Sermon, Advent 4C, Micah 5:2-5a and Luke 1:39-55

What's in a name? Or maybe I should ask, "What's in a slogan?" We use slogans all the time to indicate what kind of organization we are, or what kind of people we want to be. At their best, we use them to motivate people. At their worst, we use them to demonize people.

For instance, the Dallas Cowboys say that they are America's Team. The Army wants you to be all you can be. The Marines are looking for a few good men. The Men In Black recruit the Best of the best of the best. And DeBeers tells us that, unlike any other gift you may give, diamonds are forever.

These slogans are designed to create the impression that whatever, or whoever, we are talking about is the best, the most influential, the greatest or whatever adjective you want to use. And that carries over into our personal lives. We want to come out on tope. We want to be the best of the best of the best. It's part of our human nature to strive to get better, wether that's through increased talent, specialized skills, higher paying jobs, whatever. At its core, there's nothing wrong with that. It become a problem, however, when that's all we focus on.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

If you've noticed, the Lord tends to not do things how we would do them.

So what are the Lord's ways? Well, if we were going to create a slogan for God, it might be something along the lines of, "God: Looking for the least of the least."

We hear this idea of God looking for, or using, the least first in Micah. Micah was a prophet in Judah during the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah. This was a time of relative peace and prosperity for the kingdom; but that peace and prosperity caused its own internal problems.

Micah prophesied against the ruling class, corrupt officials in both the political and religious areas of life. He talks about the exploitation, inequality and general violation of the small farmers, widows and orphans. It is this lack of concern for the "least of these" that will lead to Judah's downfall.

In keeping with the theme of the least, he also prophesies that it will not be some great king or warrior who will rescue Judah, but it will be Bethlehem, one of the little clans of Judah, that will return the people to the Lord's favor. God cares for the least of the least because people tend to not care for them. In a turnabout of our understanding, God will not tap a leader from a major player, but from the least of the tribes of Judah.

This brings me to the gospel for today; or, more specifically, the Magnificat. We heard this twice - once in the canticle we read and one in the gospel. The Magnificat is a beautiful peace of poetry written by Luke and attributed to Mary.

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

And on it goes. Luke has a way, though, of couching incredibly radical ideas in amazing beauty.

"He has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant."
One of my commentaries points out that "lowliness," used in this manner, refers to words like humiliated, abused and cast aside. It has more to do with the lowliness of the street person left abandoned by society than it does with being humble. And yet this is the person, this lowly, cast off woman, the least of the least in that society, whom God chooses to work through.

This beautiful piece of poetry that has been set to music in so many different ways, is really a call to radical reversal.

"He has brought down the powerful and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty."

In this poem, Mary is expressing the desire of God to work through and care for those whom the world classifies as the least and casts aside like so much garbage.

But this isn't simply a role reversal. In the TEC200 class, we are working our way through Sex, Shame, Sacrifice and Smiting, and the last chapter we discussed had to do with vengeance. What does the Bible say about vengeance, or taking revenge on another person? it was an interesting discussion and I think that the Magnificat addresses this very issue.

The Magnificat doesn't say, "He will bring down the powerful so that the lowly can reap vengeance." The Magnificat doesn't say that the powerful will be subjected to the same treatment by the lowly that they dished out. This isn't a cosmic, "You got theirs, now they are going to get yours" type of thing.

The Magnificat is not only a poem of reversal, but it is also a poem of righteous equality. He has brought down the powerful and lifted up the lowly . . . Every mountain shall be made low and every valley shall be raised up . . . make a level path for God.

He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. God isn't taking away from the rich, simply ensuring that the hungry get fed. After all, how much is enough? How much do we need before we willingly turn away and allow those less fortunate, the least, the opportunity to share in our abundance and be fed?

Micah and Mary both spoke out on the mistreatment of the least of God's people, and both remind us that God particularly loves those whom society neglects. As we prepare for the coming of the Lord this Advent, may we take their words to heart and work towards raising up the least of the least from a position of neglect and abuse to one of recognition and equality.