Mother's Day

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Mother’s Days for Elizabeth

It is a familiar story and one that fits with Mother’s Day.  A woman who wasn’t supposed to be a mother becomes a mother.   It is one of the most familiar stories in the Bible but a story that is over shadowed by another story and so it gets lost.  We are all familiar with the first couple of Chapters of Luke, it is the Christmas story.    

But the Christmas story didn’t start when the Angel appeared to Mary, no the story began half a year earlier and 100 kms away. 

Before the angel appeared to Mary and Joseph he had already appeared in Jerusalem to a man named Zechariah to announce the birth of a boy who would be named John and who would be a cousin to Jesus.

And the story of John, or more important the story of Elizabeth is a story that should resonate with most of the women who are here today. 

So let’s begin our journey where our Journey should begin, at the beginning.  Historically we are at the end of four hundred years of silence in the Story of Israel.  The last recorded words from one of God’s prophets had been written in the book of Malachi and the people of Israel have been waiting to be delivered from the various occupiers of their country.  

So let’s start with a little background about Elizabeth. 

We know who she was, because it is recorded in Luke’s Gospel, Luke 1:5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.  

So she was a descendent of Aaron, who was Moses’ brother.  And it was from Aaron that the Jewish priesthood was descended. 

And then we read in Luke 1:6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.   Not only was Elizabeth from a religious family, but she herself was righteous and was careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.  She was good people. 

Interestingly enough the Elizabeth who is mentioned here is actually a relative of Mary, Jesus mother.  Earlier I called John a cousin because I didn’t know what else to call him.  And that’s what he would have been called in those extended families, when you can’t think of anything else to call someone who is kin you call them your cousin.  You know if they aren’t your brother or sister, niece or nephew then they have to be your cousin.

When Gabriel appeared to Mary at beginning of the Christmas story he reveals this to her,  Luke 1:36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age!

In the King James Version it calls Elizabeth Mary’s cousin but the word in the original Greek was much broader than that and simply meant someone who was related to you, somehow.  And she may have been her cousin, we just don’t know.  What we do know is that Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron and we are told that Mary was a descendant of David’s so whatever relationship was on their Mother’s side of the family tree. 

However I think if you had of talked to Elizabeth she wouldn’t have defined herself by her family background or her behaviour, instead in her private moments I think she would have defined herself with the next statement in this scripture which says, Luke 1:7 They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.   

Now we really don’t know how old she was.  Obviously She was old enough for it to be mentioned, but perhaps because it was in relation to her child bearing years it was just relative.  After all, in that day and culture when women were married and began their families when they were in the teens, if you had been married for twenty years and hadn’t had a child it might be assumed that the baby wagon had passed you by. 

When we were in Truro we had two ladies who had children the same time that our daughter Deborah was born, and in 1987 we thought they were old, they were in their mid-thirties, which twenty nine years ago seemed old to be having babies.  So we don’t know how old Elizabeth was. 

But we do know that she experienced the heart ache of not having a child while all of her peers were.

Elizabeth Knew the Heartache of Being Childless  Now understand, not everyone wants kids.  Sometimes we meet couples who are childless and we jump to the conclusion that they are unable to have children.   But that isn’t always the case, and as a boss of mine used to tell me: The only thing you get from jumping to conclusions are sore feet.  Some couples choose to not have children for a variety of different reasons, and that is fine, that is there decision, it doesn’t make them less as people and when a woman chooses not to have children, that doesn’t make her less of a woman.  And I understand that, some people choose not to own a cat, that I don’t understand.   But I digress. 

But that was not the case with Zechariah and Elizabeth.  We are told that they were unable to have children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, as we progress in the story we discover that this had been a heartache for them.  And it was a matter of prayer, they had not only done their part in trying to make a baby they had asked God to do his part, to no avail. 

For people who are trying to start a family and it’s not working there is an incredible amount of stress and frustration and eventually heartache.  Often times children have been part of the dream and the plan since the first doll was held.  For many couples and even more women it has always been assumed that children would be part of the equation, and then they aren’t. 

Add to that the cultural demand, even today, on having children, most couples have been there the endless questions about when it’s going to happen, throw perspective grandparents into the mix and the pressure is immense.  And to Zechariah and Elizabeth there was the responsibility to have a son who would carry on the priestly lineage of their families.

But it wasn’t working, and Elizabeth was taking the blame.  Remember the scriptures tell us that she was unable to conceive.  But seriously, they wouldn’t have known that, what they knew was that “They were unable to conceive” but it ended up in her lap and “they” became “She”. 

I would suspect in that time and culture if a man married three different women and none of them had children everybody would say that he was unlucky to have married three barren women, but really?

If there had of been a Mother’s Day 2000 years ago it would have been Elizabeth’s least favorite day, it would have been a reminder of what she wasn’t.  And I’m sure that there are those who worship at Cornerstone who have either skipped the service today or wish they had of skipped the service today for the same reason as Elizabeth, it is a reminder of what they aren’t but wished they were.

