Mary's Awe: The Magnificat
Sermon
Christmas Is A Quantum Leap
Sermons For Advent, Christmas And Epiphany
It is not easy to imagine our way into the heart and mind of
an unmarried Jewish girl of 14, living in a remote village 2,000
years ago. The message of the angel invites us to do just that
this morning. In order for our soul to magnify the Lord we must
try to enter into the awe of Mary's experience. For our spirits
to rejoice in God our Savior we try today to open ourselves to
the wonder she felt as the birth of Christ was announced to her.
Now we know something about the awe of Christmas, though it is
all caught up in the enchantment of traditions, memories and
holiday plans. For Mary there was none of that. When she began to
realize what the angel was talking about, more than visions of
sugar plums danced in her head. What Gabriel announced to her and
what that angel says to us this morning, more than any other
event in the Bible, is an encounter with God's entrance onto the
human scene. The message of the angel to Mary is one of the most
compelling points of contact between God and humanity. Never
before or since has the awesome power and mystery of God so
dynamically impacted the lives of humble people. Yet as we seek
faith like hers we can be inspired by awe like hers. Seeking to
be open and willing, as she was, we can also be chosen vessels of
God's incarnation in our world.
Try to picture the mother of our Lord as she first learned the
news that we would come to call Christmas. I imagine her at home,
going about her daily duties while her mind would occasionally
wander to the wedding plans. She would be young for marriage by
today's standards but her engagement was probably just about at
the right timing in her culture. Her upcoming wedding would
probably have some of the signs of being arranged by their
families, though that, too, would not be uncommon. Joseph is
generally thought to have been older than she; a respected
tradesman earning a simple honest living.
Vital to the impact of the story at this point is the
knowledge which only they could have that they had not yet come
together intimately. She knew there had been no one; he knew it
couldn't have been him. These deeply personal matters loomed
large as Mary and Joseph processed what the angel had to say.
These intimate details have loomed large, also, in the awe that
the event has inspired throughout the ages.
Mary would probably have been brought up within the normal
expectations of Jewish households for the time: she would be the
primary homemaker and Joseph's partner in the parenting of their
children. There was much about their situation that is completely
normal. Though all that would soon change. Their role of
parenthood was soon to take on a proportion not known before or
since. Two simple people, committed to God and to one another,
would find themselves at the center and epitome of human history.
Suddenly on one ordinary afternoon Mary found herself in the
divine presence of a messenger from God. Not only was there the
awe of encountering an angel before her very eyes but the added
awe of having a conversation with the heavenly visitor. And as if
all that wasn't enough there was the wonder of what he had to
say. " 'Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you.' But she
was much perplexed by his words," Luke reports, "and pondered
what sort of greeting this might be." How frequently the
familiarity of these words diminishes the high drama of their
impact. "Much perplexed," you should translate, "shocked out of
her mind."
And "pondered what sort of greeting this might be," carries the
weight of what a 14-year-old girl would describe today, "Like,
wow; like ... I couldn't believe it."
Sensing her shock -- not yet awe -- the angel added a quick,
pastoral, "Don't be afraid ..." And it's a good thing he did. Awe
often includes a good bit of fear and the messages of angels in
the Bible have a way of recognizing that. To the shepherds who
would get an experience of awe of their own, and to the visitors
to the tomb who would get the most amazing news of all -- there is
the same comforting advice. It's as if to say, "Calm down, I'm
not going to hurt you; listen carefully."
At this point it is especially good Gabriel encouraged Mary
not to be afraid because there was enough shock-value in the next
piece of information to scare anybody of sound mind or spirit.
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of almighty God
will cooperate with you. In your body God will conceive the
Messiah and you will deliver to the world its salvation. You are
about to become pregnant, Mary, and the Almighty God is to be the
father of the holy son you will bear."
How's your awe? Can you begin to appreciate her sense of
overwhelming wonder, confusion, joy and apprehension? Just for
good measure Gabriel added the news circulating by then in the
heavens that Elizabeth, too, was about to be a mother; a fact not
without its own measure of unusual circumstances in its own
right. As for Mary's sense of awe? Wonder and faith combined with
complete trust of God and she responded with complete
willingness. She was ready to do and to be exactly what God would
have her be: a servant and completely open to God. "Mind, body
and spirit, Lord, I am open to you." Now that's awesome.
