Amy C Walters

Mary Visits Elizabeth – Luke 1:39-56

Mary may have been a teenage girl from a small town but her song is full of references to generations and descendants and history. Mary wasn’t just looking at her own situation. She saw herself as part of something big.

Today, we’re going to look some more at Mary’s song at the end of our story, because there are a few repeated themes worth exploring.

At the start of the song, Mary talks about how all generations will call her blessed “because the mighty one has done great things for me.”

So Mary is thinking about all these generations, the people that will follow after her who are going to think about her, are going to bless her, not because of who she is or what she has done, but because of what God has done for her. So Mary’s life is pointing all generations back to God’s work.

In the middle of the song, Mary talks about how the Lord’s mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. So again, that word “generation” is used. This time, not looking so much at what God has done for a specific person, but how God interacts with people throughout history. God consistently shows mercy to those who fear him. It doesn’t matter at what point in history they’re born, every generation of those who fear God receive mercy from him. He is consistent.

Then at the end of the song, Mary talks about how God has helped “his servant Israel faithful in his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.” So we don’t have the word “generation” used here as we did at the beginning of the song and the middle, but we have “descendants.” The idea of generations of people all from the same family or group. So Mary again is focused on how God is working through Abraham’s descendants.

And this is a reference to God’s promises, the things that “he spoke to our forefathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.” God made promises to those forefathers, and he is carrying out those promises. He is faithful to what he said.

Mary gets to be part of God’s fulfillment of those promises, which is so cool because she is going to give birth to Jesus the Messiah, the one who has been promised and who God is now fulfilling that promise by sending Jesus into the world.

So Mary is thinking about generations. She’s thinking about her place in that history, in her family, how God is working in her life specifically, how God works in people’s lives throughout the generations, throughout history, how God is faithful to his promises to Israel.

And that idea of descendants also brings with it not just history, but also community. Because “descendants” has to do with the specific family, the specific people of Israel.

She talks about how God has helped “his servant Israel, faithful in his mercy.” So she’s thinking not just about history, but community and where she fits in all of that.

Why is it important that Mary sees herself as part of history, part of community? Why does it matter that she’s not just thinking about “my experience, my situation, what I’m doing?” I think there’s a few important reasons that that kind of perspective and idea is helpful. 

First of all, we had noted that these incredible messages and announcements that have happened so far in the book of Luke have happened to such small audiences. We have an angel appearing just to Zechariah. We have an angel appearing just to Mary. We have the Holy Spirit coming upon Elizabeth to deliver a message maybe just for those two women.

These messages are so important. They carry vital information about who the people are in these stories and about God and his work in the world. So these are messages that need to get out, but they’ve only been given to those small audiences.

Mary, because she sees herself as part of history, part of community, doesn’t just keep these stories to herself. We know that at the least she shares them so that they can be recorded in the book of Luke so that the following generations, you and I included, can read those stories, can hear those stories, and see God’s work.

Mary was a faithful messenger in sharing what she had heard because she saw herself as part of something bigger. This message wasn’t just for her to cherish and to hold to herself, but it was something that needed to be shared.

Another reason it’s good to see yourself as part of history, part of community, is that it can help you persevere when things get tough. Because when you’re just focused on your own situation, it can start to make you wonder when you’re going through tough things, “Why am I experiencing this? What’s the point? What’s the purpose in this?”

And when you take a step back and say, “I’m a part of something bigger,” it expands your vision to be able to recognize that maybe God is doing this work in your life so that it can benefit and bless somebody else too. Maybe there’s somebody else down the line that’s going to go through this same thing that you are, and you can be a help and encouragement to that person.

Or think about the book of Hebrews and the hall of faith and how it says we’re surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses. When we see our part as something bigger, like a great cloud of witnesses, it gives us courage to think: they endured, I can endure too. Or to know that they are cheering you on.

So there is a great sense of encouragement, a great help in perseverance when we see ourselves as part of history, part of community.

Several posts ago, we talked about how there’s encouragement in community. And the encouragement is not just you receiving encouragement from other people. It’s also you encouraging other people in community. Community recognizes that we’re here to help one another. I’m not just here to benefit myself, but I can be a help to somebody else as well.

Seeing yourself as part of history and community also helps you be intentional in passing important things along to others.

I think about my grandmas. I have a couple pieces of jewelry from both of my grandmas. From my Grandma French, I have some necklaces that she bought on her travels around the world. When I wear those necklaces, I think about her. And I remember with Grandma French, she was widowed three times over. With each husband, he suffered through health issues. And grandma was faithful to care for each of her husbands through those challenging times.

So when I wear those necklaces, I’m reminded of my grandma and how she was strong and how she was faithful in caring for those men right up to the end. And it makes me want to be strong and caring and faithful as well to honor her legacy and to help that legacy continue throughout the family.

For my Grandma Reutter, I have her class ring. When I wear that class ring, I think about how Grandma Reutter prayed so faithfully for so many years for all of her family. She didn’t get to see God’s answer to all of those prayers in her lifetime, but some of those prayers were answered after her death. And she prayed in faith, trusting that God would make it happen.

And so when I wear that class ring, I think about my Grandma Reutter, and I am challenged to pray faithfully as well and to trust God for things that I may not see in my lifetime.

Mary was a young woman, but she was still somehow thinking about what legacy she left behind that others could emulate and learn from and grow from. She was being an example because she saw herself as part of history and community.

Our key truth for today is that we are part of something big.

Just like Mary, she had a unique role in history and yet her perspective of seeing herself as part of something big is an attitude that we need to emulate as well. So that we can pass on the things that God is teaching us, so that we can encourage others in community, so that we can impact community, and we can persevere in the struggles that we have as well, because we see those struggles not just as our own personal story, but we see ourselves as part of God’s redemptive work throughout history.