Two Diverse Paths for Kindred Cousins

It must have been quite the encounter between those cousins, Elizabeth and Mary, both pregnant, one awash in scandal brought on by pregnancy, the other’s shame at last removed by conceiving. Luke 1:39-45 records that happy reunion for the two women when they finally had each other to share their secret joys and pains.

Luke writes that Elizabeth greeted her cousin Mary in a loud voice and much talk of her own baby turning her womb into a trampoline, as mother and child recognized the significance of Mary’s baby. In welcome, Elizabeth pronounced three blessings:

1. Blessed are you (Mary) among women.
2. Blessed is the child you will bear
3. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.

I’ve been rereading “In His Steps”, a book that has had much press and just as much misunderstanding surrounding it for a century now. The first time I read it I was 13 and it made a great impression on me, but not for the same reasons that people buy gold bracelets with “WWJD” engraved on them today. I saw a radical faith that was more in touch with the Evangelicalism of the Nineteenth Century than the Evangelicalism I saw around me in the middle of the Twentieth Century.

As I reread the book now, I am once again struck by how people who take seriously the teachings of Jesus can be so misunderstood by fellow believers. Here are some excerpts from my journal, as I reflected on Sheldon’s book and on the story from Luke a few days ago:

“For Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary, for Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah, the responsiveness to God’s promise required being more proactive on their part. …
Here is where the trust of Mary (who had to be less proactive in receiving God’s promise) and the trust of Elizabeth intertwine. Mary just believes. Elizabeth goes a step further and has to act on that belief. Sometimes we are called to say simply, ‘OK, Lord.’ Sometimes we have to go out there and do something about it.

“In both cases, [this trust] changed much for Mary and Elizabeth. Mary became a scandal. Elizabeth was applauded, though it definitely altered her lifestyle greatly. …
Funny how you can get scandal when you do the right thing. It comes from people not understanding your acts of obedience.

“Elizabeth removed her source of scandal (her barrenness) in her proactive obedience. …
But finding scandal (or erasing it) was not the motive for either of the women. Their will was to do the will of the Father and let things course as they may. Like Eric Liddell [in “Chariots of Fire”). Like Sheldon’s characters [in “In His Steps”].”

And like all of us who follow Jesus. We never know where our obedience will take us. Ultimately it is to glory. But on this earth, we may come to glory or shame and all by doing nothing more or less than obeying the Master.

Regardless of how others read our motives and our actions, what Elizabeth says is true: “Blessed is the one who trusts God at His word.” It is not enough to hear God speak. We then have to act on it, whether like Mary it means simply trusting or like Elizabeth it means going out there and being proactive.