Tag Teams
Today is the Feast of the Visitation.
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." And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. - Luke 1:39-57
On the day after we celebrate the ascension of Jesus, we go back to the beginning and remember the days leading up to his birth.
Mary visits her elder cousin, Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John, the one who will come before Jesus to baptize and point people to him.
John will wind up with quite a following in his ministry of repentance, and yet he will guide everyone away from himself and toward Jesus, the one they were waiting for, the Messiah.
So, we have two tag teams, Elizabeth and Mary, and John and Jesus. Apparently, God like to work with teams.
So, I wonder, who are we supposed to team up with? Are we also part of a team working in tandem to help God help His children?
The message of John and Jesus may be that of a tag team, where one starts the relay and another finishes it. That may be how we understand our work. We may not be the ones who see the project to completion, but simply get the ball rolling.
Or we may be the ones who come after, to take what has been started and move it along.
If God works through us in this manner, our mission may be to grab the baton and go. One starts the race and the next takes it further.
Too often we hesitate to start something when we aren't sure how it will ever get done. But in God, we don't have to worry about that. Someone will come along. That's how the Spirit works.
So, what are we waiting for? It's time to pick up the ball and go.
More to come...