Mary and Elizabeth - A World Upside Down

Could I please have all of the kids come up?

Do you know what we’re going to do now? Yes, we’re going to light the advent candle. We already lit the candles for Hope, Peace and Joy. What do you think this one is for? Today we light the candle for Love. Could someone help me with this candle? …

Now we have a repeat after me prayer. Ready?


Holy and gracious God,
Teach us to love.
Help us to love you,
And to love each other,
As you love us.
With hope we wait for your kingdom.
With peace in our hearts we hear your call.
With joy we remember
That in your love
You came to us
As Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.


Thank you. You can go back and sit down now.


Advent is a time of new beginnings. In the Church calendar the beginning of advent marks the beginning of the new year. Each year in our lectionary we focus on one Gospel. Our good news this year comes from the Gospel of Luke. Saint Luke’s gospel has a couple of very specific focuses which are not as apparent in the other Gospels. He makes it very clear that the message of Jesus is for everyone, not just for the Jews or for any other specific “chosen” people. We are all God’s chosen people. He does, however, say that some are “more chosen” than others. Luke’s Gospel, like the others, gives preference to those who are at the bottom of the ladder and have little or no power. Unlike the other Gospels, Luke makes a special case for women and the poor above all others.


In today’s story we have two very important women. I talked a bit about them last week. Elizabeth is the wife of Zechariah. She is getting older, probably in her mid thirties. She is past the age were it is reasonably safe to have a baby. She has not been able to get pregnant. This means that she has almost no status and her husband, Zechariah has lost most of his. He has no son to carry on his line. They have no one to support them in their old age, which means that they will probably end up as beggars.

Mary is Elizabeth’s niece. She is young, probably about fourteen. She is engaged to be married to Joseph. She is poor but she has a promising future ahead of her.


Does anyone know what happens next in the story?


They both get pregnant.


For Elizabeth, this is a great blessing. Her status and the honour of her husband will be instantly restored. The other women will start talking to her again and including her in their gatherings. The men would start to respect Zechariah again, which would make his job as a priest much easier to do. Their future was full of hope.

For Mary, on the other hand, this was a great scandal. According to the rules of their society, Joseph should abandon her. She would be left to fend for herself. It is unlikely that anyone would ever marry her. She was destined for the life of a prostitute or a beggar if she even survived the pregnancy. She would have little or no medical care because she would have instantly lost all of her family. Her future was bleak.


So how should these two women react to their news? Well, as I see it Elizabeth should be shouting out her joy to the world. And Mary? Mary should be hiding in her parents house trying to figure out some way to salvage her life. These would be reasonable reactions.


How do these women actually react to their news?


Mary immediately sets out to visit Elizabeth and tell her the wonderful news.

Wait a minute. Isn’t Mary supposed to be upset by what has occurred? Isn’t she supposed to be trying to find a way to salvage her life? …


And what does she find when she reaches Elizabeth’s house? Elizabeth is six months pregnant and she hasn’t told anyone. She is hiding out in her house keeping the pregnancy a secret.


There is something seriously wrong here. Mary, who should be keeping her “condition” a secret runs off to spread her story. Elizabeth, whose future has been saved, is hiding away and keeping it secret. What is going on? Everything is upside down. Each of them has had their world turned upside down and each reacts exactly opposite of what would be expected.


What is going on? … God does this to us all the time. God turns our worlds upside down. This story shows us two very different ways to cope with this change. Change is always uncomfortable. Change is also always happening. It is up to us how we greet change. It is up to us to choose to hide from it or to work with it. We can hide from the change, refusing to believe that it is true as long as possible and then grudgingly adapt to our new circumstances like Elizabeth. … Or we can embrace the change, looking for the barest hint of a blessing in it, and find joy in our new opportunities like Mary.