Advent Day 12

"Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, 'No; he shall be called John.' And they said to her, 'None of your relatives is called by this name.' And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.” 

    ~Luke 1:57-62

God knit us together in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13). Before we were even conceived, He knew us (Jeremiah 1:5). What better testimony to that than conception and birth of John.  

John's birth was promised, his purpose declared, and it all came to pass just as the angel said. John responded to the presence of his Savior before either were born. God had a plan for John before he ever walked on this earth, and even from the womb John responded to God.

Elizabeth can see God's intentionality and care through the gift of a son. He fulfilled her desire, He fulfilled His promise, and He fulfilled the call He placed on John's life.

And when the moment to truly behold the promise arrives, Elizabeth and Zechariah's community rejoices with them. 

Community is a good thing, central to the heart of God, but it can also be complicated. Like any good thing, community requires discernment.  

Zechariah and Elizabeth have a good community. They celebrate with the new parents. They recognize John's birth as an act of God's mercy. They shared in the significance of John's name day/circumcision. They take part in the couple's lives, something that happens with the ownership that a sense of belonging brings. When we belong somewhere, we are affected by the ebbs and flows surrounding it, and this community is affected. This community shows up. Their joy moves them to participation. And yet they didn't really understand the significance of the moment. They took the miracle for what it was, but they immediately tried to contextualize it within their customs. When Elizabeth breaks from that custom to use the name God ordained (though we never see her given that name--Was it communicated to her or did God bring it to her through her own thoughts and impressions?), they resist. 

But this doesn't make Elizabeth's community bad; it makes them flawed--as every community is. They don't understand the larger picture this miracle is painting. They haven't spent the time communing with God over it like Elizabeth did. And that's why it's so important that even within a good community, we take the time to withdraw with God. 

Good communities will seek to point us towards something good, but they are living life with us, not for us. They don't always understand where we're coming from or what God is doing in our hearts, and so they can oppose His movements at times even with the best intentions. We must rely on our community, but we first have to rely on God. And when our community contradicts what we think God is telling us, we have to weigh that information in prayer to discern whether it is us or our community which needs correction. 

Because Elizabeth had already done the work to discern God's heart, rejoice in His gifts, and align with Him, cultivating a lifestyle of listening--she spent five months hidden from others, sitting in His favor--she is bold in resisting expectation. 

We need a good community made up of people we can trust who are seeking God in their own lives. We need wise and discerning community, but we cannot be so overtaken with others' ability to listen to God that we discount or reject our own. Our community can challenge, correct, encourage us, but we must also seek God with our own hearts. Though Elizabeth's community makes logical sense, she's secure in God's promise for herself, and she is not easily swayed from it. She knows how to exist in community, abundantly inviting it into her life and yet knowing when to withdraw from it to intimately be with God. Welcoming their input and their celebration into her life and yet standing firm in God's direction first and foremost. 

We cannot thrive without community, but that gift, like most gifts, will not always be easy. And yet Elizabeth never disparages her guests even when they dismiss her.

As we head into the holiday season, many will know what it's like to be dismissed by their community. Whether that's in contentious relationships or in strong ones, that's a natural part of being in community. We are all imperfect, we all make mistakes, we all say the wrong thing at times. And those can be more noticeable at the holidays because of the pressures people put on themselves but also because we place a much stronger emphasis on being with our loved ones than we do at other times of the year. But as we step into celebration with our loved ones, let us remember Elizabeth's example and celebrate the gift of community even when it's hard to bear.