Not From a Store

And then he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Read Luke 2:22-40

With Jesus in his arms, Simeon’s life is complete.  Maybe better even than Mary herself right now, Simeon understands he is holding the very salvation of God, the glory of Israel. 

Think about it: “…my eyes have seen your salvation… a light for revelation of the Gentiles… the glory of your people Israel.”

This is the “Take me now, Lord” moment Simeon has been waiting for. 

For the first time in Luke’s gospel the announcement that the gospel is for all humanity is made explicit.  Jesus is “a light for revelation of the Gentiles.”

Simeon gets it.  He revels that God’s purposes extend beyond his own in-group to include everyone, everywhere.  The announcement is for each person, no one excluded.  The love of God is meant for all of us, and all kinds of us, because after all, that longing for more is universal.  That echo that there's more to life is one we all hear. 

There is not a heart but has its moments of longing, yearning for something better; nobler; holier than it knows now. 

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)

In Homer's Odyssey, the legendary king Odysseus says that men are haunted by the vastness of eternity.  Simeon knows intuitively that this one sent by God, this baby, is the “more to life,” the “something better.”  Maybe you do, too. 

The God of history doesn’t just govern history; he governs our histories.  His light extends to our nation, to our families, to our own hearts, our deepest longings.  Those who are called “not God’s people” are become “the people of God.”  The glory of Israel is restored. 

You and I, we can be at peace.  We can belong to God and God can be our very own God.  He makes us his people – his nation, his family – and children of God ourselves, like Jesus we become light as he is The Light, candles in the dark, and proof that yes, there is more to life than this (with all our flaws).

Reflection:

What does it mean for me to open the smaller corners of my heart to the possibility of God, his love, his acceptance, his forgiveness and his transformation?  
Is it possible my creator -- the one who made me -- can also bring out the best in me?  
What happens when “all humanity” doesn’t look like I do?  I follow Christ and represent him, but who do I recoil from, that God’s love has not yet penetrated my heart to reach?

Lord, open my heart and give me someone new to love today. 

"And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day."

Eyes Wide Open

Living without the conscious awareness that our lives are progressing toward the consummation of history is like driving with your eyes shut. 

Tim Keller

For background, you might read Luke 2:22-40. 

God blesses the people who pursue him.  That is, for anyone who comes to God on God’s terms.  Like uh, he's God after all, right?  

Okay, let’s see how. 

Remember we're talking about Simeon, a mature adult (read "old man") in Jerusalem, back in Jesus' time.  The Spirit of God has made it clear to Simeon that he will see the Messiah before he dies.   Heady stuff.  

Simeon, despite his age, is not one to rest on his laurels.  He's driving forward as long as he has breath.  He goes to the temple just as (whaddaya know) Jesus’ mom and dad arrive.    

Eternity hack: God rewards the people who pursue him. 

Luke describes Simeon (and Anna too, remember her?) in ways to which most of us have a hard time relating.  His descriptions underscore to the ancient listeners that the messages are actually valid.  Bear with me.  

Simeon was:

1.   Righteous – in Bible-speak, that means that he walked the walk that he talked.  With Simeon, we have a man who understood God’s character and heart and expressed them in his life.  Here's one for you: he walked with God. Heady stuff. Was he sinless?  No, that's not what righteous in this sense meant.  But he lived with integrity.  As God himself is righteousness, Simeon was submissive to God in his heart and showed it in his actions. 

Pop quiz: how's your IQ, that is, your integrity quotient?  Really?  

2.   Devout – Simeon and Anna were intentional about their relationship with God.  They were proactive.  Conscientious.  They invested in it.  Simeon went to the temple, and Anna was there, waiting for him.  Anna never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Anna and Simeon sought first the Kingdom of God. 

If your relationship with God seems nonexistent, or stale for that matter, or he seems distant, as in he's long ago in a galaxy far, far away, this could be a huge teachable moment for you. If you're open.   

If you want more info on that, email or message me.  

And if you happen to be a Christian, it might be because you’re wounded, or complacent, or compromise has crept in.  Being devout is not about being fanatical. It is simply being intentional, being deliberate – taking responsibility for your relationship with God. 

Anna and Simeon were both "waiting on God."  They understood God is the Lord of history.  Simeon lived each day with a sense of anticipation.  Simeon was waiting for God to act, and he knew that somehow He would.  In waiting for the “consolation of Israel,” Simeon was waiting for the Messiah. The Spirit prompted him to go to the temple for just that reason. 

You and I are living the same history as Simeon, we’re just at a different point.  In this period following the resurrection, and preceding the second coming of Christ (both foundational to Christian faith), we anticipate something we can all appreciate: the restoration of all things.  That is, after a rough period of upcoming change, and personal responsibility all the while, there's this: 

"...the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.  Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God." 

2 Peter 3:10-12

But I digress.  Where was I?  Ah, number three. Simeon was:

3.   Guidable and therefore guided – and the two go together, after all, right? 

Look at the Spirit of God in Simeon’s life:

• The (Holy) Spirit of God was upon him. 
• It had been revealed to him by said Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 
• Moved by the same Spirit, he went into the temple courts. 

