Here is the video of Grace Lutheran Church’s worship service on August 15, 2021, “Mary, Mother of Our Lord Sunday.”
Today, we remember Mary, mother of Jesus. The powerful words from Mary’s lips in Luke’s Gospel have been sung throughout the church during the service of Evening Prayer. The haunting words of the Magnificat remind us that the child who grows in Mary’s womb comes to change everything. No longer will some starve while others feast. These words come to us as both hope and challenge: hope for those in need, and challenge, at least, for those living in comfort.
This is a day to choose words carefully, for even the most affluent congregations have members with extremely limited resources and even the most impoverished communities have members of relative comfort and affluence. Mary’s words call all people to account, to look honestly at the world’s injustices and bring hope in the name of Jesus.
Yet even as followers of Jesus are called to work to end hunger and poverty, the reality of sin in the world means this will never be fully realized on this side of the resurrection. Still, we serve, not to fix all the problems of the world but because each time a hungry person is fed, clothed, or sheltered, Jesus is cared for. We serve others so that we can serve Jesus. We serve our whole life long because it is good, right, and faithful, even if success eludes us.
How do these words from Mary challenge the people of your community? How can these words inspire generosity in your congregation? How can these gospel words be good news for the people of your community?