FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT,
CYCLE C
LUKE 1:39-45
WHEN I WAS IN PRACTICE, I
HAD A PATIENT WITH CANCER WHO WAS PARALYZED FROM THE WASTE DOWN, AND
BLIND AS WELL, FROM HIS DISEASE. HE WAS SERIOUSLY DEPRESSED.
ANOTHER PATIENT, A VERY SWEET LADY WHO HAD HER TREATMENTS AT THE SAME
TIME HE DID, WOULD ASK TO BE PUT IN THE CHAIR NEXT TO HIM, AND JUST
QUIETLY TALK TO HIM ABOUT WHATEVER WAS ON HER MIND. TO OUR SURPRISE
AFTER A WHILE HIS DEPRESSION BEGAN TO LIFT AND THE ONE-WAY
CONVERSATION BEGAN TO GO BOTH WAYS. SHE TOOK A TURN FOR THE WORSE,
AND IT BECAME HIS TURN TO REACH OUT TO HER IN HER DESPAIR. THEY
LIFTED EACH OTHER'S BURDENS.
THIS GOSPEL SEEMS TO
DESCRIBE A JOYFUL MOMENT, WHEN MARY AND ELIZABETH MEET. AND IT IS
JOYFUL; ELIZABETH IS PROMPTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO RECOGNIZE THAT
GOD HAS ENTERED THE WORLD, THAT THE BABY IN MARY'S WOMB IS THE
LONG-AWAITED MESSIAH. AND IF YOU REMEMBER, SHORTLY AFTER THIS WE
HEAR MARY'S MAGNIFICAT, HER GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING.
BUT MARY AND ELIZABETH
HAVE THIS IN COMMON; THEY ARE BOTH CARRYING GREAT BURDENS, AND I AM
NOT JUST REFERRING TO THE BABIES. MARY IS PREGNANT AND UNMARRIED.
IN LUKE'S STORY, WE LEARN THAT SHE IS ENGAGED TO JOSEPH, STILL A
VIRGIN, AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ANGELIC ANNOUNCEMENT, SHE GOES TO
ELIZABETH. IF WE PUT MATTHEW'S AND LUKE'S STORY TOGETHER, JOSEPH
PROBABLY LEARNED OF HER PREGNANCY WHEN SHE RETURNED FROM HER VISIT TO
ELIZABETH; BY THEN IT WAS PROBABLY OBVIOUS. BUT ALL THAT IS IN THE
FUTURE. RIGHT NOW MARY IS PREGNANT AND ALONE, AND PROBABLY HAS NO
IDEA OF WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS; AND WHEN YOU ARE BEARING AN AWFUL
SECRET AND HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT THE FUTURE, YOU WORRY, AND PROBABLY
MARY WORRIED, EVEN THOUGH SHE TRUSTED IN GOD.
ELIZABETH'S BURDEN IS
DIFFERENT; SHE IS TOO OLD. SHE FINDS HERSELF PREGNANT WHEN ALL HER
FRIENDS ARE GRANDMOTHERS. IN THOSE DAYS WHEN THE AVERAGE LIFE
EXPECTANCY WAS QUITE A BIT LESS THAN NOW ELIZABETH MUST HAVE WONDERED
IF SHE WOULD LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO RAISE A CHILD; AND HER OLD HUSBAND
ZACHARY COULDN'T TALK ANYMORE – PROBABLY THE FIRST OF MANY AILMENTS
THAT WOULD EAT AWAY AT HIM BEFORE HE DIED; AND ELIZABETH COULD SEE
THAT SHE WOULD SPEND HER OWN DECLINING YEARS TAKING CARE OF A BABY
AND AN AILING HUSBAND.
MARY AND ELIZABETH ARE
EACH OTHER'S REFUGE. ELIZABETH OFFERS MARY A SAFE HAVEN, AWAY FROM
PRYING EYES, FROM GOSSIP, FROM PEOPLE DEMANDING EXPLANATIONS. MARY
GREETS ELIZABETH, AND ELIZABETH REVEALS THAT SHE KNOWS ABOUT THE
PREGNANCY, AND ALSO KNOWS OF ITS SIGNIFICANCE. WHAT A LOAD OFF OF
MARY'S MIND! AT LAST, SOMEONE TO SHARE THE NEWS WITH, SOMEONE WHO
ACCEPTED HER UNCONDITIONALLY, SOMEONE WHO HAD ALSO BEEN TOUCHED BY
GOD. AND ELIZABETH, SIX MONTHS PREGNANT, HAVING HAD TO ASSUME
ZACHARY'S BURDENS AS WELL AS HER OWN; HAVING NO ONE WHO WOULD LEND A
SYMPATHETIC EAR OR OFFER A LITTLE HELP, NOW LOOKS FORWARD TO THE NEXT
FEW MONTHS, THE MONTHS THAT WOULD BE THE MOST DIFFICULT OF HER
PREGNANCY, WITH SOME SORT OF RELIEF, BECAUSE MARY WILL BE THERE TO
HELP.
MARY AND ELIZABETH
CONFIRM THE REALITY OF THEIR EXPERIENCES. AN ANGEL HAD COME TO MARY.
