Although it often has been, and still can be controversial, for many reasons, no one can really doubt that, for most of the past 2,000 years, the Church, and individual Christians have had a very great love of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a great devotion to her. Much of that love and devotion stems from the fact that Mary is the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and the great tradition in many faiths of the mothers of holy men being revered; we only have to read the Scriptures to understand that‘s so in our own Judeo-Christian tradition. And so this morning’s Gospel, the story of the Annunciation, the story of the archangel Gabriel’s visit to Mary to announce to her that she’d been chosen by God to be the mother of his Son, has had a great part to play in the Church’s devotion to Mary.
Another cause of the Church’s devotion to Mary and veneration of Mary though is due to her example of faith and obedience. In fact, Mary is sometimes given the title, The Example of Christians. This is due in part to the fact that Mary followed Jesus during his ministry, that she was one of the few who didn’t desert him at the time of his death, and she was with the disciples when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. But again, a large part of the Church’s image of Mary as an example to Christians comes from this morning’s Gospel and what’s often referred to as her ‘Yes’ to God, her willingness to obey God’s call to be the mother of his Son regardless of the difficulties and even danger that posed for her personally.
So Mary has been, and is, revered by the Church for many reasons. But this morning I want to say something about how Mary can inspire us in ways that are perhaps slightly different to the ways we usually think of. What I want to do is to say something about Mary herself, and how understanding her, as a young 1st Century Jewish woman, can inspire us to follow her example of obedience and faith.
When we see an image of this morning’s Gospel, we almost invariably see Mary either kneeling in prayer or sat, reading a scroll or book, which we tend to think of as an image of Mary reading Scripture. But Luke doesn’t say anything about what Mary was doing when the angel appeared to her. And that’s in marked contrast to the story of Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple when Luke mentions quite specifically that Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, was a prophetess who,
‘…did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day.’
We would think that if Mary had been similarly devout, Luke would certainly have mentioned it in the story of the Annunciation, but he doesn’t. In fact, he says nothing at all about Mary’s faith or religious practices.
But that’s perhaps not so surprising. At that time, Jewish education was primarily concerned with teaching the Scriptures and the Law, but it was usually only boys who received any formal education. In a village like Nazareth, a young girl like Mary would probably have been educated at home, by her mother, and mainly in how to be a good wife and homemaker. So it’s highly unlikely that Mary held any kind of official or formally recognised religious position or role among the people of Nazareth, or that she was any more knowledgeable of or righteous in observing the Law than anyone else.
Actually, if we take what the Scriptures say about Mary at face value, the image we get of Mary is of a young woman who was nothing special at all. She was among the weakest and most powerless people in her society. She was a woman in a very patriarchal society, that existed in a world ruled by men. She was young in a society that valued age and experience. And, as we know from the story of Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple, she was poor, and so was her husband to be, Joseph.
And if Mary’s standing in the religious and social structures of her day didn’t mark her out as special in any way, we also have another problem with her choice as the mother of God’s Son. Specifically, the Messiah was to be of David’s line, but Luke tells us that it was Joseph who was of the House of David, not Mary. And it’s noticeable, as we read the Nativity stories in the Gospels, that St Matthew does emphasise Joseph’s role in the birth of Christ, over Mary’s, and no doubt for this very reason.
So who and what was Mary that she should have found such favour with God? Who and what was she that she, among all women, should be so blessed as to be chosen as the mother of God’s Son, the mother of the Saviour of the world?
To be honest, I think if we take what the Scriptures say about Mary at face value, it’s actually very hard to find a good reason why she was chosen to be the mother of God’s Son. By any human reasoning, Mary was a very strange and even foolish choice to be the mother of God’s Son. In fact, I’m sure that if we, or any other human being, had to choose someone for such a great and awesome role and responsibility, we’d choose someone very different to Mary. But Mary wasn’t chosen by any human reasoning and, as I quoted in my sermon last week, God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. So who and what was Mary that she should be the mother of God’s Son? Quite simply, Mary was who and what God, in his infinite wisdom, chose. And that tells us something very important about God and about ourselves.
Something we hear very often in the Church is that people don’t think they’re capable of doing things. There are so many people in the Church who think that all they can do is to come to church on a Sunday morning and nothing more, because they think they aren’t capable of doing any more, they don’t think that they have the skills, the knowledge or the intelligence to do any more than that (and that’s not the same thing as using these things as excuse for not doing more because we don’t want to do more). But what God’s choice of Mary tells us is that anyone can be chosen by God to carry out his will. It doesn’t matter who we are or what we are, God can still choose us to do something for him. It might be something small, or it might be something far grander, but whatever it is, if God has chosen us, it’s because God knows that we are capable of doing that thing, whatever it might be. What we need to do is to learn this lesson from Mary’s call to be the mother of God’s Son and listen to what God is asking us to do and then follow Mary’s example of saying ‘Yes’ to God and doing what it is he’s asking of us.
Of course, we might have doubts about what we’re being asked to do, and doubts about our ability to do it, but so did Mary. She was ‘greatly troubled’ by what she was asked to do, and she had the quite understandable doubt about how she could do this thing because she was, after all, ‘a virgin.’ But the answer Mary received is the same answer we’ll receive if only we’re willing to listen and accept it; the Holy Spirit will come upon us and the power of the Most High will overshadow us. We might find that hard to believe but don’t we often say the very same thing but in a different way when we express our belief that God doesn’t give us problems that suit our talents, but rather he gives us the talents we need to deal with the problems we’re faced with?
Mary’s part in the story of our salvation is, of course, an unrepeatable one; when Christ comes again he will not be born of a woman but will come in glory. Nevertheless, whoever and whatever we are, we all have our part to play in the ongoing story of salvation until that time when Christ comes again.
And whoever and whatever we are, God will choose us to play our own part in that story. So let’s learn from Mary and be ready and willing to play our part. Ready and willing to listen for God’s call to us. Ready and willing to respond positively to God’s call when it comes. And in preparation for God’s call and to respond positively to God’s call when it comes, ready and willing to accept that whoever and whatever we are, God’s call to us, will come.
Amen.
Propers for Advent 4 24th December 2023
Entrance Antiphon
Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Saviour.
The Collect
God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
The Readings
Missal (St Mark’s)
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14
Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
RCL (St Gabriel’s)
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 