大象传媒

Opening announcement from Continuity:
大象传媒 Radio 4. Time now for Sunday Worship. The Revd Lucy Winkett, joins busy shoppers a short distance from her church of St James鈥� Piccadilly:

LUCY
Good morning. I鈥檓 standing in one of the UK鈥檚 busiest shopping streets: Regent Street in Central London. The crowds are thick on the pavement, the queues for the buses are long, and the entrances to the underground are packed as people find their way through the mele carrying shopping bags of every colour and size.听 While Christians are still keeping Advent, the rest of the world moved on to Christmas weeks ago; and even with the growth of online shopping, in these final few days, it鈥檚 mayhem out here.
Later we鈥檒l reflect on the Advent themes in the radical song of Mary, the Magnificat, and how through it we can learn to hear the good news, even if that good news is something different from what we think it is. We鈥檙e joined by the Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir who will lift our hearts in this final journey to Christmas.
But first, right here in the middle of the shops and the traffic, let us pray.

God of time and eternity; we wait for your birth among us; just as you were born amidst the bustling streets of Bethlehem. Help us to hear amid the noise of our busy world the good news of your coming, and to know in our hearts that your promises of peace on earth are true now as then. Amen.

Our first carol makes an appearance in Dickens鈥檚 classic tale of Scrooge but some sources have it being sung as far back as the 16th century. Soul Sanctuary give it a contemporary twist now in anticipation of the festivities to come; God rest ye merry gentlemen.

MUSIC听God rest ye merry gentlemen

LUCY REFLECTION 1
I鈥檝e moved now down Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus.听 Here the lights are on 24/7 and the traffic hardly ever stops. I live close to here and sometimes I watch visitors arrive presumably because it鈥檚 somewhere to visit on their list; alongside St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.听 As I watch them arrive, I have sometimes thought that the scene here is something like an allegory for modern life. It鈥檚 said that if you stand long enough at Piccadilly Circus, everyone in the world will pass you by. It鈥檚 an international place, a meeting place, a place of exchange and commerce.听 People come to see the famous statue we call Eros in the middle.听 It looks like Eros, poised with a bow and arrow,听 and that鈥檚 what everyone calls it but it isn鈥檛 Eros. It鈥檚 in fact a statue called the Angel of Christian Charity.听 It鈥檚 a memorial to the Earl of Shaftesbury who did so much, just at the time Dickens was writing, to improve the condition of poor Londoners and introduce legislation to restrict child labour.听 When people get here there isn鈥檛 honestly much to do except take a selfie.听 I see people hang out for a bit, look around and then move on.

It doesn鈥檛 take much then to imagine that often our demanding lives are like this; there鈥檚 so much information that comes at us in our modern world just like the huge advertising hoardings here; we鈥檙e busy, the lights are on, we might sometimes feel that we鈥檙e going round in circles 鈥� and there鈥檚 a mistake about love at the centre.听

We know, although it鈥檚 hard to admit, that we are prone to making mistakes about love.听 And Christmas is a time when we are in danger of making the biggest mistakes of all.听 The love we are waiting for in Advent is divine love that is free, generous, unearned, even unasked for.听 But the love we often find ourselves caught by in the run up to Christmas is more anxious: will she like the present? Have I spent enough on him? Will my cooking be up to scratch 鈥� to show them I love them.

Making mistakes about love is part of the human condition 鈥� we all do it 鈥� and don鈥檛 want to. Here鈥檚 an account of a startling encounter between the mysterious messenger angel Gabriel and a young girl whose brave yes was to change the world.

MUSIC听Gabriel鈥檚 Message

I鈥檝e walked a few yards down from the Circus to St James鈥檚 Church.听 With me is Jenny who is one of our vergers here鈥�

READING
A reading from Isaiah, Chapter 52

Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for the uncircumcised and the unclean shall enter you no more. 2Shake yourself from the dust, rise up, O captive Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter Zion! 3For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. 4For thus says the Lord God: Long ago, my people went down into Egypt to reside there as aliens; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause. 5Now therefore what am I doing here, says the Lord, seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Their rulers howl, says the Lord, and continually, all day long, my name is despised. 6Therefore my people shall know my name; therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.

