MARY'S REVOLUTIONARY PRAYER

Dr. Richard J. Henderson December 20, 2009

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Micah 5: 2-5a
Luke 1: 39-55

Introduction

Sometimes statements are made that indicate dramatic change. Some statements represent a revolution that is about to begin. Think of the Declaration of Independence or the Communist Manifesto.

A black preacher wrote a letter from his jail cell that explained the dramatic change that was happening. Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail told why changes were happening and why they would continue to develop. Even Ronald Reagan's statement in Berlin, "Mr. Gorbachov, take down this wall!" was a revolutionary statement.

They are statements about change that is on the way; about revolutionary upheavals. These proclamations tell us about change that has already begun, but which is just at its beginning. What follows will be dramatically different.

The Declaration of Independence was an announcement of changes that were coming. Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail explains what the civil rights movement is about, and why these changes are important.

None of these statements is written in inflammatory language; rather they lay out what is coming in the future. They are strong, firm statements, but they aren't incendiary. They tell of dramatic change and the reasons behind it.

I

Mary's prayer that we just read is one of those revolutionary statements. What she says shakes up our world. She's talking about dramatic changes that are on the way. She announces that there is a revolution coming both in how we think about God and how we think about each other.

II

At the very beginning Mary says, "My soul magnifies the Lord." We may wonder what that means. "Magnifies the Lord" means that she sees God more clearly. For Mary, God is brought into clearer focus. She sees God not as something vague but with clarity. When you hold a magnifying glass up to something, those parts of it that are blurry become clear, the little things we couldn't see are now apparent.

That doesn't mean that Mary sees God completely. God is still God and beyond what we can even imagine, but she is able to see God more clearly. She understands God better, with greater perception, than she did before.

III

When Mary says "My soul magnifies the Lord" she also means that she sees God as greater than she has in the past. This is not a small, tame god, but a God who is able to do more than we think possible, like a God who would become a child in uterus, a God who chooses to be born into our world.

It's not that God is magnified, but her perception of God is dramatically increased.

Genesis tells us that God created people in God's image. As the old saying goes, we appreciated that and returned the favor. We create God in our image. So God becomes like a big, powerful person, with all the limitations of time and space that we have. That's a small image of God. It's creating God to be like one of us.

In his wonderful book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Harold Kushner writes about the foolishness of praying for good test results after the tests have been completed. He explains that the tests are done and the results are what they are. Praying isn't going to change them. That certainly seems to make sense.

Unless, God does not exist in time and space like people do. What if, for God there is no past or future? What if God is not limited by what has already happened? What if God can move ahead into the future and back into the past? Kushner's comments assume that God is limited in the ways humans are. But that is not true if God is God.

What if God knew you were going to pray about those tests results long before you even knew you were going in for tests? Then praying could still make a real difference. It's very easy to see God with human limitations - God as one of us. We tend to make God in our image.

But Mary's revolutionary statement helps us see that God is greater than our minds can imagine. Mary encourages us to throw off the shackles on our minds and open ourselves to a God beyond limitation, a God who can do things we can't even imagine.

IV

Not only does Mary shake up our understanding of God, she turns our ideas about each other upside down. Who's great and who isn't? Who will be satisfied and who will go hungry? Mary announces that the social order will be reversed.

She cries out that the powerful will be brought down from their thrones, and the lowly will be lifted up. When I read that I pictured that huge statue that Sadam Hussein made of himself being pulled down. Remember the statue slowly bent and then broke and tumbled to the ground. In the meantime Hussein was hiding in a hole in the ground.

The toppling of that statue was a nice metaphor for the way in which his ruthless regime came to an end. Mary cries, "(God) has brought down the powerful from their thrones." We know what she means.

Not only are the powerful brought down, but the lowly are lifted up. The somebodies are really nobody and the nobodies are really somebody. The social order is flipped upside down.

And as if to demonstrate what he means God chooses a young peasant girl to bring God's son into the world. Jesus didn't arrive at an elaborate palace among the royalty, welcomed by the powerful dignitaries of the world; God came to us by way of a common young woman, poor and insignificant. Mary is an example of how God has "lifted up the lowly."

You would have to do some research to figure out who were the rulers, the princes, the authorities of that day, but everybody knows who Mary is. The powerful are buried in the history books, but Mary's name is spoken and sung and celebrated everyday.

Of course it's not about being famous; some of God's greatest people are unknown to the world: the humble man who is faithful and honest, who lives simply and generously shares what he has; the high school girl who is popular but without an ounce of arrogance. She is friends with those who are left out and laughed at. Her faith is seen in the way she acts. She doesn't have to say a word.

God's great lowly people are seen in the woman who knows the Bible through and through and lives its good news everyday. You know who these faithful, lowly people are in your world. You realize how diminished your world would be without them.

The values of God stand our world on its head. The big shots are nothing; the ordinary, faithful, humble people are everything. "He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty."

Conclusion

I have worked in the church for a long time. I've seen lots of good, faithful, dedicated people of God. Those of us in the church have an added blessing; we get to interact with these great, humble people who are committed to God. They are role models for us. If we grow up in the church we are surrounded by mentors.

I was fortunate as a young man to have a wonderful example of faith. John is a wise and thoughtful Christian. When I asked him questions, he helped me answer them myself. He was humble, compassionate, and caring. The way he lived was a demonstration of his faith. He was, for me, a model of what it means to be Christian.

One time, in an act of courage, he went to help people register to vote. He took vacation time and worked to bring about justice and fairness. He was arrested by people who were filled with hatred and bigotry. He knew at the time that people had been killed for doing what he did.

Then, when he came home he faced the anger and attacks of people in his hometown.

But he had read his Bible. He knew about justice "rolling down like waters". He knew about the Exodus from slavery. He knew God demands justice for his people, and he had the courage to put his faith on the line.

He helped me through a period with lots of questions. For decades he has been a good friend. If I told you his name you wouldn't have heard of him. He isn't famous or wealthy or powerful. But he is one of the humble, lowly people that Mary tells about.

"God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has brought down the powerful and lifted up the lowly."

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2009