The COMING few weeks is a time of hearing stories about hope in the world. These include the story of the birth of Jesus, the burning oil lamps of Chanukah. Also, there will be the African American celebration of Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice and all people around the world ushering in the New Year.

Today we are looking at the Christmas story. I always approach the Christmas Story through the web of my my upbringing - which was Methodist. My parents believed in God, adhered to the rules of being honest, a good person, and kindness. I think they would have said they agreed with the 10 commandments. However, they never went to church. So, this is what I got - a liberal religious upbringing. At the same time I got a sketchy legacy of stories and history of the Jews and Christians. I have always been interested in filling out that understanding and learning what it may have to offer me. I invite you along on such a journey, this morning. We will be looking at the story of the pregnancy of Mary, mother of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke. Of course, it is referred to, not as her pregnancy, but of Jesus' conception - and in there we already know that this choice of texts has a patriarchal bent. But, I am ahead of myself - let me begin at the beginning, which is to say that we will reflect on the intent of the Christmas message - whether we are Christian or not - which is one of hope and light in the times of darkness and confusion.

First, the Gospels were written about 60 -100 years after Jesus died. There are no original copies of the Gospels. They are written from the point of view of believers of Jesus and written to help other believers. The word Gospel means to "proclamation" or "good news". Luke is seems by many scholars as the most accurate, and is most often quoted. The times of the year "0" - about 2000 years ago on our calendar - were a time of darkness for the people living in the land now known as Israel and where Jesus was born. The Romans ruled the land and the Hebrews, Jesus' people, were oppressed in many ways.

There was a great deal of dialogue among the people about the possibility of a messiah coming, as promised in the Hebrew texts. There was also a great deal of work put into what it meant to lead a good Hebrew person. For women, having sons and raising them was the defining act of being fully a woman. Women 's role was seen as subservient and almost like property to be counted. All people existed in a system of people owing other people obligations which would help them maintain their positions. There were patrons - who had power - and clients - who owed the patrons. One of the main messages of Jesus was that it was time to eliminate the patron /client system.

So, with this sketchy context, we are looking at the story about Mary's pregnancy. This is the story that the traditional Christian church is looking at today. There are 4 Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as most of us but not all of us know -- which tell the story of Jesus. This story of Mary's pregnancy is only told in Luke. The story is the angel Gabriel visits the teenage young woman Mary. He tells her that she is pregnant with a child who shall be holy and called the Son of God and his name will be Jesus.

Contrary to popular interpretation, it is not clear that she's a virgin. It just says that she has had the holy spirit come over her and the child born will be holy. The reputable Women's Bible Commentary, points out that an audience of those days would not assume that just because the divine spirit is at work, that would exclude that human paternity had also occurred. Many of us would say that there is something divinely experienced in bearing a child, and yet the human paternity is always a given.

At the same time that Mary hears her good news, her much older relative, Elizabeth, long ago considered unable to bear children, is also visited by Gabriel. He also tells her that she is pregnant with a child to be named John. John will open people's hearts for Jesus. This foretells the life John the Baptist, who later will baptize Jesus, age 30, in the river. Jesus will then begin his ministry. When John is actually born - a third woman, prophetess Anna - foretells John's importance and thanks God. An important note is that this will be the only part of the gospel of Luke where women will speak and not be corrected immediately afterwards.

Mary accepts the commission that Gabriel has announced to her (this entire section of the story is best known as the annunciation). Then Mary delivers what is known as the great New Testament song of liberation - the MAGNIFICAT. A magnificat is a hymn or song of praise. Mary tells us she knows she is blessed by God and that God is a God that sides with the oppressed and lifts up the innocent.

Here is the story from the SCHOLARS' VERSION of LUKE. This is the translation of the BIBLE done by the Jesus Seminar, a group of modern days scholars who, among other things, wrote a modern day translation of the BIBLE. The song is surrounded by the context of the setting of Mary's words - which is the common practice for studying any Biblical section -- LUKE 1: 39-56 (edited)

---------"At that time Mary set out in haste for a city in the hill country of Judah, where she entered Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. And, it so happened when Elizabeth heard Mary's; greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.. ...Congratulations to her who trusted that what the Lord promised her would come true."

