“Never Ending Mercy” – Luke 1:47-55 – December 14, 2008
Recently our church held a Christmas party for children and youth. It was a good event, complete with the singing of Christmas carols, making cookies, playing games and a visit from Santa Claus. There was one child who came who had never been to our church before. She was shy and it took most of the evening for other kids to warm up to her. She never took off her coat the whole evening, most likely to hide her clothing because she comes from a very poor family.
Fortunately children are less judgmental than we adults. They don’t see economic status, color or nationality. Several of our church kids got acquainted with the stranger in their mist. They warmed up to her and by the end of the evening they were singing Christmas carols along side of her.
Our story from Luke is about another very poor, young woman named Mary. She was a Galilean girl without any rights or privileges but God intervened in her life and she has become one of the most significant women in history, the one who gave birth to Jesus Christ. God chose Mary, a poor, powerless, young woman, to be the mother of His son. Her marriage had been pre-arranged and she was totally dependent on others for her future. Yet, God made Mary an instrument of grace.
This is a story where the insignificant become significant, the weak become strong, the vulnerable change history. God does not view the world as we view the world. In God’s world “the meek and lowly will inherit the earth and the merciful will receive mercy.”
Since God can make something extraordinary happen through Mary, God can make extraordinary things happen through you and me. We too have been created by God for a special purpose. One thing that enabled Mary to rise above her place of powerlessness was the empathy of Elizabeth. Like the children at the Christmas party who had empathy for the stranger in their midst, Elizabeth empathized with Mary. She saw God working in her life. “Blessed are you among women,” she said.
At that moment Mary was transformed. She felt a sense of purpose and responded with this passage we traditionally call the Magnificat. Mary’s song expresses her gratitude to God but it is also a challenge to all believers to be in solidarity with people who are oppressed. Mary praised God who promised to be with those who suffer and empower those who are weak.
The primary theme of Mary’s song is mercy. “His mercy is for those who fear him.” What does it mean to fear God? For me it means to acknowledge that the ways of God are not like our ways. God works by a different set of rules. In our world it is, “me first, to the victor go the spoils and winning is everything.” In God’s world, a child is conceived in an unusual way. The new mother is virtually unknown. Mary receives the news of her pregnancy from an angel, not through a lab test. God selected a powerless person to be the bearer of good news.
In response to her blessing, Mary sang that the lowly and poor would be lifted up, the rich and powerful would be knocked down and the hungry would be fulfilled. God is merciful to those who are in awe of God. God’s mercy is a gift, a gift with no rational explanation, no system of obtainment or method of purchase. Mary resolved in her heart that giving birth to God’s son was her role to play in antiquity and she would follow through although it made no sense. She humbly and graciously accepted her role with great joy.
This is a season of gift giving, however we give from obligation, fairness or tradition. God’s gift of mercy is free. God promised mercy to Abraham and his descendents and God promises mercy to us.
Gary Smalley is one of the country’s foremost authors and speakers on family relationships. He has written many books on the subject. When he was a young child, he was very poor. He was the youngest of five children and his family lived in a small rental place in Downey, California. His father was in the merchant marine and gone for long periods of time. His mother worked in a restaurant. It was during WWII and money was tight. On Christmas, 1945, his mother said there wouldn’t be enough money for gifts. But, she promised to cook the family a great dinner and they could all be together. That year, things were so bad, they couldn’t afford a Christmas tree. All Gary could remember was that his friends told him about all the gifts they had received.
When Christmas morning came there was an unexpected knock at the door. There stood Aunt Gladys, his father’s sister. He had never met her but he knew all about her. She was from Long Beach, an upper class woman who worked in an upscale department store. Since Gary’s father had married a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, he had been disowned by his family and none of his father’s relatives ever came to see them.
Needless to say they were surprised to see Aunt Gladys standing at their front door. She had gotten up early and drove 50 miles so she could be with them on Christmas morning. She asked if they were having a great Christmas. “Sure,” they responded, but they were really sad. Aunt Gladys then said, “I think Santa got confused and came to my house. Why don’t you come out to my car.” They had no idea what she was saying, but when they got to the car they all screamed. Her car was filled with gifts for all of them. Somehow Aunt Gladys had heard of their struggles and wanted to help. (from My Favorite Christmas, Amy Hammond Hagberg, 2006, Integrity House)
God’s grace has a way of intervening through unlikely sources. That being said, Mary’s story illustrates that God’s primary purpose is to transform us. God wants us to be open to the unexpected. Also, Mary is more than just the mother of Jesus. Mary was the first disciple, one who listened and submitted to the will of God. “Let it be,” Mary said. She resolved that she would follow God’s intentions for her life, no matter how illogical or unbelievable they might be. Through Mary, God gave hope when there was no hope.
It is my observation that many people have no hope. They are afraid because of the slowing economy. They worry about health problems. Others are experiencing relationships that seem doomed to fail. Hope is all around us but we are blinded by our fear and disbelief.
Consider the famous masterpiece City Lights by Charlie Chaplain in 1931 which was produced during the Great Depression. Chaplin played the tramp, the outcaste of society, the vagabond with "nowhere to lay his head" who becomes the strange vehicle of salvation for a poor blind girl, and for a rich man bent on drowning himself. The reward for his "heroism" is that he is befriended by the rich man. Finally the little tramp is accused of the theft of money which the rich man in his drunken generosity had given him. Fleeing the police, he manages to get the money to the blind girl for an operation to restore her sight, but is then apprehended and imprisoned.
After serving his sentence he emerges from prison, shabbier and lonelier than ever. And the girl, who all along had imagined the little tramp to be a handsome young man of means, does not even recognize him. As he happens to trudge forlornly by the window of her new floral shop, he is ridiculed by the very one whose sight the "stolen" money had restored, and for whom he had gone to prison. Only in the final scene does she discover that this pitiful, disheveled tramp was her benefactor, when she touches his arm and face once again, as in her blindness, and in that moment of revelation whispers, "You!" (from Christian Century, December 11, 1974)
Hope becomes a reality when we expect the unexpected, when we believe that God can intervene at any moment and work through insignificant and imperfect people. Most importantly, hope becomes real when we believe in a God who works in ways that are not logical and beyond our understanding.
Dr. Keith Wagner