12-9-20 Grace-Tucson Advent Sermon

Luke 1:39-45, 57-66 Sermon for Midweek Advent Worship 2020 Elizabeth was old. Past the age she thought she could give birth, yet she was pregnant. Mary was young. Unmarried, and so before the time when she thought she’d give birth, yet she was pregnant.

As these 2 pregnant women met, both easily could have been worried, doubtful about what would happen. That’s what you would expect for 2 pregnant women in their particular situations. Yet that’s not what we hear in Luke 1. We don’t hear about worry, doubt, or uncertainty. Instead, the overwhelming response to pregnancy in old age and pregnancy at a young age is joy, gratitude, and praise of God. Would you like some of the joy they had? Would you like some of the freedom from worry, doubt, and uncertainty that they had? You may not be pregnant at an unexpected time. But you probably do have challenging circumstances come up regularly in your life. You might feel like God’s solution comes too late, or too early. You and I do struggle with worry, with doubt, with uncertainty.

You and I could use the same joy they had in Luke 1. God invites you like them to find joy in the presence of Jesus.

You can learn about this joy from 4 places in Luke 1. Joy from unborn baby John, joy from Elizabeth, joy from their friends and relatives, and joy from Zechariah.

First, maybe the most surprising place of all, how can an unborn baby experience joy? We’re told that, “Mary entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. Just as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb.” Now babies move inside of wombs, and mothers feel it. But this was no ordinary preborn baby movement. Elizabeth explained what happened to Mary, “44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy!”

In some way one unborn baby responded to the sound of a greeting from the mother of another unborn baby. We don’t fully understand how unborn John experienced this joy, but there are a few takeaways for us: babies, even unborn babies, are capable of a kind of intelligence that is more than head based. Babies, even unborn, are able to have a kind of connection to God that is mysterious to us, yet fully known and understood to God. Unborn babies are people. They have the right to not be killed while they are yet unborn. And unborn babies are reasons for joy; not only because of the miracle of their life; but even more because an unborn baby joins a human race which includes Jesus as a part of it.

An unborn baby exists in a world which includes Jesus as a part of it. An unborn child is a person who can get to know Jesus - that’s a reason for joy, even if there is some care and concern about how that unborn baby’s life will unfold. We can appreciate and learn from unborn baby John’s leap of joy.

The second example of joy in this story is Elizabeth, who acted as a channel of joy. She received joy sparked by her unborn child’s leap, and she passed on tht joy with her words. It would have been easy for her to explain away the baby movement. Or to get worried, “is this a normal way babies act?”

Instead she let joy flow from her baby to her and through her to Mary and to many others who continue to hear her words.

Elizabeth was joyful because the mother of her Lord had come to her. Amazingly she knew this was no ordinary unwed mother coming her way. It was the mother of God in human form. The Messiah plan was being executed in real time, and she was witnessing an integral part of it. The Savior rescue story was being written in real time, and she was a part of it. Through humble people, through seemingly ordinary human events of pregnancy an in-utero child growth, God was carrying out the promise to rescue a human race lost to him. That brought Elizabeth joy.

Elizabeth knew that only grace could explain her privileged position. “Blessed are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” This was all blessing, not a result of Mary earning a right to bear the Lord in human form. This was all favor to Elizabeth, not that she earned or deserved this close look at the bearer of the most special child ever born. It all happened by grace.

Elizabeth knew, this blessing comes by belief. “Blessed is she who believed, because the promises spoken to her from the Lord will be fulfilled!” It’s through faith that God and people get connected, and joy follows. Not through performances for him or payment given; simply through believing, trusting that what he has said will happen. And just consider what Mary was blessed to believe. You will never be close to a man, but you will get pregnant. The child who will grow in you and be birthed by you is the Son of God. Who would believe that? Yet the Holy Spirit brought the blessing of faith to Mary, Elizabeth saw, and was glad.

Elizabeth also reconstructed the sequence of events this way: the sound of Mary’s greeting reached my ears, my unborn baby leaped for joy. There was human communication sparking this chain reaction of joy. God works through communication, often through human speech. And with you and I, the most common way he sparks a chain reaction of joy is through his Word. By grace, through faith, because of a word of communication, Elizabeth received joy and allowed it to flow through her to others.

What about you and I? Do you respond to the challenging situations of life with joy? Or do you respond with worry and fear instead? Have you ever faced an unplanned or challenging pregnancy situation? Rather than a chain reaction of joy, a chain reaction of uncertainty and doubt often comes - doubting yourself, or even doubting God, “why would he allow such a challenge to come?”

Or think of the last time you were around little children. How long did their joy spark not joy in you, but annoyance and a desire to get away? Why do we respond this way? Why do we so often have so little joy despite all the good God pours into our lives? This lack of joy is evidence that we all have been sinful from birth, even from conception. Capable of connection to God since conception; but also capable of losing the joy of his presence. Capable of acting as if we are alone as humans to try to fix our own problems. Capable of forgetting that we live in a world which includes Jesus, and living in isolation from him. We often don’t experience the joy that Elizabeth and others did, because there is something wrong with us. And Jesus came to correct it.

How exactly did Jesus give us reason for joy instead of doubt and worry? By becoming like us.

