Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, “The Secret Life of Bees,” is set in the South in the 1960s in a Black community for whom Mary, the mother of Jesus held in great honor. The main character, Lily Owens asks, a recently-deceased friend to take a message up to heaven, to clue Mary in on their efforts.

“Tell Mary,” Lily says, “we know Jesus is the main one down here, but we’re doing our best to keep her memory going!”

Today we do our part in keeping Mary’s memory going by listening to her song, known as the The Magnificat, the Latin word for “magnify” as in “My soul magnifies the Lord!”

Mary’s song celebrates the promised birth of the Messiah announced by the angel Gabriel as yet another act of God bringing to Israel the Shalom of justice and peace. 

Our reading comes from Luke 1:26-38, 46-55. As you are able please stand for the reading of the Gospel.

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 35The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

46 And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, 47   and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me,    and holy is his name. 50His mercy is for those who fear him    from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm;   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,   and lifted up the lowly; 53he has filled the hungry with good things,   and sent the rich away empty. 54He has helped his servant Israel,    in remembrance of his mercy, 55according to the promise he made to our ancestors,   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.

Mary’s Magnificat is a song of hope; it is mired in the belief that things will get better because God is at work in the world! The Song reveals a couple things about its author:

1st) Mary’s Song reveals an incredible openness to God, one would not expect to find in a 14 year old child.

Vs.46-49
"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.”
James Harnish, the author of our Advent Study raises the question, could there have been others the Angel appeared to but who were too preoccupied, comfortable or afraid to take the risk?
Why Mary? Was her “yes” simply 2nd nature? The product of a life spent saying “yes” to God? Or did it have something to do with her self proclaimed “lowly” state (vs. 48) in scripture, typically a reference to poverty?
Either way, the text doesn’t say. It simply states that her response to God is, “Let it be...according to your word.”
In the Gospels, the moral equivalent of openness toward God is “meekness.” We typically associate “meek” with “weak,” but that’s a misinterpretation at least according to Dr. Fred Schmidt, professor at Perkins School of theology. He says, “In the ancient world the word “meek” was the term used to describe a desirable war horse. “Meek” meant “obedient” or more precisely, “instantly responsive.” (Pull the reigns to the left or right and the horse immediately follows).

A “great” warhorse then is one who has come to know her rider so well that she can anticipate the rider’s desires (experience + familiarity + trust).

Horse and rider establish a connection. They become comfortable with the sweet give and take of the relationship. They move as one!

Last week I spoke of my friend and colleague in ministry, Kathleen Baskin-Ball. I think if anyone for me epitomizes Mary, it would have to be Kathleen. She is a loving soul with such a sense of joy and trust emerging out of her relationship with God; truly a dance of intimacy! I think it is out of that relationship Kathleen is able to accept whatever God has for her; an attitude of, “Let it be with me…according to your word.” Horse and rider moving as one.
We need to get in the habit of saying “yes” to God in both the little things and the big things.

People talk a lot about wanting to grow spiritually but the wisdom teaching of the Desert fathers and mothers can be summarized simply as follows:

• Gratitude
• Simplicity
• A listening spirit
• Appreciation of one’s vulnerability
• Recognition of the fragility of life
• Scripture
• Unceasing prayer
  

These are simple habits anyone serious about their spiritual growth, can practice daily! They are our unspoken “let it be…” to God’s ongoing invitation. And little by little, like water drops on stone, they will wear down the resistance until we become who are made to be; what author James Harnish describes as “Christmas as a way of life.”
    
Mary’s Song reveals an incredible openness to God.

2ndly) Mary’s song reveals a God who is actively involved in economic and social revolution.
God, she claims in verses 52-53:

• Scatters those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
• Brings down the proud ruler
• Sends the rich away empty-handed. 
• Lifts up the humble
• Fills the hungry with good things
  

That’s pretty sophisticated stuff coming from a 14 year old child! Still if anyone ought to know about the plight of the poor, hungry, and marginalized, it is poor, young woman who was basically on the bottom rung of the social ladder of her day.

And if hope is the belief that things will get better because God is at work in the world, then Mary’s song about a God who redistributes the world’s resources to make for a more just world, makes sense!

By the way, Mary’s Song of praise parallels Jesus’ teaching in the Beatitudes (in Luke 6):

“Blessed are the poor, the meek, the hungry…for you will filled, comforted and inherit the Kingdom . Then Jesus adds, “Woe to you who are rich, and well fed for you will be turned away empty handed.

Justice is risky business. After all, the privileged have much to lose…..don’t we?!
We live in a crazy, crazy, mixed up world, a world where:

• Teenagers walk into malls and randomly shoot people;
• where religious fanatics can justify taking human life in the name of God; 
• where people are starving and children dying of preventable diseases
  

And God is whispering in our ears to do something about it.
There’s been a lot of controversy being generated by the movie “Golden Compass” and its so called “atheistic message.” I’ve not read Pullman’s books which supposedly cast the Church in the role of evil nemesis. Well I figure there’s been plenty of inspiration provided by people on the “inside.” The Christian church has a long history of oppressive practices and beliefs, nowadays its splashed all over the front page of the newspaper. But the church also has a long history of great good! The Church’s involvement in:

• The Civil Rights movement,
• the fight to end apartheid, 
• the war on AIDS 
• the fight against world hunger,
  

all have found momentum in the Christian church.

Last week, we took an offering for the Global AIDS Awareness fund and this church received 1800.00 for this fund, three times what was asked of us. Thank you for saying “yes” to God!

Justice is always a choice.

What do our lifestyles have to say about our grasp of Jesus’ teachings?

• About concern for the poor and needy?
• About seeking first his kingdom. 
• About being peacemakers in a time of war? 
• About how we treat the stranger, the homeless, the prisoner, the immigrant?
• What would he have to say about our general avoidance of the Bible study or prayer?
  

Mary chose to be a God-bearer; her life was a fertile environment for God’s love to be born into this world. And we have a choice to be God bearers as well. We can choose to be constantly in a state of “yes” when it comes to God.

Imagine what this church could accomplish if we took seriously our role as God-bearers. Christ Foundry would tell us to quite sending volunteers and donations because there was no longer a need. Amigos Project would be completed in ½ a day instead of two weekends. We’d have to find a new room for our Confirmands to meet in because they’d outgrow the existing space.

The “Bantu” tribe has a custom. They creep quietly into the rooms of their children while they are asleep and whisper in their ears, “Become what are you.”
I imagine the young Mary, quietly slipping aside her son’s bed as he sleeps and whispering gently in his ear, “My son, become what you are…”
And I am firmly convinced that God is speaking to us saying, “Become what you are,” in hopes that we might recognize God’s voice and respond, “Let it be with me…according to your word.”

Prayer: God, hear our prayer. Let is be with us according to your word. Amen.