Today, we observe the day of Mary, Mother of our Lord, and the gospel text for this day comes from what is known as "the Visitation", when Mary, now several months pregnant by the Holy Spirit, with the baby, Jesus--visits her kinswoman, Elizabeth, who is also pregnant--with John who would be known as the Baptizer, the prophet who would proclaim the coming of the Messiah. And upon arriving at the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, at the moment of their greeting one another, the child in Elizabeth's womb--the child John leaped in his mother's womb, being now in the presence of the Christ, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus!" And Mary then, herself, burst forth in song, singing what we call the Magnifi-cat; the song of praise as Mary can't contain her joy at the blessing of God that has been bestowed on her. And just as Elizabeth proclaims Mary as "blessed--blessed, indeed, among women", Mary, herself sings, "Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed..." And we wonder, Mary, will you always consider this, a blessing?

     Oh, of course, the Church has always said, "Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." We look at Mary, and see her as blessed, first, because she was chosen by God to be the bearer of the Christ for the world; we see her as blessed, second, because she became the mother, not just of a human child, but as the mother of God himself--theo-tokos. To be sure, to be such a simple handmaiden, yet to be chosen for such an honor--is to be blessed; to be favored, to be lifted up. No wonder Elizabeth and Mary are dancing and singing for joy--rejoicing at God's will at work in their lives. Ah--but just as we know how things will turn out, ultimately--we also know what pain and grief Mary will have to bear--to get there. We know that Mary's joy and song of praise, will turn to mourning and sorrow. We know that her hymn of celebration will become a psalm of lament, as she will watch her own child, her own son, born of the Holy Spirit to be Savior of the world, arrested, mocked, crucified and buried in a borrowed tomb. Mary will kneel at the foot of her son's cross, and witness the nails tearing through bloody flesh; the thorns piercing the brow she once caressed; the spear piercing his side, pouring forth blood and water. And finally, she will hear him cry out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And at the last, "Father, into thy hands, I commit my spirit."

     And at that moment, would anyone say, did anyone say to Mary, "Blessed art thou, among women"? Would Mary have sung with joy, "Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed"? Would she have proclaimed, as she knelt on Golgotha, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant."? Probably not. For in that moment--at the moment when Jesus was suffering and dying on the cross, Mary, his mother, surely did not feel, blessed--she surely was not rejoicing. Anyone who has lost a child, knows what Mary felt. Anyone who has had a child, or seen a child suffer, knows what Mary felt. And it doesn't feel like a blessing, does it? We don't, in that moment, feel that God is looking on us, with favor.

     And yet, that's what this Son of Mary is all about, isn't he? Didn't he come, for the times when we, with Mary, are grieving, in pain and sorrow, struggling in life? Wasn't Jesus born of Mary, to become God with us, for just the times when we feel, in life, not blessed, but cursed? Wasn't God's only Son, conceived in Mary, by the Holy Spirit--to become a flesh and blood human being, to be with us in just those moments when we are struggling with loss, and illness, and tragedy and despair in life--to be with us, to turn our lives around, to turn our lives upside down, to bring the very power of God to bear upon us, so that we might experience what Origin of Alexandria, in the third century, referred to as the "great reversal". The great reversal, that turned Jesus' crucifixion, into resurrection. The great reversal that, for us and for our salvation, turned death, into eternal life. The great reversal that brought Mary from the grief of Golgotha, to the glory of the empty tomb. The great reversal that Mary sings about in her Magnificat, praising God for showing favor to the humble, while casting down the haughty; for scattering the proud, while lifting up the lowly; filling the hungry, while sending the rich away empty. The great reversal that, through the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of the son of Mary, allows Jesus, now to come to us at our lowest points in life, to come to us when we are lonely, afraid, and empty; to come to us when we are mourning, sick, or dying; to come to us when we are uncertain and anxious and worried; to come to us to work the Great Reversal in us--the reversal that turns our lives all topsy-turvy, so that our lives are transformed, in ways we couldn't have imagined--so that truly, our curses are turned into blessings, our grief is turned into joy, our fear and anxiety is turned into the certainty of faith; death itself, is turned into life, for us. All because God's great plan, is one of reversal! That God became human. That pure Spirit became one with flesh and blood. That the divine could be conceived in the mortal. That death could be overcome by life. That the crucified Christ could become the Risen Lord. That the lowly could become great; the humble could be exalted; the downhearted could look up and rejoice in the Lord, God, our Savior! And in this, says Fr. Luther, in this, we should "take heart"! Luther writes, "I have said before that Jesus' name means 'Wonderful'. He is like a grain of mustard seed which, though small, yet becomes great. Even so, that which is despised of men, is great before God. This teaches us not to despair, when it seems the world has turned against us, nor to say that God has turned away from us. God's wonders, no reason can comprehend. Wonderful it is that in the midst of death is life, in the midst of folly there is wisdom. Let us, then, take heart. How wonderful that the Child of a poor abandoned maid should become the King of the world! It makes no sense", writes Luther.

     Indeed, it makes no sense to us, but to God, the great reversal, is all part of his great plan. And for that, let us then, take heart. Let us, with Mary, sing the praises of the God who turns the world upside down. Let us, with Mary, magnify the Lord, and rejoice in God, our Savior. And--in the midst of life, let us take heart.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.