There’s something (humble) about Mary
I know Christmas circular letters are non anybody's loving cup of tea, but we savor writing ours as a review of the yr, and communicable upwardly with what has been going on in the lives of others. For those who don't like them, their distaste is summed up in that archetypal round where everything is goingwonderfully well—the demands of new jobs following promotions, the stresses of getting ready for exotic strange holidays, and the difficulty of keeping up withsomany achievements by the children. (Should you receive any like this, Lynne Truss offers a diversity of ways of responding..)
Such paragons of perfection don't do much to cheer us upward, because they await far beyond our frustrating, dull and mediocre lives. And my feeling is that, for most of us, that is how Mary makes us feel also. There are two chief theological traditions which set Mary on a pedestal in different ways. The offset (in which I was raised) has Mary equally such a paragon of perfection that not only is she herself sinless, she too was conceived miraculously (which is what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is all about) and was herself as well causeless bodily into heaven.
But there is a Protestant version likewise, and I was treated to it once when on a job interview to be a curate in the sermon by the vicar. God used Mary to keen upshot, and we desire God to use us. Then what can we acquire from Mary in order to be used similar her? She was apprehensive, so nosotros ought to be humble. She was expectant, so we ought to be expectant. She was willing for God to apply her, so we ought to exist willing. She praised God for what he had done, then we ought to praise God. I am non sure what this sermon was supposed to do for my middle, but there seemed to be a lot of hardening of the oughteries!
Both of these approaches fail to be true to the account we take in Luke ane of Gabriel's announcement to Mary and her response. The first turns her into a polished, plaster saint nosotros tin put on a pedestal to adore but hardly to imitate. The 2nd turns the text inside out and makes information technology say the opposite of what it is actually proclaiming. The primary lesson from Luke 1 on how to exist used by God appears to exist 'You accept to make a terrifying angel appear to yous'—and I have not still found out how to do that. (Answers on a postcard…)
Our first clue in understanding the Proclamation is to observe Luke'south involvement in questions of ability. He begins each of his early sections with reference to those in political power:
In the fourth dimension of Herod rex of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah…' (Luke 1.5)
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree…(Luke ii.i)
This not only locates his story inside the big stories of the time, it as well offers a striking dissimilarity between the way human kingdoms operate and the coming of the kingdom of God comes amongst his people. Where Matthew talks of 'what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit' (Matt one.20), for Luke the Spirit comes with 'power from on high' (Luke i.35). Even Gabriel's name speak of power; his name means 'El isgbr—strong, a mighty warrior, one who will prevail'. He is one of the seven mighty archangels who stand up in the presence of God, perhaps referred to in Rev 8.two. This is no squeamish cherub or winged androgyny, only a terrifying vision of spiritual power and potency. No wonder his get-go words were 'Be non afraid'!
Even inside the shape of the story in Luke 1 nosotros can meet a progression, and it is from the qualified to the unqualified. As a priest entering the Holy of Holies, Zechariah might accept expected some sort of encounter with God, not least because he and Elizabeth are 'righteous and blameless' (Luke 1.vi). And Elizabeth has that biblical 'qualification' of being barren, then nosotros might expect God to be at work every bit he has before, with Sarah and Hannah. Yet when we come up to Mary, no such qualifications are mentioned, and no explanation of her option is given. She is chosen simply because she is called.
It is an idea we struggle with—so much and so that we turn her lack of qualification inside out. We read her exclamation 'he has looked with favour on the depression status of his bondsman' (Luke 1.48) equally proclaiming her humility is aqualification for God to utilise her. Merely in the context of a status-censor honour culture, it actually emphasises herlack ofqualification for anything. Information technology'south no wonder we struggle with this idea, as we are then immersed in our 'merit' civilization. We live in a world where those who can, win, and those who tin can't get knocked out in round 1 (or circular 4 if they neglect in a sufficiently entertaining mode). We live in a world where those already at the top define who qualifies, so that those who already have get more than, and those who have nil take even what they do possess taken from them. Mary's praise tells us this world is turned upside downwards because of God'south selection.
Indeed, the content of what she exclaims reflects what she has experienced, and information technology is marked by iii things.
1. Information technology is rooted in Scripture.
It is no accident that Mary's song of praise echoes Hannah's song of praise when God gives her the souvenir of her son Samuel (whose proper noun means 'God hears', 1 Sam 2.one–10). In fact it is hard to notice a phrase in the Magnificat which does not echo a verse somewhere in the OT. God's sovereign choice of the pocket-sized and insignificant in the NT is not a contradiction of his action in the OT, merely confirmation and consummation of it. What Mary experiences hither is what God's people have always experienced—every bit yous tin can come across past the parallelism of her reflections in the first half of the hymn with the recounting of Israel'south experience in the second half.
The NT does non proclaim grace where the OT proclaimed law, since God'southward calling his people into healthy patterns of living was always his gracious gift. No, rather we see the aforementioned problem in the OT as we have continued to experience equally God'southward people—thinking that God's choice and phone call on our lives somehow makes u.s. better and more deserving than those around us. Perhaps that'south why we accept a problem inviting people to services and events at Christmas, as if it was their annual chance to tick the 'merit' box past doing their religious flake, or that nosotros are asking them to pull their religious socks upwards. In fact, an invitation to celebrate Christmas is an invitation to encounter God'south free grace.
2. It is focussed on God.
When you lot look at the poetic presentation of the Magnificat in nearly English language translation, something is very hit well-nigh the layout, especially in the second one-half. 'He has, he has, he has…' Information technology is all focussed on what God has washed, not on what we deserve or what we might achieve.
Peter Wilby, the atheist paper editor, put information technology very well:
Nothing draws me more than to religion than Christmas. That is not because I lose my atheist faith but because I intensely dislike all the commercial baggage and babble that surrounds the festival. And then, in a spirit of protest, I shall endeavour to attend at least one carol service and perchance a midnight Mass, too, too as listening at 3pm abrupt on Christmas Eve to the Radio 4 circulate of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from Rex's College, Cambridge.
All religions have stories at their heart. Christianity, to my mind, has the best: an omnipotent God who chooses to exist incarnated equally a homo, born in the well-nigh humble circumstances imaginable. Whether or not nosotros are believers, nosotros should all celebrate that story in the coming days and ponder its meaning.
3. Information technology elicits response
Mary does model the correct response—and therefore nosotros should imitate her—but notice the gild in which things happen. God acts; the affections appears; Mary responds.
It is often said that God'southward beloved is unconditional, only I am less and less convinced that it is true. Put that style, it suggests that God loves us and God'due south love has its consequence, does its work, regardless of any action on our role. But the story of Mary shows that is not true. Yep, God's love is indeed unconditioned—there are no preconditions that we need to fulfil first. But there are conditions in letting God's beloved do its work in our lives—that we receive it and respond to it. As with any Christmas gift, nosotros need to concur out our easily, receive the gift, and unwrap it.
Maybe we should indeed feel nervous about inviting people to Christmas services, and we ought to feel nervous virtually coming. Because once we hear this story and are challenged to respond to information technology, nosotros cannot remain unchanged.
This is based on my sermon on Lord's day 20th Dec 2022 at St Nic's, Nottingham. You can listen to the whole sermon on the church building website.
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