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Sermons
Mary Theotokus
Luke 1:26-38
Rev. Kenneth M. Locke
The Downtown Presbyterian Church
“Gentle Mary laid her
child.” That’s how we always
picture her, isn’t it? Gentle Mary, meek and mild.
In classical art, in popular imagination, we picture a young woman,
barely into her teens, head down, trembling at the angel’s message, her
voice barely rising above a whisper. Gentle Mary.
Why this image of Mary has caught on I honestly
don’t know. There’s nothing
in the Scriptures about her age or disposition, whether she was left-handed or
right-handed or was loud or soft-spoken.
Indeed, Luke’s is a very sparse tale. We are told almost nothing about Mary. It’s very much like the Old Testament
stories of Abraham and Isaac and Samuel.
Compared to the elaborate prose of Homer and other Greek writers this
story is much more Hebraic than it is Helenic.
Nevertheless, we all learn the story of
gentle Mary. We are troubled by it and
often we are outraged by it. This young
girl, with her life ahead of her, saddled with an unwanted pregnancy and a bad
reputation. Poor thing just has to bear
her cross. “Here am I, the servant
of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
Some theologians have suggested God’s
visitation to Mary is tantamount to divine rape. And certainly I think we can make that
argument. There’s clearly a huge
power differential between the two. God
is God and Mary clearly is not. Nor is
there any indication that Mary is looking for this particular form of blessing.
At the same time we have to remember in
Greco/Roman mythology divine/human congress is fairly common and this union
does not follow that form. This is not
Leida and the swan. God does not become
a bull or a golden shower. There’s
no kidnapping or physical violence. The
story simply does not play out the way divine/human sexuality takes place in
the stories of the day.
Indeed it’s almost the reverse. Look at the opening, at how Mary has found
favor with God. “Greetings,
favored one of the Lord. Do not be
afraid, for you have found favor with God.” The Greek word is “charin.” It means “favor,”
“grace” or “respect.”
We could translate it as “God has respect for you. God respects you.” Now we all know rape is an act of violence
and power over those with less power. A
rapist by definition does not respect the one being raped.
So now we understand Mary is not just a
random woman chosen out of the blue, forced to bend to the divine will. She is someone who has found God’s
respect. God has reached out to her
because God respects her. Suddenly God
is the supplicant, not Mary. God is the
one who is doing the admiring and wooing, not Mary. Mary is now the one in the power position, to
respond to this new suitor or not.
And how does Mary respond? Look again at vs. 38. “Here am I.” The Greek word is “Idou” and it
can mean “Here am I,” or “Behold.” It’s put in there for emphasis, to draw
attention to what’s coming next, sort of a verbal exclamation mark. Nowadays we would say “Yes!” “Yes, I won the lottery.” “Yes!
I got an A on my test.”
“Yes! She said she would
marry me.”
The Hebrew counterpart is
“hinei.” Like Idou, Hinei
means “Here am I,” or “Behold.” It’s what people say when they are
responding to God. Here am I! Behold!
Yes!
When God calls Abraham, Abraham says,
“Hinei. Here am I!” When God calls for a
prophet Isaiah answers, “Hinei!
Behold, here am I, send me.”
And when God calls for a woman of strength to
bear the Son of God Mary responds like the prophets of old. “Idou! Yes!
Behold! Here am I, the servant of
the Lord. May it be to me exactly as you
have said.”
Mary’s response is not weak resignation. It is not fear and trembling. Mary responds with the same cry of joy and
excitement God’s messengers have always cried. “Here am I!”
Mary is not
an object of our pity. Mary is someone
we should admire with openmouthed awe.
For Mary gained God’s respect, and responded to God’s call
with conviction and power.
When God calls on us, calling us to open
ourselves to God, it’s not because we’ve done anything wrong and
God is not being abusive. Rather, God
respects us and is asking us to open ourselves to God and to bear God to the
sick, to the poor, to the lonely. God is
calling us to bear good news to the tired, the oppressed, the
sad. God is calling us to bear good news
to those who refuse to hear it and those who respond with open arms and open
lives.
When God calls, troubling though it may be,
may we have the courage to answer with Mary, “Yes, Here am I, may it be
with me according to your word.”
Amen.
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