And then Mary says, "My soul extols the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has shown consideration for the lowly status of his slave. As a consequence, from now on every generation will congratulate me; the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name, and his mercy will come to generation after generation of those who fear him. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has put the arrogant to rout, along with their private schemes; he has pulled the mighty down form their thrones, and exalted the lowly; he has filed the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, as he spoke to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned home.

The key social justice messages here are....
1).. God has put the arrogant to rout..along with their private schemes
2) ..he has pulled the mighty down from their thrones
3) ..and exalted the lowly
4) .. he has filled the hungry with good things
5) ..and sent the rich away empty

Mary's Magnificat is considered a cornerstone of hope for conservative Christians and for left leaning liberation theology. By this I mean, both orthodox Christianity and liberal Christianity see Mary's Magnificat as discussing the overthrow of dominant hegemonies and the righting of injustices. Dr. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Drew University Theological School Professor is a leading Latina American theologian for Latina Women living in the US is an example of a liberal theologian. She calls her work Mujerista Theology...translated as Feminist Theology.

Her main area of interest and research has been the religious practices and understandings of Latinas in the USA who struggle for liberation. Providing a platform for their voices is one of the main goals of Mujerista Theology, the theological enterprise at which she has been working.

Latina women living in the USA are keenly aware of how sexism, ethnic prejudice and economic oppression subjugate them. They use the term Mujerista to refer to themselves, and use Mujerista Theology to refer to the explanations of their faith and its role in their struggle for liberation. Isasi-Diaz says:

When in the Magnificat we hear {Mary} say, "All generations will call me blessed," this is not a boastful proclamation. For the Jewish people, in poems like this one, in proclamations, during their celebrations, the person speaking identified with the group, speaks for the group. In this poem, based on the song of Hannah in chapter 3 of 1 Samuel, what is to be called blessed is the group of Jesus' followers of which Mary is the prototypical disciple.

--------How do we opt for the poor? Let me suggest two ways that I believe we are to express our option for the poor. First, we have to denounce injustice. We have to call it as we see it through our Christian lens in our families, at our workplaces, in our churches, in our society, in our country. And what if our families dislike us, or worse yet, ignore us? What if we lose our jobs? What if our churches do not ordain us or revoke our orders? What if we are considered unpatriotic, anti-American? Like Eve we have to choose, and Mary's Magnificat makes clear that we have to opt for the poor, speak out against injustice, regardless of the consequences.

The second thing we need to do to opt for the poor the way the God of Mary, the God of Jesus does is this: we need to stop being so liberal and we need to become radical. We have to stop wanting to please others and be liked. We have to stop thinking that feeling guilty is enough. No, don't feel guilty; instead, do something to change the situation about which you are feeling guilty. For example, don't feel guilty about having certain privileges like education and money. Instead use your privileges to bring about justice for all.

And what the Magnificat always reminds me of is that God knows we need divine mercy, that we need it from generation to generation because the struggle is for the long haul, que la lucha continœa de generaci-n en generaci-n. It was precisely this understanding that led me to pay attention to the importance of the struggle. The struggle goes on; it has meaning in itself.

In many ways our job as women who struggle to do justice is to receive from the "mothers" of our different groups, different denominations - some of them sitting here in this hall with us today - to receive from them the struggle. We must be in touch with what they have done, with their vision. We do not start from scratch."

To me, this is Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz's Magnificat, in tribute to God and her work as a Mujerista.

So, our work to take the Magnificat and gather hope and light from it is not such a far stretch. These two women we have heard from - Mary and Dr. Isasi-Diaz - tell us at I see as a Magnificat from Alice Walker, great American author whose revolutionary book - The Color Purple - on racism and the oppression of women and homosexuals opened on Broadway this past week.

Remember?
Alice Walker

Remember me?
I am the girl
with the dark skin
whose shoes are thin
I am the girl
with the rotted teeth
I am the girl
with the wounded eye
and the melted ear.
I am the girl
holding their babies ........cooking their meals
sweeping their yards
washing their clothes
Dark and rotting
and wounded, wounded.
I would give
to the human race
only hope.
I am the woman
with the blessed
dark skin
I am the woman
with teeth repaired
I am the woman
with the healing eye
the ear that hears.
I am the woman: Dark,
repaired, healed
Listening to you.
I would give ............to the human race
only hope.
I am the woman
offering two flowers
whose roots
are twin
Justice and Hope
Hope and Justice
Let us begin.   AMEN.