December 8, 2010, Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Reflection (The readings are below, for your reference)

Thank you, bless you, O Loving Creator God, “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as God chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in love.” These words from Ephesians leap out for me today. Before the foundation of the world, you and I, dear one, were chosen to be holy and blameless in love.

You, dear one, are holy and blameless in love.

Holy. Blameless. Love.

The doctrine of the sinless conception of Mary was officially declared in 1854, but Paul writes in the first century that we are all holy and blameless in love. Usually I am awed by the incredible grace and synchronicity of the lectionary selections, but today I am (I admit it) slightly (okay, more than slightly) miffed that included in today’s celebration of salvation is the myth of original sin along with its not-so-hidden agenda that the blame for that rests firmly on one and only one gender.  In When God Was a Woman, Merlin Stone writes that symbols such as serpents, sacred fruit trees, and “women who took advice from serpents may once have been understood by people of biblical times to symbolize the then familiar presence of the female deity. In the Paradise myth, these images may have explained allegorically that listening to women who revered the Goddess had once caused … the downfall and misery of all humankind.”

How different that message is from holy and blameless love! So I choose to believe that the Paradise Myth is the result of human frailty and misunderstanding and I choose to rest comfortably in the repeated reassurance of God’s unconditional love for all of creation.

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

   break forth into joyous song and sing praises!”

Namaste! Amen!

 

The Readings

Genesis 3:9-15,20

But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ God said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent tricked me, and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the serpent,

‘Because you have done this,

   cursed are you among all animals

   and among all wild creatures;

upon your belly you shall go,

   and dust you shall eat

   all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

   and between your offspring and hers;

he will strike your head,

   and you will strike his heel.’

The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all who live.

Psalm 98:1-4

O sing to the Lord a new song,

   for God has done marvelous things.

God’s right hand and holy arm

   have brought salvation.

God has made salvation known,

   and has shown justice to the nations,

   and has remembered the house of Israel

   in faithfulness and love.

All the ends of the earth have seen

   the saving power of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

   break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in love. God destined us for adoption as God’s children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of God’s will, to the praise of God’s glorious grace, freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.

Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to 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. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

The readings are from the website below, with tiny adjustments to make the text more inclusive.

http://bible.oremus.org/