When Relationships Work

Luke 1:36-46

(Freedom in Christ. Finding freedom in relationships)

Mary just had a visit from the Angel named Gabriel to tell Mary that she was chosen by God to bring His Son Jesus into the world. That Jesus will save many people. Gabriel told Mary that she will be pregnant with child by the Holy Spirit.

As to provide support for this miracle, Gabriel shared how another person named Elizabeth, who is a relative of Mary, is now 6-months pregnant with child even though Elizabeth was previously barren and she and her husband Zechariah are old.

(Let’s look at the relationship of Mary and Elizabeth.)

With all of this news, Mary accepts to be pregnant and give birth to Jesus, to be Jesus’ mother. Mary says,

Luke 1:36–46 ESV

36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,

Last week we read Mary’s Magnificat.

Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, sang a song in response to God’s choosing her/Mary to bring forth a Son, Jesus the Christ, Lord and Savior of the world.

In our text today it stood out to me that

after Mary received and accepted God’s message for her,

Mary went to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

I thought maybe she would stay home with Joseph, to whom she was betrothed.

No, Mary went to see Elizabeth and they had a fascinating encounter.

It left me thinking:

how can we have an Elizabeth in our lives?

Or become an Elizabeth in someone else’s life.

Theme: When Relationships Work

(Say to someone near you, “They can work”.)

(Let’s pray)

Elizabeth and Mary (each) had a relationship with God, with God at the center.

(They could bond over obedience)

There was some divine drama around each of their lives.

Uniquely, though, there was no space for jealousy nor envy. Miracles occurred.

There was something special about Mary and Elizabeth’s connectedness.

Briefly, let’s consider/study our text:

When the messenger of God , the Angel Gabriel, came to tell Mary she was selected by God to bring forth Jesus through birth, Gabriel brought up/named Mary’s cousin Elizabeth—

Elizabeth was old, barren, but now miraculously with child.

The messenger put forward Elizabeth for Mary’s consideration, almost as if to say, “check out God’s performance record”.

And this is (essentially) what Mary did.

Mary went to see Elizabeth.

Luke 1:39-40 (ESV) 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

Note Elizabeth’s reaction and response:

Luke 1:41-42 (ESV) 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

Elizabeth sees Mary.

What happens when you walk into the/a room?

Who sees you?

Say to your neighbor, I see you.

I think Elizabeth is special, yes,

because she has the natural eyesight to see,

but also because Elizabeth is not so preoccupied with herself that she misses others around her.

(In fact, Elizabeth can see the folks doubting her.

She sees and recognizes the people who don’t believe God is working a miracle in her.

Have you ever had doubters in your life?

For some extended season, Elizabeth has to shut them out.

And still Elizabeth sees Mary.)

I don’t know if you have ever been around a person who was so in to themselves that

being in the room by themselves or

being in a room filled with people is the same experience for them.

The presence of other people doesn’t really register for them.

All eyes are on themself.

Not Elizabeth. Mary walked in and said, “Heyyy”, and the Bible says Elizabeth heard, felt and exclaimed.

Elizabeth registered Mary’s presence.



Elizabeth not only sees Mary’s physical presence.

She sees Mary’s calling and purpose.

Sees God’s hand upon Mary.

What does Elizabeth say?

Luke 1:42 (ESV) and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

Now this is something else that is special about Elizabeth:

in addition to having natural eyesight,

Elizabeth has spiritual sight.

While Elizabeth is six months pregnant, 2/3 into her pregnancy,

Mary is in her first month of being pregnant.

Mary is not showing that she’s pregnant yet!

Elizabeth is able to detect in the spirit what God is doing in Mary’s life before it begins to manifest itself physically for others to observe.

Say to your neighbor, I see you.

How special it is to have somebody in your life with spiritual vision,

God-given vision, who can see who you are in Christ while you are still in your infancy.

Even though you’re just recently received a word from God, they already know that God has begun a good work in you.

How special it is to have somebody in your life

who treats you according to your calling before you are even producing.

It is easy to respect you once you are doing great things.

But before you are productive, how special is that person who honors the plans that God has for you?

I thank God for those who saw me and honored me as a boy with a promise from God.

Who saw me before I had the title,

before I had the job,

before I had the wife and children,

before I had degree,

before I had studied.

I thank God for those who looked at me and saw God in me.

(Because what I produce is only a fraction of who I am.

(A tree is more than the fruit you see.)

Don’t get (overly) excited about the work more than being excited about the God at work.)

Elizabeth not only sees Mary’s natural presence.

Elizabeth not only sees Mary’s calling,

Elizabeth sees Mary’s sacrifice in walking/living out her mission.

Luke 1:45 (ESV) And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

There is a price to pay for believing God.

Yes, there is a divine reward. There is also a price.

Philippians 3:14 (ESV) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:7 (ESV) But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

In other words,

I was doing well for myself by my own measure and some people’s measure.

But I put that behind me—though I worked hard on it, I cannot depend on it/it’s unreliable for true success.

I release those parts of my life…

Maybe you have heard of the saying, “Don’t cry over spilled milk”.

(What does this mean?)

Spilled milk is unrecoverable, so don’t waste your energy any longer on it. Forget about it.

I release those parts of my life as any dependable step for where I am heading in (the person and power of) Jesus Christ.

Faith cost. Elizabeth understood this.

Today, in our text, we see Elizabeth in her six month of pregnancy.

But her first month of pregnancy was all by faith. (In fact getting pregnant was by faith.)

Her life’s evidence was not in her favor. Elizabeth had been barren.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

By definition, faith is belief in the absence of favorable evidence.

Elizabeth knows what it took for Mary to get to where Mary is today and Elizabeth recognized what it will take for Mary to see God’s will come to fruition in her life.

