The Song Goes On

December 19, 2021
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Luke 1:39-55[1]

It’s the reason for the season: the Christmas story, the shepherds, the angels, the baby lying in the manger. We gather to sing the old carols, to hear the story read again. It is a wonderful time of gathering with family and friends, at least before COVID, of gift giving, ice skating, and warm cocoa by the fire. For most of us, Christmas is warm feelings of safety, happiness, and love.

As one writer puts it, however, “Christmas is not safe. The reason it is not safe has nothing to do with the traffic hazards around the malls, harmful toys for children, or the possibility of Christmas tree fires. Christmas is not safe because the Christ Child is not safe.”[2] God with us in the world is dangerous to the powerful, to the cruel, to the rich, and to the indifferent. Mary knew this; it was her song.

The mother of Jesus is most often portrayed as meek and mild, gentle and timid. We don’t think of her as shaking the foundations of Empire, of defying the ways of the world that put people in their place, keep them down, render them powerless. Sweet, innocent Mary has a revolutionary spirit, a vision of the world where justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.[3] This is the woman God chose to bear Jesus into the world, to raise a child who would become the Savior. Mary “recognized the ugliness of inequality. She was incensed by the brutality of oppression. Mary longed for a better world.”[4]

Mary pondered the greeting of the angel, Gabriel, wondering who this child she carried would become. The Son of the Most High, who would rule over the house of Jacob, how would he change the world? Her cousin, Elizabeth, who was thought to be barren, had conceived a son in her old age. With God nothing is impossible. With a cry, Elizabeth greeted her, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”[5] With hope burning in her heart, Mary responds with the song we know as the Magnificat.

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…

the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

The Lord God is coming to fulfill the promises made through the prophets, and her words speak of danger to those who oppress the people.

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.

This is good news for the poor, the lowly, the hungry; this is bad news for the rich and powerful. We love to sing the songs of angels, of shepherds staring in wonder, of kings from afar bringing gifts fit for a king. We don’t count this song as one of our Christmas carols, yet this is the song that gave strength and courage to centuries of downtrodden folk. Like the slaves of the old South sung of glory on the other side, that we shall overcome, those who live in an unjust, inhumane world envision a world of justice, righteousness, hope, and joy as they sing the song of God’s power to change the world. This song of Mary is the subversive protest song of the lowly, sung in defiance of the proud. Music is powerful.

As I studied for this sermon, I read the story of Víctor Jara, a folk singer in Chile at the time of the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet. It struck a chord for me because my in-laws were living in Chile then. “Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez didn’t sing in English, nor did his songs substantially influence Western music, but the manner of his death, the symbolic silencing of his music, made him an international symbol of resistance.”[6]

In 1973, the democratically elected government of Chile was toppled by the forces of Pinochet. The rule of Pinochet was known for its horrors and oppression. Jara was a famous musician and prominent supporter of Chile’s president Salvador Allende. He was arrested the day after the coup and held in an indoor sports complex in Santiago along with some 5,000 others. Periodically, people were taken out to be tortured.

There are various stories of his last days, but it is clear that his music kept its power. Craig Watts writes, “In the midst of the brutality and abuse, he began to play and sing. He lifted his voice against the violence and destruction that was being imposed upon his people. The crowd hushed in order to listen to his songs, songs of courage and hope. His songs helped them to see beyond the pain and defeat of the moment to possibilities yet unrealized.”[7]

Jara was recognized, and an army officer stamped on his wrists. He was beaten and tortured. At one point, through split lips, he defiantly sang Venceremos (We Will Win), Allende’s 1970 election anthem. On the morning he was killed, Jara scribbled the lyrics to a final song, “Estadio Chile,” which were later smuggled out of the stadium: “How hard it is to sing when I must sing of horror/ Horror which I am living, horror which I am dying.”

Even his death did not stop the song. “The people who heard it remembered. Throughout the time Pinochet and his forces ruled Chile, the oppressed people sang the song of Victor Jara.”[8] The song goes on, and Jara’s defiance and hope in the face of fear continues to inspire. Jara has been commemorated in dozens of songs in several languages, including “Washington Bullets” by The Clash, and “One Tree Hill” by U2. James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers has recorded an album about Jara’s life and death.

In a world of oppression, fear, and brutality, Mary sang. Mary sang, because she knew that the child she was to bear would save the world. Her song is remembered, as is her defiant courage and strength. Her son had his own music, music that would shake the world. And even though the powerful tried to stop him with violence and death, the song goes on. It is sung in the hearts of all who believe that a better world is possible, that love will win, that justice will come, and that God’s promises to our ancestors will be fulfilled.

[God’s] mercy is for those who fear him,
from generation to generation.

God’s power is in the song that goes on.  Amen.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] Craig M. Watts, “Singing Mary’s Song” posted on https://www.ministrymatters.com/.

[3] Amos 5:24.

[4] Watts.

[5] Luke 1:42.

[6] Dorian Lynskey, “Víctor Jara: The folk singer murdered for his music,” August 12, 2020 on https://www.bbc.com/culture/.

[7] Watts.

[8] Watts.