Share the message

By Niobe Rodrigues

Have you ever had something to share with someone and when you contacted the person you were informed that they had a message to share with you? That’s what happened when Mary went to tell Elizabeth the good news of her pregnancy, not knowing that Elizabeth too, had her own special story to share. Sharing a message is not like sharing a ‘tory. A ‘tory’ is gossip; a message is “a communication containing some information, news, advice, request, or the like, sent by messenger, telephone, email, or other means”.

In Mary’s time, there was only one effective way to send a message— a person had to be sent. Written communication was rare and electronic means did not exist. Mary took approximately three to five days to get to speak with her cousin. Elizabeth, being older, may not have wanted to risk her own pregnancy by going to meet Mary at her home. While she may have wanted to share her news with Mary, she may have thought it would be safer to wait until after the birth of the baby. This week we look at a beautiful song from Ada Ehi called ‘Congratulations’.

It starts I have a message for you, oh God has sent me to you, oh I have a message for you, oh God has sent me to you, oh Listen Before Mary had a chance to say anything, Elizabeth names her as the mother of the Lord. Elizabeth’s joy is so great she tells her immediately about her own child. This announcement must have come as a shock to Mary. This was not what she had expected but then who knows what to expect from God? No matter what we ask for, when He responds it is beyond our own small hopes and desires for ourselves. The first verse reminds me of both Elizabeth and Mary. Who in their right mind would expect the Son of God to be born to one such as Mary? Humble, young, seemingly a nobody, not even from Bethlehem where the Saviour was supposed to be born. On the other hand, Elizabeth who had been waiting many years to be a mother may have thought her time past.

However, at the end of them sharing with each other, Mary sings a new song. What does this mean for me when I don’t have to walk miles to share a message with someone? We have electronic communication at our fingertips. The written or spoken word can travel around the world in mere seconds. What are we to do? Firstly, we must aim to share messages and not ‘tories’ (gossip). Am I sharing information? Am I sharing good information? Before sending it out, did I think about how it would be received? Would the person be happy to hear from me? Would they praise God after hearing from me or wish I had never appeared in their inbox or their timeline? Are there people waiting for a message from us and we’re feeling too lazy to pick up our device and share with them? What are they missing out on? If I keep the message to myself who knows if what they would like to divulge to me would not be important to me to? Perhaps it is something that will like the song says bring a “time for jubilation” for both of us. Let us work to share more good news and the message of Christ directly with others than quickly spreading ‘tories’ all over the place!

1st verse

Dem say, dem tell you say, say you can never be the one

But God say, make I tell you say, say na you Him choose

In one month, in one week, you go sing a new song

In two days, or lesser than, you will hear

Chorus

Congratulations, you’ve seen the glory of God

Congratulations, He has done for you

And you will come back with a new song to sing,

God is good Yes, you will come again with a new song of praise

God is good, oh-oh-oh