Mary.
The Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Sunday 9th September 2012, 9 am.
Magnificat!
The scripture which we have just heard is explosive, a ticking timebomb! The Song of Mary is not a piece of pious poetry but a song
of revolution! It is asking to change the world: to turn back the
powerful, promote the humble and give strength to those who are
regularly swept aside.
The woman who prayed these words was indeed a dangerous
woman! She spells out an agenda for hope from a position of
powerlessness. Those who start revolutions are rarely powerful.
The biblical tradition of virginity stood for the impossible:
humiliation, failure and futility yet in her prayer she can see beyond
the horizons of all this waste to a wider, fairer landscape blessed
by God. No wonder us Anglican clergy are bidden to pray this
prayer daily at Evensong!
Now I am not talking here about the narrow issues of gay rights or
women bishops but a much wider agenda of transformation, global
change – the sort of change which only a good God could
mastermind. And it is happening now and you and I are in the thick
of it.
Paralympics.
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Paralympic athletics. It
was a wonderful experience and quite unexpected. Th sense of
joy and well-being was palpable! GB is learning so much more
from the Paralympics and it does seem to be an acted parable for
Mary’s Magnificat. As a nation, a culture, we are rapidly learning
to value disability and own it for ourselves. East London is leading
the world in a genuine celebration of humanity in all its forms. I
came away reflecting on my own disabilities. Truly, God ‘is lifting
up the lowly, questioning the proud and giving those in need just
what they deserve’.
But something else was shown to me in that Olympic stadium. It
happened during the 100 metres heats for partially sighted
athletes. Several of them ran with a guide by their sides – another
fully sighted runner who wore an awkward bib and was attached to
the athlete by a small elastic band carried in the hand. It was clear
that they had endured the same harsh training regime. They ran in
step; their arms pumped away at exactly the same speed but as
the pair approached the tape, the guide let go for the athlete to
break the tape alone.
This powerful sight struck me as a metaphor of Mary and of
Parenthood and of this Cathedral, whose Patronal Festival we
celebrate today: of Mary and Parenthood as she gives life, energy
and freedom to her son, together with that painful letting go which
every parent has to endure. It stands as a metaphor for this
cathedral as the Mother Church of the diocese: leading by
example, setting a pace, spawning clergy with the bishop and
finally letting them go with a point of reference in their hearts.
Influence.
The influence of this Magnificent, this revolutionary song of Mary
can be seen played out at the Olympics and especially the
Paralympics - the friendly games -in the way the competitors treat
one another as well as the buoyant attitude of the volunteers and
ambassadors. The athletes have overcome significant setbacks
with the help of many folk who were determined to turn the
attitudes of even the sporting world upside down. Many of us hope
that this revolutionary attitude will continue for a long time and
perhaps even influence premiership soccer.
The revolution is seen in parents who give their children roots and
wings and it is seen also in the generosity of God who expects
ordinary folk to do extraordinarily well.
Mary offered her body – not just her fine words - to change the
world through the birth of her son. Now God expects us to live out
that revolutionary song in our own way: ordinary people with
extraordinary expectations. It might just be that the further proof of
your extraordinary work might be seen in Back to Church Sunday
with the chair next to you occupied by a friend of yours. Amen.