Sermon by Revd Caroline Risdon
15 August 2020 Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary

May I speak in the name of the Living God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
 
Virgin Mother, Second Eve, Theotokos, Queen of heaven, Woman of Valor, Mater Dolorosa, Mediatrix, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mariyam, Black Madonna, Mary of Nazareth. All of these portrayals and more have been applied to Mary over the centuries. She has been recognised as both virgin and mother, warrior and weeper, mediator and model, oppressor and oppressed. She is cast as both black and white, rich and poor, herioc and humble, powerful and powerless.
 
But have we ever been able to get past the scant Biblical detail and the overwhelming Church tradition to understand something of the real woman? Have you ever imagined sitting alone in your kitchen, sharing a cup of coffee with Mary? What would you ask her? What would you most want her to reveal to you?
 
On this day when we celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary, I think it is helpful to trace Mary's life through the Bible. Let's try to flesh out the brief mentions of Mary with our shared human experiences.
 
The first time we meet Mary, she is a teenager, seemingly minding her own business at home when an Angel of the Lord frightens her by arriving and announcing that she will carry the Son of God. She immediately goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who the Angel tells her is also pregnant by the power of God. We can imagine the teenage Mary thinking “now this really is miraculous because Elizabeth is really old!” Elizabeth is the only one who could possibly understand what Mary has been through. When she sees Mary and greets her with joy and recognition as the mother of the Lord, it prompts Mary to burst into song. The Magnificat is about God looking on Mary's circumstances and helping her. When she says, surely all generations will call me blessed, she is moving into her role as the mother of God.
 
Or so it seems. By the time Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem, that song must seem like a distant memory. The atmosphere is quiet and tense. She is left to give birth in the most awful circumstances. And then a group of rough and smelly shepherds arrive. I imagine Mary found this reassuring, for the shepherds have also received an angelic message from God, recognising who Jesus is. With joy, Mary and Joseph take their baby to the Temple to dedicate him to the Lord. There Simeon and Anna once more recognise Jesus as the Son of God. But her delight is tempered by the words of Simeon that a sword will pierce her own heart.
 
 
When we next meet Mary, Jesus is a toddler. She and Joseph have to pack and flee from Pharoah, who intends to kill all Jewish male children of her son's age. They become refugees; at risk and in danger; foreigners; not knowing whether they will be safe, find shelter and food and work. Is this it, she may be wondering, is this the sword that will pierce my heart?
 
About 10 years later, we now meet Mary the woman in her late 20's or early 30's, travelling home from the passover festival in Jerusalem. Amidst the caravan of people setting up camp for the night, we can imagine her casual question- where's Jesus? Has anyone seen him? First the irritation, then the cold wave of fear and dread, then the panic. Is this it? The sword again. They return to Jerusalem and after 3 heartwrenching days find Jesus in the Temple. We can only imagine what is said out of the hearing of the learned men of the Temple!
 
And so to Jesus' adult life, by which time Mary would be in her 40's or 50's. A small town, poor, Palestinian Widow. Is she a bit of a busybody- getting involved when her friends run out of wine at their Wedding? Did she feel great pride seeing Jesus travel around and preach and heal people? Then it all seems to go wrong- Jesus claims to be a prophet, akin to Elijah and Elisha; the people of Nazareth are enraged and drive him out of the town. These people are Mary's neighbours and friends, she has known them her whole life. The rejection must have been hurtful and humiliating. And I can imagine that Mary was conflicted herself- is Jesus who he says he is? At some point she believes him and becomes a disciple in her own right.
 
Our final images of Mary have to do with Jesus in agony on the Cross. It doesn't take much to think of her, fretful and powerless at Jesus' trial; bowed down with abject sorrow at the foot of the Cross. Unable to bear looking at Jesus in agony, equally unable to leave. How could she understand it- this boy, gifted to her by God, now dying a criminal's death? And, yes, the sword piercing her own heart. We don't know where Mary is when she hears about the resurrection as no appearances to her are recorded. She must have been shocked, thrilled, hopeful, doubtful. And I bet she moved heaven and earth to find him again- I hope she did.
 
Tracing Mary's life, and remembering the experiences she has had, is I hope enlightening. It certainly gives us pause to consider her as a real woman. Even though we can imagine the phrase 'a sword will pierce her own heart' featuring in many of Mary's experiences, I don't get the sense that she was the victim of a terrible life. Perhaps our lingering memory of Mary, the mother and disciple of Jesus, should be her great faith; her great yes, her prayer and ours; 'here I am a servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your will.'

AMEN