Mary's Magnificat: Worship Resources for Advent
In the Gospel according to St. Luke, Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her that she is going to bear a child. Rightly so, Mary asks, "How can this be?” Gabriel tells her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her; that the power of the Most High will overshadow her; and the baby she will carry in her body for nine months will be holy. She will become the house of God, the “Theotokos."
After actively accepting this mysterious fate, Mary takes off running - she books it, actually - to the hill country; to the city of Judah; to the warm house of her cousin Elizabeth who is also round with a prophet, even in her old, old age.
When Elizabeth hears Mary huffing and puffing and calling from the front yard, the baby inside of her (little John the Baptist) leaps for joy and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaims: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this that the mother of my God should come to me? For behold, when I heard you on the front porch, my baby leapt for joy! And, blessed is the one who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken!"
With her cousin’s blessing and with God in her blood, Mary lifts up her voice and sings about a God who picks up the lowly, fills the hungry with good things, and sends the rich away empty. She sings about a God who has a preferential treatment for the poor. She sings about a God - the same God that Hannah sings about - who ”occupies” Herself with obscure and humble women!
As you can tell, we’re getting excited over here at SALT for the Christmas season, this sparkly season of revelation and revolution!
We hope and pray that the God of Mary, the God of Elizabeth, and the God of Hannah, might be with you and yours during the holy season of Advent as we prepare our hearts, homes, and lives for God to be born again – knowing full well that God has a way of turning everything upside down!
Also, we hope that you will enjoy SALT's version of Mary's Magnificat. If your church has the ability to show this worship short during Advent, zip on over to the SALT Store where it is available for $12 (we also have a version available in Spanish - you're welcome!).
And, as always, if the cost is prohibitive, we can certainly dropbox your congregation a version free of charge - just think of it as an early Christmas present!
Peace and Revolution,
The SALT Team
A big SALT thank you to the lovely Rev. Mindy Mayes and Bere Gil Soto for lifting up and sharing their prophetic voices - you make us all leap for joy!