|
LINKS TO THE SERMONS |
|
| “Demythologizing Mary” Luke 1: 26-35 & 46-55 There are two tellings of the Christmas story in the gospels, both in Matthew and Luke, but everybody likes Luke the best. Matthew’s is too political. He takes great pains in showing how Jesus was related to the Davidic dynasty and how he was a threat to the existing power structure of King Herod. Luke circumvents all that and makes it a personal tale for the common person. Matthew saw it as a political manifesto but Luke saw it like a musical. Luke is the Andrew Lloyd Webber of New Testament writers; everybody sings. You all know the part where angels sing to shepherds but there is lots of singing before that. First, an angel sings to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. Then when John is born, Zechariah sings. The first act will end with the song of Simeon. In the lesson for today we have the angel singing to Mary and Mary’s song in response, The Magnificat, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” It’s a great song and it’s a good thing because it is the peek of her career. Mary will only show up a few more times in the New Testament and none of those appearances will be as profound as this her début appearance – certainly no more singing opportunities. In a way, Mary is the Rudy Julianni of the New Testament. Rudy’s only claim to fame and the only reason he is still on the national stage is 911. For Mary it was that moment just before the orchestra came up and she began to sing. She spoke the line that immortalized her. “I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be unto me according to your word.” It’s the quintessential childlike faith affirmation coming at a time when she herself was still a child. Her words were childlike and her song prophetic; “He has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. He who is mighty has done great things for me.” Then this prophetic line, “Henceforth all generation will call me blessed;” that prophesy has been fulfilled beyond her wildest imagination. Future generations have gone so far as to name her “Mother of God” worthy of veneration above all other saints, prayers are said to her as intercessor. Mary is like the female member of the Godhead. The Greek society, into which Christianity grew, was used to female god figures, goddesses. Mary was perfect to fill that niche and the Catholic Church was eager to participate in that elevation of Mary. To the New Testament doctrine of the immaculate conception of Jesus was added the immaculate conception of Mary, removing her, as Jesus had been, from the stain of original sin. The early church made Mary “eternally virgin” rendering the biblical references to Jesus’ brothers and sisters as purely symbolic. And finally, the doctrine of the assumption of Mary: Mary did not die but was taken bodily into heaven as the resurrected Jesus had been. Subsequently, Mary has made more curtain calls even than Jesus, appearances that have led to new religious orders and shrines generally associated with healing. Many still exist after centuries. There was the appearance at Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico in 1513, in France in 1830 and 1858, at Fatima, Portugal in 1917. There are two official Mary shrines in England and one in Poland. And in the 1980s there have been appearances in Bosnia though not officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. This is not to mention her thousands of appearances in cloud formations, carpet stains, and potato chips. She appeared as a discoloration on a plate glass window of a bank in Florida a few years ago. I happened to be in Florida so I went to have a look. The spot had become such a popular pilgrimage the city had to put in a parking lot and a pedestrian bridge across the busy street. Interestingly the bank branch closed because the apparition that drew so many to the outside of the bank scared away potential customers. The point of all this is to say that this instant and often artificial celebrity is unfair to the real legacy of Mary. To deify her is to detract from her charm, her innocence, simplicity and humanity. The Magnificat may have been her best speaking part but not her most important role. She was a simple young girl with a big job ahead of her; she had to raise a baby boy to manhood in hard times – the one who would be called the Son of the Most High. It wasn’t the night of the angel visitation or the night of his birth that is justification for the veneration of Mary, it was the job she had for the next 30 years. After that episode when Jesus was twelve, Joseph drops off the biblical record. Mary raised that boy along with a passel of brothers and sisters, some of whom are named in scripture. The Bible doesn’t tell us much more about Mary after the Christmas story. If you want to know about Mary, you look at the character of that son she raised up in the hills a Galilee. Abraham Lincoln said, “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” And most great men of history will echo that sentiment. Napoleon said, “Let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.” Henry Ward Beecher said, “The mother’s heart is the child’s classroom.” He also said, “What a mother sings at the cradle goes all the way to the coffin.” Ain’t it the truth? No prophet or rabbi before or after Jesus spoke with such compassion and understanding about the roles of women and children in the kingdom of God. There was an anti-women bias built into the ancient Hebrew society that was undeniable. Listen to this passage from Sirach, part of the Hebrew wisdom literature. “A daughter is a secret anxiety to her father, and worry over her robs him of sleep; when she is young, for fear that she may not marry, or if married, for fear that she will be disliked; while a virgin, for fear that she may be seduced and become pregnant in her father’s house; or having a husband, for fear that she may go astray, or, though married, for fear she may be barren. Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter, or she may make you a laughingstock to your enemies; a byword in the city, and put you to shame in public gatherings. See that there is no lattice in her room, no spot that overlooks the approaches to the house. Do not let her parade her beauty before any man, or spend her time among married women; for from the garment comes the moth, and from the woman comes woman’s wickedness. Better the wickedness of a man than the goodness of a woman. It is woman who brings shame and disgrace.” Jesus whole ministry is a repudiation of that mindset. We turn on our TV sets and see stories of women who to this day are treated like property and where oppressive garments with little slits for the eyes to peer out. How primitive we gasp. Don’t be too hard on those folks. Their religions didn’t have a Jesus and their founders didn’t have a mother like Mary. That influence is there in the way he tells his parables, always including imagery that women understand and appreciate, and in that exchange with Mary and Martha, it is Martha who is doing the woman’s work tending to cooking and caring for guests. But Jesus word of praise goes to Mary, engaged and interested in activities generally reserved to men. Years ago a young woman walked into my office and said, “I believe I am being called of God into the ministry.” The problem was that her father, who was a minister by the way, didn’t think women had any place in the ministry. He wanted her to marry the lawyer she was dating and produce lots of grand children he could bounce on his knee. I didn’t even have to think about my advice to her, “There is nothing finer than the call of God on your life; go for it!” Where did I get the authority for that word? From Jesus. Where did he get it? From his mother. The world has honored Mary by ascribing all sorts of miracles to her and writing doctrines that preserve her uniqueness and chastity for eternity, but until we pay attention to her finest accomplishment we miss the essence of this amazing young woman. She raised up a boy child who became a man – a man like no other who ever lived. Henceforth all generations will and, indeed, should call her blessed. W. R. Wallace wrote, “The hand that rocks
the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” May I paraphrase?
“The hand that rocked the manger has transformed the world.”
So, we honor Mary on this third Sunday of Advent, not as a goddess
but as a simple person of faith who was called on by God to do an
amazing task, and she did it. Henceforth all generations shall call
her blessed for her faithfulness has blessed all generations. |
|
.................................................................................... Friends | |