The text this morning is from the Gospel according to Luke, the first chapter:
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And 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 mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
During this Advent season, it’s amazing how many things there are that work to distract us from our focusing upon the mysteries of the Incarnation of Jesus CHrist. The Incarnation is an incredible moment, when the angel, Gabriel, spoke the Word of God to Mary, and through that Word, the Holy Spirit entered into her to conceive in her womb the Son of God. The One who is eternal from all time, the one who has always been in existence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, comes into Mary and is made man.
Mary has within her, growing, changing, developing, her son, who is the Son of God, and who would be named Jesus, the Christ. Most of you know that Liz and I had our first baby this year. And starting in August of last year, we watched through sonograms and fetal heart monitors the growth of our son, who was expanding her belly. He developed from two cells to four to eight to sixteen to over 400 billion cells by the time he was born. He developed a brain to think, eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, fingers to feel, feet to walk. And we watched it all.
Mary was no different. She didn’t have the machines we do, but she saw her belly grow and felt her son move. I can imagine how she felt about that; I’m a parent, too. Perhaps the way it all happened, that was different. But Mary was a mother, and the mother of the One who would grow up and who was the Savior of the world. She took joy in her baby, the baby growing inside of her. And though she was faced with many difficult questions, though she knew people were judging her, though she didn’t know what her betrothed husband would do or how he would react, she still felt joy, and answered the angel, “Let it be to me according to your word.” And so it was.
Mary wasn’t distracted. She knew exactly what was happening. She was pregnant, miraculously pregnant, and there was only one other person living right then who knew anything about miraculous pregnancies. So, not letting the world distract her, seeking to share the good news of this miraculous pregnancy, perhaps even desiring a listening ear and a supportive shoulder, she ran to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who had also miraculously conceived a child when she was well along in her years.
These pregnancies are mysteries. How the Lord takes the natural limitations of these women and supernaturally provides for them is an incredible question. Mary conceived without a husband. Elizabeth conceived with the help of her husband, but far beyond the years when she would be able to bear a child. But, these pregnancies were not distractions.
Instead, through all of this, Elizabeth and Mary might be said to have become hyper-focused. From the angel’s words to Mary, for women who were educated in the prophecies of the coming Messiah, it would have been easy for these women of faith to figure out that Elizabeth’s child is the prophesied forerunner, the messenger from God to His people to prepare the way of the Lord. For Mary, well, you know that song on the radio, “Mary, Did You Know?” Of course she knew! The angel told her clearly that the child she carried is the Messiah. Mary knew it all!
Can you imagine what that must have felt like? Again, remembering the time of pregnancy for my wife with our son, we prepared as much as we could for his arrival. We cleaned, bought new furniture, decorated, bought clothes, a car seat, reorganized the house. We did everything we could to get ready. For Mary, she treasured all these things in her heart, and even prepared herself to become the mother of God, for that is what she was. And Mary, focused on her singular task, to bring into the world the child who would save it, she prepared and did everything she could to get ready.
But, you can only get so ready, can’t you? You can get the house set up. Maybe Joseph built a crib for her with his carpenter’s hand. You can do all that you’re able to do, but it’s never enough. Yet, for Mary, I don’t think it was all the physical preparation that she was focused on. My guess, based on all that was happening to her, based on all the words that she said, is that she was preparing her heart to have a sword pierce it, as the prophet Simeon said. This child is the one who is a light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel, and still, by that very fact, the heart of Mary would be pierced through as she watched her son die upon the cross.
Everything she did, everything she felt and experienced through her pregnancy, was to prepare for that Good Friday, when she watched her son be tortured and murdered. Can you imagine? We all know it’s not right that a parent survive their child, that a parent, or a grandparent, should see their little one die. Yet, Mary knew from the beginning, from the very Incarnation, that this would be the case. And so she focused on this. This wasn’t just an effort by her own strength, however.
This was an effort that was begun by the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit who overshadowed her and conceived the Son of God in her womb, the same Spirit who entered into the womb of Elizabeth to go into John the Baptizer, that he would leap in the womb at his Lord’s presence among him. The Spirit delivers the gift of faith when He enters a person. And the Spirit would enlighten her by grace through that same faith to all the things that were revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and even give her the power to prophesy in her Magnificat.
But, you see this was all begun through this woman of faith for in her womb grew the Lord who would die even for the forgiveness of her sins. Her son would save her. That was the promise of the Word of God, and where the Word of God is, where it enters into Mary, there also is the Spirit and the Father, for the Son of God is never alone. God is always present.
As she went forward through this pregnancy, as she heard the Scriptures, as she hoped for the coming Messiah who was growing inside of her, as she prepared for His coming, she was tempted to be distracted with all that was happening. Think of what it must have been like on the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register for the census. Think of the mocking attitudes of the people who see a woman pregnant without marriage. Think of all the troubles of this young girl as she faces a life of sadness, though still with Christian joy, ahead. But, still, her focus was on her pregnancy, this life growing inside of her, and who He was and who He would be and what He would do.
It’s so easy in this Advent season to be distracted. We go into the world with haste, to see all the things we need to see, to try to find a little focus, to prepare ourselves. We’ve got cookies to bake this week, presents to wrap, songs to sing, classes to finish, vacation to take, services to go to, sermons to write… but through it all, while we do all these things out here in the world, it’s also a time to focus on the mysteries of the Incarnation.
It’s time to think about the Incarnation, what it means that God joined Himself with human flesh forever, that He took our sins to bear them so that He might forgive us, that He promises that very divine and human nature in His Supper, that He promises that by His washing we are healed, that by His death upon the cross our sins are all forgiven, that by His resurrection we are promised everlasting life, that by His ascension into heaven He promises to come back.
This season is the time, and has the time, for us to ponder these things, and ponder them we should, we treasure them all up in our hearts, for our Lord has given us this season, and every day, to prepare for His coming. Just as He gave His mother nine months, so, too, does He give us each and every day of our lives to wait for Him, to prepare for His coming, to look forward to that day.
And despite the busyness that exists in this season, we should always take the opportunity to prepare the way of the Lord. We should always, as does Elizabeth, as does John in her womb, take the opportunity to feel the joy of this season as our Lord is with us, even now as we await His return. And so, we always take the opportunity to remember our Baptisms, to confess our sins, to be forgiven, to be strengthened in His Supper, even unto everlasting life.
Mary is our example today of a hope lived through faith, an example of focus toward the coming of Christ. And for that, she should always be near and dear to us, as she is, even now, with her Lord and Savior and son, Jesus Christ. Mary is indeed blessed, for she believed the word of the Lord by the faith given to her by the Holy Spirit. And you are blessed, too, for the Word of the Lord is believed by you because of the gift of faith which comes from the Holy Spirit. You are blessed, and you shall always be in Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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