Visitation of Mary - Clothe yourselves in Love

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer

Visitation of Mary, June 1, 2020

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love.” Indeed. I don’t know about you all, but I needed that word today. I needed our whole passage from Colossians. I came to our Scriptures today carrying the anxiety, the fear, the deep grief of this time, which has only been intensified by the recent events. The truth of racism, that systemic sin which infects our society, has been brought to the fore by the terrible disparities of infection and death rates from COVID. And by the horrific recent deaths of innocent people of color in Georgia, Kentucky, and Minnesota. 

It is enough to overwhelm or unmoor us. It is enough to make us lose our footing. And so I am all the more grateful for our Scripture readings today, from Colossians and from Luke. We need to be reminded that we are called to peace, to love, to “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” That is what God desires for us. That is how God desires for us to be with one another. Now I think it is important to note that “meekness” and “patience” do not mean that we sit idly by in the face of injustice or sin. They do not mean that we just wait for someone else to fix the situation. They do not mean that we ignore the realities in front of us. Colossians goes on to remind us that we are to: “teach and admonish one another in all wisdom.” 

Indeed. We followers of Jesus are called to a high standard for how we live out our lives. Our passage from Luke today provides us the beginning of the Magnificat. That beautiful song of Mary that elucidates God’s dream for the world. A dream that is about filling the hungry and bringing down the powerful. A dream that is about scattering the proud and lifting up the lowly. Mary’s hymn is all about undoing the status quo. All about equality and justice. It is just as relevant to us in these days as it was 2000 years ago. God’s dream does not involve power and wealth being concentrated in the hands of the few at the expense of the many. 

Our Scriptures today paint a beautiful picture of the world as it could be - where love binds all things, where compassion and wisdom are our guideposts. And when we hold that picture up against the realities of our world, especially evident in these past days and weeks, the contrast is jarring. There is a call to action in that contrast. A call that is particularly meant for people like me. People whose skin color, class, and heritage mean that my life has been full of privilege in a myriad of ways. It is a call that asks me to learn, to listen, to pray, and to act. A call that asks me to always be challenging myself, what can I do today to bring about the transformation of the world? 

The violence and suffering of these times, and recent days especially, can be overwhelming. The work in front of us can seem insurmountable. And so we also need the reminder of Colossians to be thankful. To give thanks to God in all that we say and do. This is also reminder to be alert and attentive to the ways in which God is at work in the world. To all the ways that we are reminded that not only is transformation possible, it is happening in our world. 

We need to be reminded of the ways that the transformation of our own hearts, the small acts of kindness, the moments of humility and generosity, moments of care and compassion that we say, that we do, that we witness each day matter. Transformation of ourselves and our relationships is the beginning of transforming our structures and our systems. 

There is work ahead of us. Challenging and holy work. It will be hard. And yet the good news is that we do not do it alone. We are in this together. We have each other and the Holy Spirit is with us. May that truth grant us the courage to keep going, to incarnate the compassion and wisdom of God in all that we say and do. Amen.