Elizabeth and Jesus from Stephen Sizer on Vimeo.
Girls, this may seem like a strange question but in your circle of friends, are there any boys? And what about you boys? Do you have any friends who are, you know, girls? It may surprise you to know that although Jesus was a man he had many friends who were women and men.
He didn’t just have men disciples but women disciples too! The grown-ups are learning about some of the women that followed Jesus. And today we are thinking about Elizabeth. She was the mother of John the Baptist who was a kind of cousin of Jesus. There are 3 things we know about Elizabeth from the reading we just heard. Each of them begins with a B.
“Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.” (Luke 1:5-6)
Elizabeth was BLAMELESS
What does that mean? Was she perfect? No, but when she did something wrong, she said sorry and God forgave her. She tried to obey the commands in the Bible.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
If we want to be blameless like Elizabeth we need to read our Bible and do what God says. And if we get angry or impatient, or rude or sulk, we need to say sorry and God will forgive us. She was blameless.
See if you can think of the second ‘B’. Its not so obvious…
“Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth… When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ” (Luke 1:13-14, 39)
Elizabeth was BOUNTIFUL
Not just because she was going to have a baby! But because she was blameless the Holy Spirit filled her to overflowing. She was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Her life showed the fruit of God’s Spirit especially toward Mary – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. You know the Holy Spirit wants to fill us so that we too can be bountiful followers of Jesus like Elizabeth. How can we be filled with the Spirit? Remember the verse we just looked at from 1 John?
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
This is how we become blameless and bountiful. Let me illustrate with this teapot…
We are all like a little teapot. God wants to fill us and use us to help others come to know and love him too….
Confession and Filling is as simple as breathing. Exhale bad air, inhale clean air.
Elizabeth was Blameless and Bountiful.
And because of that… she was…See if you can guess the third ‘B’ from the story.
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:42-43)
Elizabeth was a BLESSING
Elizabeth was blessed by God and was a blessing to Mary and also baby Jesus.
How was she a blessing? She welcomed Mary into her home and looked after her for three whole months. Elizabeth was Blameless, she was Bountiful and she was a Blessing – and we can be too. What must we do? If we confess our sins God will forgive us, he will cleanse us and make us blameless. Then he will fill us with his Spirit to overflowing and make us bountiful, and then we can be a blessing to others.