Text: Luke 1:5-25
Most of us walked into this room today carrying some kind of backpack.
For some it might be worry about the future. For others it might be disappointment from the past. Sometimes it is uncertainty about a decision we have to make, or the quiet weight of responsibilities we carry for the people we love.
Life has a way of placing things into that backpack.
And sometimes the thing that lightens that weight the most is not the problem suddenly disappearing. Sometimes what helps the most is a word of encouragement from someone who sees what God is doing in our lives and reminds us that we are not alone.
That is exactly the kind of moment we are going to see in Scripture today.
Over the past several weeks we have been walking through a series called Women of the Bible. Each week we have been looking at the story of a different woman whose life became part of God’s unfolding plan. Some of those stories are well known. Others are quieter moments that we might overlook if we read too quickly.
Today we come to Elizabeth.
Most people remember Elizabeth simply as the mother of John the Baptist. But if we slow down and listen carefully to the story Luke tells, we discover something remarkable.
Elizabeth becomes the first person in the Gospel to recognize what God is doing through Jesus and the way she responds is not with a sermon or a speech.
She responds with encouragement.
But before we get to that moment, it is worth pausing to consider the person who recorded this story for us.
Because the Gospel of Luke actually begins with something unusual.
Luke starts his book by explaining why he is writing and how he gathered his information.
“Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I, too, decided, as one having a grasp of everything from the start, to write a well-ordered account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may have a firm grasp of the words in which you have been instructed.”
Luke 1:1-4 NRSVUE
Luke says that many people had already begun compiling accounts of the events surrounding Jesus. These stories were passed down by eyewitnesses from the beginning. And Luke explains that he carefully investigated everything from the start so that he could write an orderly account.
He says he is writing to someone named Theophilus.
The name Theophilus means “lover of God” or “friend of God.” Some scholars believe he may have been a Roman official who had begun learning about the Christian faith and wanted to know whether the stories he was hearing about Jesus were trustworthy.
So Luke sets out to do something very intentional.
- He interviews eyewitnesses.
- He gathers testimony.
- He carefully records what happened so that Theophilus might know the certainty of what he has been taught.
Which makes the story we are about to hear even more fascinating because just a few verses later Luke tells us about a moment that sounds almost impossible.
- A child leaping in the womb at the sound of someone’s voice.
- A woman suddenly speaking prophetic words about a Messiah who has not even been born yet.
Those are extraordinary details.
But according to Luke, they are not rumors passed along through generations. They are the testimony of people who lived through these events.
People like an elderly priest named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth.
Luke tells us that both of them were righteous before God, living faithfully and honoring the commandments. But their lives carried a quiet sorrow because the had no children. And now both of them were advanced in years.
Then one day Zechariah is serving in the temple in Jerusalem. He belongs to the priestly division of Abijah, one of the groups of priests who rotated temple duties throughout the year. On this particular day Zechariah is chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary and burn incense before the Lord.
It was one of the most sacred moments in temple worship.
While the people prayed outside, Zechariah stood alone inside the temple as the incense rose toward heaven, symbolizing the prayers of Israel ascending before God.
And suddenly an angel appears.
The angel Gabriel tells Zechariah something he never expected to hear again.
“Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.”
Zechariah struggles to believe it. The years of hoping had long since passed. And because of that hesitation he leaves the temple unable to speak.
But Elizabeth becomes pregnant.
And Luke tells us that for five months she quietly reflects on what God has done and is into this moment that Mary arrives.
Mary has just received her own message from Gabriel that she will give birth to the Messiah. She travels into the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth, perhaps the only person who might understand what it feels like when God suddenly interrupts your life with something miraculous.
And when Mary walks through the door, something extraordinary happens, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps.
Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit.
And the very first words she speaks are words that lighten the weight Mary is carrying.
Encouragement Helps Others Believe What God Has Said
Text: Luke 1:39-43
When Mary enters Elizabeth’s home, Luke tells us that the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy. John the Baptist responds to the presence of Jesus before either child has even been born. It is one of the earliest signs in the Gospel that something extraordinary is unfolding.
It is a small detail in the story, but Luke includes it for a reason. Before either of these children takes their first breath, before a single sermon is preached or a miracle performed, the presence of Jesus is already stirring something in the world. John, whose entire life will be devoted to preparing the way for the Lord, begins that work even before his birth.
And Luke tells us that Elizabeth immediately recognizes that something holy is happening in that moment.
Luke then tells us that Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit, and she begins to speak.
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”
Luke 1:42 NRSVUE
These are not casual words of greeting. Luke makes it clear that what Elizabeth speaks in this moment comes from the work of the Holy Spirit. She is responding not just as a relative welcoming Mary into her home, but as someone who suddenly sees what God is doing.
But the sentence that carries the deepest encouragement comes just a moment later in verse 45.
