Mary made it happen
Luke 1: 46b-55
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
December 17, 2023
The one part about George not being born that always bugged me, that Mary would become what was called “an old maid”, mousy and dowdy, working in a library, as though that was tragic. I think we now know that librarians are superheroes. Which is also true of Mary Hatch Bailey. If it wasn’t for Mary, this story would not happen.
It’s Mary who sets her heart on George and loves him no matter what. It’s Mary who wants to live in the old Granville house and fixes it up. It’s Mary who brings out the honeymoon money to help save the Building and Loan. It’s Mary who sends people out all over town asking the townsfolk to help George.
George needs the inbreaking of God through the guidance of an angel named Clarence to discover that he already has a wonderful life. Mary is the one who makes the wonderful life happen. If anyone deserves to get their wings, it’s Mary.
The same holds true for Mary the mother of Jesus. It was Mary who said “yes” to the angel Gabriel. It was Mary who first risked her life for Jesus. It was Mary who sang a song of joyful justice, in a long line of women who sang songs of how the world will change because God works through the lives of the oppressed and marginalized.
Mary made the joy happen. Not a giddy, happy joy but a joy that propels us forward like a river current. Not a joy of the moment but a deeper joy that can sustains us through a lifetime. Not a joy that wipes away sadness but a joy that sits next to our sadness and our anxiety and our weariness. A joy that invites us to seek out what is possible.
The joy that Mary sings of is one that lifts up the lowly and feeds the hungry with good things. A joy that not only says the world can be different from this, but that it should be different from this. A joy that moves us forward. A joy that says if we are lowly, we will be lifted up. If we are hungry for justice, we will be filled. If we are rich, we will be sent away empty-handed, which is a joyful thing to participate in the healing and restoration of God’s creation. If we are questioning our place in God’s kin-dom, we need to know we are blessed, favored, and loved as we are. And Mary made it happen. Thanks be to God.
Benediction – enfleshed.com
The Holy waits for us in the morning like a cup of tea.
They wait for us in the day like the bridge of a song who wants to be sung.
They wait for us in the evening like a lover.
The World to Come beckons us—do you sense Her invitation?
Let us meet Her with Wild Hope.
Let us meet her with Joy.
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
December 17, 2023
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| Still shot from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". From the last scene at George and Mary's house. Mary and George are surrounded by their children, George's mother and Mary's mother, as they all look at Uncle Billy. |
Every year, some time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, I watch the beloved film It’s a Wonderful Life and inflict it on my family. I say that only because no one loves it like I do. Perhaps because of its popularity the film has received a fair amount of criticism, that the source of George’s angst is that he only thinks of himself, or that the only official Black character in the movie is Annie, the Bailey’s housekeeper, or that the movie is more depressing than uplifting.
The one part about George not being born that always bugged me, that Mary would become what was called “an old maid”, mousy and dowdy, working in a library, as though that was tragic. I think we now know that librarians are superheroes. Which is also true of Mary Hatch Bailey. If it wasn’t for Mary, this story would not happen.
It’s Mary who sets her heart on George and loves him no matter what. It’s Mary who wants to live in the old Granville house and fixes it up. It’s Mary who brings out the honeymoon money to help save the Building and Loan. It’s Mary who sends people out all over town asking the townsfolk to help George.
George needs the inbreaking of God through the guidance of an angel named Clarence to discover that he already has a wonderful life. Mary is the one who makes the wonderful life happen. If anyone deserves to get their wings, it’s Mary.
The same holds true for Mary the mother of Jesus. It was Mary who said “yes” to the angel Gabriel. It was Mary who first risked her life for Jesus. It was Mary who sang a song of joyful justice, in a long line of women who sang songs of how the world will change because God works through the lives of the oppressed and marginalized.
Mary made the joy happen. Not a giddy, happy joy but a joy that propels us forward like a river current. Not a joy of the moment but a deeper joy that can sustains us through a lifetime. Not a joy that wipes away sadness but a joy that sits next to our sadness and our anxiety and our weariness. A joy that invites us to seek out what is possible.
The joy that Mary sings of is one that lifts up the lowly and feeds the hungry with good things. A joy that not only says the world can be different from this, but that it should be different from this. A joy that moves us forward. A joy that says if we are lowly, we will be lifted up. If we are hungry for justice, we will be filled. If we are rich, we will be sent away empty-handed, which is a joyful thing to participate in the healing and restoration of God’s creation. If we are questioning our place in God’s kin-dom, we need to know we are blessed, favored, and loved as we are. And Mary made it happen. Thanks be to God.
Benediction – enfleshed.com
The Holy waits for us in the morning like a cup of tea.
They wait for us in the day like the bridge of a song who wants to be sung.
They wait for us in the evening like a lover.
The World to Come beckons us—do you sense Her invitation?
Let us meet Her with Wild Hope.
Let us meet her with Joy.
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