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Dec 19, 1999
The following message was given by the Rev. Gene R. Preston to the congregation of Community Church Hong Kong on December l9, the fourth Sunday of Advent. Following the leccionary which assigns lengthy readings from Luke l, all of them focused on Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the preacher chose to highlight Luke l:47-55 (The Song of Mary of Magnificat) to heighten Protestant awareness and reverence for Mary. This focus was also appropriate since the congregation included five teenage girls, two of whom were confirmed immediately following this message, and three of whom will be baptized by Pastor Preston on Christmas Day. The message aims to lift up Mary as a wonderful inspiration for all believers and especially for young women. The text: And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
It's sad that anti-Catholicism has caused generations of Protestants to ignore Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a central Biblical figure and as a wonderful inspiration for Christian faith. The reasons for the Protestant neglect of Mary stems from our sense that unhealthy devotion to Mary began in the early Middle Ages to envelop her in a cult of superstition and false miracles; and after the Reformation, because the popes and their theologians began to declare non-scriptural doctrines regarding the saving power of Mary. Sadly, the Protestant reformers and their own overly pious followers threw out, along with the Mary of exaggerated piety, the Mary whom we can know well in the scriptures and reverence for her authentic spiritual qualities. This is a shame because the gospels tell us quite a bit about Mary. In Luke and Acts there is a more rounded view of Mary than we have of several of the male disciples. It is also short-sighted because to overlook Mary is to overlook the woman, who simply by being Jesus' mother, taught him and nurtured him and influenced his ministry.
Although the gospels do not give much detail of Mary's influence upon her child, (in truth they give little detail on any natural influences upon Jesus), I can imagine, as one example of her influence that Jesus, like many children, stalled at bedtime by asking his mother for a story. Perhaps one story she offered her boy began "Once upon a time a certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and bad men fell upon him." After all, where do you think Jesus got his stories? When the adolescent Jesus dazzles the teachers in the Jerusalem temple, I think Joseph would have admitted that it was Mary who had taught their promising boy the Torah. Although not named, it is likely Mary is among the faithful women of Galilee whom Luke says accompanied Jesus to the cross and prepared his body for burial. In the second book by Luke, in Acts l:l4, Mary is accorded an important role in the formation of the first church. Thankfully there is a tendency in modern Protestantism to refocus on Mary and we do today, and appropriately so as this is the final Sunday before we celebrate the birth of her child.
Luke l:47-55 gives us the Song of Mary, known by its Latin title as The Magnificat. This song echoes some earlier songs of women in the Old Testament such as the promise of a child to Abraham and Sarah, and particularly of the birth of Samuel to Hannah and Elkanah. There are both elements of continuity and of surprise in the song of Mary. Let's look at some aspects of Mary's song. For I believe we will find choruses which we can sing along to honor her. I. Mary's humble obedience and trust are hallmarks of the annunciation story. And Mary's humility and obedience establish her as an appropriate recipient of God's favor because through all the prophecies of the Old Testament it is declared that God will bless the humble and the poor. Mary is an outstanding example of this prophetic promise of God's mercies toward the lowly. We know that Mary is poor, because in Luke 2:24 we learn that Mary brings to the temple not the preferred offering of a lamb, but the two birds allowed for impoverished families in Leviticus l2:2-8. SO LET'S SING A SONG OF MARY'S HUMILITY AND OF HER OBEDIENCE TO HER GOD. II. One of Mary's clearest traits is her thoughtfulness. She ponders in her heart the announcement from the angel and later when visited in Bethlehem by the shepherds she again ponders the meaning of their visit. And after being rebuked by her pre-teen son at the temple in Jerusalem, Mary, far from taking reproach, goes on to treasure in her heart all that has occurred (Luke 2:5l). So the announcement of divine favor with Mary: DO NOT BE AFRAID, MARY, FOR YOU HAVE FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD is not capricious. God's blessing of Mary is consistent with God's favor upon the faithful who in their poverty remain devoted to God. LET'S SING A SONG TO MARY'S THOUGHTFULNESS AND HER OPEN SINCERE SPIRIT WHICH REMAINS ALWAYS OPEN TO GOD'S WILL. 3. The story of Mary is one of encouragement for the lowly and weak who in all societies at all times have included a disproportionate number of women. When the going get touch it is women who are at a disadvantage physically, economically and socially. Danger lurks from the very beginning of the Jesus story and continues through it. Well before Herod's sword enters Bethlehem, Joseph decides to terminate his relationship to Mary, an action that has the power to render her both financially and socially outcast and to give her child a name quite other than "son of Joseph." Luke's soaring angel chorus stands in tension with Simeon's song, with its warning to Mary that "a sword will pierce your own soul too." (Luke 2:35). Luke's infancy narrative concludes with Mary and Joseph's frantic search in Jerusalem for a young son whom they are unable to understand. In the nativity in Luke it is years before Mary will fully comprehend that this child who is profoundly hers is even more profoundly not hers and that the danger which surrounded her family at the outset will mount toward the ultimate danger of the cross. Yes, the infancy stories point to the coming triumph of God in Jesus, but they also offer a down payment on all the disruption of danger the Gospel will bring to everyone involved in the Jesus story. SO LET'S SING A SONG OF MARY BECAUSE OF HOW SHE FACED DANGERS BRAVELY. What courage this young woman had! What fortitude she displayed through her life.
