MARY: BEARER OF GOD’S PAIN AND GLORY
(Sermon by the Rev. Canon Dr. Fred
Vergara, St. James in Elmhurst, New York 12/20/2014)
The world’s
a stage and we are like actors and actresses in a godly play.
A few years
ago, I took a course on acting at Stella Adler School in Manhattan. I guess it
was one of my fantasies should I retire or lose my job, I would venture in
Broadway or the movies. Actually, the course included voice lessons and I
needed that in preaching. I often use my throat instead of my diaphragm and I
needed to correct myself.
The course
on acting included “scene imagination” and a lot of memorization. When you are
acting on stage, you also need to deal with stage fright. So it was not easy. I
remember a friend of mine who was cast in a role of an extra. All he needed to
do was to simply hold the saddle of the horse and when the rider says,
“Sebastian, is the horse ready?” all he needed to say was “It is!” Well, there
was nothing complicated about the role and not much memorization. But when the
actual stage play happened, he was filled with fright. So when the rider asked,
“Sebastian, is the horse ready?” He coyly said, “Is it?”
William
Shakespeare, the most famous s playwright in history wrote that “all the world’s
a stage and we are all like actors and actresses in a play. We have our
entrances and we have our exits.” We play various roles: priest, husband,
brother, sister, friend, son, daughter, employee, boss, rich man, poor man,
beggar.
Sometimes
and in some mysterious ways, we are cast in a very special role by God Himself.
The casting is oftentimes a great privilege and at other times, a terrifying
responsibility. That is the story of Mary, the young virgin from Nazareth.
Thousands of
years before Christ, the people of Israel heard a prophecy that a virgin would
conceive and bear and son and he shall be called “Emmanuel, “ God-with us.
(Isaiah 7:14). All over Israel, hundreds of young girls might have wished the
prophecy would fall on them. But it fell on Mary. The bible account is
summarized in this angelus: ”The angel of the Lord appeared unto Mary” and gave
her the good news.
The Luke
version told of the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary and saying, “Greetings, O
favored one, the Lord is with you.” Mary was perplexed by the greeting but Gabriel
again said, “Do not be afraid, Mary for you have found favor with God. You will
conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus. He will be
great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”Mary asked, “But how can this
be since I am a Virgin?” Gabriel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; the child you bear will be
holy and will be called the Son of God!’
Mary, whom
scholars guesstimated to be between 12 to 15 years old said, without much
thought, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according
to your word.”
From the
outset, this entrance into the stage play was amazing! Who would not want to be
in Mary’s role? But wait a minute. There are some problems here:
First
problem: Mary was engaged to Joseph, the carpenter. What would Joseph do
if he found out that the innocent looking girl he was to marry was pregnant
with child?
Second
problem: In the culture in which they lived, the punishment for adultery was
death by stoning. In fact, in the culture of the Pharisaic Jews, the husband
himself and the father of the woman, would lead or participate in the stoning
of an adulterous bride. How could she ever explain in the context of a conservative
patriarchal society that she was pregnant out of human wedlock but impregnated
by Jehovah?
The Bible
tells us that the angel dealt with Joseph, who upon knowing the truth, wanted
to divorce her quietly. Joseph was a
good-natured man and would not want to lead or participate in the stoning of
the woman he loved. The Bible tells us that in a dream, the angel explained to Joseph the nature of Mary’s
pregnancy and advise him, to take Mary as his wife and not to abandon her. At
this point, Joseph was given a role in this godly play: to be foster father to
Jesus, which incidentally, he did so well.
 |
| Ein Kerem, five miles from Jerusalem |
But the gossip
mill in the village might be hard to handle and Joseph and Mary had to leave
Nazareth to hide in the place of her cousin, Elizabeth in Ein Kerem, about five
miles from Jerusalem. In Ein Kerem, the traditional
greetings are sung and when Elizabeth saw Mary, she sang as in Roman Catholic
prayers, “Hail, Mary full of grace; the
Lord is with thee, blessed are thee amongst women and blessed is the fruit of
your womb Jesus.”
And Mary responded by singing the great Magnificat:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord! My Spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he has looked with favor on his lowly
servant and from this day, all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty
has done great things for me and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who
fear him from every generation; he has shown the strength of this arm, he has
brought down the proud and has lifted up the lowly.
So it was an
amazing and wonderful story but with lots of twists and turns. The calling was
a rare privilege but also a terrifying responsibility. At the birth of Jesus
back Bethlehem of Nazareth, there was no room in the inn, so the baby had to
share his crib with the animals. Three kings visited the baby and one of them
gave the gift of gold, instantly making the poor baby so rich! Then King Herod,
insecure about his kingship, started inquiring about this news about a baby
king, and sought to kill him. The holy family again had to flee to Egypt, as
Herod went about killing the baby boys on holy innocents’ day.
At the death
of Herod the Holy Family went back to Nazareth as the young Jesus assisted his
father, Joseph in making furniture, particular the yokes of oxen. Meantime in
the river Jordan, John was baptizing with water and proclaiming that the one
who is coming, “whose sandals I am not worthy to untie,” was coming and will
baptize believers with the Holy Spirit. In that instance Jesus appeared and as
he was baptized with water, the heavens opened and the Holy spirit came upon
him and the voice was heard in heaven, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am
well pleased.”
The then
Spirit led Jesus to be tempted in the wilderness where he triumphed against all
temptations known to human beings. And when he returned to the scene, with
power, he went about Galilee healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind,
cleansing the lepers and liberating those oppressed by demons.
But the
Pharisaic religious society rejected Jesus and accused him of blasphemy. They
plotted to kill him. Finally, they were able to convince the Roman colonial government
to sentence him for inciting a riot. Judas, one of the twelve apostles betrayed
him; and Peter, his most senior apostle denied him. After torture, beatings and
death march, he finally reached Calvary
where he was nailed to the cross between two thieves.
And where
was Mary in all these? She was there feeding Jesus when he was a suckling
child, she was there teaching Jesus how to sing the Psalms, she was there coaxing
Jesus to make miracles, like changing water into wine. And yes, she was there
at the foot of the cross!
Now there was a man in
Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the
consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would
not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.
When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of
the Law required, Simeon took him in
his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you
may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes
have seen your salvation, which
you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for
revelation to the Gentiles, and
the glory of your people Israel.”
“A sword
will pierce your own soul.”This grim prophecy was fulfilled on the cross. As
the son suffered on the cross, the mother agonized at the foot of the cross. As
the body of Jesus was pierced by the spear, so the soul of Mary was pierced by
the sword. In the whole drama of human redemption, Mary became the theotokus, the bearer of God’s pain and
glory. She acted excellently the godly play for our salvation. The blood of
Jesus cleansed us from sin and his death opened to us the gate of eternal life,
the mission of Jesus was accomplished and Mary became a holy accomplice. The
piercing of her soul was the sacrificial part of her role as the bearer of
God’s Son!
As we
prepare to celebrate Christmas, let us thank Mary and remember all the mothers
who likewise bear the joy, the pain, and finally the hope for their children’s
glorification. Surely, the Almighty has done great things for Mary. Blessed is she among women and blessed is the
fruit of her womb, Jesus. Amen.
(Note: Sunday Worship at St. James
Church, 84-07 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373. 9:30 AM Chinese; 11:00 AM English;
1:30 P.M. Spanish. Call 718-592-2555 when in New York)
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