There are some things that we don't always think about in the Christmas story as it appears in the Bible.

Mary and Joseph were not married when Mary was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. We sometimes gloss over the scandalous implications of this because of the miracle, ut put all your expectations aside for a moment and think about it.

When we look at the age women were generally betrothed, Mary was an unwed, pregnant teenage girl. That's something that could be awkward even our more tolerant modern world, but think about thas. Mary lived in a culture that believed in "honor killings." The y may not have called them that but this law from Deuteronomy shows that it what they were.

It wasn't just a scandal; Mary's life was hanging by a thread. Joseph could have demanded that the men of the city stone her to death. Even putting her aside honorably would make her, as an unwed mother, an outcast, condemned by the whole community for her assumed loose morals. She knew what it meant to be vulnerable.

Which really gives a lot of extra meaning to what she says in the song we call the Magnificat.

And Mary said, "I'm bursting with God-news; I'm dancing the song of my Savior God. God took one good look at me, and look what happened - I'm the most fortunate woman on earth! What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him. He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. It's exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

This passage in Luke 1:46-55 is remarkible for what it tells us about God. This is not a God who kowtows to kings and presidents or takes special notice of the rich and famous. This isn't even a God who stands in solidatiry with the decent and morally upright church-going folk of the world.

The God who Mary sings about is a God who cares about the poor, the despised, the rejected, and the vulnerable. This is a God whose son is born out of wedlock to a poor couple with no social standing. It's scandalous but God's love is scandalous as he breaks all the social and religious rules out of love. And it's something that carries over to the ministry of Jesus who grows up to touch the untouchables, forgive the unforgivables, and embrace the unacceptables.