Mary's Song

Psalm 149:1b – Sing unto the Lord a new song. (KJV)

As shoppers hurried into the dollar store to escape the winter winds, one man ambled towards the entrance, methodically tapping his cane. He touched the door. Then, he paced ten steps away. Dropping to his knees, he placed his hat on the ground for tips and pulled an instrument from his tattered jacket. With recorder flute in hand, the man played Silent Night, The First Noel, and Drummer Boy. I was mesmerized with his music. Passersby scarcely noticed him. A mother dropped a coin in the overturned hat. A teenager handed him a water bottle. It was my chance to talk to him.

"Excuse me, sir. Why do you play?"

"Fer Jesus."

"Does anybody ever take your money? You wouldn't know, seeing as…"

"I sees them with me ears. They can have me coins. I play 'cause I want 'em to have a song in they's heart like I's got in mine."

As the flutist played Mary, did you know? I felt a warmth erase the wind whipping onto the sidewalk from the nearby alley.

I learned something that day. Although the gentleman was blind and poor, the song of the Lord residing within gave him a joy that no one could take. Rather than worrying about his circumstances, he focused on expressing the song within his heart.

Let's talk about Mary. Why did God choose her to birth the Saviour? She, like the flutist, had a song in her heart that no one could take away. Her song, the Magnificat, is a declaration of her faith. Mary sang about her surprise to learn that she was chosen to birth the Saviour. She glimpsed the impact of Christ's birth — that it would bless generations. Expectantly, she sang about God's sovereignty.

Mary's faith reminds me of the flutist. She knew that she'd have a difficult journey, but she kept a song in her heart when challenges came. As gossipers publicized her premarital pregnancy, she kept singing. When she and Joseph fled from wicked King Herod, I imagine that Mary whispered lullabies into her child's ears. As her Son hung upon the cross, beaten, and dying a horrible death, blood pooling at her bended knees, I am certain that Mary had at least one chord from her Spirit-song residing within her wounded soul. When Jesus arose, the whole world sang, as did Mary.

Christmas is a time to resurrect the song of the Lord that He's placed within you. Do you hear it? Listen closely … The Great Flutist has written a melody on the recesses of your heart.

Prayer: Father God, help us to be attuned to the melody that You've written on our hearts. Amen.

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