Sermon - Advent 4

Micah 5.2-5a

Hebrews 10.5-10

Luke 1.39-45(46-55)

Mary and the big challenge

Today, as you can see, we nearly there. Another candle has been lit, and I hope we are all getting excited about tomorrow. In our journey from darkness into light, around our advent ring, we have stopped at the penultimate candle.

In our readings of the past few weeks we have been preparing ourselves by thinking about the history of our faith leading to the birth of the Messiah, the Son of the Living Lord. We have heard the words of the prophets and patriarchs and heard of the messenger sent to prepare the way.

In our readings today we remember Blessed Mary, Mother of our Lord. It is a day when we can think about how God’s grace can bear fruit in our lives too, if only we let Him.

There is no doubt that God works with us and through us, spotting it is the difficult bit, and we have to be careful to make sure that we name it for what it is. God’s plan will prevail, and we are the ones who are responsible for that. In our actions and words we are being called to bring the light of Christ to others. We can’t talk the talk unless we walk the walk, and God is inviting us to live up to our faith, and grow in the likeness of Christ, this advent and all year around.

And today, as we think of ‘God at work’ we have a gospel reading that tells us how God intervened in our human history two-thousand years ago….

The visit of Mary to Elizabeth is important, in the way that we understand how God’s grace works when it is witnessed first hand. On Mary’s arrival, Elizabeth was conscious that Mary was to be the mother of the great redeemer. At the same time she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and declared that both Mary and her expected Child were most blessed and happy, and especially dear to God.

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

This address then animates Mary, a young girl probably in her early teens, to make a magnificent statement. Or you could say, a ‘magnificat’ statement.

The magnificat, as we know the few sentences from Luke’s Gospel is also known as the song of Mary. And it gives a wonderful answer, worthy of the Mother of God incarnate. The young girl, speaks of a kind and caring God that has looked lovingly on humanity, and decided that a change must be made. A change to the way we live our lives, a fulfillment of the message of the prophets. A messiah, to turn the old order upside down. To restore peace, justice and faithfulness for the people of God.

It’s language, which is steeped in the poetic tradition of the Old Testament, bears some notable resemblances to that of the ‘Song of Hannah’, found in 1 Samuel. It takes its name from the Latin for the first line

Magnificat anima mea dominum – My soul doth magnify the Lord.

I suppose that we could argue all day over the theological and historical debates that rage about this part of Luke’s Gospel:

Some scholars upon reading translations, suggest that the Magnificat should have been attributed to Elizabeth…

Some scholars suggest that because the Gospels were not written until about forty years after the crucifixion, the Magnificat was merely a political statement, to fulfill what is written in 1 Samuel, the Song of Hannah…

I have even heard some question whether a young girl in first century Palestine could have produced such an eloquent speech!

But really, what is the point? We have received this beautiful speech that sums up beautifully the task and purpose of God. The God who came to earth to share our humanity, and redeem us. Not as a king or a prince in a palace, but as a homeless peasant. What does it all mean?

I like to think that it is all part of one of God’s great jokes. It is a contradiction in terms, that we hear the Christmas message, and believe it will bring peace on its’ own. The kingdom of God won’t build itself – we do that. The lost won’t just amble into church on their own – we invite them. The grieving and the lonely, the upset and the sick need us, to be as Christ to them, sharing God’s love, enabling them to be witnesses to the grace of God working through us.

A great Spanish Saint once prayed for his people “May God deny you peace and give you glory”. Jesus Christ was born, lived and died and rose again, not to make life easy, but to make humanity ‘great’.

As I say regularly Inside every silver lining is a grey cloud. And for Mary, this means that, as we share in her joy at the birth of Christ, we know that in time she will be sat at the foot of the cross.

To be chosen by God for a task, so often means one and the same. A crown of joy and a cross of sorrow. I believe that God does not choose a person for ease and comfort and selfish joy, but for a task that will take all the help that heart and hand can bring to it.

So that is the paradox of God’s grace, it confers on a person, at one and the same time, the greatest joy and the greatest task in all the world. With that in mind, we can see how moving the words of the Magnificat are.

It is said that there are THREE revolutions in the Magnificat. Revolutions not just for first century Palestine, but for us here today also.

Firstly, ‘He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their own hearts’. This is seen as the MORAL revolution, where pride is unimportant, as all humanity works to a better society. A society where everyone sees themselves for what they are. God isn’t judging us, he is revealing to us the true costs of our actions. Of course, this is the clever bit. As soon as we understand how much our actions can hurt and cause pain, from the smallest comment to the biggest crime, we judge ourselves.

Secondly ‘He casts down the mighty, and lifts up the lowly’. This is my favourite revolution it is the SOCIAL revolution. It is where Christianity finally brings to an end the established order of labels and prestige. A peaceful revolution, in which we can say that no one is worthless, because Christ died for all equally.

Thirdly, ‘He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty’. Of course, this is the ECONOMIC revolution, where the task of gathering wealth is seen as futile, and the importance of distributing is paramount. It is the vision of a society where no one dares to have too much, when others haven’t enough.

There is a loveliness in the words of the Magnificat, but there is also a danger. It is a loaded gun.

After all we have heard and read this advent, I believe that the kingdom of God is the fulfillment of the revolutions. To work for the coming of the kingdom is to work to the three revolutions of the Magnificat.

As we draw together our thoughts and prayers this advent, and await the birth of God incarnate, we should promise to move forward in our faith. To listen to God and wait for him to use us to share the love of Christ with others.

We should expect to share the greatest joy, whist doing the greatest task. Let us try to walk a mile in the shoes of the young girl from Palestine, who said YES to God, and in our prayers, pray for a revolution of the love of Christ.