Fourth Sunday of Advent: Laud the Mother of God

Unedited Transcript Follows:

Well, in the name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy. Oh man. One of the things that comes up are one of the most common questions that we tend to get. If people are visiting our church, Would they would take a look at? Big Altar in the middle of things and our vestments, our church calendar, all the stuff that we're doing.

Are long and somewhat, elaborate liturgy that we do every week. Our insistence of having weekly celebration of the Eucharist and they would ask, are you Catholic? Now, because we're always doing catechism. Here's a quick catechetical. Answer. Are we Catholic? Yeah. Yes, the answer is yes, we're Catholics. So, uh, I'm a Catholic.

We're a branch of the ancient Catholic and Apostolic church, where one of three branches that claim Apostolic succession, right? We value our historic liturgy In our historic church government. But that isn't the question that people are asking when they ask, are you Catholic, right? They're usually what they're actually asking is, are you Roman Catholic?

Right? And rightly, we would answer that question. No, we aren't Roman Catholic. If the conversation continues at all somewhat early, they'll be asking the question. Do you pray to Mary at your church? Right. One of the central things that people wrestle with when it comes to the Roman Catholic church is the teaching and practice surrounding Mary.

And the other Saints And the 39 articles of religion, They have something to say about it article, 22 says the Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory. Pardons worshiping in adoration, as well as images of relics. And also invocation of saints is a fun thing, vainly invented and grounded upon no warranty of scripture.

But rather repugnant to the word of God, Yeah. Yeah. And yet, if we're going to be led by the scriptures, they have something to speak to us about this. You know, without discussing whether or not these words should have been formulated into a prayer. It's fascinating to look at how much of the Hail Mary Is a, is a direct quote from the passage we read today, from Luke, and the passage directly before it You know, on Christmas Eve, we're actually going to include an Ave Maria in Latin.

And when we do that, We're going to be quoting scripture. Almost entirely. So, even though as anglicans, you won't typically hear us praying to Mary or other Saints in public liturgies, or letting the invocation of saints form a central part of our devotional life. Isn't like we think the prayer itself is evil much of it comes from the Bible.

So Roman Catholics. Pray, Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Luke 1, 28 blessed. Are you among women? And blessed is be the fruit of thy womb. Jesus, Luke 142. Holy Mary Mother of God, Luke 143 Then this part pray for us sinners. Now, in the hour of death, that one doesn't have a Bible verse but the rest of the entire prayer has this has the, I mean they're direct quotes from scripture, right?

So even as we recognize that, maybe some of the practice is a little elaborate and unfounded, which our articles do, I think all of us are required to reflect much more carefully. On what makes Mary special. Even if we think prayers to Mary and to the other Saints aren't meant to hold a central place in our devotion.

Shouldn't we be willing to laud Mary? As she predicted, we would do In that song that she's saying in Our Gospel reading today, So why should we do as Marion predicted? What does it mean for all generations to call me blessed? Which is what she said they would do.

Why should we intentionally laud Mary today? We'll look at three reasons why we should laud Mary intentionally. First Mary is blessed among women. That's the first reason. Mary is blessed among women. In some way. So, you know, Elizabeth meets Mary and she says, she's specially blessed blessed. Are you among women?

In some ways she set apart amongst all others, Mary is unique. And is blessed. And worthy of Honor. No one else. Had the lord of the universe reliant on them.

No one else nursed God. At her breast. Mary, nursed. God, you know that Yeah, yeah. She nursed God. No one else. Bounced? God on her knee. She bounced God on her knee. No one else watched. Die for the sins of the world. Mary, watched her son die for the sins of the world.

So, Mary's unique, In some ways she's not like all of us, right? She's also blessed. Blessed called blessed among women. Among women in particular, you know, any person, What wrestling with whether women have a central place in the gospel narrative, need to read the gospel of Luke The gospel of Luke is the book to read about women's place in the gospel.

Read it again. Read it again. So, we have Anna the Providence. In Luke 2, 36-38. After this passage, we have women supporting Jesus ministry financially in Luke. 8 3, we have repent, the repentant woman, anoints Jesus feet in Luke 7 11-15, we have Mary and Martha visiting Jesus, and we have that whole interaction with who did the better portion in in Luke 10 38-42.

We have a woman, um, spoke to Jesus, while he was teaching, 27-28. Jesus speaks to women on the way to Golgotha. In Luke 23 27-28 and women witnessed the resurrection and the men doubt it, and they call it an Idol Tale. In Luke 24, 11 wondering if women have a central place in the story in Luke read that gospel.

And here in this passage, you have two pregnant women, one old and seemingly Barren and one young and unwed And they're the announcing the beginning of a new age. Luke has Mary an essential part of the narrative. But he has her there for a specific purpose and fulfilling a specifically feminine function.

Yeah. A particularly feminine function, he's doing there. From the Syrian said this. John jumped for joy. To make an announcement concerning his future preaching, the infant of the barren woman exalted before the infant of the Virgin Our Lord prepared his Herald in a dead womb. To show that he came after a dead Adam.

He verified Elizabeth's room first and then vivified the soil of Adam through his body.

This passage is like an anti-abortion activist's dream, right? You have an unborn baby, recognizing an unborn baby as the lord of the universe. That's what's happening in this passage. So, like, but part of the reason that feminism and abortion need to get a divorce is because it's like this.

Huge attack on the most uniquely feminine activity, in the name of feminism, like the most, the only thing that only a woman can do Is where is where it's attacked there? In the name of feminism. See, far from being a liability. The things that made Mary Central in the story.

Where because of her Womanhood. It was because she was a woman. It wasn't like there wasn't a liability associated with her being a woman. And having to have be the one to have the child. That's what made her Central that's what put her in the center of the story.

