Friday, December 6, 2024  

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Today's Scripture
Luke 1:39–55

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 fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” (NRSV)

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Reflection

Elizabeth and Mary, two women pregnant by the miraculous and mysterious power of God, come together and affirm each other. Elizabeth was old, beyond the years of childbearing. Mary was young, a virgin, accepting her destiny to give birth to Jesus, the full incarnation of God. Scripture doesn’t say why Mary went to visit Elizabeth at this time. Did she go to receive her older cousin Elizabeth’s guidance and wisdom? Or did she go to offer her own words of support and encouragement to Elizabeth? Maybe it was a little bit of both. Mary stayed for a full three months, so we know that something important was happening between them.

This moment of their greeting is a powerful one, when Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and Mary offers her song praising God. They are deeply connected to each other and clearly connected to God as well. Elizabeth and Mary represent two different generations. Mary recounts God’s persistent and steadfast love and protection, from generation to generation, and imagines all future generations acknowledging the blessing it is for her to be the mother of God. She is blessed by Elizabeth, and she blesses Elizabeth with her own presence.

In this season, let’s practice remembering that God is with us through all our challenges, just as God was with Elizabeth and Mary (and Zechariah and Joseph). Let us be blessings to each other by showing up, by making a phone call to someone we care about, by being family to each other, siblings, and cousins in the family of God.

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Prayer
Holy and generous God, help me to be a blessing to all those I encounter today. Inspire me to reach out to someone that I wouldn’t ordinarily see, so that by my listening attention I might be a blessing to them. Amen.

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Written by Nanette Sawyer, Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Small Group Ministry

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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