We have a lot of grandparents in our church. I wonder if there is more joy when you have grandchildren than when you have your own children? My mom was very impatient for grandchildren. I was nineteen, my older sister twenty-one, and my two younger siblings were still in high school and my mom told us at Christmas that she wanted grandchildren as soon as possible. I asked her if I could get married first? I do imagine that not being up all night and handing them back when they get too fussy are the benefits of being a grandchild over a parent.
We have this story of two cousins, Mary and Elizabeth. If they are literal cousins, they are about 30 years apart. Zechariah and Elizabeth in the story before tell of an old couple who wanted, but never got children. The gospel of Luke doesn't say how old they are, but it isn't as old as Abraham and Sarah who were how old when they had Isaac? (he was 100 and she was 90). I would say that maybe Elizabeth was in her late 40's, maybe 50's, unusual but not unheard of. The average lifespan in those days was between 30 to 40 years old, though there were some who lived longer. Jesus, son of Mary, and John the Baptist, son of Elizabeth, were cousins, first cousins once removed. John, not yet born, leapt for joy at the sound of Mary's greeting. WooHoo!!
We can debate the virgin birth and whether it was real or not. It is something that was debated early in Christianity. Arianism, put forth by Arius, stated that Jesus was no co-eternal with God and that was proclaimed heretical. My seminary history professor, Dr. Payne, spelled P-a-y-n-e, taught us this little jingle to help us remember: Christ was born and not begot, do-da, do-da, there was a time when he was not, all the do-da-day. But setting that aside, at least for the moment, listen to what the story is telling us: that God comes down from heaven to live among us. This wasn't unheard of in that day and age with the Greek and Roman gods and their mythology. But it was usually because of a bad soap opera dynamics of greed, lust, and betrayal. Here, in this story, Jesus is born of a woman who isn't important to the world, no mention of her looks that she was exceedingly beautiful and caught God's eye. Just that she was visited by the Angel Gabriel and was chosen because of her meekness, her humbleness. Though Elizabeth calls the unborn child, "Lord", Jesus is no lord that is known in the Roman Empire or even in the Hebrew texts, who spends his life teaching, feeding, and healing; not gathering armies, power, and wealth.
But then! And then, Mary, filled with the Spirit, gives us the Magnificat. This is not something new for the Jewish people to hear or should be for us, as Christians, to hear. The first part is Mary praising God and thanking God for what God is doing through and with her. And then, Mary gets to the meat of why Jesus is coming to town: scattering the proud of their thoughts, bringing down the powerful from their thrones, lifting up the lowly, filling the poor with good things, and sending the rich away empty. These are the things that God, who sent Jesus to earth, is concerned about, working on, and believes in.
The long winter nights don't last forever, we are turning the tide of light that is being more and more prevalent in our days. Joy is not based upon who is in charge, it is based upon God's love for us. Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice... For we serve a God of love, whose purpose is to bring all abundant hope, peace, love, and joy. All will have enough and all are enough. This is the kingdom, the reign, the purpose of God.
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