Now Wait a Minute…
NL Year 3 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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I’m sure that we all remember with vivid accuracy that way back in October we were in the book of 1st Samuel and we looked at the story of Hannah praying to God for a son and that God answered that prayer with an affirmative. Part of my focus on that text was my total inability, mostly as a man, to be able to fully understand what it was like for Hannah to pray what she prayed and act the way she acted in regards to giving her son away even though she prayed to have a child. I tell you all that because I feel as equally unqualified to to fully understand exactly what is going on between these two pregnant relatives. But I am going to do my best to share with you all the thoughts I have about what I see in this text, and hopefully we can come out on the end with a sense of what an incredible story this is beyond the miracles of these two women carrying children given their circumstances.
Let’s start with the obvious. Elizabeth, although not as old, is in a similar circumstance as Sarah, in that she is well beyond child-bearing age. Although it is a blessing, I can only imagine the kinds of stories and gossiping that was happening all around Elizabeth. In fact, the text tells us that she kept to herself for five months, essentially the time up until Mary came to visit. She intentionally kept herself away from other people because of the very fact that she was by all accounts too old to have a child. At the same time, she says that the Lord has removed her disgrace from among other people. She says that because it was a common stigma at that time, and even in parts of our world today, that not being able to bear children was and is a sign of shame. So there is this tension Elizabeth is experiencing by both having to reconcile this gift from God and the blessing it brings with the wonderings from other people of why it is happening or who it may have happened with.
Mary is the on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. She is just at the age of being able to bear a child and finds herself pregnant. While being very much at the right time, she has the stigma of not being married. These kinds of things don’t happen. So not only will there be gossip of how and by whom, she is very much in trouble with not only the families but the law of Moses. How do you explain that to someone without sounding crazy or like you are lying to get out of trouble? I don’t know how she did it.
So here we have it. Two women on opposite sides of the birthing spectrum, both pregnant, trying to live faithfully to their calling by God and navigating the stipulations and scrutiny of society. And that is what I don’t understand and, at the same time, stand in the awe of them. I am in awe of what we see in these women. When Elizabeth’s pregnancy is announced we see that Elizabeth is considered righteous in the eyes of God and Mary is seen as favored and honored by God. Since this is the first time we get any kind of information about these women we don’t know what it is about them, really, that makes them righteous and favored. We see that Elizabeth observed the Lord’s commandments and regulations, but beyond that we just don’t get a lot. Even though we’ll never get the answer I wonder if Mary and Elizabeth felt that they were that way in God’s eyes.
Which leads me to something I do feel I can actually talk about relatively intelligently. I don’t think that Mary and Elizabeth felt that way about themselves and I don’t think that many of us really feel that way about ourselves. Which may be why it is so easy for us to write off what someone or what God is asking us to do. We convince ourselves that God got it wrong or that obviously that person who said they saw something in me must be mistaken. We write off our gifts and talents, or we make a list of reasons why not to do something. For some reason for so many of us, myself included, it’s a whole lot easier to come up with a list of excuses than it is to agree with something even if we are qualified. I know we all do it. While being humble is good at times, being unwilling to see what others see inside of us isn’t.
Which is what makes this story of Elizabeth and Mary so incredible. They don’t know everything that’s going on. Mary’s too young, Elizabeth’s too old. They’re going to be eaten alive by the society around them. They get a glimpse of what God is promising, but there’s no way they fully understand what it all means for the children they’re carrying and how that will impact their lives. And that’s got nothing to do with all the regular things that are associated with a regular pregnancy. Which other than watching Bekkah go through it, I again, have no idea what that is like. Which is why it was so helpful that one commentary I read said that can you imagine what it must have been like for Elizabeth to actually physically give birth to John? I’d never thought of that before. Maybe Elizabeth did when she was getting ready to be due. This whole thing just blows my mind.
Now that I have rambled for some time now I want to share my final thoughts about all of this. Mary and Elizabeth could have had a million reasons to have different opinions on what God was planning for them and doing in their lives. While I am not trying to say that this wasn’t a blessing for these women and what they represent to the world, this leap of faith they took was not an easy one. There were so many things that were working against them and yet they listened to what God was saying to them and what God needed from them to carry out God’s plan for the world. They listened and through faith they were willing to open themselves up to what God was calling them to do.
Mary and Elizabeth didn’t accept their calls from God because it was easy. They didn’t step out in faith because they would prosper and benefit from saying yes to God. While their lives would be impacted for better and worse, their willingness to trust in God was for the benefit of others. John wasn’t for the benefit of Elizabeth and the continuation of their family line. Jesus wasn’t for the benefit of Mary and the continuation of the line of David. The willingness of Mary and Elizabeth to carry out God’s plan for the world was to benefit the world. That yes to God, yes to their faith in what God was doing, was meant for others and it that was more important than any benefit they might receive. So perhaps the thing God is doing in your life working in and through you, is to help this world prepare for the coming of the Messiah, and while it may not always be easy, while it may be hard to say yes at times, know that God is working in and through you and each and every one of us to bring about something that is grander than any one of us could possibly imagine. In the meantime, as we work we also wait to see what new thing is happening, while trusting and knowing that God will see it through. Amen.