I want to begin my sermon today by saying, that of all the figures in the Bible that Mary is not only one of the most reverent but also one of the most controversial. After all, we as Protestants know that Catholics place far too much emphasis on her, isn’t that right? And yet even the most Protestant among us, when Christmas hits, there she is. What do we do with her? We even have to acknowledge as Protestants the second most popular prayer has been prayed through the centuries, otherwise known as the Rosary, begins with words directly from Luke. “Hail Mary full of grace, blessed art Thou and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.” Those words ring down through the centuries and remind us that Mary plays a central part to the salvation that God bought through Jesus. Its interesting as we look at different traditions, that when the Eastern and Western church some many centuries ago, that the Western church, which was the Roman Catholic church, and later because of some of us protestants breaking off of it including Protestants, played a very heavy emphasis on Jesus’ death. And so we will find the centerpiece of most Protestant and Catholic churches to be a cross. But the Eastern Church took a different view as it weaved that story of faith and came up with something that I think is a treat. Do you know what the central element is right there in the center of all that stuff that they have in Orthodox churches? It’s a picture of Mary holding the baby Jesus. Because what the Orthodox understand, which is something for us to ponder, is that it was the coming of God in human form that was the central element of the salvation that was to be brought to us.

Now I want to go back to one of our central problems with Mary. Feminists don’t like her because through the ages, correctly so, she has been interpreted to be the paramount woman of passivity. That she sits and waits for God to do things.  That she sits and waits for everybody to do things. That she just sits there. And that many people love her because she is so sweet and she never does anything. And what I want to tell you is, that I think we all have a right to be upset with that version of Mary. I want to tell you that Mary is one of my favorite people in the Bible. And it’s not because I see her as this weak little woman. And to prove to you, from the Bible that she is not, I want everyone to turn in the hymnal to page 199. We are going read together Mary’s Magnificat, and then I’m going to just let the words speak for themselves. Some of you haven’t done this since grade school. Read together with the ‘teacher’.

Lets read this together:  My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my savior, who has looked with favor on me a lowly servant. From this day on generations shall call me blessed. The almighty has done great things for me, and holy is the name of the Lord whose mercy is on those who fear God from generation to generation. The arm of the Lord is strong and has scattered the proud from their deceit. God has passed down the might from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. God has filled the hungry with good things, and send the rich empty away. God has come to the aid of Israel the chosen servant. Remember the promise of mercy, the promise made to our forbearers. To Abraham, and his children forever.

Now I ask you, is that Mary that we just heard some sweet little girl? Or is she a prophet? Is she a weak woman or is she someone whom God has touched and has radically informed her of what is to come? One who sees that the way the world sees power and might and brute force will be turned upside down, as those with power are brought down and those who without power are brought up. We hear in Mary’s message, in a time of great turmoil in her own time, when people and justice were far far removed. And the coming of that baby was not just some sweet sentimental story. That it was the story of the power of God coming, not through brute force but through the true power of Gods grace justice and mercy in this world. We might want to ponder the words of Mary, in the troubled times in which we live. As we war and rumor of war, as we see the threat of evil moving across our world, I’m reminded until September 11^th, a year ago, we Americans lived in an illusion. We lived as if the world we lived in was okay, because for the most part we felt insolated, while three fourths of the world lived in hunger and poverty, while people were killed in massive numbers around the world simply because of the religion that they held to be central to their lives. As people were pushed down by tyrants who would rule over them. We seemed not to know. The tragedy of September 11^th, is that no longer do we live with calm assurance that everything is okay in the world. We live with what Mary knew in her own day and her own time. That there is evil in this world. That there is a tendency among those of us that are human, and we have power, to use it in ways that are harmful and hurtful. We see it today; we see it as it is, bared and laid out before us. But we also understood the message that Mary understood so long ago. That Christmas isn’t just a gentle story about a baby and a sweet mother. That Mary was a prophetess, that she did that which was God’s, will in her own day and did what God called her too. So the world might end up in the middle of God’s kingdom. A place where righteousness and justice and fairness and peace and mercy and hope and faith could live for all people. Mary, Mother of Jesus, says to us today. God’s kingdom is coming in our own day and our own time. And I wonder, I ponder and I wonder. If every Christian truly believed the power of the message that she proclaimed, how different this world might be? If we took the Christmas message that she brought seriously, righteousness would reign in our world. Tyrants would be brought down. Those that would use their might and their power to control others, might be brought low that we might live again with the hope that Mary told us was coming in Jesus.

Amen.