Mary and Elizabeth - Luke 1: 39-56

Throughout our lives, there are of being mentored or being a mentor to someone else. When I think back on some of the people who mentored me over the years, I’m not sure if I can even begin to put words to why our relationships were special to me, why I still carry the lessons I learned through them with me to this day. Each of them was nothing short of a scared relationship, a holy space where God was present.

I have to believe that Mary had that type of sacred mentor relationship with Elizabeth. Mary was significantly younger then her cousin Elizabeth. Yet, shortly after being told by the angel Gabrielle that she was chosen to carry the incarnation of God, she set out to see the one other person who could possibly understand the complex nature of being impregnated by the Lord, her cousin Elizabeth.

Mary presumably didn’t even tell her parents that she was pregnant before heading off to see Elizabeth. Maybe she simply told them that she had head that Elizabeth was pregnant. Her family was probably close relationally to Elizabeth. They would have known her plight of years of heartache associated with not being able to conceive and probably having miscarriages. And Mary’s family would also know how old Elizabeth was, well past childbearing years, well past the years that many during that time even were expected to live. So they let Mary go, go to celebrate with Elizabeth, but also to look after this dear family members in a situation that no one really thought would ever be possible.

So Mary set out on the nine-day journey. She probably traveled with pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, as it was beyond where she would be stopping to see Elizabeth, and it was unsafe for young women to travel this far alone. Nine days of walking dusty roads and not being able to think about anything other then the biggest secret that she had ever kept – that she was pregnant. She was pregnant and she never knew a man.

How desperately Mary must have needed someone to understand what she was going through. But even in her most desperate moment, God fulfilled Mary’s needs and blessed her with so much more. Before she could even tell Elizabeth that she was pregnant, Elizabeth had prophetic words burst from her mouth to shower over Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Mary wouldn’t have been showing her pregnancy yet, but Elizabeth knew for her own child, the child whom she had desperately wanted for so many years, leapt within her as Mary approached. At a time when Mary was in need of support and grace, she got something so much more – a word of prophecy spoken over her. A word of encouragement, which told her who she was in the eyes of God and what a blessing she would be to the nations as mother of the Lord. Elizabeth was the first person in the gospels to call Jesus the Lord. Elizabeth knew who Jesus would be before he ever was born, before Mary even revealed to her that she was with child. She knew. And the miracle child within her knew, too. Elizabeth’s words of prophesy freed Mary to set aside her worries associated with the secret she was carrying and sing her own prophecy, which we now call the Magnificent. Elizabeth’s words freed Mary to embrace who she was called to be by the Lord and feel joy about the pregnancy for the first time.

God also gave Mary and Elizabeth another gift that they could not have expected from their relationship, that of companionship. For who else outside of these two women could understand their anxieties and restlessness. Elizabeth had been in hiding from her community for the first two trimesters of her pregnancy, probably because she expected a miscarriage like so many times before. She didn’t want to go through that public disgrace again. In a culture that counted blessings by what happened to you in this present world, not having any offspring was seen as the ultimate curse from God. Elizabeth knew that people looked at her with those pitied looks for so many years; just wondering how she or her husband had sinned that God had not blessed them with offspring. But it wasn’t sin at all; it was God’s timing. God saved Elizabeth’s pregnancy for a time when she could share it with Mary. When she and her young cousin could come together and share all they were feeling about being part of circumstances beyond their control, and in the words of one author, “expecting the unexpected children”. It was during this time that they were able to reach out to each other and having compassion for each other along the journey marked by uncertainty.

Mary and Elizabeth are often portrayed in art pieces as passive. Elizabeth doesn’t even get mentioned in the standard nativity play, and yet Mary and Elizabeth, together, in relationship, play a huge part in our own Christian stories. They were prophets. Mary told the gospel story in her Magnificent before Jesus was even born, saying who Jesus would be as the incarnation of God on this earth and what he would stand for, what his ministry would be about. Elizabeth was the first person to identify Jesus as Lord. Mary and Elizabeth sang songs of joy that foretold what we believe today and who we are to be as we seek to live lives of discipleship. They risked their reputations and their very beings to carry two children that the world never could have expected – the Messiah and the one who would prepare his way. And they modeled what it looks like to sit with another person, waiting and preparing for the unexpected.

Advent gives us time to remember was we prepare. Last week Jennifer challenged us to give one dollar to the United Methodist Student Sunday offering for every person who has mentored us, who has made a difference in our lives. I hope that you truly took time to think of those people and to remember what they have done for you. To realize how many people have walked life’s journey with you – showing you compassion, modeling humility, teaching you lessons that have shaped who you are today. These people who were brought to your mind, brothers and sisters, are your Elizabeth’s. Those people who have made a difference in your life that you may not even be able to put into words.

Advent also reminds us that this season of waiting is never passive. We actively wait together. We are in relationship as we wait. For some of you, this is your time to be someone else’s Elizabeth - you may not know why you are in someone’s life or what you have to offer them, but waiting with someone requires trust – trust that God will give you the words to say and that the God that has brought you this far in life by giving you the gift of other people, will now give you the strength to extend yourself in love to someone else.

Who are your Elizabeth’s and whom are you called to be Elizabeth to? I challenge you over the coming week to take time to praise God for the people who have mentored you throughout your life. For those who have passed on from this world – do something to honor their memory. For those who are alive, tell them thank you and express what they have meant to you, tell them what they have taught you and what strength they modeled for you. I also challenge you to be in pray, asking God if you are called to be someone’s mentor – offering another the gift you have receive. You may not think that you have much to offer or that you are good enough, but set aside your doubts and truly listen to hear if God is calling you to be in a sacred relationship with someone else. Does someone’s face or name come to your mind? How can you companion them along their journey with compassion? Part of what makes mentor relationships so special, so holy, is that we do not know until we come together and start to share our stories, why God has placed us in each others lives. But when we follow God’s prompting, and come together for even a season, it will be a blessed time. May it be so in your life – as God blessed you with mentoring relationships, and uses you to bless others as a mentor. God might just be trying to bless you more then you ever could have desired or expected. Amen.