The Blessed Virgin Mary
Sunday 14th August
Choral Evensong
As many of you will know, our head verger Malina is on maternity leave. A few weeks ago, I met baby Oscar for the first time, and even got to hold him for a couple of minutes. So small, so sweet, so utterly dependent on his parents for everything.
When God becomes human in Christ, even God experiences dependency, and what it is to receive from others. Mary’s experience in bearing God’s Son is also one of receiving: of being open to God’s word, and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.
If this sounds rather passive, our first reading this evening gives a larger context to the story of Mary by encouraging us to consider her within the context of the act of creation itself.
In the beginning, God said, and there was. God says, on the very first page of the Bible, ‘let there be light’ and, and so there was. God said, ‘let us create humankind in our image’, and so it was. God speaks the creative word, ‘let there be’. Today, however, we remember Mary’s words, ‘Let it be.’ ‘Let it be with me according to your word.’ Mary’s words, ‘Let it be,’ echo God’s words, ‘Let there be.’ It is an ongoing call and response between God and humanity. God prays creation into existence, and Mary says, ‘Amen. Let it be.’ Her words will bring forth the Creator into the world as a human infant.
In the centuries leading up to Mary’s time, the Spirit of God has been pressing the people of Israel towards greater openness and receptivity: to clear a space for the renewing grace of God to flow more freely. And now, finally, a daughter of Israel realizes Israel’s destiny by putting herself utterly at God’s disposal. In the new life she carries in her body, God’s Word is set free, and given space in human history, in order to remake the world.
In this Mary is unique, a one off. But in another way she is a model for each of us. We are called to openness and receptivity, to make space in our lives for God. Each of us is called to be a ‘God-bearer’, to carry the life of God within our own humanity. Each of us is called to echo Mary’s words, ‘Let it be’ in the call and response of discipleship. ‘Let there be…’ says God, and we are called to respond with ‘Let it be’. Let there be more compassion and kindness, says God, as when the beloved disciple takes the bereaved Mary in to his home. Let there be more justice and mercy, more hope and more joy. Yes, Lord, let it be so, in my own body and my own life, for the sake of your world.
It is true that at one point Mary says, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ We might find other reasons for saying not ‘let it be’, but ‘how can this be?’, allowing fear and shame and guilt and a sense of inadequacy to separate us from God. God looks straight through these fears and worries to see the ‘one whom he favours’, even when we struggle to see ourselves that way. God’s speaks words of possibility and encouragement and creativity: Set aside your doubts. For all your frailty, you are a favoured child of God, and God delights in you. In your life, let there be light. With God, nothing is impossible. Let it be so. Amen.