Does She Belong?

Sermon by Pr. Craig Mueller on the Sunday of Mary, Mother of Our Lord + Sunday, August 16, 2026

Which one doesn’t belong? In such a text or puzzle, there are usually there are four things. The viewer needs to choose which one doesn’t belong. For young children they may see a donut, a bagel, a cookie, and a cup. Or four numerals: 17, 26, 44 and 65. I figured that one out! They all add up to 8 except 65. There more I looked online, the more variety I found. Which one doesn’t belong? Shapes. Colors. Designs. Numbers. Music. Not just for kids. Plenty that were far too difficult for me.

Maybe you have been the person who doesn’t belong. The only person of color or white person. The only Lutheran or the only one who goes to church. The only one in a family gathering that votes like you do 

Look at the bulletin cover. It is a photograph of a mural at Trinity Lutheran Church in Manhattan. There’s a rainbow. A church building. A high rise. Martin Luther. Frederick Douglas. And the Virgin of Guadalupe. Which one doesn’t belong? Certainly, the image of Mary of Guadalupe doesn’t belong in most Lutheran churches, Holy Trinity being an exception.

Though Mary is considered the most famous woman in history, for centuries she has been demoted in most Protestant churches. Mary is for Orthodox and Roman Catholics, after all. Jesus only, Protestants says. In fact, until the late 1970s our Lutheran calendar had commemorations for all the male disciples and for Saint Paul. But no feast days for Mary or Mary Magdalene!

The mural at Trinity, Manhattan brings together many things from their heritage. Martin Luther represents the German Lutheran immigrants who founded the church. Some comment that in the mural Luther looks a little puzzled, perhaps by being in the bustle of New York City. But eventually he would get used to his new surroundings, and be pleased with a church always in reform, represented by the rainbow, and the inclusion of LGBTQ people. Frederick Douglas, born a slave, spoke against the evils of slavery. Douglas reminds them of their commitment to justice and of the gifts that African Americans have brought to the parish.

The Virgin of Guadalupe? Some notice she seems a bit elevated above Luther and Douglas. What gives? Martin Luther wasn’t squeamish about the role of Mary as Mother of God. He loved Mary and saw her as a model of faith and a sign that God chooses those of low estate.

Mexicans are the church’s newest group of immigrants. Trinity makes clear that the Virgin of Guadalupe is not just for Mexicans but for all of us. In fact, the mural is on the cover of a book I have called American Magnificat: Protestants on Mary of Guadalupe.

The story goes like this. Centuries ago Mary appeared to an Indian peasant, Juan Diego, in rural Mexico. This Mary has the dark skin of an indigenous woman and speaks not in Spanish, the language of the conquistadors and their church, but in Juan’s native language. For generations of poor and oppressed Indian people—told that they were inferior and did not belong—they heard the good news of God’s mercy and compassion in their tongue and culture.

As Mary sings in the Magnificat, God raises up the poor, and lifts up the lowly and all who do not belong. For our church, Holy Trinity, Mary of Guadalupe fits in perfectly with our commitment to reparations. In other words, we seek healing from the conquest of the Americas, as we strive toward a new future of greater justice and equality.

I can think of another reason Mary does not belong on a pedestal. Her pregnancy was complicated, controversial, even scandalous. What does mean for all of us who sometimes feel we don’t belong? Who have complicated things in our past? Who have felt undeserving of love and grace? Like Mary, maybe life has presented us with something we would have never chosen. Before Mary’s “let it be,” we relate to her perplexing words, “how can this be?”

For some of you, this may be your first Lutheran service in honor of Mary, and you may be mystified or intrigued. Others have been at Holy Trinity for decades and have often experienced this feast on our Lutheran calendar. You are accustomed to the Mary icon in the chancel, and the intercessions concluding with “Blessed Mary and all the saints.”

Sometimes I have felt I don’t belong in the Lutheran church with some of the anti-Mary baggage that hangs on. Yet, you have opened your hearts to the gifts that Mary brings to us as Lutherans. And things have changed since Vatican II in the sixties. One writer says that the cold war between Protestants and Roman Catholic is over. For many, it is surprising to learn that Luther considered Mary as Mother of God raised above the whole of humankind. And for Islam, Mary is honored and for some she is seen as a prophet.

In recent time feminist Christians have written of the “dangerous memory” of Mary. After all, Mary’s Magnificat in today’s gospel is revolutionary. As one writer puts it, “in this new order the weakest become the strongest, and the humiliated turn into the most privileged.”

I love Mary because she teaches me that everyone belongs within the embrace of God’s grace. That birthing something new is hard work. And in a sense, everything belongs. Not only the masculine side of faith, but the dark, receptive, open and vulnerable parts of us. Gestation, pregnancy, birth. An aspect of God that some call the divine feminine.

As one writer (Cody Unterseher) notes, when we emulate Mary’s consent and follow her lead, we journey again to the manger where the Word continues to become flesh even today. We journey to the cross where we see Christ crucified in the poor and all who do not belong. We journey to the upper room where we welcome “the gusty wind and cleansing fire of God’s Spirit.” A calling to make known the gospel in the language of our time and culture.

With Mary, we continue to ponder, to sing, to tell out the greatness of the Lord.

SOURCE:

American Magnificat: Protestants on Mary of Guadalupe, especially essays by Maxwell Johnson, Cody Untersehr, Jose David Rodriguez.