God knows. When everyone is staring at you, thinking they know the truth; thinking that they know you when in fact they have no idea who you are or what the truth is, do not fear, God knows. God knows the truth.
God knows. When you hide away from it all. When you hide away from the scorn. When you hide away in self-preservation, wrapped in a ball trying desperately not to be seen, trying to hide, do not fear, God knows. God knows the truth.
God knows. When you walk with your head held straight, clinging to the truth while everyone glares, convinced of a lie. When you walk clinging to the truth, but all you seem to be holding onto is a mere piece of thread, do not fear, God knows. God knows the truth.
God knows. When Mary flees the anticipated scorn of a pregnancy which is apparently adulterous, and when she goes with haste to a town out in the hill country, God knows. God knows the truth.
Do you know what you need when you feel alone, locked away from the world by scorn and the inability of the world to accept and love you? You need God’s Holy Spirit poured into a real, flesh and blood person. Like a magic elixir poured into a tea kettle, ready to be shared, God pours the Holy Spirit into Elizabeth and the baby within her belly. And, though the world would look with suspicion on Mary, Elizabeth looks on Mary with joy and eyes filled with blessing.
In a world that would declare Mary and her baby a curse, Elizabeth declares, “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.”
People filled with the Holy Spirit declare blessings, not curses. Can I repeat that again?
People filled with the Holy Spirit declare blessings, not curses. I repeat that because it seems that so many Christians are convinced that it is their job to hand out curses and unbridled, unloving correction to their neighbors and friends.
In order to keep the children of her middle school aged Sunday School class in line one teacher once created a vertical list on the white board titled, “Children going to hell.” That is several steps beyond Santa’s naughty list.
And though we, the faithful of God, certainly see lots of sin in the world, and feel the very real call to expose all that hides in dark places, and though there is biblical justification for doing such a thing, the people of God so easily forget, or maybe to the point I should say that I so easily forget, that the whole purpose of shining light into dark places is to bring the light of love into a dark world.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Did you hear that? Jesus was not sent “into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” People filled with the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ declare blessings, not curses.
And when a young teen wanders into your door with an unexpected pregnancy, it might just be that God does not want you to condemn what you see in front of you, but rather God wants to use what you see in front of you to save the world.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth does what others could not. Elizabeth blesses the young mother. She fills her with acceptance. With words of blessing, she cuts away the shame, and instead sees reason for joy.
In fact, the child in Elizabeth’s belly too finds reason for joy. He jumps with joy. And, guided by that joy, Elizabeth, looks the young mother in the eyes and does what is so important for any of us: she believes Mary’s story and she gives a blessing upon Mary’s life.
People filled with the Holy Spirit declare blessings, not curses. And it makes a difference.
Do you realize what starts because of this simple blessing given during this critical time in a young mother’s life?
For starters, it fills Mary with song. Her soul finally feels free to exude the glory of the Lord. It allows her to sing her truth, that though she is young and lowly, the Lord has lifted her up. And, she continues to sing the truths of God, how God brings down the powerful and lifts the lowly, how God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty, and how God shows mercy to God’s people.
And, I do not know if you have already picked up on this, but these truths that Mary sings about are the very qualities that we see in her own son, Jesus. Have you ever realized that? Jesus heals and lifts up the lowly. “Arise” Jesus shouts to the dead. Jesus feeds 5000 hungry people, and refuses to show partiality to the rich. And, on the cross, Jesus shows mercy to the criminal who asks to join Jesus in his kingdom. Jesus is the embodiment of all these truths that spill out in Mary’s song. Like mother, like son.
And,
it all started with Elizabeth listening to the Holy Spirit. It all started with Elizabeth declaring a
blessing rather than a curse.
Now, current child psychology teaches us that positive interactions with children yield so much more fruit than punishments. But, for those who have a good understanding of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit, this carefully researched truth is no surprise at all.
For
years and years people filled with the Holy Spirit have been declaring
blessings rather than curses, and it has made all the difference in the
world.
So, I guess my hope for you this Christmas would be the gift of a blessing. You are a blessing to me and to the world. No matter what the world declares, blessed are you. And, may your fruit, all you do and say, drip of the mercy and goodness of the Lord. In the days ahead I pray that you too be driven by the Holy Spirit to freely sing a song out into the wind, declaring the goodness of the Lord. And, that the song might blow to the ears of the world.
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