The original poem was this:
Something old, something new 
Something borrowed, something blue 
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

We know at least the first part of that from weddings, right? Tradition says that, for good luck, a bride should walk down the aisle carrying something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.

Did any of you observe it in your wedding? It’s supposed to bring good luck. Carrying something old with you symbolizes that the bride is carrying her family forward and cherishing her past in the marriage. Something new means optimism and hope for the new life ahead.

Carrying something borrowed--something borrowed from a happily married friend or family member--reminds the bride that she is not going into this alone! She can depend on her friends and family. And something blue? Well, actually, that one's probably the most foreign to us.

For centuries--for thousands of years--blue (not white!) was the preferred color of weddings! In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity (why, I don't know!). White wedding gowns, I'm told, became popular only about 125 years ago!

And then, finally there's the sixpence: And a silver sixpence in her shoe. Carrying a silver sixpence in your shoe (your left shoe for optimum results!) represents the hope of finding wealth and financial security in your new family. And so the custom developed: brides came down the aisle carrying, Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe.

All of that is well and good--interesting, even--but what, you may ask, does any of that have to do with Sunday, August 15th, 2010? Throughout Christianity--including the Lutheran Church--August 15 is the principal feast day of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord. The Roman Catholic Church observes today as the Feast of the Assumption, Mary's bodily rise to heaven (without having passed through death first). Churches like ours celebrate someone who, for generation after generation, serves as an important model of what our own faith can--and should--look like.

And a good way to get at that is by carrying forward something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

What Mary is carrying forward here is, first, something old. Specifically, for people familiar with the Hebrew scriptures, Mary is carrying an ancient song into her celebration of new life. Hundreds of years earlier, another Jewish woman burst into song when she learned that she would have a child.

Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in the LORD;
my strength is exalted in my God. ...
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in my victory. ...
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength. ...
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor."

Mary's song carries Hannah's song along with it! By modeling her song after Hannah's, Mary is stressing how what is happening to her is in continuity with the mighty and merciful works of God to people in earlier days. God acts in surprising ways to bring power and victory to the powerless and defeated. He did so when Hannah, surprisingly, discovered herself pregnant. And he’s doing so now with Mary, the Mother of Our Lord.

But Mary’s song isn’t just about something old; it’s also most definitely about something new! Hannah was elderly and barren. Mary was young and inexperienced. And yet, despite her youth, God could use her!

Mary has just visited her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, who is herself pregnant with child. As readers of the Hebrew scriptures would recognize, Elizabeth is more like Hannah than Mary is.

Both were elderly. Both were barren. And both had been praying earnestly for a child. Not only that, but the roles that their children would play for God were also similar. Hannah’s son, Samuel, would grow up to anoint David as King of Israel. Elizabeth’s son, John--John the Baptist--prepared the way for another king, Our Lord Jesus!

What Mary was singing about was something old but it was also something radically new! Mary will be a new Eve and the child she will give birth to will be a new Adam: a new and faithful start to humanity and its relationship with God.

Something old; something new. What is being borrowed is human flesh itself. The Spirit of God will overshadow Mary and, thus, guide and govern her.

What I’d really like to talk about is something blue. And, while blue--whether for Mary or for brides--is generally understood as a color; as a color symbolizing purity and love, I’d like emphasize another meaning of blue.

I don’t know if you know this but, one of the world’s most famous atheists--Christopher Hitchins--is dying of cancer. Hitchins has a lot of friends who are Christians and many of them have been wondering whether or not they should pray for him.

It isn’t that they want him to die. Far from it! It’s more about respect and integrity. For years Christopher Hitchins has, among other things, written about precisely why he does not believe in God; why the world he lives in has no need or no place for God. The questions that his Christian friends have been asking themselves is, is it better to respect Hitchins strong opinions and leave God out of it. Or is it better to pray anyway and respect your own beliefs and feelings?

This week one of my favorite writers, Andrew Sullivan, added his own two cents. After showing respect for those who, in the face of death, wish to remain faithful to their beliefs and not suddenly look to God to get them out of their mess, Sullivan writes that he hopes that friends and atheists like Hitchins will also show him the same respect.

You see, Andrew Sullivan believes in God--he believes in the Christian God--but that doesn’t mean that he thinks God is--for him or for anyone else--like a good luck charm: someone that you can turn to to get you out of trouble and suffering.

God is not an escape from suffering. Far from it! He writes, “a Christian believes that the experience of suffering discloses essential truths that cannot be discovered or known in any other way.”

What are these truths? Andrew Sullivan lists: “That we are fundamentally weak and needy creatures. That we are anxious animals, longing for someone or something to soothe us, to protect us from and relieve us of our worries.”

“Christianity's radical claim,” he says, “is that it is in suffering alone that we approach the truth about our ultimate condition.”

What does that mean? He explains. “The moments I have felt closest to God have been when I have been stripped of every security, the moments when I have felt no love, known no safe home, witnessed unspeakable cruelty - and was rescued by nothing but his ineffable, boundless and yet intimate Love.”

And that brings us back to Mary and something blue. Mary had this kind of faith that Andrew describes. She models it for us! Having watched--watched!--her son die, Mary nonetheless--like her son--ultimately trusted that, somehow, God was in this.

God was somehow with her--and with her son--despite his suffering and his death. And, in that, she becomes, for all of us, a model of true faith.

“Christianity's radical claim is that it is in suffering alone that we approach the truth about our ultimate condition.”

“The moments I have felt closest to God have been when I have been stripped of every security, the moments when I have felt no love, known no safe home, witnessed unspeakable cruelty - and was rescued by nothing but his ineffable, boundless and yet intimate Love.”

For Mary, and for us, that is faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!