Mary’s Magnificat Luke 1:46-55

Two days ago I referred to the beautiful Japanese Christmas carol “Mary’s Song” which is, of course, Mary’s Magnificat put in verse. Here is the full text from Pauline Smith McAlpine’s book "Japanese Hymns in English”  published by Tsunobue Sha, April 1975.:

1. O magnify the Lord,
Honor and praise His name,
Heavenly King, great God and Saviour;
My soul, lift up your voice,
Sing and adore Him,
And in Him rejoice.

2. He hath not looked with scorn
On one of low estate,
Mighty is He; He hath dealt graciously;
Henceforth and evermore,
Each age shall say of me,
“Blessed is she!”

3. O holy is Thy name,
O mighty is Thine arm,
Thy mercies sure, from age to age the same,
And those who turn to Thee
All Thy rich promises
Freely may claim.

4. Thou dost lift up the weak,
Thou dost bring down the strong.
Scatter the proud, Move princes from their throne;
Fill the hungry with good things;
And all the rich
Are sent empty away.

5. Thou hast shown wondrous grace
To all of Abram’s seed,
Israel, too, Thou has remembered.
O how precious is the Lord,
Who brings salvation
Through his living word.

讃美歌95
（福音讃美歌65、新聖歌67、讃美歌２１ 175）

Beside some excellent translations of 50 Japanese Hymns in the 1954 Sanbika, there are also “Notes on Japanese Hymnody” at the back of the book which offer a rather good synopsis of Japanese hymnody.

After reading what I had written about “Mary’s Song” a friend told me that she reads Mary’s Magnificat every night in her devotion.

And I thought how different - but how biblical! - our ecclesiastical thinking and trends might be if more people followed her suit!

When life doesn’t go like the plan

Pizza Party at Hirosaki Fukuin Church

Today didn’t go like the plan – not my plan, not Daughter # 4’s plan… certainly not the musician’s plan. She and her husband were home grieving the loss of their little baby born too soon last Saturday….

Life is like that. It doesn’t often happen like we planned. But I find comfort in the truth expressed in Maltbie Babcock’s beautiful hymn “This is My Father’s World”:

This is my Father’s world.
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world:
the battle is not done:
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.

Mary’s Song

Tonight at the English Fellowship in Hirosaki we sang the English translation of a beautiful Japanese Christmas Carol based on Luke 1:46-55.

I was particularly mindful of verse 2 which begins, “He hath not looked with scorn on one of low estate.”

And verse 4:

Thou dost lift up the weak,

Thou dost bring down the strong,

Scatter the proud,

Move princes from their thrones;

Fill the hungry with good things;

And all the rich are sent empty away.

Our society honors the producers, the movers and shakers but it came home to me again as we sang… we should be careful before we look with scorn on that which we don’t see producing immediate, obvious results.

The sermon in Ajigasawa Church for this second Sunday of Advent was about three “miracle babies” – Isaac, John the Baptist and Jesus. God indeed does move and shake the world – but neither in these cases nor in my own experience do I see it happening very immediately, or even obviously!

Indeed he takes “the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, SO THAT NO ONE MAY BOAST BEFORE HIM.” (1 Corinthians 1:28-29 NIV)

Yes, pass it on!

Today as we worked in the kitchen Alice – a Latvian exchange student who is always telling us “I wish you spoke Russian” – told me how her brother-in-law put his kids to bed singing a song “about gardens” … “You know, ‘Pasadon.’”

“Pasadon?!”

At last something stirred in the murky depths of memory – thanks to the small boy who asked for this song so very often at the International English Service many years ago!

PASS IT ON!

It only takes a spark to get a fire going.
And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.
That’s how it is with God’s love,
Once you’ve experience it.
You spread his love to everyone;
You want to pass it on.

What a wondrous time is spring,
When all the trees are budding
The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming;
That's how it is with God's love,
Once you've experienced it.
You want to sing, it's fresh like spring,
You want to pass it on.

I wish for you my friend, this happiness that I've found;
You can depend on him, It matters not where you're bound.
I'll shout it from the mountaintop;
I want my world to know;
The Lord of love has come to me,
I want to pass it on.

I want to be a spark this Advent as I “pass it on!”

Advent is for slowing down

This morning I felt much better after sleeping on my disappointment.

And this evening I dug out some notes I made last spring when I spoke to OMF Language School students about “Avoiding Despair”-  I thought perhaps I should take my own medicine!

HOW TO KEEP FROM DESPAIR

1. Accept the fact that your life will not go according to your plan!

A. What God is going to do he’s going to do. “He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." (Mar 4:26-29) So scatter the seed and GO TO BED.

B. The converse is also true. What he’s not going to do, he’s not going to do. “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to those he loves.” (Psa 127:1-2) So you can go to bed at night!

So much depression can be eliminated by this simple formula:

Go to bed at night, get up in the morning, eat 3 meals a day – in community whenever possible, drink lots of water and go for long walks.

2. What you are in Christ is of way more significance than what you do for him –SO DON’T GET TOO BUSY!Work on less program and more living. Make Deuteronomy 6:5-7 your “program” in evangelism and discipling as well as child-rearing : “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

3. Remember the Word of God is eternal, the people in your life are eternal… the church you are planting is not eternal. If your self-worth is wrapped up in the credit you get for church planting you are setting yourself up for disappointment. In Aomori I have watched 3 amazing churches rise – and fall.

4. You don’t need to prove your worth with numbers or busy-ness. It hurts when people assume we sit around twiddling our thumbs because we can’t count the kids who call me their spiritual mother or the people my husband leads to the Lord in our statistics. But if we are afraid of obscurity we may miss the REALLY BIG OPPORTUNITIES that God has prepared for us. What if Philip had been afraid to leave the big churches in Samaria and Jerusalem where it was “happening”? What if he hadn’t headed down the desert road to Gaza? (Acts 8)

In the midst of the season’s business, Advent is a time to remember…  What you are in Christ is of way more significance than what you do for him – SO DON’T GET TOO BUSY!

Resurrecting for Advent

My literacy project has required almost every ounce of energy left over from my (greatly reduced) church schedule. Hence the long hiatus.

I’ve probably lost even my most faithful readers!

But today I am NOT HAPPY. The winter snow camp was canceled… and I have decided to embark on a series of advent reflections.

I’m tempted to call these reflections “Small is Beautiful” or “From Little Acorns Grow Great Oaks.”  Or maybe just, “Increase Our Vision!”

This is what I wrote to prayer partners earlier this evening:

This makes me think of the KJV rendition of Proverbs 29:18 "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (It may be a mistranslation but it certainly describes my feelings at the moment!)

Pray:

• for God to give us a really, really, really worthwhile (in EVERYONE's mind) English Camp, January 5 -8.

• for God to send a good number of young, strong, able, vision-filled men to serve as pastors/missionaries in Aomori.