Flipping The Script
Luke Chapter 1 Emmanuel Christian Church 1.2.24
INTRODUCTION: Mary and Elizabeth: two women at the start and heart of the Christmas story. To say that their lives had been upended by God’s plan is, well, an UNDERSTATEMENT!
Maybe you can relate- you had it all figured out, you had made your plans- and then, God flipped the script! Maybe you find yourself in a “flipped script” right now. Well, if you’ve never been there- Just wait. God has a way of working His way in ways we’d never have imagined. That’s the story of Mary and Elizabeth and their...
“Flipped Script”
Let’s take a look back at how it all started:
Luke 1:26 In the sixth month (of Elizabeth’s pregnancy), God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Now from our point of view, that’s the stuff of Christmas cards! But let’s try to put ourselves in the sandals of Mary and Elizabeth... This was anything BUT a scene of sugary sentimentality! Two pregnant (or soon to be pregnant) women- both of whom had no business being pregnant!
Mary was a mere teenager who certainly looked forward to a pregnancy one day, but NOT before the day of her wedding to fiancee Joseph! SCANDAL! That was Mary’s story. But what about “second trimester” Elizabeth? Luke records her story a few verses earlier:
Luke 1:5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
And then there’s Elizabeth- all her life she had anticipated pregnancy, but her day had long since passed- along with any hope for such an event! Unlike Mary who lived under a cloud of scandal and suspicion, Elizabeth bore the culturally imposed shame of childlessness.
Mary, unwed and too young! Elizabeth, old- too old! But remember- God is an expert at “flipping the script”! Luke records the moment that took place for Zechariah and Elizabeth:
Luke 1:11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
Mary, unwed and too young! Elizabeth, old- too old! Have you ever questioned God’s timing in your life? In pain and want, He seems too slow. And then, in the midst of answered prayer, we find ourselves struggling to keep up with where He’s leading!
Of this one thing you can be absolutely sure: God’s timing is ALWAYS perfect! What He calls us to, He prepares us for, and provides for our every need- NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES! Hear the word of the LORD:
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
APPLICATION: What God calls us to, He prepares us for, and provides for our every need. God had called Elizabeth and prepared her to provide ENCOURAGEMENT to her youngster relative Mary, who herself had been called by God and prepared by Him to give birth to the Savior of the world!
Let’s get back to Luke’s account of our story:
Luke 1:39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”
When God’s plan “flips our script”, we’re reminded of not only our dependence on Him, but also- how much we need the fellowship and encouragement of each other!
Just look at the first three words Elizabeth says to Mary: “Blessed are you!” She doesn’t say it once, she says it THREE times! And, she doesn’t say it under her breath, she says it in a loud voice so everyone can hear!
Under the cloud of circumstances Mary had been living, I’m pretty sure that it had been quite some time since someone had given her such a warm welcome or called her “blessed”!
The power of fellowship and encouragement- the Apostle Paul nails it right to the wall when he writes to the Hebrew Christians:
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
APPLICATION: The holidays can be a real emotional challenge for people- even as everyone around them may be celebrating something as joyous as the birth of Jesus. They may be dealing with the loss of loved ones, or disappointing family relations, or even something as simple as material need and paying their bills. Jesus Himself said, “In this world you will have trouble...” (John 16:33) and last time I checked, “trouble” doesn’t take a holiday! BUT, God has given us each other- just like Mary and Elizabeth!
Hear the Word of the LORD:
Philippians 2:1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like- minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
God is THE expert at “Flipping the Script”. BUT what was the “script” God was in the process of flipping? It wasn’t merely the lives of these two women Mary and Elizabeth- it was a MUCH larger script that involved you and me and all of humanity.
That script was the devil’s own! God had created the word in a state of perfection. His highest order of Creation was Man himself- created in God’s own image with one unique quality - the ability to make a free-will choice to live in obedient fellowship with Him.
Satan’s script was the destruction of not only that fellowship, but all of mankind as well. Sin was the weapon, death was to be the bottom line.
But God was about to flip THAT evil script! His plan was simple- two babies born six months apart. The first was to be one of whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken over 800 years earlier:
Isaiah 40:3 A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
That baby, whom his father named “John” at the angel’s direction, would thirty years later proclaim of Mary’s baby:
John 1:29-30 “...“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”
Just what did John mean when he said of Jesus “he was before me”? Simply this, from before the beginning of time, God had made His plan to rescue us from satan’s trap of sin- and He did it not with a mighty army of angels, but with His very own Son, born as a seemingly powerless infant!
CONCLUSION: When God sets out to “flip the script”- look out! The circumstances may seem impossible, the obstacles insurmountable, BUT
our God specializes in the unimaginably, incredible- and accomplishes it through the absolutely improbable: two women and their two babies! And here’s the reason why:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
You’ll hear that “Jesus is the REASON for the season.” But, I would counter that by saying God’s “flipping the script” is the reason for the season. And Jesus - God Himself, cleverly disguised as an infant, conceived in a woman unwed and way too young, was the way He did it!
If you have yet to allow Jesus to “flip your script” , we need to talk! You need to hear the plan He has for you, and what you need to do about it!
