There’s a slightly outdated saying that goes 

“behind every successful man, there stands a woman”. 

Today we have the second of a two-part sermon serieson the hidden women in the Bible:

Women who are hiding in plain sight, right behind the main character of the story.

Normally, Christmas Eve is all about baby Jesus, but frankly, there’s no baby without his mother, Mary.

And so today we’ll discuss faithful Mary as a role model

Now this is easier said than done, 

because in some ways if you focus on Jesus, on the cute baby, well that’s easy, he’s adorable and as that unhelpful carol reminds us 

“no crying he makes”,

But if you focus on Mary, 

Well it gets a bit disturbing, and complicated, 

And you get uncomfortable questions like

What led to the pregnancy? 

What are women’s roles in a male-dominated religion?

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Before we get to Mary, I did want to address one issue.

You may have wondered about our Bible reading translations tonight,

As it is rare to hear feminine imagery and pronouns in church

Wilda Gafney has created a new church reading cycle 

that aims to make Biblical women more visible, 

and to use more inclusive language. 

Her translations can be empowering but also discomforting. 

She cites the problem that using only male language for God 

“reinforces the notion that men are the proper image of God 

and women are secondary.”And reveals that “many if not most, women and girls have not heard themselves identified by their gender as and with the divine 

and for those who have had that experience, 

it has been profoundly moving, …, 

and even sometimes profoundly disturbing.”

In our first reading Jerusalem is described as a nursing, consoling mother, 

And then with a re-gendered expansion 

we have an image of God herself as a comforting mother,

and so we get a Christmas allusion to Mary, 

a mother as an icon of love

nursing her child throughout visits by shepherds and other mortals.

The Psalm translation goes a step further 

by using explicitly feminine pronouns for God, 

which I admit is challenging. 

But the most fascinating reference, 

which is in the original Hebrew, is to the fact that the

V11 

“women proclaiming the good news are a great army”.

Who are these women proclaiming the good news 

who are a great army?

Well in the context, 

these women functioned as town criers in times of war,

Who spread news of victory and celebration.

What comes to mind tonight is

Mary and other early female disciples who weren’t just meek and mild,

But were active in promoting the gospel through word and deed,

However they were silenced by successive generations of male leaders 

who restored the patriarchy.

Such “early” armies of women proclaiming the good news

inspire female church leaders today.

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Which brings us back to Mary

Who I’d like to see as a lot more “fierce” and passionate

Than the way she’s been portrayed as a passive vessel.

We should see her more as a role model with a sense of active agency. 

I mean, she put up with a lot:

pregnant with the stigma of illegitimacy

a displaced person caught in the (MAK) machinations of evil politics

and surviving through it all to be a proclaimer of good news after her son’s death and resurrection.

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Mary is mentioned 12 times in the New Testament.

She was a prophet and kinswoman to Elizabeth, 

the mother of John the Baptist,

She was a political refugee, 

and pious mother of multiple children.

Mary witnessed the execution of her son

And was a disciple of Jesus after Pentecost,

and overall a key figure in God’s plan of salvation.

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The conventional way of describing Mary is as “Mary, meek and mild” and this goes back to the original text from Luke,

Mostly a text that is reactionary to the reality of women’s leadership 

in the early church.

Luke considers Mary as a female model for obedient, 

contemplative, self-sacrificial discipleship, 

She is blessed for her belief as is everyone who hears the word of God and obeys it (11.27-8).

Her submission to God is total and she is a

dependent, contemplative heroine.

Even tonight’s Gospel depicts her as rather passive, 

almost as if she’s just along 

for the ride.

—

However there are problems with this depiction of Mary 

as a model female submissive listener.

As the prime female archetype in Christendom for 2 millennia

It has propagated a view of female inferiority, dependence, 

even helplessness,

That’s been transmitted through Christianity through colonization 

to society and culture at large.

When one focuses on some Biblical authors’ insistence that women listen and not speak

We get resistance to women’s ordination

And double standards for women leaders in both church and society.

The second problem of depicting Mary as meek and mild

is how Mary is honoured for her nonuse of sexuality

This idealization and possible mis-construal

robbed Mary of her humanity,

And her subordination to a male God that has been held up as a virtue, 

has harmed and oppressed women.

Denying Mary’s reproductive reality 

has robbed women of their sense of agency,

Something we see in churches worldwide.

