Embracing Passion: Learning From Mary’s Example (Luke 1:38)

If there is one word that I feel gets misused these days anywhere near as much as ‘love’ does, it would have to be ‘passion.’ So often these days we call things that give us great pleasure, or that we pour tremendous amounts of our time and effort into our passions. And that isn’t totally wrong, but I feel like we tend to ignore a major component of what passion describes- suffering. Specifically, passion can be understood as suffering with a purpose. Personally, I have a lot of trouble with this. I tend to either try and avoid suffering or I let that suffering boil over into self-pity. As wonderful the rewards promised to us by Christ are, it can be all too easy to want to give up when faced with the call to sacrifice something or endure some hardship in the process of living a Christian life. This goes for a lot of things, too. If you are passionate about your health, you’ll diet and exercise. If you are passionate about learning, you’ll put yourself through school or do other things that require you to learn by (in part) enduring failure or other discomforts. 

At the risk of sounding like a crotchety old man, our society definitely has a problem with sacrificing for and enduring passion. Especially if the reward is not readily apparent. We let our ‘click button-get reward’ attitude govern everything from where and what we eat to how we determine to live our lives in many cases. Sometimes we find it much easier to buy ourselves in distractions and baser ‘passions’ for the sake of avoiding our feelings or dealing with something that we need to do that we know will be unpleasant. Like the smoker who will definitely quit ‘after this one more pack,’ we put off again and again the thing that we need to do because it feels easier to stay the way we are or to avoid the painful thing. The wild thing is, of course, that we often find ourselves in even worse trouble for trying to avoid failure or by resisting doing something we think will be unpleasant. 

Look at Jonah. He was so utterly opposed to going to Nineveh that he hired a ship to go the opposite direction- simply because he let his dislike for the people there override his trust in God’s judgment. By the end of the ordeal, of course, he had an all-expenses-paid cruise to his proper port of call by way of the Big Fish Express. Imagine being so resistant to what God has called you to do that you end up rubbing elbows with a Fish’s thanksgiving dinner. Some of us are. We’ve created entire systems of theology and ethics to excuse all sorts of behavior, from rigid and prudish fundamentalism all the way to libertine humanism because we have again and again chosen the sin of Adam and tried to set ourselves up as the arbiters of what is right and wrong. That is a digression for another time, though. 

“Here’s your stop, sir- Nineveh. That will be $3.50, have a nice day.”

To return to the original point, let's look at the third servant in the parable of the talents in the Gospel of Matthew, where a master gives each of his servants money, and when he returns, one of them has made no profits. The unprofitable servant did not fail and lose money, he didn’t squander it with his own pursuits, he was (presumably) so worried about failing to safeguard what he had been given that he did nothing with it. How did he pay for this? What he did have was given to the other servants, and he was “cast into the outer darkness.” (Mt 25:29-30)

These men (Jonah and the unprofitable servant) were afraid or otherwise hesitant to endure the passion of service to their master. Just like we often can be. The difference is that we can learn from their mistakes and from the mistakes of others. We can even learn from Peter, who even after denying Christ three times instead of proclaiming him as Lord would go on to be the first among his peers, whose faith and life of service would be the rock upon which the Church would be built. Peter, who after all of this would follow Christ’s example even unto death on the cross at the hands of the Romans. St. Peter spent the last years of his life in captivity enduring the passion of the Christian life, and when the time came, he went joyfully to his death. 

You may not expect it, but when I think of Christian suffering, one place I look for an outstanding example is Christ’s mother, who had spent her life as a servant to God, and would have known the prophecies about the coming Messiah and to some extent what she would witness Him enduring. But when she was faced with this she did not balk, stutter, hesitate, or run. She embraced her calling and her passion with the love only a mother filled with the love and grace of God could. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (LK 1:38) 

Luke 1:42-43. Elizabeth greets Mary. “ In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

I feel like Marry not only opens herself up in this moment to be the vessel for God the Son to enter the world, but she also utters such an elegant summary of the Christian mindset. There’s not anything about asking for a reward, or any haggling or dealing. She simply accepts her place in God’s plan. So here she is not only the new Ark of the Covenant, but also (in a way) the prototypical christian. She is a woman so completely in sync with God, and with so much love and trust for him that even though she is being asked to structure her life around something that will eventually cause her great suffering- she consents with enthusiasm. If Luke 1:38 doesn’t convince you that she was enthusiastic about being the mother of Jesus- perhaps her song in Luke 1:46-55  will give a better perspective on her mindset. 

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.

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 powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

This is not the half-hearted platitude of someone who is just doing what is expected of them. This is the Magnificat of a woman who is (if you’ll indulge me) over the moon. 

How can we apply this example? Well, for one, we can remember that if Mary could endure nine months of pregnancy and thirty three years of a son who always knew better than her, we can get off our seats and do what we need to do when we are called to do it. But we can also look at Mary’s song and see her trust in Him, and be reminded of how faithful God has been to His people through all ages. We can know that no matter what hardship we endure in His name, the reward we are promised is worth it. Afterall, our Lord, Jesus Christ said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Mt 5:10) And he is making a place for those of us who come to the Father through him. Luke 14:2 is where He says one of my favorite verses, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”

God willing, none of us will ever have to endure the sufferings of the early christian martyrs, Christ’s mother, or Christ himself. But we will have to endure sacrifice in this life, we will have to endure hardship. This probably isn’t even the last time I will write about it, especially since I barely even touched The Passion of Jesus Christ. You know, the big one that we all know about and the reason the cross plays such a critical role in our faith. So I hope you will join me in working toward a world where we Christians truly follow the example of those who came before us and endure what we must endure in this life, not only so that we can reap eternal reward, but so that we can inspire those around us to do the same. 

God, you have been faithful to your creation. Throughout time you have revealed yourself to us through your works and through the passion of the Son. Help us to be open to your guidance as we serve you, so that our own souls may magnify you, Lord. As we face the trials of the world, and the pressing attacks of the enemy, do not let us forget that all things are possible through you, Lord, and give us the steadfast strength of the martyrs. When the time comes, it is our prayer that having run the good race, we will hear ‘well done, my good and faithful servant.’ 

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

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