{"id":4498,"date":"2022-12-04T18:43:37","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T18:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/12\/04\/love-based-on-genesis-1715-22-and-luke-139-45\/"},"modified":"2022-12-04T18:43:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-04T18:43:37","slug":"love-based-on-genesis-1715-22-and-luke-139-45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/12\/04\/love-based-on-genesis-1715-22-and-luke-139-45\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLove\u201d based on\tGenesis 17:15-22 and Luke 1:39-45"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

I’ve
\nalways loved this little interlude in Luke 1, when Mary goes to visit
\nElizabeth. \u00a0I recognize it to be an early Christian creation, aimed
\nat connecting John the Baptist and Jesus, while putting them in their
\ncorrect order, but there were lots of ways that could have been done
\nand I appreciate this one.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Now,
\nI’ve always thought of it as \u2026 sweet, nurturing, maternal.
\nElizabeth is OLD, a la Sarah, but pregnant, and it is astounding and
\nwonderful, and it seems Elizabeth has waited a life time for this.
\nFrom within the story, it seems likely that Mary was struggling, was
\nsent away for her pregnancy so people at home wouldn’t know, and was
\nsent to an older cousin who could be trusted to keep her safe. \u00a0Maybe
\neven one known to be a little less judgmental than others. \u00a0Or
\nperhaps just one known to be able to feed another mouth. \u00a0Who knows??<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But
\nI love this idea of this older pregnant woman and this younger
\npregnant woman spending months side by side, experiencing new things
\nin their bodies, developing a deeper trust, maybe even discussing
\nwhat God was up to around them. \u00a0It has ended up being a model for me
\nof the value of retreat, the value of mentors, the value of
\nconnections with others who can hold me up when I’m vulnerable.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nlove this story.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This
\nweek I learned that I’ve missed the majority of it’s power. \u00a0I need
\nto give some context warnings here about violence, murder, and sexual
\nviolence. \u00a0It is always OK to leave, and stop listening when it isn’t
\nOK to hear.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Elizabeth
\nspeaks a blessing to Mary, it is particularly familiar to those who
\nhave prayed The Hail Mary, which says:\n<\/p>\n

\nHail, Mary, full of grace,
the
\nLord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women
and
\nblessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.<\/b>
Holy Mary, Mother of
\nGod,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our
\ndeath.\u00a0
Amen.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Elizabeth’s
\nwords are, \u201cBlessed are you among women, and blessed is the
\nfruit of your womb<\/b>…\u201d (Those are the ones picked up verbatim
\nin The Hail Mary) \u201cFrom where does this visit come to me? \u00a0That the
\nmother of my sovereign comes to me? \u00a0Look! \u00a0As soon as I heard the
\nsound of your greeting in my ear, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
\n Now blessed is she who believed there would be a fulfillment of
\nthese things spoken to her by the Holy One.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As
\nDr. Wilda Gafney says, \u201cElizabeth’s greeting comes from scriptures
\nshe well could have known: Judges 5:24 and Judith 13:18. \u00a0They invite
\nspeculation on her contact with them orally or in writing…
\nElizabeth’s proximity to the temple and its liturgies and her own
\npriestly lineage may have increased the likelihood of her literacy.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>
\nSo, like you do, I looked up Judges 5:24 and Judith 13:18. \u00a0They may
\nnot be what you’d expect. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The
\nJudges passage, in context is:<\/p>\n

\nMost blessed of women be
\nJael,<\/b>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the wife of Heber the Kenite,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of
\ntent-dwelling women most blessed.
He asked water and she gave him
\nmilk,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0she brought him curds in a lordly bowl.\n<\/p>\n

