Mothers' Day - Raising Up the Beloved Community
The painting shown is The Annunciation by Henry O. Tanner, in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is a favorite painting of Sheila's and mine, and when I was working on my sermon for the observed Feast of the Annunciation at St. Mary the Virgin here in San Francisco, Sheila reminded me of it.
The painting captures a moment in the story of the Annunciation, a moment of wonder, anticipation, confusion, and fear. It is the moment just before Mary asks the angel, "How can this be?"
"The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. "
If we could see Mary at this moment, when the angel says that what is happening is the work of the Holy Spirit, we would see a transformation on Mary's face. God gives the gift of empowering, divine spirit to bring forth justice and to reform the people of God. Mary was formed in a great tradition of prophets who had been given gifts of Holy Spirit to help them do their almost impossible tasks. She would have known, from these stories that had informed her, that nothing is impossible with God, even raising up the Messiah.
One story that would have been in Mary's heart, helping her understand and interpret the angel's message, is a little story that opens the great book of the Exodus - the story of Shipprah and Puah, two midwives of the Hebrew people when they lived as slaves under the Egyptians. These two women were commanded by the King of Egypt to kill all the boy babies born to the Hebrew slave women at their births. To resist this evil they had no conventional, earthly power - what they had was made in the image of the God they served: compassion, courage, quick wits, and humor.
When the King of Egypt noticed, contrary to his order, that there were boy Hebrew babies toddling around, he summoned the midwives and thundered at them, "How do you explain this?" They answered," ‘Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.’ 20So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families."
An elderly Episcopal priest I knew in Virginia had gone to seminary with Martin Luther King, Jr. He told me that the mode of biblical interpretation being taught while they were students was maeutics, a term taken from the Greek word for birthing. Maeutics was a hermeneutic practiced by Socrates, at a time when inquiring conversation was political, resulting in action within the community. It seems to me that Martin Luther King, Jr. followed a God like the One followed by Shipprah and Puah, and by Mary. As we seek to birth a Beloved Community where justice and reconciliation obtain, let us pray for the overshadowing protection and power of the Holy Spirit to help us.
The painting captures a moment in the story of the Annunciation, a moment of wonder, anticipation, confusion, and fear. It is the moment just before Mary asks the angel, "How can this be?"
"The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. "
If we could see Mary at this moment, when the angel says that what is happening is the work of the Holy Spirit, we would see a transformation on Mary's face. God gives the gift of empowering, divine spirit to bring forth justice and to reform the people of God. Mary was formed in a great tradition of prophets who had been given gifts of Holy Spirit to help them do their almost impossible tasks. She would have known, from these stories that had informed her, that nothing is impossible with God, even raising up the Messiah.
One story that would have been in Mary's heart, helping her understand and interpret the angel's message, is a little story that opens the great book of the Exodus - the story of Shipprah and Puah, two midwives of the Hebrew people when they lived as slaves under the Egyptians. These two women were commanded by the King of Egypt to kill all the boy babies born to the Hebrew slave women at their births. To resist this evil they had no conventional, earthly power - what they had was made in the image of the God they served: compassion, courage, quick wits, and humor.
When the King of Egypt noticed, contrary to his order, that there were boy Hebrew babies toddling around, he summoned the midwives and thundered at them, "How do you explain this?" They answered," ‘Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.’ 20So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families."
An elderly Episcopal priest I knew in Virginia had gone to seminary with Martin Luther King, Jr. He told me that the mode of biblical interpretation being taught while they were students was maeutics, a term taken from the Greek word for birthing. Maeutics was a hermeneutic practiced by Socrates, at a time when inquiring conversation was political, resulting in action within the community. It seems to me that Martin Luther King, Jr. followed a God like the One followed by Shipprah and Puah, and by Mary. As we seek to birth a Beloved Community where justice and reconciliation obtain, let us pray for the overshadowing protection and power of the Holy Spirit to help us.
