LAKE JAMES

NORTH CAROLINA

Advent IV + 12/24/06 + Saint Paul’s Church, Lake James

+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Gospel for today is an episode in the story of two women, each not just pregnant, but amazingly so! Saint Elizabeth was elderly, well past the usual child-bearing time of life. In her younger years, she had been unable to conceive children. In the culture of her day, that meant that most people would consider her to be virtually worthless since the chief role of women in life was assumed to be simply the bearer of children. Elizabeth, to her chagrin, had not been able to fulfill that role for her husband, Zechariah, a priest of the Temple. (Of course, no one ever seems to have even considered that the trouble might have been with the husband!) Anyway, since, at that time, divorce was so easy to get, at least, easy for men, and since they had been married along time, we may assume that Zechariah loved Elizabeth greatly, despite their failure to have children.

Elizabeth had a nickname, not a pleasant one and probably not one used to her face. She was called “the barren one.” What a life it must have been for her as the object of pitying stares and condescending toleration. How isolated and apart she must have felt from her more fertile female friends, especially the wives of the other priests. Imagine then, what it must have meant to her when, so late in life, she experienced the intense joy of approaching motherhood! Think of her renewed sense of self-worth and dignity, but even more, her awareness of the love and mercy of her God!

The second unlikely candidate for motherhood was the daughter of Joachim and Anne, Elizabeth’s cousin Miriam, who was betrothed to an older man, Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth. Miriam and Joseph knew very well that they had not physically consummated their betrothal, and Miriam, or Mary as succeeding generations have known her, also knew that she had not had relations with any other man, either. Yet here she was, definitely pregnant. What must she have thought and how she must have wondered! Imagine Joseph’s bewilderment, and his hurt, at least until God let him in on the astounding reality of Whose baby was that Mary was carrying in her womb!

And so we have it, that touching scene in today’s Gospel, where Mary and Elizabeth joyfully greet each other, a scene which has captured hearts and minds through the centuries. A scene so tender, so poignant, so personal, that even hearing the story can make us feel almost like intruders. Out of their exuberant happiness comes one of the most beautiful and beloved canticles of the Church: the Magnificat, The Song of Mary, a hymn of praise to God which for well over a thousand years has been found in the monastic service of Vespers, and for some 450 years in the Book of Common Prayer at Evensong.

The past two weeks have featured the warnings of St. John the Baptizer, but today, is Mary’s Day. Today, our Lady occupies center stage. Through Mary, we are powerfully reminded of the line in the Creed, often said so easily and quickly (perhaps even thoughtlessly) that the Lord Jesus Christ became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man! May I commend to you the old tradition of making a profound bow as we say those words, for that ceremonial is there to emphasize the truth that from God the Holy Spirit, combined with the humanity of Mary, Jesus the eternal Son of God took our human flesh and nature and lived among us. God the Father did not content Himself with presiding benignly over creation from afar, but rather, chose to have His Son enter our world and become deeply involved in it! Consider this: how, in our culture, would we expect very important visitors to arrive in our midst? By helicopters, in limousines, perhaps with parades and cheering crowds? When the Bishop makes his visitation to Saint Paul’s don’t you think we try to see that all is ready to greet him? I’ll bet the church has an extra cleaning, the choir practices with special care, the parish register and record of services are laid out for his inspection, and, knowing this parish, there is a magnificent spread of food for all following the Mass. Nor are we alone in that. If the Archbishop of Canterbury came to visit Lake James, can’t you imagine the preparations which would precede such a visit? What would you do if some great or famous person was expected to visit your home next week? What would you do to get ready? There’s nothing wrong with any of that - nothing at all. But it just isn’t the way God did it with His Son! And it often isn’t the way God does it in our lives, either! All generations have experienced the fact that God moves in mysterious ways, at least, ways which seem mysterious to us! The Will of God gets accomplished in God’s way, and on God’s schedule, not ours! As creatures of our own time, many of us have come to expect “instant action.” Our computers (when they work) provide immediate access to information; television sets no longer have to warm up but produce a picture as soon as we turn them on. Many restaurants (to use the term a bit loosely) take our money and immediately hand us the food we have ordered. Thanks to communications satellites in space, we are able to watch news events from all over the world as they actually take place! Patience seems to be an anachronism as our culture not only wants, but expects instant responses to whatever we demand. A contemporary prayer would be “God, give me patience right now!”

The Blessed Virgin Mary is a powerful example of one who trusted in God, and then waited, waited for God to do what had been promised at the Annunciation through the Angel Gabriel. Susan Hanley Lane, who writes an occasional column for the Hendersonville newspaper, had these wondering words about Mary: “What emotions churned through the mind and heart of the young Mary as she conceived and gave birth to the Son of God? For those of us who call ourselves Christians, the questions are endless. Didn’t God realize that no one would believe Mary was a virgin? You can almost hear them ‘Yeah right, Mary. That story’s as old as the hills.’ And the stories she’d heard growing up read from the sacred scrolls on Sabbaths. The Messiah would be a great king who would rule his people with mercy and justice and set up a mighty kingdom that would never end. It never occurred to her that an endless ride on a donkey while nine months pregnant, a smelly barn and a manger of hay to feed cattle would enter the story…”

In the midst of the sometimes frantic pace of life with the pressures, pains, and uncertainties which may beset any of us, Mary stands as a beacon of light, a reminder of a perspective we sometimes forget, namely that life includes a loving God who cares about us, knows our fears, and, if we let Him, strengthens us with Divine Grace so that we can cope with whatever comes our way.

On this day, may we be reminded that devotion to Mary is not just a minor hobby of very High Church Episcopalians, nor simply a harmless pastime for people who may happen to like that sort of thing. May we take seriously Mary’s words in Saint Luke’s Gospel: “all generations shall call me blessed” recognizing in the Mother of Jesus a truly Christ-centered person, a wonderful model for anyone who does or wants to take being a Christian seriously. Thank God for Saint Mary! Thank God for this parish which for so many years, has been an unwavering center of Anglican faith and devotion. And thank God for the gift of Grace which has brought each one of us here this morning!

+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
 

The Reverend Alfred T. K. Zadig, Sr.

This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:39 PM