{"id":1039,"date":"2016-12-11T19:41:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-11T19:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/11\/justice-seeking-mothersbased-on-1-samuel-21-10\/"},"modified":"2020-02-15T19:11:52","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T19:11:52","slug":"justice-seeking-mothersbased-on-1-samuel-21-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/11\/justice-seeking-mothersbased-on-1-samuel-21-10\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cJustice-Seeking Mothers\u201dbased on 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and Luke 1:46b-55"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nIt
\nhas been said about Mary, \u201cNo woman in scripture is more honored,
\nblessed as she was ‘above all women’ (Luke 1:42), and she holds an
\niconic status shared by no other woman in Christianity. Through the
\naccounts of Jesus\u2019 birth in Matthew and Luke, Mary is one of the
\nfirst biblical characters many children encounter. Along with Eve,
\nMary is integral to shaping how Christians understand the nature of
\nwomanhood and motherhood.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>
\n What is said is true. \u00a0Mary, along with Eve, has both shaped how
\nwomen are understood in Christianity AND the inverse: perceptions of
\nMary (and Eve) are indicators of how Christianity is understanding
\nwomen. \u00a0How Mary is seen is a bell-weather for how women are seen.
\nCary Gibson, the author of the opening quote, also says, \u201cMary is a
\ncontainer into which we pour ideas of what it means to be a woman. In
\nturn we then draw from her image ideas about our own womanhood.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nMost
\ncommonly, Mary is said to be meek and mild. \u00a0Usually, it is her
\nsubservience that sets her up as the ideal woman. \u00a0The pedestal of
\nwomanhood that Mary most frequently occupies as the ideal woman is
\nthe pedestal of the selfless mother, the one who exists simply so her
\nson can exist. \u00a0She’s faithful, sweet, and biddable. \u00a0There is,
\nhowever, one issue with this common perception Mary: it completely
\nignores the words of Mary found in the Gospel of Luke. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nNow,
\nI’m not saying that I really think some literate scribe was following
\nMary around during her pregnancy to record her insights for
\nposterity. \u00a0However, I am saying we have a rather long monologue
\nattributed to Mary that defies the way she is most commonly defined.
\nThe meek and mild ideal does not match the actual Gospel. \u00a0The myths
\naround her are more about what Christian women have been told to be
\nthan they are about the actual stories about and words of Mary.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nTherefore,
\nit seems worth exploring the words attributed to Mary. \u00a0Whether the
\nwords are what Mary said, or something Mary could have said, or
\nsimply what it made sense to someone that the Mother of Jesus WOULD
\nhave said, they are attributed to her. \u00a0Since the general perception
\nof Mary is based on 20 centenaries of trying to put women in their
\nplace, and I’d prefer to get to know Mary as presented in the Gospel.
\n It may be that we can take a look at Mary-the-ideal-woman and get a
\ndifferent answer about what it means to be an ideal woman.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nFor
\nstarters, these words are not meek, nor mild. \u00a0In fact, Cary Gibson
\nsays Mary, \u201cvoiced a defiant and righteous hope in the face of
\nviolence and injustice.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a>
\n \u00a0It is true. \u00a0These words express a HARDCORE faith and a great ideal
\nfor women to seek to live up to. \ud83d\ude42 \u00a0Men too. \u00a0This is the sort of
\nfaith we can all aspire to!<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nFirst
\nof all, Mary’s song is deeply rooted in her faith tradition. \u00a0It
\nechoes Hannah’s song of celebration after Hannah fulfilled her
\npromise and brought her son Samuel to Eli to serve him as a priest.
\nIt also echoes with phrases from the Psalms. \u00a0The version of this
\nsong that we have is a work of theological and scriptural brilliance
\nand sophistication. \u00a0Hannah’s song is powerful, but reflects a less
\nmature faith. \u00a0Hannah yearns for God to smash the powerful, deride
\nher enemies, and break the mighty. \u00a0In her mind the powerless are
\nlifted up BY making the powerful small. \u00a0There is violence in her
\nimagery, even as there is celebration of the goodness of God and of
\nher sense of becoming more significant in the world.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nMary’s
\nsong, though, is not vengeful. \u00a0She also speaks of lifting up the
\npoor and lonely. \u00a0Like Hannah she speaks about God’s power, but she