Perhaps the greatest marvel about Mary, and that which makes her profoundly relevant to all believers, is how her story lifts up the faithfulness of God amidst the dangers, disruptions and disappointments of our lives. Mary, as we have seen, was wholly faithful and responsive to God. Mary completely trusted God: LET IT BE WITH ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD. But Mary's faithfulness toward God forced her to be ready to receive surprises from God. This poor, unmarried girl Mary is sitting quietly at home in Nazareth, expecting nothing particularly exciting to come her way, when suddenly an angel flutters into her room. Young Mary is aghast. And the news the angel brings is even more startling. Mary is to bear a child who is to be called son of the Most High. How can this be for a girl from an undistinguished family, resident in a part of Israel, the Galilee which was suspect because so much gentile culture and people also lived there along with the Jews. LET'S SING A SONG TO HONOR MARY'S RESPONSIVENESS TO GOD'S SURPRISES FOR HER.
We count on God being reliable, consistent, the same good God today, tomorrow and yesterday. In a world of shifting circumstances, we rely upon the steadfast love of the Lord forever. But Mary's story has a chorus of waiting on the Lord for the unexpected and we need that as another highly predictable Christmas season dumps upon us. So much of our observance of Christmas has become wrapped in tradition and mundane commerce that we no longer expect to be surprised by Christ. We sing familiar carols, hang up the old and tried tree decorations, gather with the same family members and friends, circulate the same gifts of ties, candies, jewellery, clothes, toys, repeat the same holiday TV specials. Revive the long standing jokes and gripes of seasonal gatherings. Yes, we need our Christmas routines just like we need our traditional and routine beliefs and worship. But while God is dependable, God is not as predictable as we want our lives to be. And there is an important difference between dependability and predictability. God's love, God's mercy, God's justice are dependable. We can rely upon them. But the ways in which God makes known and clear to us his love and mercy and justice vary from time to time. For God meets us according to our present circumstances, not according to ways that served us well in the past. And so believers have experienced an ever changing, and always expanding, understanding of the meaning of divine love, mercy and justice. And is this not what scriptures and theology instruct us to expect? For was there ever a more surprising act from God than the life, death and resurrection of Jesus! We stand on the cusp of a new century. We know how much daily life has changed. When I first moved to Hong Kong in l992, I had never heard of the internet, I did not have a computer, I knew nothing of e mail, nor e commerce. And as each of these new things came my way, let me tell you I was at the first resistant. We tend not to like new things. Well, we have no reason at all to expect that change will slow down. Our lives will be radically different. If secular and daily life is going to change at almost frightening pace, shouldn't we expect God to act in new ways. He may have to act in new ways even to get our attention. I fully expect God to act in new ways in Community Church as in my life and yours. One divine surprise this Christmas for us all, I believe, is that seven youths have decided they want baptism or to confirm their previous baptisms. In a moment we shall receive two of them and on Christmas Day five more. Just as God sent a traditional angel to get Mary's attention, God will find new ways to get our attention.
Mary: We thank you for doing your divine duty in humility and faithfulness. Mary: We rejoice with you in the joy of the birth of the Christ child. Mary: We would sing from our hearts of your fidelity to God and your love of Christ as we get ready for celebrating his earthly coming at Bethlehem. And, Mary, we resolve to be ready to be surprised by signs of Christ's eternal reign in justice and goodness among us.
Pastor Gene Preston
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The Rev. Gene R.Preston14th Floor, Blk 36, Lower Baguio Villa Tel : 25516161 Fax: 25512114E-mail : gpreston@netvigator.com |
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