In all of the discussions going on about traditional marriages vs. marriage equality there is often one very big issue that not discussed. When Mary conceived the baby Jesus in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit, she was not yet married to Joseph. I thought quite a bit about that as I read through two very interesting posts about The National Organization for Marriage. Both of them contain statements at length detailing how they feel that traditional marriage is threatened by passing marriage equality laws. The national organization for marriage has already threatened the passage of Washington DC's marriage equality law. People and Religious figures pour millions of dollars into NOM to "protect marriage between one man and one woman" from passing same-sex marriage laws.
Yet when Jesus Christ came on to the scene of the life of the Virgin Mary, the Scriptures tell us that she was "a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David." (Luke 1:27). What, wait a minute the Son of God was conceived out of wedlock? Worse, he was conceived by someone else other than the man that Mary was to marry. Doesn't the conception and birth of Jesus also fly in the face of a "traditional" understanding of marriage? Yet, Jesus Christ is the central figure of the Christian religion. We are told in Matthew's Gospel that Joseph had quite a time accepting Mary's situation. (See Matthew 1:18-25). Yet God broke through the traditions of the time and surpassed all human logic and become one like us in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came and ripped through traditions and laws and brought the Kingdom of God's unconditional and all inclusive love to a world full of darkness and doubt. Are traditional minded Christians who oppose same-sex marriage perhaps afraid of Jesus Christ breaking through and changing their understanding of marriage and that is why they are resisting marriage equality?
If there is one thing that many fail to remember is that through out the Scriptures God shows himself to be on the side of the poor, the humble, the hopeless, the blind, those "different" than what society and the Church of his day expected. As we read through the story today of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, Mary arrives and St. John the Baptist leaps in the womb of his mother because he knows that he is in the presence of Jesus. Do we leap for joy when we know that we are in the presence of God? Or sometimes, do we just let God's presence in other situations different than what we expect go by us without noticing?
At the end of the story of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, Mary sings the beautiful Magnificat. In today's Out in Scripture we read: "Luke 1:39-45 (46-55) contains the incredibly powerful declaration we call the Magnificat. What is odd about this song is Mary’s delight, as an unwed mother in an extremely traditional society, in taking on such an incredible burden. Unlike the birth narrative in Matthew, the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary directly and there is no record in Luke of the angel informing Joseph. In response to God, Mary embraced the distinct holy calling of being other than whom society held as the norm. She welcomed "otherness."
Mary accepted the stigma — this calling and conviction — because God was doing something new and powerful in the history of the world. Acknowledging her own situation, Mary declared that God "has looked with favor on the lowliness of God’s servant" (Luke 1:48). Like many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in our society, Mary understands what it feels like to carry the awful burden of otherness.
Unlike many LGBT people, however, Mary does not see her otherness as a reason for despair. She sees through the identification, this stigma, and recognizes that God is working through her otherness to transform the social structures that dominate the world. Through Mary’s acceptance of the identification, God scatters the proud (Luke 1:51). Her song continues that God has brought down the powerful from their thrones; lifted up the lowly; filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. God has delivered God’s people according to the promise made to Israel’s ancestors, to Abraham and Sarah, and to their descendants forever (Luke 1:52-55).
What a radical transformation! Shively T. J. Smith comments, "The emphasis on God as Savior highlights the plight of the powerless and not the powerful. The hymn is an invitation to all people to recognize that the Good News of Jesus Christ is that God stands on the side of the socially ostracized and oppressed. Those who lack recognition, appreciation and voice in the larger society and religious world are assured that God is with them first and foremost because God is Savior. Isolation from human institutions is not separation from God’s mercy and compassion." The promise of Jesus’ birth is that the oppressive structures that rule our lives will be overturned, justice will be imposed and those who were at the bottom — or on the margins — may claim their rightful places in the new social order.
As members of the LGBT community prepare for the coming of the Christ child, we should recognize the opportunity in our midst to reach out to others who carry the burden of socially imposed stigmas as well. We begin by re-thinking the idea that we are stigmatized. The idea that we carry a social stigma is one imposed upon us by others, not one that we should accept as a true definition of ourselves. Who we are is a gift from God! When we accept our lives as a gift, although one that brings along with it a calling, mission or vocation, then we can resolve to interact positively with the world around us. Like Mary, we can and should glorify God for gifting us with our genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations and other distinctive identifiers that make us who we are. In response to our amazing particularity, we should sing, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Luke 2:46-47)."
And so how do we see our being LGBT? Do we see it as that "otherness" that anti-LGBT Christians see it and accept that as a reason to no longer believe and trust in God? Or do we make use of it to grow closer to God and ask God to help us use it to make a good impact on the world around us? Mary accepts her "lowliness" and uses it as an opportunity to notice that "God has done mighty deeds". How do we see God doing mighty deeds in and through us as LGBT Christians? What opportunities will we take advantage of as God working to "do mighty things" in and through us?
In this time as we prepare to celebrate Christmas on Friday there are opportunities for us to enjoy the magic and wonder of the Christmas event. However, many of us also face difficult times, due to families that have rejected us and perhaps a relationship that has recently ended. Perhaps this is a Christmas for us to reach out to those who are lonely without family and/or someone to love them this year. Perhaps we are someone who needs others to reach out to us. How will we see Jesus during the Christmas Season this year? Jesus Christ came to us in the middle of our despair, loneliness and to those who were the "misfits" of society and the Church. Remember, if you feel like you are one of those, Jesus Christ came for you.
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen. (Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, Page 212).
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