"Right Side Up, Once Again!"

Scripture: Luke 1:46-55

What is the standard for deciding if something is upside down or right side up? When life is turned upside down, it means that it has been forced to be outside of the norm, that it is no longer correct, and right side up would imply that the current situation or standard is the right one, and that all is well within it.

When we think about it, “upside down” really means that our condition is, or is about to become, out of whack! The dictionary tells us that “upside down” means that our situation is in “great disorder”! But how do we know when life is either “upside down” or “right side up”?

Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun ... explains that in ancient times, to be a Christian community meant to defy Roman imperialism, to stretch Judaism, to counter pagan values with Christian ones. Real discipleship meant the rejection of emperor worship, the foreswearing of animal sacrifice, the inclusion of Gentiles, the elimination of dietary laws, the acceptance of women and the supplanting of law with love, of nationalism with universalism.

Being disciples in the world today is no less challenging. For Chittister, it implies a commitment to be in our world what Jesus was for his - being a disciple means working to make life better for others, going beyond our lives to improve the lives of others. “To follow Jesus is to follow one who turns the world upside down,” says Chittister.

—Jeanne Morales, “The cost of discipleship,” St. Joan of Arc Web Site, Lenten Season 2003, Stjoan.com. This piece draws on and quotes from Joan Chittister’s speech “Discipleship for a Priestly People in a Priestless Period” from the Conference on Women’s Ordination, Dublin 2001.

But if I may be so bold, I think Chittister has it backwards. I believe that when Jesus came, he found the world in chaos – that it was already “upside down”. We had been created in God’s image – we were created in the right - but because of sin, we have caused this life to be anything but right, and Jesus’ only purpose was to come and set it right again – to turn this world “right side up”!

Read Luke 1:46-49

This passage is generally known as the “Magnificat” – that it is Mary’s song of praise to her God for the great work that he is doing through her. She begins with a song of praise, but even within this, she acknowledges that a drastic change is underway.
She says that the Lord is “mindful”, or that he truly cares, about the condition of his servants. But no one ever truly cares about their servants – not in that day and definitely not in this one. After all, the only purpose for a servant’s life is to care for the master, not the other way around! The Godly way has been perverted!
The next verse proclaims that, in the future, this humble, lowly girl will be known as “blessed”. But how could anyone be considered “blessed” if they have no money, or position, or authority, or the great admiration and respect of others? Mary had none of these, and yet the Lord had imparted a divine and glorious purpose for her life. Upside down or right side up?

Even in this song of praise, Mary – humble, cared for, and blessed – is saying for all who will hear, that the Lord God Jehovah is working a brand new way for this world, and that he is using the most unworthy, the most unwelcome, the most unusual means to accomplish it.

Read Luke 1:50-52

Take a moment and think about who receives mercy in our day. Is it those who are afraid of authority? Or is it shown to those who the authority thinks can do something for them? Isn’t secular mercy all about favoritism?
But Mary strongly declares that God will show mercy to all who come to him. The word “fear” in this context implies worship and honor, and not so much as terror. So God’s mercy is for those who will trust his way, and not necessarily for those who can do him a favor to elevate his position. And how could we possibly do that anyway?

The next change is about who is raised up and who is set aside. Secular society would honor those who act in authority, and not those who show humility. But it seems that God will “scatter” those who are proud in their life - and not only those who exhibit pride, but those who even think in a prideful way. And who will he raise up? You’ve got it – those who don’t! And this leads us to the next huge change in our lives.

Worldly authority will be brought down, and the humble will be raised up. Can a person have both – great authority and humility? Maybe, but personally, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone who actually had both! The world admires authority, they strive for authority, they honor authority, but who has ever honored humility? Only God, I guess!

Do you see how the Lord is “Making all things new”? (Revelation 21:1-5) He’s turning the ways of earth “on their ear”! And why would the Lord think that the old needs changing? Aren’t we doing pretty good just the way we are?

Apparently not! The worldly status quo has nothing to do whatsoever with the ways of God! And he will make the changes if we can’t.

Read Luke 1:53-55

More changes - the hungry will be fed with goodness, and the wealthy will be left wanting. When we work for the rewards of earth, we may get them, but unless we reverse our gaze and look to the things of heaven instead, the good things of God will remain out of reach. If eternal life is to be ours, something has to give.

In these last two verses, Mary is remembering that the Lord has been merciful to Israel, even though they may have forgotten that. And by faith in Christ Jesus, Almighty God’s promise to Israel that all, even the gentiles, will be welcomed and will be fulfilled. (Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 60:1-3 NKJV) Mercy will no longer be limited in concept to Israel – it will be available to all who surrender their lives to servanthood in Jesus.

Remember the movie “The Bucket List”? Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two men who are in the process of dying. And as a last hurrah, they prepare their “bucket lists” – that list of things they want to do before death overtakes them - before they “kick the bucket”.
They put all kinds of activities on paper, and as each is accomplished, it is crossed off. The entire point of the film is to do as many things as they can before they die, things that will bring them pleasure, or a sense of accomplishment, or anything else that will bring purpose to the lives that they, apparently, feel have been lacking. Nicholson was wealthy, Freeman was a successful mechanic, and they both had an emptiness that had never been filled.

But it wasn’t until the end of the movie that they both discovered what had been missing, and neither of them had written it on the “list”. It seems that they thought that their “buckets” needed to be carried open side up so that they could accumulate as much as possible. But as it turned out, our life’s “bucket” should be carried bottom up, so that we can pour out as many blessings on others as we possibly can. And they learned this, at least to a limited degree, before it was too late.

That is the message that Mary’s Song brings to us today. It is purely a song of praise to Almighty God for all that he has done, and continues to do, within our lives. It’s interesting to note that by adding just three more letters to Magnificat, we get magnification. The Christian life magnifies God to others, just as Mary’s song does. The secular life can only magnify itself. That’s why the Way of Jesus is so difficult for many – it goes against everything that they have ever been taught, everything they have ever lived for, and everything they have believed to be true.

If Jesus had come to earth in a powerful and authoritative way, he would have been exactly what the world had wanted and expected. But by coming in the totally opposite way, in a way that reflected the message that Mary sang and that he had to convey, he would be the “right side up” example of what our lives must be about.

Jesus has set the standard for life in the right orientation, once again. Praise the Lord. May we all magnify his Holy and Precious Name!