Every crowd has one. He or she is the one who works the room pumping the hands of strangers and slapping the backs of old friends. If you ever lose sight of this person, you usually can still hear him or her above the din of conversation. Some would say they’re loud but they’re just exuberant. They enjoy company and love to laugh. That’s what I was doing when I read your pastor’s description of me: Elizabeth the Exuberant. I’m not one of those who “works the crowd” but yes, I laughed with a boisterous joy to learn that in my old age God was going to give me a son who would be known as John the baptizer. But my exuberance, as your pastor calls it, had more to do with the impending birth of someone else’s child. Won’t you give me your attention as I share with you my Advent Admissions? Perhaps they will help in your Advent preparations.
You, of course, already met my husband, Zechariah the priest. He spoke to you last week and described how the angel Gabriel appeared to him in the temple to tell him that we were going to have a son even though we were both old and beyond the age of childbearing. Poor Zechariah. Because he doubted the angel’s message, God silenced him for nine months. Ironically my husband’s speechlessness was loud proof that he was telling the truth about the angel and his message. And so I believed and when I became pregnant soon after I exclaimed: “The Lord has done this for me” (Luke 1:25a).
What kind of things has the Lord done for you? Well he does everything for us! The food that you ate for breakfast. The house in which you slept. The warm clothes that you’re wearing. All that is from the Lord. It’s easy to forget though isn’t it? That’s why God empties us from time to time. He did that with the aged and childless Abraham and Sarah with whom Zechariah and I had much in common. He did that with Gideon who faced 450 Midianites for every 1 of his soldiers. He did that with Jesus’ unprepared disciples at the Feeding of the 5,000. God empties us the way you poor out cold coffee so you can fill the mug with a fresh brew. Likewise God often puts us against impossible odds so that when things come out OK we can only exclaim: “The Lord has done this!” So don’t despair if you’re facing a seemingly impossible task in your life – like building a new church as a small congregation. Let God fill you with his love, his grace, and his promises and watch him accomplish the impossible through YOU!
Because I was with child, no longer would my friends and neighbors shake their heads in sympathy for me. In my day and age it was considered a shame, even a disgrace if a woman was unable to bear children. And so I also exclaimed: “In these days [the Lord] has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people” (Luke 1:25b). Do people feel sorry for you the way they felt sorry for me? Your pastor told me how in schools today you’re taught that this world is millions of years old and that humans weren’t created by God but evolved from animals. He said that if you were to speak up in class and say that God created everything, many of your classmates would shake their heads and laugh that you believe such a “fairy tale.” And what about those friends who invited you to a house party last night but you declined to go because you knew you would face temptations that no Christian would want to expose themselves to. Don’t these friends think you’re a little weird for not wanting to party like they do? It’s not easy being a believer in a world that doesn’t care about God. But one day God will remove any disgrace or shame you have had to bear because of your faith. When Jesus returns in glory with all of his angels, everyone will see that your Christian faith was not silly; it is superior to anything they believe or are counting on in life!
When the bulge in my tummy made it quite obvious that I was pregnant, I was happy, proud in fact to walk around the marketplace in my hometown. I was going to have a son, and this boy would be no ordinary child; he would be a prophet like the famous Elijah who had stood up to wicked King Ahab! Do you suppose I was a little put out then when my cousin Mary came to visit? The angel Gabriel had just appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear God’s own Son who was to be the Messiah. Yes, Mary’s son was obviously more important than my son. So how would you react if you were showing off your new engagement ring but your friend only smiled before flashing her new ring which had bigger and better diamonds? Would you be jealous? Only by God’s grace that’s not how I felt when Mary showed up on our doorstep. Instead I was honored. As if to make up for my husband’s silence I said to Mary in a loud voice prompted by the Holy Spirit: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:42, 43)
I was not jealous of Mary. How could I be? Her miraculous pregnancy meant that our salvation was about to be secured. Mary’s baby would take away our sins and give us eternal life in heaven! As if to echo my exuberance my unborn baby leapt for joy in my womb when he heard Mary’s voice. The Holy Spirit had already given John faith and the miraculous ability to identify that his Lord and Savior was nearby! Many years later others would leap upon meeting Jesus. The lame would leap, forgiven sinners would leap, even the dead would leap!
