December 19, 2021 Advent 4
First Lesson Micah 5:2-5a
2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
5 and he shall be the one of peace.
Second Lesson: Luke 1:39-56
39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child 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 by the Lord.” 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The birth of our Lord, the divine incarnation of God in human form. Emmanuel, God with us. At the heart of that is the pregnancy and birth of two sons and the two women who gave them life. But before we arrive at their births, we get to pause and feel their pregnancies. The blessed time when Elizabeth and Mary are great with child. If you have ever expected a child, you know the glorious tension of already loving your baby, before you have even met. How you already have dreams for your child before he is even born. How you anticipate holding your daughter, long before her first breath. A profound already and not yet sense lives within you as you await the birth of your precious babe. 26 years ago this month, I anxiously awaited the birth of my first son. I could never have imagined the life he would lead, but I was filled with love and hope for his future. So it was with Mary and Elizabeth. And then some. These two women would change the world. These two women, Mary and Elizabeth, birthed a new revelation of God. These two women raised John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us hear from Elizabeth and Mary, these two prophetic women. The angel has just departed from Mary after she said yes to being the mother of God’s Son. Read Luke.
I love this interchange between two women. Elizabeth greeting Mary and Mary declaring the divine works of God that have come and will come. Their prophetic voices given space because the space in their wombs is filled with God’s messenger and anointed one. Yet I discovered this week that in the Bible 93 women are mentioned, 49 women are named, and women speak, women are given voice, only 1.1% of the time (Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter). Yet here we have two glorious women sharing their prophetic voice! Glorious in that they are remembered and celebrated, but at the time they were simply two lowly and shamed women. Mary was a mere 12-13 years old, betrothed, but pregnant without a husband and Elizabeth was older and barren until this pregnancy. But God chose these two women to begin the transformation of the world.
Elizabeth was prophetic in her care and validation for Mary. She opens her arms and receives her cousin when custom would dictate that she reject her in disgrace. She validates Mary’s shocking news, what Mary has just heard from the angel. We know nothing of Mary’s parents, or family beyond her connection to Elizabeth. But we can imagine a scared young maiden who is now with child, traveling to a motherly figure, one who the angel just told her was pregnant with child in her old age. Upon her greeting, John’s reaction of leaping for joy in Elizabeth’s womb testifies to the child Mary is carrying, fulfilling Gabriel’s prophecy, “even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:15). Already John points to the coming one.
Elizabeth, takes on the role of prophet when she proclaims what Mary has not yet told her, and what is not yet visible to the eye: Mary is pregnant. Through the Holy Spirit Elizabeth knows who Mary’s child will be, for she calls Mary “the mother of my Lord.” Her prophecy will soon be fulfilled when her own son prepares the way for the Lord. (WP, Judith Jones)
Elizabeth not only prophesies but blesses. She blesses Mary for both the fruit of her womb and how she is blessed among women. This is a present and future generational blessing. Case in point, here we are blessing her today. Elizabeth also blesses Mary’s trust in God’s promise and willingness to say, “yes.” This is the same verb used in the beatitudes. Judith Jones writes, “We might well translate Elizabeth’s words as “Happy is she who believed … ” Mary is blessed because despite all expectations her social status has been reversed: she will be honored rather than shamed for bearing this child. But she has also been blessed with divine joy — with beatitude — because she has believed that God is able to do what God promises to do (Working Preacher).
“Elizabeth’s words and actions invite us to reflect on our own openness to the ways that God chooses to act in our world. What is God doing through unexpected people in our society today? Where is God at work through people whom our neighbors and fellow church members often exclude or treat as shameful? Will we listen to the Spirit’s prompting when the bearers of God’s new reality show up on our doorstep?” (Working Preacher, Judith Jones)
With Elizabeth’s validation and blessing, Mary gives voice to her own song, her own declaration of God’s promise through her son. Often called the Magnificat, because her soul magnifies the Lord, Mary claims God’s favor and prophesy about what her son will do. But this is a paradoxical prophecy. An already and not yet prophecy, much like loving your child before she is born. Mary speaks of God’s action in the past tense: God has done great things, lifted up the lowly and filled the hungry. The NRSV translates this in perfect tense, “has helped” implying action in the past continues into the present. But in the Greek, it is all in the past. One commentator notes, “Thus, we see that the Magnificat is a paradoxical prophecy. It speaks of a future God will bring in through the yet-to-be-born messiah… There is a sense, then, in which Luke is proclaiming that already at the point of awaiting the coming of the messiah, salvation is a done deal. (Working Preacher, Wesley Allen Jr.)
As we wait for the birth of Jesus, do we live in the reality salvation is a done deal? Are we deeply trusting of God and the promises made for our future? Micah helps with this. We like to read this as “The one of peace” pointing to Jesus, but it was written in a time of suffering when Assyria loomed large, when Micah’s image of swords being beaten into plowshares anticipated this peace (Micah 4:3). We long for peace today. We are struggling with the duration and ever-changing worries from COVID and its variants. We have covid fatigue, and isolation depression. We worry about our democracy and voting rights, and people having enough to eat. We long for the time this will end, and we can resume our lives. The longer this drags on, we ask, “What does the Lord require?” much like they did with Micah. The pregnancy and labor image in Micah reminds us not of Jesus’ birth, but that our current suffering will end just like birthing pains will end. I know it doesn’t feel like it, but our current travails will pass as assuredly as a woman’s labor will end. May we find comfort and strength in Jesus, the ancient of days, who came to restore us to God in the fullness of God’s love.
Mary’s prophecy hopes for the same thing. The child she is carrying has already and will continue to do what the Lord requires, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). One commentator writes, “The Magnificat demonstrates that God is concerned with the social and political realities of the daily life of Jews, and God acts on behalf of the oppressed and against the proud and powerful. God brings down the powerful and lifts the lowly. God is God of this moment and the moment to come (Working Preacher, Naveen Sarras). This promise is not only about Mary and Jesus then, but it is true for us now. God cares for all the injustices we face, senseless deaths from COVID and climate change, voting and reproductive right threatened, the obscene income disparity in our nation, the hungry children and families living in poverty. May we once again await the arrival of Jesus, the one who will bring peace, the one who will lift up the lowly, finding our own prophetic voice. May we, like Mary and Elizabeth, seek solutions to our problems while resting in the promises of God. AMEN.
