TEXT: LUKE 1: 46-55 Translation by NKA
My soul praises the greatness of God,
My spirit rejoices in my Savior!
He has regarded the lowliness of his bondmaid;
Now history will regard me as most blessed,
For the Almighty has worked a miracle in me,
Holy is His name!
His mercy covers all generations that revere Him.
He works miracles—His hand has befuddled and silenced the arrogant.
He has humbled the great and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good food
And sent the greedy away empty.
His mercies remember Israel with helps,
Just as He promised our forefathers—
Abraham, and his children’s children.
REGARDING MUSICALS
I want to start out by saying that I agree with Matt: there is something just plain wrong about playing Christmas music before thanksgiving—I couldn’t agree more. But my family is not like Matt’s. I always wanted a family like Matt’s, where people sang together and played music together, but no—my family was more like that odd character from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (show clip).
I enjoy few musicals, and I consider this a fault in my own programming. Wizard of Oz, Music Man, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Fiddler on the Roof—that’s it for me, sorry. The musicals of the last two decades or so have only sealed it for me, but I’d gladly watch the older ones. In High School, I performed in Music Man and South Pacific, but I’ve never rented either musical.
Luke 1 and 2—the pre-Christmas and Christmas narrative should be a musical. There’s plenty of singing, and we have these moments when the lead characters step downstage into the spotlight as the lights behind them on the other players go dim, and you can almost hear the orchestra swelling as they begin their songs.
When Mary walks into Zechariah’s house, John the Baptist—still in utero—gives his mother Elizabeth a good kick, after which she stands up and steps front-and-center to deliver her “Blessed are thou among women” song, “and blessed in the fruit of thy womb.” It’s elegant and clearly inspired utterance.
In response, Mary steps forward and the spotlight swells, illuminating her glowing face as she launches into her song, The Magnificat, which is every bit as worthy of the book of Psalms as any of David’s songs.
How like a musical this is, yes, but more, how like the great day Pentecost from Acts 2. The Pentecost story is also a musical, for when the Holy Spirit comes, the Disciples are transformed from rather reserved mumblers into lead singers. Then men, formerly portrayed as rather clueless mouth-breathers now sing with boldness and great confidence of the mysteries and goodness of God. You could say the Holy Spirit put a song into their hearts—a new song—by which the gospel could go forth into the world.
Even Peter, something of a ham-fisted knuckle-dragger, once touched by the Holy Spirit burst forth in an elegant, eloquent sermon—one that clearly articulates the good news of Christ. The Disciples are now, you might say, in tune with God, as they are inspired by the Spirit.
What is more, they all proclaim the gospel in such a way that others—especially foreigners—are able to hear the message. Anybody can speak or preach, but not everyone can be heard. We need to make clear here that just as the Holy Spirit moved the Disciples to preach the gospel, that same Holy Spirit led others to hear it, to perceive the truth that Jesus is Lord. Bottom line: no credit to the preachers, but all credit to the Spirit who speaks through them and opens the ears of the hearers.
So with Elizabeth, and Mary, and later on in the chapter, Zechariah will sing, as do the angels, the shepherds, and perhaps even the sheep. By the spirit’s touch, normal utterance is transformed into something like song.
MUSIC MATTERS
I’m a music lover. Music is very important to me. My growing sense of self, creativity, and freedom all find expression in the music I’ve come to love. To me, music really matters.
I was the youngest child of four, and behind by 6-10 years, so by the time I came along, there was no fuss—my parents were old hands at parenting—I didn’t have lots of pictures, no fussy scrapbooks, and I certainly never had children’s music. No little records or infantile songs or even a music box. I had siblings who listened to the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Motown, and my parents’ occasional required course in music appreciation, which meant we had to listen to their old swing albums while they reminded us how much better their music was than ours. As to the music, I loved it all.
Over the years, my brother and sisters added to their great album collections. When Elton John released Madman Across the Water, I remember sitting with my brother in the dining room poring over the lyrics to that album by Bernie Taupin, who was Elton John’s lyricist, and he wrote some amazing songs. “Tiny Dancer” is on that album. But the song that hit me was “Levon.” The chorus says, “And he shall be Levon.” I said that it sounds like “believe on” and my brother explained that it could be symbolic—that Levon really represents the institutional church. I was amazed! There was an entirely other dimension there in the music. I was amazed and launched on a lifelong interest in finding the deeper meanings behind the words.
The song “American Pie” hit the airwaves ripe for analysis and dissection. In Riverside, stations KFXM and KMEN regularly rotated in a version with a DJ providing commentary on every phrase. These were cryptic lyrics about Elvis, Bob Dylan and the Beatles—the entire Rock and Roll era described in song and forever changed with the assassination of President Kennedy. All that meaning packed into a popular song. I was in a new world, and deeply fascinated with popular songs, but also with books, especially the Bible. I’ve never quite recovered.
In junior and senior high school in Omaha, I played guitar daily, and worked in a music store. I played in a couple bands, but I was always searching for music that would feed what was now my deep hunger for significant meaning.
In college, by my second semester, I had become the entertainment editor of the school newspaper. I got to do album and concert reviews. My goal was to be as critical and snarky as possible. I remember referring to one, new, popular album as a “tremendous waste of good plastic.” This analyzing of music translated easily to the analysis of literature. I majored in English literature, but my first and deepest interest was always coming to terms with the mysteries of Scripture.
