Mary, sister of the poor and oppressed
Commentary
It is not the resplendent Queen of Heaven that we meet in Luke's nativity story but a flesh and blood member of the peasantry in Israel. In the balance of Luke/Acts she further comes into view via brief glimpses as a person to whom we can relate. Blue is the color associated with her and in a number of churches today blue paraments and stoles have replaced the traditional violet for Advent. Hopefully, competent preaching can restore to all of us, male and female, a Mary who is a practical model for our own discipleship and growth.
The lesson from Micah reminds us that Bethlehem was an ancient village long before Jesus was born. Some year you might consider setting aside the lectionary and delivering an Advent series on "The Little Town of Bethlehem." The first three Sundays of Advent could deal with Bethlehem in the days of David, Ruth and Micah. The theme on the fourth Sunday could be Bethlehem of the ages.
To the Old Testament lesson of this day one might well consider adding Micah 6:6-8. It seems an appropriate companion for the epistle lesson of the day. The self offering of Jesus fulfills the prophet's understanding of our true worship which the author of Hebrews holds before us
.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Micah 5:2-5a
Micah's ministry was cast in the perilous days of the eighth century before Christ. On the inside of the nation greed and corruption were rampant. On the outside a predatory nation was on the march. Even as Micah spoke, the armies of Sennacherib were inching toward Jerusalem. In the countryside around Bethlehem oppressive land barons were driving the peasantry to the wall and into serfdom as they gobbled up the land.
It was Micah who named Bethlehem as the village of hope that would one day provide a new leader for the nation. Recognize these words as seditious in their time for they bypassed the royal family then living in Jerusalem. Bethlehem's link with David is self evident, but Micah underlines the littleness of Bethlehem. Well, the countryside around Bethlehem was home to the peasantry, the little people. It is from their ranks the new leader would emerge. Did Micah sense that there can be a sensitivity nurtured in the log cabin that is not found in the big house on the hill? Israel had already suffered much from the spoiled royal offspring who had been nurtured in an enclave of privilege and intrigue. Pause right here and think about the need to open leadership doors more and more to persons whose roots are in groups that have been excluded from leadership circles which have been enclaves of privileged white men.
Note also that Micah is rural oriented and draws his imagery from the countryside where shepherds tend their flocks. Caring and community are lifted up in the prophet's words. The country town is set over against the city. There is a rural nostalgia that persists among us. At this time of year children who will never see a one horse sleigh will heartily sing "Jingle Bells." At times of deep need it is a rustic psalm that is most frequently invoked, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Is the rural imagery that persists just sentimental nostalgia or does it reveal a desire for a caring community, something other than urban anonymity, a personal dimension to life?
Jesus was born in a small town and grew up in one, but when his hour came he went into the city. He was a Bethlehemite in Jerusalem. Are we called to be Bethlehemites? Are not congregations called to be caring communities where the personal dimension of life is restored and nourished? In a poetic sense, Bethlehem is wherever Christ is.
Hebrews 10:5-10
My preference would be to simply leave this as a reading for this Sunday or to save it for another day as a companion reading to Micah 6:6-8. One could also link these matched readings with a gospel passage where Jesus challenges religious rituals and traditions which substitute for moral obedience. In many of our Protestant congregations there is a propensity to substitute church work for the work of the church.
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)
Some comment on verse 42 is called for before proceeding to the Magnificat. The phrase "blessed are you among women" is found only in two other places. In Judges 5:24-27, the war song of Deborah, the words are spoken to Jael who killed the Canaanite general Sisera with a tent peg. In the inter-testamental book of Judith, probably a work of fiction, the words are spoken to Judith who assassinated an Assyrian general while he was sleeping (Judith 13:18). These words spoken by Anna to Mary have a belligerent background.
We also want to note that Raymond Brown, in his commentary, The Birth of the Messiah, helpfully points out that the Semitic style of language in Anna's blessing is one of subordination. Mary is blessed because her child is blessed. She has a role as the mother of the Messiah who will bless Israel.
The Magnificat (verses 46-56) has been called a most revolutionary song. It certainly is for it envisions the bringing down of the mighty, a Divine action in which the human partisans of God were traditionally expected to participate. Zealotry is in the air. Many scholars trace the vocabulary back to the Maccabees. This traditional canticle may well have been taken over as a hymn in the earliest church in Jerusalem. Raymond Brown contends that it was so used as a hymn celebrating the salvation brought to them by Jesus. If he is correct then the singers had to have come to an understanding of the liberation brought by Jesus in a totally different way.
Now, I want to pose some questions in the interest of opening up some new possibilities for exposition by the preacher. Did the immediate family of Jesus have to come to terms with this son and brother who did not fit the messianic script set down by a zealous piety and patriotism? Did the zealots who began to follow Jesus have to undergo some painful unlearning, in other words, repentance?
Does Luke signal to us some emerging family tension in the question the lad Jesus posed to his mother, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49). What reflection of family differences do we have in Luke 8:19-21? How do we interpret the words of Jesus spoken to the woman in the crowd that Luke reports in chapter 11:27-28? In Acts 1:13-14 Luke reports the presence of Mary in the earliest congregation along with the brothers of Jesus and a man named, interestingly enough, Simon the Zealot. Do you think even the members of Jesus' own family had a lot of unlearning to do as he departed from the traditional scenario? Do we greet him at his coming with the assumption that he will conform to our culture? We go gladly to Bethlehem to greet him as a child, but how does it rub us when Calvary intersects with Bethlehem?