\nShe put her hand to the
\ntent-peg
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and her right hand to the workmen\u2019s
\nmallet;
she struck Sisera a blow,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0she crushed
\nhis head,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0she shattered and pierced his temple.
\n
He sank, he fell,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0he lay still at her
\nfeet;
at her feet he sank, he fell;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0where he
\nsank, there he fell dead.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Judith
\n13:18 is more similar than you might think, \u201cThen Uzziah said to
\nher, ’O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all
\nother women on earth<\/b>, and blessed by the Lord God, who created
\nthe heavens and the earth, who has guided you to cut off the head of
\nthe leader of our enemies.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This
\nis… not as cozy as I was thinking. \u00a0And, I’m thinking for lots of
\nyou, these are not familiar stories and you might not have any idea
\nwhatsoever is going on with the Bible celebrating murder.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So,
\nlet’s at the very least make ourselves \u00a0a little bit familiar with
\nthe stories of these women to whom Mary is being compared. \u00a0First
\nJael, from the book of Judges. \u00a0The book of Judges tells some of the
\npre-history of the Ancient Nation of Israel, describing a 400 year
\nperiod when the tribes mostly functioned on their own, and when there
\nwere outsider attacks, God raised up leaders \u2013 called Judges \u2013 to
\nfight them off and protect the people. \u00a0One such judge was a woman
\nnamed Deborah, and she worked with a general named Barak when an
\nattack came from the Canaanites led by their general Sisera. \u00a0Deborah
\nis called a prophetess as well as a judge, and is presented as
\ncapable and impressive.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Her
\ngeneral Barak is scared because the Sisera and the Canaanites have
\nmore impressive weapons than they do, so he asks Deborah to come with
\nhim into the battle, believing that God would help keep HER safe and
\nthus keep him safe. \u00a0Deborah responds that she’ll go, AND that while
\nhe will \u201cwin\u201d the glory will not go to him, but to a woman.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So,
\nthe battle happens, the Israelites win, the Canaanites run away, and
\nthe general is running off on his own trying to save his own life.
\nHe come to the tents of the Kenites, likely a metal working or
\nartisan tribe with neutrality to both parties, particularly the tent
\nof Heber the Kenite, who is gone, and Jael the Kenite who is present.
\n Jael invites him in, makes him comfortable, gives him milk, stands
\nguard while he goes to sleep, and then drives a tent stake into his
\nhead to kill him. \u00a0When the General Barak comes after him, Jael shows
\nBarak Sisera’s body.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And
\nthen Deborah and Barak sing a song of praise for the winning of the
\nbattle and Jael’s part in it \u2013 which is where we get our verses
\nfrom Judges.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So,
\nJudith. \u00a0I suspect you are even less likely to know her story, as the
\nbook of Judith is considered part of the Apocrypha (that is,
\nProtestants don’t consider it part of the Bible). \u00a0It is a novel,
\nwritten a century or two before Jesus, telling the story of Judith
\nwho saves her village from the Assyrian General Holofernes. \u00a0It is a
\npretty good story, and I’m a little bit sorry to give you spoilers,
\nbut my goal is to explain Elizabeth and Mary, so shrug<\/b>. \u00a0The
\nGeneral was attacking Judith’s home town, and the Jews there had
\nbrokered a 5 day peace plan, but the council was hemming and hawing
\nabout what to do, so Judith took things into her own hands. \u00a0She does
\na lot of praying and asking for God’s help, and she dresses up
\nbeautifully, lies to the army to say she is fleeing to the enemy army
\nfor safety, makes it plain to the General that she is game for
\nseduction, and then when he seeks to do so, plies him with enough
\nalcohol that he passes out drunk, beheads him with his own sword,
\nsteals his head, goes off with her maid to pray, and instead of
\nreturning to the war camp, goes back to her village to tell them
\nshe’d solved their problem. \u00a0The town magistrate then speaks the
\nwords we heard earlier, praising her and naming her as having
\nfollowed God’s guidance.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Now,
\nwe need to take this one more step, back to Dr. Gafney for an
\nexplanation of Elizabeth’s words, \u201cBoth forerunners of this
\ngreeting are associated with bloody violence: Deborah’s war against
\nthe Canaanites and Jael’s execution of Sisera, and an Assyrian siege
\nand Judith’s execution of Holofernes. \u00a0Further, both Judith and Jael
\nare in sexually scandalous situations: attempted rape and assignation
\nand seduction. \u00a0Mary’s own pregnancy is scandalous, hinting at sexual
\ninfidelity. \u00a0Elizabeth’s words provide transgenerational support and
\ncomfort.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That
\nis, if you were wondering why Jael would have murdered Sisera when
\nher people were at peace with him, the assumption underlying the
\nstory is that he had or would attempt to rape her. \u00a0Deborah ends up
\ncelebrating that she didn’t end up having to seduce the general, but
\nis is CLEAR that she was going to do what needed to be done to save
\nher people.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

These
\nwomen were fierce, to say the least. \u00a0They were deadly. \u00a0And, at the
\nsame time, they were vulnerable. \u00a0Jael was alone her in tent.
\nDeborah’s people were all at risk of death, and her actions to save
\nthem put her at great risk \u2013 and alone in the general’s tent as
\nwell. \u00a0These women were praised as being \u201cmost blessed of women\u201d
\nand \u201cyou are blessed by the Most High God above all other women on
\nearth.\u201d And they too had scandals. \u00a0It is as if the scandals don’t
\nmake them less worthy of the praise they received.<\/p>\n

It
\nis as if what happened to Mary need not define her life either. \u00a0It
\nis as if whatever the world may be saying about Mary, even if her
\nlife is at risk because of the interpretation of infidelity, she is
\nbeing connected to some of the fiercest, most active women in the
\nBible in protecting God’s people. \u00a0It is as if Elizabeth is seeing
\nher scandal, and giving her a new way to see it. \u00a0It is as if
\nElizabeth’s words wipe away Mary’s shame and give her a new frame of
\nreference, one that has been repeated millions of times in history,
\npraising Mary, and her role in God’s plans.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Friends,
\nin a world that defines people by their scandals, a world that locks
\npeople up for their worst moments (or presumed worst moments), a
\nworld that cuts people of for mistakes, a world that remembers even
\nmisspoken words \u2013 let us be Elizabeths. \u00a0Let us see, and have the
\npower to reframe the shame people hold. \u00a0Let us wipe away shame to
\nmake room for love. \u00a0Let us see the whole person, even the hero, in
\nthe broken one. \u00a0Let us remember the stories of the HUMANITY of God’s
\npeople in the Bible, and make space for HUMANITY in each other and in
\nourselves. \u00a0Let us be Elizabeths, wiping away shame to make space for
\nlove. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1<\/a>Wilda
\n\tGafney, A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church<\/i>
\n\t(New York, NY: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2021), page 7.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

December 4, 2022<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve always loved this little interlude in Luke 1, when Mary goes to visit Elizabeth. \u00a0I recognize it to be … Continue reading \u201cLove\u201d based on\tGenesis 17:15-22 and Luke 1:39-45<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,28,33,86,471,1265,372,1526,56,57,1525,1527,1463],"class_list":["post-4498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-umc","tag-advent","tag-advent-2","tag-first-umc-schenectady","tag-love","tag-mary-and-elizabeth","tag-schenectady","tag-sorry-about-the-umc","tag-wilda-gafney","tag-wipe-shame-away","tag-womens-lectionary-for-the-whole-church"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}