CHANGE IS THE OBJECT OF PRAISE

Today I found myself back at the Kafue prayer house/classroom, but this time I was in front of the pulpit. Many of the ideas from this sermon were inspired from a book Kari, Devin, Becca, and I studied when we first got to Zambia. This book is called "Unexpected News"by Robert McAffe Brown, an especially important read for American Christians. After only learning I was preaching last Tuesday, informed while washing dishes no less, I'm proud of my message and plan on sharing it with Rev. Tembo's other prayer houses. Enjoy!

1 Samuel 2: 1-8

Luke 1: 46-55

Theme: God wants to restructure the world and God wants us to help.

Meet two women. The first lives hundreds of years ago in a village in the bush of Zambia. As both a woman and a second wife, she must work day after day to care for others. She is baron with no children. This brings her grief; she feels she has failed her husband, her family, and herself. She cannot fulfill her role in society which is to mother children. She is not the chief nor the daughter of one. She does not go to the induna to make decisions for the village. She is not the head of her family. The only decision she gets to make each day is which chore to do first. Her surname: we’ll say Banda. Her first name is Hannah.

The second woman lives in a compound in modern day Zambia. Wearing her chitenge instead of a school uniform because she failed her grade 9 exam she finds herself pregnant and unmarried. Young and without riches, she wonders how her boyfriend and parents will respond. She is not an MP, President, nor the leader of anything. Her surname? We’ll say Lungu. Her first name: Mary.

Are these two women the same as Hannah and Mary in the Bible? Of course not, but thinking about who these women would be in a Zambian context helps us understand how the Bible applies to us today. If Mary and Hannah were alive today, who would they be? And what words would make up their prayers and songs?

Today I want to highlight the humble beginnings of Hannah and Mary. I want to highlight how they are ordinary and how the people around them in biblical times might have suspected them as failures as they broke cultural norms. I want us to see that in human and cultural terms they had no power. They had no political power over others.

My namesake from the Bible was a childless second wife. In biblical times and through much of history, a woman’s role in society was limited to mother. This meant that Biblical Hannah was failing in one of the only capacities society allowed her. Her body was failing her. She felt lowly as she lamented her childless life. This woman had no armies or people to boss about. She was just average. But God chose her anyway. Together they bring a baby named Samuel into this world, and Samuel would bring about great political changes in the world, by discovering the great Ruler of Israel, King David. God chooses Hannah, a lowly nobody in society, to restructure her society.

It’s not the last time God would use a woman and a mother to change how humans organize their society. Just look at Mary, the mother of Jesus. Before God chose her, no one knew her name. She was a peasant girl. Her family didn’t come from Jerusalem, the likes of Woodlands in Lusaka, but Nazareth, an average place like Chawama. Before God chose her as a partner in creation, she spent her days doing chores and doing what she was told, including accepting her parent’s choice for her husband.

Before God’s transformation, Mary and Hannah aren’t the type of women we would call important or even special. They aren’t rich and they aren’t ruling over people. They are women you could meet on the street today. God chooses everyday people. God chooses people like us. God chooses people society doesn’t deem important. That means we need to rethink who is important in our lives, too. We need to think again about who God is using to make God’s kingdom come. I surely hope that God is using President Edgar Lungu to bring good changes to Zambia, but we must not only look to standard positions in society, such as politicians, to bring about change. We must look around us. We must look at ourselves.

We shouldn’t be afraid to see the ordinariness in Mary and Hannah. If we miss the fact that they were average, we miss God’s radial power: he chooses us, even the least of us.  God chooses real, genuine people, not perfect superhumans. God wants your help to restructure society, just like he wanted help from Hannah and Mary!

I want us to look very closely at Hannah’s prayer from Samuel 1 and Mary’s Song from Luke. What are these women who know they don’t have much political power saying in response to knowing God has chosen them. Despite Hannah and Mary living centuries apart, their words are extremely similar. When these types of double messages occur in the Bible we must pay attention.  

The first thing to understand is the similar manner in which Hannah and Mary begin. The foundation of Hannah’s prayer and Mary’s song is praise. Hannah prays “My heart exults in the Lord-my strength is exalted in my God.” Mary echoes in song: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” For both women, their praise comes from and originates in their very bodies: in their hearts, their strength, their soul, their spirit. Remember, their bodies are average, everyday humans. These regular women are vessels of profound praise. Their average image reflects God, and when this happens they don’t seem so average anymore. They become women blessed and known by every generation.

Two weeks ago in this very room, our very own Abusa D. Tembo taught us that change is the object of praise. (I even wrote the words in my notebook). When we praise and gain communion with God, change and transformation is possible. Hannah and Mary show us this. Their introduction to prayer and song is none other than praise, and what follows is none other than a declaration of change. That change is a restructuring of the world that they are helping bring about.

Now this I really want you to pay attention to: the restructuring of society in God’s plan turns the world upside down. What we know, will not be. What is high becomes low. And the low becomes high. The powerful have power no more. The weak are strong. The hungry are full. The rich have empty hands. Again Mary and Hannah speak the same exact message centuries apart. I believe this vision is God’s plan. Hannah’s prayer is God’s will. Mary’s song shows us God’s kingdom. And we must pay attention. Hannah and Mary’s praise shows us the change God wants us to create and God wants our help.

