LEARNING WITH MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS
Isaiah 61:7-11; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 1:46-55
Feast of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord — August 15, 2021
Pastor Ritva H Williams
We gather this morning, to commemorate the feast of “Mary, Mother of Our Lord.” Mary’s death is not recorded in the scriptures, but comes to us through the writings and artwork of the early church. Early church tradition tells us that Jesus’ mother died on August 15, in the year 41. Her death is depicted on this 10th century Byzantine ivory plaque. Mary is lying on a bed surrounded by all the apostles. Peter is near her head swinging a censor of incense. Paul is kissing her feet. Jesus is standing facing us, holding Mary’s soul wrapped in swaddling cloths, angels hover near ready to carry her soul to heaven. My intention today is not to fixate on the end of Mary’s life, but on what we can learn with her as her story unfolds in Luke’s Gospel.
Jen Norton’s artwork captures the moment she sings the Magnificat, her song of praise to God. The images at the bottom of the painting depict her journey to her cousin Elizabeth’s house.
Mary’s song emerges from her encounter with the angel Gabriel who greeted as a person of favor and grace, declaring that “God is with you” (Luke 1:28). She was surprised by such words of respect and honor. I can imagine her thinking something like, “Who me? You think, I’m favored and blessed — a peasant girl from a small village that does’t even have a paved street? You think God is with me? You have the wrong address mister.”
Here’s the first thing we learn with Mary: God chooses people the world tends to overlook, people society regards as nobodies. God’s choosing Mary is not about her. God’s favor is not something Mary earned or achieved. God’s favor didn’t depend on her accomplishments, gifts, strengths, or worthiness. God’s favor emerges from God’s unconditional love and positive regard for all human beings without exception. This is good news for all of us messed up, broken down human beings: God has unconditional positive regard for each and every one of us.
The angel went on to tell Mary, “Don’t be afraid. God has a surprise for you — you will have a baby boy. You will name him Jesus, and he’ll be great.” Mary protested, “How? I’ve never slept with a man.” The angel explains that her pregnancy will occur through the power of the Holy Spirit so that her child will be called ‘holy, son of God.’ He presents her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy in old age as a sign of God’s power to do amazing, even seemingly impossible things.
From the angel’s conversation we learn with Mary that it is her personal choice to become pregnant or not. The angel doesn’t ask her parents or her fiancé or the village priest for permission or affirmation. The angel’s invitation is directed to Mary alone, and shows us that God affirms Mary’s ownership of her own body. The decision to become pregnant is hers — and hers alone to make. Mary’s side of the conversation shows us that she is not meek, mild or mindless. There is no shame in the decision she makes, regardless of what her neighbors might think or say. (1)
So here is Mary, having consented to become the mother of Jesus, at the end of her journey into the hill country. We are not told what prompted her to leave home in haste and alone. Was it fear, dismay, a sense of isolation? Not even Joseph initially believed her story. But her cousin Elizabeth greets her with words of affirmation and blessing. With her pregnant cousin Mary finds sanctuary. Mary’s song is nothing less than a political manifesto, a blueprint for her son’s mission and ministry, rooted in the ancient traditions of the Hebrew prophets. Just as Isaiah proclaimed the good news of a God who promises joy, justice and blessing to those who are shamed and dishonored in the world, Mary proclaims a mighty, holy God who saves and heals a broken world by overturning society’s structures, bringing down the powerful in order to lift up the powerless, grant them dignity and honor, a seat at the table and a voice in the conversation. (2)
The image that for me best captures the Mary of the Magnificat is this icon written by Mark Dukes in 2015. The mother of Jesus is imaged as a black woman with her hands up. The child in her womb is a small black silhouette with his hands up in the crosshairs of a gun. This icon is known as “Our Lady Mother of Ferguson” and “Ferguson Mother of God — Our Lady Against All Gun Violence.”
Here we see the Mary who was amazed that God cared about a poor peasant girl, who courageously consented to become the mother of God’s Son, who boldly traveled alone to visit her cousin a hundred miles away, who sang of a world turned upside down. This same Mary journeyed in the final days of her pregnancy to Bethlehem only to give birth in a stable surrounded by animals. This is the mother who took to the road to protect her child from Herod’s assassins, finding refuge in Egypt until it was safe to return home. This is the mother who organized her family for the annual Passover pilgrimages to Jerusalem. This is the Mary who walked with Jesus during his final journey, and climbed the hill of Golgotha to receive the lifeless body of her son as it was taken down from the cross.
As Judith Jones writes, “This Mary is determined, not domestic; free, not foolish; holy, not helpless; strong, not submissive. She beckons everyone everywhere to speak out for God’s justice.” (3)
I know some of us cringe when we hear Mary sing of God turning the world upside down. That brings us to the third thing we learn with Mary: the God who loves us just as we are, has absolutely no intention of leaving us just as we are. As Judith Jones writes in her commentary:
God’s saving judgment is for all of us, bringing us down from the pride that fills us with ourselves until we can’t see either God or neighbor, bringing us up from the shame that distorts our worldview and convinces us that no one — not even God — could love us. (4)
We have only to look around us, read the headlines, watch the news to see people who are so full of themselves, so centered on defending their rights and privileges they cannot see, hear or care about anyone else. When we are honest with ourselves, we know that we are often blinded by pride, privilege, ignorance, selfishness, greed and the like. We know how much we need God’s saving judgment to bring us back to reality without sending us to the other extreme of hating ourselves for our failures.
One more thing we learn with Mary: each and every one of us is called to give to the God waiting to be born from us, that we are all, in Meister Eckhart’s description, mothers of God. (5) So the question for each of us this week to ponder is: what will we bring to birth in our lives and in our world?
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O God, my strength and my redeemer. Amen (Psalm 19:14).
Nancy Rockwell, “No More Lying About Mary,” December 3, 2015, Progressive Christian at patheos.com
Judith Jones, “Commentary on Luke 1:46-55,” Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2105 at workingpreacher.org
Ibid.
Ibid.
Maria Harris, Dance of the Spirit, quoted by Jan Richardson in Sacred Journeys: A Woman’s Book of Daily Prayer, 1995, pp. 52-53.
