The Song of Mary
Over the holidays we have time again to think about images of Mary, the mother of Jesus and also the subject of our text this morning. Traditionally, what is our picture of Mary? An innocent virgin, humble servant, surprised and disturbed by what she hears from Gabriel, frightened by losing the young Jesus who has stayed behind in Jerusalem. She is the patient mother at the wedding at Cana wisely telling the stewards to do whatever Jesus tells them and ask no questions. She is the mourning figure standing beneath the cross while Jesus is crucified and, finally, a widow adopted by John at the end.
How is she presented to us in art and music? Always young, beautiful and ever in the shadow of Jesus. As a quiet new mother in the manger scenes, she has inspired adoration. As Michelangelo’s sculpted figure of the famous Pieta holding the dead body of her son draped across her lap she has been the defining image of grief and loss.
While there are legends and stories about her and tales of where she finally lived and died, we know little about her. Her life, for the most part, has been defined as the passive and quiet mother of Jesus. Only at Christmas and Easter do we remember her. It is as if God was looking for a surrogate mother for His son and in Mary, He found one. She gave the child life and then bowed out.
I don’t think that is the whole picture. In fact, I believe she was not only far stronger than portrayed but her lifelong influence on Jesus helped shape his life and teachings.
Several years ago, I re-read her song, The Magnificat, and realized after consistently passing over it to get to the most important story, the birth of Jesus, that Mary is not at all the person I had assumed. Yes, she glorifies the Lord and the sense of being overwhelmed by her being chosen is obvious. But then, she shifts to what I did not expect from such a compliant figure.
”He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.”
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.”
“He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.”
These are not the words of a woman merely grateful for the birth of a son. She could have sung about the baby in a more sentimental way and we would expect that from a new mother. Instead, like a thundering prophet, she announces the word of the Lord in language that will be fulfilled by her son.
I think between the announcement of Gabriel and arriving at the home of Elizabeth she realized like the mother of Moses and like Hannah the mother of Samuel that she was going to release Jesus and his mission was going to go far beyond being her son. He now belongs to the world. Her mission was going to be far greater than giving birth to a son. She is responsible for raising the Son of God.
In fact, if we look closely we can see the refrains of the young Mary’s song recurring time and again in the teaching, parables, and stories of Jesus. These beliefs became his beliefs and these values became his. I don’t think he just learned these directly from God. He was shaped by Mary – a very strong woman whom God could trust. His indictments of those who were proud in their inmost thoughts. His praise for the humble and warnings for the arrogant. His mercy toward those who have fallen. His filling the hungry and blessings for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. His stern cautions for the rich and powerful.
I now believe many of the themes of his life can be traced to the strength and discernment in his mother’s song long before his birth or even before Gabriel’s visit. These are themes she must have come to believe about the Mighty One her whole life. IIt is difficult to believe she sang it only once. It must have been part of his life growing up. Mary was chosen not merely for being a humble virgin, but for having a core of character and conviction God desired Jesus to absorb.
These are core themes in the teaching of Jesus and I think it is because these themes were in his home and taught to him by his mother. A song became a curriculum for raising her son. These are the beliefs and values to which she returned over and over again while raising him.
We have a friend who paints murals on the walls and ceilings of baby rooms. They are often images of children’s stories or Bible characters. They are beautiful and inviting. If I try to imagine the room of Jesus I don’t see these on the walls. Instead, I see “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” That is what Jesus grew up hearing over and over again from his mother. Those were his instructions from his earliest years.
But it was not only the themes he learned from her. He learned to treat women differently than men normally did in that culture. Look at how he related to so many different kinds of women – respectable women like Martha and prostitutes who washed his feet. He took seriously the questions of the Samaritan woman at the well. He paid attention to women and we know that women were some of his strongest financial supporters because they respected him. He respected them in return. Mary taught him this.
The words of her song are not the words and thoughts of a woman standing on the sidelines of the story in which she simply accepts her momentary role. These are not the words and thoughts of a young woman who has been sheltered. Instead, they are the words of a woman who has thought long and seriously about the nature of the world and God’s judgment. She is a woman deeply versed in Scripture. She has considered those who are proud in their hearts, arrogant rulers, and the empty future of the rich. She is not simply a poor and innocent maiden. She has a seam of iron in her character that I had completely overlooked. She has a view of the world and her place in it. She has a prophet’s perspective on justice. To my surprise, she is a central character.
