.Episode 3 of Season 2 titled "Do The Right-est Thing" finds the owner of the soccer (forgive me international friends) team Richmond AFC, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) being job shadowed by her best friend's daughter Nora (Kiki May). Rebecca finds her voice as the team owner with the help of the teenaged Nora. In one scene Nora helps Rebecca write an important email standing up to the team's biggest sponsor. Nora dictates crude and overly direct language, which is re-translated by Rebecca into business speak. That is, except the signature. Rebecca signs the correspondence exactly as Nora suggests, "Sincerely, Boss A** B****."
That Ted Lasso episode about female empowerment featuring a teenage girl speaking truth to power is not unlike the opening chapter of the Book of Luke. When we begin our advent reading by reading Luke 1 we can see the plan of God unfolding through two empowered women.
When Luke starts telling the story the first thing he wants his readers know is who has the power. The political power was in the hands of Herod the Great.
After that greeting Mary sings a song, and it is not a song King Herod would have liked so much.
This time of year we hear a song often that asks "Mary did you know?" The answer is YES, she knew!!! She knew exactly what was taking place and was the first one to sign up for the for the movement. She gave the first rally speech. Mary was not the meek and mild women of the hymns, but rather a revolutionary. Mary was a Boss A** B****!
Next in Luke's story an angel appears to a priest named Zechariah and tells him that he and his wife, both past child bearing years, are going to have a baby. Zechariah has his doubts, and as a punishment can't speak till the baby is born. Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, responds, not with doubt, but by giving thanks to God for her pregnancy.
Meanwhile, the angel (who is rather busy in this chapter) also appears to Elizabeth's young relative Mary. The angel tells Mary - who is a virgin - to expect a baby and that Elizabeth is also with child. Mary asks the angel "How can this be?" and by the end of the angels explanation is saying "Let it be!" Mary goes to see Elizabeth and that is where things get good.
When Mary arrives in at Elizabeth's house the baby she is carrying (John the Baptist) leaps in her womb and she says to Mary:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this
Meanwhile, the angel (who is rather busy in this chapter) also appears to Elizabeth's young relative Mary. The angel tells Mary - who is a virgin - to expect a baby and that Elizabeth is also with child. Mary asks the angel "How can this be?" and by the end of the angels explanation is saying "Let it be!" Mary goes to see Elizabeth and that is where things get good.
When Mary arrives in at Elizabeth's house the baby she is carrying (John the Baptist) leaps in her womb and she says to Mary:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this
granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she
who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
After that greeting Mary sings a song, and it is not a song King Herod would have liked so much.
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And 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 mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Lk 1:46-55 - ESV)
While Mary's song is the most direct statement of what is happening, this chapter is loaded with clues to what is going on. Zechariah and Elizabeth are the new Abraham and Sarah. John is the new Elijah. Mary sings a song of triumph, much like Miriam after the Red Sea crossing. A new deliverance is a foot, and like that episode of Ted Lasso, there is an older women and a teenage girl at the center of it all speaking truth to power.
In the Advent and Christmas season we to tend to focus on the Virgin Mary as the young woman who is treasuring and pondering in her heart (Lk 2:19) all the things taking place. But the reality is the Mary is not just quietly introspective, she is a using her voice to announce that God is using his strength to scatted the proud, bring down rulers from their thrones, lift the poor and humble, and accomplish his plan of salvation, redemption, and the restoration of all things. Mary is boldly proclaiming that the revolution is here! Now!
In a sermon a number of years ago I stated that Mary is not the silent, peaceful woman in a blue and white robe with her head tilted just so gazing at the baby Jesus in the manger, but rather a young teenage girl wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt kicking off the rebellion against the powers of this world and the spirit world. She is defiantly declaring what Jesus was and is bringing.
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And 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 mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Lk 1:46-55 - ESV)
While Mary's song is the most direct statement of what is happening, this chapter is loaded with clues to what is going on. Zechariah and Elizabeth are the new Abraham and Sarah. John is the new Elijah. Mary sings a song of triumph, much like Miriam after the Red Sea crossing. A new deliverance is a foot, and like that episode of Ted Lasso, there is an older women and a teenage girl at the center of it all speaking truth to power.
In the Advent and Christmas season we to tend to focus on the Virgin Mary as the young woman who is treasuring and pondering in her heart (Lk 2:19) all the things taking place. But the reality is the Mary is not just quietly introspective, she is a using her voice to announce that God is using his strength to scatted the proud, bring down rulers from their thrones, lift the poor and humble, and accomplish his plan of salvation, redemption, and the restoration of all things. Mary is boldly proclaiming that the revolution is here! Now!
In a sermon a number of years ago I stated that Mary is not the silent, peaceful woman in a blue and white robe with her head tilted just so gazing at the baby Jesus in the manger, but rather a young teenage girl wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt kicking off the rebellion against the powers of this world and the spirit world. She is defiantly declaring what Jesus was and is bringing.
This time of year we hear a song often that asks "Mary did you know?" The answer is YES, she knew!!! She knew exactly what was taking place and was the first one to sign up for the for the movement. She gave the first rally speech. Mary was not the meek and mild women of the hymns, but rather a revolutionary. Mary was a Boss A** B****!
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