In our gospel reading for today, Mary, the mother of Jesus, gets together with her relative Elizabeth to talk about their pregnancy experiences. And Mary sees in God's choice of her as the mother of Jesus, confirmation of God's preference for the humiliated. The powerful, the rich, and the proud of the world are being brought down by God, says Mary, and the hungry and the lowly are being lifted up. Elizabeth, the prominent wife of Zechariah the temple priest, responds with humility at the presence of Jesus, through the influence of the Holy Spirit. And she gives hope to the rest of us powerful, rich, and proud of the world....
Where were you on the afternoon of Saturday, September 24th, 1977? I was at my 10th birthday party at the Meadowlark Cinema in Edmonton. The theatre had oversold the tickets, and so my friends and I were sitting on the floor AHEAD of the front row of seats, and our heads were rapidly moving from side to side, because we were trying to read text as it scrolled up the huge screen. What did the text say? It said, “Episode IV – A New Hope. It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.” Yup, the original Star Wars, and wow, what a movie! Pioneering special effects...for 1977...amazing casting, and incredible story-telling. It might still be the most powerful of the type of movie that critics call “feel-good” movies, ones where you leave the theatre all upbeat and energized. When Luke, in his tiny X-wing fighter, beats the overwhelming odds, and blows up the Empire's Death Star ultimate weapon into a trillion pieces of space debris, for some reason, we can't help but cheer.
Maybe we feel good about this, because by instinct, we know that this is a fulfillment of God's plan. All through the history of God's chosen people, whenever they were oppressed by an evil empire, God rescued them, despite the overwhelming odds. And whenever God's chosen people set THEMSELVES up as powerful, rich, and proud, God brought in someone else to take them down. Even in God's choices concerning where and to whom his Son would be born, God shows preference to the little guy, the little town of Bethlehem, and the unknown, unmarried fiancee of a carpenter from the nowhere Galilean village of Nazareth. God expresses his preference for the humble – even for the humiliated.
And that makes Mary cheer! As soon as Elizabeth has confirmed for her that she is carrying the child of God, Mary bursts into spontaneous song, and she sings the praises of the God who picks the lowly over the powerful. The little guy wins again! And thanks to God, the little guy will always win in the end. The Christmas story is the feel-good story of the year!
But for us, there's one small problem. We're not Luke...here in Alberta, WE ARE the evil galactic empire...just ask the delegates who were at the recent COP 29 conference. We ARE, in the eyes of many in the world, the powerful, the rich, and the proud. And even if we don't have evil intentions in our hearts, we are benefiting from past evil actions that have taken place. Depending on who you listen to, our ancestors either improved this land by the sweat of their brow into what's now the breadbasket of the world, OR they blatantly stole this land from the original residents and started the process of cultural genocide. Depending on who you listen to, our oil industry has made abundant energy available cleanly and safely, OR it has raped and pillaged the environment and gouged consumers, while feeling entitled to the highest wages in the country. Depending on who you listen to, our small businesses are continuing to provide excellent service to shrinking markets, OR they are a tax-dodge that don't deserve to stay open during a pandemic. It is growing clearer by the day, that the rest of Canada, and the rest of the world, is seeing it as a feel-good story, that WE are being taken down in the current political and economic situation. And depending on who you listen to, you might think God would agree with them. I would be more inclined to agree too, if the people BENEFITING from our take down were LITTLE GUYS, and not the MORE powerful, MORE rich, and MORE proud....
Our gospel reading today gives hope to those of us who are powerful, rich, and proud, as shown through the actions of Elizabeth. Elizabeth had every reason to act powerful, rich, and proud, as the wife of one of the temple priests. She could have responded with disgust to unwed, pregnant Mary, who, by the law at the time, should have been executed by stoning. But the presence of Jesus in Mary's womb, and the influence of the Holy Spirit, allowed Elizabeth to place herself lower than Mary, to act with humility and respect, to her Lord, and to the one who carries him. Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth found solidarity with lowly Mary, and Elizabeth blessed her.
We also, have had every reason to act powerful, rich, and proud, living where we are. But in humility, Jesus, God's Son, was willing to be born in a manger and to be killed on a cross, and in our baptism into Jesus, we take upon ourselves, his humility. We too, are guided by the Holy Spirit to consider ourselves lower. We act with humility and respect to all those who carry our Lord – which means we act with humility and respect to everyone we encounter...even the person we encounter who cheers when we are taken down...even the person we encounter in the bathroom mirror.
And in humility and respect, we then can become part of God's action in the world – to lift up the truly lowly, and fill the truly hungry with good things. We work from within, to use what's left of our economic strength, generously for our community. And we work from without, to change corrupt systems that are unjust, so that the blessings of God are available to everyone. Especially the blessing of receiving, and knowing, and carrying Jesus.
Gracious God, we thank you for the level of prosperity we still enjoy, even as we repent of any unjust actions which brought it to us. Do not let prosperity lead us to arrogance, and keep our hearts generous, in Jesus name. Amen.