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A Sermon on Luke 1:39-45
4 Advent (Year C) Revised Common Lectionary
by Samuel D. Zumwalt

(->current sermons )


In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

Leaping for Joy!

At the sound of Mary's voice, the child in Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy. This God-bearer (theotokos), this Mother of God, this model Christian, this Blessed Virgin Mary is so filled with the grace-full presence of Emmanuel (God with us) that even the sound of her voice can make the unborn forerunner, John the Baptist, leap with joy !

One of the great 20 th century Lutherans said, “The function of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Sacred Scriptures, in the history of salvation, and in the faith and worship of the Church is to point to her Son” (“Blessed Art Thou Among Women” in The Church: Selected Writings of Arthur Carl Piepkorn, American Lutheran Publicity Bureau Books).

And so it is in this Gospel lesson that the mere sound of Mary's voice is so filled with the promise of the Messiah that her cousin Elizabeth's baby leaps for joy! The sound of Mary's voice is already graciously pointing to the Savior of the world still being knit together in her womb. This teenaged mother, through no effort or merit of her own, has become the Mother of God whom all generations will call blessed, because God has done great things, impossible things, for her – and then through her for the world.

Despite Mary's centrality to the Christian story, Protestants have often treated Jesus of Nazareth almost as if he were the Christian equivalent of Athena, the goddess who sprung forth fully clothed from Zeus' head. Fearful of the Roman cult of Mary, Protestants have often ignored the fact that Mary is essential to salvation. Without Mary there is no humanity for Jesus. Without his humanity Jesus cannot be the Savior of the world. He must be fully human and fully divine, or Jesus cannot save humanity from sin, death, and evil. The death of Jesus is pointless – it points to nothing – unless he is truly Son of Mary and Son of God.

So what does Luke want his first reader Theophilus and us the subsequent readers to get from this episode? Is the goal to get us to leap with joy like unborn babies kicking and turning inside Mama's belly?

God knows it wouldn't hurt us stoic Lutherans of northern European roots to exhibit a bit more joy. Despite Luther's own fears of enthusiastic spirituality, it wouldn't hurt us staid Lutherans from time to time to get up from our pews, join hands with the children, and dance for joy around the room while the musicians played some raucous hymns. An occasional outbreak of “Amens” and “Hallelujahs” echoing our African-American sisters and brothers wouldn't hurt us. Yet I suspect that some Lutherans might sooner consider hell if heaven were going to turn out to be too joyful! Ach, who can stand the noise?

But have we reached the goal for today if we are uncharacteristically joyful – if our feet begin to tap during the singing of “Joy to the World” and holy mirth begins to break out all over our faces? No, that's not quite it.

You see the unborn baby John leaped for joy at the sound of Mother Mary's voice, because she was carrying the Good News – she was bearing the Gospel into the world! She was filled with the incarnate Love of God for this tattered creation. And even the unborn preparer of the way, even the unborn prophet knew by the sound of Mary's voice that the Good News was for him and for his salvation! Mary was already pointing the way to Jesus while he was still in her womb. Leaping with joy, the unborn John knew that he was called to join Mary in pointing the way. And that's the point of today's joy. We are called to join Mary and John in pointing the way to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ!

But we have a problem, don't we? Who doesn't get a little sick of Christmas after having seen the first decorations on sale in late September – after having been bombarded with Christmas catalogs, e-mail advertisements, and holiday music for weeks on end? By the time the Church gets around to properly celebrating the birth of the Messiah the world has overdosed on Christmas. It's enough to infect even the most fervent believers with the Ebenezer Scrooge virus. (In fact I have known some Lutherans that would sooner say “Bah Humbug” than “Hallelujah!”)

Doesn't this Gospel lesson come as a just-in-time antidote to all that Christ-less Christmas cacophony? Luke reminds us to sift through the noisy cultural rubble to find the reason for the season. There is cause for us to leap for joy. Christmas is still about the birth of our Savior – mine and yours! This priceless treasure wrapped in rags has by his cross destroyed sin, death, and evil. Whether we live or whether we die, we belong to God forever. In the washing of Holy Baptism, we have been marked with the holy cross and sealed with the Holy Spirit forever!

Knowing whose we are forever should put a little dance in the step of even the most beleaguered believer. Clinging to God's promise in Jesus Christ becomes part of the immune system of our faith. We might think of that children's song “This Little Gospel Light of Mine.” We might listen to its encouragement as it says: “Don't let Satan blow it out!” Don't let the old enemy steal your joy even when he attacks your most vulnerable places.

Today's Gospel lesson demonstrates to us the value of faithful participation in the worship life of the community of faith. Left on our own apart from the means of grace – the Word and the sacraments – we will be sitting ducks for every attack of unbelief, anxiety, despair, loneliness, disappointment, and resentment. But gathering with the people of God today, we hear the Virgin's promise-filled voice crying out to our less than fully formed faith. God is not aloof and capricious. God is gracious and merciful, a down to earth God who gives himself to us in love. Come, hear God's promise – taste and see the Lord is good as he comes in bread and wine!

Walking away from the table – tracing the holy cross upon our forehead and our breast – we become, like Mary, bearers of the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ. Trusting that the One we have received in bread and wine is truly for us, we may begin to exhibit the first hints of leaping for joy.

Leaving this house of God filled with the loving presence of the Living God, we can point those we love and those we care about to the cause for our joy. We can invite a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker, a child, a spouse, a parent to join us on Christmas Eve for the real Christmass – the celebration of Jesus' birth. Like the Virgin Mother, like John the Baptist we can point the way to heaven. We can point out the Savior of the world!

Many of the millions of unchurched persons are waiting for someone to invite them to the services of God's house. Be a partner in the Gospel this Christmas by inviting someone you love to receive the gift of God's eternal love! Point them to Jesus!

The Rev. Dr. Samuel D. Zumwalt
St. Martin's Lutheran Church
Austin, Texas USA
szumwalt@saintmartins.org

 


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