The lesson from Micah reminds us that Bethlehem was an ancient village long before Jesus was born. Some year you might consider setting aside the lectionary and delivering an Advent series on "The Little Town of Bethlehem." The first three Sundays of Advent could deal with Bethlehem in the days of David, Ruth and Micah. The theme on the fourth Sunday could be Bethlehem of the ages.
To the Old Testament lesson of this day one might well consider adding Micah 6:6-8. It seems an appropriate companion for the epistle lesson of the day. The self offering of Jesus fulfills the prophet's understanding of our true worship which the author of Hebrews holds before us
.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Micah 5:2-5a
Micah's ministry was cast in the perilous days of the eighth century before Christ. On the inside of the nation greed and corruption were rampant. On the outside a predatory nation was on the march. Even as Micah spoke, the armies of Sennacherib were inching toward Jerusalem. In the countryside around Bethlehem oppressive land barons were driving the peasantry to the wall and into serfdom as they gobbled up the land.
It was Micah who named Bethlehem as the village of hope that would one day provide a new leader for the nation. Recognize these words as seditious in their time for they bypassed the royal family then living in Jerusalem. Bethlehem's link with David is self evident, but Micah underlines the littleness of Bethlehem. Well, the countryside around Bethlehem was home to the peasantry, the little people. It is from their ranks the new leader would emerge. Did Micah sense that there can be a sensitivity nurtured in the log cabin that is not found in the big house on the hill? Israel had already suffered much from the spoiled royal offspring who had been nurtured in an enclave of privilege and intrigue. Pause right here and think about the need to open leadership doors more and more to persons whose roots are in groups that have been excluded from leadership circles which have been enclaves of privileged white men.
Note also that Micah is rural oriented and draws his imagery from the countryside where shepherds tend their flocks. Caring and community are lifted up in the prophet's words. The country town is set over against the city. There is a rural nostalgia that persists among us. At this time of year children who will never see a one horse sleigh will heartily sing "Jingle Bells." At times of deep need it is a rustic psalm that is most frequently invoked, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Is the rural imagery that persists just sentimental nostalgia or does it reveal a desire for a caring community, something other than urban anonymity, a personal dimension to life?
Jesus was born in a small town and grew up in one, but when his hour came he went into the city. He was a Bethlehemite in Jerusalem. Are we called to be Bethlehemites? Are not congregations called to be caring communities where the personal dimension of life is restored and nourished? In a poetic sense, Bethlehem is wherever Christ is.
Hebrews 10:5-10
My preference would be to simply leave this as a reading for this Sunday or to save it for another day as a companion reading to Micah 6:6-8. One could also link these matched readings with a gospel passage where Jesus challenges religious rituals and traditions which substitute for moral obedience. In many of our Protestant congregations there is a propensity to substitute church work for the work of the church.
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)
Some comment on verse 42 is called for before proceeding to the Magnificat. The phrase "blessed are you among women" is found only in two other places. In Judges 5:24-27, the war song of Deborah, the words are spoken to Jael who killed the Canaanite general Sisera with a tent peg. In the inter-testamental book of Judith, probably a work of fiction, the words are spoken to Judith who assassinated an Assyrian general while he was sleeping (Judith 13:18). These words spoken by Anna to Mary have a belligerent background.
We also want to note that Raymond Brown, in his commentary, The Birth of the Messiah, helpfully points out that the Semitic style of language in Anna's blessing is one of subordination. Mary is blessed because her child is blessed. She has a role as the mother of the Messiah who will bless Israel.
The Magnificat (verses 46-56) has been called a most revolutionary song. It certainly is for it envisions the bringing down of the mighty, a Divine action in which the human partisans of God were traditionally expected to participate. Zealotry is in the air. Many scholars trace the vocabulary back to the Maccabees. This traditional canticle may well have been taken over as a hymn in the earliest church in Jerusalem. Raymond Brown contends that it was so used as a hymn celebrating the salvation brought to them by Jesus. If he is correct then the singers had to have come to an understanding of the liberation brought by Jesus in a totally different way.
Now, I want to pose some questions in the interest of opening up some new possibilities for exposition by the preacher. Did the immediate family of Jesus have to come to terms with this son and brother who did not fit the messianic script set down by a zealous piety and patriotism? Did the zealots who began to follow Jesus have to undergo some painful unlearning, in other words, repentance?
Does Luke signal to us some emerging family tension in the question the lad Jesus posed to his mother, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49). What reflection of family differences do we have in Luke 8:19-21? How do we interpret the words of Jesus spoken to the woman in the crowd that Luke reports in chapter 11:27-28? In Acts 1:13-14 Luke reports the presence of Mary in the earliest congregation along with the brothers of Jesus and a man named, interestingly enough, Simon the Zealot. Do you think even the members of Jesus' own family had a lot of unlearning to do as he departed from the traditional scenario? Do we greet him at his coming with the assumption that he will conform to our culture? We go gladly to Bethlehem to greet him as a child, but how does it rub us when Calvary intersects with Bethlehem?
