Pericope:
Luke1: 39-45
Sermon Text: Luke 1:44 44 For behold, when the sound of
your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Sermon Title: Christmas: The Back Story Pt 3: Relationships Matter
BP: Move the hearers to pick the right relationships.
Introduction:
In
our text this morning we have the Back Story of Mary, the mother of Jesus and
Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.
This story is central to the Christmas story because it reveals so much
about how the right relationships matter when it comes to Christmas becoming a
reality. It also lets us know that
Christmas didn’t just show up. Christmas took some human ingenuity, courage and
persistence. When God is working out his plans in the earth God needs human
relationships to reveal his will to humanity. God needs the right human
relationships. Let’s look at this right relationship between Mary and Elizabeth
to see what we can learn about making right relationships in our lives.
The
text opens up with this relationship between Mary and Elizabeth. Luke, the physician, tells us just before
Mary is told she will have Jesus Zachariah is told they will have John the
Baptist. Then the angel told Mary she was going to have Jesus. Then Mary
traveled to see her cousin Elizabeth. Luke says Elizabeth is six months
pregnant and Mary is not even showing yet.
She traveled by herself some distance in the hill country to see
Elizabeth.
Mary is a strong woman to make
this trip by herself. Mary has a deep and profound relationship with God. Mary
has just finished talking with no less an angel than Gabriel. Mary is full of the word of God, literally
and full of favor on her life. Mary is
obedient because she told Gabriel as the Lord says. Mary is not fearful because after you see and
talk to an angel and full of the Holy Spirit, there isn’t much that can scare
you. But all of this does not answer the
question why does Mary make this trip?
And where is her mother? Where is Jesus grandmother, if Mary is looking
for the right relationship?
Mary
is a young teenage temple girl. Temple
girls were young girls given by their parents to the Temple for maturing,
source, and upbringing by the Temple staff.
We see this in 1 Samuel when Elis son Heparin and Phinehas were having
sex with the Temple girls who waited at the door. So if Mary’s parents gave her to the Temple
to be raised right, where are they now? I believe their absence is why
Elizabeth is present. Everybody needs
the right relationship even when you got Jesus, the word, the Holy Spirit,
angels, obedience and fearless. And the
lessons Mary and Elizabeth teach us about relationship will help us with the
Christmas on the inside of us but help us reveal Christmas to the world. Mary can’t make it, won’t make it. It’s impossible for her to make it to
Bethlehem without this relationship. Sometimes
we are in too much of a hurry trying to get to Bethlehem nativity without
investigating these back stories.
Transition: Mary
and Elizabeth’s relationship teaches us…
Point
1: There must be something
in common. Luke 1: 25-27 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he
looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” (26) In the sixth
month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth
(27) to a virgin bethrohed to a man whose name was Joseph…the virgin’s name
was Mary. Mary and Elizabeth had
a lot in common. Both required divine intervention to get pregnant. Both were
visited by Gabriel. They both had miraculous conception of their babies. Both
had to deal with people’s reactions to their pregnancies. Both had to deal with
doubting husbands. Both had to have Angelic intervention to convince their
spouses. Both were isolated. Both had enormous faith and the favor of God on
their lives. They were cousins. They both were carrying the central figures
that would usher in salvation to the world for all of history.
This relationship had common
ground so it could have common goals. It is important when you enter into a
relationship with someone that you have something in common with them. When
there is nothing in common there is nothing to hold a relationship together.
a) Do two
walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
Amos 3:3
I recently read
in a book that said just because a couple are devout Christians does it mean they will have a
productive marriage. Notice Amos doesn’t say what the agreement is, just that there is agreement that creates the bond.
Point 2: There
has to be a connection. Luke 1:41 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby
leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
The
text says Elizabeth heard Mary‘s voice and her baby, John the Baptist, leaped
in her womb. Not only that, she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Now if that
isn’t connection I don’t know what is. Relationship must have some intuitive
connection and spiritual connection. You cannot be unequally yoke. 2 Cor.
6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do
righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have
with darkness?
NLT - Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How can
righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with
darkness?
CEV - Stay away from people who are not followers of the
Lord! Can someone who is good get along with someone who is evil? Are light and
darkness the same?
Just
the sound of Mary’s voice penetrated Elizabeth’s very being all the way to her
core. Just the sound of Mary’s voice invaded the space in Elizabeth’s womb and
into a whole other human being.
Spiritual
connection has to go to the core of who you are. You cannot just have surface
spiritual relationships. You must be in spiritual relationships that penetrate
who you are in the future that you are carrying inside of you. John the Baptist
was Elizabeth’s future. Your relationships need to be meaningful, purposeful and have the
potential of changing your walk or why have them. Mary was intentional and she
was impactful. Notice she is in her teens and Elizabeth is a much older woman, but age is just a
number when it comes down to the spirit.
Point 3: There
must be collaboration. Luke 1:
42-43 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among
women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to
me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Notice how the two women were collaborative. Elizabeth wanted to know why Mary came
to see her. She wanted to know why she was so honored to receive the visit from
the mother of the Savior of the world.
Isn’t it interesting
how she already knows this about Mary. Elizabeth already knew her place in the
relationship. Clearly the Holy Spirit has told her something. So if she already
knows that, she already knows how she should collaborate with Mary. She knows
her role in Mary’s life. She knows about the absence of Mary’s mother and why.
She never asks her where her mother is or why isn’t she seeking counsel from
her mother. Elizabeth just jumps right in. How do I know that? The text
presupposes it. Luke 1: 43 And why is
this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Luke 1: 13…your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you
shall call him John 15…he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even
from his mother’s womb…16…in the spirit and power of Elijah…
Ask yourself are the relationships you’re in
collaborative. Are they preset, pre-ordained, already
set up or are you trying to make them.
Point 4: There
must be commitment. Luke 1:44-45
44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my
womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be
a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Ecclesiastes 4: 9 – 12 9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they
fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when
he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie
together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? 12 And
though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a
threefold cord is not quickly broken.
When
Elizabeth speaks to Mary she is telling Mary she is committed to her.
Conclusion: There
is no 90 mile riding from Nazareth to Bethlehem if Mary hadn’t first taken the
trip to Elizabeth house alone. There is
no ability to have a baby without her mother if she doesn’t see how it’s done
at Elizabeth’s house. There is no
ability to endure the shame of an out of wedlock pregnancy and a disconnected
husband if she doesn’t see how Elizabeth manages her relationship with
Zachariah’s deaf, dumb and disbelief and all the talk behind that. There is no birth if she doesn’t see how to
manage a miracle baby.
This tells me you may have Jesus on the inside. You may be
full of the Holy Spirit. You may have
all kind of favor in your life. You may have
daily conversations with your angels but if you are not in a right relationship
you won’t be able to birth Jesus and reveal the Jesus in you to the world. Relationships matter. I don’t know where Jesus grandmother is. She
is not around just like some of your mothers and fathers were not around. Don’t stop there. Find the right relationship to help you
become the person God called you to be. Christmas by yourself isn’t fun. Who buys themselves a present sit it under
the tree and get up with glee to open it by yourself. You need the right relationship to have the
Christmas God intended for you to have…
