Mark Lowry was a singer in the Gaither Vocal Band for years. He made a name for himself by becoming the Weird Al Yankovic of Christian music. He was known for taking popular contemporary Christian hits and writing ridiculous words to them. Amy Grant’s “Heart in Motion” became Lowry’s “Mouth in Motion.” It was funny…in the 90’s.

Lowry wrote this song for his church’s Christmas pageant. He started to think about Mary. She knew her child was special, but what else?

Mary was a product of her time and culture. She likely assumed this coming messiah was a new king—an earthly ruler. The suffering servant of Isaiah 42 was separate from the ruler of Isaiah 2. No one imagined the suffering servant would also be the Prince of Peace—the King of the Universe.

Lowry captures this tension in his song as he imagines asking questions of the mother of God. It’s a beautiful and poetic way of wrestling with this divine mystery, but not everyone is a fan. Theologian Michael Frost said it was the “most sexist Christmas song” ever written as the number of questions seemed to question the intelligence of Mary. Others have questioned the theology of this song as perhaps wandering into heterodoxy or even heresy. I’m not sure how that’s possible. You can’t form dogma out of questions.

At the end of the day, some people hate art and kick puppies. Not everyone likes their steak medium-rare or can find beauty in an In-N-Out burger. There is no accounting for taste; some people like bagpipes and think BudLight is beer. Mystery surrounds us – terrifying mysteries like bagpipes and beautiful mysteries like the Incarnation.

Not all mysteries are equally worth pondering; the incarnation is.

This song invites us to wonder along with Mary. Who, like every mother, asked, “What will my child become? Will he be happy? Will he be successful? Will he be good?” She didn’t need an angel’s message to know her child was unique. She knew that, but there was so much she didn’t know. She didn’t know he would walk on water or calm the storm. She didn’t know how he would heal or eventually rule all creation. If she did, she didn’t know what it all would mean. I don’t know that any of us still do.

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