I THINK IF AN ANGEL CAME TO ONE OF US, EVEN THOUGH WE BELIEVE IN
ANGELS, WE MIGHT VERY WELL DOUBT OUR EXPERIENCE. PEOPLE IN THOSE
DAYS WEREN'T DIFFERENT. IF YOU WENT AROUND TELLING PEOPLE YOU HAD
SEEN AN ANGEL, PEOPLE WOULD REACT IN ONE OF THREE WAYS – THEY WOULD
CALL YOU ARE A LIAR; THEY WOULD THINK YOU WERE CRAZY, OR PERHAPS THEY
MIGHT BELIEVE YOU HAD SEEN AN EVIL SPIRIT. WE THINK THE SAME WAY NOW
AS THEN; WE WOULD PROBABLY GIVE MORE WEIGHT TO DELUSION AND LESS TO
AN EVIL SPIRIT, BUT THE POINT IS, MARY DID NOT DARE TO TELL ANYONE
ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE BECAUSE WHO WOULD BELIEVE A TEENAGER? ELIZABETH
EXPERIENCES THE HOLY SPIRIT IN MARY'S PRESENCE, AND THE KNOWLEDGE
THAT HER SON AND MARY'S SON HAD BOTH BEEN SELECTED BY GOD FOR A
SPECIAL MISSIONS. WHEN MARY HEARS ELIZABETH, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A
RELIEF. WHEN ELIZABETH HEARS MARY'S STORY, SHE REALIZED HER OWN
PREGNANCY WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT, NOT A HORRIBLE JOKE PLAYED ON HER BY
FATE, BUT ORDAINED BY GOD TO FURTHER HIS PURPOSES IN THE WORLD.
MARY AND ELIZABETH
STRENGTHEN EACH OTHERS FAITH. ELIZABETH PRAISES GOD IN HER GREETING
TO MARY, AND MARY, IN TURN, GOES ON TO PRAISE GOD IN THE PRAYER SHE
WILL SAY AFTER THIS GOSPEL STORY IT IS TRUE THAT BOTH WERE WOMEN OF
FAITH. BUT EVEN AMONG THE MOST FAITHFUL OUR FAITH GETS STRONGER WHEN
WE SPEAK ABOUT IT TO EACH OTHER. LATER WE WILL SEE ELIZABETH'S FAITH
WHEN THEY ARE ABOUT TO NAME THE BABY. WE HEAR THAT THEY WANT TO CALL
HIM AFTER HIS FATHER'S NAME, BUT ELIZABETH SPEAKS UP AND SAYS, “NO,
HIS NAME SHALL BE JOHN”. WHAT WOMAN WOULD DARE PRESUME TO NAME HER
SON IN THOSE DAYS? BUT SHE HAS FAITH, AND ZACHARY CONFIRMS THIS IN
WRITING AND IS GIVEN HIS VOICE BACK. AND MARY RETURNS TO JOSEPH
STRENGTHENED BY HER INTERACTION WITH ELIZABETH, AND CONFRONTS JOSEPH
WITH THE NEWS THAT HER PREGNANCY IS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND JOSEPH
WILL JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT.
SOME PEOPLE SEE IN THE
STORY OF MARY AND ELIZABETH THE END OF THE OLD DISPENSATION AND THE
BEGINNING OF THE NEW; ELIZABETH REPRESENTS ISRAEL, OLD, WORN OUT, HER
BEST DAYS BEHIND HER, GIVING RISE MIRACULOUSLY TO ONE LAST PROPHET,
THE ONE JESUS SAYS IS THE GREATEST BORN OF WOMAN UNTIL NOW; AND MARY,
YOUNG, VIRGINAL, BRINGING FORTH A NEW CREATION, CONCEIVED BY GOD,
SUCH THAT EVERYONE WHO IS OF THE KINGDOM HE WILL ESTABLISH IS, AS
JESUS SAYS, GREATER THAN JOHN. AND OTHERS SEE MARY AS THE NEW ARK OF
THE COVENANT, COMING DOWN FROM THE HILL COUNTRY BEARING THE PRESENCE
OF GOD, JUST AS THE FIRST ARK WAS BROUGHT DOWN TO JERUSALEM BY KING
DAVID. ALL THAT MAY BE TRUE; BUT I THINK WE CAN SEE IN MARY AND
ELIZABETH, IN THIS MOMENT PORTRAYED IN THE GOSPELS, HOW TWO PEOPLE OF
FAITH, TROUBLED BY CIRCUMSTANCES OVER WHICH THEY HAVE NO CONTROL,
WITH THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN STRENGTHEN EACH OTHER AND HELP
EACH OTHER AS THEY CONFRONT OVERWHELMING ODDS. AND THAT WAS TRUE
THEN, AND IT IS TRUE NOW.
ON THIS FOURTH SUNDAY OF
ADVENT LET US RESOLVE TO SHARE OUR BURDENS AND OUR JOYS WITH EACH
OTHER, KNOWING THAT JESUS IS PRESENT WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED
IN HIS NAME. LET US ALSO REMEMBER THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES EACH OF
US GIFTS SO THAT WE CAN BE OF SERVICE TO EACH OTHER, AND IT'S VERY
SAD WHEN WE HAVE A GIFT SOMEONE NEEDS, AND WE DON'T USE IT.
AND LET US ALSO REMEMBER
THAT JESUS IS PRESENT IN US, WHO ARE HIS BODY, JUST AS HE WAS PRESENT
IN A TEENAGE GIRL MEETING HER OLD COUSIN SO LONG AGO IN THE HILL
COUNTRY OF JUDEA.
