(our guest blogger over this advent season is Rev. Hannah Hawkinson, child of the church and pastor of St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church in Skokie, Illinois. These devotionals appear in the November/December edition of Gather, the magazine for the women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
God is turning a world torn apart by conflict, right-side-up.
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” So begins Mary’s song of praise, a song that we today call the “Magnificat.” For many of us, this holy song is a familiar and favorite one–and for good reason! It’s one of our most central texts during the season of Advent–one that our church returns to year after year.
Because Mary’s song is so familiar, it’s easy to miss just how revolutionary it is. At its core, the Magnificat is a song about God’s mighty acts in the life of a young woman–a young woman who happens to be pregnant out of wedlock. This song proclaims God’s justice and peace in a world torn apart by war, conflict and violence. It declares that God is turning the world upside-down–or perhaps, right-side-up.
As we journey together through these four weeks of Advent, let’s encounter Mary’s sacred, subversive song with fresh eyes and ears and hearts. Let’s also explore other stories of God’s topsy-turvy work across generations.
Week 1: GOD WHO SEES (Read Luke 1:46-48a and Genesis 16:1-6)
The first week begins with Mary’s proclamation that God “has looked with favor on the lowly state of God’s servant” (Luke 1:48). What a radical statement from Mary–a young woman who is likely no older than 13 or 14, and in an incredibly vulnerable position. Mary is pregnant and unmarried. Her fiancé Joseph would have had every right to break off their relationship and shame her publicly. It is a precarious moment. Mary’s life and livelihood hang in the balance as God’s people force her to the margins. Yet she proclaims that God has “looked with favor” upon her, smiled upon her, and is with her amid her vulnerability. Where God’s people may look upon her with shame, pity and even disgust, God looks upon her with joy, celebration and pride.
Thousands of years earlier, Hagar has a similar encounter with God. She, too, finds herself in an extremely vulnerable position, pregnant and utterly alone. Enslaved by Abram and Sarai, she has been forced by Sarai to conceive Abram’s firstborn child. As soon as Hagar become pregnant, Sarai, riddled with jealousy, treats her even more “harshly” (Genesis 16:6). Abused and enslaved by God’s people, Hagar flees into the wilderness.
In this precarious moment, when Hagar is at her most vulnerable, God finds her. God calls her by name and declares God’s favor. “Now you have conceived and shall bear a son,” God proclaims, “and you shall call him Ishmael, for the LORD has given heed to your affliction” (Genesis 16:11). In response, Hagar boldly declares God’s power and grace by giving God a name. She is the only person in all of scripture to do this! “You are El-Roi,” Hagar proclaims–the “God who sees” (Genesis 16:13).
Talk about turning the world right-side-up! God who sees looks with favor, not on the most powerful in our midst, but on the most vulnerable–those whom we as God’s people fail, reject, and marginalize. Thanks be to God, God is at work beyond our failings, turning the world right-side-up. God invites us to join in this repair work, to repent of our sin and to rejoice in God’s boundless love. God’s topsy-turvy work is our work as well.
Reflection Questions:
Can you think of a time when you were vulnerable or afraid, and you encountered “God who sees”? What was that experience like? How did it feel?
Who are the Marys and Hagars in our midst today? Who has the church rejected and forced to the margins?
In what ways can we, as God’s people, listen to and learn from others who have been marginalized? Can we follow their lead, as we seek to make things right?
Hannah Hawkinson
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