“Seeking Joy in Challenging Times”
Luke 1: 47-55 & Psalm 126 ~ Northwood UC ~ December 10, 2023
Pregnant! You are … pregnant! And I…am pregnant! Oh what joy! This is truly a day of joyful delight for our households! Oh Mary…I am so happy for us! And in response…Mary sang what will be forever remembered as: “The Magnificat”, among the most beautiful pieces of sacred music that we are drawn to at this time of year. Mary sang: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name”.
It is difficult to take in all the energy and excitement alive in the room between Mary and her sister Elizabeth. You can almost imagine the infectious joy that was shared between these two women. Elizabeth ~ a woman in her older years, who had yet to give birth. Mary, a young woman in her teens ~ a virgin, as she is named in scripture. Mary and Elizabeth both pregnant and elated at the joyful possibilities of what lay ahead.
It is probably helpful, at the outset ~ as much as this might be possible ~ for us to put aside our own association with this story. Pregnancy carries varying dimensions of meaning for all of us, not all of them joy. For some, stories of pregnancy may be fraught with sadness or loss or struggle. But for our moment of reflective consideration, I would invite us to enter freshly into this narrative with open eyes and to receive its truth speaking to our lives. For Mary and Elizabeth, a child in their womb represented the fulfillment of promise. It was a promise, in an era with no social safety net, of a child who could provide in their older years. It was the promise of life continuing. For Elizabeth and Mary, their pregnancies were the coming of Joyful promise.
For Elizabeth, she finds herself within the long line of those for whom God provided the possibility of life when it seemed impossible. It goes all the way back towards to the beginning ~ we recall Abraham and Sarah, who were blessed and through their future generations would be a blessing. Except, there was a problem ~ they had yet to conceive a child. And then they conceived Isaac. We might think of Manoah and his wife (sorry scripture never gave her a name), who wait and wait until finally they give birth to Samson. Or we might think of Hannah and Elkanah who wait and wait and finally give birth to Samuel. Time and time again, after the long periods of waiting, God had been faithful in birthing hope. Even when it seemed that hope had passed them by ~ even then, God still provided Joy.
And it continued, of course, in the time of the young Mary. Yet, things were different in the case of Mary. Mary’s situation was a little different…in fact it was a lot different! As Mary and Elizabeth gather, we see a complete contrast to the old and the advent of the new. In the past, God provided after a long, long, long time of waiting. In Mary’s case, it was very different. She had not been waiting for a child; she had not been praying, she had not been hoping. Mary was a young woman, engaged to her beloved ~ Joseph, and just beginning to dream about their future life together. The waiting were the generations of the oppressed; the waiting were the enslaved; the waiting were those waiting for a joyful release! And in the fullness of time, God’s time, God interrupts all things and Mary sings to the generations of this joy! In Mary, God’s time is now. God’s son, the Messiah is about to come. Joy to the world, the Lord is being birthed in Mary.
An interesting feature of this passage is that Mary speaks in the past tense. Perhaps you noticed this as Lynn was reading? What an odd way for the pregnant Mary to speak of her child’s mission as being already accomplished prior to his birth! Scholars have puzzled over the usage of the past tense on the lips of this pregnant young woman. Prior to giving birth, she speaks of Jesus’ mission as already accomplished. Finished and done. Mary’s song puts the world on notice that Jesus is turning the world upside down before his very birth! Biblical Commentator, NT Wright referred to this passage as “the gospel before the gospel”. This is the good news before the good news of Jesus is even born! God will come for the poor, the powerless, and the oppressed of the world. The text says 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty”.
Mary’s song is the moment when the fullness of time arrives. It is when the upside-down world of the gospel is conceived and prepares to be birthed into the world. The hungry – fed, the thirsty – given drink, the weak – strengthened, the lonely – companioned, the lost – found, the poor – a future, the universe whole, and complete. It is a time of the coming of Joy to the world!
In Desmond Tutu’s book Crying in the Wilderness, he views the role of the church in the world as being this embodiment of Jesus’…Joy in the world. Tutu writes: “the church of God has to be the salt and light of the world. We are the hope of the hopeless, through the power of God. We must transfigure a situation of hate and suspicion, of brokenness and separation, of fear and bitterness. We have no option. We are the servants of God who reigns and cares. God wants us to be the alternative society; where there is harshness and insensitivity, we must be compassionate and caring; where people are statistics, we must show they count as being immense value to God; where there is grasping and selfishness, we must be a sharing community now”. This is the kind of Joy that is around places of deep faith like Northwood that makes them so holy, especially at this time of the year!
This Sunday, we wrap up our White Gift ministry campaign. It shouldn’t be this way in the world, yet many have had a deeply difficult year and this ministry seeks to turn the world upside down ~ because that is one example of the JOY of Christmas lived out. I think of a family going to the Community Kitchen and having the dignity to shop for Christmas presents and food items…Christmas Joy amidst the struggles of the year. The Shoebox Ministry campaign is just finishing up their winter distribution that will go to the Surrey Urban Mission Society. I think of our siblings in Christ waking up in the shelter come morning and being gifted these essential toiletries as they continue to get by a challenging way their lives are lived. And for a brief moment, we collectively participate in ‘turning the world upside down’ and offering some dignity…some Joy in an otherwise cold December.
There is a harsh reality to this text that brings us back to earth and threatens to colour over the Joy, isn’t there? And I didn’t want to close our reflection without touching on it. Images of a pregnant teenager conjures up as many feelings of caution as it does of JOY. Our cautious side wonders…Will Joseph marry her? How will this teenage couple provide for the child? To be sure there is much uncertainty and fear as there are of JOY and delight alive in the recesses of our mind. And to make matters worse, we already know how the story unfolds. We know the plight of Mary’s son: the world will not receive him kindly… some will follow … yet the powers of the world will resist this child-Rabbi-Messiah with all its might. We know that he will be deceived, denied, and ultimately hang upon a cross ~ all at the hands of those who professed their love to him. And we know that Mary will watch all of this unfold ~ the ultimate pain any mother could ever endure.
For us, I think we would all agree that a Christmas hamper is not ‘how it should be’; nights spent in a shelter and receiving toiletries in a shoebox are far from adequate. Yet, perhaps these might be sign and symbol that God is birthing Joy into the cold cruel world that is being transformed. A large group of us served in the food ministry at the Cloverdale Community Kitchen this past December 1st. We cooked and plated a wonderful fish dinner. Many members of the choir provided beautiful music between dinner and dessert. As I was going amongst the tables to ask for their ‘carol requests’, there was a tension in my heart that this should not be. Some who gathered would sleep in the shelter that night, others in their cars. And here we were eating and singing while life is so challenging. And then, the truth of this gospel spoke to me through one of the families. Mom and Dad there with their three young children. Mom and daughter had joined the choir and Dad, with tear-filled eyes thanked me for such a wonderful night. “Hey…thanks…the food was great, the music is getting us into the spirit of Christmas…thanks!”
And, then I realized how Mary had the faith to sing. Somewhere between the injustices of the world, God is birthing the joy of release. Somewhere between the hunger and loneliness, God is birthing the Joy of care. Somewhere between the darkness, God’s Joy is birthing light, and hope, and peace, and love into this imperfect world.
Whether we feel the forces of life or death…God is alive birthing Joy amidst it all. May we be like Mary singing and living that Joy through all the shades of life’s journey!
Amen.