+ 4th Sunday of Advent – 12.22.24 +
Series C: Micah 5:2-5; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-56
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It’s that time of the year when family gatherings are planned, brunches are scheduled, and the calendar fills up with holiday visitations. But there’s always that lingering fear or worry in the back of your head that your family equivalent of Cousin Eddy from Christmas Vacation is going to show up, park his RV in your driveway stay a while. And yet, for every black sheep of the family, there’s almost always someone who brings comfort and joy as soon as they walk in the door – I think of my Aunt Becky or some of my older cousins. Quite often there’s that family member who lights up the room with joy whenever they visit.
That’s the kind of story we find ourselves in the middle of on this fourth Sunday of Advent. A visitation full of comfort and joy. But this visitation, at least from Mary and Elizabeth’s point of view, is entirely unexpected. Who would’ve guessed that Elizabeth in her older age and with her barren womb, would be six months along in her pregnancy? And giving birth to John the forerunner of the Messiah no less. And then God ups the ante on his own gracious visitation. Mary, a young virgin, is also expecting by the Holy Spirit, just as Gabriel told her when he visited her with the joyous news that she would be the mother of God and give birth to the Son of God in the flesh.
When Mary visits Elizabeth it’s a family gathering that goes all the way back to God’s promise in Genesis 3. It’s a holy get-together that our Lord has been planning since before the foundation of the world. It’s a meeting that God has been moving all of history to arrange and set in motion.
This is what God does. He graciously visits his people.
And when our Lord visits his people, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior. God has a long track record of making his gracious visitation leading up to Luke 1 with Mary and Elizabeth and John and Jesus in their wombs.
God visits Adam and Eve in the cool of the garden, even before their sin plunged the whole world into darkness. But even there in the shattered bliss of Eden, God visits Adam and Eve with a promise. A child. Born of a woman. A Savior who will crush the serpent. A gracious visitation of victory over death for you.
Later on in Genesis, God visits Abram and Sarai, foretelling a promised child from an aged, barren womb – sounds familiar doesn’t it! His name, Isaac, even means laughter. It’s a gracious visitation where God brings comfort and joy in the form of a son who will carry God’s promise on to the next generation. And on and on. Down through Judah’s family tree, to the root and shoot of Jesse, Jesus.
As time goes on, so does God’s gracious visitation among his people. He visits Jacob at the ford of Jabbok as he sleeps. He visits Moses in the burning bush and upon Mt. Sinai. He visits Israel in the pillar of smoke and fire. He visits Elijah in the cave and the prophets in his word.
And then one day, in Nazareth, God sends an angel to visit the young Virgin Mary to deliver the unexpected, yet joyful good news. God is once again visiting his people. Only this time God is not visiting his people in a burning bush or a pillar of fire or a prophet’s voice.
The Word of God, who spoke to the prophets, now is the Word made flesh. The holy One who appeared to Moses in the burning bush is conceived in our humanity in Mary’s womb. The One who walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden is now growing legs and arms in Mary’s womb as John jumps for joy within Elizabeth’s womb.
When our Lord visits his people, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior. You can imagine seeing John send ripples of joy across Elizabeth’s stomach as Mary bears within her own womb God’s gracious visitation. You can hear the gladness and excitement in Elizabeth’s words.
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? 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[g] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Take a moment and look again (if you haven’t yet) at the artwork on the bulletin cover today. This is a copy. The original was done by an artist – Corby Eisbacher – and it’s called Jump for Joy. The artist beautifully illustrates for our eyes what God’s word declares to our ears. Mary’s eyes point our eyes to Jesus within her womb. Elizabeth’s head is lifted up to heaven in joy, giving us comfort and joy in God’s gracious visitation. It’s the kind of picture that speaks more joy than you could put into words. But if you had to put it into words you could say it this way. When our Lord visits his people, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior.
This visitation is a blessing for Mary to be sure. It’s beautiful. Awe-inspiring. Mysterious. Yet gracious visitation. She’s the mother of God. The child growing in her womb is the One who fearfully and wonderfully knitted her together in her mother’s womb. The Son she will give birth to is the same child promised to Adam, Eve, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For he is also the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And yet, while Mary is unique, she is not alone in this blessing. You share in the blessing too.
God’s gracious visitation in the womb of Mary is for you too. When our Lord visits his people, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior. And while he brings comfort and joy, these are not prerequisites for his coming. He doesn’t pull out his joy-o-meter to determine if we’re prepared and ready. God comes. God arrives. God visits us. Often times not when we’re most joyful, but when we’re in the dark. When we doubt and despair. When we grieve and suffer guilt. When we’re full of sorrow, shame, and sin. When the last thing we expect is God’s gracious visitation.
Then he comes. God visits you at the bedside of a dying loved one. God visits you when the doctor says the cancer isn’t going away. God visits you when the pregnancy test comes back negative…or positive. God visits you when your friendships and families blow up in arguments and tension.
As God in the flesh dwells in the womb of Mary, he visits you with all of his grace and goodness and loving-kindness. As God in the flesh goes to the cross he visits you with his saving love. As God in the flesh rises from the dead he visits you with new life. As God in the flesh gives you his gifts of word, water, body and blood, he visits you with forgiveness. Pardon. Peace. God in the flesh visits you when you care for one another in the love of Christ, and when others care for you.
And when our Lord visits you, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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