Advent Message: Why Mary?

My messages during Advent will ponder the impact of Mary, the mother of Jesus, on the way we live our faith. Some consider that thin ice for a Reformed pastor.

Nearly every follower of Jesus seems to have an opinion of Mary. A fifth century monk named Caelius Sedulius, who extolled Mary despite holding women in low esteem, declared of her: "She ... had no peer / Either in our first mother or in all women / Who were to come. But alone of all her sex / She pleased the Lord." Surely other women have "pleased the Lord." John Calvin deemed Martin Luther heretical for concluding that Mary gave birth to other children after Jesus. Calvin railed against the Rosary, but referred to Mary as "a mirror of the faith that we must bring to God." Scottish Reformer John Knox, who seldom spoke kindly of any Mary (or nearly any woman), surely bristled at that. Knox reportedly threw a statue of Mary into the North Sea and touted: "Let our lady now save herself. She is light enough; let her learn to swim." Why risk the wrath of Knox and focus on Mary?

Why Mary? She piques my curiosity. Why does she so captivate us? Several years ago, under Nancy's direction, I sang John Bell's Songs of Mary. A Roman Catholic sister preached in that service and made two observations that have remained with me. She declared that the more we venerate Mary, the more we cloak the courage it would have taken for her to respond to God's call. Surely Mary struggled to say, "Let it be" as much as any other human being. The sister also noted that as the church declared Mary more saintly it pronounced Mary Magdalene more sinful. The church often has feared femaleness. Augustine considered men nearly powerless against female wiles and Milton blamed a woman for Adam's sin. Women played a prominent role in first century Christianity that soon disappeared and that many deny them now. Mary exemplifies that.

Why Mary? As a pastor I want to assure our saints with Roman Catholic roots and connections that although we do not venerate Mary or seek her intercession, we respect and admire her role in the life of Jesus. I promise to tell no jokes about Jewish mothers, but will ponder the words and actions Luke places on Mary's lips and heart.

Why Mary? Many of us refuse to let her be human. In the twelfth century Hildegard of Bingen declared that Jesus emerged from Mary's side (not her womb) without causing her pain. Can any mother believe that? In 1854, Pope Pius IX pronounced it orthodox to insist that Mary never sinned. What did he want to protect? Is Jesus' incarnation so vulnerable that we have to deny Mary's humanity to uphold it? Do we fear Mary or humanness itself?

Beverly Gaventa, a Reformed professor of New Testament, describes a human Mary, who deserves our respect: "[Mary] is ... blessed not because she sins less, or has keener insight into the things of God. She is instead blessed (as we are) because she is called by God to participate in the work of God." That's a Mary to trust and in whom to find guidance and inspiration.

May our reflections on Mary help us to journey through Advent and celebrate Christmas. Even more, may they draw us closer to each other and the Jesus we follow.

Grace and Peace,

LP