“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.””
Luke 1:45 NRSVUE
The Greek word Luke uses for blessed is makaria, μακαρία, a word that means deeply favored, spiritually fortunate, living under the goodness and grace of God.
Elizabeth is not simply greeting Mary politely. She is affirming Mary’s faith.
This matters more than we might realize.
Because Mary’s obedience to God will not be easy. The road ahead will involve confusion and misunderstanding. It will involve explaining a miracle that few people will believe. It will involve watching her son grow into a calling that will eventually lead all the way to the cross.
Mary has already said yes to God, but that yes will require courage in ways she cannot yet imagine and in that moment Elizabeth sees that faith and strengthens it.
She does something incredibly simple, but incredibly powerful. She names what she sees.
She looks at Mary and says, in essence, “I see your faith. I see that you trusted what God told you. And you are blessed because you believed.”
Encouragement does something important in the life of faith, it reminds people that what God has spoken over their lives is real.
There are moments when people know what God is asking of them, but the road ahead feels uncertain. The calling feels larger than their confidence. The responsibility feels heavier than they expected.
And sometimes the thing that steadies their courage the most is simply hearing someone say, “I see what God is doing in you.”
Elizabeth becomes the first person in the Gospel of Luke to recognize what God is doing through Jesus. She sees the promise of God taking shape right in front of her.
But the way she responds is not through theological argument or careful explanation.
She does not try to analyze the miracle, she simply encourages the faith she sees and sometimes that is exactly what people need.
- They do not need someone to analyze their calling.
- They do not need someone to critique their obedience.
Sometimes they simply need someone to help them believe that what God has begun in their life is real.
Elizabeth offers Mary that gift.
She sees faith, and she strengthens it.
Encouragement gives courage to the faith God has already planted.
Scripture Calls Us To Encourage One
Elizabeth’s words are not just a touching moment between two relatives. They reflect a pattern that runs throughout the New Testament.
Encouragement is meant to be part of the normal life of the church.
The apostle Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians
“Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NRSVUE
Notice that Paul does not frame encouragement as something optional or occasional. He presents it as something believers are meant to do regularly for one another. It is woven into the daily life of the Christian community.
The writer of Hebrews echoes that same call in Hebrews 10:24–25, urging believers to consider how they might spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
“And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 NRSVUE
That phrase “consider how” is important. It suggests intentionality. Encouragement is not something that happens accidentally. It is something we choose to do. We pay attention to one another’s lives, and we look for opportunities to strengthen someone else’s faith.
Those words reveal something important about how faith grows. The Christian life was never meant to be lived in isolation. God designed His people to strengthen each other along the journey.
From the very beginning, the church was meant to be a community where people carried one another’s burdens, prayed for one another, and reminded each other of the promises of God when circumstances made those promises hard to see.
The Greek word that often sits behind the English word encourage is parakaleō, παρακαλέω. It means to come alongside someone and strengthen them.
It is the same root word connected to the title Jesus gives the Holy Spirit as our helper, our advocate, the one who comes alongside us.
In other words, encouragement reflects something about the character of God Himself.
When we encourage someone, we are participating in the same kind of strengthening work the Holy Spirit does in our lives.
Encouragement becomes one of the ways the Spirit works through the people of God.
And when we think about it, encouragement takes many forms.
- Sometimes encouragement is reminding someone that their quiet faithfulness matters even when no one else seems to notice.
- Sometimes encouragement is pointing out the evidence of God’s grace in someone’s life when they are too discouraged to see it themselves.
- Sometimes encouragement is simply telling someone not to give up.
- Sometimes it is reminding someone that God is still working even when the road feels uncertain.
These moments may seem small, but Scripture treats them as deeply important.
The early church understood that encouragement was not a sentimental extra added to the Christian life. It was essential. Because faith is strengthened when believers speak life into each other’s journey.
Think about how often discouragement shows up in the ordinary rhythms of life.
- Someone begins to wonder if their efforts really matter.
- Someone questions whether they are strong enough for what lies ahead.
- Someone begins to lose sight of the purpose God placed in their heart.
And in those moments, a few sincere words can steady someone’s courage more than we realize.
A sentence spoken at the right moment can remind someone that they are not walking alone.
Elizabeth models exactly that kind of encouragement for Mary.
- She sees faith, and she names it.
- She sees God’s promise unfolding, and she celebrates it.
And Scripture invites us to become that kind of presence in the lives of the people around us.
- People who strengthen faith.
- People who remind others of God’s promises.
- People who help one another keep walking forward in obedience.
Humility Makes Encouragement Possible
What makes Elizabeth’s encouragement even more remarkable is the situation she herself is in.
Elizabeth has just experienced a miracle of her own.