But what is the role of all that awe in your life and in mine?
How are we to take that once-in-history conversation and hear its
message for us? Mary was favored as is no other, and together she
and Joseph parented the one most holy family. Where's the message
of the angel for you and for your family?
I think it is no less awesome! Surely angels don't speak to us
as Gabriel did with Mary. At least not quite that way! But the
divine word of God's plan to enter our lives with Christ at
Christmas is also important for the kingdom. That should be the
awe of Christmas. Only one woman could physically bear the birth
of Jesus, but every one of us, man and woman alike, can bear his
saving and redeeming word to all the world. That is the awe that
comes to us also this Christmas.
God seeks to enter into our lives with the awesome message of
hope and promise. We also need to be overtaken by the wonder of
hearing again that the Holy Spirit has come upon us and the power
of the Most High has entered us. Of course we are not the virgin
mother of our Lord. Yet with us also is the Christ whom scripture
promises is the light of every person that comes into the earth.
We will not hear this Christmas that we are going to give birth
to the baby Jesus. We should hear that through us the Word is to
be delivered to the ends of the earth; that through us the
message of salvation is to be reborn in our own day and time. If
Christ is to come alive at all in the lives of countless people
today it is going to need to be through us. And that is the awe
of Christmas this Christmas.
It is a form of Mary's own awe. And it is the awe that most
draws us to the central power of what Christmas promises to be.
It is the awe of wonder and enchantment as we trim the tree. It
is the hope of gifts to be given and love to be shared along with
them. It is the spirit even of Santa, in which all struggle to
believe. But it is an awe far more wondrous. Foretold by Isaiah;
now told by Gabriel, it is the message that you also shall bring
to life the birth of peace and hope, and joy -- this Christmas.
The mystery of the incarnation happened once and for all as
Mary conceived and delivered Jesus to the waiting world. Most of
the world is still waiting. Christ will only be delivered to the
masses today if you conceive of ways to give birth to God's love
in Christ through you. Your soul can magnify the Lord. Your
spirit can rejoice in God your Savior.
The incarnation of God's love in Christ can happen again and
again in you and through you. Mary's awe can be your awe. And
that's "magnificent."
an unmarried Jewish girl of 14, living in a remote village 2,000
years ago. The message of the angel invites us to do just that
this morning. In order for our soul to magnify the Lord we must
try to enter into the awe of Mary's experience. For our spirits
to rejoice in God our Savior we try today to open ourselves to
the wonder she felt as the birth of Christ was announced to her.
Now we know something about the awe of Christmas, though it is
all caught up in the enchantment of traditions, memories and
holiday plans. For Mary there was none of that. When she began to
realize what the angel was talking about, more than visions of
sugar plums danced in her head. What Gabriel announced to her and
what that angel says to us this morning, more than any other
event in the Bible, is an encounter with God's entrance onto the
human scene. The message of the angel to Mary is one of the most
compelling points of contact between God and humanity. Never
before or since has the awesome power and mystery of God so
dynamically impacted the lives of humble people. Yet as we seek
faith like hers we can be inspired by awe like hers. Seeking to
be open and willing, as she was, we can also be chosen vessels of
God's incarnation in our world.
Try to picture the mother of our Lord as she first learned the
news that we would come to call Christmas. I imagine her at home,
going about her daily duties while her mind would occasionally
wander to the wedding plans. She would be young for marriage by
today's standards but her engagement was probably just about at
the right timing in her culture. Her upcoming wedding would
probably have some of the signs of being arranged by their
families, though that, too, would not be uncommon. Joseph is
generally thought to have been older than she; a respected
tradesman earning a simple honest living.
Vital to the impact of the story at this point is the
knowledge which only they could have that they had not yet come
together intimately. She knew there had been no one; he knew it
couldn't have been him. These deeply personal matters loomed
large as Mary and Joseph processed what the angel had to say.
These intimate details have loomed large, also, in the awe that
the event has inspired throughout the ages.
Mary would probably have been brought up within the normal
expectations of Jewish households for the time: she would be the
primary homemaker and Joseph's partner in the parenting of their
children. There was much about their situation that is completely
normal. Though all that would soon change. Their role of
parenthood was soon to take on a proportion not known before or
since. Two simple people, committed to God and to one another,
would find themselves at the center and epitome of human history.