In a similar way, we can see two sides of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Look at her when we first meet her. How is she described? She is a bitter and disappointed woman who has prayed out of grief and mourning for years to have children but she is barren. In fact, it says the Lord had closed her womb. She can barely mumble her prayers after so many years of disappointment. “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life..”
She is pitiful, isn’t she? But look at Hannah’s prayer when the child arrives. Something has changed deeply in her. She is a different person – or maybe the person she really was but had been hidden by despair and disappointment.
My heart rejoices in the Lord;
in the Lord my horn is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
“There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
“Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
“The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
“The Lord brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;
on them he has set the world.
He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
“It is not by strength that one prevails;
those who oppose the Lord will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
Is this the same woman? We see a similar transformation in Mary, don’t we? The surprised maiden disturbed by the angel’s words has become the proclaimer of the plans of God’s justice for the world. It is true that God raises the humble and gives strength to those from whom we least expect it. Too often, we are looking for the obviously strong and powerful but it is the humble that God often calls for his assignments. Humble never means weak. It means pride does not control them. We want someone who is “electable” or has obvious great leadership ability while God is calling someone we would never recognize. It is always one of God’s surprises. When God calls a person he gives them what is needed to do the work.
As I have read the stories of strong mothers in the lives of famous men, it is a constant pattern that they attribute much of their success to them. It is not sentimentality but recognition of overcoming strength.
What So Bad About Being A Mama’s Boy?”
By KATE STONE LOMBARDI
For generations mothers have gotten one message: that keeping their sons close is wrong, possibly even dangerous. A mother who fosters a deep emotional bond with her son, we’ve been told, is setting him up to be weak and effeminate—an archetypal mama’s boy. He’ll never be independent or able to form healthy adult relationships. As the therapist and child-rearing guru Michael Gurian wrote in his 1994 book about mothers and sons, “a mother’s job…is very much to hold back the coming of manhood.” A well-adjusted, loving mother is one who gradually but surely pushes her son away, both emotionally and physically, in order to allow him to become a healthy man.
None of these fears, however, is based on any actual science. In fact, research shows that boys suffer when they separate prematurely from their mothers and benefit from closeness in myriad ways throughout their lives.
A study published in Child Development involving almost 6,000 children, age 12 and younger, found that boys who were insecurely attached to their mothers acted more aggressive and hostile later in childhood—kicking and hitting others, yelling, disobeying adults and being generally destructive.
A study of more than 400 middle school boys revealed that sons who were close to their mothers were less likely to define masculinity as being physically tough, stoic and self-reliant. They not only remained more emotionally open, forming stronger friendships, but they also were less depressed and anxious than their more macho classmates. And they were getting better grades.
“My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” – Thomas Alva Edison
He could trust her to raise Jesus and prepare him for his mission. I believe that is why the angel Gabriel addressed her as “you who are highly favored.” There are many instances in Scripture where someone finds favor from God and others. Noah found favor with God. Joseph found favor with Pharoah. Moses found favor with God and Ruth found favor with Boaz. Samuel found favor with God and the people. Esther found favor with the King. I think what all those have in common is not pleasing God in some way that means God plays favorites. We know he doesn’t. I don’t believe it means God does special things for people who have favor with him. Too often that is the way we use that phrase today. When good things happen to us we say we have found favor. Or we are constantly looking for the favor of God and others. It was not about her being perfect or having done something to earn the admiration of God. It was not about her being popular with people.
No, I think it means God has found a person he can use because, in spite of their flaws and shortcomings they are the person God can trust to carry out a particular mission. It does not mean a life of miracles or comfort but it does mean God – for whatever his reasons – sees this is someone he can trust to be faithful through thick and thin. It is someone God can trust with an assignment that often they could never expect.
Jesus was, in so many ways, his mother’s son. He was a descendant of David but he was shaped and molded by the young woman who had found favor with God.