A Song like no other
One of the things people love about Christmas is the songs. But there is one that stands above them all, the Magnificat of Mary. It’s not full of sentimentality, but gospel truth, and it stands in contrast to the other songs of the world.
One of the most famous stories of all time is the Odyssey, Homer’s story of a man trying to make his way back home to his wife. Along the way there are cyclops and wars and battles and all sorts of crazy things. But one of the things that almost kills him is the song of the sirens. The sirens were these beautiful half women creatures who would sing their song so beautifully that sailors would bring their ships over to see them. It’s said that “They sit beside the ocean, combing their long golden hair and singing to passing sailors. But anyone who hears their song is bewitched by its sweetness, and they are drawn to that island like iron to a magnet. And their ship smashes upon rocks as sharp as spears. And those sailors join the many victims of the Sirens in a meadow filled with skeletons.”
Their song seemed sweet but only led to danger. That’s the call of the world, telling us to look in ourselves, to think about ourselves, to focus on what we want and what we can do. But at Christmas time the song of Mary calls us to something different. To think upon God, to dwell on his work, to make him larger and greater in our hearts and minds. Her song seems simple but contains the power to raise the dead, the power to break addictions, the power to restore families.
Listening to her sing won’t shipwreck your life, instead it pulls you closer to Christ. You weren’t supposed to look or listen to the sirens, their beauty was a disguise for their danger. But the song of Mary’s beauty that gives life. Listen to her as she sings about the goodness of God, about his kindness to mankind, about the salvation that is promised. This is the song we need to know, a song we need to hear, a song we need to have on repeat in our hearts and in our minds. It’s a song with a power to change mankind, a song with a power of dynamite. Ignoring the truth of this song, not making enough of Christ, means your life will be a wreck. But when you enlarge God, when you make him bigger and see him for who he is, then your life will be changed by the goodness of God.
Listen to her song today. See Christ and his glory. Join her in praise.
This was the conclusion from my sermon last Sunday as we go through the “Carols of Christmas” from the book of Luke. You can watch the whole thing here. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1ALFN2RV2D/