Luke 1:24-25 (ESV) 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

(Having children is like a status symbol.)

(Can you imagine how much work it takes to hide oneself?

If today you decided to go into hiding, what would it take to hide yourself?

And not only was Elizabeth hiding her physical self,

Elizabeth was hiding the new identity God has given her.

Elizabeth said God took away her reproach among people.

Of what is Elizabeth speaking?

Well, the Angel Gabriel shared with Mary about Elizabeth’s new identity in God—

Luke 1:36 (ESV) “And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.”

And what was the point of this? Gabriel goes on: Luke 1:37 (ESV) For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Imagine God choosing you to be a public example of what God can do.

God takes what has been impossible in your life and makes it possible…proving evidence for the world to see.

It’s a miracle I’m hear today.

The people i grew up with think it’s a miracle.

They know me. They are shocked.

The people who studied with me know me and are shocked.

If they were to consider me they would likely say, look at what they Lord can do!

And the reason I say “if they were to consider me” is because ain’t no body thinking about me/ain’t nobody studden’ me.

I was the least likely .

Yet, I look at God.

It’s one thing for God to show the world through you who God is.

It’s another thing to show the people around you who have been knowing you for years. )

Elizabeth knows what it took for Mary to get to where she is today and Elizabeth recognized what it will take for Mary to see God’s will come to fruition in her life.

Elizabeth has her own personal experience with this.

Lastly,

Elizabeth experiences and notices/sees that Mary’s obedience (literally) empowers Elizabeth.

Mary impacts Elizabeth and Elizabeth is aware of this impact and admits this.

Say to your neighbor, you bless me.

In reality Elizabeth could not help but be impacted/empowered because Elizabeth, like Mary, also chose obedience and is walking in it.

1. There is a closeness that comes with agreement (spiritual agreement in Christ and otherwise, other agreement).

Amos 3:3 (ESV) “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?

Amos 3:3 (NKJV) Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

Agreement increases proximity. (You individually agreed to be here today and now we are all in proximity. I wonder what God is doing in the midst of us?)

2. Obedience in Christ is powerful/has powerful impact.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV) 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

(There is something about obedience that is powerful event when it is not outspoken.)

3. The people of God have an impact on the world as spiritual people who discern spiritual things.)

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 (ESV) 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

In reality, Mary could not help but impact others.

Especially, Mary could not help but empower others walking in obedience because they all are a part of the body of Christ living their specific role.

(Illustration. Does your finger campaign for itself? Does your ear, your intestines, hair…? But, have a missing finger, missing eye. There is impact from the loss. So we know there is impact when present and properly functioning…whether the difference is perceptible or not, )

Mary’s obedience helped complete a part of Elizabeth’s story, thereby intertwining the two of them (Really the four of them) in faith and God’s spirit.

Here is what to expect in BCAY, in this church:

There can be a leaping in the spirit (or naturally) when the people of God get together in one accord of God’s spirit.

Elizabeth’s baby leaped in her womb.

There can be a fulfillment of God’s word.

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Elizabeth’s and Zechariah’s story, early in chapter 1, the angle of the Lord said to Zechariah about the son they will now have, John:

Luke 1:15 (ESV) for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

Before Mary visited, this had not happened for Elizabeth and the baby she carried.

Now with Mary’s obedience, faith and presence, an important part of Elizabeth’s story is now fulfilled.

What was prophesied or told Zechariah would happen for Elizabeth and her son now had finally happened.

(You may not know how you bring to someone else’s life the fulfillment of God’s promise to them.)

(Be aware/Notice, when someone with whom you cross paths is one who completes/fulfills an element of God’s promise to you.)

(In the Old Testament/New Testament, to be filled with the Holy Spirit was to be identified as God’s choice and empowered by God to live and perform God’s will.)

Notice Mary’s response.

A spiritual release. Praise. Song.

Why didn’t Mary sing earlier, by herself, with Joseph?

Maybe she did, but what we have recorded is what came forward in the presence of Elizabeth.

I don’t know whether you have experienced this, but in the presence of God’s people there can be/is a relaxing…dropping of one’s guard, walking faithfully becomes easier—more widely supported.

And after Mary’s shout, she’s stayed….brought Elizabeth to term.

The first six months Elizabeth was in hiding with God’s promise and work in her life.

But now Elizabeth had company. Divine company. No longer hidden. And soon to be more fully revealed to the world around her.

Praise God for the people gifted and anointed to bring you to term.

Praise God for the friends and relatives and strangers who keep you tethered and supported in God’s will.

I have some friends and family in my life who held me down.

Never would I have made it.

Would have lost it all and lost my mind.

But some folks in Christ came along and made all of the difference.

They may not have stayed with me for ever, but they completed their work to bring me to term. I will never forget them nor the role they played. They held me down and saw me when I was struggling and trying to remain unseen. They covered me. God empowered me through them. They helped me complete a leg of my run.

Thank God for the people in Christ who are traveling with you in this season. They may not be with you afterwards but they are fulfilling a divine role today and we praise God.

Do you know the power of divine relationships in your life? Elizabeth and Mary knew each other. But you can be strangers naturally. Anna the priestess. Simeon. Luke 2.

I’m not talking about the relationships that criticize and minimize you. And distract you. And cause you to fall.

I’m talking about divine relationships that work.

Say to your neighbor, I see you.

I see God’s hand upon you. (Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm.)

I see your/See my calling and purpose.

I see your/See my sacrifice.

I see your/See my praise.

Here, at BCAY, I see you.

Reflection and Journal Prompt: 1) Do you want to see God working in the life of some people around you? What would it take for you to see? 2) Do you want a couple of people in your life to see you in the same way that God sees you? Will you pray to God for these people? Which relationships in your life are working?