Fifteen years ago,
I was pregnant with our second daughter, Rose.
One day when I was about six months along,
I was at home doing some chores.
I went upstairs to take care of the laundry while Kathryn, who was about four years old at the time, was downstairs reading through some books.
I put the clothes away,
and was heading back down the stairs
when I slipped and fell.
I tumbled down the stairs -
All ten of them -
and came down hard,
very hard as I remember,
at the bottom of the landing,
with my feet up against the wall.
I lay there,
A little bit in shock and a lot out of breath.
Immediately I put my hand over my belly.
Several minutes passed;
it seemed like several hours.
I finally felt a flutter,
A kick by the yet unborn child in my womb.
And even though I was in a fair amount of pain,
And bleeding from a cut on my face,
And was very afraid,
I was filled with great joy.
After a trip to the doctor’s office,
and then to the hospital,
to be monitored and tested,
I was told that everything was just fine.
But it was that first flutter that assured and comforted me,
that reminded me of the miracle and joy of birth.

Today’s text, friends, today’s text gives us the first flutter of joy in the story of the birth Christ –
Even before he is born!
As Luke tells the good news,
the joy comes when Mary and her kinswoman, Elizabeth meet together.
In this beautiful, intimate, and ordinary scene,
the joy of being in the presence of Christ is revealed.

Luke also tells us in verses previous to the ones we hear this morning that the angel Gabriel has just departed from Mary.
You’ll recall that Gabriel, who Mary that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her, and she will bear a holy child born to save the world.
Gabriel also reveals that that Elizabeth is with child.
Elizabeth, beyond child bearing age whose desire and longing for a child had now been fulfilled,
was now in her sixth month.

And so Mary goes quickly – hastily – to see Elizabeth
for she has news to share, questions to ask,
and blessings to receive.
She makes the trip –
the long 80 mile trip from Nazareth to Judea.
She enters her relative’s house –
A little weary and a lot changed,
And if she’s like every other pregnant woman I’ve known –
With swollen ankles and a bad back!
Mary calls out a greeting to her cousin.
At that moment –
At that holy moment Luke recalls,
The baby in Elizabeth’s womb responds in joy.
Friends, the first human response to the presence of Christ is joy – not just plain joy, but a leap of joy!
You might recall that the child in Elizabeth’s womb in John the Baptist –
And here is his first prophetic movement.
Before John moves to the wilderness,
before his odd diet and strange words,
he leaps for joy in the presence of his cousin and his Savior, Jesus.

Friends, today’s text declares that ours is an incarnational faith:
Jesus – our Emmanuel - begins life just as our does –
being knit together – as the psalmist so beautifully declares-in our mother’s wombs,
fearfully and wonderfully made.
Yes, even the first expression of Christian joy is known incarnationally –
within a woman’s body.
The simple and beautiful visit between Mary and Elizabeth witnesses to a profound truth:
that we were made to know joy in all its fullness,
to respond to the presence of Christ that surrounds us and comes to us in myriad ways.
It also reminds us that joy cannot be stopped,
and it can come even in the midst of hard or confusing times.
Mary knew –
and if she didn’t already grasp the significance of her pregnancy, older and wiser Elizabeth certainly would have –
that things were not going to be easy as the mother of God.
There would be questions from the villagers;
There would be questions from Joseph;
And there would be more questions as her son grew up.

At the end of Tuesday night’s church council meeting,
after a good – a very good – conversation,
I was inspired to ask the following question to those sitting around the table in the Fiorelli Room:
What brings you joy?

Here’s some of the responses we heard:
Falling asleep with my cat on my lap,
Sitting on the front porch in the summer with a glass of lemonade,
Writing poems at the beach,
Writing computer programs that other folks will use,
Looking at old photographs.

Some find joy in hiking to historic sites,
Discovering new places and new people;
Getting lost on purpose and finding my way back.
Others said weeding (yes, weeding!)
reading, exercise and making music.

I know joy, another shared,
when I’m at the airport and watch my daughter walk off the plane – my daughter whom I haven’t seen in a long time.
Joy comes from sharing a good meal and good conversation with family and friends.
(I think that was me – the Italian!)
Joy comes from watching new members come into the life of the church, one council member told us;
To see the ways they find a place –
And eventually know where all the lights are!
Joy comes from hearing children sing last week at Lessons and Carols,
And watching the youngest members of the choir reach up for that microphone as if they were birds in a nest.

So, friends, let me ask you now as you sit around this sanctuary:
Where do you find joy?
What makes your heart and mind leap with gladness?
Think for a moment over the last day or week or month or even year:
When have you known a flutter of delight –
Maybe even felt it in your gut –
in your family, while at work or school or in the grocery store or in the mall?
What persons, events or experiences bring you joy?
(Wait a moment)
Have you thought of it? Have you grasped the memory?

Friends,
our Scripture lesson this morning gives witness to the nature of joy:
it is meant to be shared.
Once the leap of joy occurs in Elizabeth’s womb,
she must share it with her kinswoman, Mary.
God gives to Mary and Elizabeth both community and connection –
And indeed, God gives the same to us here in worship,
here in this church.

So, let me invite you to do something different this morning,
something different than what is normally done during the sermon time.
You might be a little uncomfortable,
that is often what happens when there’s a pregnant time –
but it’s a sign that new life is on its way!
And If God can do something new in and through Mary and Elizabeth,
Then God can do something new in and through each of us!

So, here goes:
Turn to the person sitting next to you.
And share the joy you’ve known in these days.
(Let folks talk for a short while)
Dear friends,
That’s the sound of joy –
And how wonderful it sounds!
It’s a reverberation of the same joy that fluttered in Elizabeth,
a joy that comes to us through the ages and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could share the joy among all of us, that each of us could listen to the joy that God has given us?
Well, in these days of technology,
there is a way to continue our conversation and themes we’ve begun today.
If you log onto the church’s website,
You’ll see a box labeled “responses to the December 13th sermon.”
Follow the instructions and write a few words – or a few paragraphs – about what brings you joy, what makes you leap in delight.
Once you’ve posted your own joy,
read what others have written,
for our faith is deepened by the witness and testimony of others.  
By hearing another’s joy,
we can be opened to new possibilities for knowing God’s grace and love in our own lives.

Friends, the deepest joy we can know comes from being near God, with God,
no matter what comes to us in life:
The good, the bad, the confusing, the chaotic, the hurtful, the healing –
God is there with us.
We can claim joy, we can know joy, we can leap for joy because God’s love has been made real for us in Jesus Christ.

As we head toward Christmas,
may our joy grow –
in leaps and bounds! –
as we prepare to hear again the angel’s jubilant announcement when the child in Mary’s womb is delivered:
Behold! I bring you good news of great joy:
For unto to you is born this day in the city of David,
the Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Amen.