# Fourth Sunday of Advent January 07, 2025 - [ Blog ](/news-categories/blog) *By the Rev. Alanna C. Sullivan* *Associate Minister and Director of Administration* *The Memorial Church of Harvard University* *(The following is a transcript of the service audio, Dec. 22, 2024)* Let us pray. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts and minds be acceptable in your sight. Oh God, our rock and redeemer. Amen. So just before our gospel lesson for today, Mary has had a visitor, an angel in fact, and the angel tells Mary the unbelievable news that she is pregnant and she will have a son. You will name him Jesus, and he will be called the Son of God. Now, this is a time when religion was inseparable from politics. Politicians held religious office. Emperor Augustus was both a political leader and perceived as a divine being. His title was imperator Caesar divi filius, Commander Caesar, son of the divine. Needless to say, it was a challenging time for Judeans in the Roman Empire. Around the time of Jesus's birth, the Roman appointed Herod the Great died and Judeans had uprisings all over the land. Now, the beloved Herod the Great is very different from the Herod that followed. The second Herod was awful, not at all like Herod the Great, and he is the one that we remember from the biblical story. Syrian legions under the direction of Rome crushed the Judean rebellions, burned the city of Sepphoris in Galilee, and enslaved the city's Judean inhabitants. And yes, this is the same part of the world that today, once again, is wracked with upheaval and violence. The historic echoes here are strong, and this is the world where Mary and Elizabeth lived and the reality that they faced. Judeans believed that the only way to overcome the imperial power of Rome would be through direct intervention. So, it is in this dangerous place and precarious circumstance that Mary sets out to see Elizabeth. Mary lives in the midst of war. She's Jewish, she's a teenager, she's pregnant, she is unmarried, she is alone. She is at the bottom rung of the socio-economic and political ladder of the Roman Empire. And on top of all of that, she has just had an unbelievable mystical experience. So who would believe her? And this is just what we know about her from the text. We don't know about the emotional, physical, or spiritual state she's in, yet we know about her vulnerable social location. So it's not difficult to imagine that she could be overwhelmed, terrified, anxious. Well, if Mary is anything like us, perhaps it's a mixture of all of that. And yet she is compelled to share the news, compelled enough to leave the safety of her home in Nazareth and travel 80 miles by herself to visit her relative, Elizabeth. And when Mary arrives at Elizabeth's house, she is welcomed by an immediate and silent response from Elizabeth's unborn child. As often well-timed baby kicks do, it opens one to a new awareness and understanding. And it's here that Elizabeth takes on the role of prophet, stating, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mouth of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." Elizabeth greets Mary with an embrace and we might assume a warm welcome from Elizabeth because of their familial ties. However, as many of us know here, sometimes those closest to us can be the very ones with whom we have the most complicated relationships. And up until this moment, Elizabeth has been unable to have a child of her own. In the ancient near East, either a woman could have children or a family paid someone to have children on their behalf. That is how strong the expectation of having children was. And although the cultural and social context has changed, infertility can still be a silent, common, and incredibly isolating experience today. In a New York Times article, writer Regina Townsend talks about the lasting trauma of infertility. –– Embed [Harvard Memorial Church](https://soundcloud.com/memorial-church "Harvard Memorial Church") · [The Rev. Alanna C. Sullivan. - Dec. 22, 2024 | Sunday Sermon](https://soundcloud.com/memorial-church/the-rev-alanna-c-sullivan-dec-22-2024-sunday-sermon "The Rev. Alanna C. Sullivan. - Dec. 22, 2024 | Sunday Sermon") –– She writes, "While anxiety and depression and grief and loss are all part of the psychological impact of infertility, there is much more to the experience which is defined by the individual. Infertility changes how you see yourself and the world. And somehow along the journey, many of us stop feeling as though it is something that is happening to us. And instead we begin to believe that it is part of who we are. You become so used to living in a constant state of fluctuating between despair and hope." This could have been Elizabeth's life experience leading up to Mary's arrival on her doorstep. Elizabeth has long endured being seen as a failure. She knew what it was like to be the subject