Sermons
Mary sings a revolutionary song: God lifts up the lowly. But there is more. Mary sings not of us remembering God, but of God remembering us. God comes to our help, remembering the promise of mercy to our forebears. Even when bitter sorrow pierces our hearts, Mary teaches us to sing the sweet praise of a tender God of mercy. A compassionate One who holds us close, even through our loss, even through our tears.
Mary is the Mother of all the living. Yet through baptism God calls us to be mothers as well. Everybody gets to be Mary. We are all full of grace. All highly favored. All called to be God-bearers, bringing to birth justice and joy in the world. Whether we have been mothers or not, whatever our gender, whatever complicated relationship we have or had with our mother. And like Mary—at our falling asleep, at our death—God promises to bring us to the glory of our eternal home.
Mary, often called Theotokos – God-bearer, or Mother of God – birthed Jesus, yes, yet even more so, her yes to God was but the beginning of the birth pangs of God’s new creation. In Mary’s womb was, as the old Latin hymn puts it, “heaven and earth in little space. “ What wondrous births might be waiting to come to be through us if we, like Mary, are both humble and courageous enough to say yes to what God wants to do in our lives?
