“A couple of happy ‘bedfellows’”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Sunday, December 19, 2021

Luke 1:39-56 (Forward, p. 51) CEV p. 1055

In the small Judean village of Ein Kerem, as such the natural hangout of local gossips, the visit of Mary to Elizabeth would not have gone unnoticed.  And perhaps all the more so, because Mary was an outsider, from that strange district called Galilee, and because Elizabeth, in her extreme old age, was now in her late stages of pregnancy.  Certainly, this would have aroused a great deal of tongue-wagging!  If Mary had begun to ‘show’, they would have had even more fodder for their gossip mill, but that was unlikely given that she was only three months ‘along’.  (Typically, a woman does not ‘show’ until partway through the second trimester, that is, between 16-20 weeks, at the very least.)

But between the two women there certainly would have been much talk, much tongue-wagging.  In a strange way, their paths would intersect, certainly because of their shared experiences.  Elizabeth, long considered barren, and long shamed and scorned and ostracized because of it, knew all too well what it was like to be the butt of people’s comments, conjecture and disapproval.  She knew what it was like to be the ultimate ‘outsider’, the person everyone avoided, for barrenness was at that time considered to be a curse from God.

And while Elizabeth knew all this as a past experience, Mary had it yet on the horizon.  And yet, she would experience the very same kind of thing, the same rejection and slander, but even worse.  Her son would be labelled by some detractors as the ‘bastard son of Mary’, and some would even go as far as to try to pin the ‘blame’ on a one-time encounter with errant Roman soldier, Panthera to be exact, who ‘happened’ to be passing through Nazareth.   And so, Elizabeth could have been an incredible help and support to Mary, albeit in anticipation.

However, what knit them together all the more, and gave both of them strength for their ordeals, was their shared faith and experience of God.  To think that Elizabeth’s still unborn son, the one-day John the Baptist, would recognize the Jesus in the womb and leap for joy!  And, to think that Elizabeth, even without even being told, would also know the truth of the baby that Mary was carrying.  To think that she would recognize ‘her Lord’ as being there, present within Mary!

No wonder Mary burst out with that gladsome song of praise to God that we know as the Magnificat.  It expresses a two-fold truth.  The first truth centres on God’s provision and care for the lowly, the rejected, as evidenced in His past care for Elizabeth, and hoped for, in herself.  The second truth fixes its attention on how all of this has a bearing on the future of the world, namely in terms of God’s mercy and the fulfillment of His promises.  God’s care for Elizabeth and Mary was not a once-off kind of thing, but expresses His care of all of us, indeed, for the entire world.  God would work through these two humble, seemingly insignificant women, for the salvation, redemption and restoration of the entire world.  But, at this present moment, all of that was far in the future, and so these two women had only each other, important, and very welcome ‘bedfellows’ in their shared experience.  And so, today, we celebrate their faith and their friendship and rejoice in what it means to us.  Amen.

Forward notes: “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” (verse 45).

“This past year, my boys and I ended each night much the same as the ones that came before: by reading.  To my delight, we also finished book seven of The Chronicles of Narnia just as the Advent season began.  The magical worlds of C.S. Lewis served as icing on the cake during this time of searching for light in the darkness. 

“Even though I’d read through the books as a child and later as a young adult, this last round of reading really punched me in the gut.  Recalling Elizabeth’s words to Mary, my mind circled back to Polly’s thoughts in The Magician’s Nephew:  ‘She felt sure that it was a call, and that anyone who heard that call would want to obey it and (what’s more) would be able to obey it, however many worlds and ages lay between.’  Though Lewis wrote of faraway lands, he wrote with scripture on the forefront of his mind.  As such, the message remained the same: God speaks to God’s people.  Be it in Holy Spirit whispers or through megaphones on busy street corners, may we listen for this voice of truth.”

MOVING FORWARD: “Take a trip down memory lane, and see if you can recall a time when God’s words to you came true.  Say a prayer of thanks.”