Luke 1:26-38   ²⁶ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,  ²⁷ to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  ²⁸ And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."  ²⁹ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.  ³⁰ The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  ³¹ And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  ³² He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  ³³ He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."  ³⁴ Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"  ³⁵ The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.  ³⁶ And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.  ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God."  ³⁸ Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

            Today, August 15, is the holy festival of the Assumption of Mary.  It is not a festival that is often celebrated in the Lutheran tradition of the church.  However, last year, as August 15 did indeed fall on a Sunday, celebrating this Sunday was an option.  For Lutherans though, we like to rename festivals to make them seem less Catholic.  In Lutheran circles, today is the festival of Mary, Mother of our Lord.  This day is also called the Dormition of the Theotokos (Greek for “The falling asleep of the God-Bearer”;  as Mother of Jesus, Mary is called the Holy Theotokos) in many of the Eastern Churches.

            The Assumption of Mary, which many Lutherans still cannot theologically grasp, is the festival day in which Mary was assumed into heaven.  While we really have no biblical witness to this event, it has become a tradition in the church.  Some Eastern and Western churches bicker over whether Mary actually died before she went to heaven, while others like to pursue the argument whether or not her body and soul were assumed or whether just her body was assumed into heaven.  Revelation 12 is the biblical source that gives the most evidence for body and soul, and it can often be found in the theological arguments surrounding this festival. 

            For Lutherans, we tend to settle on a little bit simpler theology which talking about Mary.  We do confess that she was the Theotokos (see our creeds), we celebrate the virgin birth at Christmas, and we do talk about her being a chosen one of God.  However, we do not celebrate her in other ways common with the Roman Catholic Tradition (i.e., praying to her, emphasizing her participation in salvation, etc.).  That does not prevent us from glorifying God for her, and for the work that she endured on God’s behalf, so that she could indeed be the Mother of our Lord

Some other resources for you:

• WikiPedia Assumption_of_Mary

• Dormition of the Theotokos

• Mary mother of Jesus

• Theotokos

In our prayers this week:  Ann, Daniel, Anne, David

God’s Peace,