Advent Week 4 Sermon: Mary's Song of Praise & Resistance

 Luke 1:46-55

                                                       My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.

For the Lord has looked with favor on this lowly servant,

and from this day forward all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is the Name of the Lord.

You, oh Lord, have mercy on those who fear you in every generation,

you have shown the strength of your arm, you scatter the proud in their conceit,

you cast down the mighty from their thrones

and lift up the lowly,

you fill the hungry with good things

and send the rich away empty.

You have come to the help of your servant, Israel, you have remembered your promise of mercy,

the promise made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and Sarah’s children forever. 

(translation by Dr. Naomi Walters)

Mary’s Song of Praise and Resistance 

We walk into a scene with Mary, a young Middle Eastern woman, really a young girl, as she visits her cousin Elizabeth in a hillside town in the country. Mary’s belly is beginning to bump out, and she holds her hands close to her stomach as she waits to feel the Christ child kick within her. As Elizabeth, herself pregnant in her old age, watches the young Mary admiring and overjoyed at her sweet gift of the Holy Spirit, Mary bursts into song, no longer able to hold back her feelings of great hope, peace, joy, love, and expectation. 

“My Soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior!”  

She sings with a confident boldness in the goodness of the God who has chosen her, of all people, to bear, birth, and raise the Son of God. 

Can you imagine? 

Someone of such lowly estate, a young girl, engaged but not married, and of no real “importance” to the eyes of the world... And instead of backing away and denying the gift she has been given, Mary said “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” ...and now is proclaiming the greatness of the God who is with her in Spirit, within her womb, and kicking with life within both. 

If I were Mary, and I can’t help but admit that I’m glad I am not, but if I were I’m not sure I would have been so gracious in my “yes” and so joyful in my praise. I think I would have had a bit more fear...now, that isn’t to say that Mary did not experience some fear in this. I can only imagine the fear she may have had as she spoke with Joseph for the first time after the angel’s visit, as she began to show signs of pregnancy (outside of wedlock), in the moments where the heartburn and discomfort she was experiencing from the pregnancy became more and more present, as she anticipated the birthing pains that were to come, and yet she sang - confident in who God is, was, and will be, not just for her but for all people. 

Mary’s song moves from singing about God, the Savior (whom, mind you, is also the one she is soon to birth), but then moves to singing TO God as she reflects on the many ways God lifts up the lowly and scatters the proud. 

It is, in a way, a song of resistance. 

Resistance to the world that is, as the world that God is continually creating (and in part creating in and through her) now, in the past, and for future generations is being made known. 

The imagery we get here of God showing the strength of God’s arm - displays the power of God.

But not the kind of power you would expect.

Scattering the proud, casting down the mighty, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry, and turning away the rich with empty arms are all reversals of the world that exists because God’s way of ruling is not out of triumph or might that suppresses, but out of the power to step out of what is expected and uplift those the world ignores. 

We see these actions in God’s faithfulness to God’s people throughout the Bible - in the many stories of Israel’s journey with God, in the fact that God chose Mary to bare the Christ - a young girl that would not have been the first pick if humanity were to choose who bears God’s Son - , we see it in Jesus’ work with those that so many walked by without a second glance, as well as in his words shared in the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount and many other places…. 

and this theme of a divine reversal continues throughout history - surprising us with the ways God continues to work through the unexpected. 

God’s concern for the lowly continues to reveal itself.

Mary sings “You have come to the help of your servant, Israel, you have remembered your promise of mercy, the promise made to our ancestors, to Abraham and Sarah’s children forever.” 

Mary expected and trusted that God would continue to be faithful as God has been in the past. And her experience of God lifting her up, the stories she undoubtedly knew from her jewish heritage of God lifting up Israel, and her faith that God would continue to do so for future generations wraps up her song, yet leaves space for God to continue working so the song may continue... 

Her song doesn’t end with finality, but rather opens up for continued praise and awe as God continues to fulfill God’s promises of creating this new life, which she is experiencing both through her growing stretch marked stomach, and in her rejoicing spirit.

We join Mary in this pregnant expectation. 

Waiting for new life to come from the least expected places. 

As we continue to wait for the Christ in Advent, and for the return of Christ in general, may we see where God is lifting up the lowly, 

may we sing like Mary as we proclaim the greatness of God with joy

 and trust that God will continue to reverse the world’s expectations and surprise us with the ways God brings new life into the world. 

May we join Mary’s song of praise and resistance. 

Here we are Lord, let it be with us according to your word. 

Art: "Canticle of Mary" by Jen Norton