"Elizabeth’s House Christian Church"

Dec 23

12-22-24

Luke 1:39-45

Heart of the Rockies Christian Church

There’s a danger in beloved Scriptures. The danger is that we’ve heard them so often we’re no longer able to hear them. Or in the case of the story of Jesus’ birth: we’re no longer startled – which we should be. A priest’s wife described as “barren” is pregnant. A teenage girl engaged to be married is pregnant. Historians say the average age of a first-time mother in first century Palestine was the mid-teens. Hence, a priest’s wife and a high school freshman are pregnant with the purposes of God. Let’s ponder that.

Luke tells us the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth took place “in the hill country of Judea” (1:39). Mary journeyed there after the angel Gabriel informed her of her pregnancy at her home in Nazareth. That’s a journey of 70 miles as the crow flies. That would be an arduous, dangerous journey. Moms and Dads: your fifteen-year-old daughter is heading for Denver on foot by herself.

Luke says she “went with haste” (1:39) Why? Well, though you and I know the circumstances behind Mary’s pregnancy – the angel said it was by the Holy Spirit – folks back then didn’t know. So, I’m guessing her pregnancy would have raised eyebrows, not to mention judgment, in everyone from the neighbors to her rabbi. Caught in the crosshairs of such a disapproving glare, I’d want to get out of Dodge, too, and “with haste.” We call young girls leaving home “with haste” to some distant hill country because of difficult circumstances runaways. And you and I know that runaways usually run from bad to worse.

So I hasten to add, thank goodness for the Elizabeths of this world. Here’s what I mean: If Mary’s reason for making haste to leave Nazareth was the judgment that surrounded her there, her reason for making haste to Elizabeth’s house was her belief that welcome, protection, and mercy awaited her there. Her world turned upside down, Mary made haste to the one place she knew she would be safe: Elizabeth’s House. Hear me when I say I hope every church, including Heart of the Rockies, would be an "Elizabeth's House Christian Church" – a place of welcome in a world too quick to shame and judge, a place where runaways from whatever circumstances know they’ll find refuge with grace-filled cousin Elizabeths.

When I was a child growing up – 6, 7, 8 years old – I remember my cousin Donnie, the big brother I never had, several years older than me, showing up at our house from time to time. I didn’t realize it at the time, but as I grew into adulthood I learned he came to our house when things at his home were unbearable. In such moments, he knew he could find a safe place at his Uncle Keith and Aunt Jerry’s. I remember when he came by to tell us he’d enlisted in the Army and I remember when he was deployed to Vietnam. And I remember his coming back “not right.” And I remember hearing he went to California. And ended up in prison. And I remember hearing when he took his own life. And I ached that as an adult he never had a place he could go for welcome, shelter, and safety like he did as a teenager. He didn’t have an Elizabeth’s House or an Uncle Keith and Aunt Jerry’s House or a church to go to.

I remember a young woman who stopped in front of the church I served in St. Louis years ago, her beat-up Ford Pinto stuffed with all her earthly belongings. She said, “My daddy told me a long time ago, ‘When you’re in a place you’ve never been, look for a steeple.’” Ours was the first steeple she spotted after exiting I-44. And that church didn’t fail her. Those dear Elizabeths and Zechariahs of Compton Heights Christian Church welcomed Ronda. She married in our sanctuary. Had a child who was dedicated in our midst. Robert Frost said, "Home is the place where when you have to go there, they have to take you in." May Heart of the Rockies be an Elizabeth’s House Christian Church – a safe, welcoming shelter for everyone on the journey of life and the journey of faith.

Of course, for a church to be an Elizabeth’s House, its members need to be Elizabeths – people who embody welcome and acceptance as opposed to judgment and exclusion. What did Elizabeth do upon Mary’s arrival? Did she shame her? To the contrary, she said “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear” (1:42). As one man wrote, “We need more Elizabeths in the world. We need more people willing to move past judgment and shaming and offer God’s blessing.[1]” Indeed. We need more Elizabeths, people who, instead of rubbing people’s noses in their flaws, remind them of God’s mercy and affirm their God-given gifts and graces. Are you more prone to see the faults or the Christ in others?

