Fr. Bill Carroll – Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2024
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today, we hear a story about Mary. And every story about her is also about her Son.
About twenty years ago, a book came out by Elizabeth Johnson, a leading Roman Catholic theologian. It’s called “Truly Our Sister.” In it, Johnson helps us escape from some problematic assumptions about women, on which many views of Mary depend. Johnson uncovers a strong and remarkable woman, one more true to the biblical story.
I mention her book today, because our Gospel lesson is all about sisterhood. Sisterhood, as they say, is powerful. In the story, Mary and Elizabeth are relatives. They’ve each become pregnant under questionable circumstances. Elizabeth, because she is too old. Mary, because she is unmarried. She is in danger of being shunned by her family and village, or even stoned to death.
Right before today’s Gospel, in the story of the Annunciation, we see this brave young woman frightened by the words of an angel. “How can this be (she asks), since I am a virgin?” We can feel Mary’s fear, as she ponders what his words might mean. Nevertheless, she says “yes.” She says “yes” to God’s call to be the Mother of Jesus. “Let it be to me according to your word,” she says. And “the Word becomes flesh.” Deep in her body, Mary knows the coming of Jesus.
But still, she’s in danger. And so, she turns to her cousin for help. She literally runs for the hills. When she gets there, inspired by the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth rises to the occasion. Hearing the voice of the mother of his Lord, her baby, John the Baptist, leaps for joy in her womb. And then, Elizabeth starts to prophesy. She speaks words of strength and blessing to Mary, where the world sees only shame and death.
“Blessed are you among women (she says). And blessed is the fruit of your womb.” What would it be like for that young mother to hear those words? The Holy Spirit uses this encounter between women to strengthen them both. And so, we hear Good News for us all.
Like Elizabeth, Mary is also a prophet. Filled with the Holy Spirit, she proclaims the Magnificat. It is a prophecy about God, who always acts to “lift up the lowly.” It is modeled on the Song of Hannah in the Old Testament. But it contains teaching shared by many of the prophets.
For nearly five centuries now, the Magnificat has been central to Anglican worship. In 1549, it was appointed for Evening Prayer in the first Prayer Book, and it has been ever since. But its use in the liturgy is much, much older. In modern times, it’s been banned in some countries, because of its message of justice.
In the Bible, justice is the very heart of God. According to the Law of Moses: “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” Biblical justice lifts up widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor–ALL who have God alone to help them.
In the Magnificat, Mary speaks as one of these little ones, whom God especially loves. She is the servant of the Lord, just like the prophets of old. And so, she rejoices in what God has done:
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.
Mary invites us to a more neighborly way of life, where the hungry are fed and the lowly, lifted up. She reminds us of the Mighty God, who sets his People free. It is the same hope her Son will preach, when he proclaims the nearness of God’s Kingdom.
Jesus learned so much of this on Mary’s knee. Like all of us, he was born into a family with a particular culture and traditions. The Holy Spirit uses his family to make Jesus who he is. He is born to a humble mother in Roman-occupied Galilee. There, he learns the traditions of his people as they are remembered among the poor of the land. Is it any accident that he breaks bread with sinners and others deemed unclean? Is it any accident that he preaches God’s love and justice for all, especially the downtrodden?
No, it isn’t. And that’s because his mother taught him all God’s ways. She taught him the sacred stories of Israel—stories about Moses, stories about Elijah. She taught Jesus about the Exodus and the words of the prophets. Luke, in particular, understands the importance of the women in Jesus’ life, and especially his mother. And so, throughout his ministry, Jesus treats women and other vulnerable people with dignity and respect.
From the beginning, Jesus was stigmatized. The other kids in Nazareth must have taunted him mercilessly about who his daddy was. But Mary passed on the blessing she received from Elizabeth. She knew that the fruit of her womb was blessed by God. And so, she strengthened and nurtured her Son, when the world would only condemn him.
Since Cain murdered Abel, God has been calling us to a new and better way of life. God led Israel into freedom. God sent us his servants, the prophets. And, in these last days, God sent us Jesus, his Son.
He is the Mighty One, the Messiah, who stands and feeds his flock like a shepherd. In Jesus, strangers are welcomed and enemies, reconciled. In him, “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”
Holy is his Name.
Amen.