Psalm 146 The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.
Isaiah 35:1-10 The Lord will come and save you.
Luke 1:47-55 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my savior; because (God) has looked upon his lowly handmaid… (The New Jerusalem Bible)
I.
Some joy that Mary exults. Now she’s pregnant out of wedlock, a lowly peasant girl soon to be an outcast. Joseph, her intended, likely will abandon her in shame. Her coming baby may be blessed of God but how will he be treated by the neighbors? And where will she get funds for college? Mary is in quite a fix. John Mack, recently retired pastor of DC’s First Congregational United Church of Christ, has written,
Mary is about to have her life ruined. She is going to become pregnant while
she is engaged to a man who would know he was not the father. She seems to
have the right to refuse. (But )it appears that she must say yes for God’s will to be
done. The story could be about terror, not joy. Except, when she surrenders,
when she says that she is a servant of God and that it should be to her according
to God’s word, we have a sense of the joy that must have come over her- a joy
that probably grew as the baby grew within her…
-Gabriel’s Horn, 12-24-06, 1st Cong. UCC, Wash. DC
Mary’s joy bears little resemblance to shopping mall screeches at finding the perfect gift. Or Christmas morning exclamations at receiving what we have always wanted. We would not recognize her joy at a winning Redskins game or even a pennant season for my beloved Cubs. Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time might come closer; or a first in person glimpse of Giza’s pyramids. Maybe a yes to a first request for a date from that special someone; or to a marriage proposal.
But- I don’t know- that joy of Mary’s…that’s something truly profound. Can we hear her meaning, plainly? …This uneducated peasant girl from a backwater town in the Galilee, about which it later would be asked in derision by arrogant religious when they were being challenged by Jesus, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? (John 1:46)? Listen again to The Magnificat, from the Jerusalem Bible translation. (Words echoing Hannah’s song of Samuel’s birth (1 Sam. 2:1-10, in which Samuel was praised for salvation of the lowly and oppressed. Many phrases also recall psalms that celebrate God’s victories.)
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my savior;
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the power of his arm,
he has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away…
II.
In these ancient words of joy, appropriated by Mary or her editors, we also find echos of similar thoughts from the prophet of Second Isaiah and the writer of Psalms. In Second Isaiah, the source of Isaiah 35, the prophet is comforting the people in exile with images of the ending of their terrible trial. The desert will bloom, the blind will see, enemies will be friends, a way will be made plain, joy and gladness (Isaiah 35:10) will become reality, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Psalm 146 reflects the deep joyfulness of a believer who knows the benefits of faith, probably following a younger life of going it on his own. Like Mary, this writer now sees how God does not neglect the least and the last, a constant source of profound joy (Psalm 146:8-9):
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of
the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are
bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous,
The Lord watches over the
strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the
widow…
The state of joy portrayed in scripture- Old and New Testaments- seems to be of a much different kind than that painted by secular brushes. This joy is composed of colors and hews far richer, perspectives more satisfying. This joy is better described by metaphor and story than by precise vocabulary and formal theology.
III.
We get closer to describing this kind of joy by doing some painting of our own- word painting…
This is the kind of joy that comes to children that very first time they give a gift to some one special!
This is the joy can come when we take the time to sit down and simply look at a beautiful mountain or seaside vista; or really search for the rainbow; or notice a puppy’s funny antics.
This is the indescribable joy that came to me when I saw and held our children when they were born…and even in those quieter moments rocking them in the middle of the night.
This also is the joy we knew, like any parent would, when, after a long ambulance ride to a distant emergency room after a horrible accident, the doctors declared the examination revealed that our son would eventually heal completely.
Mary’s joy is like the joy of one whose spouse has died and who finds, in time, that only the good things about the spouse are what keep coming to mind…and that these good memories have healing, restorative properties.
Mary’s joy is about the child who has special needs and whose parents have special need for extraordinary strength…and who find it coming from somewhere outside themselves.
…And about the single Mom whose husband died in Iraq or 9/11 or some other tragedy and who knows that she must soldier on for her children…and finds that she can! She can! Though she thought she could not!
This joy of Mary’s is the joy that comes to the young person who finds her way back home to a reconciliation with family after a horrible break…knowing that there always will be differences and that differences are part of growing to adulthood.
This joy is found in the young person who decides to pursue a vocation of service over material gain; in work that has a higher goal than merely making the most money possible, though perhaps enough to provide for family and charity; seeking a life that makes the world a bit better for having been here; a life that improves the planet, not destroys it.
This joy is the joy of Zorba, the main character in the classic film, Zorba the Greek, whose much worked for and much sacrificed for enterprise to save his village collapses in a spectacular failure. His response after shock- to lead all in the classic Greek dance of celebration of life- the joy of second chances; new perspectives on what is really important; new beginnings.
Above all, this joy is the joy of Mary, who seeks to do the will of God as she knows it, seeing her life as a ministry, bearing God’s gift to a waiting and needy world. God’s gift of hope and peace for humanity. Far from ruin, her life becomes the embodiment of purpose, a model for every life in every age.
Amen.