It was a thing that she could do that a man cannot do and that's what set her apart. That's not to say that if a woman doesn't have kids. If she's unmarried or she's unfertile that, she's not like fully a woman, but it is saying that child bearing is something that one a woman can do that defines Womanhood.

That men cannot do Not do that. A man could not have fulfilled. Mary's role in the story? A woman had to do that. It's what Saint Paul means when he says that. The woman will be saved through, child bearing. What is that? Like, that sounds crazy in the middle of that passage.

And everyone's like, what are you talking about? Like, each individual woman is earning her salvation by having babies. No, he's, he's talking about that. God chose to save the world by using the new e doing something. Only the woman can do Like so yes, the woman fell first, but God chose to use a woman doing only what what only a woman can do to bring about the salvation of the whole world.

Wow, what a surprise got? Joseph saved the world through childbearing. Which is something only a woman can do. And isn't that just like God? It's why Paul says, in Corinthians that although man was made first, he is born of woman. And every man that lives was relying on a woman in it, for his very existence in a way that she will never rely on a man.

Right.

So, Mary's blessed among women. And we should laud her. For being The Prototype for what God does through woman. Submitted to him through a woman who is submitted to him. We also should laud Mary, because she believed the Lord's word and became God's mother. Elizabeth said to Mary blessed is she, who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.

We should laud Mary, because she believed. She believed, you know, I've spent a lot of time talking about what faith is and what it's about. It's important to reiterate that, the faith isn't just like a cognitive assent. She didn't merely cognitively believe that, God could do something impossible and put a baby in her room.

Even though she was a virgin this belief disrupted her entire life. This belief, upended everything, this belief almost destroyed her marriage. It took another Angel visiting to save the marriage in the because rightly Joseph was like you know virgins don't have babies so I have my doubts, you know.

Um and so it took another, it took another visit from another Angel to even save the marriage, right? And in the passage. Right before this one, we get the statement of Mary's belief. She says, may it be to me according to your word. That's what belief looks like, may it be to me, according to your word.

She's simply saying she's cognitively recognizes the fact that nothing is impossible for God, which is what Gabriel had said. She's giving consent. She's placing her entire trust in God. Who she believes cares for her and loves her. And this is how Mary is so Central to the story. She shows what God is able to do with a redeemed person?

Who puts their whole trust in him? This is why in some of the extra biblical Dogma around our sinfulness, like her sinlessness. Actually, take something away in the name of giving something to Mary. If Mary never sinned, she wasn't redeemed, She didn't need Redemption. We lose the example of what God is able to do with a redeemed sinner.

Like what we see in Mary is what God's able to do with a redeemed sinner, who will submit to him. We'll put their trust in him. We get in in Jesus, we get a picture of what perfect Humanity looks like, but we don't get a picture what redeemed Humanity looks like because he wasn't a sinner.

But in Mary we see what God can do with. Regular people who submit to him. Third reason that we should laud Mary is that Mary's heart magnified, the Lord Mary, this young teenage mother knew how to magnify the Lord didn't she? And she's saying that song, her song was incredibly subversive.

It was like, it was high. It was mature. It was courageous. Remember, she's a teenage girl. And all of this was possible because she loved God and his kingdom, she loved him. And with she sings this song and this song becomes absolutely Central to Christian worship for two Millennia.

We sing or say this song every single day during an evening prayer, was actually really hard to read those words in a different translation. And I almost made it. And if Malachi hadn't been acting a fool, I think I'd have made it without messing up once and going into the Memorize translation from the prayer book so but uh it's hard to do it, right?

This is a side note. Liturgy shapes us. Right? And so like when we do our, why do we have these elaborate liturgies? It's because they shape us and this song has begun to shape my life and your life. For those of us who are praying evening prayer and say it every single day, or sing it every single day.

This song starts Why do we say this song every single day? We're cultivating an appetite for God's kingdom. We're nurturing a proper desire for what? Only he can give And maybe more importantly than that, we're kindling a love for God. See, we know that friendship with the world means enmity toward God and we are getting ourselves acquainted over and over and over.

What it means to have a soul that magnifies the Lord. We magnify a God who keeps his promises, who overthrows unjust World structures. And who judges rightly? He fixes everything that is broken. He moves. What looks immovable? He's a savior, he's a redeemer. And we learn, To be like, Mary.

Whose Soul knew how to magnify the Lord.

Whose Soul knew how to give praise to the Lord. In an impossible situation that was going to get more impossible before it got better. She extolled the Lord.

In two days, we'll be right back in this space celebrating the Feast of the Incarnation. Right. And if we're going to be ready to celebrate, the Feast of the Incarnation, we need to be like Mary. And as we learn to be like her, we rightly laud her and call her blessed.

Just as she said, all generations would do Mary is blessed among all people. She is set apart. She's you? She's used as part of the story in an entirely unique way. There's no one like her. We laude Mary as blessed among women as we recognize that God uses her in a uniquely feminine role.

To redeem, the curse of the Fall. Where women fell first and increased pain in child bearing, now through child bearing God's going to redeem the world. Now God uses, what only a woman can do. To bring the salvation of the world. We Lord Mary as one who believed the Lord.

Not simply cognitively, but in a way that disrupted our life And upended everything, she welcomed the disruption and shows what God is able to do with a redeemed person, who will put their trust in him. And finally Lord Mary because she knew how to magnify the Lord. We become like her all the time.

As her song is one of the most repeated songs in our prayer life. We learned to magnify God as she did. And when we look at the world with its in it, seemingly immovable unjust structures. That are everywhere. We praise God. Who we trust to keep his promises. So let us all Lord, Mary the mother of the Lord.

Let us honor for pointing the way to her son. And let us join all the generations in calling her blessed. Amen.