The
Visitation – July 1 and 2, 2017 – Luke 1
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Alright
– so what's the deal with today. Here it is, the 500th
anniversary of the Reformation and we've got a Mary day stuck right
here. Good night, Pastor Brown, what in tarnation is going on!
Well, let me explain – July 2nd is the old, traditional
date for the celebration of the Visitation – when young and newly
pregnant Mary went and visited the quite old and surprisingly
pregnant Elizabeth, and the old Lutherans kept this date on the
calendar not as an attempt to praise Mary. No, Mary in the
magnificat undercuts any idea that she herself is worthy of praise.
Rather, this text is all about who Jesus is and what He does.
Before we look at the text, let's spend a moment or two thinking about how strange this whole meeting would be. First, you've got Elizabeth. She is, according to Zechariah her husband, “advanced in years.” She's old. Okay, some of you might think she's young, but her child bearing years are long behind her. Yet, she ends up pregnant with John the Baptist, and Zechariah is struck silent until John is born. Again, while some of you ladies might think your husband being unable to talk for a few months would be a good thing – let's think about Elizabeth's situation. It's utterly strange. And her husband is less of a help than normal. And being pregnant is uncomfortable enough when your a fit 20 year-old – now have all that kick in when you've got old joints and a creaky back. Yeah, it is a neat blessing and all, but practically speaking, it would be lousy.
And
then you've got Mary. And here's how Mary gets introduced. 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.
Now, there's a lot here in this simple verse. Mary arose and went
with haste. Why? Think about Mary's situation for just a second.
There she is, engaged, ready to get married, a nice, normal future
set in front of her, and then BAM – Gabriel shows up and tells her
that she is going to bear the Messiah as a Virgin. You do realize
that Mary knew this would mess things up, right? When Gabriel comes
she asks “how” - how is this going to work. And then, when she
agrees she doesn't jump up and down and say “oh goody-goody
gumdrops!” She says, Behold, I am the servant
of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
That's not a response of eagerness. That's resignation. That's
saying, “Well, if this is what God is going to do... okay...eep.”
Because Mary knows what this is going to look like. She's going to
be a teen pregnant before marriage – and moreover pregnant when her
fiancee Joseph had nothing to do with it. Think that would be a bit
awkward? We hear in Matthew how Gabriel ends up going to Joseph to
calm him down – he had been planning to divorce her quietly, which
actually was the nicer thing. Joseph could have protected his honor
and demanded that Mary be stoned to death as an adulteress. And you
know tongues were wagging because they liked juicy gossip as much as
we do today. So there's Mary's situation – where the nicest thing
was that her fiancee was merely planning to have nothing to do with
her ever again. Do you see why she high-tails it out of there, why
she goes to her cousin's house with haste?
So
think about it. We've got two women who are going through incredibly
strange and difficult times, and they are meeting up, and the first
thing we might expect would be the massive complaint session – oh,
see how rough it is – commiseration, tears, all of that. And I
don't say that negatively – I'd be freaked out if I were either
Mary or Elizabeth – I'd want shoulders to cry on. Yet, what
happens? 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.”
Okay,
there's lots of angles people can take on this. John leaping here is
often used as a text for the fact that there can be faith even in the
womb, or you do get folks who want to hype up Mary focusing on the
blessed are you. But do you see what happened here? Little John the
Baptist just preached his first sermon – couldn't say “behold the
Lamb of God” yet so he kicked his mom. And it was a good kicking
based sermon – the Holy Spirit comes upon Elizabeth – and she
speaks the higher and greater truth. Yeah, there's fear and weird
stuff going on – but look at what is really going on. The Lord is
here, the Lord God, the Savior – right there in your womb. Mary,
this is incredibly cool right now. The Holy Spirit pulls their eyes
off of any worries or fears they might have, and instead they are
focused upon Jesus.
Elizabeth
hits the point. Blessed is she who believed that
there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
Blessed
is a big word – it's how Jesus starts out the Sermon on the Mount
in the beatitudes. Blessed – happy – fortunate. But blessed in
a way that the world might not see. Think on the Sermon on the Mount
– blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek – things
that don't look to be “good” – yet because God keeps His Word
and fulfills His promises, yes, they are blessed. And so there's
Mary and Elizabeth, and while almost everyone else in the world might
have viewed them as freaks and hussies and with disdain – the Holy
Spirit makes them to see the truth that they are in fact blessed by
God, and in a completely awesome way.