\nalso adds God’s mercy. \u00a0Mary speaks of lowering the mighty, but the
\nlowering isn’t violent or dangerous for them: \u00a0the proud are
\n\u201cscattered in the thoughts of their hearts\u201d which sounds like a
\nway to be more humble; the powerful step down from their thrones (but
\nshe doesn’t suggest they’re harmed afterward); the rich are sent away
\nempty \u2013 as if they don’t need any more. \u00a0Hannah had the the
\nformerly \u201cfull\u201d \u00a0\u201chire themselves out for bread.\u201d \u00a0Mary is
\ninterested in lifting up the lowly and removing their oppression, not
\nin oppressing the oppressors. \u00a0She is a actually meeker and milder
\nthan Hannah, Hannah’s is pretty rough. \u00a0Mary is simply less violent!<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nHannah
\nspeaks of her victory, Mary speaks of being treated with God’s favor.
\n While both are grateful for the child they are able to nurture, and
\nwhile both express incredible gratitude to God and deep theological
\nreflections, they have different energies. \u00a0The insertion of material
\nfrom the Psalms into Hannah’s original poem changes it into a more
\ngracious piece. \u00a0One scholar found that in addition to the source
\nmaterial of Hannah’s poem, the song of Mary includes 7 pieces of
\ndifferent Psalms, as well as a quote each from Deuteronomy, Job,
\nMicah, and Isaiah. \u00a0By that scholar’s reckoning all of the words of
\nMary’s song are attributable to Hebrew Bible quotations.4<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nMary’s
\nsong starts in the specific. \u00a0She is grateful to be useful to God,
\nhumbly aware of her status as a poor woman in her society, and
\nattentive to the change of her status because of God’s favor. \u00a0She
\nattributes her life change to God’s greatness, and she praises God.
\nShe expresses who God is: merciful,
\nconsistent, strong, and powerful. \u00a0She talks about a God who cares
\nabout the lowly,
\nand feeds the hungry with GOOD food.
\n Her song makes another journey outward, celebrating God’s care for
\nall of the Jews and then attributing God’s care to God’s merciful
\nnature and God’s promises. \u00a0She moves from celebrating God’s work for
\nher, to celebrating God’s work for the vulnerable, to celebrating
\nGod’s work for all her people. \u00a0It is as if she is expanding her
\ngratitude in increasingly wide circles.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nWhile
\nit is unlikely to be factual, this text suggests that Mary knew her
\nscriptures well enough to combine them creatively into a truly
\nbeautiful and majestic song celebrating God WITHOUT demeaning anyone
\nelse. \u00a0It suggests that her humility was real, but it wasn’t a form
\nof self-deprecation. \u00a0It says she was genuinely honored to be able to
\nserve God and be useful in forming the world in God’s kindom of
\nshalom. \u00a0She was delighted and amazed to be chosen. \u00a0She recognized
\nthe depth of the blessing she received, seemingly without thinking
\nthat it made her more important than others. \u00a0She said she was
\nblessed, and was amazed that people would remember her as blessed.
\nThat indicates she didn’t think she’d done anything right or worthy,
\nit was God’s choice not her worthiness that mattered. \u00a0Her gratitude
\nwas expansive and celebratory and still focused on lifting up the
\nlowly and attentive to the hungry. \u00a0She kept her head!<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThe
\nMary of this song is wise, strong, compassionate, creative, humble,
\nand grateful. \u00a0She knows and celebrates a God who is a fierce
\nadvocate of justice. \u00a0John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, in their
\nbook \u201cThe First Christmas\u201d point out that each of the Gospels
\nstart with a \u201cGospel in miniature\u201d (with the possible exception
\nof Mark which starts at a gallop and just keeps going!). \u00a0Luke 1 and
\n2, which likely do NOT represent authentic memories of things that
\nreally happened, DO represent themes of the Gospel, understanding of
\nJesus, foreshadowing of things to come, and ways to see how God is
\nknown in the Gospel. \u00a0Luke pays particular attention to women \u2013 as
\nwe can see here where Mary gets a prolonged monologue \u2013 as well as
\nto the poor and vulnerable. \u00a0We can also see that here in the words
\nMary speaks. \u00a0The writer of Luke, and\/or the Christian tradition,
\nand\/or the editors who came later attribute these words to Mary
\nlargely to help those of us who came later to understand her son.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nNow,
\nI don’t want anyone to think that I’m disparaging Hannah’s song. \u00a0Her
\nsong is FIERCE and profound, and reflects an era one whole millennia
