Feast of Mary, the Mother of our Lord

 

08 15 2021 Sermon

Isaiah 61:7-11; Psalm 34; Luke 1:46-55

 Today, we observe the Feast of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It doesn’t often fall on Sunday, so I am taking the opportunity to talk about her.

Usually when we think about Mary, we remember a few specific events. We remember her agreeing to bear the child, the Son of God. She is portrayed as humble, submissive, willing, obedient.

 

We remember the birth of Jesus. We think about the joy of having our own children and how she must be feeling. Joy at being a mother, worry if she will be a good mother, relief at no longer being pregnant, amazement at God’s activity in her life and the life of her new baby, wonder and curiosity at how their lives would be.

We remember the way she determinedly searched for her son until she found him in the temple. Although he gave her a smart-alecky answer, she must have scolded him for not checking in with her.

We remember her at the cross, grieving his death. There was nothing more she could do for him, other than care for his broken body. She must have remembered Simeon’s promise that a sword would pierce her heart. She felt that sword’s pain now. And, perhaps, she thought about his promise to be raised again. Was it possible?

 By and large, we think of Mary as rather invisible, docile, important only as the mother of someone important. Now, I know that in the Catholic Church, she gets a lot of attention because of her role as Jesus’ mother. In contrast, many Protestants tend to dismiss her altogether, and barely remember she exists.

Lutherans choose a middle ground. For us, she is not revered as almost divine, but she is highly respected for her courage and obedience.

Mary was instrumental in shaping the child Jesus into the man he would become. I believe that God knew Mary would be the right mother for this special child, and Joseph would be the perfect father. 

From the time he was small, they taught him about God’s love for all people, about what was just in God’s eyes, that women and children were equal to men, and that foreigners were welcome.

How did Mary know this? She knew scripture. Even if she couldn’t read the texts, she listened to the men as they discussed them. She was familiar with the prophets and their calls for justice. She was familiar with the stories of the women in scripture: Sarah, Rebekah, Hannah, Dinah, Ruth, Esther. Brave women who refused to be silent servants to their husbands.

The Gospel reading for today is Mary’s song, the Magnificat. She sings this song when she visits her relative Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist. They both rejoice in the way God is acting in their lives.

In her song Mary envisions a world of justice and peace, of equality, of enough for all. It is a radical message in a time of Roman occupation. Mary praises God for what God is doing through her and her child to benefit the entire world.

There is no way to prove Mary did or did not write the Magnificat herself. Perhaps it was in circulation in the earliest days of the Church. Perhaps it was created by Luke, the writer of the Gospel. Either way, we can believe Mary taught her son the ideas in it. And, while there are almost no references to Joseph in Scripture, we can believe he taught his son the same principles. It had to be a family affair, to raise Jesus to be the Son of God.

When we compare the Magnificat with Jesus’ life and ministry, we can see that Jesus did what Mary sang.

Jesus praised God. He constantly pointed to God as the source of his power, and took time often to pray.

Jesus demonstrated God’s mercy over and over, offering healing and food to those in need. He welcomed all people. 

Jesus’ words taught his followers and challenged his opponents. He used stories to show that wealth and human power are not important to God. Acting with mercy toward all is important to God.

The Magnificat was a radical message in Jesus’ time. It can still be a radical message today. As Jesus learned from his mother, we can too. How can we live the Magnificat? We do it by paying attention to what is going on.  

Where do we see hungry people? Where do we see injustice? Where is there a lack of peace?

We may not be able to do anything about everything, but we can act in our own ways to change what we can where we can. The Magnificat presents us with what God’s work is, and challenges us to be the human hands that continue to make it true. Amen

 

See also: https://globalworship.tumblr.com/post/145237542735/the-radical-subversive-message-of-the-magnificat