Heralds of the Gospel

A Sermon preached on Advent IV, December 23, at St. Augustine’s WiesbadenMicah 5: 2 – 5a, Hebrews 10: 5 – 10, Luke 1: 39-45, Canticle 15 (Magnificat)

I am not overly fond of sermon series, as they can get in the way of focusing on the text or texts for the day, on how they speak to our current situation, on how that text impacts us. But in this case, the lectionary lends itself to a mini-series we could call “Heralds of the Gospel.” To herald is to be a sign that something is about to happen. Synonyms for a herald are messenger, courier, or bearer of tidings.

John the Baptist, who has been our focus in the previous two weeks, was clearly a messenger and a bearer of good tidings and he himself saw himself as a sign pointing to Jesus. This week’s herald is the Virgin Mary. She definitely points to something that is about to happen, the Incarnation. And she has a message for us. Though even this week, John the Baptist manages to put in a little cameo appearance: “When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb.” (Luke 1:40) And that child was John, giving us a sign even before her was born!

But back to Mary. As Anglicans, we honor Mary both for who she is and for what she does. We honor her as the one chosen by God to be the Theotokos, the God bearer, the mother of the incarnate word who is Jesus. And we also honor her for her willingness to act on God’s behalf, and on ours, by accepting this role. Her role would be one of great joy, but also of great pain and suffering, when she has to watch her son die, painfully and shamefully. That is what Simeon refers to sometime later, when Jesus is presented in the Temple: “Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’” (Luke 2:35) We honor Mary for her loyalty and faithfulness through Jesus’ death, and resurrection and beyond, as one of the leaders of the early Church.

In Luke’s Gospel we have the most complete summary of Mary the herald’s message to the world, in her poetic reaction to God’s calling, the song that we call the Magnificat. It has been described as the gospel before the gospel. It is a song of praise for what God does for her as an individual, and for the world, reminding us that the relationship God desires is always both personal and social or communal.

First, Mary expresses praise and joy for God’s treatment, and I also hear some amazement in her voice that the Creator of all shows interest in her, that the Almighty cares personally for her. The first four verses are full of her personal praise and thanks. She will be the instrument through which God acts in the world. Yet though she addresses God as the Mighty One, who will do great things for and with and through her, she also knows that she has nothing to fear from God’s power, because God is also is her Savior, her liberator.

Liberation is the theme of the next four verses, in which the focus moves away from Mary, and to the world. Contrary to many claims by those in power, God’s is not on the side of the proud, powerful, rich, and mighty. God’s strong arm is on the side of those who need God’s help, here described as the lowly and the hungry. Later in Luke, Jesus, the savior, Mary’s own son, will have a very similar message:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. … But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.” (Luke 6:20-25)

The promise of God's judgment here recalls the exodus, when God exercised his power to liberate Israel from Egypt. And Jesus, Mary’s son, will later often be compared with Moses.  In the penultimate verse of the Magnificat (1:54), Mary recalls how God has helped her people in times past – in the Exodus, in the return from exile, and she hopes now: “He has come to the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy.” And we believe that promise is now extended to what Paul calls “the Israel of God,” (Galatians 6:16) everyone who follows Jesus’s path.

God’s promise and faithfulness are also the subject of the last verse of the Magnificat: Everything she has mentioned, all these past and future saving acts are according to “the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendants forever.” (1:55) God is loyal and faithful and does not forget God’s creation, not even when we forget God. This loyal love is one of the hymn's basic themes, and it is mutual. God is faithful to Mary, and Mary to God.

Earlier I mentioned two reasons why we Anglicans also honor and revere Mary. But there is a third reason, because she is the best example of the humble, faithful disciple. That a woman provides such an example is significant, since first-century culture often relegated women to a secondary status. Luke on the other hand goes out of his way to give us universal examples: men and women, Jew and Gentile, slave and free. We are called to follow Jesus, to imitate him, but there are limits. He is fully human, but also fully divine. Mary is only human. Anything she can do, we can do. She is our model, both in her willingness to serve God and as the God bearer. We bear God when we bear the Word, when we act as Christ’s body in the world, when we “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,” (Romans 12:1) which as we heard in the reading from Hebrews, is the only form of sacrifice God desires, and when we listen to and allow ourselves to be guided by “the Spirit of God that lives in us.” (Romans 8:9)

Most of all however, Mary should be our model in her praise for and love of God. Her words should be our words: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

Amen.