Mary's Visit to Elizabeth

from my message on 12/9/12, from Luke 1:39-45

You've got a friend.  I can almost hear James Taylor singing it.  You've got a friend.

Today is the third message in the Journey series.  We are going with the characters in the Christmas story towards the birth of the Messiah.  We looked at Mary, whose hands were open, as she said, "let it be unto me as you have spoken.  I am the servant of the Lord."  Last week we encountered Joseph whose rough and calloused hands were full of mercy as he went beyond the law to do what love is in taking Mary as his wife and the child she was carrying as his own.  Each week, there has been a memory device with the hands.  Today, we encounter Elizabeth whose hands, whose arms are open wide in welcoming Mary.  Elizabeth is a friend to Mary in her time of need.

If you were in trouble, scared, didn't know what to do, whom would you call?  Especially, if you were a pregnant teenager, no husband, confused, lots of questions, to whom would you go?  Mary went to Elizabeth.

Today, we have with us Sarah Reiter from the Methodist Mission Home in San Antonio.  She happens to be an Aggie, class of '12.  The MMH deals with people like Mary, pregnant teenagers.

(Sarah then tells the story of how MMH got started as a madam at a brothel in San Antonio had a conversion experience at a revival meeting.  With the help of Travis Park UMC, she transformed her brothel into a home for wayward girls.  This was in 1895.  More recently a young woman was pregnant, in desperate need.  She had no mother, no spouse.  Her father didn't know what to do.  The young woman came to MMH where she got medical care, counseling, education, job training, and support.  The MMH found a family that was eager to adopt the child.  The mother had only one request and that was that she could name the child.  "I can't give this child anything else in this life, but I can give a name."

Then Sarah told a story of other services that the MMH provides.  A young man was about to graduate from high school.  At at pool party, he had an accident, and nearly drowned.  However, he went without oxygen long enough to severely impair him.  He was sent to the MMH.  Not much chance was given him to function well or even to speak.  He wrote, "I will walk across the stage at my graduation and I will give the speech."  Four years later, he did!  Not only that he gave glory to God. "This has been a blessing to me.  I was headed in the wrong direction, going with the wrong crowd, getting into drugs.  Now I have my life back.")

Do you feel the open arms that welcome and accept?  We will be taking an offering on Christmas Eve for the MMH.  Now you know how it will be helping real people.

Sometimes, we are Mary.  We are the ones who need help.  We need a friend.

Mary visited Elizabeth.  Elizabeth didn't judge or ask questions.  She simply welcomed her with open arms.  She was a friend.  She blessed her.

She blessed in loud speech.  The word in Greek is really "yelled."  She shouted out loud the word that Mary needed to hear.  Sometimes that's what we do as Elizabeth.  We yell our blessing.  A few week ago, Erin had an episode.  It was at our Wed. night supper.  Something wasn't right.  Erin couldn't speak.  Rich saw the problem.  He shouted, "Shannon!"  Shannon is Rich's wife.  They started getting Erin to the hospital.  Linda was there talking to her physician husband on the phone getting counsel as they drove Erin to the hospital.  I am happy to report Erin is with us in worship today.  She is fine.

Sometimes our word of blessing is quieter.  Many years ago I read a short story in a devotional magazine for youth the UMC did, called "Alive Now!"  The story was written by a chaplain who worked at a youth shelter.  Ruby had come in all tough, trash-talking, chain-smoking.  She had her walls up.  No one could come close to her.  One night Ruby came to the chaplain.  "I heard that Jesus loved sinners.  I heard that he even forgave prostitutes.  Is that right?"  The chaplain said, "I started to give her my sermon.  You know the one about how God hates the sin, but loves the sinner.  But this time I kept my mouth shut, and simple said, 'Yes.'"  Ruby cried.  Sometimes all we need is one quiet word.

Sometimes our inspired speech is actually silence.  You may remember I did my work in spiritual direction at Boston College, a great Catholic Jesuit university.  One of my teachers was  a world renowned spiritual director, having written books and given lectures around the world.  In class one day, she confessed the following:

I was giving spiritual direction to a man.  He was sitting beside me.  Maybe I was tired.  Maybe his story wasn't all that interesting, but I must have fallen asleep.  All I know is that I woke up as he was saying, "that what I needed to share today."  I felt so guilty, falling asleep on him.  I muttered some, "oh yes," or something.  Then he said, "Thanks for being so quiet today.  I really just needed to get that out uninterrupted.  Thanks for just listening."

We think it is about us, but the primary actor here is the Holy Spirit.  Elizabeth has inspired speech as she welcomes and blesses Mary.  But even the baby in Elizabeth's womb recognized the baby in Mary's womb and leaps for joy without a word!  May we be open to others and to the leading of the Spirit.

We can learn how to be more welcoming.  We can learn how to listen and to care.  We can learn how to bless.  We can learn how to become Elizabeth.  Stephen Ministers get training in exactly this arena.  Hear Stuart's witness.

Video segment of Stuart, who was an efficient, effective officer in an energy company for 35 years, who through Stephen Ministry training has had a sea change in learning not to give answers or counsel, but to simply listening and caring for another person, letting God set the tempo and letting Jesus be the cure-giver.

It is true what that old hymn says, "What a friend we have in Jesus."  But it is also true, "What a Jesus we have in a friend."  That's the good news I have to share today.