Do you still leap when Jesus comes to you? He does, you know. In Holy Communion Jesus comes to you “wrapped” in bread and wine. You can’t see him but he’s there just as I knew he was there in Mary’s tummy. What’s more, in Holy Communion Jesus comes to grant forgiveness. Are you still awed by this Sacrament the way you were the first time you received it? If not, it’s time to review what happens in the Lord’s Supper and to be reminded that your Lord doesn’t have to come to you in this way. Instead he ought to come in judgment for your lack of zeal for his holy Word. When you kneel before your pastor for Holy Communion he ought to give you a knuckle wrap on the head and a tongue-lashing for having broken God’s commands again. Your pastor should receive the same treatment too! Instead Jesus speaks life-giving words of forgiveness to you both and then seals his promises by giving himself to you in bread and wine. Let your exuberance show when you come to Holy Communion!
So why had Mary come to visit me of all people? Well the angel Gabriel told her that I too was miraculously pregnant. Mary wasted no time in coming for a visit because, well, she needed some encouraging. Who else would be able to reassure her as I could that she wasn’t crazy for believing the angel’s message? Her fiancé wasn’t ready to do that yet. Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful to him and was ready to break off the engagement!
Friends, if the angel-seeing Mary needed the ongoing company and encouragement of a fellow believer, then you do too. From Monday through Saturday you spend much of your time surrounded by people who don’t care for the Bible. Your faith in an invisible God is under constant attack. You need that faith bolstered not only by God’s Word here in church but by the fellowship of like-minded believers. You need to see and hear that you’re not crazy for believing what you do about Jesus. Look around you. Here are others who confess that they are sinners and that without Jesus they are lost. Like you, they too are eagerly waiting for Jesus’ return and they really believe that it will happen. Dear Christian, you’re not a discarded piece of string lying on the floor; you’re one of many strands which make up the strong rope that is the Holy Christian Church – a rope which Jesus has wrapped around his nail-marked hands and is pulling to heaven.
Mary stayed with me for the next three months – for my last trimester. Oh what a help she was with the housework! My favorite was the foot rubs she gave at the end of the day. I should have been giving her foot rubs and taking care of her needs since she was carrying the Son of God! But that was humble Mary. She was like her son who would one day wash the dirty feet of his disciples before wiping filthy sinners clean of all sins with the red polish of his blood. Both Mary and her son illustrate how those who are truly great in God’s kingdom are those who serve no matter how “important” they are.
Because my husband already told you about the birth of our son, John, I don’t have anything else to add to my Advent Admissions. John’s birth was an exciting day. But not nearly as exciting as when we received word that Mary had her baby in Bethlehem – just as God said would happen. As you get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus don’t forget that he has already come to you in Word and Sacrament. Leap for joy. Shout with exuberance. Marvel that your Savior has come and is coming again. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
In what way was Zechariah’s speechlessness “loud proof” that he was telling the truth about Gabriel's promise that he and Elizabeth would have a son?
Further application of the previous question (not addressed in the sermon): How are your conscience and the stars in the sky “loud proof” of God’s existence?
“The Lord has done this for me,” exclaimed Elizabeth about her pregnancy. God’s hand was obvious because Elizabeth’s situation had seemed hopeless. List other people in the Bible God “emptied” before filling them with his power. How has he done this in your life?
God also took away Elizabeth’s disgrace by giving her a son. What kind of “disgrace” do you look forward to God removing from your life? How and when will he do this? How can you be sure?
Elizabeth could have been jealous of Mary. After all, her baby was more important than Elizabeth’s. God still gives some people more gifts than others. How are you to handle that if you’re less gifted than others? How should you act if you are more gifted?
John leapt in his mother’s womb when he heard Mary’s voice. Elizabeth cried out in exuberance that she too would be visited by Jesus. Why can we express the same kind of excitement?
Mary needed Elizabeth’s encouragement. Why? How can you use this true story with a fellow member who has stopped attending church?
Was there anything you didn’t understand from the sermon or would like more information on? List those things here.
