Mary, Mother of Our Lord. 2010                                             Christ Church , York

 It was on a Monday morning five years ago that I gathered in the chapel with members of this congregation to pray the     morning office. It was August 15^th and I beginning my ministry among you as Senior Pastor. But it was also the Festival of Mary the Mother of Our Lord, a special day in the life of the Church as we honor our Blessed Mother and a special day for me in particular since I have had a strong devotion to Mary for much of my life as any who have seen my study can testify, filled as it is with statues, icons and pictures of Mary. But while this is my fifth anniversary here at Christ Church it is now 6 full years since this same Festival fell on a Sunday, thereby giving us the opportunity to celebrate this festival day with a wider community. In the Roman Catholic tradition, this day is known as the Feast of the Assumption, while in the Orthodox calendar, it is called the Domition or falling asleep of Mary. But whatever we call it today is Mary’s day and so we celebrate in thankfulness and praise for this gift which God has given us in this woman whom He chose to become the mother of His Son. 

Now some of you could ask, isn’t this Mary thing something that Roman Catholics do? Or, you might say, well if the Orthodox want to celebrate this day, then let them. But what does it have to do with us as Lutherans? Well in fact, everything. Blessed Martin Luther himself had a great personal devotion to the Mary and some of his finest writing reflects that same devotion. In his sermon on the Feast of the Visitation, Luther wrote that Mary is “blessed above all nobility, wisdom and sanctity.” In another sermon he wrote, “the veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart.” Luther reaffirmed that Mary held that greatest of her titles, in Greek Theotokis, that is God bearer. He also reaffirmed his belief in her perpetual virginity and her role as Mother of the Church. In his Sermon on Christmas 1531, Luther wrote “Mary is the highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ. She is nobility, wisdom and holiness personified. We can never do her honor enough.” And in finally in his sermon on this date, August 15, 1522 Luther wrote, “There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know. And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it, we can make of it no article of faith. It is enough to know that she lives in Christ.” But Luther saved his best words about Mary for his commentary upon this portion of Scripture that we heard in our Gospel lesson this morning, this great hymn of praise called the Magnificat. Luther scholars agree that this was one of his finest pieces of writing, ranking right up there with his commentaries on those texts so central to our tradition such as the letter to the Romans.

Now when we read the Gospel we normally expect it to have a piece about the life of Jesus, some miracle He performed, some teaching that He gave or some parable that He told. But today is a unique piece of the Gospel story, for today’s reading is in the form of a hymn. Our Scriptures have others hymns embedded in them; Paul uses them regularly as do other writers. But today we come to a hymn which is simple and straightforward, a hymn which is filled with praise and joy, a hymn which is really nothing less than a doxology, which is a song of praise to God. And Mary’s great song is, of course, the Magnificat, that same Magnificat of which blessed Martin Luther wrote so long ago. But this song, this hymn is so much more; for it is, in essence, also a creed, a statement of belief, set to music. And while we sometimes treat music in worship as an ornament, something tacked onto the service, this creed song is basic and intensely personal – a great hymn of praise to God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

One commentator has noted the relationship, and indeed the similarities, between Mary’s Magnificat and the hymn that Hannah sings in First Samuel, Chapter 2. There Hannah sings of the great and glorious things that God has done, including raising up the lowly while bringing down the rich and powerful, exactly as Mary will do later. But there are also important differences. Hannah had been denied motherhood for many years, something over which she had agonized and prayed earnestly. Indeed at one point, she even bargained with God to become a mother. Her joy therefore knew no bounds when, finally, her prayers were answered and she gave birth to her son whose name was Samuel. Her gratitude in the hymn she sings therefore was very personal, private and family oriented.

For Mary the opposite is true. Motherhood was not the answer to her prayers. In fact it was the beginning of anxiety for her, of misunderstanding and even of persecution. Yet what made her sing for joy was the dawning realization that, in His own way, mysteriously and miraculously, God was in the process of answering all of humankind’s prayers for a Savior. She sings “Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed.” Luther, in his commentary makes it clear that Mary is not boasting here. She does not exalt herself. Rather the Magnificat celebrates God’s abundant grace which is poured upon all of humankind.

Indeed it is grace itself which is the first and most overarching theme of Mary’s song. Listen again as she sings “For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name.” Somehow, in spite of her youth, in spite of her anxiety, Mary understood in the depths of her being that God’s decision to send His Son was really a continuation of His love affair with His creation. And in this love affair, Mary was the privileged handmaiden. Mary understood that no other single act has so affected the whole of humankind than this conception, for this event would literally split the whole of human history into the time before Christ (BC) and the time after Christ (AD). And so Mary, this humble handmaiden, senses that, as absurd as it seemed, she was to play a part in this earth shattering, time altering event called the Incarnation. And the wondrous thing is that this blessing does not end with Mary, for you and I are the privileged beneficiaries of this same great act. For you and I sinners though we are, are redeemed by God’s most gracious act of love wherein He sent His only Son to die for us.

And this note of grace harmonizes with the second great note of this hymn, that of mercy. Mary sings, “His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation.” Mercy becomes incarnate, taking the form of human flesh in this Son of Mary. Too often in our world today the talk is of justice for this oppressed group or that. But perhaps what we really need to do is to listen and to learn from God’s mercy. For in mercy, God made His love real for us. In mercy God sent His very Word which was made flesh to dwell among us full of grace and truth as Paul tells us. In mercy God gives us new life in and through Christ Jesus, a mercy made available this day to Renee and Khloe who come to the font to receive the holy sacrament of baptism. Mary herself participated in this act of mercy as she traveled first to Bethlehem , then to the Temple , on to Calvary and finally to the empty tomb. The action which was initiated by the stirrings in her womb played out as you and I, sinners though we are, are redeemed by God’s mercy.

And finally this hymn of praise concludes with a note about strength. Mary sings, “He has shown strength with His arm.” In commenting on this verse Luther wrote, “Where man’s strength ends, God’s strength begins, provided faith is present and waits on Him. And when the oppression comes to an end, it becomes manifest what great strength was hidden beneath the weakness. Even so, Christ was powerless on the cross; and yet there He performed His mightiest work and conquered sin, death, world, hell, devil and evil.” Mary affirms this understanding of God’s strength when she sings that by means of this loving act: “He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.” The strength of God’s action in sending His Son to live and move among us has affirmed our salvation. You and I, sinners through and through, are redeemed by His strong love.

And so we come to the final word that Mary sings about today, which is nothing less than the very living Word. Mary concludes her hymn, “He has helped His servant Israel , in remembrance of His mercy, according to the promises He made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendants forever.” God has broken the silence of eternity to speak to humankind in and through Jesus the Christ who is the living Word. And He still speaks to us, to you and to me in the here and now, and that is cause for great joy on our part. And in that joy and because of God’s great gift of grace, mercy and strength found in Jesus Christ, we too can sing with Mary, the Mother of Our Lord in those great and incomparable words, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Amen