One summer I served on the staff up at Forest Home, where I was introduced to the new world of Christian pop music. It was all they played, and it blasted from the speakers all over campus like propaganda in Red Square. I didn’t like it. I liked that it was Christian, but the style was too derivative—always copying something from the world but sanctifying it up with Christian lyrics. “Oh, you’d like this band,” other counselors would say. “They sound just like the Doobie Brothers, but they’re Christian!” My question was if Christians are linked to the Holy Spirit—the one who helped create Heaven and Earth—then why don’t Christians sound better than any of the worldly bands? If we are plugged into the very source of Creation, then why aren’t we inventing the music that the world wants to imitate?
I led a well-attended, break-out seminar: It’s only rock n Roll. Many counselors and parents attended hoping that I would go on the warpath against hard rock. They wanted me to expose Led Zeppelin for putting backwards Satanic messages in their music. I disagreed. I told them Satan has better things to do than whisper into Ozzy Osborne’s ear when he’s writing lyrics. The real Satan, I proposed, is a fat, balding, middle-aged man high in an office tower raking hard-earned teen dollars over his desk, saying, “Oh yeah—we love Black Sabbath here at Capitol Records!” In my view, there was no truly Satanic music because Satan hates music of any kind. He only likes noise and chaos. I won’t deny: there are plenty of bands trying very hard to please him.
As I continued on to seminary and youth ministry, MTV entered its golden era. I led programs designed to train Christian young people to watch videos with a critical eye, rather than just taking it all in thoughtlessly.
I had the privilege of working on staff with a man who won the grand prize at the national Christian composers conference in Estes Park, CO. He was a great musician and a good friend. We argued about music constantly. It came down to this: He, the musician, wanted all music to preach the gospel. I, the preacher, wanted the gospel to sing great music. Again I asked, “Aren’t we, the people of Christ, uniquely connected to the Lord of Creation? Why aren’t we inventing the new music that makes even the hardened atheist swoon?”
I still ask. In the meantime, the churches’ worship wars have waged on for 35 years. It’s always about the music. Praise music or hymns? Popular feel or classic? Traditional standards or fresh, new compositions? I’ve learned there is no accounting for taste, and as we try to untie five generations in one worship service, we are stretching everyone out of their comfort zones and catering to no one in particular.
But music matters. It has always been part of worship, even when Christians cowered in the catacombs beneath Rome in fear of execution—even there, when they gathered, they sang.
The world around us has always been filled with noise. American culture has never been noisier and more chaotic than now in 2020. TV news is noise and chaos. The internet is noise and chaos. Social Media is noisy chaos and chaotic noise. The devil is loving it, for sure.
It is time we Christians refuse to contribute to the noise and chaos. This Christmas and New Year’s provides us with an excellent doorway to escape the fray. The truth is that we have a song to sing. We are supporting a chorus that began long ago—Pentecost or earlier—and from the din of turmoil, we should gather, stand, and raise our voices—not in protest, not in anger—but in song.
This Advent and Christmas, our voices join that of Mary in saying, “Magnificent!” Lord, you are wonderful. You work miracles. You keep your every promise. You are our sure and certain hope.
The music begins, and you and I are called to step into the spotlight, front-and-center, to sing. We are called to sing an old song—to sing it with joy despite whatever is going on around us in the world.
FEELING THE BERN
I want to close with story about Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s lyricist who wrote that Levon song that got me going all those years ago. A friend of mine—a Presbyterian pastor up in Santa Ynez—told me that Bernie’s wife and children attend his church. Occasionally, Bernie would attend with them, but tended to leave early. Bernie’s wife and kids always came up for the Lord’s Supper, but Bernie never did.
One Sunday, on the way out, Bernie asked my friend about communion: “How is one to know whether or not they ought to participate?” he said.
My friend answered, “To take communion means that you have put your trust in Jesus, and you believe he is who Scripture says he is—the Lord, the Son of God, your Savior. When that’s true for a person, they come forward and take communion.”
Some months passed, but Bernie attended regularly with his family. Then, one Sunday, as my friend was holding the bread as congregants came forward for the sacrament, there was Bernie in line. By the time he made up to the front, both of them were in tears.
Bernie Taupin, the man whose profession was meaning and the deeper meaning of words, by an act of God was enabled to hear the song and participate in the music as if for the first time.
This is the hope for all of us—that as we stand amid the noise and chaos to raise our voices in the ancient song of faith, that others’ ears may be opened and join with us in our never-ending chorus.
What we celebrate at this table is nothing short of a miracle. May the song live loudly within each of as we are fed for the journey!
QUESTIONS
- 1. How musical was your family? Did your family sing together freely or were you more music-avoidant?
- 2. It is one thing to be inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak, preach, or sing; but another to be inspired to hear. Why is it just as important that we acknowledge the Spirit’s role in the hearing of the Word as its speaking?
- 3. Discuss: Satan hates all music—Satan only want chaos and noise. Why is this better than saying he “inspires” certain evil music?
- 4. Share with your group about music that has touched you deeply or been most powerful to you in your life.
- 5. The “song” of the gospel lives in all of Jesus’ followers. Why is it sometimes hard for us to sing songs in a style we don’t particularly like? What should we do about it?