He became a child, like we were. He grew in a female womb for 9 months, like we did. He was reliant on

other imperfect humans to raise him, reliant on a heavenly father to provide for him. Jesus never lost the joy of living in his father’s world, even though he was a man familiar with sorrow and suffering.

Jesus gives us joy back by becoming like us, treated on the cross as if he were the apathetic sinner, though he was not. He was put into a place of anguish in our place, so that he could resurrect a joy for us; not through avoiding death, but by going through it and coming out on top. You can have joy because the Messiah plan has been carried out in human history. The Savior story has been lived and written and told. John the Baptist grew and proclaimed Jesus. Jesus healed and taught; then was hated and plotted against and killed. And the book of Hebrews tells us that it was for the joy set before him that he endured the cross, scorning its shame. Jesus faced the anguish of the cross for the joy set before him. The joy of rising again and bringing you close to himself again.

Jesus shows: joy is not only available in the absence of challenges or anguish, but even while going through challenging or even anguished situations. Joy is available because Jesus lives. You are blessed, favored, graced by God. He comes to you that you may believe, trust, have faith in him. He speaks through his Word so that a chain reaction of joy can come to you and flow through you.

Jesus is your reason to leap for joy like unborn baby John, to praise God like elderly mother Elizabeth. He is your reason to be sure; you’ve been reunited to a father who delights in his creation, who once said it is good, and who now says of you, “In Christ, you are good.” God delights in you. He leaps for joy because of you. Right here, right now, because of Jesus. God is not worried about you, or concerned, or filled with doubts about your identity. He is absolutely sure of who you are in Christ, and he invites you to step into your identity as a child of God with Jesus as your brother.

The same kind of joy experienced so many years ago by Elizabeth and Zechariah is available to you and I today, no matter what challenges we face. Consider the joy shared at John’s birth. The friends and neighbors all around took notice, and were happy. Probably happy first of all because, Elizabeth survived. The baby was safe and healthy. There was excitement about what to name the baby. Everyone wanted to find out. They were expecting a family name. But Elizabeth insisted on the name the angel told Zechariah, John, which means, “The Lord is gracious.” The wondering neighbors asked father Zecheriah, who mysteriously hadn't been able to talk for about 9 months as the unborn child grew.

Zechariah wrote on a tablet, “his name will be John.” And they were amazed.

Take a moment to consider the ways that God has used you to spread joy to others. Like baby John, when you were born, there were people interested in what your name would be. Consider the joy you brought to them just by being born. Don’t forget that God was interested in you then as well. You are still an instrument of joy in the hands of God, no matter what your age. Even if you have more responsibilities now than you did then, you are still an ingredient in God’s joy.

For many, an early assurance is our baptism at a very young age. Baptism includes the promise, God delights to wash you clean and make you his own. The baptism promise is as valid today as it was when it first happened. The promise of your baptism is that in Jesus, God is happy about you. There is

great joy whenever you come to him. All because Jesus was and is in this world, a member of the human race who has joined himself to you and shared a new identity with you.

Then also think about the young people God has placed in your life. How much joy have you received by being around babies or young people? Yes it can be challenging, they demand attention and energy and guidance and help. But they are not problems to be solved. They are gifts from a generous heavenly Father meant to bring joy into your life.

You are invited to look at the young people in your life and recognize: God has a purpose for them. Just as he has had a purpose for you since you were a pre-born baby. Little John was purposed to be a messenger of Jesus. To tell people, “Messiah is here, the Savior has arrived and is available, you could go right over there and talk to him.” I want you to think about the youngest person you know.

Maybe unborn or weeks or months old. Have you considered that God wants to use them to be his messengers like John? He wants to grow them to be able to say, “Jesus has come, he’s available, you can go and listen to him.” God wants joy to come through the message shared.

This is true not just of the young, but of the old as well. Notice how joy came to Zechariah as he regained the ability to speak. After 9 months of trying but not being able, speech flowed from his mouth again. And he praised God. Not just for a gift of a son, not just for a healthy mother, not just for his speaking ability again; but for God unfolding the Messiah plan for his people. For God coming to rescue his people, and using his son John to be a messenger of the Savior.

Maybe you doubt your ability to speak in a way that impacts others for good. Look at what opened Zechariah’s mouth. Not a speech technique, but the grace of God coupled with his joy of what was happening. God can use your unique praise to help people around you get to know him better, just like Zechariah’s praise did for those around him. You don’t need training in how to speak or fixing, you just need to see how blessed you are, and praise naturally comes out of you in your interactions with others.

They may respond like Zechariah’s neighbors. Some responded to the birth of John with fear, some with curiosity, and some an acknowledgement that God was up to something in the world. The same can happen when God uses you. Some may respond with fear, a desire to keep any message about God at a distance. But others may respond with a curiosity to know more, or with an acknowledgement that God is up to something in this world. That Jesus is still at work to call people to himself.

So keep paying attention to what God is up to in your life this Advent season leading up to Christmas. Life will always present reasons for concern. You and I will always have questions about how challenges will work out. But life always presents reasons for joy as well. You are a person living in a world where Jesus once walked humbly, and where he now exists invisibly. He already calls you favored and blessed. He considers you a joy to have around. He values you so much he once came as an infant to rescue you to himself. And Jesus will be a spark of joy for you that can come to you and flow through you this Advent season and Christmas time, and beyond. Amen.