Who would we be and what would we do without the love and support of our family and friends? Countless times I have run in haste to them to celebrate good times, and for support during hard times. 

Just like it says in Luke 1, Mary also went with haste to see someone special after receiving incredible news from the angel Gabriel:

 “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zecheriah and greeted Elizabeth” (Luke 1: 39-40).  

I love the word “haste.” It’s not commonly used anymore, but it inspires a stunning visual of getting up and going out as fast as possible! Mary heard from Gabriel that Elizabeth was pregnant, along with the very exciting news of her own pregnancy. I think of how incredible it would have been for Mary to know she was not alone; another woman was also about to have a baby. This woman was not a stranger, she was a cousin, a kindred spirit. Elizabeth was somebody who could relate to this new pregnancy and all of the feelings that go with it. How your body changes, the aches and pains, the fears and anxieties about birth, and the precious awareness of the new life inside of you fluttering and kicking! Mary had someone she could get up and run to. A true gift! 

Mary Visits Elizabeth 

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” 

 

This is one of my favourite moments regarding friendships and relationships in the New Testament. I’ve always loved how Mary was so quick to get up and go to be with someone she loved and trusted, after hearing the good news of what she had been chosen to do. It reminds me of what’s truly important, and of how nourishing it is to share the major moments in our lives with our loved ones. I think our society has taken a backseat when it comes to moments like these. Instead of running to our friends and family for support and celebration, we get up and go to our phones, laptops, and desks at work to be alone and deal with these things by ourselves. 

Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes being alone is exactly what we need in order to reflect and spend time alone with God. But too much solitude is never a good thing, and we must learn to be discerning about when to be alone, and when to turn to others. When do we run toward other people in haste, people who can surround us with love, who know us deeply and can pray for us, hold us accountable, and draw us closer to Christ?

As a mother of young adults (and if you’re a mom in this same season reading this right now, you’ll be able to relate!) the idea of face-to-face connection also makes me think about the dating world and how it has vastly changed. I think young men and women today find themselves caught up in the online world to pursue relationships, and therefore missing out on the wide array of opportunities for organic connections available to them. I am not saying that it is a bad thing, many people have met their spouse online, and have beautiful and loving relationships with them. The underside of this, however, is that it’s taking away young peoples’ ability to go out and meet others naturally, in groups and situations that interest them. What happened to finding a new hobby, exploring and expanding relationships and building community in person? Connecting with others is now celebrated online in the dark, alone in your room, on your phone. No personal contact, no communication, just a swipe based on a photo and a quick description that prompts you to deem that person worthy or unworthy. 

Solitude can be tempting, and while (as I said before), in small doses it’s a very good thing, when taken to an extreme and accompanied by an addiction to online communities and spaces, we can end up missing out on the loving, supportive, challenging, and growth-oriented connections that are formed in-person, in real life. 

This is why church is such a valuable thing, yet many view it as just a building full of a dash of guilt and sprinkle of condemnation hindering an opportunity for the gift of community! You might ask yourself, “Why bother even walking through the front door when you’re just going to be told that you’re a sinner?” or “Why go if I don’t feel worthy?”

These are valid questions and it’s not always fun to hear the truth about our sin nature. But the best part about the gospel, is that we don’t have to stay in that place of sin. How can you change something and work towards being better, if you don’t realize what needs to be changed in the first place? We have to recognize that we are sinners and that sin separates us from a Holy God, and we need to recognize how sin manifests in our life, admit it, repent, and turn from our ways to walk toward Jesus, not away from him. We do this with others in our real-life community! They keep us balanced, grounded, and remind us why we’re walking this path, because all of us at some point will stray from it. We need to arise and make haste toward friends and family; we can’t do this alone! 

If you know you need to spend more time with people in real life but don’t know where to start, a church can be a great place to get involved and start to build those connections. It can be challenging and a little scary, especially if you’ve never been in one before, and it can prompt a lot of anxieties and questions. Hope is what we need and hope is found in Jesus. The church is a gift to us to hear about His love, His character and His saving grace. People are imperfect and will fail us, but Jesus never will. It is worth taking a leap of faith and entering into community!

Mary is a precious example of bravely, willingly, and humbly accepting what the angel told her would happen. And she knew she didn’t have to do it alone. We can all take a bit of comfort and inspiration from her reaction to Gabriel’s news. Of course she had a legitimate question about how she will conceive a child and still be a virgin! Yet she bravely submitted, she embraced the honour and the task that God had given her to bear His only Son, and then she ran to Elizabeth to celebrate and share the wonderful news. Mary was a courageous servant, loving, tender, willing, open-hearted and supportive, we see in Luke’s gospel a Mary that we can all relate to, and aspire to be like. 

It prompts us to ask ourselves: who do we get up and go to in haste?  

If you don’t already have it, I hope you find such loving community in your life. For me, it has been a game-changer. If you are local check out Hope Bible Church Oakville

I am very excited about the last portion of Scripture I am reading through: Luke 1:46-56 – Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat. Join me next week for the last in the series: Joy in the Journey Part four!