Reflections on "Tell Me More" Isaiah 40 1-11; Luke 1: 39-45

I had a lot of fun preparing this sermon and preaching it.  I changed the conclusion a bit for the Sanctuary service, and it worked much better.

I loved the Midge illustration that began the sermon.  The final illustration from the Chicago Tribune is listed in its entirety, but when I preached it, I didn't read it verbatim.


"Tell Me More” December 7, 2014; FPC, Troy; Advent 2 2014; Bit Players series; Luke 1: 39-45; Isaiah 40:1-11

Move 1: Do you remember Midge?

     a.  In her latest iteration, Midge was the friend of Barbie who had a husband Alan and child Ryan. She came complete with a talking house, backyard swimming pool, neighborhood market, and playground.

But that's not the first time Midge hit the scene. The first time she arrived as the pregnant friend of Barbie's who had a tiny baby named Nikki found in a magnetic, removable womb.

That midge ran into a few problems. It seems to some customers thought that a pregnant friend of Barbie's promoted teen pregnancy; and Midge did not wear a wedding ring or come with a husband, so she promoted unwed pregnancies. The ensuing uproar led to the pulling of Midge off the shelves of some stores and eventually Midge no longer being made, until years later when she arrived with husband and wedding ring.
(http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2002-12-24-pregnant-doll_x.htm Rev. Lauren Winner, an Episcopal priest, author, and blogger led me to these two illustrations/articles in her blog "Do You Remember Midge?" http://thq.wearesparkhouse.org/featured/advent4cgospel/)

Apparently, a doll of Mary – at least as a young, pregnant girl who was not married, would not have been welcome on the shelves of the local store!

     b. Imagine what Mary must have felt like.

         1. Everyone looking, everyone talking.

         2. no doubt, she was the topic of conversation in the neighborhood.

         3. Where can she go? To get away... to escape.

     c. To see her cousin Elizabeth.

         1. Elizabeth, one of the bit players in the story of Christ's birth.

         2. no sermons in the last 20+ years of preaching.

          3. In fact, no sermon illustrations in my file.

          4. We read about her every year, at least if we are reading the story from the Gospel of Luke, but she resides in the background of the story.

           5. Elizabeth is having a challenging time: she is pregnant late in life with her son who will become John the Baptist; her husband has been struck mute for the duration of her pregnancy (ok, maybe that's a blessing not a challenge);

           6. I imagine Elizabeth is the talk of her town as well.

           7. the God thing probably seems a bit overwhelming.

d. But notice what Elizabeth does, or maybe better put, what she does not do – she does not judge Mary. (I found a wonderful description of how Elizabeth greets Mary from Rick Morley, an Episcopalian priest and blogger [http://www.rickmorley.com/archives/2154] who writes about Elizabeth in his blog).


      1. Elizabeth greets Mary with joy: " Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"

       2. What it must have meant for Mary to have heard those words.

       3. no matter what everyone else says about Mary, to Elizabeth she was a joy. And her pregnancy was a gift from God.

        4.what an affirmation.

        5. Elizabeth in her bit role in the Christmas story reminds us that we need people who look upon the world and see God’s redeeming hand at work, not just see the worst in other people and ourselves.

        6. Elizabeth invites us to spend our Advent season being a little less judgmental.

Move 2: Elizabeth offers Mary a word of comfort.

a. Actually, we do not know what she said.

      1. what we do know is that Mary arrives in haste and stays for three months.


      2. The conversation must have been pretty good. I have this vision of Mary telling Elizabeth, “Tell me more,” because her words of comfort were so meaningful.

       3. some years I ask the confirmation class what Elizabeth might have said to Mary – “talked about their babies,” or “about being pregnant”.”

      4.My favorite: Elizabeth told Mary “her everything is going to be alright.”

b. Mary is not the first person to need words of comfort.

       1. Isaiah prophesies to a people who need to hear words of comfort.

        2. he comforts them with the promise that the Lord is coming to rescue them.

Elizabeth models for us what it means to offer comfort to people.

Move 3: Elizabeth's story reminds us that Christmas is not just for children.

a. Kids love Christmas.

     1. The preparation – tree; seeing Christmas lights; getting to be a camel or a star in the Advent play.

     2. The excitement of opening presents.

     3. there is a lot about Christmas that excites kids.

b. But Christmas is also for the broken-hearted, the disbelieving who are seduced into believing by the God who does the unexpected.

      1. Elizabeth connects Mary to their history – Sarah, Abraham's husband, who gave birth to Isaac late in life as a sign of God's covenant with Israel.

      2. Hannah, another woman who unexpectedly gets pregnant after promising to give her child, who turns out to be the great prophet Samuel, over to serving God.

      3. even as Mary is carrying in her womb the one who will usher in a new history, Elizabeth connects us the those who have been looking for God to come into the world to save them.

Conclusion:   A few years ago, the Chicago Tribune had a story about a bride preparing for her wedding.

One year before wedding: Select a date, time and place. Reserve reception hall. Start diet.

Nine months before wedding: Hire photographer. Shop for wedding dress. Plan honeymoon.

Six months before wedding: Choose bridesmaids' dresses. Hire florist. Order wedding cake.

Three months before wedding: Mail invitations. Plan rehearsal dinner. Apply for marriage license.

(Left out contacting minister and doing pre-marital counseling, but I'm sure they were doing that as well!).

Six weeks before wedding: Find out fiance has been cheating on you. Hire someone to kill him.

OK, scratch that. You're a better woman than that. And if you're not, you can look to Kyle Paxman for inspiration. On July 28, a stranger presented her with e-mails and other evidence that her fiance and his girlfriend were an item. The Sept. 9 wedding was off.

The reception was another matter, though. Paxman and her mother soon learned that although they could cancel the band, the florist and the photographer, they would still have to pay for the four-course dinner for 125 people. So at a time when others might be setting up a Web site to warn the sisterhood about a certain suddenly available bachelor, Paxman found herself trying "to turn this into something positive."

She revised the guest list – no men this time – and turned the party into a benefit for two charities. She chose the Vermont Children's Aid Society because she grew up in Vermont. She added CARE U.S.A. after seeing a television commercial about its programs to empower women in developing countries.

Paxman said the idea was to surround herself with strong women and help raise money to make others stronger. Instead of buying place settings and linens for the newlyweds, her girlfriends wrote checks for the two charities.

She didn't get to wear the Caroline Herrera gown, didn't get to take that first spin on the dance floor with her new husband, didn't get the chance to smash the wedding cake in his face for the camera, not that she sounds like the type, anyway. After a honeymoon in Tahiti--with her mom--Paxman plans to get on with her life. We just know she's going to live happily ever after. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-12/news/0609120228_1_wedding-marriage-license-honeymoon, Chicago Tribue, referenced by Lillian Daniel in her sermon "How Can I Keep From singing," Journal for Preachers, Vol. XXXII, Number 1, Advent, 2008

In a bride's moment of crisis, she gathers with women for comfort and supports causes that bring hope to people.

Mary knows what she needs in her moment of crisis – another woman with whom to share what is happening in her life. A woman like Elizabeth.

And together to prepare for the coming of first John the Baptist, and then Jesus, who will bring comfort and hope to the world.