"Mary's Song"

Meditation for the Fourth Sunday in Advent

Luke 1:26-56

***

      In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’

     But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He 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. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’

      Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’

     The 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. And 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. For nothing will be impossible with God.’

      Then 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.

      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 Lord 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 fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

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

    And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.

***

       I met Mary and Brenda when I was in college in the 1980s.

      They knocked on my dorm room door one day and asked if I wanted to read the Bible with them.  That came as a surprise but they seemed like normal people—not religious fanatics or anything. I was 20 or 21, and not a very religious person at the time, though I had been baptized and confirmed in a Lutheran church.

      Before I met Mary and Brenda at school, I didn’t know anyone who would have felt comfortable talking about their faith.  And certainly none of my friends would have asked if I wanted to read the Bible with them.

      Well, I had a Bible.  An old, white King James, with the words of Jesus in red.  And I had questions.  Mary and Brenda never laughed at me or my questions, though they were much more mature in the faith. They knew their Bibles and they prayed simple, conversational prayers.  They asked God to help them with little and big things they were struggling with—schoolwork, jobs, boyfriends, parents, sickness, finances, everything! They asked God to speak to them through Scripture and help them to know and obey God’s will.

   This was all new to me. They were members of Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, which had an active group on our campus. They had their own worship service on Friday nights in our group leader’s home. We sang Christian songs with a guitar and words on a screen. Our leader didn’t preach like any minister I had heard before.  He talked to us like he was one of us.

      I was drawn to Mary and Brenda and this group of Christians because of their kindness and gentleness to me and one another.  They were far from perfect people.  But they had something I didn’t have. They had a real, authentic faith that was a daily journey.  They walked with God. 

       And they told me that God loved me enough to send His Son to die for me. For me!  Not just the world.  For me! They told me that I was truly forgiven for all my sins.  That I was a new creation.  And that God’s Spirit was with me always.  And I believed it!  It was like a heavy burden was lifted from my shoulders.

     I had heard the gospel many times before.  But it had never sunk in quite like this.

***

       My relationship with Brenda and Mary was something like Mary and Elizabeth’s mentoring relationship in our gospel today. Mary, who was only about 13 when the angel appeared to her, was a distant kin to Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was much older and was a godly, married woman, whose husband, Zacharias, was a priest. She was thought to be barren when the angel came and proclaimed she would have a son. He would be John the Baptist, the one God sent to prepare the way for our Lord.

      Mary, just a girl by today’s standards, was scared of the angel and his words. Gabriel comforted her in her distress, telling her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”

      And the Lord in His mercy and wisdom arranged for these two women to be together as He used them in extraordinary ways. 

      God understands us.  He knows our need for Christian friends and our need to be loved and encouraged in the faith. So the angel, after he tells Mary she will conceive the Son of God by the Holy Spirit, tells her what has happened to Elizabeth, assuring her, “For nothing will be impossible for God.”

       Mary’s response is humble obedience.  “I am the Lord’s servant!  Let it be as you say.”  And then Mary immediately makes the 9 or 10 days’ journey by foot to visit Elizabeth.  She stays 3 months.

       During this time, the women draw strength from one another and the Lord. And they build up each other in the faith. Elizabeth’s greeting to her young relative is confirmation of what the angel has told Mary.

      “Blessed are you among women!” Elizabeth says. “Blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?...  Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”

        Fear is dispelled.  Only then, after Elizabeth encourages her, does Mary break into song.  Her song is an echo of the ancient prayer of Hannah, who miraculously conceived a son, Samuel, in her old age, when she was barren.  Samuel was the last judge and first prophet of Israel, and the one who anointed the first king, Saul, and David, his successor.

         In Mary’s Song, she praises God. She rejoices in what He will do through her, how generations will call her blessed. And she rejoices in her servant relationship with Him.   She sings of His just kingdom to come through the Savior. The proud will be scattered.  The exalted made low.  The rich sent away empty.  The hungry filled with good things.

          Mary is so happy, she sings!

 ***

     At this time of year, when God shows us the many blessings in our lives, including the gift of His Son, we see how He has used people around us and our relationships to shape us into the people He wants us to be. I give thanks, especially, for my Christian friends!  People like Mary and Brenda, who more than 25 years ago, showed me how faith is a journey that is meant to be shared with other Christians who build one another up and encourage each other in their walk with the Lord. They taught me that Christianity is all about relationships, first and foremost, a loving relationship with God in Jesus Christ. 

      At the time, meeting Brenda and Mary didn’t seem like a huge thing.  Looking back, I can see how God used them to bring about drastic changes in me and my life—and to draw me closer to Him. 

       And so many other people, family and friends, inspire me now to press on and be a more faithful Christian. Some of you are gentle reminders to us all that Christianity isn’t about our comfort; it’s about being humble, obedient servants, trusting and rejoicing in Him like the two expectant mothers in the gospel of Luke—Mary and Elizabeth.

     Friends, the Lord has plans for us. He has brought us together for this ministry—to walk alongside each other and learn from each other as we allow the Spirit to lead us. We have seen His faithfulness to us when we reach out with Christ’s love and mercy to people in need. If we continue to seek and serve Him, He will bless our relationships with one another and with our neighbors.

     He will give us His joy.

     A joy that we can’t help but share with others.

     A joy that will make us sing!

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for Jesus Christ, Your Son, who showed us the way back to You when we were lost in our sins.  And we give you thanks for our loving families and friends, who walk beside us in our faith journeys and urge us on when we grow weary. Draw us ever nearer to you, Lord, and nearer to one another.  Help us to let go of what holds us back from completely trusting you with ourselves and our lives.  Teach us to be your humble, obedient servants, pressing on more faithfully with Your Kingdom work.  Give us your joy!  In Christ we pray.  Amen.