Singing Magnificat
It was Archbishop Desmond Tutu who said, ‘I sometimes wonder what version of the bible people are reading when they say that religion and politics don’t mix,’ and of course, most political dictators have tried to silence the voice of the Church when we speak out on issues of justice, exploitation, corruption and cruelty.
One of the most political passages in the New Testament is the Song of Mary
(which we often call the Magnificat) recorded by St Luke (Ch 1:46-55) and often recited at Evening Prayer. Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham, describes the Magnificat as ‘the gospel before the gospel’ because when Mary meets Elizabeth they share a dream, they dance and sing because they have been called to share in the divine plan. The words of the Magnificat are so shocking that we set them to Anglican chant to make them feel more comfortable, but the words of the Magnificat are words of revolution.
First, there is the moral revolution. ‘He scatters the proud in the imagination of their hearts’. (The word ‘imagination’ means plans or ideas.) We need to remember that it is pride that is the deadliest of sins. Arrogant pride makes us feel superior to others so that we believe that we can achieve success and power by our own efforts rather than through the grace and mercy of God.
Then there is social revolution. ‘He casts down the mighty from their thrones and exalts the humble and meek.’ For me, one of the most moving moments at the last Lambeth Conference was when a young Indian bishop in my group wept as he told us that when he was elected a bishop, people left the church because he was an ‘untouchable’. The Christian gospel cuts through any caste or class system because Jesus died for us all. Prejudice, fear and ignorance can separate people from one another, but in the kingdom of God, greatness is achieved through loving service.
Then there is economic revolution. ‘He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away.’ Luke records Jesus as saying, ‘I have come to preach the gospel to the poor,’ and Franciscan theologian Richard Rohr says that, ‘Jesus preaches to the little ones – those on the edge – because they can hear the word of God without distorting it’. There is always the temptation for the rich to use Christianity to support power and control, but justice demands that we share the world’s resources and tackle poverty, whether child poverty in Wales or even greater poverty in developing countries. The way in which individuals or nations spend their money must be of concern to Christians.
St Luke’s gospel has been described as ‘the gospel of praise’ because it contains the great Canticles – the Benedictus, the Glory to God in the Highest, the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis. So we have St Luke to thank for these wonderful songs of praise that have a treasured place in our Anglican worship.
+Dominic