Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you! Mother of God, Immaculate Mary!

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1 Bristol Lutheran Luke 1:26-38, Advent 4B Blessed Virgin Mary! Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy! Greetings, favored One! Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you! Mother of God, Immaculate Mary! Are those words hard to hear? They are weird to say. I am not sure how those statements make you feel. Maybe if you wandered into church today, you might think we were Bristol Catholic Church. If you are or were catholic, maybe these words bring your memory back to the confessional booth. There isn t a whole lot of blessing of Mary in the Lutheran Church. There isn t a whole lot of talk about Mary except maybe a few times a year. We rarely include her in our prayers. We don t celebrate her saint day which if you are wondering is August 15 th. We might not even realize that we sing her song every Lent Wednesday service. The church has a hard time knowing how to regard Mary.

2 We don t have many St. Mary s Lutheran churches, in fact I only could find one in Wisconsin, one in Maryland, and one in California. For whatever reason, Lutherans tend to separate a bit from Mary. Similar to our questioning of the word catholic in the Apostle s creed, which isn t about the roman catholic church at all, but about being universal. We want to separate, what may connect us. I even admit my unintentional aversion of Mary. A couple weeks ago I put together a worship service for area pastors, and I came across a beautiful morning liturgy but it was a catholic resource and I cringed as I read about Our Holy Mother Mary so I edited it to be more Lutheran. Even as I looked up some of these prayers to Mary, and read about Hail Mary my first and only thought went to football. A play that involves heaving the ball to the end zone at the end of the game, hoping someone catches it, I have seen and heard a hundred times, but until now I never connected it as throwing up a prayer, a hail Mary. (I can be a little slow on the uptake sometimes.) So, why can t we bless and favor Mary? If God does, it should be okay for us to as well.

3 But let s also be clear why God blesses her. Someone may say she is blessed because she gets to be Jesus mom! Yes, but be honest, bearing a kid, raising a kid, teaching a kid, protecting a kid, is hard work that may not feel like a blessing. Besides, as great of gift as it is to be the God bearer, Mary is more than the means to get Jesus into the world. It isn t about her being the physical mother of God, or the use of her womb. It isn t what she does that creates favor. It is who she is. The blessing begins because she is a loved child of God. And because she is loved, and knows she is loved, she listens to God, trusts God, and believes God s word. They are connected, by united wills. And will be literally connected as she bears the son of God. Yes, God chooses her uses her to bring the messiah, Immanuel, Jesus, God into the world. But because God has faith in her and her willingness to serve the Lord. God trusts her. Sure, God could probably find someone else if Mary said no. But God knew her, knew her heart. Many people hold up Mary as a perfect mother, a holy woman. And she is. She is a strong, independent woman, in a story that usually does not favor women. But she is not just a faithful woman, she is a faithful person. Period.

4 She is a model, for how God commands us to act. In a story where we are directed to be like Christ, Mary is the most Christ-like human being in history. She witnesses and testifies, prepares the way for the Lord s coming as much or more than even John the Baptist. Yet, we still tend to minimize her. Remember, John, the hairy Baptist, is the main subject in two of the four Advent gospels. Mary is overlooked throughout scripture. Mark and Matthew only reference her in passing, until she shows up at Jesus tomb. John doesn t use her name, and Paul never mentions her. Only Luke, really gives her credit. Maybe it isn t just a Protestant versus Catholic divide after all. It just strikes me as odd that Jesus best disciple may be his own mom, and she is usually forgotten. Maybe Jesus just felt weird that his mom was a disciple. I might too. There is just something about Mary. An example of holy living, listening to God s word, following guidance and direction. She accepts her calling, even if it will cause others to scorn her as an unwed, poor, pregnant 15 year old kid. Yet none of that matters. She allows God to define her worthiness, and not society. She hears God s blessing and favor, and sings about it. She shows us what faithfulness looks like.

5 If we keep looking through the gospel of Luke, we continue to hear about Mary s faithfulness not only to bearing Christ - but to following God s word. Mary meets Elizabeth, who tells her she is blessed because she hears and believes God s word. Mary s words to the angel, let it be according to your will, echo Christ, who proclaims not my will by your will. Mary echoes Samuel, in her response - Here I am servant of the Lord. In Luke 8, Jesus says that his family is the one who hears God s word and carries it out. A few scenes later, someone in the crowd tells Jesus - I would have loved to be your mother, blessed to give you birth and Jesus says, blessed are those who hear and follow God s word. Why is any of this important? Mary s importance in the story of faith, doesn t stop at the birth. None of us can birth Christ into the world. But we are the ones who bear God. We bear Christ in faithfulness to God. We bear Christ in trust and belief of God s word. We bear Christ by responding to God s call. We bear Christ in our words of love and forgiveness. We bear Christ in our good works.

6 We bear Christ by how we treat each other. We bear Christ, by proclaiming that God blesses us, and God s blessing is what defines worth. We bear Christ by putting an end to racist remarks, abusive relationships, greedy desires, and selfish attitudes. We bear Christ by singing hope and promise. We bear Christ, as we receive the body of Christ, and that bread of life becomes part of us, strengthening us, empowering us to shed the light of Christ in places of darkness and despair. We bear Christ, seeking to be like Christ, faithful as Mary. Mary, doesn t get enough credit. She is a reminder that God, Immanuel is with us. Mary reminds us that we all bear Christ. Shouldn t we bless her for that?