Blessed Virgin Mary 17th August 2014

Sometimes people get the wrong end of the stick about Christianity! They see a Christian as someone who seems to be at best superhuman or at worst inhuman. Someone whose life seems to fall short in humanity because of commitments they are bound by.

In fact the Christian faith has always claimed to be a route into the fullness of humanity. To be Christian is to be fully human, fully alive in the way you were made to be moving towards the glory that’s ready to crown humanity – even though that’s got a challenging starting point.

Someone speaking to me last week about retirement said it was a spiritual challenge to be a ‘no body’ after being so up front all his years of public service. As Christians our humanity builds from that sort of humility. Leave behind valuing yourself from your status – that’ll go one day - we are all ‘no bodies’ destined for the Churchyard - dust and ashes.  Realising that ever more profoundly is one half of our calling.

The other half is we ‘no bodies’ are loved immensely, each one of us, by our Maker who is our Redeemer and our Sanctifier so in our nothingness we can put confidence away from ourselves in God who is, in Paul’s words, our sufficiency (2 Corinthians 3:5).

Living life open to God’s grace opens up possibilities that lead through the therapy of the Holy Spirit into fullness, and not dullness of life. ‘I came that you might have life and have it to the full’ the Lord says in John 10 verse 10.

Fullness not dullness – that’s what being Christian’s all about. This fullness affects body, mind and spirit as Jesus changes us from his image into his likeness in glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).

This weekend from Friday Christians all over the world are gathering round their altars to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the Church’s faith that the Mother of the Lord has been given total fullness of humanity by the gift of her divine Son our Saviour. Our Lady possesses already a resurrection body suited to her place at Jesus’ side in his glory.

Mary is as ever example to Christians, example of fullness of life just as she is example of humility, trust and obedience. Her exaltation builds from her humility. ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ she said to the angel Gabriel told of her divine motherhood. ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you’ was the word from God. So in today’s sequel from Luke 1 Mary says ‘the Mighty One has done great things for me... and lifted the lowly.’

A heart that opens to Christ starts with the recognition of lowliness, that you’re a ‘nobody’, then recognises that’s not true in God’s sight seeing his love, and lastly becomes a heart that allows ‘the Mighty One’ to do his great work within it effecting transformation ‘from one degree of glory to another’ (2 Corinthians 3:18). This transformation is spiritual in that it deepens our living, mental in that it leads us into a fuller grasping of Truth, and physical in that ‘this mortal body must put on immortality’ (1 Corinthians 15:53f).

Let’s look briefly at these three aspects of transformation associated with being a Christian. First the spiritual, because the good news of God’s love first and foremost touches the heart, or spirit or centre of our being. That’s where the joy source is because the heart which is our spiritual centre has most likeness to God who is Spirit. The Church uses today’s Gospel of Mary’s Magnificat every day at evening prayer so it overflows down the ages with a heart sourced joyful enthusiasm for God. Joy is Mary’s gift to all ages and it’s ours to receive deep down inside of us so as to hand on as God sees best in the circumstances of our life. A Christian life is one changing from spiritually ‘dull’ to spiritually full!

Then secondly there is a mental transformation in being Christian.  It’s expressed by Paul when he speaks of having the humble mind of Christ and by Peter when he urges us to give answer for our faith. How good are you at giving answer to folk who say they’re losing faith because of all the evil in the world, because there are so many faiths who’s to know which is right, church seems all hypocrisy and you can’t see God. Our mental transformation is a matter of letting the Holy Spirit guide us more profoundly into God’s truth but it involves doing some homework. Some of you’ll have remembered those four objections to faith were subject of our Lent course. The Premier Radio series is available through the discipleship page of our website stgileschurchhorstedkeynes.org.uk. Have you ever visited it? Or, if you’re not internet savvy when did you last take a book from our library that’s got loads of books explaining or helping you explain Christianity.  The mental transformation involved in being a Christian  isn’t into being a ‘know all’ on religion - but God gave us minds to be used for him even if, with Mary, we profess our search for truth builds from admitting the Truth’s search for us and finding us in Jesus.

The Christian faith is a route into fullness not dullness of humanity. It’s a spiritual, mental and, thirdly, bodily transformation. Oh how challenging that is to a generation that seeks physical beauty in this world alone, lamenting and covering its loss. Today’s first and second readings speak of the hope of physical heavenly beauty set before us in the Blessed Virgin Mary. A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Those Marian stars are evidenced in the European Union flag pointing to Christian inspiration. In most of Europe today’ commemoration is called the Assumption based on this scripture from Revelation 11 but more from the strong tradition dating back to the 4^th century that Mary’s body as taken straight to heaven after her death giving her by anticipation what we are all destined for on Christ’s Return, namely full glorious humanity in body, mind and spirit. As the second reading says ‘Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died’. 

St Irenaeus once talked of how God is glorified as a human being is ‘brought fully alive’. In other words human fulfilment of body, mind and spirit is something established for Christ in his resurrection and desired from the very heart of God himself for Mary and for all of us who let him work that transformation. It’s something that begins in the heart of a mortal being to end in a glorious fullness within the communion of saints. There renewed hearts and minds are clothed after death at Christ’s Return with new glorious resurrection bodies. Mary has such glory in advance of Christ’s return. We live in certain hope that the grace at work now in our lives having ‘led us safe thus far’ will’ lead us home’ to glory.

To be a Christian is far from being inhuman or superhuman. Rather it is a call to full humanity, to life shared in glory with God, Blessed Mary and all the Saints. A call to a life that’s spiritually, mentally and physically glorious beyond imagining promised to those who welcome God.

Is that your desire? Is your heart open to the ‘Holy Spirit therapy’ that will lead you to this glory? If it is you can be comforted by the promise of Philippians 1:16 that ‘God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus’. May Our Lady pray for us and her Feast encourage us to press forward to that glory, the offer of which is the church’s unrivalled message to the world.