3rd Sunday of Advent                   

Luke 1: 39-55

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And, why has this happened to me, that the mother of my God comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And, blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by God.’

And Mary said,

‘My soul magnifies our God,
and my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour,
for God has looked with favour on the lowliness of her servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is God’s name.
God’s mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
God has shown strength with his arm;
God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
God has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
God has helped the servant Israel,
in remembrance of God’s mercy,
according to the promise God made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

Mary’s Song of Praise

After hearing what the Angel Gabriel had to say about how she would bear the son of God and bring him into the world, Mary goes on a journey to visit her cousin Elizabeth. We can imagine Mary’s motives for going to her cousin. Mary had never been pregnant before, and knowing of her cousin’s condition, it’s possible that she wanted advice, or at least someone to talk to who was in a similar situation. But, their situations are quite different. Elizabeth is a married woman, and despite her advanced age, it is socially acceptable for her to be pregnant.

Mary is a different story. Mary is a young girl, likely in her early adolescent years, engaged to Joseph. They aren’t married yet, so she shouldn’t be pregnant. Her pregnancy would have been scandalous; just imagine what the neighbors were saying! Some preachers cite the old law in Deuteronomy that says a woman in such a state could be stoned to death for her infidelity, but we don’t know if this law was still being enforced in Mary’s time. Still, it would have been within Joseph’s rights to dismiss her, to call off the wedding. Or, he could have forced Mary to give up the child, as the child would have been a source of shame, and the family might be unwilling to help with raising such a child.

And yet, when Mary arrives on Elizabeth’s doorstep, it’s not with worry and weeping; it’s with joy! We revisit this story often during Advent: Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and how when she arrives, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb “leaps for joy,” the baby who will grow up to be John the Baptist, who will prepare the way for the coming Messiah. And, Elizabeth, who is 80 years old and sixth months pregnant, says to Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb… blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by God.”

These two women, brought together by their roles in this miracle that is unfolding around and within them, are able to recognize the great workings of God in each other’s lives. They can see the proof of it upon each other, growing in their wombs. But, this scene, this story that we get to read every year, only happened because Mary took the journey to see her cousin. Mary had to leave her village, leave what was familiar and comfortable, and enter Elizabeth’s world. Once they were together, Mary could see and understand Elizabeth’s situation, and Elizabeth could see and understand Mary’s. Mary serves as an example of how can we remove ourselves from what is known and comfortable, in order to understand the people around us.

After Elizabeth’s blessing, we have the Magnificat, Mary’s song of praise. Instead of despair, Mary rejoices “My soul magnifies our God, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for God has looked with favor on the lowliness of her servant.” Mary becoming pregnant before her wedding is not the disaster it could have been; it is the miracle through which they will all be saved. Some scholars voice concern over the use of the word servant, here, “doule” in the Greek, as it could be translated as “slave.” But, in other parts of the Gospel of Luke, a different word is used for slave, so the writer is making a very specific choice here, and is likely not intending the reader to understand this word as “slave.”

It’s interesting that Mary says it her “lowliness” that captures God’s attention. We know that Mary was not a wealthy woman. She was likely quite good at blending into the background, as so many women of her station and of her time would have been. She was young and had very little standing in society, the little of which she had through her family ties and engagement to Joseph very much in danger because of this unplanned pregnancy. Of all the girls in the world, why was she the one who was chosen? We know she that was a believer, that she loved God and that faith was an important part of her life. We can see her humility through her interaction with the Angel Gabriel and her response to the proclamation that she would give birth to God’s son: “Here am I, the servant of God; let it be with me according to your word.” God knew Mary and knew how she would respond. Of course, God chose her! Mary was a humble person; she was a loving and caring person, and she wanted to do what God asked of her. The person bringing God’s child into the world could have so easily made it about themselves, used it for their own gain, taken advantage of the situation. But, God knew what they were doing when they chose Mary. Mary was the mother that Jesus needed.

Mary continues the Magnificat, saying, “from now on all generations will call me blessed…God’s mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” God’s actions are not constrained by time. God’s actions are eternal, everlasting, reaching back to the past and forward into the future. We talk about these cosmic, eternal actions of God, these actions that have everlasting implications: the baptism of Christ that joins us all together, the Last Supper through which Jesus becomes the person whom is capable of freeing us and granting us eternal life…the crucifixion, when Jesus interposes himself between us and annihilation…the resurrection, through which we are all reborn. Today, we look towards another cosmic, eternal event: the birth of Jesus, God entering into the world, to bring love and justice and healing into the world, to fundamentally change our understanding of right and wrong, to show us that real power is innocence, vulnerability, and trust. These are not singular, one-time events that happened and then were done. Jesus is always being baptized. The Last Supper is always happening. Jesus is always being crucified and resurrected. Jesus is always being born.

As the song continues, we see some of the more prophetic parts of the Magnificat: “God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” This is actually quite similar to some of the things that her son Jesus will say when he begins his teachings. The last shall be first, and the first last. Whoever becomes humble like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It reminds me of the beatitudes from Matthew 5:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

And then, Mary closes with, “God has helped the servant Israel, in remembrance of God’s mercy, according to the promise God made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” We have that word servant again here, but instead of the word “doule” which we had earlier, it’s “pais”, which could, again, be translated as “slave”, but could also be translated as “child.” So, we could translate this line as, “God has helped the child Israel.”

The Magnificat, this song of praise sung by the woman who would give birth to the Messiah, has become a sort of rallying cry for the church. We come together to praise God and remember all of the wonderful things that God has done for us. We remember how God has cared for our ancestors and how God promises to take care of us for all time, from generation to generation. We recall what God asks us to do: lift up the lowly, fill the hungry, show mercy to those who need mercy, help those who need to be helped. This is what Christmas is truly about. When you get past all of the trappings of presents and lights and decorations, it’s about remembering that God came to us in human form, to tell us that we are loved…that this miracle happened 2,000 years ago, and we’re still talking about it. We still celebrate it! And, the Magnificat was Mary’s response to that.

So, as you busy yourselves with preparations, with planning, and cooking, and travel, remember the true meaning of Christmas, and remember Mary’s Magnificat. Amen.

~ Rev. Charles Wei