Homily using the Proper’s for Advent 4
– for Preaching the Bible
For some of us the story of
Mary and her song – the magnifcat- is so familiar that we perhaps glaze over or
have an emotional reaction to the story without really hearing it. When trying to look at the story with fresh
eyes a couple of things strike me about Mary’s story. Why did Mary run in haste to see her Cousin
Elizabeth? Did she want to confirm what
the angel told her a few verses earlier - that Elizabeth was pregnant? Or did she want to share her news with the
one person on earth who she thought would understand her. Or as a friend suggested perhaps she ran to
help Elizabeth with her pregnancy. We
don’t get the motivation for the trip.
We just get the result. The
result is wonderful but the why still tugs at me. The other thing that interests me is Mary’s
Song – the magnificat and what can it say to us. When we really look at Mary’s song what does
it say to us today? What does it say to
us about God?
First – why did Mary travel? After all it was not a safe thing to do in
Mary’s time for a young women to travel in the hill country alone. It was a dangerous place. Just like today it
can be dangerous to travel to some areas alone.
But that did not matter to Mary.
She went in haste to her cousin Elizabeth. When
Mary said yes to the angel she agreed to do a dangerous thing. She agreed to become pregnant as an unwed mother. An act that would have easily been
interpreted as adultery. An act that
could result in her death.
I think that any of these or
other motives that we might think of for Mary’s trip would be reasonable for us
to ponder. As startling as it may be for
some to question Mary’s motives I think it is ok to consider the motive that
she wanted to see this other miracle – the pregnancy of her older barren cousin
or that she wanted to share. I think we
all have similar times in our lives when we have had such motivations. I think it is human nature to want
proof. At least it is for those of us
who have been trained in the scientific method. Richard Hamm, an author on
church renewal, said that “We who are
late-moderns were raised to dissect everything.
It is a powerful approach to observation and discovery. It got us to the moon and back. However it must be admitted in the end that
most things are more than the sum of their parts.” I would want to see the
proof. I would want to see Elizabeth as
pregnant. But what was Mary’s motive?[1]
Perhaps Mary really did just
want to share her experience of the Angel Gabriel with the only other person
who would truly understand. The person
that the angel told was also experiencing the miracle of an unexpected
pregnancy – Elizabeth. The sheer joy of
the encounter with the Angel would certainly have been enough to get Mary to
hasten through the hill country to see her cousin.
I’m sure we have all had
experiences that have made us want to run and tell the one person, or
persons, who would truly under
stand. I know that I have had
experiences that I have wanted to share as soon as they happened. I
needed to share them with someone who would understand. I
wanted to reach out as soon as possible because the experience was a
wonderful one. For example when – on my
second time with our Diocesan Discernment weekend the commission on ministry
and standing committee recommended that I go forward as a postulant for Holy
orders I could not wait to tell the people who would understand. I could not wait to tell my priest, spiritual
director and family. So in haste I did
that very modern thing and instead of traveling down from the hills I quickly
texted the message to all the people who where waiting for the answer. How very different that was than 3 years
earlier when the message to me was “we hear a call to the priest hood but our
Diocese is not ready to have a Gay man go forward in the process. The timing is not right.” In that case I waited until I got home to
tell most people. I only immediately
told my closest family. But when the
news is wonderful – when we are visited – perhaps unaware – by an angel we want
to share the good news. We go in haste,
perhaps oblivius to the risks, to share our news.
So perhaps a clue as to why
Mary went to Elizabeth is in the result.
The wonderful song that is recorded in response to her visit with
Elizabeth and the leaping of the embryonic John the Baptist. For even if the motivation for the visit was
to confirm the words of the Angel Gabriel the result of the visit was
wonderful. Mary’s reaction to her
cousin’s greeting of , "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb.” Gives us some
clue. Mary sings. She sings about the works of God and how they
are opposite of what society would expect.
Mary’s song – the Magnificat is a song sung out of joy and wonder.
It
is also a song of reversal. It is a
radical song that goes against the power structure. It is a song that tries to describe an
indescribable God. And how can we
describe God? In the case of the
magnificat God is described through reversals.
Mary describes a God who does the unexpected. A God who values the poor over the rich. A God who values the lowley and the
hungry. A God who is revolutionary. A God who entrusts a single young, powerless
women to bear His son.
Now I have to admit that my response to God’s call has not been very much like Mary. It takes me a little while to both recognize that God is speaking to me and to respond. And even when I do respond I’m afraid I have been a little like some of the prophets in the Old Testament. My responses have been reasons why God certainly could not be calling me.. I don’t speak well…I’m gay….I’m not perfect enough. But God persisted and so here I am. I wish I could say that when I first heard God’s call I responded with Be it unto me according to thy will. But it was not. The good news is that I believe that our individual responses to a call do not lessen the impact that Mary’s response can have on our future responses.
As I see it Mary can be a role model for our ministries. It really does not matter why we are here. Whether we got to this place through a dramatic invitation from an Angel – perhaps named Gabriel – or that we got here after years of hearing a nagging voice nudging us to say yes to our call to ministry – whatever that call may entail. What matters is that we are here. We are here and I bet all of us have a song in our hearts. – Even when we are struggling on what to preach about on a given Sunday or in this class! – Mary invites us to sing. To see that God’s reign is different. It is a reign of peace and love where there is war and hatred. A kingdom where the hungry are fed and the lowly are lifted up.
Our invitation its to sing. To sing our magnificats to God and to the world. To sing the unexpected song in the unexpected place. It really doesn’t matter if it is Advent or Christmas or any other time of the year. When we say yes to God we too will hasten to visit with those who will understand. But more we will be over flowing with songs to share with the world. Songs of reversal. We are invited to sing songs and to join in God’s activities to bring God’s unexpected reign of love and peace to our world.
Resources used:
Breuer, Sarah
Dylan. Dylan's Lectionary Blog. 12 20, 2006.
http://www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/2006/12/fourth_sunday_o.html (accessed 6
26, 2012).
Brueggemann, Walter. Sojourners. 12 2009.
http://sojo.net/magazine/2009/12/getting-ready-unexpected (accessed 6 26,
2012).
Hamm, Richard L. , Recreating the Church – Leadership for the
Post Modern Age, 78 St. Louis, MO Chalice Press, 2007
International Bible Society. Holy Bible New International
Version . Grand Rapid, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973.
Luther Seminary. Preaching this Week. 12 20, 2009.
http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=12/20/2009 (accessed 6
27, 2012).
The Society of Biblical Literature. Harper's Bible
Commentary. Edited by James L Mays. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row,
1988.
[1]
Hamm, Richard L. , 2007 Recreating the Church
– Leadership for the Post Modern Age, 78 St. Louis, MO Chalice Press
No comments:
Post a Comment