In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God
to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a
man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one!
The Lord is with you.” But
she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this
might be. The angel said
to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 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. He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no
end.”
34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a
virgin?” 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. 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. For nothing will be impossible
with God.” Then Mary
said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your
word.” Then the angel departed from her.
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a
Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of
Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with
a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your
womb. And why has this
happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the
sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed
that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has
looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call
me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and
holy is his name. His
mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his
arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their
thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with
good things, and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his
mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to
Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
This
story has Hallmark made-for-TV-movie written all over it! An angel suddenly appears to a young teen and
tells her “you’re pregnant, and, by the way, God did it”. The teen is so frightened she runs off to
seek comfort from her favorite aunt, and the meeting turns into a crescendo of
praise for God that’s like a choreographed flash mob. Mary’s song would make the Sound
of Music’s Maria and the Von Trapp family singers proud!
Let’s
unpack the story:
An Unexpected Visit
mary’s fear
Mary’s
fear was understandable; she was only twelve or thirteen, and this was very
confusing news. Her future was planned by
her parents to be married to Joseph; she’s told she’s pregnant. What in the world will she tell Joseph? Joseph won’t understand this. And what about her Dad? She has questions for Mr. Angel…hey, this isn’t
fair! Life is tough enough when you’re a
kid – why me, God?
Mary’s faith
But
then Mary’s faith surfaced and she resolutely accepted what the angel told
her. She states the obvious, that she is
the servant
of God. The KJV has the word handmaid;
actually the word is doulē
(δούλη), and is better translated “female slave”. Mary committed herself to serve God without
regard to her own will; she would be a slave, surrendered in faith!
You’ve
done that. When your parents helped you
learn to walk you had to trust them
enough take a first step. It was a small
step, and you were probably scared, hesitant; this was new. You may have fallen – but you learned, and it
became natural for you!
Abraham
did that. When God called him to leave
his home place to take his little family on a journey where God would lead, he
took the hardest step of obedience – the first one.
When
God chooses you it’s liable to mean small, fearful beginnings and a blind step
of faith, but if it leads to the land of God’s blessing, be the slave of the
Lord! He “highly favors” you!
An Unexpected Connection
Mary’s
first step led away from her home in Nazareth out to the remote hill county of
Judea, the home of her favorite Aunt Elizabeth.
The Bible tells us she went with haste. Why hurry?
Chances are Mary hoped her Aunt would help sort all this out. She was an unmarried pregnant teenager. In our day this is, sadly, pretty common; in
Mary’s day it was a scandal that could have gotten her the death penalty. Haste and hush
were of necessity!
connected by more than blood
Now,
all of Mary’s family knew Elizabeth and Zechariah couldn’t have children, and
they were now well-past child bearing days.
But the angel told Mary her old aunt was already six-months pregnant. So, really, we have two miracles in
this story. Mary, the too-young virgin
is pregnant, and so is Elizabeth, the too-old barren one. These two are connected at opposite ends of
the spectrum.
Aunt
Elizabeth and Niece Mary had that kind of connection. When Mary said “hello” to Elizabeth, the old
woman’s baby leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb. If you read ahead you find that Elizabeth’s
child will be called “John (the Baptist).
Because of the Holy Spirit’s presence, the Baptist in the womb jumps
with joy to be near his cousin Jesus, the long-awaited promised Lord of glory.
What
is surprising here is that Mary went to her Aunt for comfort and enlightenment;
but Elizabeth was the one who got both.
What do we learn from this unexpected connection of expectant
mothers?
as humility goes up – blessings come down
We
learn that humble hearts are never overlooked by God when it comes to
blessing. Mary was young, Elizabeth old;
God blessed both of them.
We
must also learn to not judge the young Marys or the old Elizabeths in our
lives. Unexpected beginnings are not
endings. Granny Parker was a church
member in a small church I served in Florida.
By virtually all human standards she was not influential or revered as a
leader. Granny had a learning disability
and couldn’t participate in a traditional education process. But that was only her beginning.
As
a young woman in the depression Granny’s parents died and she inherited the 100
acre farm she lived on all her life.
When the opportunity came to start a mission church she gave two acres
to begin the work. Later she graciously
parted with 10 more acres as the church grew and needed more space. Today, where humble Granny began life on a
small farm in 1911, there is a 600-seat sanctuary and several other buildings
to serve that community.
Granny
died at 98 a few years ago. This
under-educated, unsophisticated, rough farm girl could barely write her own
name, but her relationship with God was so strong, when you heard her pray, it
was clear every angel in heaven was paying attention as Jesus and Granny caught
up on the day’s events.
An unexpected visit and an unexpected
connection, and…
A Misunderstood Outcome
Perhaps,
like Granny Parker, both Elizabeth and her niece Mary naively misunderstood
everything. They certainly couldn’t
forsee all the pain that was on their horizon.
Elizabeth’s child would be imprisoned and beheaded; Mary’s child….well,
you know.
But,
their misunderstanding was well-placed.
Elizabeth’s and Mary’s words recorded in this text are words of utmost
faith in Jehovah. It was like a flash
mob, extemporaneously gathering and exploding with praise on that Judean
hillside. Elizabeth (v.41-45) was filled with God’s Spirit and bubbled over
with praise for God’s kindness in bringing about the fulfillment of the
long-awaited promise of Messiah.
Mary,
also, is seized by the Spirit’s joy and her Magnificat “song of
praise” (v.46-55),
proclaims that everything in life is about to be turned upside-down:
·
Those with reason to be proud will be humbled
·
Those with riches will end up at the soup
kitchens
·
Those who occupy thrones will be powerless
People
who want to open a [cabinet], use the bathroom or even heat something on Mrs.
Piggle Wiggle’s stove must carefully plan how to do it. Nothing, after all, is quite where you expect it in this upside down
house. Surprises wait for anyone who’s
careless in it.[2]
This
is the future about which Mary and Elizabeth prophesy. Everything is turned on
its ear, and God sets it all straight.
So what have Mary and Elizabeth missed here? What is misunderstood?
C.S.
Lewis called Mary’s song a terrible song, playing on the Latin
“terribillis” which means dreadful, frightful, fearsome[3]. It seems the birth of Jesus will shake the
very foundations of society and change everything. Children will do that!
When
our first child, Jennifer, came along we were so thrilled – so very naïve about
how life was going to be so perfect. The
pain of childbirth, it is said, fades into the memory past, leaving the joy of
relationship. But, in truth, childbirth also obscures the pain of the
future. Scraped knees and assorted “boo
boos” aside, this dangerous world (particularly to children) is a labyrinth of
trouble. There are places called Sandy
Hook!
Mary
sang over her firstborn, a perfect child – future king; but she missed entirely
the shadow the cross cast across that manger!
But
that is how it is when you serve God, when you commit to being His “slave” –
your life will never be the same again, predictable, comfortable. There is no such thing as “safe”
obedience.
the god of dead ends
Mary
and Elizabeth…powerless, little hope for a secure future…lives of dead
ends. And, suddenly….God! That’s how it is when you’ve got something
new swelling your insides.
[1]
Scott Hoezee, The Center for Excellence in Preaching http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/thisWeek/index.php
[2]
Ibid.
[3]
Ibid.
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