God is the actor in Luke’s Gospel.
God is the actor
in all salvation history,
but you really can’t ignore it
when you read Luke.
In the gospel passage I read
and Mary’s Song that we proclaimed together
we have contrasts –
which I mentioned last week –
and God decisively the actor.
Mary has just said yes to carrying God’s child
and she goes to see her relative Elizabeth.
Elizabeth is older, devout,
and has been baren.
Mary is young
and is unwed.
Here they both are,
pregnant
with God’s help one way or another
to bring salvation to all.
Still under the heel of Rome,
still in a patriarchal society
that will have lots more questions for Mary
than Elizabeth does
or the evangelist records,
Mary starts singing to God.
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.”
How is Mary
the unwed mother,
the God-bearer,
the mother of God,
singing about what God has already done?
Faith, hope, and love.
God is the actor in Luke’s Gospel.
Mary’s proclamation about God’s goodness and victory
is a sharp contrast
to the reality in which she lives.
Caesar is still Caesar.
Around this time each year
some memes about the Magnificat circulate.
One of them is Andre Braugher
as Captain Raymond Holt
in Brooklyn 99.
In the first panel
he says
“Why have the mighty not been cast down?”
This references in the show his asking
“Why is no one having a good time?”
In the second panel for both he says,
“I specifically requested it.”
“Why have the mighty not been cast down?”
is a pretty fair question,
I think!
The government almost shut down this week.
In keeping it open,
funding research and treatment for childhood cancer
was dropped.
One measure has been revived in the Senate.
On her way out of office
when asked about criticisms she received
for voting against Lauren McFerran
to serve another five-year term
on the National Labor Relations Board
Kyrsten Sinema said
“Don’t give a s—.”
After mowing down a Bible study
because its members were Black
Dylan Roof wasn’t charged with terrorism.
Luigi Mangione has been charged with terrorism
after murdering the United Healthcare CEO
Bryan Thompson.
“Why have the mighty not been cast down?”
indeed.
I hate to “Well, actually”
a meme
but this Captain Holt quip
“I specifically requested it”
misses the faith, hope, love,
that we hear in Mary’s song today.
Mary isn’t asking
that her relative or her child
or her relative’s child
or the early church
or the contemporary church
scatter the proud in the thoughts of their hearts,
bring down the powerful from their thrones,
lift up the lowly,
fill the hungry with good things,
or send the rich away empty.
As John the Baptizer leaps in Elizabeths’ womb,
Mary sings of God’s greatness
and speaks of all these things
as a fait accompli.
These things have been done.
In saying what God has done
Mary is speaking eternal truths about God.
God has already done those things.
Mary sings this
as what God has already done
working through her
toward the birth of Jesus.
God is the actor in Luke’s Gospel.
Along with the Captain Holt meme,
there’s a woodcut by Benjamin Wildflower
that I love.
The Blessed Virgin Mary
stands with her fist raised in protest,
stamping the head of a snake.
Around her ar her own words,
“Fill the hungry.
Lift the lowly.
Cast down the mighty.
Send the rich away.”
I was surprised to learn
that some people interpret this art –
which I find stunning –
as a revolutionary call
for those who see it.
I don’t remember growing up with the Magnificat,
but I have loved it since I remember encountering it
as the canticle for Evening Prayer
and the motivation for Jonathan Myrick Daniels’
civil rights work.
Because its message is written in my bones
I saw this art for what it is:
Mary celebrating God’s revolution
and the kingdom of God being at hand
in Jesus the Christ being born
as we await his final return.
God is the actor in Luke’s gospel,
and “Why have the mighty not been cast down?”
is the question of Advent.
It’s not the question
because Mary specifically requested it
or because she calls us
to join in her protest movement.
This is the Advent question
because we live in the already-not yet.
In being born of a virgin,
taking on our human flesh
the reign of God draws near
in Jesus’ incarnation.
Through Jesus,
God made human,
God defeats death
that last tool of the tyrant
and rendered it useless.
The mighty who rely on keeping others under their heel
are nothing compared to God the Almighty,
the Alpha and Omega.
Mary’s song is not a call to action,
per se.
God is the actor in Luke’s gospel,
but that doesn’t mean
we sit on our laurels
and let the world burn.
We have a charge from God
to see the Reign of Jesus at hand
and help it be made manifest.
We don’t do that on our own, though.
We do that through God
from whom all good things come.
Jesus comes into the world
and specifically shows us
that God does care for those on the margins.
Mary joins a long ling of singers
about God reversing fortunes
and raising up the lowly.
We ourselves have been hearing about it for three weeks,
starting with Luke quoting Isaiah about John
and hills being laid plain
and valleys being raised.
As we await the coming of the Christ child Jesus
and Jesus’ return in final glory
we join the wood cut of Mary
pleading with God
“Fill the hungry.
Lift the lowly.
Cast down the mighty.
Send the rich away.”
As we await the coming of the Christ child Jesus
and Jesus’ return in final glory
we join Mary in the gospel today
our souls proclaim the greatness of the Lord
who has already done those things
beyond seeing.
Maranatha.
Come Lord Jesus.
Amen.