For years she had lived with the quiet pain of being unable to have children in a culture that often interpreted that as shame. It was the kind of burden that followed someone quietly through life. Every family celebration, every child born in the village, every conversation about the future would have reminded her of what she did not have. Then suddenly, in the later years of her life, God answered that long prayer.
She is pregnant.
After all the years of waiting, after all the years when hope seemed to have faded, Elizabeth is finally carrying a child of her own.
Her son will grow up to become John the Baptist, the prophet who prepares the way for the Messiah. Jesus Himself will later say that among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John.
If anyone in that moment had reason to focus on her own miracle, it would have been Elizabeth.
But when Mary arrives, Elizabeth immediately recognizes something even greater, Mary is carrying the Savior of the world.
Elizabeth’s response is not comparison it is celebration!
“And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?”
Luke 1:43 NRSVUE
The word she uses for Lord is kyrios, κύριος, a title that speaks of authority, reverence, and divine significance.
Elizabeth understands something profound in that moment.
Her son will play an important role in God’s plan, but Mary’s son is the one they have all been waiting for. And instead of feeling overshadowed by that reality, Elizabeth rejoices.
That is humility and humility is what makes encouragement possible.
Because jealousy does something very different.
- Jealousy compares.
- It measures blessings.
It quietly asks questions like:
- Why does their life seem easier than mine?
- Why does their calling seem bigger than mine?
- Why does their moment seem brighter than mine?
Jealousy turns someone else’s blessing into something that feels like a loss for us but humility sees the same moment and responds differently. Humility celebrates what God is doing, even when the spotlight falls somewhere else.
Humility understands that the kingdom of God is not a competition and God’s work in someone else’s life does not diminish what He is doing in ours.
Elizabeth understood that God’s work in Mary’s life was not a threat to her story, it was part of the same story.
- Her son would prepare the way.
- Mary’s son would redeem the world.
Both were part of the same unfolding plan of God and Elizabeth rejoiced to play her role in that plan.
That kind of humility creates space for encouragement to flourish.
Because when we stop comparing our story to someone else’s, we become free to celebrate what God is doing around us.
- We begin to notice faith in others and strengthen it.
- We begin to see God’s grace at work in the people around us and say it out loud.
Elizabeth shows us that encouragement is often born from humility and when humility fills our hearts, encouragement flows naturally.
Conclusion
Elizabeth never preached a sermon. She never stood before crowds, and she never held a position of public power. Yet she did something incredibly important.
She recognized what God was doing in someone else’s life, and she encouraged it.
Sometimes we assume that the most significant ministries require a platform or a title, but Elizabeth reminds us that some of the most powerful moments of faith happen in quiet conversations between ordinary people who are paying attention to what God is doing.
Because the truth is that people around us are trying to follow God while carrying heavy backpacks filled with uncertainty, fear, and questions. Some are trying to take a step of faith that feels larger than their confidence. Others are quietly wondering whether the work God has placed in their lives really matters. Many are simply doing their best to remain faithful while the road ahead still feels unclear.
And in those moments, a simple word of encouragement can lighten that weight more than we realize.
A sentence spoken at the right time can steady someone’s courage. A reminder that God is at work can help someone keep walking when they might otherwise stop.
Elizabeth understood this instinctively. When Mary walked through her door carrying the weight of an extraordinary calling, Elizabeth saw what God was doing and she said it out loud. She affirmed Mary’s faith, and in doing so she strengthened the courage Mary would need for the road ahead.
Elizabeth reminds us that sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is simply this: to notice the grace of God unfolding in someone else’s life and speak it into the open.
To say it to the person who is quietly serving and wondering if anyone notices. To say it to the person who is taking a step of obedience that feels uncertain or fragile. To say it to the person who needs to be reminded that God is still writing their story.
Because encouragement does more than make someone feel good for a moment. Encouragement strengthens faith. It reminds people that God’s promises are real, and it helps them believe that the work God has begun in their lives will not be wasted.
The beautiful thing is that encouragement does not require a pulpit or a title. Sometimes the most important ministry we will ever have is simply noticing the evidence of God’s grace in someone else’s life and giving it voice.
Elizabeth did that for Mary.
And because she did, Mary stepped forward with a little more courage than she had before.
So this week, pay attention to the people God has placed in your path. When you see faith, strengthen it. When you see obedience, affirm it. When you see God at work, celebrate it.
Because sometimes the words someone needs most are simply these:
“I see what God is doing in you.”
And those words may lighten someone’s backpack more than you will ever know.
Benediction
As you go from this place, may the God who sees faith where others overlook it fill your hearts with humility and grace.
May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to the work of God unfolding in the lives around you, and give you the courage to strengthen that faith with words of encouragement and hope.
And may the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit go with you and remain with you always.
In the name of the Father, The Son and the Holy Sprit,
Amen.
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