And there is nothing I can say today that will ease your hurt or make you feel any better about today.    But let me pray for you. 

It seemed that just when Zechariah and Elizabeth had grown used to the fact that they would grow old together without children God interrupts their plans. 

Luke 1:11-13 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.

By this time in history there were more priests than there were jobs for priests, so they took turns working in the temple, good work if you can find it.  And Zechariah’s turn came up and he was chosen to enter into the temple and offer the sacrifices and while he was in there the strangest thing happened. 

He’s doing the things he supposed to be doing, preparing the sacrifice, getting it ready to be offered, preparing his prayers and the scriptures he will read as part of the ceremony and God interrupts him, with an Angel.  I don’t know what angels look like but they always start off their introductions with the words “Don’t be afraid”. 

And Zechariah was a little spooked; actually he was a lot spooked.  After all he was supposed to be alone in the altar area, there were no windows just lit by flickering torches, maybe he’s whistling as he worked.  And all of a sudden he’s no longer alone.  I don’t think he was spooked because there was an angel there, I think he was spooked because there was anyone there.

And if we read through the conversation the Angel, who identifies himself as Gabriel tells Zechariah that his and Elizabeth’s prayers will be answered and that they will be parents and that their son will do great things for God. 

And after the angel drops this bombshell, I mean good news on Zechariah he gets this response; “What?”  Actually that was a rough translation his actually words were Luke 1:18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”

My wife is well along in years, that charitable, love how it is put in the King James Version  Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.   Guys here’s a Mother’s Day hint, I don’t think that “well stricken in years” is the most appropriate way to describe your wife’s age.

You got to love this, for years Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a son, They had been praying so long it had become route and I don’t think they really expected it would be answered and had never stopped to consider what would happen if it was answered, there would be diapers to buy, a house to be baby proofed and they’d have to get a baby seat for the camel.

Presumably they knew what caused babies and presumably they had been trying that particular technique without success so the assumption would have to be that there would have to be something miraculous about this.

And to be fair, it may not have been disbelief as much as curiosity that caused his reaction, he knew the other way wasn’t working so what was going to change?

If you don’t know the rest of the story it would appear that Gabriel was a little sensitive about not being believed because he responds by saying in  Luke 1:19-20 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”

Boy, do you know where I’d be if folks still lost their voices when they didn’t believe the promises of God?  Yeah, preaching to a very quiet church.

And the story continues. 

Luke 1:14-17 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.

Without commentary don’t you find it interesting how those thoughts are joined? 1) Great in the eyes of the Lord 2) filled with the Holy Spirit 3) must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks, just saying.

Luke 1:57 When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son.

Elizabeth Knew the Joy of Being a Mother  At her age I’m sure that she felt the exhaustion of being a mother and at times the frustration of being a mother but that’s not where we are going today.   And if Elizabeth was like most parents she probably dreamed dreams of what her child would do and what he would be when he grew up. 

Probably because of his divine announcement John’s mother probably pictured him of doing great things for God, maybe someday being the high priest. 

If you were to ask Elizabeth to predict the future of her son it probably would have had to do with the priesthood.  It was John’s lineage, his father was a priest and his mother was the daughter of a priest.  And I’m pretty sure that in Zechariah’s mind that if his son was going to have an impact for God it would be through the religious establishment that the family was familiar with.  After all why wouldn’t it be? 

My father was a sea captain as was his father and his father, and there was a natural assumption that I would be as well.  The entire Denn getting seasick on wet grass didn’t seem to factor in at all. 

The bible doesn’t tell us anything about John’s childhood, but if he was like most children he was loved and doted on.  I’m sure that Elizabeth showed him off at every chance, and probably wasn’t the least bit sensitive when she was around women who were childless. 

But when John had grown up we read that he went into the wilderness and when the time was right he appears preaching repentance, baptising people and telling them that the messiah was soon going to appear.  Both Matthew and Mark give us the same description of John.  Mark tells us in Mark 1:6 His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.

And I’m sure that regardless of the fact that Elizabeth probably didn’t understand what John was doing, nobody in their family had ever done anything like that before, that she was one hundred percent behind him.  She probably bragged to her neighbors about John and all the people that he baptized. 

We know nothing about John’s childhood and how his parents raised him and loved him, what we do know is that Elizabeth and Zechariah were chosen by God to raise John, and God doesn’t do anything without a reason.  So we need to assume that it was because of the way that his parents raised him that John was who he was.  Remember that earlier in the story that John’s parents were described as Luke 1:6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations.  Our children will follow God or not follow God, that will be a decision that they need to make.  However we have a responsibility to lay the foundation that they will need to follow God. 

As we read the accounts of John’s preaching it is evident that the foundation of his faith was well laid.  It was Abraham Lincoln who said “All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”  We can only assume that John the Baptist would have said the same thing about his mother.