So what exactly is this new world that God is creating? Let’s unpack Mary’s song. First she sings, “God has put down the mighty from their thrones.” The powerful will become powerless. Those that have will not have as much. Mary talks about a throne and a throne is a seat of government. Her words are political and foresee an overthrow of government. When I read this I wonder if God has it out for all governments in this world. Will all those sitting on thrones or living in their state houses be overthrown? God abolishing all governments is an absurd, unrealistic idea. I think the “mighty” Mary refers to are specifically corrupt leaders in an empire. She is talking about leaders who get their power from “might” or “muscle” or “force” or “violence.” Mary is saying that God has the power to bring down those violent, hateful people in this world that suppress others and keep so many in lowly, impoverished states. God puts down the dishonest leaders, and not necessarily the throne or seat of government itself. Today we must look for corrupt mighty forces not only in politicians, but also in business and economic leaders. We must look at those who hoard money and opportunity for only themselves and people who look like them. In today’s world, people oppress others not just through violence, but through not sharing what they have or by taking things only for themselves. People sitting on these types of thrones will fall.

In this respect specifically, I see Mary really speaking to Zambians. In recent years foreign investment has poured into this country, and yet still so many Zambians live on less than 6 kwatcha per day. When Mary says, “God has put down the mighty from their thrones,” I think she is speaking to Zambia and saying God will change this economic system that is not benefiting God’s people. God will put down the Zambian two-tiered economy and lift up Zambians, God’s people.

Mary’s next lyric is that God “exalts those of low degree.” This is the reverse of God putting down the mighty. God will take those without political power and those without resources and magnify and praise them. God is on the side of those society might not deem so important. God wants to change the lives of those who need and want things. Look around you and see who that can be today. It could include the woman selling tomatoes in the market, the mini bus driver, the community school teacher, or the man washing cars.

Mary’s song continues with “God has filled the hungry with good things.” God will fill our bellies with good, healthy things that will sustain us for long, joyful lives. God takes an empty basket, water jug, pot for nshima and makes it full. Whenever we pray the Lords prayer we remember that God gives us our daily bread, but sometimes we forget we need to share that bread. I’ll never forget when I heard the scientific fact that the world God created makes enough food for every human being on it. Our earth has the capacity to feed us all—this is God providing our daily bread. Yet people still go hungry, don’t have enough, or can only buy cheap, unhealthy products. People don’t go hungry as a punishment from God. God provided a fertile earth that can feed them. People go hungry because greedy people can’t share. People go hungry because of people. Therefore when Mary says that God has filled the hungry with good things, I don’t think she is just saying that God will provide the opportunity for everyone to have enough food. God already did that. I think she is saying that God will restructure society so that all are fed. God will change the way humans relate and organize so that we feed each other. God will change the groups humans live in, from families to nations, into groups that treat each other equally and share all.

Finally, Mary sings, “God sent the rich away empty.” God, the great creator and provider, with such a capacity to give and give chooses not to create, not to provide, and not to give. For whom does God choose this fate? The rich. The rich will have nothing. The rich will have empty hands, maybe even empty bags, and empty wallets. And you know what? They’ll be fine. God is not smiting them into dust. God just wants them to have less. God doesn’t have any materials to give them. They don’t need more stuff. What is clear is that God has a plan for economic relations in this world. The rich should have less, and those have less should have more. God cares about how we conduct business, how we sell things in the marketplace and in the stock market. He cares about what is on our dinner tables. God cares about how much is in our bank account. Mary’s song and Hannah’s prayer remind us that God cares, but they also remind us that we need to care. We need to care about some having too much and some having too little. We need to not only care, but we need to do something about it.

The book, “Unexpected News” quotes liberation theologian Elsa Tamez who says, “Mary’s song does not speak “of individuals undergoing moral change, but of the restructuring of the order in which there are rich and poor.” In other words, single people will not be brought low or high, but whole groups, whole nations, whole classes of society will shift. God wants to change the structures of human groups that result in rich and poor.

As Christians we are called to praise God, to know God’s word, and to pray our hearts out, but the result of that spiritual growth should be change in this very life we are living. Prayer and praise should inspire us to act in our communities. Prayer and praise should inspire our votes. Prayer and praise should inspire us to hold our politicians accountable. Prayer and praise should inspire us to get involved in our schools. Prayer and praise should inspire us change our very own lives. God invites you to get involved in something, anything, that will bring justice to this world. How will you help bring about God’s kingdom?

Someday my home country of the United States will look very different. Right now a small number of people are sick with greed, sitting on their thrones. God wants the United States to change its economic policies and God wants me to help change them. Someday Zambia will look different, too. Maybe Woodlands won’t look so different than Chawama. I think this will happen because God wants it and it will happen through us, God’s people. It will happen when God’s people actually love and care for one another, and not just their family, church family, tribe or even country, but every single human being on this planet.  It will happen through a total change in how humans relate to each other.

That means we have some work to do. And it might mean that we won’t see the change in our lifetime. Maybe it’s our children that will do some or even most of the work as was the case with Mary and Hannah. But what I think is very important to note is that Hannah’s prayer is in the present tense: She talks about events happening this very moment. This very second. She says, “The bows of the mighty are broken but the feeble gird on strength.” Mary says, “God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” God’s act choosing Hannah and Mary restructures the world right away, in that moment, even though there is much work yet to do. That means that every small step we take to answer God’s call to change this world is as important as the entire restructuring happening. Every step counts. Every once of praise counts. Every committee meeting, every vote, every effort to change this world for the better counts. And everytime we choose justice, love, and sharing we can boldly say, just like Hannah and Mary that the mighty are falling from their thrones and the hungry are being filled. However we choose to be part of this restructuring of the world, we too can praise God and say, yes, those who don’t have enough will have enough, and I will be a part of it. Yes, those who have too much, will share with others, and I will be a part of making that happen. Yes the low will become high and the high low, and I will be a part of that shift. I will do my part to love and others and make groups that show love and care to every human on this earth. I will care for every human on this earth.  If that seems impossible, just start with praise. My soul magnifies the Lord. My heart exults in the Lord. I will change this world!

Thanks be to God.