Singing Mary's song as we celebrate Christmas and Advent | John Stroman

On this Sunday let us focus on Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is almost invisible. She appears during Advent and Christmas, by Epiphany she begins to disappear. Much of being a Protestant historically has been the reluctance to accept Roman Catholic devotion of Mary beyond Scripture.

Unfortunately, this has caused Protestants to lose sight of Mary’s significant role in the New Testament.

Tour of Lights: Christmas spirit twinkles in Tallahassee neighborhoods

Holiday closings: City of Tallahassee, Leon County announce closures, service changes for Christmas, New Year's weeks

However, as Beverly Roberts Gaventa, at Princeton Seminary points out, if we Protestants are going to talk about Mary then we must begin in a Protestant-like way.

That is to say, we begin with Scripture. Within the Scriptures Mary is an important person in her own right.

I confess that Mary has not been part of my early Methodist experience, but she is first and foremost the mother of Jesus. Whether or not your personal faith includes the mother of God, she deserves recognition in the biblical narrative of deliverance, hope and salvation as well as in our piety.

'Born of the Virgin Mary'

By focusing on Mary’s life within the biblical text we get a fresh approach to the Scriptures. She knows life as we know life having moments of great joy and discovery, as well those moments of doubt, disappointment and pain.

It had to be so or there would never have been an incarnation when, the Word became flesh and lived among us . . .full of grace and truth. (John 1:14). The incarnation was Mary’s greatest achievement. It forms the heart of the biblical narrative of deliverance and hope. We affirm this every time we repeat the Apostle’s Creed, “born of the virgin Mary.” Kathleen Norris writes, Mary’s presence in our world is a constant reminder that in the incarnation the omnipotent God chose to take on human vulnerability.

When Mary sings her aria of freedom in Luke 1:46-55, it is no sweet lullaby in the anticipation of the birth of her son, but a song of deliverance and hope for the homeless, the hungry, the refugee, the abused and misused, the powerless and despairing.

These words are for a better future in this wide, wounded world by declaring, “God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly” (Luke 1:52). Little did Mary know that she was about to birth a revolution.

Standing between Old and New Testament

Through her song in the opening pages of the New Testament, Mary wraps herself in the mantle of Miriam, when she sang at the Red Sea, Sing to the Lord, he has triumphed gloriously, for horse and rider he has thrown into the sea (Ex. 15:20-22). She is shrouded in Hannah’s prayer when she prayed in 1 Samuel 2:1, The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. She seems to reflect the heart of God’s command to Pharoah in Egypt, let my people go!

As Mary stands between the Old and the New Testament and delivers her canticle and lifts the curtain to a new chapter of God’s activity. Her song has come to be known as the Magnificat (so named for the opening word in the Latin translation). E. Stanley Jones declared the Magnificat to be the Magna Charta of the Christian Church.

Here we discover Mary to be an extraordinary reader of Scripture, lyrically weaving together the Hebrew scriptures into a new song of hope and freedom that has become one of the most frequently sung oracles in church history, being set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Song for every hurting son, daughter

Mary Ann McKibben declares, it is a battle cry, bold and defiant. Mary sings for the weak and lowly, the poor and hungry. Every hurting son is now her son, every hurting daughter is her daughter. Before they were simply among her, now they dwell within her.

It is as though Mary picks up the baton of deliverance and hope and passes into the world of the New Testament.

These are the opening words expressed by Jesus when he delivered his inaugural sermon in his hometown in Nazareth in Luke 4:18, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor . . . and to let the oppressed go free. This theme is captured in the ninth century hymn traditionally sung on the first Sunday of Advent, O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.

After a time of fear and doubt following the angel’s annunciation, Mary declared in Luke 1:38, Here I am, servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word. The most important response to God’s call in all of the New Testament. From now on all generations will call her blessed and the world will never be the same.

Through Mary, God has taken the initiative to reveal himself, in a manner that God has never previously been revealed.

Important role of Mary in Advent

Let us not overlook the important role Mary plays in the unfolding drama of the Bible.

The biblical account of Advent has its roots in the Old Testament beginning in Genesis 12:3b, when God said to Abraham, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed, and the promise is fulfilled when Mary gives birth to Jesus.

Mary’s Song shows how the story of Jesus picks up where the scriptural stories leave off. From Genesis to Bethlehem it is all one story. Pope Francis is right when he said, There is a bit of Judaism in all of us.

Mary had those moments when she did not understand, especially when she asked, in those early moments of the angel’s visitation at the annunciation in Luke 1, How can this be, since I am a virgin?

Yet she pondered all of these things in her heart, meaning she keep them close to her being until the truth was revealed.

Within the scriptures Mary’s words were brief, but in these few biblical fragments there is a magnificent story of deliverance and hope to be told. Mary is the only biblical figure who knew Jesus first, foremost, and most intimately.

At the beginning of the annunciation by the angel Mary appeared bewildered, confused, possibly frightened. Then she makes that most remarkable statement, let it be with me according to your word (Luke 1:38). Mary said YES. Now Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, Emmanuel will be born in Bethlehem full of grace and truth.

John Stroman, Th.D., is a retired United Methodist Minister, living in Tallahassee.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Hear Mary's song as we celebrate Christmas and Advent