First Presbyterian Church – Willmar
December 23, 2012
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Luke 1:39-55
“The Favor of the Lord”
The favor of the Lord can be a dangerous thing. Mary says, “He has looked with favor….” They say if men had to bear children the
human race would have died out years ago.
Only a woman had the courage to say to the angel, “I will do whatever
God wills.” Only a woman would have had
the courage to accept the favor of God.
The Gospel of Luke is about women. I’m not trying to stir up
a textual controversy, but it reads as if a woman might have written it. It
contains intimate details that hardly would have occurred to a man. It begins
with the birth of John the Baptist, focusing on Elizabeth, his mother. The next
major section is Mary's story. There follows the prophecy of an old woman named
Anna. When the boy Jesus went to the temple to debate the learned doctors, the
only person Luke quotes is his mother.
Many of Luke's stories from Jesus' ministry are about women: the woman who was a sinner, the woman who wouldn't give up, the widow of Nain, the bent over woman, the widow who gave her mighty mites. At the resurrection it was only women who had the faith to go to the garden and look for Christ’s body. Luke reports that when they told the disciples about the empty tomb these men assumed it was an idle tale and did not believe them. In Jesus’ time, women didn’t count for much in the eyes of society.
Many of Luke's stories from Jesus' ministry are about women: the woman who was a sinner, the woman who wouldn't give up, the widow of Nain, the bent over woman, the widow who gave her mighty mites. At the resurrection it was only women who had the faith to go to the garden and look for Christ’s body. Luke reports that when they told the disciples about the empty tomb these men assumed it was an idle tale and did not believe them. In Jesus’ time, women didn’t count for much in the eyes of society.
The central character in the birth narrative, a story only told by Luke, is the person closest to the event, Mary. Some people picture Mary as a frightened teenager caught up in events way beyond her control.
I think it’s more true to Luke’s narrative if we picture Mary as a determined, strong, assertive woman; a model for all women – a woman who understood her role in what was happening even if she couldn’t yet see the whole picture. Mary is the resourceful, competent, clear woman from whom Jesus learned much of what he knew about God's will for him and for his world. It is a woman blessed by the favor of God. Luke doesn’t report a single word Joseph spoke, or even what he thought about anything.
We know that according to Luke one day Mary received a visitor, a messenger, the angel Gabriel. Gabriel tells her that she has been chosen by God to play an important role in the history of humanity. And by the way, you are going to become pregnant without the intervention of Joseph, but don’t worry about that. We are told that at first she was “greatly troubled.”
When Mary becomes pregnant, she does something that perhaps
only another woman can understand. She
hears that her cousin, Elizabeth, is also surprisingly pregnant. So Mary makes the trip to the hill country of
Judea to visit her friend and cousin. She stays three months. We don’t hear much
about what went on during those three months.
Three months.
If a man has something important to talk over with another
man he may go see his friend and talk about it over a few beers or a pot of
coffee. It will be summed up in a matter
of hours! Mary felt comfortable living and sharing with her cousin for 3
months, both of them pregnant, comfortably sharing the concerns of their hearts
and their souls. Perhaps they massaged
each other’s feet after long days of shared work.
We also know that Elizabeth recognized that Mary wasn’t just
pregnant. She recognized and proclaimed
that Mary was going to bring a blessing from God to life in the world. Elizabeth recognized that Mary had been
blessed with the favor of the Lord.
Mary responds to Elizabeth with words that reveal a great
deal about Mary’s understanding of the role she was going to play; of what it
meant to be favored by God. The words of
Mary’s song do not reflect the mind or the heart of some frightened
teenager. She sings: "My soul
magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
But here’s the interesting part. This isn’t the first time that we encounter
words like this in Scripture. Mary seems
to be showing a knowledge of the Hebrew scripture. Listen:
‘My heart exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in my God.
my strength is exalted in my God.
‘There is no Holy One
like the Lord,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
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 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 shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might does one prevail.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king,
and exalt the power of his anointed.’
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might does one prevail.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king,
and exalt the power of his anointed.’
[I Samuel 2,
passim]
That’s the song of Hannah on bringing her son Samuel to the
temple to be dedicated to the Lord.
If Mary had known Hannah's song, she was not the illiterate
simple girl we have often pictured her as being. Educated, knowledgeable about
the scriptures, aware of the dynamics of history and tuned in to the will and
plan of God -- that's the Mary of the Magnificat.
Have you ever wondered where Jesus got his view of the
world. Why he identified with the poor, and had such a difficult time with the
mighty? Why he rejected the sword and violence as the way of the future, of
competition as the source of power and wealth? Where did he come upon the
notion that God demanded compassion, gentleness, humility; that the meek would inherit
the earth, the merciful obtain mercy, the pure in heart see God and the
peacemakers be called God's children?
Protestants don’t pay enough homage to Mary. If you believe the story of Jesus as told to
us in the Gospels, here’s what may be a startling notion for all you 21st
Century enlightened folk: the only human
genetic code that Jesus would have carried came from the DNA of Mary.
Read again Mary’s response to the angel, and you will see the commitment to God’s will that Jesus showed us in full. Listen to Mary’s song and you will hear the roots of Christ’s preaching. It came from the heart of his mother. Perhaps those are the things that Mary and Elizabeth talked about for three months.
Read again Mary’s response to the angel, and you will see the commitment to God’s will that Jesus showed us in full. Listen to Mary’s song and you will hear the roots of Christ’s preaching. It came from the heart of his mother. Perhaps those are the things that Mary and Elizabeth talked about for three months.
Blessed are you, Mary, blessed are you among women. And blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. And blessed are all those who hear him, believe him, follow him in the ways of peace and justice and love.
Amen.
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