Luke 1:39-56 (NRSV)
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.
46 And Mary said,My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.
56 And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.
Among the things that needs to be pointed out is that throughout the entire Bible there are countless references to God being the best friends of those who are poor. Even in Psalm 72 used in this morning's Office we read: "For God shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, and the oppressed who has no helper. He shall have pity on the lowly and poor; he shall preserve the lives of the needy. He shall redeem their lives form oppression and violence, and dear shall their blood be in his sight." (Psalm 72:12-14, Book of Common Prayer 686).
There is something about people who are poor that can be truly amazing. There are many people who are on the bottom of the money chain who in many ways are more educated about what goes on in society than someone who makes a six digit income. While there are those who have an abundance of wealth and possessions worry about getting the latest ipod to keep up with their stocks, those who roam the streets have finding a warm shelter and just a little morsel of food as their priorities. While many who are obsessed with consumerism and how to get ahead of everyone else, all many poor people want is to just be able to have the basic necessities of life.
Well in the Magnificat that Mary sings it is the powerful who have been thrown down and the lowly who have been raised up. The rich are sent away empty, while the hungry have been filled with good things. The one's on the margins have been brought to the center of God's plan of salvation. Mary recognizes that God has chosen her for something important. In Mary's quiet faith she seeks out what God has for her and she trusts that God will deliver on what God has promised her.
The great mystery of the Incarnation is that God who had everything at God's disposal and command gave up all that God had and became one like us in Jesus Christ. God made God's Self vulnerable and wanting and needing and totally dependent upon human beings to care for and be sure that Jesus was provided for. God who was ruler and creator of all that exists, who can control when everyone lives and dies, placed God's Self in the position of being in grave danger. God who had all power and control gave it up to a degree to show that God can do great things if only we will believe and trust in God to be our Savior. God is here with us even now in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. God is interacting with us, sharing with us and calling us to come to the center with God to help make a difference in a world of poverty, oppression, sickness, hunger and where political powers are seeking control and domination. God makes God's Self submissive by being at the service of those who are on the margins of society, by becoming one who is on the margins of society and gives them a name and a face. Their face and name is now identified with God in Jesus the Christ.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Christians share with Jesus as being on the margins of society. It is apparent throughout the ministry and life of Jesus that the hearts of those people who have power and prestige as their idols do not change their hard heart very much. Just as in our society racism, sexism, and heterosexism still exists because of the system that says non-white, non-educated, females and homosexuals, bisexuals and transgendered people loose while caucasian, male, heterosexuals benefit. Lest we think that LGBT and other minorities are alone, the health care reform debate is all about the powerful insurance industry vs. those who need health care. Why would the health insurance companies with all of those profits want to loose to a health care bill, when they benefit every day at the expense of those who are sick?
Well the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and especially this Magnificat reminds us that the poor, the hungry, the sick and the marginalized are very important to God. Those on the margins of society who are second class priorities are so important to God that God become on of them in Jesus Christ. Because whether we are poor, rich, black, red, copper skinned, gay, bisexual, straight, transgendered or what "All of have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23,24). Our sins what ever they may be (and being a homosexual is not one of them) do not have the last word over our lives. "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8). In reality no one of us is without something that needs to be redeemed. In Jesus Christ, God makes it very clear that all of us without God are really very poor. But God makes it very possible for everyone who is in need to know that they are loved by God, by becoming one like us in Jesus Christ and taking our sins upon God's Self.
If we have neglected our duties to ourselves, our partners, our civil rights and others who are on the margins of society, we can come to God through Jesus and confess that "we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves." (Book of Common Prayer, Page 368). And God in God's mercy and love through Jesus will forgive us and help us to move forward. This is why Jesus came among us and raised the poor to a greater place. "For we know that generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you may be come rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9). Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people are among the poor whom God has given riches to in and through God's Son, Jesus Christ.
Our sexuality and gender identities are gifts from God to be used to love ourselves, God and others as God created and redeemed us to do. Through our relationships whether they be our friends, relatives, significant other (s), our ability to love people as LGBT individuals is part of God's plan to show how much God loves the world in various ways. How are we being loving people?
Before I close my blog with the prayer of the day, I just want to say thank you to everyone who reads my blog. There will be only one blog for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that will be posted the Eve of December 24th. The next blog post will appear December 26th on the Feast of St. Stephen. My blog post for Christmas will be: "Christmas: And The Word Became Flesh" as my favorite of all Christmas Gospels is the first chapter of John's Gospel.
Let us continue to love and work for justice as LGBT Christians. May we all celebrate the Incarnation by acknowledging that we too share in the riches of God who became poor for us in Jesus Christ. Let us remember that gift was given to be shared by living our lives in thanksgiving for the great gift that we have all been given.
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, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, Page 212).
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