Christmas Heroes - Elizabeth

One of the topics of conversation during the Thanksgiving holidays with my family was who are our heroes? We mentioned mentors, teachers and members of our own family, and the idea came to us that maybe our most important heroes aren’t national or international leaders, or sports and entertainment icons, maybe our most powerful and influential heroes are the people we know, the people who are part of our daily lives and our extended circle of family and friends. Maybe our heroes are those who love us and inspire us to be all that God wants us to be. I wonder if Mary considered Elizabeth one of her heroes.

Mary has just learned from the angel Gabriel that she was being chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. Mary surrenders herself to the will of God, saying, Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word, but God’s plan is going to be hard. Being pregnant and not married is going to bring Mary some very difficult times. She is in a delicate situation not just with Joseph, but with her family and community. Will they accept her? Will they believe that what is taking place in her is from God? With all of these doubts and fears swirling around in her heart and in her head, it says Mary went with haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Mary immediately seeks out someone who will understand her and the situation she is in. Elizabeth is sure to understand, after all, she herself is experiencing a miraculous pregnancy. After a lifetime of being barren Elizabeth has conceived a child. With all that’s going on in Mary’s life, she looks for someone she believes will support her, care for her and love her through a tough time, and Elizabeth does and her response shows us what it means to be a hero.

When Mary arrives at the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, instead of a lot of questions, there is acceptance. Heroes accept and welcome people into their hearts and lives. Elizabeth is a hero if for no other reason than she welcomed Mary into her home. Elizabeth didn’t judge her, she didn’t question her. Elizabeth accepted her and loved her. Those who are heroes in our own lives are those who don’t judge us but are willing to welcome us into their hearts and lives.
CNN did a special report on heroes and they asked for people submit names of those they considered heroes and one of the top ten was a woman named Anne Mahlum. Ann lives in Philadelphia and is a marathon runner, and every morning she would run through the streets of Philadelphia passing the homeless who would cheer her on. One day Anne stopped and wondered why she was running by all those who were homeless and not running with them. Anne contacted several area shelters, got donations of shoes and running gear and in 2007 established the Back on my Feet running clubs. Requirements to join the club are that residents have to be from affiliate shelters and have been clean and sober for 30 days. The runners are given shoes and clothes and teams run 3 days a week between 5:30 – 6:00 AM. Running has taught some of the homeless not only how to set goals but how to discipline themselves and work hard to achieve those goals. One success story is a man who since he joined the club has gotten a job, is working on his education and training for a marathon. What I love about this story is that it all started when Anne simply invited the people she saw to run with her. It stared with acceptance and a welcome.

We become heroes in the lives of others when we accept them and welcome them into our lives. It’s the first step because we can’t inspire and encourage others if we aren’t willing to accept them and interact with them, but once we do accept and love others, the door is opened for inspiration and encouragement to flow. Look again at the story of Elizabeth and Mary. Luke 1:41-45

What an encouragement these words must have been for Mary. Not only did Elizabeth welcome her, but immediately after that there were words of inspiration and hope; think about how important this was for Mary. After the angel Gabriel told her that she was going to conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear a son who would be the savior of the world, there had to be doubts and questions– so to hear these words from Elizabeth must have been powerful. Here was someone who could see what God was doing in her life. Elizabeth not only believes her, but she believes in her and she believes God is doing a mighty work within her. Elizabeth saw value in Mary, she saw the potential and literally the life within her and that’s what heroes do, they see the value and the worth and the potential in others.

Anne Mahlum didn’t see homeless men and women when she ran, she saw individuals of value and worth and she worked to lift them up. She inspired them to be all that God wanted them to be. Can we see the same value and worth in others? We become heroes when we see people the way God sees them. More than anything, my hope and prayer for the church is that we see people the way God does, as unique children with great value and worth. When we begin to see people this way, we will work to lift them up because we are going to want the best for them. We will reach out to meet their needs, we will welcome them among us and we will share with them the love of God. Haven’t the heroes of our own lives been those people who saw more in us then we ever saw in ourselves?

As a freshman at MSU I was part of a bible study that in the course of the year simply got too big. As I was talking with a friend of mine who was also in this bible study, I said it was sad in some ways that the small group had gotten so large because we didn’t have the opportunity to really share our own questions and thoughts. Dave suggested that we split the group and I was all for that until Dave asked me to lead the second group. I didn’t know enough to be a Bible study leader, in fact, of all the people in the group, I probably knew the least about the Bible or leading a Bible study, in fact I was probably the only one who wasn’t even a Christian. But Dave saw something in me, he believed in me and he lifted me up. In many ways Dave is one of the heroes in my life because he encouraged me to be more than I ever thought I could be. We become heroes in the lives of others when we begin to see them the way God see them.

But there is one more quality we see in Elizabeth that makes her a hero and that’s humility. Elizabeth understood that there was something miraculous and amazing taking place in her life, in her old age and after a lifetime of not having children, she was suddenly pregnant. There is a miracle taking place in her life and while she may have wanted to celebrate that and lift her own experience up, she knew there was something even more amazing taking place in Mary. Elizabeth understood that as important as her child was going to be, he wouldn’t be the greatest, he wouldn’t be the leader; that would be Mary’s child. Heroes are those ordinary men and women who are willing to say it’s not about me, but it’s about you. Look at what Elizabeth says, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Elizabeth knows it’s not about her and it’s not about her child. God’s plan is all about Mary and her child. Elizabeth doesn’t elevate herself or talk about her needs or her own situation, she is completely focused on someone else.

Last week we looked at the prophet Isaiah and saw how heroes are willing to give themselves completely to a work that they may never see completed, the Messiah would not come in Isaiah’s lifetime, yet he lived and worked for that day to come. Here we see that a hero is one who is willing to accept their place in God’s plan even knowing that they may not be the focus of that plan or the leader in the spotlight who get’s the praise and glory. When Zechariah and Elizabeth learn that they are going to have a child, they hear from God that it is going to be a special child, but not the Messiah, their son would simply point the way toward the Messiah. Look at Luke 1:13-17

The angel is clear that while their son is going to be a special, he is not going to be the Messiah, he is simply going to prepare the way for the Messiah to come. Are we willing to be part of God’s plan even when we know that we may not be the one in the spotlight? Are we willing to work our entire lives so that someone else can shine? It requires a lot of humility and yet inner strength to accept this kind of plan for our lives – but when we do, we become the heroes that God will use to help bring his light and love into the world.

Elizabeth is a hero because she welcomes Mary and not only accepts what God is doing in her life but she sees the full potential and blessing that Mary brings. Elizabeth is also a hero because she understands that God’s plan isn’t about her or her son taking center stage, it’s about someone else, it’s about Jesus. Can we be this kind of hero today? Will we welcome and accept those around us? Will we look for the full God given potential that lies within them? And then are we willing to humble ourselves and accept that it’s not always about us and what we want, it’s about God’s plan of salvation that comes to the world through Jesus.