The World Will Turn

The beginning of the Magnificat in the Gutenberg Bible

This past Sunday the text for the day was Luke 1:50-55, the second part of the Magnificat, the song of Mary. Our pastor gave some good insight into the text. The most striking thing about the service, though, was one of the hymns. Based on the text of the Magnificat, it puts Mary’s son into modern terms and it is arresting. This contemporary version, “The Canticle of the Turning,” is a hopeful view of how God is changing the world. Here’s a link:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QeTmRCpW4

A secular version, just as powerful, is Bob Dylan’s “The Times, They Are a’Changing.” Although it is not based on the Magnificat it expresses the same sentiment--that things are changing.

The Magnificat, which gets its name from the first word of the Latin text, first has Mary stating that she is just one person, yet God is able to work through her. In all likelihood Mary was in her early teens. Not exactly someone who could effect change in the world.

The song changes with verse 50 and arrives at the central theme, that God will change the world and the rich and powerful will have nothing and the poor will have what they need.

Anyone with the vaguest idea of the history of the world knows that for millennia the way of the world has been war, poverty, and the oppression of those who get in the way. Yes, there have been advances in technology and the understanding of the universe, but this is balanced by the cruelty practiced by those in power.

Will it change? I don’t know.

Yes.

When? I don’t know. We’ve been waiting 2000 years and it still hasn’t happened. The wealthy continue to get wealthy. People such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos earn more in a single minute than what I earn in an entire year. A reliable statistic is that approximately 3,000 children die of starvation every hour of the day around the world. Governments continue to wage war to benefit the wealthy in their societies. It hasn’t changed yet.

This song, the Magnificat, needs to be heard far and wide. It is revolutionary in tone and substance. Kings will be toppled from their thrones. The powerful will be made weak. Those aren’t beautiful words from a teenage girl. They are words of hope in the power of God.

Christians must take this song seriously and become a part of God’s changing of the world. It is easy to sit back, pop open a cold one and wait for something to happen. In this case waiting is not getting on the roof of your house wearing a white robe and waiting for Jesus to return and scoop you up, delivering you from a world of sin. Here, waiting is a matter of working with God. No, it isn't easy to wait. I'm impatient for change. Why can't the world muster enough resources to overthrow those powers that continue to manipulate millions to their own advantage? I don't know. All I know is that the world will change. As in the song, it will turn.