Mary sang: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed….(Luke 1:46-48)
Yesterday I attended the worship service where three young adults were ordained to be pastors in the Lutheran church. I had had the privilege of working with one of the young women when she was a counselor at confirmation camp. It was obvious then, more than eight years ago, that she was gifted in ministry and a person of faith.
In his sermon yesterday, the bishop reminded the three ordinands of all that they had been through to get to ordination (a college degree, three academic years of seminary, a semester of clinical pastoral education, a year of internship, endless interviews and questioning by candidacy committees and congregations). On one hand they must be proud of their accomplishments, the bishop said. But from this day forward, their accomplishments were not the point anymore. It was no longer about them, but Christ. They would need the help of others. They would absolutely need to trust Christ. They would disappoint many. Their calling would be hard.
And yet, after their vows were said, there were many tears of absolute joy and gratitude to God for calling these people and giving them the strength to serve the church in this difficult time. And I, as an older pastor, who can count the years on one hand until I retire (maybe), felt such gratitude for their young voices to speak to a searching generation in a way that I can’t. How I pray a blessing for them!
From now on all generations will call me blessed. Mary said that , not because of her accomplishments. Not because this mother of Jesus role was about her any more than it is for any follower of Jesus. Mary is called blessed because of what God is doing through her, just as the Church called the three newly ordained pastors blessed because of what God would do through them.
The “blessing” was difficult for Mary too. At the time of her song in Luke’s gospel, it is unsure whether Joseph or her immediate family had signed on to stand by her pregnancy. Later she and Joseph would have to leave the country and flee to Egypt to save the child’s life from a jealous ruler. For Mary, there would be years of baking bread, cleaning house, washing Jesus’ clothes and hunting him when, after visiting Jerusalem, he stayed behind in the temple without telling her. Then there was the time she watched him die at the foot of the cross where he hung. Blessing? There was nothing rosy colored about that blessing. Mary’s life could be called a blessing only because God was using her life to bring blessing to the world.
Pray with me for all those—whether bus drivers, news reporters, physical therapists, teachers, insurance agents—who by what they do bring God’s blessing to others. Being blessed by God isn’t about us at all, but about the blessing we, with God’s Spirit guiding, bring to others. God’s blessing will bring, as it did Mary, many inevitable challenges. So challenging, in fact, that we will only be able to trust God to see the next step.
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