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| My soul magnifies the Lord! |
The Rev. Kathi Johnson
Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, Year B – 31 May 2015
Marks of Discipleship: Prayer
Text: Luke 1:39-57; Psalm 113:1
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
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When I was a church musician and
attended church music conferences, one of the opportunities available was
signing up for a Master Class. So, if you were an organist, for example, and
wanted to have some time at the keyboard with one of the Master Organist
workshop presenters, that was your chance. It was a chance to learn from the
masters – from those who’ve proven themselves to be fantastic performers at
their craft.
I have a recording of a Master
Keyboardist named Glenn Gould, and the recording is Mr. Gould playing Johann
Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Pretty early on after purchasing it, the
more I listened to this recording, the more I believed that I was hearing something
over the music. Like, a voice – an other-worldly voice, humming – one that
certainly didn’t belong in a recording of piano music.
The more I’ve listened to this
recording in my earbuds (rather than over speakers), the more I’ve realized
that what I’m hearing is Mr. Gould himself humming along with what he’s
playing. In one place, I can hear him ticking off some articulated notes with
his tongue. What I am hearing is a master at work with his craft.
As we think about prayer – and
learn about it as disciples of Jesus – we do well to learn from Master
Pray-ers. Martin Luther was a Master Pray-er. A friend of his overheard Luther
in prayer one day, and this was his observation: “Good God, what spirit, what
faith was in his words! He prayed for things with such reverence-as befits
God-and with such hope and faith that he seemed to be holding a conversation
with a father or a friend…My soul was set on fire with such singular passion to
hear him speak with God in such a friendly, serious, and reverent manner.”[1]
Martin Luther used the psalms a lot
in his prayers. We believe the psalms were meant to be sung, originally, but if
you read them, they are also prayers in addition to being songs – prayers for
help, prayers for comfort, prayers for strength.
The psalms are full of all kinds of
prayers, but they are also full of praise to God: for deliverance from danger,
for God’s mercy and goodness, for God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. As we
read or sing these psalms, we are listening to and singing words of Master
Pray-ers from ages past.
We’ve spent time the last couple of
weeks talking about praying according to God’s will, and how the Spirit guides
our prayers and intercedes when we don’t know what to pray. However, our
prayers are not always to be about asking God for something. Our prayers ought
also to include praise of God – as an example, I give you our psalm today,
Psalm 113, which at the beginning, says, “Give praise, you servants of the
LORD; praise the name of the LORD.”
Throughout Scripture, we have the
words of Master Pray-ers, like the prayer of Hannah in today’s Old Testament
lesson. Or, as I said, in the Book of Psalms. Whenever we read the prayers
contained in Scripture, we are listening, or overhearing what they prayed and
how they prayed.
Today, we are remembering the
Visitation of Mary, the Mother of our Lord, to her relative, Elizabeth. For
some context: Mary has just found out that she is pregnant with Jesus, and she
goes to visit Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist. As the women
are greeting each other, the Spirit fills Elizabeth, who praises Mary for her
willingness to be such a servant of God.
In the Magnificat, we are hearing
the words of a Master Pray-er, and how she
praises God. Mary lifts up God’s character. God’s character that is unchanged
by the two thousand years that have passed from her lifetime to ours. Mary praises
God for God’s on-going care for those who are often neglected, and she praises
God for sending the child that she is carrying in her womb – the child she
realizes will be the Savior of all humankind.
We are certainly called to pray to
God, offering God our prayers for healing or peace or whatever else may be on
our hearts. But – just like the prayers we read from the Master Pray-ers - our
prayers should also be filled with our words of praise: for God’s great love
for us, for God’s faithfulness and steadfastness, and for God’s provision.
I gave you a prayer challenge last
week, to pray for people around you and also to work your way through the prayer
list. This week, I challenge you to make a list – either in writing or not – of
everything for which you are grateful. And then, spend some time giving thanks
and praise to God. If you need an example to guide you, I suggest you turn to
the psalms. The last five psalms, especially, are full of praises.
“Praise the Lord, for the Lord is
good!”[2]
Amen.
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