Advent 3 - A

Mother Mary 

Introduction

I guess I am on a Beatles kick for some reason, each Sunday puts me in mind of another song... this week it was Let it Be... and particularly the part which goes:

When I find myself in times of trouble

Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom

Let it be

And in my hour of darkness

She is standing right in front of me

Speaking words of wisdom

Let it be

What is it about Mary that captures the attention of so many? Perhaps it is that she was so ordinary, and thrust into circumstances that seem so amazingly and mysteriously more than ordinary.

Imagine this unwed and too young mother of Jesus. Whom Angels spoke to and Joseph forgave. Who, if the story is right, accepted her fate and her position with grace and dignity.

This is not life as most of us experience it. It must have been incredibly hard.... her life must have been filled with emotions - fear, pain, even anger... I wonder if part of what we like and admire about Mary is that even in the midst of that she also found joy.

When Mary finds that she is pregnant she goes off to see her already pregnant cousin Elizabeth... perhaps for advice, perhaps to exchange stories, perhaps just to get some rest and let the men folk go off and be men folk.

And what they discover together is that they are happy to be mothers. And that they are happy that God has plans for their children.

Those plans involve helping to make the world a better place, and as we shall see it is totally in line with Gods promises as well as totally in keeping with what has taken place after their births.

The white Gifts

The tradition of White Gift Sunday has its roots in a small Methodist church in Ohio in 1904. What began as a humble way to reflect on the love and devotion of the giver and not the value of the gift has grown into today’s white gift services in many churches across several denominations. The story is told that a minister’s wife initiated the idea to solve the problem of inequity of gifts given at the Sunday school Christmas party. Instead of focusing on receiving gifts, the focus shifted to bringing gifts to Jesus that could in turn be shared with people around the world who did not have much. All the gifts would come wrapped in plain white paper, so that no one would know which was an expensive gift and which was a more modest one. No one would feel ashamed of their gift and everyone would share in the joy of giving to others.

Wrestling with the Texts

The Beatles believed that Mary would come and bring them wisdom. They are not alone in this. Monks worshiped her, poor peasants built shrines to her. Mary is at the heart of the emotional connection we all have for God.

Maybe because she is a mother, and a woman, and those qualities are rare in the Bible and yet important for most people. We all understand what it is to be a parent, and we all know what a perfect mother would be.... whether we are one, or even if we did not have one.

A mother is protective, a mother is fierce, a mother loves unconditionally, a mother has high hopes for her children. A mother gives beyond measure and yet, does it with a smile. Well, our perfect mother would do this.

And again, for many people Mary took on these feminine characteristics of God. Mary was the compassionate one, Mary was the caring one, Mary was the wise one... and became venerated so much that there have been times when the Catholic Church tried to ban praying to Mary - people were praying more to Mary than to God....

As the Beatles reiterate, it is Mary who is standing beside them in times of darkness.... and she is speaking words of wisdom.

So what were the words of Wisdom Mary had to offer in the first place? Surprisingly there were very few of them captured, or imagined, by the folks that wrote the story of Jesus... But there is one place, one poem, one song, that got included.

My soul Magnifies the Lord, sang Mary when the pregnancy became real and the baby kicked for the first time...

And then, like any mother, she goes on to speak of the hope she has for her child.... of the way God will be at work through Jesus. There are some wonderfully high hopes I this song, the powerful being overthrown, the proud being humbled, the starving get food and the rich go away empty handed.

Again, we are talking about a vision of the Kingdom of God ... of what it "could" be like if we finally listen to the wisdom and compassion of God. It sets Jesus up with a huge and impossible seeming task; a lot of pressure on an unborn baby....

But you have to see how this set the stage. This really was the expectation that people had of the Messiah, this really is what people were praying for.

Mary was overcome with Joy because God was finally answering her prayers.... not only her prayers, but everyone's prayers. Could it be that the hope Mary feels is part of the reason that so many people look to her for guidance?

Conclusion

And when the broken hearted people

Living in the world agree,

There will be an answer, let it be

And though the night is cloudy,

There is still a light that shines on me,

Shine until tomorrow, Let it be...

Whisper words of wisdom.... Let it be...

Who knew the Beatles were so into Christmas? Well, okay, that is a stretch... but they were religious in their own way and they were part of the movement of people who believed at the world could become a better place.

And they saw in Mary, the same as we can, a person who sees the joy of life, who sees the simplicity of faith, and who is there to offer us wisdom....

As we approach Christmas we do so with a sense of joy that allows us to see the goodness of the world around us, even as we know there is pain and sorrow. There is so much joy and love, so much hope and peace.... let's celebrate that this year.... knowing that we are helping to birth Gods love into the world once more.