Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 22, 2024
Luke 1:39-45

The audio of this sermon is available here. The livestream of the worship service is available on the Trinity Episcopal Church YouTube channel.

Of all the characters in the Bible, the Virgin Mary is one of the most revered and the least known. Despite all the statues, the stained glass windows, the icons, the paintings, and the tacky Christmas songs, we simply do not have many facts about her life. We don’t know when or where she was born, we don’t know why God chose her, we don’t know anything about her relationship with Joseph, we don’t know when or where Mary died. For such a towering figure in Christian devotion, her biography is awfully sparse. 

For instance, did Mary have children other than Jesus? The Bible mentions the brothers of Jesus. But we don’t know how many. Some folks believe that the Virgin Mary was conceived and born without sin, but the Bible never actually addresses that. We have these images in our minds, of Mary meekly kneeling before Jesus at the manger. But, that seems physically unrealistic for a woman who has just given birth. The things that we do talk about are mostly rooted in legends, sayings, traditions, and Christmas decorations.

As is true of many of the people in the Bible. This is one of the absolutely maddening things about reading holy scriptures. We want the details. We want the back stories. We want the Wikipedia article, but the Bible just doesn’t do that. And I don’t think this is all a gender thing. Even the details of Jesus’ life are slim, we really don’t know that much about John the Baptist. The other disciples, we only have their names. If you’ve been reading the Gospel of Luke, as I hope you have, you’ll know this. We make so much out of all of the Christmas stuff, but goodness, it only takes up a couple of paragraphs. Imagine that, the church will be full on Christmas Eve because of one tiny story in some ancient text. I don’t begrudge that. No, rather, I’m in awe.

In awe. It’s really how I think about the Virgin Mary, too. I’m in awe of her, of her place in the story. So, what do we know?

The Gospel of Luke says that “the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26, 27). The angel says that she will carry a child, Mary says that she doesn’t know how that’s going to happen, but then she eventually says, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to you word” (1:38). The next thing we hear about Mary is what we read this morning. She goes to visit Elizabeth, who is carrying John the Baptist. Mary rejoices in her song of praise, that’s the Magnificat, that’s what we read/sung this morning. Then comes the birth of Jesus, and we get the Christmas story. About Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem to be registered, no room at the inn, the shepherds, the manger, all of that. Then we hear just two small snippets from Jesus’ childhood – when Mary and Joseph dedicated Jesus in the Temple when Jesus was eight days old; and then again when Jesus was twelve years old and he was found teaching in Temple. That story ends by saying, “His mother treasured all these things in her heart” (2:51). There’s one more little story. Some of Jesus’ brothers and Mary show up when Jesus is teaching, and they want to see him. But Jesus says, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (8:21). That’s kind of a tough thing to say about your mother.

But actually, I think that’s the key. Because, the story will tell us later on, that Mary is both the mother of Jesus, and she hears the word of God and does it. Because the last time that Mary is mentioned in the Bible, it says that she is there with the disciples after the resurrection (Acts 1:14). She is named as a charter member of that early church, she is there in prayer and fellowship in these few days after the first Easter. Though the details are sparse, we can put a few things together. She was faithful, she followed the Lord Jesus, she humbly treasured the Lord in her heart.

And that’s the point. The point is not that we follow the Virgin Mary, or that we follow John the Baptist, or that we follow any of the other ancient Christians, men or women, described in the Bible. No, we follow the Lord God. And their examples – those towering figures in the New Testament, those faithful women – the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene – they are pointing us to God.The saints of God – Mary included – are revered because they inspire us to follow Christ. 

As Christians, we do not follow any one person, no matter how great they seem to be. We do not go to church because of who happens to be up here. No, we worship, we pray, we follow the ways of Christ, and Christ alone. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Christ. Think about that – that is not being exclusive. No, rather, it is a warning, a warning that we ought not follow any other person, any charlatan or quack or showman, who would deceive us from following Christ. 

That’s why we revere Mary. Because she is an icon of faithfulness, of devotion, and discipleship. Yes, she was our Lord’s mother. But also, she was the first disciple. A young virgin, from Nazareth of all places, is the first person to commit their life to the Lord Christ. That, that is why we have statues, and hymns, and icons, and paintings of her. It’s to remind us that we want to be in company with her. Not that we want to follow her, but that we want to follow Jesus with her. We don’t know any of the details – we don’t know what she looked like, we don’t know what the rest of her life was like, we just don’t know. And that is okay. Because what we do know, is that she was the first person to treasure Jesus in her heart. As I hope you do, too.

And truly, there will come a time, when the details of our lives have faded to history. Few of us will have Wikipedia articles about us, few of us will merit biographies. We might get a headstone, an obituary in the paper, the memory of a few friends. Until even then, those memories wash away over the course of time. So the particulars of your life, won’t really matter all that much when considered against the eons. But what will matter, is how you lived, how you loved, how you followed the Lord God. What will matter is how much of a difference you made in the time given to you. And maybe, God I hope, that what we do here, by worshiping, by praying, by living together, I pray that becomes a sign of hope to someone else. So that by seeing us, they too follow Christ. Because it is not about Mary, it is not about the saints, it is not about any of us, it is only about the Lord God, the Almighty.