LUCY REFLECTION 2
It鈥檚 so hectic out there and very peaceful in here; a contrast made more vivid by the dignified carved wooden statue of Mary in this side chapel.听听 She has been carved out of the wood of a catalpa tree that stood in the courtyard of the church for nearly 100 years. This tree survived being bombed; and during its time, (it was one of the UK鈥檚 100 鈥済reat trees鈥�) it witnessed lovers meeting, children being baptised, market stalls selling all kinds of things under its branches, and coffins were carried past it. 100 years of London life with people of all backgrounds, ages and beliefs鈥�..听 In 2010, when the tree fell down, the wood carver Clinton Challoner made a set of large wooden figures telling the story of Christmas. There are the shepherds, arms round the shoulders of each other together with Joseph. There are the Magi, with their strange gifts 鈥� and the knotty face of the one carrying the myrrh鈥�.. He saved the largest piece of the wood to make Mary and Jesus. She is a strong young woman, with her son seemingly emerging from the earth below; her body too emerges from the uncarved trunk to hold her child in front of her. The carving is dynamic, with a great sense of movement and drama. Jesus is already struggling, arms raised, to begin what will be a life like no other.听听 This Mary is the Mary of the Magnificat; fearless, joyful, offering a vision of a new world, foretold by Isaiah and brought to birth in the life of Jesus.听 Whenever I take services in the church during Advent and Christmas, this courageous Mary stands in front of me, in front of the altar, and she proclaims that the spacious vision of God is at hand; where our own pride is melted, our own haughtiness is dissolved, where the hungry are fed, the humiliated are exalted. A vision of justice that overturns our assumptions just as God being born homeless challenges our assumptions. When Jesus years later chooses to read the Scripture in Nazareth that offers this vision of society, he shows himself to be not only God鈥檚 son but his mother鈥檚 son too鈥︹��

MUSIC听O come, O come Emmanuel

LUCY
We hear the words of the Magnificat, Mary鈥檚 Song, from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1.

READING
My soul magnifies the Lord,
47听听 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
48 for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
听听 Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
听听 and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
听听 from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
听听 he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
听听 and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
听听 and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
听听 in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
听听 to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.鈥�

LUCY
Professor Robert Beckford from Canterbury Christ Church University has written, spoken and made films about the energy of the Magnificat and has reclaimed it as the shout of a woman protesting at injustice and offering a vision of a new world.

ROBERT

This year鈥檚 must have nativity set has a hipster theme. Hispters are a youth culture characterised by beards, short trousers and modernising trends.听 So, in this set, the stable is solar-powered, Joseph sports a bun hair style, and the three wise men are perched on Segways motor transporters.听 Mary, who is at the centre of the scene holds a latte, while taking a selfie with the new-born baby Jesus.听 Naturally, this modern interpretation has not gone without controversy.听听

Some commentators say its sacrilegious. But, while I am not opposed to this re-interpretation, I think that this set, while challenging the norm, fails to do justice to the transformative message at the heart of advent: a belief that God in Christ has come to radically alter the order of things.听 Nowhere is this sense of divine revolution more evident than in the Magnificat.

Mary sings the Magnificat, when pregnant with Jesus, and visiting her cousin, Elizabeth. In the song, Mary joyfully accepts her role, and purposely places her experience within the history of her nation, Israel.

The song is unlike any Christmas song we sing this time of year.听 There is no mention of a silent night, the town of Bethlehem or herald angels.听 Instead, Mary rejoices in a God who delivers individuals and nations from bondage. She sings of God鈥檚 mercy for an oppressed woman: 鈥榝or he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his hand maid.鈥� And, she tells us of the almighty鈥檚 support for the poor of all the world: 鈥榟e has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty.鈥�

Mary stands within a history of female prophets from Deborah, Hannah and Judith who also sang songs of God鈥檚 siding with the oppressed.

