Sermon - Advent 4 - Luke 1:39-45

Luke 1:39–45

This event, part of Luke’s larger Nativity narrative, in which Mary goes to see her cousin Elizabeth – is known as “The Visitation”.  Mary visits the house of Zechariah, her cousin Elizabeth, and the unborn baby John the Baptist in her womb.  Mary, for her part, bears a brand new pregnancy, having just heard from the angel Gabriel, that the savior would be born of her womb.  And so these two expectant mothers and their unborn baby boys meet and greet, and Luke records it all for us.

As a bit of an aside, but still a very important one, this event teaches us that life and personhood begin even before birth.  As a commentary on the barbaric practice of abortion, this text shows us that unborn baby John leaps for joy – and that implies that he can hear, and has faith – even in utero.  But even more important, Mary is very newly pregnant with Jesus, and John recognizes the personhood of Jesus by his joyous leaping.  I once heard a convincing case that explained here, at the visitation, the embryo Jesus hadn’t even made it down the fallopian tubes and into the uterus yet, and still his life and personhood are causing all this stir.  Why would we not think that any human life, even at this earliest stage, is also a person and worthy of protection?  For Jesus was like us in every way… yet without sin.

But putting that point aside, what else does the Visitation teach us?  It is truly rich in its implications.  There are Old Testament connections.  There’s lessons for the life of faith.  And there’s even liturgical application.  So let’s consider, today, the Visitation.

An interesting story from 2 Samuel has been noted in connection with the Visitation.  There we read of King David’s project to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  Now, at first, it didn’t go very well.  They didn’t follow instructions that the ark should be carried by the priests, and instead they put it on a cart drawn by oxen.  And when one of the oxen stumbled, a man named Uzzah touched the ark so it wouldn’t fall.  But Yahweh had commanded that anyone who touches the ark must die, and so he struck Uzzah dead on the spot.  This caused David great anger and fear – and so he changed his plan.  Instead of bringing the ark to Jerusalem, he left it with a man named Obed-edom the Gittite.

One commentator, (Dr. Just) points out the parallels:

The two stories open with the statement that David and Mary “arose and made a journey” (2 Sam 6:2; Lk 1:39) up into the hill country, into the land of Judah. On arrival, both the Ark and Mary are greeted with “shouts” of joy (2 Sam 6:12, 15; Lk 1:42, 44). The verb used for Elizabeth’s greeting in Lk 1:42, (ἀνεφώνησεν) is, in the Septuagint, used only in connection with liturgical ceremonies centered round the Ark; it is best translated as “intoned”. The Ark, on its way to Jerusalem, was taken into the house of Obededom, and became a source of blessing for his house (2 Sam 6:10–12); Mary’s entry into the house of Elizabeth is also seen as a source of blessing for the house (Lk 1:41, 43–4). David, in terror at the untouchable holiness of the Ark, cried out: “How shall the Ark of the Lord come to me?” (2 Sam 6:9); Elizabeth, in awe before the mother of her Lord, says, “Why should this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43). Finally, we read that “the Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obededom three months” (2 Sam 6:11), and that Mary stayed with Elizabeth “about three months” (Lk 1:56).

So what do we make of these striking parallels?  This much is clear – Mary serves as a sort of living ark – a carrier of the Lord.  Both David and Elizabeth exhibit humility in the face of such an honor – that the Lord would “come to me!”

We could say the same.  Who am I?  Who are you?  That the Lord should come to us?  Who are we?   We are sinners, first of all.  Unworthy to stand in his presence, or to have him come into our midst.  That Jesus would come into our house, the place where we are?  That he would be born on this earth at all is amazing.  And of all people, that he would come to me and you, sinners that we are. That he would promise to be found wherever two or three are gathered in his name.  That he would bless us with his presence, by his Spirit, through his word….  Who are any of us, indeed?  And yet that is just what he does.  In grace and mercy he comes to be with sinners, even under the same roof.

Christ’s coming to the house brings great blessing, just as the presence of Yahweh with the ark blessed the house of Obed-edom.  And his advent among us also brings great blessing.  Our faith also leaps for joy at word of his coming.  We know he is in our midst when 2 or 3 or more gather in his name.  We know his has come to this house with his greeting, and with his peace.  We intone our own shouts of joy for Mary’s son and Mary’s Lord is our Lord, Jesus Christ, come to visit, come to save.

And yet, let us receive him as he comes – and not on our own terms.  This was part of the issue with Uzzah who was struck dead by touching the ark.  He didn’t receive God’s gracious presence with reverence and faith.  He made light of God’s holy things, and hauled the ark on a cart like a common piece of luggage.  Then, when his own shameful treatment of the ark almost led to further catastrophe, and he reached out his hand to fix the problem himself – God struck him down as he had always threatened anyone who touched his holy ark.  We learn a hard lesson and stern warning here about treating the holy things of God with due respect, and receiving God on his own terms.

And one other small Old Testament connection.  Elizabeth calls Mary “blessed among women”.  There’s only one other woman who bears a similar title in the Bible, and that is a woman named Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite.  In the book of Judges, we meet Jael after a great battle.  The enemy of Deborah and Barak, king Sisera is on the run and tries to hide in Jael’s tent.  But Jael takes a hammer and drives a tent peg through his head while he is asleep, and kills him.

Now comes Mary, and the Fruit of her womb, who himself would crush the head of our Ancient enemy.  But Jesus would do it by himself being pierced, head and hands and side.  And Mary would stand at the cross to see it, a sword piercing her own heart.

And finally, let’s consider the mention of “house” in this Visitation reading.  Mary comes into Zechariah’s house. 

You know, in the Old Testament, there word for “temple” is really the same as the word for “house”.  The idea is this – that any house where God is becomes a temple – a “house of God”.  Because otherwise even the grandest of temples or churches is just a building.  Made by human hands, and it will always eventually fall or be torn down.  Zechariah, a priest, worked in the temple, the house of God.  But this day, the Lord God would come to his house, and make it a temple.

But any talk of the temple of God leads us to Jesus’ own words about the temple.  He says, “destroy this temple and I will raise it again in 3 days”.  And the temple he spoke of was his body.  Yes, in a very real sense, the body of Christ is the temple – the very place in which we meet God.  As John’s gospel teaches us, the Word (which was and is God) became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  This of course takes place in the incarnation.  The Son of God receives the body prepared for him – conceived by the Holy Spirit, and in our reading, alive and growing in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

That same body of Christ, that temple, would one day be destroyed at the cross.  There he willingly sacrificed himself for the sanctification of all.  As a grown up John the Baptist would later exclaim, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” so the unborn baby John testifies by his leaping for joy.

And yes, that temple of his flesh, Jesus would rebuild in three days, as his resurrection gives even more cause for joy. 

This Christmas, we prepare again to celebrate the visitation.  Not just the visitation of Mary and Elizabeth, or even of 2 unborn miraculous baby boys.  We, humanity, are visited by our God in the flesh of his Son Jesus Christ.  And it’s not a one time visit, either.  He comes among us continually, by his word, and in his sacraments.  He comes among us, though we are not worthy.  He makes his dwelling here, in his people, turning our places of worship and even our very bodies into his own temple.  And at his coming, our hearts leap for joy.  Blessed are we among all people.  And blessed is the fruit of Mary’s womb, even Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.