Luke 1:26-38, and 46b-55 are the scripture readings for the day. This familiar story includes a surprising twist, one that speaks as powerfully to our time as it did to the first hearers, two thousand years ago. The angel Gabriel is sent to Nazareth, a town (not really a city) in Galilee, to a young unmarried woman named Mary. Given the time and place, Mary is almost surely a teenager; she avows in the story that she is a virgin. Approached by a messenger from God, she initially needs reassurance: “Don’t be afraid,” Gabriel tells her. After the announcement that she will bear a son, and name him Jesus, a ruler for David’ s house and kingdom, Mary begins to find her voice. She asks, point blank, “How...?” Gabriel tells her she will be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and this baby will be God’s Son. He tells her that her relative Elizabeth is six months pregnant, even though she is old and was thought to be unable to conceive a child. Whether one is old or young “nothing’s impossible for God,” Gabriel insists. Mary says “let it be with me just as you have said.”
The Mary in this part of the story is often portrayed in art as a meek, quiet small-town girl, eyes downcast, as she says that big “yes” to God. But this is where the story begins to move, literally and figuratively, into new territory. In Luke’s narrative, Mary immediately leaves her home and most of her family (not to mention her fiancé’ Joseph) and travels to the hill country, to Elizabeth’s home. This is a surprising journey for a young, unmarried woman in 1st century Galilee. She is welcomed and affirmed, both by Elizabeth and her unborn son. And then Mary breaks into song. The Magnificat, as it is known, is Mary’s song glorifying God and celebrating the powerful reversal that God can create. Mary begins with the personal--”He has looked with favor on the lowly status of his servant,” but moves quickly to the universal: “He shows mercy to everyone...who honors him as God.” Mary praises God for action in history: “He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations. He has pulled down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.” She testifies from her own experience “He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed.” Mary praises God for coming to the aid of her people, “just as he promised to our ancestors....”
For me, the powerful movement in this story is how God’s Messiah has already changed Mary’s life and world, even before his birth. She begins as a frightened young woman, asking questions and then moving to acceptance. That could be all we hear. But instead, Mary becomes a person with a mission. She takes a journey, shares her good news, and then celebrates that news. She recognizes that the promise isn’t just for her, but will radically transform the world. Mary sees the reversal of favor from the “rich and powerful” whom the worldly assume are recipients of God’s favor, to the “lowly and hungry,” and she sings thanks and praise. God is with us! Even when we have limited resources, whether we are old or young, wherever we are, God remembers God’s promises, and offers new life in this world and the next. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Terry Deane
No comments:
Post a Comment