And
then Mary speaks – speaks words that are basically one of the four
earliest hymns of the New Testament. Luke has four songs that got
put into worship – Mary's here ends up being called the Magnificat
– then later in Luke 1 we get Zechariah's song, the Benedictus –
and then there's two more in Luke 2 that we sing today – the Gloria
in Excelsis of the Angels and then the Nunc Dimitiss – Simeon's
song in the temple. While we normally key in on the later two,
Mary's is the first. And it is wondrous. Listen.
My
soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for
he has looked on the humble estate of His servant.
Mary actually means this. This isn't a “humble brag” on her
part when she says that she's in a humble estate. She's an unwed
pregnant teen who had to get out of her home because people were
gossiping so much – she is low, she is in a lowly place. That word
humble means “brought low” - and she's pretty low on the Jewish
social totem pole right now. And yet, what is true? God is her
Savior. Doesn't matter how low she is, how despised she is – God
is her savior. Period. That's an awesome confession right there –
one that we can sing out too. Doesn't matter how low things get for
you – God is your Savior and He looks upon you with love even when
you are at your lowest.
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.
Mary recognizes that she is going to get a lot of fame and praise –
and she hasn't done anything. This isn't about Mary – it's about
Jesus. Mary didn't do anything to be the Mother of Jesus –
literally not a thing – she's still a virgin. This is all about
how great Jesus is, and yet because Jesus is great, Mary is called
great too. And you do realize, friends, that this is your song as
well. You are those who have been baptized into Christ, you are
fellow heirs with Him, you are called now children of God, you are
princes and princesses of heaven – a Royal Priesthood – and not
because of what you have done. No – He who is mighty has done
great things for you when He poured His Spirit upon you by Water and
the Word.
And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation. Yep, Mary knows you here are included in this – we're just a generation well on down the line – but the steadfast love and mercy of the Lord endures forever – and this Jesus in Mary's womb is bringing blessing and mercy not just for Mary! No, He's bringing it for you, and He pours it upon you today as He declares you forgiven for His sake.
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.
So the world looks down upon you? Folks at school mock you, family
gives you problems, even the government and the powerful give you a
hard time? Oh well, for Christ Jesus is the Lord, and He exults you
unto life everlasting, and He shall give you a new heaven and a new
earth to enjoy and delight in without any of these hassles, for His
arm is mighty – his arm bears the weight of all sin as it is nailed
to the cross, His arm is mighty as risen from the dead He appears to
the Apostles and lifts his arm to show them His wounds and says,
“Peace be with you.” Troublemakers shall trouble you no more,
for I bring peace!
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. With good things – Jesus fills those who hunger and thirst for righteousness with His own life giving Body and Blood. If the rich and haughty ignore this, if they wish to skip the banquet – so be it, but it is still here for you, for He always gives Himself to you.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and His offspring forever. And now it all comes to a point. All the promises of the Old Testament come boiling down and rushing to this point. There, in Mary's womb, is God Himself, Christ Jesus, come to fulfill all the promises made in the Old Testament, the promises of salvation made to Israel and Abraham and David and Isaiah and on and on – even on and on to you here this day. The promise of the mercy of the Lord. Mary's song is all about Jesus, all about what Jesus does for you.
And
that, dear friends, is why we celebrate the Visitation today. The
important thing isn't that Mary happened to visit Elizabeth –
although that was good for them – Mary hangs around there for three
months and I'm sure they were a blessing to each other in the midst
of their odd pregnancies – but the great thing is that God Himself,
Christ Jesus came and visited us, brought salvation for Mary and
Elizabeth with His death and resurrection, and He still visits us
today, comes to us in His Word, comes to us under bread and wine –
pours His Spirit upon us even as His Spirit came upon Elizabeth. The
troubles of this life – they may remain. Yet because Christ comes
to you, you see the wonderful truth that you are well and truly
blessed in Him. This is truth, no matter what awaits you this week
outside those doors. Christ Jesus is mightier than all of them, and
He is your Savior. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit +
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