It’s an Old Song

Luke 1:46b-55 [1 Samuel 2:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10]

The Sixth Sunday of Advent
December 14, 2025

The Rev. Josh Evans
St. John’s Lutheran Church
Albany, NY

Stories of conception and birth abound,
not merely at Advent and Christmas,
but throughout the Scriptures.
In this way, Jesus‘ conception and birth story appears not out of nowhere,
but against the backdrop of a larger legacy –
a legacy of faithful women who pray and sing
and defy all odds as they give birth to hope.

For those of us who have been following along with our Advent Bible study
with Jewish New Testament scholar Dr. Amy-Jill Levine,
or “AJ” as we have come to know her,
we have read several of these stories –
of Hagar and Ishmael,
Sarah and Isaac,
Mrs. Manoah (as AJ calls her) and Samson,
and more…

It is one thing for us who are Christian
to read the stories of the New Testament
and then to go back to the “Old” with new understanding.
But such is a two-way street
where we can explore the stories of the Hebrew Bible,
which of course came long before,
discovering how they can shed new light
on the gospel stories years after their time.

Today we hear again – and sing –
a familiar song,
Mary’s song,
the Magnificat.

It’s an old song –
the echoes reverberating through the pages of Scripture…

“My heart exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in my God…”
Hannah sings.

Hannah,
who endured the pain of infertility,
who yearned herself for a child of her own,
even as she witnessed her co-wife Peninnah
give birth to son after son and daughter after daughter,
each new pregnancy more provoking than the last.

Hannah,
who distinguishes herself as the first woman in Scripture
to “present herself” before God,
taking agency,
taking matters into her own hands,
opening herself to vulnerability (and accusations of drunkenness),
mustering the courage to speak the truth,
to speak her truth
in prayer and lament
before the Almighty.

Hannah,
who in her deep distress,
and amid bitter tears,
calls on God, “O Lord of hosts,”
the master of all creation,
to remember her,
to remember her –
and she bargains
for a son
whom she promises to dedicate to God’s service.

And God delivers:
Hannah gives birth to a son,
her firstborn,
Samuel,
and making good on her promise,
Hannah dedicates Samuel, her son,
to God at the sanctuary at Shiloh,
at that time the central place for Israelite worship.

Hannah,
whom God remembered
and took note of –
even, especially, in her distress.

Hannah,
who went on to conceive
and to bear three more sons
and two daughters.

Hannah,
who sings the prelude to Mary’s song,
a song of praise and prayer in its own right:

“My heart exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies
because I rejoice in your victory.

“There is no Holy One like the Lord,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly;
let not arrogance come from your mouth,
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low; he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and on them he has set the world.

“He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked will perish in darkness,
for not by might does one prevail.
The Lord! His adversaries will be shattered;
the Most High will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king
and exalt the power of his anointed.”

It’s too bad we don’t get more of Hannah’s song
in our liturgy or in the lectionary.

But it’s an old song,
and Mary’s gonna sing it again…

Mary,
who has an angel visit her,
someone so young,
so seemingly insignificant
so easily cast aside,
an apparent nobody –
and pregnant?!
Is that really what the angel said?
How can this be?

Mary,
who finds favor (Hannah in Hebrew, by the way) with God,
who will not only conceive and bear a son,
but whose son will be great,
the Son of the Most High,
who will reign forever and whose kingdom will have no end.

No wonder Mary sings!

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham… and Sarah… and Hagar… and Mrs. Manoah… and Hannah…
and to all their descendants forever.”

Did Mary hear the song of her forebear in faith,
reverberating from the walls of the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the distant echo resounding, years later,
in her own home in Nazareth?

It’s an old song,
and Mary sings it again…

Over and over,
our Scriptures bear witness
to God’s preferential option for the poor –
to borrow a phrase from liberation theologians –
God’s unrelenting concern for those
for whom this world shows little to no concern,
whose wellbeing is ignored,
whose very personhood threatens to be erased.

It’s an old song…
Hannah sings.
Mary sings.
The psalmist sings:

“[The Lord] gives justice to those who are oppressed,
and food to those who hunger.
The Lord sets the captive free…
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down…
The Lord cares for the stranger;
the Lord sustains the orphan and widow…”

It’s an old song,
and we’re gonna sing it again,
and again,
and again,
as we anticipate and yearn
for the inbreaking reign of God,
for the coming reign of Christ,
who is Emmanuel, God with us.

With Hannah,
with Mary,
with the psalmist,
and with the faithful of every time and place,
we sing our Advent song –
a song of God’s prevailing, justice-seeking love
for all who are cast aside,
for all who are oppressed and bowed down,
for all who cry out in their distress,
giving voice to their prayer and lament –
for the violence – in Providence, in Sydney, and in every place –
that claims too many precious lives,
for the fear that grips too many beloved children of God,
for the uncertainty we face with every passing moment.

It’s an old song,
and we’re gonna sing it again,
in bold faith,
in the company of Mary and Hannah,
trusting in the promise of God,
whose day is near,
who wipes away all tears,
who is turning the world around.