Pentecost: Ordinary Women: Mary of Nazareth

This week we come to the end of our series about Ordinary Women by meeting Mary of Nazareth, mother of Jesus. Over the past couple months, we’ve looked at reformers, saints, and Bible heroines. What they have in common is that they said ‘yes’ when God spoke to their hearts. They felt the same Spirit that was present at Pentecost move them to do surprising things. They each, in their own way invited God into their life. The George Herbert poem Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life, is one way to offer your life to God.

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
such a way as gives us breath,
such a truth as ends all strife,
such a life as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
such a light as shows a feast,
such a feast as mends in length,
such a strength as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
such a joy as none can move,
such a love as none can part,
such a heart as joys in love.

This past weekend was filled with many images. I was part of the team that worked on the Ordination of Bishop Hunn as the 11^th Bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande. It was a busy and yet uplifting trio of days (tridium, if you will) that was the culmination of over a year’s work. My mind is still processing the ministry, joy, music, worship, community, and glory of the weekend. With Herbert I can praise with a heart that ‘joys in love’.

I wonder if Mary of Nazareth was filled with similar emotions at the highlights of her life. She experienced great highs and lows of emotion, as we all do. It all started when she said ‘yes’ to God. We first meet Mary as a teen girl confronted with the angel Gabriel who has an astonishing message: ‘you are going to bear the son of God, even though you are not married.’ What must have gone through her mind at that moment? We know she had questions. ‘How can this be?” she asks. Confusion and fear and perhaps some anticipation probably swirled around in her head and heart.

Then she rushes off to see her much older cousin, Elizabeth, who is also pregnant. We might expect that relief, joy, and even prayer flooded over her as she and Elizabeth visited and bonded over their shared miracles. Perhaps she and Elizabeth felt the truth of the second verse of the poem by affirming that God is “strength as makes his guest’. With God’s strength all things are possible.

Nine months later, as she holds the infant Joshua/Jesus in her arms, she is visited by shepherds with stories of angel choirs. Then she ‘ponders all these things in her heart’. What things did she ponder? Adoration, surprise, awe, and like all mothers-love. Surely her heart overflowed:

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
such a joy as none can move,
such a love as none can part,
such a heart as joys in love.

Over 30 years later, she again holds her son’s body. This time as a lifeless corpse. How might she have struggled to reconcile all the images in her life and heart with the death of her child? We can be sure that grief, despair, and fear were among the feelings she felt at that moment.

Then he arose! How does a person comprehend the incomprehensible? Astonishment, fear, confusion, and probably joy came to Mary at that time. We know Thomas had his doubts. Did Mary or the others in that upper room also wonder, at first, if such a thing could really be true? Perhaps it is only then that she knows the truth of the first verse:

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
such a way as gives us breath,
such a truth as ends all strife,
such a life as killeth death.

Saying ‘yes’ to God’s call doesn’t mean that we know all the twists and turns of the journey ahead. Mary didn’t know how her life would be when she agreed to bear the Son of God. She simply had to trust God even when things were frightening or confusing. She could offer praise and adoration in the wonderful times. In the scary times, she could offer her fear and confusion.

Each of us has the same chance. When things are glorious and beautiful, we can offer praise and thanksgiving to God. In the dark times, we can come to God with our fears and doubts. Through it all, we can, as Presiding Bishop Curry reminded the congregation at the ordination, love God and love our neighbor. We are to be the bridge that brings God’s love to the hurting world.

We are called, like the other saints, be instruments of God. As the hands and feet of God to the brokenness around us, we must trust God. We are those who love our neighbor, even when they are ‘different’ than us. The Presiding Bishop suggested a retelling of the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate this. He asked us to imagine that rather than a Samaritan and Jew, it was a Republican and Democrat… A good reminder in this week when we are having elections. It doesn’t matter what labels we put on others, the truth is that each of us is a beloved child of God. We must learn to see each other that way-through the lens of love!

Just like Mary and the other saints we have learned about, we experience a variety of emotions every day. We may find ourselves slipping from joyful praise, to frustration, to prayer, to sorrow, to doubt and back again in the course of a day, or even an hour. The poem by George Herbert reminds us that God is ‘the truth as ends all strife…the life that killeth death’.  

Are there times in your life that resonate with the words of Herbert’s poetry?

Can you use this poem as your prayer when the news is troubling? Or is there another prayer or hymn that helps you remember God is love and God is in charge?