4 Advent A 14

Posted on 22 Dec 2014, Preacher: Kevin Maly
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mary-140553_640Reading:
St. Luke 1. 26-38; 46-55

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Once upon a time there was a Lutheran pastor who, one Advent, used a Eucharistic Prayer that made reference to Jesus being “born of a woman of low degree.” That “woman of low degree” was none other than the Blessed Virgin Mary. Referring to her as a “woman of low degree,” however, did not go over very well with some of the life-long Lutheran parishioners there – who were highly offended that anyone would refer to Mary as “a woman of low degree.” Then, on the other side of the coin, there was the Lutheran pastor who habitually referred to Mary as the “Mother of God.” That descriptor of Mary didn’t go over very well with some of her Lutheran parishioners either. So, what is a person supposed to say regarding Mary? Well, if you’re Lutheran, you do as Luther and the reformers did: you go to Scripture and the exposition of Scripture in the three Ecumenical Creeds of the early Church.

On the first count, then: referring to Mary as “a woman of low degree.” Dealing with this one is like shooting fish in a barrel. Today’s Psalm Canticle, the scriptural hymn designated for this Fourth Sunday in Advent, is the Magnificat, the song sung by Mary in the first chapter of Luke’s telling of the Gospel, beginning at the 46th verse. Luke writes: “And Mary declared, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly slave-woman.’” It’s as clear as the most pure water that it is none other than Mary who refers to herself as “a woman of low degree.”

And then on the second count: referring to Mary as “Mother of God.” In this morning’s Gospel we heard Gabriel declare to Mary that the power of the Most High God will overshadow her, and therefore the child to be born of her will be holy; he shall be called Son of God. And least we wonder whether the Son of God is God, well, all we need to do is listen to the words of the Nicene Creed: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God – who came down from heaven; who by the power of the Holy Spirit became incarnate of the Virgin Mary.” So then, if Jesus is truly God, and Mary is the mother of Jesus, it must indeed follow that Mary is the Mother of God. Luther certainly thought so, and throughout his life, in his preaching, teaching, and writing, he referred to Mary as the Mother of God. At the same time, however, Luther was also keen on establishing that Mary was indeed a woman of low, low, low degree.

These two seemingly paradoxical, seemingly opposite descriptions of Mary, says Luther in his Commentary on the Magnificat, are key to understanding Mary’s role in the Story of God’s saving work in our lives. And so with these two opposite-seeming descriptors in hand, Luther asks in this Commentary, “How [then] ought one to address [Mary]? Keep [the words of the Annunciation and the Magnificat] in mind and they will teach you to say: ‘O Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, you were nothing and all despised; yet God in God’s grace regarded you and worked such great things in you. You were worthy of none of them, but the rich and abundant grace of God was upon you, far above any merit of yours. Hail to you! Blessed are you from thenceforth and forever in being found by such a such a God.’” And continuing, Dr. Luther says, “Nor need you fear that [Mary] will take it amiss if you call her unworthy of such grace. For, of a truth, she did not lie when she herself acknowledged her unworthiness and nothingness, which God regarded, not because of any merit in her, but solely by reason of His grace.”

God has chosen you, people of low degree . . . and you with your very lives shall indeed birth Christ into the world, this Advent Sunday, this Christmas, and all your days.

It is as Mary sings in the Magnificat, her hymn of praise, that God’s favor rests upon her – an unmarried, nobody, slave-class, young woman from Nazareth, that horrible, back-water, scandal-ridden, poverty-laden town smack dab in the middle of god-forsaken, god-awful Galilee, Galil ha-goyim, the region of the heathens, the land of the nameless. But wonder of wonders, God has called Mary by name and has done great things for her, has made her, a woman of low degree, to birth God into this world, to be the Mother of God – but God has not done so for any of the daughters of the high-priests of the Temple, nor for any of the daughters of the nobility of Jerusalem. And thus, in favoring Mary above them, has God in truth “scattered the proud in their conceits, [thus] has [God] brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; [thus] has [God] filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich empty away.”

And so too shall such reversals, such oppositions be for Mary’s Son, Jesus. God’s grace will be revealed in the Son of the Most High God as the Son is nailed to the lowly cross; the scandalous cross of Christ erected upon a hill of death shall become the throne of the Living God; the scandalous cross shall become the judgment seat – and God’s proclamation from that rude, wooden, judgment-seat throne will be – forgiveness, complete and unmerited forgiveness – even (or perhaps most especially) for those who wish to eradicate God. All of this is as St. Paul says to the Church in Corinth: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.”

Truly then, when we look upon Mary as we place her statue in our manger scenes, when we look upon Mary in icons, other statuary, and stained-glass windows, as we sing Mary’s Magnificat, as we open the Christmas cards bearing her image, we do indeed see the unfathomable grace of God – of the Most High God who chooses to be born, not in a palace, but in a dung-strewn stable – born not of a noble-woman but of a woman of lowest degree, and, again in the words of Martin Luther, “filled with that knowledge [we] confidently say: ‘O Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, what great comfort God has shown us in you, by so graciously regarding your unworthiness and low estate. This encourages us to trust that henceforth God will not despise us poor and lowly ones, but graciously regard us also, according to your example.” Luther then closes his commentary on the Magnificat of Mary: “Let this suffice for the present. We pray God to give us a right understanding of this Magnificat, an understanding that consists not merely in brilliant words but in glowing life in body and soul. May Christ grant us this through the intercession and for the sake of His dear Mother Mary. Amen”

Accordingly my sisters and brothers, hear the angel Gabriel who speaks not only to Mary but to you this day as well: “Hail, favored ones! The Lord is with you . . . you have found favor with God . . . and you shall conceive in yourselves . . . the power of the Most High now overshadows you . . . God has chosen you, people of low degree . . . and you with your very lives shall indeed birth Christ into the world, this Advent Sunday, this Christmas, and all your days.

In the sweet Name of Jesus. Amen.