The Miracle of Faith
Bishop Claire Burkat
Advent and Christmas Greetings!

 

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." -- Luke 1:39-45 (Gospel for Advent 4)

 

I love this account of Mary going to visit Elizabeth after the angel Gabriel announces to her the news of her conception. To outsiders it might have looked like a young woman paying a visit in order to get advice or support from an older, wise relative.

 

But inside the kitchen (or wherever they talked) there was a conversation between two ordinary women that would be recalled and shared for generations to come, and one that we also are privileged to overhear.

 

Both Mary and Elizabeth were astonished that they were pregnant. One was unmarried and totally taken off guard, the other had been married for many years and had prayed for a child for decades. The secret bond they shared that day was one of belief and gratitude and wonder.

 

Pastor Martin Luther remarked in a sermon that three miracles occurred that first Christmas:

  • God became human
  • A virgin conceived
  • Mary believed

The faith that grew in Mary's heart was larger than one young woman, living in a small town two thousand years ago, could bear alone. She visited Elizabeth because she needed some time with another believer, someone who loved her and loved God. Someone who understood the magnitude of this miracle. Someone whose faith was also tested and confirmed. Someone who knew that with our God, nothing is impossible.

 

They shared a faith that believed the ways of this world will be turned upside down; that the lowly, the poor, the hungry and the marginalized will be lifted up, and the rich, the proud, and the powerful will be sent away. A faith that knew in pain and sorrow as well as in joy and hope that through all things - even these miraculous conceptions -- God is working to accomplish good for those whom God loves and calls.

  

Well, that must have been some coffee klatch!

 

Let us remember the faith of Mary and Elizabeth this day, and the great blessing of their courage and belief. 

  

Let us pray. Blessed Jesus, born of our sister Mary, who first believed and obeyed the in-breaking of God incarnate: Give us the faith to see and accept your will for us and the strength and courage to carry it forward to the honor and glory of your name. Amen

 

In Christ,

 

Claire S. Burkat

Bishop

 
Image: The Visitation by Fra Angelico. (Public Domain)

Advent and Christmas Blessings
Staff Picture 2012
From all of us...

Bishop Claire S. Burkat and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod staff

Front row: Yvonne Curtis, Bishop Claire Burkat, Carol Ann Murray, Bill Harp, Joanne Carlson.
Back row: John Eskate, Rev. Patricia Davenport, Molly Beck Dean, Bob Fisher, Judy Koenig, Cynta Outterbridge.
 

"Believe" photo by Bob Fisher; Staff photo by Rev. Jesse Brown.