb.
The Angels do not appear at the temple to the priests, nor to at the King’s courts, but to the grunt shepherds on the night-shift. The Magi are often depicted as noblemen (or even kings) but they were actually foreign astrologers. They read their horoscopes all the way to the manger where Jesus lay. Did I mention they were foreign?
The infant Jesus is greeted in the temple not by the leaders or by the theologians but by Anna and Simeon — two elderly, faithful believers.
The final act of the Christmas story sees Jesus and his parents become refugees, fleeing religious persecution; thrown into all the danger and uncertainty that entails.
The narrative bypasses all the kings and patriarchs we would reasonably assume to be involved in the arrival of the Son of David, the coming Messiah. Instead places a teenage mother at the forefront.
Mary believed the unborn baby she was nurturing would bring justice to the world. She would have raised him with that in mind. It then not really that surprising that Jesus adopts the mantle when he begins his public ministry by quoting Isaiah 61.
The Magnificat is a wonderful hymn of praise to God and heralds the truth that the Kingdom is coming, it is here and it is already at work. It should be a crucial piece in the Christmas traditions and rituals of our communities. I just wish I could hear Ella Fitzgerald sing it.