Suddenly on one ordinary afternoon Mary found herself in the
divine presence of a messenger from God. Not only was there the
awe of encountering an angel before her very eyes but the added
awe of having a conversation with the heavenly visitor. And as if
all that wasn't enough there was the wonder of what he had to
say. " 'Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you.' But she
was much perplexed by his words," Luke reports, "and pondered
what sort of greeting this might be." How frequently the
familiarity of these words diminishes the high drama of their
impact. "Much perplexed," you should translate, "shocked out of
her mind."
And "pondered what sort of greeting this might be," carries the
weight of what a 14-year-old girl would describe today, "Like,
wow; like ... I couldn't believe it."
Sensing her shock -- not yet awe -- the angel added a quick,
pastoral, "Don't be afraid ..." And it's a good thing he did. Awe
often includes a good bit of fear and the messages of angels in
the Bible have a way of recognizing that. To the shepherds who
would get an experience of awe of their own, and to the visitors
to the tomb who would get the most amazing news of all -- there is
the same comforting advice. It's as if to say, "Calm down, I'm
not going to hurt you; listen carefully."
At this point it is especially good Gabriel encouraged Mary
not to be afraid because there was enough shock-value in the next
piece of information to scare anybody of sound mind or spirit.
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of almighty God
will cooperate with you. In your body God will conceive the
Messiah and you will deliver to the world its salvation. You are
about to become pregnant, Mary, and the Almighty God is to be the
father of the holy son you will bear."
How's your awe? Can you begin to appreciate her sense of
overwhelming wonder, confusion, joy and apprehension? Just for
good measure Gabriel added the news circulating by then in the
heavens that Elizabeth, too, was about to be a mother; a fact not
without its own measure of unusual circumstances in its own
right. As for Mary's sense of awe? Wonder and faith combined with
complete trust of God and she responded with complete
willingness. She was ready to do and to be exactly what God would
have her be: a servant and completely open to God. "Mind, body
and spirit, Lord, I am open to you." Now that's awesome.
But what is the role of all that awe in your life and in mine?
How are we to take that once-in-history conversation and hear its
message for us? Mary was favored as is no other, and together she
and Joseph parented the one most holy family. Where's the message
of the angel for you and for your family?
I think it is no less awesome! Surely angels don't speak to us
as Gabriel did with Mary. At least not quite that way! But the
divine word of God's plan to enter our lives with Christ at
Christmas is also important for the kingdom. That should be the
awe of Christmas. Only one woman could physically bear the birth
of Jesus, but every one of us, man and woman alike, can bear his
saving and redeeming word to all the world. That is the awe that
comes to us also this Christmas.
God seeks to enter into our lives with the awesome message of
hope and promise. We also need to be overtaken by the wonder of
hearing again that the Holy Spirit has come upon us and the power
of the Most High has entered us. Of course we are not the virgin
mother of our Lord. Yet with us also is the Christ whom scripture
promises is the light of every person that comes into the earth.
We will not hear this Christmas that we are going to give birth
to the baby Jesus. We should hear that through us the Word is to
be delivered to the ends of the earth; that through us the
message of salvation is to be reborn in our own day and time. If
Christ is to come alive at all in the lives of countless people
today it is going to need to be through us. And that is the awe
of Christmas this Christmas.
It is a form of Mary's own awe. And it is the awe that most
draws us to the central power of what Christmas promises to be.
It is the awe of wonder and enchantment as we trim the tree. It
is the hope of gifts to be given and love to be shared along with
them. It is the spirit even of Santa, in which all struggle to
believe. But it is an awe far more wondrous. Foretold by Isaiah;
now told by Gabriel, it is the message that you also shall bring
to life the birth of peace and hope, and joy -- this Christmas.
The mystery of the incarnation happened once and for all as
Mary conceived and delivered Jesus to the waiting world. Most of
the world is still waiting. Christ will only be delivered to the
masses today if you conceive of ways to give birth to God's love
in Christ through you. Your soul can magnify the Lord. Your
spirit can rejoice in God your Savior.
The incarnation of God's love in Christ can happen again and
again in you and through you. Mary's awe can be your awe. And
that's "magnificent."
