Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Let’s begin by setting the scene for our Gospel reading this morning. Earlier in this first chapter of Luke he speaks of the way that two baby boys were miraculously conceived. One of them was John the Baptist. The other was Jesus. John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was a priest. One day he had the honor of doing the priestly duties in the Temple when an angel of the Lord appeared to him. Zechariah was frightened, but the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid. Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son. You are to name him John.” This was astounding to Zechariah because he and his wife had been unable to have children. Now this angel was telling him that he would have a son when he and Elizabeth were old. Because he did not believe the angel, God made him mute. From that time until his son was born, and Zechariah wrote on a tablet that his name was to be John, he was not able to speak. When his ability to speak returned to him, he sang the song that we call the Benedictus. This is the song that we sometimes sing during the Matins service instead of the Te Deum. This baby, born to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age, was John the Baptist. His conception was miraculous because his parents were old and otherwise unable to have children. The other miraculous conception is what happened with Mary. Mary lived in Nazareth of Galilee. She was engaged to be married to Joseph. One day God sent the angel Gabriel to her. He said, “Hello, you who are highly favored by the Lord. The Lord is with you.” Mary was perplexed at his words, and tried to figure out what sort of greeting this was. The angel responded, “Do not be afraid. God is well pleased with you. You will conceive and bear a Son. The name you should give him is Jesus. He will be the Son of the Most High. God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.” As you can imagine, Mary had a hard time understanding this. She asked how this would be, since she was a virgin.  Gabriel answered that the Holy Spirit will come upon her, the power of the Most High will overshadow her. That is why the child who is born of her will be holy. He will be the Son of God. Mary responded in a wonderful way. There has never been a higher Word that has been spoken to a human being. There is nothing in the Old Testament that even holds a candle to what the angel just said to Mary. She doesn’t ask for any signs or wonders to confirm the word. She simply responded, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your Word.” The Gospel reading that you heard this morning is what immediately follows after this. The angel had told Mary that her relative, Elizabeth, was also pregnant, sixth months along. Mary went to visit her. She went from Galilee in the north down to the south, south of Jerusalem, into the hill country. Zechariah and Elizabeth were living in a town somewhere in this region. You heard how several unusual things happened and were said when Mary arrived at their house. When Mary said hello, John the Baptist leaped and stirred about in the womb of his mother. Elizabeth then is filled with the Holy Spirit and confesses her faith. She believes in the baby whom Mary is carrying in her womb. That baby would only be called an embryo in our medical terms. Jesus was only weeks old at that point, a tiny human being. Elizabeth, like Mary, believes in the Word of the Lord. This child is God’s Son, miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth is wonderfully comforting and encouraging to Mary. If people at that time were anything like they are at our time, then Mary would not have been treated very respectfully by everyone she came across. The way Elizabeth treated Mary must have been a nice reprieve for her. You can perhaps picture an older woman comforting a younger woman who otherwise might be treated quite roughly and rudely by others. I