Advent 4: Songs of Joy and Solidarity – Join the singing!
“For he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me.”
Scripture reading: Luke 1:39-55
Meditation
Mary’s joy is unmistakable! While poverty and pregnancy might have led to despair, this young girl sings a song of hope and joy. The angel Gabriel proclaimed the hope and blessing, Mary received it, and her cousin Martha shared the joy in deep solidarity! Today’s scripture is a song that erupts out of this joy, in the face of concrete challenges.
“As the civil rights movement of the 1960s and ‘70s understood, singing is a way to keep your nerve. If you think about the Song of Miriam or those dangerous songs (many of which are in the mouths of women), we are invited to join that kind of singing which is a refusal to accept the dominant definitions of reality. Such singing and storytelling is an insistence that there is another way to experience the world and there is another way to act in the world. These are very important models and authorizations for us.
“If you think about Mary’s Magnificat, as it announces the themes of the Gospel of Luke, it is so very revolutionary. They knew that you had to sing it out. And they did. Over time we find ways of repeating their singing.”
~Walter Brueggemann
Advent and Christmas music resonates with themes of love of neighbor and a world transformed from inequities. When we sing carols and songs of hope this year, let us be mindful of solidarity with neighbors in countries all around the globe. At GHM we seek to inspire and engage in helping all people have access to health and healing. How will the songs of solidarity, hope, and joy move us to act as global neighbors this year?
Prayer
God of music, thank you for insisting that poverty and inequity is not your way or your will for this world. Unite us in song, in vision, and in courage to create opportunities even when we feel powerless. Open our eyes to your abundance and your powerful, unfailing love, and rally us to participate in the new creation that Jesus brings.
GHM Partner Story - Madagascar
A rallying song can unite and equip us in ways that are hard to equal. GHM staff and volunteers alike are so often inspired by the music of our partners around the world. The songs, spontaneous harmonies, and soul-rousing fervor that our partners raise often make our own music feel less. The solidarity expressed and invited in song is food for the soul.
In Madagascar, the 60+ facilities in the national Lutheran health system are united by this song, written by one of their doctors. Below is an English translation, but you can hear the original by following this link. May you be inspired by Malagasy people across the nation, singing this song of faith and mission, serving neighbors far and wide.
God Almighty is sending you
To stand up and spread this good news!
Demonstrate at all times that Jesus is the Messiah,
Who restores the ruins and brings healing on earth.
Be salt and light and a model too!
Meet the non-believers and treat their sicknesses.
Go! Announce the good news:
“We treat, Jesus heals” and forgive sins!