Second Sunday

A Sermon for the Patronal Feast of St. Mary the Virgin
August 11, 2024

Text: Luke 1:46-55

Now, O Lord, take my lips, and speak through them. Take our minds, and think through them. Take our hearts, and set them on fire. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A few weeks ago, I received an unexpected gift from a long-time member of our parish. It happened after church one day when our dear friend, Pricey Best, came up to me in the Parish Hall during fellowship and said, “I have something I want you to have.”

She reached down and handed me a book with a picture of St. Mary’s on the cover and a bright, red binding. The title of the book was St. Mary’s Second Sunday, named after our long-standing tradition of hosting potluck lunches after church on the second Sunday of every month—a tradition that continues to this day.

St. Mary’s Second Sunday is a cookbook, filled with recipes from members of the parish. Pricey shared with me a little bit of the backstory. She was asked several years ago to help put this cookbook together so that the church could sell copies. So, she got to work and spent countless hours collecting, sorting, and organizing all the recipes that would be included in the book.

What made this gift extra special for me was that this was Pricey’s very own copy of the cookbook. If you turn to the inside cover, it even has her name printed at the top with a special word of thanks from the parish for all the work she did in putting it together.

Now…she didn’t know that I was going to share this with you today (and Pricey, I hope you’re not embarrassed). As I was thinking about St. Mary’s Day and the purpose of us taking the time to celebrate the feast of our patron saint, I started thinking about all the people in years past who have made this parish what it is today.

Some of those people are listed here…in the pages of this cookbook. Some are still with us. Some have moved away to other places. Some have passed into the nearer presence of God. 

When I received this special gift, I began flipping through the pages and seeing all the names listed next to the recipes. Some names I immediately recognized, and some I had never heard of, and as I continued flipping through the pages of the cookbook, what I eventually discovered is that the most important part wasn’t actually the recipes themselves.

It was what was included at the very beginning—a detailed history of St. Mary’s, beginning with a small but mighty group of Episcopalians in Covington Country during the 1920s who began meeting in each other’s homes for worship, long before St. Mary’s was ever established as an organized church and before the original church building was constructed on Second Avenue in 1947.

As I was reading the history, I came to realize something.

In the history of the church, St. Mary’s has been served by a number of clergy. Some were temporary, serving as supply priests or interim priests. Some were vicars, who served St. Mary’s when the church was still small enough to be considered a mission of the diocese. And, some were rectors, like me, who served St. Mary’s after the church grew and became recognized as a parish.

The one thing that’s remained consistent through the years is not the clergy. Because clergy come and go, depending on where they’re called by God to serve.

No, the one consistent thread that you can read about in the history of St. Mary’s is the people—the people, who, through the years have remained committed to loving and serving our neighbors as Christ has taught us.

This cookbook may not seem like much to some people.

But, to me, it’s a treasure. It represents the truth of who we are as a community of faith, rooted in the love and service of our Lord Jesus Christ, and It reminds me of something Michele Gerlach said in a meeting we had a few weeks ago.

“We are the church that feeds people.”

And, we feed people in more ways than one.

Sure, we love our Second Sunday potlucks and any time we get the chance to gather for good food and fellowship.

Yes, we’re a church who feeds people through ministries like our Rice and Beans Ministry and our community dinners on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But, even more than that, we’re a church that feeds people’s souls by letting them know that there are people in this world who care about them and love them and by letting them know that there’s a place for them in our church. St. Mary’s is a place where all are welcome.

That may sound like a cliché or a platitude because of how often we say it.

But, it’s the truth.

At St. Mary’s, all are welcome, and I can’t tell you how incredibly important it is that we remain committed to that belief. Because, friends, we live in a world where people feel more divided, more isolated, and more alone than ever before.

We live in a world that’s so inwardly focused and self-consumed that we’ve forgotten what it means to be part of a community and to rely on each other for help.

That’s why our work as a parish is so important. We get to remind people through our ministries, through our words and actions and our presence in the wider community, that there’s still goodness in the world and that the love of God in Christ Jesus is still present and active in our lives in more ways than we can imagine.

Our Gospel lesson for today is one that’s familiar to many of us, especially those of us who are well acquainted with the Prayer Book and the tradition of praying the Daily Office.

Luke 1:46-55 is commonly referred to as the Magnificat, or the Song of Mary. In the Prayer Book, it’s one of the canticles that we read or sing during Morning and Evening Prayer.

It’s also the Gospel lesson appointed every year for the feast of St. Mary the Virgin, our patron saint. There are many passages in the Gospels that could’ve been used for the feast of St. Mary, but I think it’s especially appropriate that, on this day, we hear the  beautiful and poetic words of Mary’s Song.

But, to fully understand the significance and weight of this passage, we have to understand where it fits in the larger narrative of Luke’s Gospel.

Earlier in chapter one, Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel, who makes the surprise announcement that she will conceive and bear God’s only son. At first, she’s confused. She doesn’t understand how this will come to pass since she’s a virgin, and the angel tells 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.”

Humbly, Mary agrees to do what the Lord has asked her to do.

Then, she goes and visits her relative, Elizabeth, who has also conceived a child, even though she is much older than Mary.

When Mary arrives at the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah, the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy when he hears Mary’s greeting!

Elizabeth tells Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

And, in response to Elizabeth, Mary says,

“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;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

What stirred my imagination this week as I thought about these words in relation to our parish and our celebration of St. Mary’s Day was the fact that Mary isn’t just praising God for the good things he’s done for her.

It starts out that way. Mary begins by praising God for blessing her with this awesome responsibility of bringing Jesus into the world.

But, then it quickly changes, and Mary begins praising God, not only for the things he’s already done but for the things he will continue to do through her and the child she’s carrying.

She has so much confidence in God’s goodness and God’s faithfulness that she uses the past tense to refer to the things that God has promised to bring to fulfillment.

“He has scattered the proud…”

“He has brought down the powerful…and lifted up the lowly”

“He has filled the hungry with good things…”

These words aren’t referring to things God has already done but things that God is doing and will continue to do. Mary seems to instinctively know that the child in her womb will have the power to change the world.

Through this miraculous birth that God has planned and set into motion, God will bring redemption and healing to God’s people. Through Jesus, God will bring to fulfillment what God has always promised to do.

To restore heaven on earth.

This is the reason why we celebrate St. Mary’s Day. Yes, Mary is our patron saint, and yes, it’s good for us to celebrate our common life together as a church family.

But, mostly, we celebrate this day so that we can offer our thanks and praise to God, not only for the things God has already done through us and those who came before—but also for the things that God is doing and will continue to do.

God isn’t done with St. Mary’s. In fact, I’d say he’s only just begun.

So, on this St. Mary’s Day, as we begin a new program year and give thanks for God’s goodness and God’s faithfulness in our lives, let us recommit ourselves to the work that God has given us to do in our own time and place. Let us recommit ourselves to being “the church that feeds people,” not only their bodies but also their souls.

And, let us recommit ourselves to the work of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through our words and actions, that the world around us may see and know the love of God at work in their own lives.

Amen.