Not the Savior the
World Awaits
Micah 5:2-4
Psalm 80:1-7
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-56
Tim
Christoffersen
St. Anselm’s
December 24,
2000
I
experience the encounter between Elizabeth and Mary as one of the most extraordinary
events in the entire Bible. For a moment, try to visualize the two of them
talking together.
Elizabeth is a woman who is something of a disgrace in the eyes of her contemporaries
because she is old and has not born children. Her husband is a village priest
who suddenly is not able to speak, raising who knows what kind of questions.
Mary is a young Jewish girl, probably still a teenager. Most of the community
probably does not even know she is visiting Elizabeth.
In Mary’s song or the Magnificat, recorded by Luke in today’s gospel
reading, Mary says, "all nations will call me blessed." Yet
I suspect that when they met and spoke to each other, they probably did have
a clue that hundreds of millions of people would consider Elizabeth a saint
and Mary nearly a deity over the 2000 years that have now passed.
I believe that in the Protestant tradition, including most Episcopalians,
we have lost some of the emotional depth Mary as the mother of our Lord carries
for many Christians. Mary carrying and giving birth to Jesus touches us at
a level we rarely talk or perhaps even think about.
The image of John the Baptist jumping in the womb at the sound of Mary’s
voice took on a new depth for me this year. As some of you know, my daughter
gave birth to a son several weeks ago. The baby was quite active for an extended
period before he was born. Shannon told us that when she put her hand on her
stomach he was active and kicking. When anyone else put his or her hand on
her stomach, the baby was quiet and did not kick. She said the baby could
distinguish mother from everyone else!
The words of Mary in the Magnificat have deep roots in the Old Testament.
Words we know so well are echoed in the Old Testament that tie our faith back
to God’s covenant with Abraham.
Mary says, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit
has found gladness in God my Savior." Hannah, the mother of the prophet
Samuel who anointed King David, says, "My heart is strengthened in
the Lord; my horn is exalted in my God…I delight in your salvation."
Mary continues, "Because he has regarded the low estate of his handmaid."
Again, Hannah, in praying for a child, says, "O Lord of Hosts, if
you will look upon the low estate of your handmaid."
We have a strong image of Mary as the handmaiden of the Lord. We can better
understand the season of Advent when we think of Mary pregnant with Jesus
and the combination of anticipation and hope awaiting his birth.
But listen also to Mary’s words as they continue in the song. She speaks
with strength in favor of the poor and oppressed and harshly toward the well
off and the proud:
"…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…"
It should not come as a surprise that Mary is revered today most widely by
the poor and oppressed. And that Joseph, her carpenter husband, is the patron
saint of the workingman.
We know what matters to God. The Song of Mary articulates forcefully God’s
concern for the poor and the oppressed and God’s activity to make human
life human. But what does God require of us?
The story of Advent is not just something that happened in the past. It is
the story of each of our lives. It is about our own openness to accepting
Christ into the center of our life…of allowing our lives to be responsive
to God’s will for us.
I heard an image recently that really made sense to me. We usually say we
live in the world and we go to church on Sundays. That seems like an accurate
statement. But think about it from a spiritual point of view. We live in a
community of believers, the church. We live in the body of Christ. When we
take communion, we remember together Jesus’ death and resurrection and
God’s reconciling the world to Him. And in the words of the post communion
prayer, we then go "into the world in peace…to love and serve
God with gladness and singleness of heart."
But what do we encounter in the world? Our world does not expect a savior
who died on a cross at the hands of the political and religious establishment.
The crucified Christ we profess is, as Paul said, a stumbling block and foolishness
to the world.
But at the same time, modern man finds something missing at the deeper, spiritual
level. Most aspects of daily life have been commercialized and modern man’s
life is a never ending series of exchanges of money for goods and services.
The activity level for most men, women and children today is so frenetic that
there is really little time to realize that something is missing. Using words
from my mentor in seminary, Professor Paul Lehman, we forget what is human
about human life.
So what does God require of us when we go into the world? I believe that if
we are open to accepting Christ into the center of our life and attempting
to be responsive to God’s will for us, we will radiate God’s love
to those we encounter in our daily lives. We will not be famous or widely
recognized but we will have an impact on the lives of others.
Tomorrow we remember with great joy the birth of Jesus. Let us go forth in
the world with a joyful spirit to share in God’s activity to make and
to keep human life human.
AMEN.
