"Who God Is"
Katy Pass, Westmoreland UCC
May 31, 2026
When I started college, I wanted to be a lawyer. I was passionate about social justice and advocacy, and already had a significant amount of experience in these areas because of growing up with two siblings with disabilities. I had thought about being a pastor before, but I didn’t want to do that. Pastors didn’t do advocacy. Church people weren’t involved in social justice, which made sense because it doesn’t actually say anything about that in Scripture. Or so I thought.
Shocking though it might be to you, I did not actually become a lawyer. The text that was just read heavily influenced that decision. I remember reading it and thinking, Wait, The Bible says that? And by then, I was hooked.
These words are spoken by Mary in the gospel of Luke, after discovering that she was going to give birth to Jesus. It is often called the Magnificat, because that is the first word in the Latin translation. People refer to it as Mary’s song, because its poetic meter is much different than the dialogue in the rest of the chapter. It has inspired countless other musical works, like our opening hymn.
The magnificat reshaped my understanding of who God is. God is the ultimate advocate. God doesn’t just care for the oppressed, but liberates them. God doesn’t just remember the people who everyone else forgets, but sees value in them, choosing these people to accomplish divine work in the world. God is the champion of equality, bringing down the powerful and raising up the vulnerable. Making sure that everyone has enough. These words, from a young woman looked down on by her society but honored by God, redefined my understanding of the church and my place in it.
The whole song very closely mirrors Hannah’s, the mother of Samuel, in the Old Testament. Other phrases that Mary uses are found in other places in the Old Testament, in Psalms, Job, Isaiah, and Micah. In her words, Mary is remembering the past, the times where God has flipped expectations in miraculous ways. The Magnificat is Mary’s declaration of who God is and who God has always been.
There is another interesting dynamic in this text that you might have noticed. Mary always uses the past tense. God HAS scattered the proud, HAS brought down the powerful, HAS fed the hungry. Mary speaks of a complete reversal of social norms as if they have already happened. But, she was still living under the reign of an evil empire. She was still witnessing those in power putting down her and her people. And yet, she had just witnessed a miracle, a complete reversal of social norms. God had looked upon her as she was, and chosen her to carry the savior of the world. He would come not as a king or a warrior, but a vulnerable child, A baby more powerful than any empire.
Mary saying the powerful HA VE been brought down and the rich HAVE been sent away empty is her confidence that these things will continue to happen as they already have. God’s character is that clear, it’s as if these things have already been accomplished. God has always been the advocate, the liberator, the one who values the invisible, and this is who God will continue to be. This is the undeniable end of God’s story; the complete restoration of all people to who they were made to be; loved and treasured by God. No one excluded or looked down upon, no one struggling to feed themselves while the privileged continue to take advantage of them. God has already begun to shift things, as shown through the existence and origins of Jesus. This is not speculation, but complete assurance. Because that is who God is, without a doubt, past, present, and future.
I wonder what it feels like to have such confidence? To know not just that one day all will be well, but that change is already happening. It’s hard to see glimpses of God’s upside down justice, especially located where we are. The powerful don’t seem to be coming down any time soon. We stand in this tension with Mary, remembering what God has done while straining to see God’s future in the present. Even if it’s hard, it can be seen.
I have seen God’s work at Westmoreland from the very beginning of my time here. My post graduation plan had fallen apart, and I had no idea what I was going to do. And then, this church. You were exactly what I needed. Again, God turned my expectations upside down. I see God at work in the kids dancing in church, the fact that this is a congregation where small children can interact with God in whatever way they need to rather than being hushed or shamed. I see God in every one of you, the way that you devote yourselves to welcoming anyone who walks in the door, and fight for a world where everyone has enough. I see God in the stories we have told together, in the questions we have dared to ask and the things we wonder together. You all show me what God is doing in this world.
Today might be my last day working at Westmoreland, but I want to assure you that I will keep you all with me. I would not be ready to pastor a church without my time here, the support and kindness shown to me by each of you. This will always be the first church I worked at, and I am so thankful for the ways that I have been shaped by my time with each of you. God will continue to do incredible things at Westmoreland, just as God has been doing. I have full faith in that. Because God is turning the world upside down, turning our expectations upside down. God is making all things right, and has chosen us to come along for the ride. Keep going and, when it is hard, see God at work in one another. The God who chose to come as a baby, who listens and sees those we are taught to ignore, who does not stop advocating for the oppressed, is with us all as we strive to do the same. Because that is who God is.
Amen.
