Elizabeth's Story: Blessing by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Patti Lusher)

During this season of Advent, the four weeks of preparation leading up to Christmas, we are focusing on four key characters in the Biblical story, one each week. Last week was Zachariah. Just to catch you up: Zachariah was the priest who went into the temple in Jerusalem for his once in a lifetime turn to serve. An angel came and told him that he and his wife Elizabeth, who were childless, and way beyond child-bearing years, would be blessed with a baby. The baby would prepare the way for God to come into the world. We know that their son would become John the Baptist who preached and got people ready for Jesus.

That takes us to today. Kristen did not read this part of the story, but this was a busy time for angel visitations. About six months after Elizabeth became pregnant, an angel went to visit a young teen-age girl named Mary (who happened to be Elizabeth’s much younger cousin). The angel told Mary that she had been chosen above every other woman on Earth to be the mother of the Son of God. She was, of course, confused because while she was engaged to be married, she was still a virgin. The angel explained that God can make the impossible happen. After all, look at Elizabeth.

         Mary, in an unparalleled bit of maturity for a young teen-aged girl, accepts the call of God upon her life. She utters words something like this:

“Yes, I see it all now:
    I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
    just as you say.”

(Inspiring a song by Paul McCartney 2000 years later, “Let it Be.”)

         That is where we pick up the scripture that you heard read today. After Mary becomes pregnant she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Perhaps the young woman wants some advice from the older cousin. Or perhaps it is simply that age old practice that two pregnant women feel drawn together by the shared experience. They both have had miraculous circumstances surrounding their pregnancies and the promises of what their sons will be and do. They need to talk!

         As the scene unfolds at Elizabeth’s home, we cannot help but get swept up in the joy.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang out exuberantly,

You’re so blessed among women,
    and the babe in your womb, also blessed!
And why am I so blessed that
    the mother of my Lord visits me?
The moment the sound of your
    greeting entered my ears,
The babe in my womb
    skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.
Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
    believed every word would come true!

         So first we have Elizabeth’s baby literally kicking her in the womb, when Mary walks in. It is as if John is communicating with Jesus before they are even born. Elizabeth starts claiming blessing for everyone around. She says: “Mary, you are blessed. Your baby is blessed. I am blessed because the mother of my Lord is coming to visit me.” Then she says again that Mary is blessed because she believed and trusted what God said.

         You see, this is what I love about Elizabeth. She has the ability to see and claim blessings. There is so much joy and celebration in this passage because Elizabeth names the blessing out loud. This is a gift. She does not just see the glass half full, she brings you a pitcher of water and refills your glass.

         Because, let’s think about it. Remember this: Mary got pregnant before she was married and she was going to visit her much older cousin. How might you expect this to play out? Right? Shame and judgment. Or at the very least – disappointment or skepticism. Or Elizabeth could have been weary from her pregnancy and seen Mary and responded out of fear: “My dear, what do you think is going on? Did you see an angel too? My husband says he saw an angel and he said something about this baby of ours being chosen for an important task. But I think maybe Zachariah may have been sipping the ceremonial wine.”

         There was any number of ways that Elizabeth could have reacted to the situations around her. But this is what she did: she claimed blessings. I love Elizabeth for her ability to claim blessings.

         So I want to tell you about a friend of mine who likes to claim blessings right here in this world, in 2013, but first, a little background. Have you ever been downtown to see one of those “Park[ing] Days”? The idea is that businesses and organizations decorate a parking space for an afternoon. Usually it is a mix of the Uptown businesses, artists and some non-profit organizations who care about our city and want to have some fun. There is a high value for creativity, for the environment, and for community because the event draws people outside to connect with one another to have some fun. People choose a theme for their tiny little Parking space and turn it into a mini park. It might be a beach theme; or a fishing theme; a farm theme, whatever.

         These Park[ing] Days have been springing up in urban areas all over the country. We have them in Toledo.

         My friend Christina participated in one in downtown Cleveland with her new church start called Embody. Her church wants to embody the Spirit of God out in the world, so being part of Park[ing] Day was a great way for them to mix it up with the neighborhood.

