"Magnificat" (Luke 1)

There was no room for Mary and Joseph at the inn. The only place to lay their baby when he was born was in a manger.

But why was there no room? Would no one in that town have seen that here was a woman who was about to give birth, and who needed a safe, decent place to do so?

Wouldn’t the ancient codes of hospitality have convinced at least someone to say, “The emperor’s census has us all booked up, but hey, we’ll find room. We’ll make room, for this poor woman in labor…”

But no one did. No one welcomed them in. Mary and Joseph were treated like animals.

Literally.

That’s where they ended up: among the animals.

On December 4 - the same day I had my surgery, in fact - there was a community meeting in Signal Hill to discuss and get feedback regarding a new development in town that would include shops, restaurants, and 199 new market-value apartments.

I actually live about 20 feet inside Signal Hill city limits, and I’ve seen a presentation about this proposed development before, at a neighborhood meeting I went to. I liked what I saw, and so did others who were at that small neighborhood gathering.

But at the big community meeting December 4, vocal opposition to the project was fierce.

Many of those who opposed the project didn’t want apartments in their neighborhood. They didn’t want renters in their neighborhood. Actual quotes from the meeting include complaints about “those people coming into our neighborhood,” “people who don’t really care about the community.” One person said that renters are a “different class of occupants” who have no “pride.”

There were a lot of stereotypes and generalizations in their comments...

As you know, we have a serious housing crisis going on right now, and more housing of all types are needed. This is important to me, since I not only live in Signal Hill, but I am also a renter.

But even more important, right now, is this: If Mary and Joseph were to arrive in Signal Hill, or in Long Beach, or in Lakewood, would they find a place to stay?

Or would they be cast out, with the animals?

Mary and Joseph wouldn’t be able to afford a typical apartment rent. They’d need subsidized, low-income housing. They were poor.

But that’s not all they had going against them. Not only were Mary and Joseph poor; they were from Nazareth. Prejudice against people from Nazareth was high. One of Jesus’ disciples even said outright: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

I may be a renter in Signal Hill, but at least I don’t have to face the prejudice that Mary and Joseph faced, the prejudice that many in our society do also face; prejudice based on where they come from or what language they speak or what accent they have…

Mary and Joseph most definitely had a Galilean accent. They came from Nazareth. They were poor. They were oppressed.

They were animals.

And there was no room for them in Bethlehem.

Yet God chose them to be the parents of Jesus. God could have chosen anyone, but God chose them. Emmanuel - “God-with-us” - arrives in the form of the baby born to this poor, mistreated couple from no-good Nazareth.

And when Mary is made aware of all this, of how God has chosen her, and looked favorably upon her…

She is overwhelmed with joy.

And she sings out God’s praise….

“My soul magnifies the Lord,” she sings… “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant…”

And then Mary keeps singing. She sings about how God scatters the proud, and brings down the powerful, and lifts up the lowly; and fills the hungry with good things, and sends the rich away empty….

Oh, wow!

These are words of hope! Words of joy!  Words of resistance and revolution!

And these are kingdom values.

I read recently about a group of evangelical pastors who met with President Trump, and how they are so happy to have a president who is bringing what they called “kingdom values” back to the White House and back to our nation.

And I couldn’t believe it.

How can those pastors so misunderstand what are the true values of God’s kingdom?

It’s so obvious. So plain.

Scattering the proud! Lifting up the lowly! Filling the hungry with good things!

It’s understandable that these values are not liked by those who have wealth and power. It’s no surprise that they would be upset by such ideas. This is not trickle-down economics; this is trickle-up grace!

And this song of Mary, this Magnificat, has been banned - literally banned - by some authoritarian rulers in history.

It was banned from being read or sung in India during the British colonial administration; banned in El Salvador and Guatemala in the 1980’s; and after mothers of disappeared children in Argentina put Mary’s song on public display, it was banned there as well.

And I imagine there are some in our own society who wish they could also ban it.

The values of God’s kingdom are a challenge to society. But that’s because these values are good news to the poor and oppressed. Good news to the downtrodden. Good news to all those who have been treated as animals in times past and present.

Mary and Joseph were treated like animals, but it was those who denied them a place to stay who acted like animals.

Many today are treated like animals, but as people who celebrate Christmas, we can let them know that there is good news, that God takes special notice of the poor and lowly, and God works to lift them up. The downtrodden and oppressed have such a special place in God’s heart that God became one of them in the form of Jesus, born in a manger.

And anytime we show kindness to people such as these, and anytime we work to lift up the poor, and defend the rights of the vulnerable, and stand for justice… we re-present Christ to the world once again, and we let people know that Christ is alive, and that Christ is present, bringing wholeness to this fragmented world.