4 Advent C December 20, 2015
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie G. Hutson
Micah 5: 2-5a + 1 Samuel 2: 1-10 + Luke 1: 39-56
Grace and peace to you from the one born of Mary and the one for whom we wait, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
I know this isn’t exactly a Christmas song or even an Advent hymn but how many of you know the Beatle’s song “Revolution”? Ok, so we’re going to have a little sing-a-long…just the first two lines, the first phrase: “You say you want a revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world.”
What would we do if we were told that instead of preparing for a holiday filled with trees and gifts and cookies… we needed to prepare for a revolution?
What if it were suddenly up to us to get ready for a revolution?
What would we do?
Because this really is what we are getting ready for in this season of Advent. A revolution. Nothing that we have known or experienced is as revolutionary as God coming into the world as a human being.
I suspect, though, that if we asked this question broadly: How do we prepare for revolution, we might hear responses like: close the borders, only let our own kind in, arm everyone, above everything else, maintain the status quo. These fearful responses sound too familiar.
Today we hear the story in Luke’s Gospel of Mary’s response to this revolutionary news. Gabriel has just told her that she will give birth to the Messiah…the very one the people have been waiting for. After asking some of the obvious questions, she agrees to partner with God in this way…and just like that….a revolution takes wing.
Mary’s first action after Gabriel leaves her is one that is found hidden between the lines. Mary believes that she is beloved of God. There is absolutely no tangible proof of this….she is a young woman in a culture that does not value women….she is unmarried and pregnant, which Scripture reminds us is cause for capital punishment. She has no way to support herself and at this point in her story, she has no idea of how her much older, family chosen fiancée will respond. Nevertheless, Mary believes that she is beloved of God. It does not seem out of the grasp of her young teenage heart and mind that this revolutionary thing will come into the world through her.
Then we are witness to another revolutionary act in Elizabeth’s hospitality. Think about it for a minute – Elizabeth and Zechariah had tried for the entirety of their marriage to have children. And in her old age, she is pregnant. Along comes her unmarried, young relative and certainly Elizabeth could have shut her doors. Who needs this much drama? Who needs a teenager in the house, much less a pregnant one? But Elizabeth’s first words to Mary are words of blessing: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
It is a revolutionary thing to stand with open doors. It has become counter-intuitive in our world, but it is the way of this Jesus revolution. It takes trust and faith and a belief that goodness is stronger than evil….that we are more alike than we are different.
In Paris and in Toronto, some Muslim men have conducted a social experiment. They have stood in public places, blindfolded, with a sign that says: “They say I am a terrorist. I am a Muslim. Will you hug me?” The response has been overwhelmingly positive. It is revolutionary to watch for it goes against what we are hearing from those whose fear comes disguised as hate. Person after person….men and women….young and old….hug the men. Some murmur words of reconciliation and peace.
Revolution takes radical hospitality…it takes open doors and wide welcome. It takes risk. It takes peace.
After Elizabeth’s blessing, Mary speaks and she sings her song. She begins with praises and rejoicing. She acknowledges that although she is but a lowly servant, she will be called blessed by all generations.
The December issue of the National Geographic magazine features Mary on its cover. The headline reads “The Most Powerful Woman in the World.” Too bad they didn’t go with: “Blessed by all generations.” If you have the opportunity, read the article. It is a thorough and fascinating reminder of the power of Mary across the globe – from Europe to South America to Africa and beyond.
The article also reminded me of this revolutionary fact: that in the Koran Mary is the holiest woman mentioned. In the Deir al Adra monastery in Minya, Egypt, Muslims and Christians gather together to light candles to commemorate the Holy Family’s stay during their flight into Egypt. The faithful from both faiths gather for Mary’s festival every year.
Mary is said to come to people in visions and dreams….to offer healing and comfort and sustaining faith to those who are oppressed. It’s revolutionary….that over 2000 years later…Mary is reminding people of the revolutionary nature of the kingdom of God.
In our Gospel reading today, Mary continues to sing her song. It is not a ballad, though or even a lullaby. Mary’s song, the Magnificat, is a song of revolution. You have shown strength with your arm; you have scattered the proud in their conceit; you have deposed the mighty from their thrones and raised the lowly to high places. You have filled the hungry with good things while the rich you have sent away empty.
You say you want a revolution….well you know….
Mary knew. Mary knew that God coming to earth….that God taking on our humanity….flesh and blood….was bound to be a messy, unruly thing. But revolution always is.
The kingdom of God is not about the status quo. It is about turning the known world upside down. It is about scattering the proud and deposing those with power and sending the rich away with nothing. God’s revolution raises up the lowly and fills the hungry.
People of God….this season invites us to a revolution. Our traditions, as beautiful as they are, hardly seem as though they are helping us be ready for something of such magnitude, for something this earth shattering. We are shopping and cooking and baking and decorating and Mary is singing that a revolution is coming….and that she, the most unlikely and yet the most beloved of people will bring it forth.
You say you want a revolution….well you know….we all want to change the world….
Revolution feels unfamiliar in a culture accustomed to seeking security and safety. It feels risky to open our doors and welcome the stranger and believe in our own belovedness as well as that of the other. What, we wonder, could possibly happen if the rich are sent away empty? How will the markets react? What will happen if the powerful are deposed and the lowliest of people are the ones leading us? How can that ever fit into our political system? What will happen when women as old as Elizabeth are pregnant? What could possibly happen when the most revolutionary birth in history comes from an unknown teenage girl and out of a town as little as Bethlehem? Is this really any way to bring about revolution? Is this any way to usher in the Kingdom?
Do you remember the closing refrain of that Beatle’s song? It’s gonna be…alright….. in days that seem dark and uncertain….in nights that are long and cold….in the midst of our insecurities and skepticism….Mary sings a song of revolution….and God comes to dwell with us.
It’s gonna be alright…..It’s gonna be alright.
Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come. Amen.