Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Kids!
They just don’t know any better, do they?
They haven’t lived in this world of ours for all that long.
They’re oblivious to the realities that stare us in the face as adults.
They just don’t know any better to be cynical.
So we see the difference in Zechariah and Mary.
Zechariah is a man advanced in years.
Mary is a young teenager, still a virgin.
When Zechariah is told that he and Elizabeth—his aged, barren wife—will have a son, he responds cynically.
“How shall I know this?”
But when Mary is told that she will have the Son of God, she asks “How will it happen?”
curious rather than cynical.
Zechariah asked for a sign and received a disciplinary sign.
Mary asked for clarity and received both clarity and confirmation together.
Cynicism comes the older we get.
To quote Farmers Insurance, “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.”
But cynicism is a barrier to faith.
Cynicism is walking by sight and not by faith.
This morning, we are seeing what can happen when faith takes over.
I say can happen because not all three will necessarily happen each time, but certainly marvelous events will happen when we walk by faith and not by cynicism—that is, sight.
And we see it in the testimony of the three characters in this scene: We first see it in Mary’s testimony, then in John’s testimony, and finally in Elizabeth’s testimony.
Mary’s Testimony
John’s Testimony
Elizabeth’s Testimony
Mary’s Testimony
So the first testimony we see that comes from Mary’s faith is Mary’s testimony.
That ought not be too surprising.
But what is surprising is how the testimony works itself out.
We don’t hear a peep from Mary, not just in these two verses, but in this entire section.
The most we get from Mary’s mouth is that she greeted Elizabeth.
So, we get something like a “Shalom.”
That’s it.
But that’s not her testimony.
Her testimony is in her walk.
She went to see Elizabeth and she went with haste—from Nazareth to Judah!
We don’t know what town Elizabeth lived on, but if it were on the border of Judah and Samaria, that would be some 60 miles nearly, as the crow flies.
Most likely, she would not have gone through Samaria, and so that’s an even longer trip.
This would be a multiple day trip just to get there.
So the way it goes is that Gabriel tells Mary that she will have a son and that the sign she has been given is that Elizabeth is pregnant.
So Mary, understanding that the sign is meant to be a sign and not just a rhetorical saying, actually went to see the sign.
Signs were given for reasons.
The signs did not ignite faith; they bolstered it.
Signs strengthened faith.
Mary already believed what Gabriel had told her, but she went all the way to Judah to see the sign that she was given, strengthening her own faith for what was to come.
This, in and of itself is a testimony of faith.
If this is what faith is—and it is—then Mary’s walk—literally a walk of faith—is a testimony.
The thing hoped for was the promised Son (the promised Messiah and Savior of the world).
Faith assured her that it was true and that what she heard was truly happening.
What she had not seen yet was the baby within her.
What she had not seen yet was Elizabeth pregnant.
But there was a conviction; there was proof that it would be so.
Mary didn’t go all the way to Judea in order to disprove a miracle, but to show itself so!
That word for assurance comes from the Greek word that literally means to stand under.
The idea is one of a foundation.
Before we build a house, we pour a foundation, something that stands under the house so that the house does not fall apart.
Turn with me to
Being tossed here and there is not steadiness.
Faith steadies.
Doubt tosses us about.
It’s hard to walk, let alone run, when there is no steady ground beneath us.
****Circus Act**** Some Christians get adept at unsteady ground and putting on a performance to hide the fact that we aren’t going anywhere.
Look at me juggling all this stuff.
Pay no attention that I’m in the same place I was 10 years ago.
Now some actually juggle their stuff and continue to walk and move forward, but many are like Gabriella on the rola-bola: unsteady and going no where, praying no body notices.
Faith steadies the ground so that we can move forward to the hope and joy set before us.
The word conviction might be better understood as “convincing.”
It is the convincing of things not seen.
Neither of these ideas of faith would give credence to the idea of blind-faith.
There is enough evidence prior to the outcome that makes one assured and convinced of the outcome.
Hence, we call that geyser that goes off every few minutes in Yellowstone “Old Faithful.”
There is enough evidence of the past to be certain of the outcome.
Namely, it has been gushing into the air every few minutes for hundreds, if not thousands of years, so we can be assured and convinced that it will do it again in the next few minutes.
That’s not blind faith.
Mary’s wasn’t either.
She had talked with an angel!
That wasn’t enough proof for cynical Zechariah, but it was for Mary.
She believed and the testimony of her faith was that she trekked all the way down to Elizabeth’s house.
Not going would actually have been a testimony of unbelief, as James tells us
If we were to separate our faith from action, it only shows that faith is actually dead.
Living faith moves; it acts.
Inaction is unbelief.
Faith is risky; it takes risks—calculated risks, but risks nonetheless.
This is not much different than Abraham hearing from God to leave Ur and go where he will tell him.
Both left their homes to go to a far off place because they believed God’s Word.
Beloved, when we believe God’s Word, we act on it.
It’s when we are cynical of God’s Word that we fail to act.
We talk ourselves out of it.
We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two and God’s word just doesn’t jive with what we’ve seen.
Yet, God’s Word is ever true.
He has proven himself trustworthy more times that Old Faithful has erupted.
We don’t pray because we are cynical of prayer.
We don’t see him work supernaturally because we are cynical of the supernatural.
John’s Testimony
Which actually leads us to the second testimony that comes as a result of Mary’s faith: John’s testimony.
Something supernatural happens here.
We first hear about it happening, and then we get the explanation of what it means.
Mary has traveled dozens of miles over a few days, and when she enters the house, and greets Elizabeth, John leaped in Elizabeth’s womb.
And Elizabeth explained that it was Mary’s greeting that caused the baby to leap for joy.
John, in utero, was meeting Jesus, in utero, for the first time and he leaped for joy at his presence.
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