“A Common Visit with An Uncommon Message”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Dear fellow visitors and messengers, grace, mercy, and peace from
God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. [Amen.]
“We sing with joy of Mary,
Whose heart with awe was stirred
When, youthful and astonished,
She heard the angel’s word.
Yet she her voice upraises
To magnify God’s name,
As once for our salvation
Your mother she became.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
518:22)
Gospel
Reading........................................................................................
St. Luke 1:39-41a
39In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a
town in Judah, 40and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted
Elizabeth. 41aAnd when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby
leaped in her womb.
Prologue: Many people have asked me what I plan to do when I
retire from fulltime pastoral ministry at the end of this month. The top
item on my bucket list is spending more time with my wife, something that
has been lacking throughout my 39 years of fulltime pastoral ministry.
Running a close second is visiting our children and grandchildren in
Minnesota, Florida, and Colorado.
Speaking of visiting loved ones have you ever considered the many
significant visits that the Bible contains? A few of the better-known ones
are God’s visits to Adam and Eve after they had rebelliously disobeyed His
instructions, to Moses through the burning bush that wasn’t consumed by
fire, to Noah informing him about the coming flood and instructing him how
to build the ark, and to Abram (whom He later renamed Abraham) telling him
to leave his familiar homeland and take up residence in an unfamiliar place
far away; the angels’ visit to the shepherds the night Jesus was born and
the subsequent visit by the shepherds to the newborn Messiah; and the magi’s
visit to the toddler Jesus.
Today, however, we have the opportunity to dwell on and rejoice
over a less-popular visit, namely, young newly-pregnant Mary visiting her
older six-month-pregnant cousin Elizabeth. This visit was not necessarily
strange nor out of order. After all, they both had unique pregnancies, Mary
being a virgin whose conception was immaculate not because she was holy (for
indeed she was also sinful just like you and I) but because the Holy Spirit
miraculously conceived in her the holy Son of God, and Elizabeth being an
old woman beyond what was generally assumed to be childbearing age. So Mary
traveled some 100 miles to her cousin Elizabeth’s house where they compared
notes about and even celebrated their peculiar conditions. However, while
the visit itself was not uncommon, what Elizabeth declared upon Mary’s
arrival was certainly not a commonplace congratulations. What transpired
was, indeed, …
“A Common Visit with An Uncommon Message.”
Donald Guthrie gave the following summary of this situation: “When
[Mary] arrived, she received a remarkable greeting from Elizabeth. Mary’s
relative had pondered the destiny of her own son; but until Mary came, she
had no indication of who the Messiah was to be or when He was to come. She
interpreted a sudden and unexpected movement of the fetus within her as a
sign that she was face to face with the mother of the Messiah. The
intuition was supernatural. Luke states that Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Spirit when Mary greeted her. There is no need to suppose that the
unborn child supernaturally recognized the mother of his Lord and
consequently leaped, although Elizabeth exclaimed that the baby leaped for
joy at Mary’s greeting. [After all,] Elizabeth understood the movement of
the unborn baby, she rightly interpreted Mary’s situation, and she
remarkably confirmed what Gabriel had already told Mary. [You see,] God
confirms His acts with many signs, not the least of which are the seemingly
incidental coincidences that are later seen to be by [divine] design.”
(Donald Guthrie in Jesus the Messiah: An Illustrated Life of Christ.
Copyright © 1972 The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, MI. Pages 10f.)
So it is that this narrative account contains at least two very
significant items for our consideration today. First, and perhaps foremost,
was …
I. A Holy Spirit Inspired Exclamation. (41b-42)
41bAnd Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42and she exclaimed with a
loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your
womb!”
A brief review of the person and work of the Holy Spirit reminds
us that “The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Holy Trinity, true God
with the Father and the Son—therefore not merely the power or energy of
God.” In addition, the special work of the Holy Spirit is that He
“sanctifies [us] (makes [us] holy) by bringing [us] to faith in Christ, so
that [we] might have the blessings of redemption and lead a godly life
(sanctification in the wide sense).” Furthermore, we need the Holy Spirit
to begin and sustain faith in us because “By nature [we] are spiritually
blind, dead, and [enemies] of God, as the Scriptures teach; therefore, ‘[We]
cannot by [our] own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, [our] Lord,
or come to Him.’”
A reasonable question, then, is “How has the Holy Spirit brought
us to faith?” The simple answer is that “The Holy Spirit ‘has called [us]
by the Gospel,’ that is, He has invited and drawn [us] by the Gospel to
partake of the spiritual blessings that are [ours] in Christ.” That work of
the Holy Spirit “is called conversion (being turned) or regeneration (new
birth).” But that’s not all! “The Holy Spirit [also] sanctifies [us] in
the true faith, that is, by faith He works a renewal of [our] whole life—in
spirit, will, attitude, and desire—so that [we] now strive to overcome sin
and do good works (sanctification in the narrow sense).” (Luther’s Small
Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986, 1991 Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO. Pages 148-153.)
