sermon excerpts: "In Mary's Sandals" - (Luke 1: 39-55)

In the leadup to this account of Mary’s visit and her song of praise, the angel Gabriel visits, drops the bombshell that she will give birth to the Saviour. In one verse she says yes, the next she’s heading for the hills to see her relative Elizabeth. Why the rush? We can only imagine the reasons … was Mary sent away because of her condition, to be kept out of sight? Did she go to escape the community rumours, the murmuring and tsk-tsking?

Elizabeth, and her unborn son, responds to the news of her kinswoman Mary with elation and understanding. Here they are both unexpectedly pregnant and suffering from the public scrutiny and accusations of lying and infidelity. Maybe Mary went somewhere where she knew she’d be understood, where she wouldn’t be judged, where her joy would be shared.

That is what church should be – a place where we are accepted, our stories are shared and our good times are celebrated. The atmosphere of respect and a sense of empathy, connection, to the situations of others, is the prevailing ethic.

Even in utero, Jesus was able to bring people together in common cause, to focus attention on the needs of the world. The celebratory song of Mary tells of great and wonderful things to come. This song of hope and certainty arises in a time when giving birth was fraught with danger and uncertainty for both mother and child. They have comfort and knowledge that God is with them, that they have a ministry, a mission, a purpose.

If only we could be so certain in church. We know that God is with us, of course. We know that we are here for a reason. We can imagine the void that our absence would leave in the community. Yet we know that even as we try to nurture and sustain a vision and living ministry, there is no guarantee of our ensured existence.

Still, our song might be one of certainty and hope, born out of a sense of justice, action and activity. By this time next year, our churches will have made some difficult choices. By then, things will be well on their way to being fixed or folded.

But in the big picture, from our piece of the ancient story, we think back to humble beginnings: a mother too young to give birth, another one too old, and a backwoods town that never amounted to much in the way of industry, commerce, arts or innovation. From these roots came great and marvelous things. Same for us.