"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."

These words are powerful and challenging; some might call them revolutionary words.  They aren't the words of say, Karl Marx.  These are Mary's words, from the first chapter of Luke.  They come from a canticle called the Magnificat, which we will hear this coming Sunday.  Mary sings this song of praise as she rejoices with he cousin Elizabeth, who is, in her old age, expecting a baby who will be John the Baptist, and Mary is experiencing a miraculous pregnancy of her own. 

Frankly, the Magnificat has always made some Christians, particularly the privileged ones, squirm.  Martin Luther, who translated the Bible into German, originally left the Magnificat in Latin out of respect for the German princes who were backing Luther in his struggles with the Church authorities in Rome.  Luther is said to have been worried that the princes would take a dim view of German citizens reading about God toppling the proud, bringing the powerful from their thrones, and sending the rich away empty.

In most artists' depictions of Mary, she appears demure or even submissive.  But the Mary who sings the Magnificat is anything but.  Luke's Mary is singing at the top of her lungs, and her song is about upheaval, about overturning expectations of how the world works and about who and what God values.  Here was an unmarried teenager, her fate precarious, as she dealt with a scandalous pregnancy that must have felt like anything but good news to nearly everyone Mary knew and loved.  But Mary seems to have understood that God's way is not the way of the world; when an angel appeared to her and told her that God had chosen her to bear a child who would be the Messiah, the Son of God, Mary said yes.  "Let it be to me according to your word."

Mary was declaring a world that could be different, honoring with her song those who are left out, forgotten, neglecting, and claiming a God who loves and cares for the most vulnerable.  Perhaps these words are challenging for those of us who are decidedly not poor or hungry or powerless.  But they express a simple truth.  Buying, having, accumulating things or achievements or power will not make us happy or buy contentment or even security, whatever our culture may tell us. 

I don't believe that God loves rich people or powerful people one jot less than God loves the poor or the oppressed.  And I do not believe that Christianity is solely about social reform.  It is about a God who loves and longs for us, and about our love and longing for God--even when we do not realize it.  It is about choosing justice and mercy over power and wealth.  It is about acknowledging and naming our need.  We are dependent on others, whether we like to admit it or not; we need each other.  We need people to love, and we need God.  When we let ourselves forget that, we render ourselves unable to receive God's grace and love, and we become unable to be open and generous and loving to other people.  Mary's song reminds us that in order to be filled with the good things God intends for us, we have to be willing to admit that we have an emptiness that only God can fill.

Thomas was one of the twelve original disciples and he is mentioned several times in John's gospel.  Those stories reveal a man who was courageous and loyal, thoughtful, possibly a bit literal-minded, and inclined to scepticism.  When Jesus insisted on going to Bethany when his friend Lazarus fell ill, the disciples argued that Jesus would be in danger.  It was Thomas who declared, "Then let us also go, that we may die with him."  At the Last Supper, when Jesus told the disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them, and that they knew the way, Thomas interrupted to say, "Lord we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" That question prompted one of the most comforting responses in scripture: Jesus told Thomas--and us--"I am the way, the truth, and the life."  Thomas is perhaps best known as the disciple who was not present when the risen Christ first appeared after the resurrection, and who refused to believe.  Thomas declared that he would not believe unless Jesus appeared and showed Thomas his wounds.  Of course, Jesus did just that, prompting Thomas to kneel before the risen Christ, exclaiming, "My Lord and my God!"  It was the first known declaration of Jesus not just as Christ or Messiah, but as God.

Thomas is sometimes called "Doubting Thomas," an expression that may not be entirely fair.  He  did not refuse to believe; he seems to have wanted desperately to believe.  He just couldn't allow himself to believe without some evidence.  Jesus rebukes Thomas, telling Thomas that while Thomas could only believe once he had seen Jesus, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."  Still, Jesus gave Thomas the sign that Thomas needed and released in Thomas a faith that was within him already.  Thomas' honest questioning and even his doubt have given many Christians the courage to persist in their faith even when they are unsure or questioning or experiencing doubt.  Some Christians have historically prayed to Thomas at times when they need courage.  Most teachers say that this is because of Thomas' courage at a time when Jesus was in danger, and his willingness to die with Jesus.  But perhaps it is also because of Thomas' courage in honestly expressing his doubts and his willingness to ask for what he needed in order to overcome those doubts.

Legend has it that Thomas became a prodigious evangelist.  He is credited with bringing Christianity to India.  Several apocryphal writings have been attributed to Thomas, the most famous being "The Gospel of Thomas."

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