It’s sufficiently evident that the Holy Spirit dwelled in
Elizabeth’s soul. After all, the same Holy Spirit inspired Saint Luke to
write: “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” And that same Holy
Spirit that filled Elizabeth inspired her to proclaim her faith that the
Holy Spirit had given her by exclaiming: “Blessed are you among women, and
blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
The very same Holy Spirit came into our hearts and lives at our
Baptism and continues to dwell within us through God’s Holy Word that we
read and hear, God’s Holy Absolution that the pastor announces to us, and
when we rightly partake of Christ’s supernatural body and blood that are
hidden in the natural bread and wine that we eat and drink. The Holy
Spirit, who is present in us, motivates and enables us to tell one another
and others about Jesus. In a real manner of speaking, we follow Elizabeth’s
example when we exclaim with our desires, actions, and words that Jesus
loves us dearly; we are one with Him in His death and resurrection; and
through Him alone we have forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life now and
will have the full realization of such when He lifts us through death to
everlasting life with Himself in heaven.
The second significant item contained in this narrative account
for our attention today is …
II. A Holy Spirit Revealed Recognition. (43-45)
43“And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to
me? 44For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby
in my womb leaped for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there
would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
As increasing age takes its toll on our sin-weakened bodies the
ugly reality is that our eyes grow dimmer and our minds become weaker. Our
once strong ability to visually and mentally recognize people, places, and
things decreases as increasing age blurs our vision and confuses our mind.
Most likely those troublesome realities of the aging process plagued
Elizabeth as well.
But on this particular occasion, when her younger cousin Mary came
into her presence with the Lord Jesus Christ in her womb and, therefore,
physically close to her, Elizabeth recognized with certain clarity that the
Messiah was near her. She then expressed that Holy Spirit revealed
recognition by her declarative question: “And why is this granted to me that
the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
We do likewise today when we confess our faith with the Apostles’,
Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds; the church’s hymns among which is that rich
Christmas classic: “A great and mighty wonder, A full and holy cure: The
virgin bears the infant With virgin honor pure!” (LSB 383:1); and after
receiving Christ’s true body and blood in the Lord’s Supper we declare with
aged Simeon in the Nunc Dimittis: “… mine eyes have seen Thy salvation which
Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the
Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel.” (LSB Pages 199f.)
The Reverend William Weedon captured the essence of that
revelation-recognition when in his devotional book Celebrating the Saints he
wrote: “Mary’s song of praise is the traditional canticle the Church
delights to sing at Vespers or Evening Prayer, even as Zechariah’s canticle
is sung in the morning. By singing it with her, we confess that we, too,
are among those for whom the Lord has done great things, and what is greater
than the Son of God becoming flesh for us in Mary’s womb to bring us all the
blessing of eternal life?” (William Weedon in Celebrating the Saints: The
Feasts, Festivals, and Commemorations of Lutheran Service Book. Copyright ©
2016 William C. Weedon [published by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis,
MO]. Page 115.)
Okay. The deeply probing theological question now confronts us,
namely, “So what?” or in good Lutheran fashion, “What does this mean?” The
answer lies deep in our sinfully unclean condition of body and soul as well
as our Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s 500th Reformation Anniversary theme:
“It’s STILL all about Jesus!” The daily evidence that the Old Adam
continues to lurk within us even though Jesus has fully and completely
redeemed us is found in our sin-stained unkind words that we speak, unkind
thoughts that we think, unkind desires that we, well, desire, and unkind
deeds that we do. Oh yes, and the many kind words, thoughts, desires, and
deeds that we neglect or refuse to say, think, desire, and do. The deck is
woefully stacked against us, for which we rightly confessed at the beginning
of this Divine Service “that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful
condition” and truly deserve only God’s temporal wrath and eternal
punishment.
But almighty God in His divine providence visited us in the holy
person and atoning work of Jesus Christ, who took upon Himself the guilt of
and punishment for our sin. He did so by enduring the tortuous beatings and
inhumane crucifixion death on Calvary’s cross from which He spoke the
merciful and gracious message: “Father, forgive them.” That’s the message
we heard Pastor Marks tell us when he announced: “Almighty God in His mercy
has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your
sins.” (LSB Page 203.)
So it is that the most significant, meaningful, and beneficial
visit and message of all is that of our Savior Jesus Christ, surrounding
whom today’s Gospel Reading related …
“A Common Visit with An Uncommon Message.”
Today’s Introit stated New Testament Mary’s and Old Testament
Hannah’s expressions of joy over their pregnancies: “My soul magnifies the
Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. My heart exults in [Yahweh];
my strength is exalted in [Yahweh]. My mouth derides my enemies, because I
rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like [Yahweh]; there is none
besides you; there is no rock like our God.” (St Luke 1:46b-47; 1 Sam 2:1-2
ESV) In so doing, they mimicked Elizabeth by showing …
I. A Holy Spirit Inspired Exclamation. (41b-42) We ourselves gave a
similar response with today’s Gradual: “Bless [Yahweh], O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his
courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” (Ps 103:2; 100:4
ESV) The apostle Paul took it a bit further in today’s Epistle Reading
wherein he wrote: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse
them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in
harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
Never be conceited.” (Rom 12:14-16 ESV) Then there was also …
II. A Holy Spirit Revealed Recognition. (43-45) In her own way,
Elizabeth recognized and identified the Savior, about whom Isaiah prophesied
in today’s Old Testament Reading: “There shall come forth a shoot from the
stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the
Spirit of [Yahweh] shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and
the fear of [Yahweh]. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and
faithfulness the belt of his loins.” (Is 11:1-2, 5 ESV)
May we appropriately respond with today’s Collect: “Grant that we
may receive Your Word in humility and faith, and so be made one with Jesus
Christ.”
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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