—

Rather than the traditional view,

I’d prefer to reimagine Mary as fierce and active,

And as part of the neglected view of how women are central 

in the story of God’s liberation.

While Mary is no active Jewish female hero like Judith 

who chopped off the head of an enemy army general,

As a young brown teenager in a backwater Roman colony,

She holds her own.

She’s the only Biblical woman to get twice a direct visit from an angel.

Perhaps the best example of her strength and agency is how she compares with Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father.

Zechariah is a rural, male priest (at the top of the Israelite religion’s hierarchy) who is visited by the angel Gabriel and is struck dumb when he does not believe the angel’s words.

By contrast, Mary, though equally terrified, 

has the courage to listen and trust the angel’s words of comfort, and actively and positively responds to the word of God.

It’s ironic that the priest, 

who has access to the most holy of holies in the religion, 

is thus placed below the common peasant girl, 

whose body becomes the holies of all holies, 

the presence of God.

The perhaps more challenging part of this is the sexual issue.

Feminist scholars question whether there was 

a lack of free consent on Mary’s part,

Resonating with today’s “My body my choice” conversation.

It was definitely strange even for Joseph 

that she was found to be 

quote “pregnant by the Holy Spirit”, 

which left her to be exposed to public disgrace

as the violation of a betrothed virgin was a serious offence.

Yet, the angel promised that Mary had found favour with God 

and that the Power of the most High would overshadow her 

to give her the strength and the resilience to get on with her life.

Mary was a survivor 

and she lived on to not only give birth to the Messiah, 

but also to support his ministry during and after his earthly life.

But perhaps the fiercest Mary we see is 

when she gives her biggest speech, 

A full disrupting and revolutionary song, the Magnificat where she proclaims how

how God will upset the social structures, 

bringing down the mighty and elevating the lowly, 

turning the world upside down.

—

So the big questions is of course: 

how do we bring this information about Mary home to our lives this evening?

I believe this can happen in three ways: 

Through thanksgiving to God, 

Through the strengthening and challenging of our faith, 

and finally the imitation of Mary’s holy living by all genders.

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First of all, we are invited to give thanks to God for Mary. 

We can thank God for her being a direct part of the story of salvation

We can give praises for her prophetic words

And we can be grateful to God for reminding us of the brave witness 

of a woman in a male-centred society.

One way we can celebrate her is by heeding Martin Luther’s recommendation to pray the first part of the Ave Maria 

as a sign of reverence and devotion to her.

That first part goes like this:

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,

Blessed are you among women and blessed 

is the fruit of your womb Jesus.

Second, the stories of Mary can strengthen our faith.

We can remember that when hope seems lost, 

and the politics of the day seem bleak and depressing, that with the birth of the Saviour, hope is rekindled, 

and God’s deliverance and redemption is just around the corner.

Despite the fears we may have,

Despite the setbacks of trauma, loss and pain, 

God speaks to us in unexpected times and places,

And comforts us in our life’s journey.

Mary’s story can also challenge our faith.

Remembering that the status quo on gender in Christianity 

benefits men and boys,

We must wrestle with how patriarchal notions 

have effects on women’s spirituality, self-understanding and empowerment.

Seeing Mary as a fierce, active follower of God 

can summon us to focus

This evening less on “silent night, holy night”

And more on shattering vanilla hetero-normativity,

Demolishing white cis privilege, for example.

It might provoke us to move beyond

weepy nostalgia for past structures

Into disrupting systems of oppression, 

(Which keep the power amongst the powerful).

It means less listening and trusting in oligarchs and strongmen

and more listening and trusting in God.

And finally, we are encouraged to imitate Mary.

As men, women and non-binary, 

we are called to be inspired by the women of the Bible,

To be moved by Mary’s trust and faith, 

who believed what was spoken to her by God

It can encourage us to also take time to listen and meditate 

on what God may be telling us today.

May the faith, trust and courage of Mary encourage you as we celebrate the Nativity of Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Amen.

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Our Hymn of the Day, is not a Christmas Carol, I know, but it is a hymn that really fits the theme of the sermon, so well, there we go.

For all the faithful women, page 4 of your Guides.

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Sources:

Wilda Gafney; Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year C

Queer Bible Commentary: Luke (Robert Goss)

Womens’ Bible Commentary: Luke (Schaberg and Ringe)

Westminster Study Bible: Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Mary Foskett)