\nbefore Mary’s. \u00a0Hannah, as well, sought justice. \u00a0She sought it for
\nherself and she sought it for all of God’s people. She understood God
\nto be one who cares about the poor, the hungry, the feeble, the
\nbarren, the low, and the needy. \u00a0That is a reflection of the unique
\ntradition of Judaism, from a pretty early time. \u00a0Other ancient
\npeoples believed in god and goddesses. \u00a0The Israelites were unique,
\nhowever, in believing in a God who cared about how they treated each
\nother, and in a God who cared about the people who had the least
\npower and influence. \u00a0There is a constant tension in the Bible
\nbetween this belief \u2013 in a God who cares for the poor and lowly \u2013
\nand the human tendency to prefer the rich and powerful. \u00a0Hannah
\nreflects the God who cares for the poor and lowly without being
\npulled toward the rich and powerful at all. \u00a0Then Mary manages to
\ntake it a step further and acknowledge a God who cares for everyone.
\nThey sought justice, and believed in a God who wanted justice. \u00a0This
\nis our radical tradition. \u00a0This is the wonder of worshiping a God of
\ncompassion.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nThose
\nsons of those women took their justice-seeking natures and their
\nunderstandings of the God of Compassion, and changed the world. \u00a0We
\nmostly know about the mothers because of the sons. \u00a0Samuel anointed
\nkings. \u00a0Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and
\ntold parables that still confound us today. \u00a0Both sons changed the
\nworld. \u00a0Both mothers are presented as sources of wisdom for their
\nsons. \u00a0Their stories are preludes to their sons stories, and yet I am
\nso grateful that the Bible gives them voices and songs and stories!
\nThey are not ONLY vessels through which their sons come to be, they
\nare interesting in their own right.\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nI
\ndo wish for all of us to be able to be a bit like these justice
\nseeking mothers. \u00a0And if we are going to hold up Mary as the ideal,
\nthen I hope it takes the form of being moved to sing our \u00a0gratitude
\nto God and celebrating the wonder of God’s good work in the world. \u00a0I
\nhope we can become so steeped in our faith tradition that we can use
\nit in creative ways that bring more caring, compassion, and justice
\nto our tradition. \u00a0I hope that we can see and name the goodness of
\nour lives without taking ourselves too seriously. \u00a0And I do hope that
\nwhen push comes to shove we are more like Mary than like Hannah, and
\nthat we can hope for the transformation of oppressors \u2013 not the
\noppression of them. \u00a0I hope we too can always remember the people of
\nGod who are struggling the most, and find ways to help lift them up.
\nI hope we can be part of our tradition that remembers God as a God of
\ncompassion for the least, the last, the lost and the lonely. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\nIf
\nMary is the ideal, and she seems to be well set up to be the ideal,
\nthen let’s seek to be like her: \u00a0fierce, grateful, and brilliant. \u00a0
\nAmen\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n\t1<\/a>
\n\tCary Gibson, \u201cMary, Jesus’ Mother\u201d in an email from The Common
\n\tEnglish Bible send by Abingdon Press on December 2nd<\/sup>,
\n\t2016.<\/p>\n

2<\/a>Ibid.<\/p>\n

3<\/a>Ibid.<\/p>\n

4<\/a>Joseph
\n\tA. Fitzmeyer \u201cThe Gospel According to Luke I-IX\u201d in the The
\n\tAnchor Bible Series (Doubleday and Co.: Garden City, NY, 1981) p
\n\t356-357.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron<\/p>\n

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady<\/p>\n

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305<\/p>\n

Pronouns: she\/her\/hers<\/p>\n

http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n

December 11, 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been said about Mary, \u201cNo woman in scripture is more honored, blessed as she was ‘above all women’ … Continue reading \u201cJustice-Seeking Mothers\u201dbased on 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and Luke 1:46b-55<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[34,38,28,39,33,86,805,808,809,92,804,807,806,56,608,810],"class_list":["post-1039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-advent","tag-fierce","tag-hannah","tag-how-christianity-sees-women","tag-magnificat","tag-marys-song","tag-mother-mary-was-hardcore","tag-not-passive","tag-schenectady","tag-subversive-women-sermon-series","tag-theologically-sophisticated-12-year-olds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1039"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1248,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039\/revisions\/1248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}