this sermon worked from my perspective. I did not have a source citation for the article mentioned in Move 3, but the quote is not mine!
the Time with Young Disciples has gone really well during Advent with the Advent "trunk" getting characters added to it each day of Advent. when they arrived down front, they started saying, "I have one of those at home..." Really made our Advent rituals seem pertinent.
“Rest Stops” SAPC, Denton; December 12, 2021; Advent series 2021; Luke 1: 39-56
Luke 1: 46-56
46 And Mary[f] 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.
Introduction: We continue our Advent journey to Bethlehem, gaining insights along the way.
One of the things I’ve learned about taking journeys, is that you need rest stops along the way.
Whether it is a journey driving from place to place where you need to stop for gas, to walk around the car, or use the restroom,
or a journey of the heart where we need to stop and renew, refresh, or reignite
we need rest stops along the way.
for me, the best rest stops are the one where you stay with people or engage with people. A friend of mine says that I “hobo travel across the country,” because often my driving trips are planned around whose house we can stop at along the way. The journey becomes less a straight line than a zig-zag with dinner and sleeping in the extra bedroom or pullout couch as part of the design.
This morning I invite you to reflect on the rest stops you have had on past journeys or the one you might need on your way to Bethlehem this year.
Move 1: Mary needs to get away, and Elizabeth welcomes her.
a. We do not need to be dramatic to suggest that Mary has a lot on her plate.
1. Pregnant
unmarried at a young age.
2. hard enough, but also bearing God’s son.
3. Mary needs a break, a place of refuge.
4. she travels into the Judean countryside (some scholars suggest something like an 80-mile journey) to find her cousin Elizabeth, who is also pregnant.
5. not sure what Mary expected from her pregnant cousin, but she finds in Elizabeth a kindred spirit, who welcomes her.
b. Elizabeth did not have to welcome Mary.
1. Elizabeth could have been the person who wanted to avoid the shame surely associated with her pregnant, unmarried cousin.
2. Elizabeth could have been that older cousin who wanted to be the surrogate mother, with judgment for what she had done with her life and how she had violated the social mores.
2. Instead, Elizabeth welcomes she welcomes, blesses, and celebrates Mary. Thus the pregnancy that might have brought Mary shame brings joy and honor instead.
3. When Elizabeth welcomes Mary, she practices the same kind of inclusive love that Jesus will show to prostitutes and sinners.
c. Elizabeth not only welcomes Mary, but extends her blessing.
1. This is the first of several blessings that will take place around the birth of Christ: Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon will all add their blessings to the chain, praising God for what God is doing at this moment in history and recognizing that those who are privileged to be instruments of God’s saving work have been richly blessed.
2. Our English translations obscure the fact that Elizabeth uses more than one word for “blessed.”
When she pronounces Mary “blessed … among women” and proclaims that the fruit of Mary’s womb is blessed, she uses the term eulogemene/os, which emphasizes that both present and future generations will praise and speak well of her and her child.
But when she says, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” (v. 45), she uses the word makaria, the same term that Jesus uses to bless people in the Beatitudes. 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.
3. As Elizabeth blesses Mary, she celebrates Mary’s willingness to say “yes” to God.
(https://www.workingpreacher.org/ commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-of-advent-3/commentary-on-luke-139-45-46-55-3, Judith Jones, Vicar; St. Stephen & St. Luke by the Sea Episcopal; Churches Waldport, Ore., United States; 12/20/2015)
At Elizabeth’s place, Mary not only discovers a place to rest, but a companion who will welcome her, bless her, and will join with her.
move 2: Mary remained with Elizabeth for three months.
a. Sort of a long time for a guest to stay (I suspect those people whom I visit along my journey prefer the one-night stay over a 3-month stay!).
1. this is not just a pit stop, but time to get away and prepare.
1. Prepare to be a mother.
2. Prepare to be a part of God’s work to transform the world.
b. On your journey to Bethlehem to find the Christ-child, where might you stop and rest?
1. Whom will you find to be your companion?
2. With whom do you share your life’s fears and hopes?
3. Who joins with you?
Move 3: Mary’s journey points out our companions as we go and do God’s work.
a. We might say that part of what Mary does while resting with Elizabeth is to learn the words to sing her song.
1. The song we know as the Magnificat (although Luke does not have Mary actually singing the song).
2. her words, her song, that speaks to what God is doing in the birth of Christ.
3. the song is not, God’s work is not done until the hungry are fed and the lowly are lifted up.
4. the unexpected child who will be born to Mary comes to transform the world.
5. The coming of the Christ-child brings God pushing into the world calling for change.
b. not a task best done alone.
1. We need to join with others to change the world.
2. To say this is not an excuse to not do work - no one else is doing it, so why should I?
3. But a recognition that the task is so great, we need companions to join us in the work.
4. habitat for Humanity announcement about the groundbreaking got me thinking about the task of building a house for people who would otherwise be without a home.
5. Could someone build a house by herself or himself?
6. I suppose so.
7. But how much better to work together, the new homeowners, the trained leaders, the untrained volunteers, all working to build a house and take one small step toward providing housing for all people.
c. I read an article a few years ago about young adults doing mission. I still ponder over it.
IN article about young adults who do mission, but are not necessarily connected to church. “As I see it,
there are two impending crises. The first will come from the burnout that many of these young adults will face as they continue to serve in our communities. While the church may not be what is compelling people to serve, we know that faith communities sustain engagement. When one is engaged in fights that never end and causes that are never conquered, being faithful eventually must replace the hope of being successful.”
We need companions to join us in the work to which God sends us.
conclusion: Luke gives us a poignant story of God at work in a deeply personal way that also transforms the world (Michael S. Bennett, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 1, 94).
May your journey to Bethlehem be the same - a time of resting along the way with companions and together joining with the God who sends Christ to change the world.
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