If there had of been a Mother’s Day 2000 years ago it would have been one of Elizabeth’s favorite days. 

For those of you who are raising children, and it doesn’t matter if they are one or a hundred and one Mother’s never stop raising their children, I would like to pray for you today. 

But ultimately it would have been the thing that would have brought Elizabeth her greatest joy, that her son was serving God, that would cause her greatest pain.

Maybe you know the story of John and maybe you don’t either way let me bring you up to speed. You will recall that John had been preaching repentance throughout the country and part of that was confronting people about their behaviour.  After all unless a person feels a sense of wrong over their behaviour they won’t feel compelled to repent.  One of the people that John called out was King Herod, this wasn’t the same King Herod from the Christmas story, instead it was his son, the King Herod from the Easter story. 

Apparently Herod’s younger brother, Phillip, had married a woman by the name of Herodias and somehow she ended up married to Herod.  The assumption is that she left the younger brother for the older brother.  And John began to publically take issue with the morality of the entire situation.  I’m not sure that it bothered Herod that much, he was probably used to people criticizing him, after all he wasn’t the most lovable tyrant.  But it was getting to Herodias and we are told that Herod had John imprisoned as a favour to Herodias.  Here was John who had spent so much of his adult life in the wide open spaces of the wilderness now confined to a prison cell.  Must have been tough but it would get tougher.  

But listen to this little snippet in Mark 6:19-20 So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless, for Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him.

Now maybe you know how the story ends for John, you hear people talk about how immoral our society is, how far we’ve fallen but this account reveals what life was like 2000 years ago in the society that John and Jesus were called to confront.

Herod throws this big party for everybody who was anybody and part of the festivities was a dance performed by his step- daughter.  When the dance was over Herod applauded and told her “that was awesome, I will give you anything you desire, right up to half my Kingdom.”  Not sure how the Romans would have felt about that, but I would suspect that Herod had been in the bubbly. 

So the girl went over to her mother and had a little girl talk and she came back and we pick up the story in Matthew 14:8 At her mother’s urging, the girl said, “I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray!”

Now that seems a little extreme, and I’m sure that everyone knew that it was the booze talking but we read in   Matthew 14:9-10 Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders.   So John was beheaded in the prison.

Elizabeth Knew the Pain of Losing a Child  and I understand that this is speculation, that because John was born in Elizabeth’s old age that she had probably already passed away when John was killed.  But we don’t know that.  We don’t know how old “Old” was in the case of Elizabeth.  So for the sake of the sermon let’s assume that she was still alive.  I can think of no greatest tragedy for a parent than to lose a child, regardless of the age of that child.  Parent’s aren’t supposed to bury their children; children are to bury their parents.  But from the beginning of time this type of tragedy has happened.  If you are familiar with the book of genesis you will remember that the first funeral wasn’t for Adam or Eve, it was for their son Abel. 

There is a pain that will never go away and a hole that can never be filled.  I don’t know every story at Cornerstone but I do know that are mothers at Cornerstone who have lost children who were in their twenties and thirties and forties. And there may very well be those here who lost children who never grew to adulthood.   And I know that there are mothers in our church family who lost children before they were born, and that loss is just as real and just as heartbreaking.

The second funeral that I ever performed was for a little girl who never breathed air and never looked into the eyes of the two people who loved her more than they could ever say. 

If we believe what we say we believe about when life begins then they are children and their mothers are mothers and when we invite the mother’s to come forward at the end of the service to receive their treats they have the same right to be here as any other mother. 

And there are those here today who have lost a child who is still alive, because of strains in relationships and circumstances that can never be explained there are sometimes chasms between parents and children that can never be bridged and the heartache is always there for lost children and grandchildren.  

If there had of been a Mother’s Day 2000 years ago it would have been a painful day for Elizabeth, a reminder of all that she lost.

Here is what we do know, we know that Elizabeth loved and served God, and we know that John loved and served God so we know that regardless of the present heartache that there came a time that mother and son were reunited.

And I wish that I could speak words of healing into your lives and tell you that someday you wouldn’t grieve for the child that you have lost.  You will always miss your child, and your will always cherish their memory.  It was another Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth who said “Grief is the price we pay for love.”

But there is a hope, a promise that transcends death.   Early this week friends of ours lost their daughter after a six-month battle with Cancer, she was 36 years old.  The morning following her death her father wrote of their loss and here is a part of what Don wrote:

“She (Lindsay)  is with Jesus. And we have a massive hole in our hearts. Oh how we miss her already! But that aching void will be filled again, for we will see her ourselves someday in the presence of Christ. "Therefore we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." We love you Lindsay! And we will see you later!”

If you have lost a child let me pray for you this morning.

Today we celebrate mothers not because mothers are better people or better women than those who have never been mothers but because each of us owes something to our mothers, even if it is only life.