From the Womb
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Before Aubreigh was born Bekkah and I sold my truck and we purchased a second SUV so that we could have both of our cars available to put her into it when she was born. Then before Madisyn was born we again went to a car dealership and we traded in one of our SUVs so that we could buy a mini van so that we could easily accommodate all of us in a single vehicle and be comfortable traveling. There were lots of things that changed in our lives and in our houses before we had each child. Even before Aubreigh was born we were already adjusting things in our house to make ready for her. We painted the room upstairs and got that room converted over to be a nursery. Bekkah and I were both working at the same church before and when Aubreigh was born and so we adjusted our schedule so that we had as much home time as possible with her. We adjusted our schedule and figured all of that out before she was even born so that we were ready for it after the fact, and so the church was ready as well. We had to do similar things for Madisyn as well. We converted the guest room into Madisyn’s nursery even before she was born. She also sped up the timeline for the work we did on our house because we wanted most of it done before she was born. We had to adjust our schedules around as well so that I could be with Aubreigh at dance and gymnastics while Madisyn was still quite young so that she wasn’t out it public places as a newborn baby.
I remember one day asking Bekkah what it was that we used to do with our free time before the girls were born and we honestly couldn’t really remember what life was like before then. I’m also sure there are other ways that I am not remembering that the girls affected our lives before they were even born. Having a child really impacts a person’s life in so many different ways and that impact begins even while that baby is still in the mother’s womb.
Can you imagine what it must have been like not just to be pregnant but also to to be pregnant with a child who you were just told by an angel that he would be called the Son of God? I am always so amazed at how accepting and calm Mary seems to be at the news of being pregnant and that she is is carrying God’s son. The verse right before where our text starts Mary says to the angel, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Even before the child is born, when she knows that life is about to completely change for her not just as another mother of a child but as the mother of a child who is supposed to be the Messiah, the one who will be given the throne of his ancestor David. Perhaps that is why God chose Mary though. God knew Mary’s heart and knew that she would be the right person to carry Jesus.
With the news that she is pregnant and that her relative Elizabeth is also pregnant she heads out to visit Elizabeth for three months. When they first meet after Mary’s trip we hear the beautiful story of how Elizabeth’s baby jumps for joy at their meeting and understanding that they are both pregnant with babies that will change not just Israel but the whole world. From the womb both Jesus and John are changing the lives of people, and I am not talking about getting a nursery ready or upgrading to a larger vehicle so that you have room for the whole family.
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Lk 1:38). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
The change that we hear about, the impact that Jesus has is reflected in Mary’s Song of Praise which we find in . Mary’s song not only blesses God and the great things that God has done for her by allowing her to to be the one to carry Jesus, but then it goes on to talk about all the things that God will do through Jesus and how Jesus will be the one who fulfill all that God has promised from the time that God made the covenant with Abraham. And not that God will fulfill that promise today and to Abraham, but that promise will continue forward from that moment on until forever.
Even from the womb Mary is singing God’s praises that God will change the world for the better through this unborn child. Even from the womb we get to see John and Jesus interacting with each other, something they will not do again for another thirty some years from this day that their mother’s get together. I believe that is why Mary’s Song, the Magnificat, has been turned into so many different songs throughout the years. This song shares the story of God from his covenant with Abraham to his blessing and choosing of the people Israel and what God has done for all of them, to what God has done for and through Mary and what God has promised to continue to do through this baby who hasn’t even been born yet and on into the future. This song covers all of the history of God’s interaction and care for the world from the beginning and on into the future. Not just the future of when Jesus leaves the womb and enters the world, but also to Abraham’s descendants forever. This is the story of what it means to be a child of God in one song.
From the womb Mary shares what she knows God will do through Jesus. This is why I have always loved this story from Luke. This is the Advent story, not the Christmas story, but the Advent story. This is a story of hope and anticipation. This is the story that brings joy to the world and hope to a people who need to hear a story of hope in a world that can sometimes only see darkness. Jesus isn’t born yet, he’s still in the womb and yet from this story of Mary and Elizabeth we are given hope for not just a time in the future, but right here and right now because we know that one day that baby will no longer be in the womb, but will enter into the world and alter it’s course. That hope, that anticipation of that day alters our actions, it causes us do behave and act differently than we did before. Much like the preparation for a regular baby might cause you to alter your house or the car that you drive, this baby Jesus alters us as well.
Look at how these unborn children affected the lives of Mary and Elizabeth and all around them and how that anticipation fo their births created such joy and happiness in their lives. May the joy you see in Mary and Elizabeth and also fill you with joy. May the promise of the Messiah, the Son of God influence and change you so that you sing God’s praises for all that God has done, is doing and will do for each of us from now until forever. Finally may you feel as blessed as Mary did knowing that God is active in your life and my prayer is that you are able to magnify the Lord and rejoice in our Savior who is not yet born, but is already changing us and this world for the better.
Amen.