Tonight one strong woman made sure another strong woman would spend eternity in Paradise. In the Genesis story, our first mother and father (Adam and Eve) said “no” to God. They were allowed to do so and given what they had chosen freely. Our “no” meant “no” and humankind was allowed to do what it could to construct an alternative cosmic order. This attempt went badly. Often we denied what is to embrace our own imaginations, but more frequently we mocked
The good news is that God came and we can reconsider. If we wish our corporate “no” to mean “no,” then we can buy into that failed project. If not, God gave us a chance to say “yes” if we wished. A Jewish girl in Galilee started the process by saying “yes” to Christmas.
Did she know? She knew as much as any of us by experience and by a lifetime of pondering what she saw. Like all of us, she surely did not know every consequence of her good choice, but she knew it was a good choice. She gave informed consent, because she knew God from childhood. This is a woman who could give us the first great hymn of the New Covenant, tied closely to the Song of Hannah, who longed for a child and received one:
My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid;
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name;
And His mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear Him.
He has shown might with His arm,
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of His mercy
Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.
She became the mother of God. Jesus, her baby boy, came fully God and fully man. He came to give us a chance to say “yes” where we had misunderstood. He takes our answer seriously. Corporate power mostly said “no” to His image of of love and reconciliation between God and humankind. A few people said “yes” and their number keeps growing.
In the mystery of God and time, our first mother looked forward to what our second mother did and so was saved by the Son she bore. Eve had a son, Seth, that became a type, the boy who lived, for the hero coming. Humility trumped power as humility always does. Power is the way of Cain, but the way of humility lays down life to give new life. Every mother shares in this humbling as she says “yes” to new life knowing the risks and the pain involved.
Of course, one need not be a literal mother to experience this giving birth. The adoptive parent says “yes” to a new life and new possibilities. The person who gives her life to others in service can be a mother to her people. The Church is our mother, because she humbles herself to take us into her folds and raise us to heights of glory.
I witnessed the birth of five children yet I cannot fathom what it is to be a mother and shall not try. I just look to Bethlehem to see what one mother did for our first mother and am in awe. That is power. That is the way of the Christian. She said “yes” to God, humbled herself, and so gained the unsurpassed power of those who hear the Word of the Lord and do it. Blessed is she amongst women and and blessed in the fruit of her womb Jesus.
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