August 14, 2016

THE FEAST OF ST. MARY the VIRGIN

The Rev. J.D. McQueen, II - All Saints’ Episcopal Church, San Diego, CA

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior"

+++

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior"

v This is Mary saying very simply, “Let my praise show you how good God is.”

v More than anything, she wants to do this by bringing us to Jesus, and today’s psalm gives us a pattern for how she does it.

It begins with a pledge of deep, unceasing praise: “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall ever be in my mouth.”

v It continues “I will glory in the LORD; let the humble hear and rejoice. Proclaim with me the greatness of the LORD; let us exalt his Name together.”

v So we see that this joy and thanksgiving isn’t just a private conversation with God, it’s a proclamation and an invitation.

The whole purpose of their testimony is that others will be encouraged and join in, and draw near to God themselves.

v “Don’t be ashamed, don’t be scared, he saved me when I called to him.”

v “Taste and see that the LORD is good.”

v “Fear the LORD…those who fear him lack nothing.”

This is exactly what Mary as our Blessed Mother is all about – showing us who God really is and encouraging us along the way to him.

Why do we need this? Because God often loves us more than we want to be loved.

v You see, we all have expectations for ourselves, and hopes, dreams, and desires for our lives, and that’s fine.

v I think creating these little worlds is a totally natural expression of being made in the image of God, the Creator of all worlds.

But what we have to remember is that Jesus knows what we were created to be, so he has only the highest expectations for us.

v And since he knows what God actually promises, he has even greater hopes, dreams, and desires for our lives than we do and, not only that, they’re more precious to him than they are to us.

v We know this because often when our dreams seem too difficult or costly, we’ll try to be more “realistic,” and settle for something less.

v But when Jesus saw how far away we were from the very best, he died a horrific death so that it might still be ours.

Now, in our best moments, knowing that we’re loved that much moves us to tears and stirs everything in us, so that we pledge not to let anything hold us back from becoming what Jesus sees in us.

v But what about when our worlds collide, and God’s reality breaks into our fantasy?

v How do we respond when we’re confronted by the fact that the new life God promises only comes through the death of some dream or desire?

At those times, it’s easy to turn away from what God is doing and reject it, or look for a way to compromise.

v We’re like the block of marble that would be satisfied to remain a shapeless lump instead of a great masterpiece if it meant that the sculptor would just stop hammering, chipping, and polishing.

v The demands of Jesus’ love keep us from seeing beauty of it, and our faith shrinks and enthusiasm fades.

This is when we need Mary to come with the tenderness of a mother and “magnify” the Lord for us.

v We need her to put a comforting arm around and say, “No, no, look a little closer,” and show us more than we could have seen on our own.

v Jesus gives us Mary to help us learn to receive God’s love, just as she did at the Annunciation, and to form our hearts just as she did his.

How does the Blessed Mother do this?

v When difficult things come into our lives, she helps us to open our hearts to receive them, just as she pondered and treasured the hard and strange things God sent into hers.

v When we feel empty, just like at the wedding at Cana, she leads Jesus to what is lacking in us, and she encourages us, like the servants there, to do whatever he tells us.

v When we struggle to carry our cross, seeming to fall again and again, Mary rushes to comfort us just as she comforted Jesus as he carried his.

v When we suffer the little deaths of plans or dreams, she stays close beside us, just as she stayed at the foot of the cross.

Most importantly, through all these things she shows us the goodness of God’s love and teaches us her song of praise, so that we too can invite the whole world join in.

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior"