Often people accuse Episcopalians of not knowing the Scripture, of being biblically illiterate but it is not so, not if we pay attention to what is presented to us on a Sunday morning.

We usually hear readings from the Old Testament – the Hebrew Scripture which include a lesson and a psalm. This is followed by a reading from one of the apostle Paul’s letter’s to differing Christian communities. And there is always a reading from one of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. This Advent, which began the current church year, puts us in Year C where we hear most of the Gospel of Luke over a period of time.

This year Advent has been fun as far as planning the worship and music because during these four weeks the Revised Lectionary Texts gives us the option of using certain canticles, which happen to be in our Book of Common Prayer, in place of the psalms.

One week we said the Song of Zechariah, and then as we processed at the end of the service we sang a hymn that once again reflected Zechariah’s words. And today we said together Mary’s song, the Magnificat, we sang part of Mary’s story before we heard the Gospel and we will sing more about her story during communion. And included in these passages and songs of Zechariah and Mary are the underlying stories and relationships of Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah.

So who were Zechariah and Elizabeth?

Zechariah was a older priest in the temple and one day when he went in to light the temple lights, an angel of the Lord appeared to him. (To the congregation – what is the first thing an angel says to someone?- someone in the congregation answered – ‘fear not.’) He told him not to be afraid that he had good news for him. Zechariah and his wife would have a child. Zechariah told the angel it was impossible because his wife was too old. The angel told him again this was going to happen, because with God nothing is impossible BUT the angel said, because you doubted, you will not be able to speak again until the child is born. Then you will name him John. And sure enough Zechariah was not able to speak for nine months. Something Elizabeth may have appreciated – who knows?

When we sang the song of Zechariah “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, he has come to set his people free…and You my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,” it helps to know that Zechariah is talking about his son John who is to being carried by Elizabeth, his older wife.

Then several months later that busy angel appears to Mary, a young girl who is engaged to be married. What is the first thing an angel says to someone? ‘Don’t’ be afraid – for I bring you good tidings.” Mary is probably around 14 or 15. The news given to Mary does not render her speechless but she is taken aback. How can this be? I’m not married and I’ve never been with a man. Again the angel assures her that with God all things are possible.

Mary says, “Let it be then, whatever God wants of me, I’ll do it.” This puts Mary in a rather dangerous situation. Now you need to know that in her time if a woman was accused of adultery, she could be stoned to death. Her family could set her aside and no one would blame them. Joseph could turn his back on her, which he initially wanted to do. Her child could be shut out of the community, becoming an outcast. The gospel of Matthew tells us that angel paid a visit to Joseph also…telling him to stay with Mary.

Mary goes with haste to see her cousin Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah, because Mary knows, for Gabriel has told her, that her cousin Elizabeth is experiencing an unusual pregnancy of her own.

Imagine for a moment what it would be like to find yourself in a situation beyond your imagining. Imagine for a moment what it would be like to find yourself in a situation beyond your imagining. Who could you talk to? Who could understand what you were feeling, who would know what it was like to be in that place. Who could say to you with complete truthfulness, “I know how you feel. I think I understand what you are going through.”

Elizabeth was that person for Mary, the place and person where Mary could find sanctuary, refuge, comfort, guidance, and understanding. And poor Zechariah who might have had a lot to offer about situations beyond his imagining, couldn’t say a word. He could only listen and perhaps shake his head from time to time.

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she cried out to Mary, “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?”

Jane Schaberg, author of the Illegitimacy of Jesus, writes of how Elizabeth, in this moment, appears as a prophet, though that title is not given to her. Filled, as Luke tells us, with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth recognizes the One whom Mary carries. The woman who bears the messenger recognizes the woman who bears the message.

And Mary began to sing of a revolutionary vision from God: “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.” Powerful words from one so young.

Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopal priest and author of "Singing Ahead of Time" writes, "Elizabeth and Zechariah are the first to hear Mary’s song, but it was not just for them," Taylor writes, but "for every son and daughter who thought God has forgotten the promise to be with them forever, to love them forever, to give them fresh and endless life.

Me, I picture Mary and Elizabeth writing to each other years later, when their boys are growing into young men.

Dear Mary,

Our grandmothers and Great grandmothers bore children at tender ages but those were simpler less complex days. Motherhood is a difficult yet, sacred job: children are maps of the past and paths to the future hold them close...and know I am here if you need me.

Love, Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth,

Haven't we been through some times together? All added up, we must have spent years just figuring out what to do about children.

You knew how to make me laugh when I only felt like crying.

You could make me get up and go on when I didn't much care.

You've always said, "Be proud. Be strong." And you showed me how. Nobody ever knew a greater person, or had a better friend than you. Love, Mary

Well, in these thoughts about relationships and circumstances here is the reality of Christmas 2009. Some of us have found ourselves in unimaginable circumstances and need a Mary or Elizabeth in our lives.

There are people missing from our midst this Christmas. People we love and still miss. But a person who offers us comfort and understanding will help ease the pain of our longings.

Some of us have been worrying about losing our jobs or have lost our jobs. But someone who says, “Let me sit with you and listen while you vent your anger, your hurt, or your fear” will help hold us together.

Some of us are living alone and wonder if we'll even have a present or two under the tree, if we have gone to the trouble to get a tree. But someone who calls to say, “I’m checking on your” lets us know we are remembered.

Some of us are in deep and painful trouble in our relationships with those we love...and we are afraid we won't live happily ever after. But someone who will share their own struggles with us, often gives us new insights so we might have the courage to try again.

Sometimes the pace is so frantic that all we can do is to get to where we are supposed to be. Maybe we just want to sit still with some silence. But just having someone sit next to us, be present to us, just be a presence, gives us some peace.

Elizabeth, is for us, an example of how we might be a refuge, a listening post, a kind word of support, a pillar of strength, for those who come seeking a friend.

Mary is for us an example of how we might be open, willing, responsive to God’s vision for us and for our world. The promise made to Mary is the promise made to us all. And the mission Mary took on, to be the Theotokas, the God Bearer is the mission to which we are all called, to bear Christ in our hearts, to make him alive and present in the World in our own time.

If we but believe that each and every one of us is the Incarnation of Christ in the World – perhaps we will believe in ourselves and then we might believe that we are truly capable -- in Mother Teresa's phrase -- of doing something beautiful for God.

There is one hymn in our hymnal about women. Hymn 673. The first verse says, ‘The first one ever, oh ever to know of the birth of Jesus, was the Maid Mary, was Mary the maid of Galilee, and blessed is she, is she who believes.’

Blessed indeed is she or he who believes and blessed indeed are you who believe and who are God-bearers in your own lives.