Luke 1:39-45
In those days Mary set out and went with haste
to a Judean town in the hill country, where she
entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped
in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among
women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And why has this happened to me, that the mother of
my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound
of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a
fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."
As we approach Christmas, I am sure the thoughts of presents have crossed your mind. Today I want us to think about presents. Not presents that we wrap in paper to give and receive at Christmas, but presence. Six years ago, in a small town, far, far away, where the road ends, my mom passed away. (I come from a small town in the UP.) There was no newspaper that we could place an obituary in time to notify people of a funeral. But there was a local woman, Jan Tucker, who did a daily radio talk show that just about everybody listened to. When I was a kid that show was uncool and annoying, but something happened when I get older, I can’t get enough of her show. Well, we asked Jan, who knew my mom, to announce my mom’s funeral on her show. She did. In the funeral home the night before the funeral mass, about 200 people showed up. I saw people I hadn’t seen in over 30 years. Even the Pastor and a couple members of the staff from my church in Burton made the 10 hour trek and showed up that evening. I felt excited, consoled, supported, thankful, and humbled by everyone’s presence. Their physical presence was a big deal.
If you think back to a time someone you know and love made the effort to be with you, especially in a time of struggle or need, maybe you can remember how that felt too?
In the Gospel of Luke 1:26-45 we read story of Mary, who just found out that she was pregnant and heard that her relative Elizabeth was 6 months along. Trusting God, Mary went in a hurry on a dangerous 90-mile journey to be with Elizabeth and attend to her needs.
When Mary arrived, she was greeted with a lot of excitement. Elizabeth was shouting, John was jumping up and down inside of her, the whole place filled with the Holy Spirit. Mary’s presence in the house of Zacharia to be with Elizabeth was a big deal.
I think these stories shows us that sometimes our physical presen”ce” is the best gift we can give someone. By being present, we can help Jesus bring gladness into the life of someone who otherwise might be all alone. There are many who dread Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even their birthday because those days that should be celebrated with friends and family, are filled with intense loneliness. If we take Mary as an example, she shows us how we can be there for one another.
Prompted by the angel from God, Mary went to care for and serve Elizabeth. A question we can ask ourselves, “Is there someone on my mind, someone God is prompting me to be with?” Who is that person? How can I care for and serve them? Sometimes its as simple as just being present and listening.
There is a young man I know who God placed in my path. He’s working through some messy life issues. When his frustrations build to an unbearable level, he says to me, “We need to have another one of those talks.” Thing is, I don’t say much, I let him let all his frustrations out. I assure him of my support, we pray and with a huge burden lifted from his soul, he smiles.
Mary went in haste. She didn’t dilly dally. So if there, is someone you feel God is asking you to be with, you need to decide now that you are going to go. Tomorrow could be too late. Delay could result in loss and regret.
It took effort for Mary to make the 90-mile journey. It takes effort for us to be with one another too. It could be a matter of distance, time, but I think most often it’s our fear of developing or deepening a relationship, getting too involved, and our busyness and an excuse, that we need to make the effort to overcome.
If there is a message we can take away from this Gospel passage, I think it would be to trust God, make the effort, now, to go to whom God is sending you and be with them. By your presence, you can help Jesus overcome despair, loneliness, sadness, emptiness and bring a sense of the hope, love, joy, and peace of the advent season into their life. Christmas presen(ts) are nice, but your physical presen(ce) is a big deal.