Take a closer look at Elizabeth. Gabriel said to Mary, “Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” (Lk 1:36, 37). I’m wondering if there are folks here this morning who can identify with Elizabeth, who have convinced yourself your life has run its course, that it’s too late to “conceive” anything new, who believe the fullness and fruitfulness of life is behind you. You’re too old for this. You can’t do that anymore. I submit Elizabeth is the Patron Saint for those who are at a barren place in life because she says Phooey! to the idea that you can’t conceive fresh hopes and dreams. She’s living proof that the best part of life comes after the first half or even the first two-thirds of life has been lived. She’s a flesh-and-blood reminder that God is never through with us, that God can teach old dogs and cats new tricks and call us to new callings. My hope for all of you who are of the age of Elizabeth and Zechariah – “full of years” – is that the God who caused new life to “leap inside of” (1:41) Elizabeth will stir up something new in you this Advent.

But listen: what goes for Elizabeth at one end of life’s spectrum goes for Mary at the other. You younger people who have years and decades yet before you— You 13- or 23- or 33- or 43-year-old Marys and Marios: I pray God will plant a seed in your life this Advent / Christmas that will change the trajectory of your life. I pray that down the road you’ll look back on the turn of the years from 2024 to 2025 and tell people how you were busy living your life when the Holy Spirit tapped your soul on the shoulder, got your attention, and altered your perspective and priorities. Changed you.

Let’s not miss the fact that God made a claim on both older Elizabeth and younger Mary. They needed and inspired each other. Younger folk need older folk to bless and encourage them as Elizabeth blessed Mary. Older folks like me need younger folks to stir within us hope and enthusiasm for the future. This is to say that the church is at its best when young and old are engaged together. It’s a big mistake when churches separate teens and children and adults, when everyone has their own building, worship service, music or study to go to and never the twain shall meet. Listen: generationally dividing the church amputates the Body of Christ! Mary and Elizabeth – older and younger generations – need each other to be the whole people of God.

I love this part of the story: When she saw her younger cousin before her, Elizabeth “was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you!’” (Luke 1:41, 42). Your attention please on that phrase translated “exclaimed with a loud cry.” In Greek, the words are anaphoneo megale. Mega + phoneo = Megaphone! Elizabeth is literally shouting blessings through a megaphone. She’s using a "mega" voice to praise what God has done in her and Mary’s lives. My question is: Do we use megaphone voices to praise God? We can overdo it at Christmas with "mega" food, mega spending on gifts, and mega decorations … but what about praise? Do we use our mega-voices to mega-praise God and mega-bless others this holy season? Oliver Wendell Holmes once said he would have entered the ministry were it not for all the pastors he knew who acted like undertakers. It breaks my heart to know that there are untold numbers of people who have checked out the church, found it to be Dullsville, and checked out. How is it that we can be raving lunatics at a Broncos game but expressionless before the gospel of Jesus Christ? Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit and knowing she was in the presence of the Savior, “exclaimed with a loud cry” – megale anaphoneo – became a megaphone of praise.

I was taught that to really sing out you need to use your diaphragm. That's where the breath really comes from – deep down – that enables us to make a joyful "mega" noise. What that says to me is we really do need to breathe in deeply everything God is up to in sending Jesus into our world. When we do, we’ll be able to stand next to Elizabeth as megaphones of thankful praise. So:

For churches that serve as Elizabeth’s Houses of welcome for runaways: Megapraise!
For Elizabeths & Zechariahs who, instead of seeing others’ flaws and criticizing, perceive others’ God-giftedness and offer blessing: Megapraise!
For the Almighty who sits high but looks low (Cornel West) and lifts up the most unlikely people to do God’s bidding— the runaways and barren: Megapraise!
For Elizabeths advanced in years who suddenly feel a kick inside, sense God is doing a new thing – sense they’re pregnant with possibility: Megapraise!
For Marys in their teens and twenties and thirties and forties who hear God calling them to march to the beat of a different drummer, revise their life’s plans to accord with God’s purposes: Megapraise!

Oh, I’m praising from the diaphragm now! Speaking of which, Ruth has us singing “Angels We Have Heard On High” Tuesday night during the Christmas Eve services. I love the chorus: Gl-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria in excelsis Deo. I don’t know about you, but I never get it all sixteen of those os out in one breath. This year’s gonna be different! I’m bringing my megaphone voice. Right before we start singing that carol I’m going to take a deep, diaphragm-filling breath of all God’s promises and purposes for this Christmas season and join Elizabeth in exclaiming in a loud voice: Gl-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria in excelsis Deo.

Let all God’s people say a mega AMEN.

[1] Rick Morley, “From Shame to Blessing” www.rickmorley.com/archives/2154