Mary鈥檚 song of transformation presents an image of Mary opposite to the soft, gentle and passive image of Mary that we see on Christmas cards at this time of year.听 The Magnificat鈥檚 Mary is passionate, revolutionary and defiant - a million miles away from the image of Mary on this years must have nativity set.听

MUSIC听Mary did you know

ROBERT REFLECTION 2
Buddy Greene and Mark Lowry鈥檚 Mary did you know? 卢 - perhaps a kind of retrospective Magnificat鈥�What does the Magnificat say to us in contemporary Britain?听 Particularly in the aftermath of the fractious political year we鈥檝e just experienced in 2016? What does this song of transformation convey in a time of increased uncertainty and stress for the whole world? What should we expect from God, when after another year, it appears for so many that justice, opportunity and hope are further from their grasp?

Mary鈥檚 Song, the Magnificat provides us with some important thoughts on building resilience in times of injustice and despair.

Mary knew a thing or two about difficult times. Here was a woman who found herself pregnant, and unmarried in a religious culture which viewed the control of women鈥檚 sexuality as a male badge of honour. For this un-accounted for pregnancy, Mary faced terrible retribution from her community; at best personal humiliation, and at worst, stoning for adultery, per Jewish law.

Add to her personal predicament the structural oppression she faces as a Jew living in an occupied land, where her daily existence is dictated to by a cruel and heartless regime. In fact, later in the story her life is threatened by state violence because of the child she carries, and she is forced to seek asylum as a political refugee.

Mary鈥檚 response is defiance!听 She sings a courageous song of praise to God and in-so-doing provides a guide for trusting in God, in the middle of conflict and anxiety.

Mary begins by inviting us to remember rightly 鈥� to look back and take note of the ways that God has transformed situations of despair.听 This god does not ignore the suffering of people, but instead names it to weaken and destroy oppressive powers. The song promises that God will always reverse the way things are; he will show favour to those who are ignored or vilified, and render ineffective the boasting of the arrogant.

It's a message for our time.听 We must sing our own songs of defiance to refuse to allow uncertainty and brokenness to undermine our faith in God鈥檚 promise to shake things up.

MUSIC听听 Go tell it on the mountain.

We鈥檙e standing in the church yard of St James, surrounded by all manner of Christmas market stalls. And so we turn to prayer.

PRAYERS

God of joy and justice;听 we thank you for the amazing gift of life itself, for the honour of waiting for the birth of your son, for the privilege of listening for your good news in the world. Help us trust in your promises of light and peace in our busy world.听

God of truth and peace; we pray for all who are fearful in your world today. For those who dread Christmas, for those who are anxious about money, work, family or relationships. Help every one of us to know that we are loved and forgiven and free and help us to love and forgive others in return.

God of grace and glory;听 we pray for men, women and children who suffer injustice in the world today.听 We pray for all those who long for the mighty to be put down and for the rich to be sent empty away. And with all God鈥檚 people we cry for justice and for peace in Syria, DRC, etc etc

God of hope and light;听 we pray for all those who have asked us to pray for them; for those who are grieving or lonely or in distress of any kind.听 Deepen our compassion and love for all who are in pain, and help us to trust in your promises of wholeness and rest.

Thinking this morning especially of the people of Aleppo we say the Lord鈥檚 prayer:

LORD鈥橲 PRAYER
Our Father
Who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For thine is the Kingdom
The power and the glory
For ever and ever,听
Amen.

LUCY LINK
As Advent is drawing to a close, the waiting is almost over. We have meditated on the song of protest that Mary sang and soon the skies will erupt with the songs of the angels; exuberant, overjoyed that the new future promised by God is here鈥︹��.

MUSIC听Hark the Herald

BLESSING
May the light of Christ shine in any darkness that you know this Advent. And the blessing of God almighty; Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit be with you all today and for ever. Amen.

MUSIC听Little Drummer Boy

听