Blessed Company: A Sermon 4 Advent
4 Advent, Year C: Luke 1:39-56
Growing up as a broach-church Episcopalian in the deep South, “Hail Mary” was a football term, not a religious one. So, it might come as no surprise to you that I didn’t grow up with a high reverence for Mary, the mother of Jesus. One of the many things that the Protestant Reformation challenged was the Church’s seemingly idolatrous reverence for the Virgin Mary – manifested in its art, icons, prayers, and doctrine.
While the last two Sundays of Advent have been all about John the Baptizer, the 4th Sunday of Advent is all about Mary. So, no matter how we were raised in terms of how we do or do not venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary, today we are invited to wrestle with it. In the first part of today’s gospel reading, Mary arrives at her cousin Elizabeth’s house, and Elizabeth reacts in a remarkable way. In the previous scene, Mary has just received the rather shocking news from the angel Gabriel that she would conceive and bear a holy child who was none other than the son of God. This news was scandalous enough in and of itself, but add to it the fact that the text tells us that Mary was a virgin, and though betrothed to Joseph, they were not yet married. When Mary asks the angel Gabriel how this could be so, Gabriel reminds her that nothing is impossible for God, and in case Mary needed more proof, he told her that Elizabeth - her old and barren cousin - was six months pregnant! Mary said, “Let it happen to me as you say,” Gabriel left, and Mary immediately took a four-day journey to go visit her cousin Elizabeth.
Now a few things can be surmised about this trip that Mary took. In those days, it was common for women to visit their pregnant relatives during their last trimester of pregnancy to offer support to the expectant mother and to the whole household. And since Elizabeth didn’t have Facebook to tell the whole world that she was pregnant and to post pictures of every sonogram, Mary had to hear the news from an angel. And when she did, she immediately went to help her older cousin out.
Another thing that we can surmise from Mary’s trip to see her out-of-town cousin is that upon hearing of her own rather exciting-yet-scandalous pregnancy, perhaps she felt it would be wise for her to get out of town and lay low for a while, before people started asking questions when she began to show. Surely her older, wiser cousin Elizabeth – who herself was miraculously pregnant - would serve as a good friend and confidant during this bizarre turn of events. In other words, while Mary was going to help Elizabeth, she indeed might have been seeking help herself.
Well, after about four days of traveling – apparently by herself – Mary arrived at Elizabeth and Zechariah’s house to quite a greeting from Elizabeth:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of the Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb lept for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
What a remarkable prophesy from Elizabeth! She was the one who was six months pregnant – against all odds – and yet she immediately turned her focus to Mary. She was a wise older cousin indeed. Perhaps Mary was feeling a combination of excitement and fear. What if Elizabeth and Zechariah didn’t believe Mary when she said that she and Joseph hadn’t been together? What if they didn’t take her in, for fear of the shame that it would bring to them having her there. What if she had to return home to the shame that awaited Joseph and her in their own town?
But again, Elizabeth was a wise, faithful, and compassionate woman. She knew what it felt like to be judged by others. Being barren was judged as having fallen out of favor with God. And she was the wife of the high priest. Can’t you just hear the rumors and conjectures that must have been spoken?
To me, the remarkably prophetic thing that Elizabeth said was “Why has this happened to me, that the mother of the Lord comes to me?”
This was none other than the true claim that Mary was indeed pregnant with the Messiah. And Elizabeth was the first person to recognize and acknowledge this miracle.
But to me, the true wisdom of Elizabeth shined through not in her prophesy about Mary being the mother of the Messiah, but rather, in the remarkably pastoral sensibility she showed to Mary when she said,
“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Elizabeth honored Mary for believing that what the Lord said would happen would indeed happen. Most folks – myself included – simply wouldn’t have believed such shocking news. Yet Mary was able to believe that what the Lord said would happen would indeed happen - crazy as it seemed. And Elizabeth acknowledged Mary’s incredible faith.
Imagine how affirming that must have made Mary feel – remember she was only a teenager – in the midst of this bizarre, scandalous event that had just taken place. And when we continue further in the reading, we see the courage and confidence that Elizabeth gave Mary, for the very next lines in this scene are the Magnificat, where our scared teenager boldly proclaims, “Surely, from now on, all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” I think that Mary was not only empowered by the message of the angel Gabriel, but also by the affirming message of her older cousin Elizabeth – “Blessed is she who believed.”
Elizabeth’s message to her younger cousin Mary couldn’t be more appropriate for us today. In the midst of the continued escalation of bi-partisan politics, violence, poverty, and the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us struggle to believe that there will be fulfillment of what is spoken to us by the Lord. As we hang in there for one more week of this Advent season, it can be difficult to believe that on earth, peace and goodwill to all will arrive.
Remember, we are not only waiting for Christmas…we are waiting for the second coming of Christ, for the new heaven and the new earth, where all the tears will be wiped away. It’s easier for us to celebrate the birth of Christ because we know for a fact that it did indeed happen. And we celebrate the beginning of God’s kingdom on earth with the birth of Christ. But do we believe that he will come again to set all things right? Do we believe that peace and love will finally win out over violence? In this day and age, it can be difficult to believe. So, we tend to focus our attention on the celebration of Christ’s first coming. It’s more tangible, and as unbelievable as it was, it still seems more believable than the second coming.
But perhaps the story of the Blessed Virgin Mary in general - and today’s text in particular – can serve as a source of inspiration, comfort, and even empowerment, as we navigate what it means to be a Christian in this day and age. Perhaps those of us who are not inclined to say the Hail Mary as a devotional practice will consider it. And as we gaze upon an icon, statue, or painting of Mary, rather than feeling like we are being “too Catholic,” we might instead will be drawn to this person who, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, still believed. Perhaps we will see in Mary someone who has inspired and will continue to inspire generations and generations of people to believe that there will indeed be a fulfillment of what has been spoken to us by the Lord. And perhaps we can put aside our enlightenment bias and join Mary in praying for those who need it the most, especially during this holiest of holy seasons. And perhaps, just as importantly, we will join Mary in praying that God will provide us with wise, non-judgmental, and sensitive people to receive them like Elizabeth received Mary – meeting us exactly where we are in our spiritual journeys, and having the vision to see God in others.