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I first encountered this passage, in a serious way, in a college course about Liberation Theology (a way of looking at the Bible that focuses on poverty and social equity). Yes, I’m a nerd, so a lot of my faith formation has happened in formal academic settings. That was a wonderful moment for me of rediscovering the Bible as a text about social justice, and realizing - or perhaps remembering- that social justice is essential to what being a Christian is all about.
In Mary’s celebration of being pregnant (with God!), she explains this miracle as yet another example of how God is always working to dethrone the proud, rich, and powerful, and to fill the needs of the lowly and hungry. Mary gives thanks that God has remembered his promises to her ancestors, but she herself helps us to remember the social tenets of our faith heritage.
This passage reflects the powerful role of a woman in religious leadership, and it helps me to remember that women leaders and ministers have guided me through every stage of my own story - my mother, my grandmother, my wife, and so many mentors and colleagues in ministry and teaching. Mary follows in the prophetic mould of Old Testament figures like Hannah, Deborah, Esther, and especially the prophet Miriam, her namesake, who, like Mary, is known for her song of rejoicing at God’s victory over the oppressors (Pharaoh’s army).
In her own song, Mary remembers and self-consciously takes up the mantle of the prophetic tradition of her Jewish foremothers. This is a reminder that Mary not only received this tradition, she also passed it on. As Jesus’s mom, she was his first and most important teacher…she was probably the one who taught him to advocate for the downtrodden and outcast.
Through Mary, I remember that perhaps the most important revolutionary work for social equity is not protest in the streets, but rather the quiet, day-to-day work of raising a child and teaching him or her to be kind to others. Mary’s song also calls me to remember the importance of gratitude. Mary reminds me to give thanks, especially this time of year, for all the ways I have been blessed by God and by others. But the blessing Mary receives is, at the same time, a solemn responsibility… to bear and raise Jesus, follow him, and to watch her son die.
Mary’s story teaches me that the abundant blessings I have received are not just for my own sake, but also so that I can serve others, so that I can fulfill my own responsibility, my vocation. I - we - have been blessed with a charge to do God’s work. We have been blessed so that we might be a blessing.
Join me in remembering Mary’s story, our story, the Christian story of social justice as told through the rejoicing of a young woman who knows that God’s Kingdom is coming.
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