Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
In these last few days before Christmas do you sometimes feel that you or others are simply ‘too busy to notice’? Notice what? Notice the wonder and eternal grandeur of what God invites us to celebrate Christmas this week…
* God’s unconditional, never-ending kindness and LOVE for the human race. That’s the centerpiece of Christmas as God describes it in 1 John 4:9,10.
* God’s SOVEREIGNTY over all things as seen in how God brought together all the details so the Christmas story could happen in just the right little-known village, (Micah 5:2) involving just the right people, at just the right moment in history! (Galatians 4:4,5)
Have you ever thought about how many people that first Christmas were simply “too busy to notice” what was happening all around them, and they missed it? They were simply caught up in the busyness of a census or running their businesses or raising their families or keeping a watchful eye out on the political craziness happening in Rome and the local fallout from it!
I am determined NOT to miss it this year. I’m going to keep my eyes and ears open, my heart and schedule uncluttered, so that if God does something special this Christmas, even if it’s not obvious to most everyone else, I don’t want to miss it! What about you?
Oh, and one more thing. Not only do I want to be alert and unharried enough to notice if God does something special this Christmas, I want to be ready for my faith, my trust in God, my belief muscles, to be stretched this Christmas, especially if God reaches to ME and invites ME into something special that God is doing!
Have you ever noticed there is only ONE person, in the entire Christmas story, who willfully, belligerently said NO to God and the miraculous things God was doing that first Christmas? His refusal cut him out of any Christmas blessing and caused great pain to many people in Bethlehem! (Matt. 1:16-18) Do you know who I’m talking about?
But Zechariah and Elizabeth said YES to God, even though what God invited them into was beyond logic. It was impossible, preposterous! Old people, especially barren old women do not have babies in their old age! But Zechariah and Elizabeth did, because they believed anything was possible with God! And in their trust, they joined obediently with God in what HE promised, and their son John the Baptizer was born!
More than that, old Zechariah and Elizbeth had the unique privilege of raising John and teaching him all he needed to understand so that, anointed by the Holy Spirit, John could be the announcer, the preparer of the way, for Jesus to be seen as Messiah for Jews and Savior for the world! (Luke 1:11-17; John 1:19-24) But what if Zechariah or Elizabeth had refused, or constantly doubted or questioned, or even just grumbled about what God was doing with them?
What God invited Mary into was perhaps even more outrageous, more unthinkable, more unimaginable! No human being had ever experienced what God promised HE would do in Mary. It simply was not humanly possible! And if she did actually become pregnant by the Holy Spirit of God, no one… not her parents, not her fiancé, nor anyone in her town, not even the religious leaders, would believe her story. For the rest of her life Mary would be branded as a liar, an unclean and unrepentant woman, worse than a leper.
No self-respecting adult would risk a friendship with Mary, no mothers would let their children play with hers, especially not that child Jesus! Undoubtedly her family would disown her, maybe accuse her of adultery punishable by death. But Mary said words that define her as unique in all history: “I am the LORD’s servant. Be it unto me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38) And Mary experienced things, remarkable things, for the remainder of her life, that no other woman has ever experienced. Her relationship with Jesus, from the moment of His conception till the time of Mary’s death, was unlike His relationship with any other person.
For Joseph, of course, there was no apparent benefit for him to agree to God’s request that he take pregnant Mary as his wife and not consummate their marriage until after the child was born, so as to not contaminate in any way what God was doing. (Matt. 1:18-25) Immediately, and for the rest of his life, Joseph would be known as a liar, totally untrustworthy, maybe even psychologically unstable!
Shame would cover him like a shroud all of his life, at least among those who heard what Joseph claimed. Who would risk hiring Joseph in any business dealings? Who would want their sons anywhere near Joseph? Who would allow their daughters to date or marry any sons of ‘despicable Joseph’? It would be a very lonely life if Joseph agreed to God’s instructions.
For the shepherds, of course, you’d be a fool to not at least run into Bethlehem to see for yourself, after a choir of angels and very clear angelic instructions about how to find this special child. (Luke 2:8-20) Luke tells us the shepherds were so overwhelmed by it all, they left the manger and told everyone they saw in busy, overcrowded Bethlehem, as they headed back to their sheep out in those quiet fields.
My guess is they told every shepherd they ever met for the rest of their lives, about that night! I’ve always been amazed that we have NO record of even ONE other person coming to see this remarkable baby announced by angels and the shepherds. Not one person!? What does that tell you, my friends, about all those people in Bethlehem, both residents and the census crowd?
And finally, of course, the Magi from far away, probably several hundred, maybe more than a thousand miles to the east. Had they ever before made such a journey following an unusual cosmic display, whatever that blazing star was in the sky? How long did their journey take, how much did it cost, how often were they at risk from bandits along the way? What if they had said, ‘it’s too much of a bother, let’s forget this idea’?
And then there’s Herod, the only person who received the miraculous news who refused to make any attempt to participate in what God was doing and see the miracle baby for himself. Not only did King Herod refuse to allow the news any intrusion into his kingly schedule, in a panic he made a plan to eliminate, annihilate this God sent baby! (Matt. 2)
So, now we need to pause and ask three very significant questions:
1. What has been your personal response to the Biblical Christmas story? Reluctance, refusal, a ridiculous child’s entertainment, or embrace and celebration?
2. How have you allowed this remarkable, miraculous story to affect your life, your family?
3. As you have shaped the Christmas habits, traditions and culture of your family, how have you involved or resisted God’s Christmas story and God’s intentions for it in the life of your family?
4. Is there anything you should change so this Christmas you are better positioned for a greater spiritual Christmas experience this year?
Those are important questions, and I urge you not to rush by them. Reflect deeply. Further reflection notes are in the “Grand Narrative” link below and a wonderful Christmas song is at the link at the bottom of this page. And as you know, I’ll be here waiting for you tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: John 1:19-24.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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