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Magnificat - Advent 4C

My soul Magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, Mary says to her cousin Elizabeth.

What courage she had to magnify the Lord for what was happening to her and through her. God needed a woman with such courage. Not only did she say yes to what she was being asked to do, knowing the consequences of it would be huge with her fiancé, her parents, his parents and the whole community, but she felt honored in being asked.

He has looked with favor on his lowly servant… the Mighty one has done great things for me and Holy is God’s name.

Imagine being asked by God to do something right now that would cost you your reputation, would require you to face huge obstacles in the rest of your life in family and in community and would ultimately bring you to your knees as you watched your child die a horrible death.

Mary had a choice. God didn’t tell her she must be the mother of Jesus. God gave her the opportunity to be the vehicle by which God’s love could be manifest in the world, God’s presence could be incarnate as light in the darkness, as hope in the midst of despair and as the gift of life rather than the fear of death.

Her song speaks of God’s mercy on those who fear Him from generation to generation. If we really believe in the God we proclaim, then we should fear no one but God. Fearing God, standing in awe of his power in and through all creation, she proclaims that God will be merciful… and clinging to that hope she says yes.

She continues her song, saying that God has scattered the proud in their conceit… God has not chosen a woman of power, wealth or status to carry this Child, this promise of hope for the whole world. God has lifted up the lowly… God has chosen a young woman, a poor woman, a humble woman, living in the hinterlands to be the one who will bare the love of God to the world.

The hungry, God has filled with good things… the belief was that the poor and hungry had brought their situations on themselves by sin. That prosperity was a sign of God’s blessing. But Mary declares the opposite. God does not choose the wealthy who expect to be God’s tools, but sends them away empty and chooses instead those who are truly hungry for the love of God and do not believe themselves to be worthy, to be loved, to be cared about. They will become the real instruments of God’s work.

God has come to the aid of Israel, as God had done many times before, always remembering his love and mercy for his people. God was fulfilling his promise and Mary was willing to be the means by which God acted, no matter what the cost.

Mary is our example, Mary is the instrument we are all called to be…

Full of Faith- God is an Awesome God, an all powerful God. A God to be feared above all else as the creator of all that is. Nothing reigns supreme over God. Therefore, when we place ourselves in God’s hands, what do we have to fear, except fear itself?

Full of Courage - God calls us to difficult tasks as his servants. It was not just Mary who was to bring Jesus into our world… but each and everyone of us as we become his disciples baptized into his mission and ministry. Mary did not run from God when she was asked to do her part. We too, are called to live with courage in the face of ridicule, indifference and rage, as we bring the love of God, the light of Christ, the prince of peace, Emmanuel with us into the world in which we live and move and have our being.

Mary is our example of true discipleship, true submission, true trust in God, that what will happen by the grace and power of God, through her will bring peace, shalom, wholeness to those who need it most.

I have a friend who is today a retired bishop, a man who happily served as a priest in an urban church, when people in Chicago called upon him to run for bishop. He ignored the call until his spiritual director called him a coward… He accused him of being afraid to win or afraid of loosing. Frank did then let his name go forward and later went on to be our presiding bishop, a humble leader who faced a very difficult task as shepherd of the church in these times. Through constant prayer and trust, he carried on.

If you have read the “When the Trumpet sounds, by Stephen Oats, the story of MLK, you will read of a time when he was afraid, but rather than run, he let God’s will be done and things unfolded as they were meant to though he faced much hatred, harassment, threat, violence, imprisonment and finally execution. He feared no one but God and said yes to being an instrument of God’s justice and through him, Christ was made manifest in our nation, The lowly blacks were lifted up and the haughty white racists were cast down from places of power.

Mary praised God for what he was to do in and through her. She felt honored and blessed to be called upon. Her soul magnified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God, our savior.

Because she said yes, we have life in us today. Because she said yes, we have love in us today. Because she said yes, we can face the long dark night, knowing the sun will rise. We can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil. Because of her “Yes” we have Christmas, we have Jesus.

I rejoice with Mary on this fourth Sunday of Advent and I pray that each and everyone one of us will have the strength to say yes in our own way to the Christ we carry and offer to the world.