Created for Worship: Luke 1.39-45 (ESV)

We need to be connected to God.  Let's think for a moment about what it means to be in the presence of God.  

Merry Christmas!  If you say Merry Christmas in April you better have a backstory, right?!  Today we read a backstory in Mary's life when she was carrying Jesus in the womb.  Why do we celebrate Christmas in December?  It's probably because there was a Roman holiday in December so the early church chose to celebrate Christmas on December 25.  Jesus was probably born in the springtime because the shepherds were in the fields at night and they wouldn't have been in the fields in the wintertime.  It's cold in the winter there just like it is here.  Here in Luke 1 we have the backstory.  We have all these announcements: Mary will give birth to the Messiah.  We don't know all that happened but we know God came for us.  God gave guidance and the people carried it out.  We don't know what happens in between when God speaks to someone and then they carry out what God asked of them.  The story today is in the in between.  This all happens in the context of worship.  We see the importance of worship and worship begins early.

Worship cultivates safe people.

 Safe people are people we can trust.  After years of a habit of worship we become safer people.  God cultivates and works in our hearts.  

                    ³⁹In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 

 When Mary has an encounter with the angel Gabriel, Gabriel tells her to visit Elizabeth and Mary obeys.  This probably happened within the first month of Mary's pregnancy and we see Mary being obedient to God.  This also shows us how God protects Mary as God knew what Mary was going to need; she'd need support.  In her first month of pregnancy Mary visits Elizabeth and Zechariah.  Why them?  What we know from the first chapter of Luke after Luke states the reason for writing Luke it skips to Elizabeth and Zechariah.  We learn about John and how he will be the one to prepare the way for Jesus.  God is working and preparing the way for Jesus.  We do not know what Mary was thinking but we can imagine the pressure of being a young pregnant teen.  Imagine what people would think and say.  Mary has a direct word from God, so Mary knows better than anyone.  She knows 100% this is from God and we can know as well.  You know what God has done in your life and what God is leading you to do.  What we do not know is how people will interpret what God leads us to do.  

Mary goes to the hill country, outside of Jerusalem to Elizabeth and Zechariah's house.  Zechariah was a priest in the Temple.  Godly people regularly worshipped in the Temple.  These were Godly people.  God uses this Godly couple to help Mary with a challenging time in her life.  This was about a 90 mile journey Mary made to visit them.  Mary is obedient.  Mary knew Elizabeth and had visited her before. Mary seems comfortable visiting with Elizabeth.  

Think about safe people.  Who are the people in your life that you know are safe?  That you know you can depend on?  Who's in your support system?  My guess is that they're Godly people?  People who are walking with God?  These people aren't perfect, but they're safe people.  Babies reach out for safe people.  They cling to safe people.  As kids grow older they want to know where mom is; they look for mom.  It's part of who we are.  God prepared that in advance for us.  I experienced this in my childhood and worship had a lot to do with it.  God is preparing other people for you.  Elizabeth has a role as a Godly, safe person in Mary's life.  This encounter is unique in the Bible.

Babies know the presence of Jesus.

How can we say this? 
                    ⁴¹And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.

 We know babies can move around in the womb.  Luke was a physician.  The baby is responding to the fact that Jesus is present.  In that time greetings were more extravagant.  Mary greets Elizabeth and the baby responds before Elizabeth says anything.  The babies respond before they can even speak and we see responses of joy.  We can tell joy is present.  In Genesis 25:22 Rebecca is pregnant with Jacob.  We read that mental processes are happening even before babies are born.  Babies in the womb have cognitive processes.  The take away here is what we know: we were made for worship!  Even before we speak we know what's it's like to know the presence of God.  This baby knows and responds to it.  The purpose of John's life is to prepare the way for Jesus.  We have specific reasons God has us here and we recognize this when we do a baby dedication.  

God speaks to us.

 We are able to hear form God. 

            And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴²and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 

 Elizabeth is so excited here!  Elizabeth understands what's happening.  Mary hasn't even told Elizabeth she's pregnant yet but God has already been speaking to Elizabeth.  Sometimes God speaks to someone about us.  I don't know if you've experienced this.  It's a remarkable experience that can even feel chilling.  Elizabeth cries out a blessing over Mary.  If you're a young teen, pregnant, and God has disrupted your life your first thought probably isn't "blessing."  When God speaks to us it doesn't always feel like a blessing.  Elizabeth describes it as a blessing but it doesn't feel like a blessing when you're in it.  Very early on Elizabeth hears from God and she celebrates what's happening in Mary's life.  I hope that you have the same feeling in your life.  God uses a lot of people for His glory.  Do not rush past this fact.  When the Creator of the universe speaks into your life, nothing is more significant!  God takes time to think of you out of a billion people to speak to you about what God wants you to do!  

God speaks through us.

Sometimes a word from God is just for us but sometimes it's for the benefit of others.  What may God be speaking into you?  It could be that God will use you to be a blessing to someone else.  
                    ⁴⁴For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  ⁴⁵And blessed is she who believed that there would be^£ a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

This is how we know Elizabeth knew what was happening.  She knew because the Holy Spirit told her.  She had a direct word from God.  Sometimes when God speaks to us we feel weird.  We tend to downplay spirituality in our culture.  We think a lot about science and math and even in church if you start talking about spiritual moments people get uncomfortable.  We are uncomfortable with spirituality in our culture.  I hope you're able to say, "Here's where God is leading me."  Mary needed these words.  It would have been easy for Elizabeth to never speak these words.  They could have just done the greeting and moved on.  Mary needed to know there was someone else in the world who got it, who knew she wasn't crazy.  This is a work from God.  Sometimes we have to do this as well, take a risk and say what God is prompting us to say.  The Holy Spirit speaks to us and to you.  Sometimes God speaks to us for the purpose of speaking to someone else.    In verse 45 Elizabeth tells Mary she's blessed because she trusts God.  She sees Mary following God.  Parents, sometimes you see your children being faithful and we have the opportunity to acknowledge God in our children and youth.  In a few weeks Mark is planning an event for our high school seniors.  We call it the senior blessing and it's a meaningful time when we speak blessings over our young people.  We all need to share these words with one another.  I encourage you to do this.  Words can carry tremendous weight.  Someone needs to hear, "I see you."  

I still think this woman is a bit crazy but my preschool Sunday school teacher told me I'd be a preacher one day.  I still remember things I learned from her.  Maybe she said that to everyone?  Encouraging others comes from our worship.  God speaks to us and we speak to others.

Sermon by Dr. Scotty Carpenter.  Sermon Notes by Jeni Martin Johnson.

Children's Sermon by Janet Smith:

I went to help a friend in his church recently and I wanted to be sure how to get there so I pulled up maps on my phone and saw many ways to get there.  It was about a 30 minute drive.  At one point I came to a stop sign and I had to decide which way to go.  I could go straight, right or left.  I decided to go the way I knew.  I got there fine and everything went great.  When I stopped at that stop sign I remembered a verse from my Hebrew class years ago.  

Isaiah 30:21, "And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, "This is the way, walk in it. when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."

God gives us direction and helps us know how to make choices.  I know only one person who heard God speak audibly, so most of the time we just know what God wants us to do.  We have to make up our minds ahead of time about certain things.  We spend time praying, reading the Bible and being with Christians and then when choices come we will know what to do.  God has told us what to do.  That's how we know the way to walk.  Spend time with God and it will be easier to make choices that please and honor Him.