of public judgment and shame. And yet Elizabeth does not only embrace Mary, she believes Mary. When it is easy for the world to discredit or discard her, Elizabeth believes her. She validates Mary and her lived experience. There is no room for shame here. And not only does Elizabeth embrace and believe Mary, she blesses her and she offers a two-fold blessing. First, she shares that Mary is blessed among women translating from the Greek meaning that she will be remembered well, she will be praised. Present and future generations will speak well of her and her baby Jesus. And second, Elizabeth shares that Mary is blessed by the Lord. And here blessed is the same Greek term that Jesus' uses to bless people in the beatitudes. An alternative translation is happy is she who believed. Mary is blessed because despite all expectation, she will be honored rather than shamed for bearing this child. Blessed with divine joy because she believed that God is able to do what God promises to do. When Elizabeth says, "Blessed is she who believed," she implicitly contrasts Mary's trust in God's power and promise with that of her own husband. Zachariah asked for proof that the angel's word was true. Zachariah was a religious leader who doubted God. Elizabeth's blessing celebrates Mary's willingness to say yes to God. Elizabeth's prophetic witness strengthen and encourages Mary. It is only then that Mary can articulate this pregnancy as a blessing herself. Mary is so emboldened that she proclaims the Magnificat. Despite all the unknowns, Mary knows that it's going to be okay in part because her trusted friend, kin, and confidant tells her so. Would Mary have been led to sing the Magnificat if Mary did not believe her? After all, Mary only did not proclaim her faith fully after the visit from the angel, but only after being received by Elizabeth who confirmed her call and blessed her. I intimately know the power of an unexpected blessing. Seven years ago, a friend and I were so excited to learn that we shared the same due date. We imagined our little ones playing together, taking vacations together, growing up together. However, halfway through her pregnancy, my friend miscarried and it was devastating. And I remember thinking how hard it must be for her to watch my belly continue to grow. And I once told her something along the lines of, "If it's too much to be around me, that's fine. I understand." And my friend looked at me with sharp eyes and said, "I will love your child unconditionally." And she has every day. With that one sentence, I learned how love persists in the midst of grief and pain. My child-to-be and I rested in the blessed assurance of her love no matter how unexpected. Our gospel lesson for today is a small story. It's about a genuine connection between two women who are marginalized by society for different and, in some ways, conflicting reasons. Yet it is together that they find the strength to imagine and proclaim the turning of the world upside down in their love for one another. God gives Mary and Elizabeth what each of them lacked on their own, community and connection. They are a part of something larger than their individual destinies. Together they are known more fully and begin to see more clearly. Together they do what we aspire for the best of church to do, confirmation of promise, companionship with kindred spirits, exchanging of wisdom, sharing of joy, proclaiming justice and peace. Their interaction reminds us how much we need one another to draw fresh courage from one another. Celebrate promises together. These two women help one another to proclaim power in a world that grants them little of it. Our God is a God of small beginnings. The coming of God is not through the mounting of a rebellion, but through the birth of a baby. God is at work in deeply personal ways that forever change this world. Two marginalized and pregnant women supporting one another, it is a small thing and it is everything. For Mary, her role in Jesus' birth does not erase the challenges that she will face as an unmarried pregnant teenager. The joy that she sings of is not the absence of struggle or conflict. Joy comes from the connection to a greater story. It is the hope for more that can be at the present moment, and it always starts slowly and quietly. Today, we are entrenched in our corners, and the divisions can feel insurmountable. So let us start small and quiet. Our God is a God of small beginnings. So like Mary to Elizabeth, let us go to one another. Like Elizabeth to Mary, may we bless one another. And like John, may we leap for joy in finding one another. It is a small thing, and it is everything. Amen. ### **Full Service Video** See also:- [ Sunday Service ](/archive/sunday-service) - [ Sermon ](/archive/sermons) - [ Alanna C. Sullivan ](/sermon-topics/alanna-copenhaver) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)