         Embody decided to use their parking space to offer free blessings. They also set up a little urban space of Sabbath rest. There were banners that invited spiritual reflection. There was a little zen garden where you could play with rakes and sand. There was a place where you could play with some percussive instruments and drum as a spiritual exercise. In another tiny area you could write a prayer on a piece of paper and roll it up and place it in a wooden prayer wall like at the Western Wall in Israel. But then there was Christina with this sign around her neck that said “Free Blessings.” You can imagine what sort of questions and responses she got.

         Here were people walking along a busy street in downtown Cleveland, perhaps running an errand, going to a meeting, or taking their lunch break. Then they come upon a person with a sign, “Free blessings.” They would ask Christina, “What sort of blessings do you mean?” She would say: “What are you longing for in your life? I will pray with you and ask God to bless you with that.”

         Some people thought she was crazy, some sort of Jesus freak or cult leader. But many people were intrigued. They told her their stories. They asked for a blessing. Now here is the thing. Christina is a pastor but she is not Jesus. She was wearing a clergy collar so people would know she was part of a legitimate Christian church but she and I hope all of you know that a clergy collar does not give any one any special powers to grant blessings. In fact, later in the day she asked a couple of lay folks from her church to help do the blessings. But here is the thing: human beings don’t have any power to change one another with a blessing. The power of blessing all comes from God. And that power of God is already working in us.

         When someone offers you a blessing, all they can do is to name the blessing of God that is already inside you, and to claim it for you. In claiming the blessing, we awaken your awareness of it, and the blessing grows stronger. Do you remember what Elizabeth said about Mary:

Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
    believed every word would come true!

         Mary believed every word would come true and it did and she was blessed. We can ask for blessings too.

         Now granted, Mary and Elizabeth had angel visitors and they were chosen for some pretty amazing tasks. I will grant you that their blessings were a bit out of the ordinary. But God wants to bless us.

         For example: do you want the blessing of a new job? The resources you have for that new job are within yourself: your gifts and skills, your ability to network and get out there sell yourself. Now, we have to be honest. In this job market, the job you want just may not be out there. That is truly discouraging, and in some cases we may have to take a job that is way below us. That can injure our souls. So when we ask for the blessing of a job we are asking God to help us find within us all the resources to live through the job search for as long as it takes to reach our goal. We are asking God for the blessings of perseverance and endurance and the wisdom to know that it is not always all about us.

         Perhaps you want the blessing of peace in your home, there is too much chaos. People are running in too many directions and you can never get everything done. You can never catch your breath. Asking God for peace is a wonderful choice. Because you see, we have the ability within ourselves to start taking baby steps to make peace in our own homes. Whatever it is that is making chaos, we can claim the power of God inside us and make choices for peace.

         Kurt and I have a weekly lunch meeting to look at our family calendar. We help one another say “no” to things in order to make tiny moves toward peace and away from chaos. Sure, we veer off toward chaos often, and then we have to make course corrections, because we want our home to be a place of peace for our family.

         Perhaps you want the blessing of harmony in general or with a particular relationship. Asking God for the blessing of harmony is a wonderful place to start. When I am having trouble getting along with someone, and I begin praying for that person every day, and for our relationship, I find that God blesses me with a deeper sense of mercy for that person. But, when we ask for the blessing of harmony we have to be willing and open so that God can work on us. We can’t just say, God I need harmony so change that person. We have to consider that our attitudes toward the other person might also be changed by God working in us.

         So, when we invite someone to bless us, as my friend Christina did on the street in Cleveland, we are inviting them to claim for us the power of God at work in our lives for that blessing.

         When Jesus’ mother Mary went to see her cousin Elizabeth, that is what Elizabeth did. She claimed the blessing at work in Mary’s life, and what a powerful blessing that was! Dear Elizabeth and Mary were the mothers of John and Jesus. Those mothers would raise them to be faithful so they could point us to God, so they could both point us to the way to God’s blessings in our lives.

         So today, let us give thanks for Elizabeth and her son John and for Mary and her son Jesus. And let us give thanks that God wants to bless us. We simply have to claim the blessings that are waiting for us! Amen.