Some of us don't believe this can happen, but it does.  

Repeatedly, the Spirit is at work in Simeon, drawing him into step with Kingdom purposes. 

God has not changed. We’re not so different.  God might draw you and me as well.  

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:44

You, child of God, can walk with God.  Consider that.  It's worth devoting 10 minutes to.  At least.  Maybe your life. 

You can be intimately about your Father’s work.  But just as with the lottery, if you don’t play, you can’t win.  So, are you guidable?  Be guidable and you are sure to be guided. Anticipate the restoration of all things and do good while you can. 

Simeon is righteous – he expresses his relationship with God in his life; he is devout. That means he is conscientious – proactive – about his relationship with God; he lived with a sense of destiny, anticipating the coming of the Christ; he is guidable and so he is guided. 

God blesses the people who pursue him, and uses the least of us for the greatest good. 

Two Old Folks (part 1 in short series)

Check out Luke 2:22-40

If Matthew’s gospel emphasizes Christ’s royalty, and Mark his power, Luke displays Jesus’ love for people from all walks of life. For example, by highlighting both genders in the prophets Simeon and Anna, Luke sends a quiet message that the gospel is for all people, and all kinds of people.  And that both of these representatives of God were older underscores to the ancient audience the credibility of these prophets, since seniors were held in high respect. 

For Luke, world history is about God’s ultimate plan, and his real time ability to carry it out.  Luke shows his interest in salvation history by linking it with verifiable secular history.  Luke has provided humanity with one of the most carefully documented accounts of the life of Jesus in existence.  He takes care to demonstrate the reliability of his record.  By doing so, he points us to a God who is intimately engaged with human events, and lovingly sovereign in our lives, however insignificant our personal circumstances might appear, or however dark the international picture.  

Joseph and Mary were simple, faithful, practicing Jews.  They observed the law, and they showed respect for the Jewish system of temple worship, even as their son will.  And we know that in offering the sacrifice of a pair of doves, they are a lower income family.  After 40 days Mary will go to the temple and offer sacrifice for her purification.  When their service at the temple is ended, Luke makes a point of saying that they had done everything required by the Law of the Lord.  Joseph and Mary respected organized religion.    

There are three hymns in Luke’s birth narrative: Mary’s song, the Magnificat, in 1:46-55, Zechariah’s song, the Benedictus, in 1:68-79, and Simeon’s little song here in verses of 29-32.  Simeon’s hymn, known historically (and in liturgical churches) by its first words in Latin as the Nunc Dimittis, has the most obviously poetic form of the three.  It’s very possible that this song was used in public or private worship in the early church. 

So what is the message for us that he is writing all of this to his friend, a gentile?  

Next time: Eyes Open 

Royal Birth, Royal Wedding

Read Psalm 45  

Psalm 45 is a wedding psalm and "high church" folks (Anglicans, Catholics, etc.) often read it at Christmastime.  It’s set at a royal wedding – the wedding of the King.  

As we celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas, Christ becomes the groom, and we his people -- his church -- are his bride.  He commits himself to us. He creates love.  And as a good husband will, he evokes an inner beauty that the synergism of love creates in his bride.   

If Advent anticipates an arrival, Christmas anticipates a wedding, and Psalm 45 gives us a view of an honourable manhood and a womanhood that is to be cherished.  Psalm 45 is a Christmas psalm that points to Christ, and Jesus personifies the righteous bridegroom/warrior who rides victoriously, revealing his royal presence in his words and his actions.  Truly a model for men especially, and for all of us.  

First, the man:  

The kingly groom of psalm 45 is “most excellent.”  Not concerned about what he’s like on the outside, the psalmist is really looking at what he's like inside, his character.  Granted, he talks about his lips and his hands but they only point to the man’s words and deeds. 

You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever.

Psalm 45:2

His words are grace-filled words.  His words give life; they don’t tear down.  He creates order and beauty with his words; he doesn’t add to the chaos. He’s filled with the love of God, and that's what comes out.  That's quite a role model for us to emulate: a call to nobility, to honour, to character.  

At the same time, he’s a man of action.  The imagery evokes warfare, and yet his is not an abuse of power, to pillage and exploit.  Instead, his is a noble battle, pointing to character.  His battle is courage to fight the hill worth dying on, and as a man, an image bearer of God, to “ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness.  Let your right hand display awesome deeds.” (Psalm 45:4)

And now, the woman:  

Psalm 45 is remarkable in its emphasis on the bride’s beauty, but again, as with the man, hers is an inner beauty.  Most translations miss this point. 

• The king is mesmerized by her beauty – he is “enthralled” (verse 11) 
• And notice: not a single part of her body is mentioned; just what clothes her. 
• Instead, her beauty is said to be inner. 
• She is royal; a princess, the daughter of a king.  What if we carried ourselves with such a dignity?  

The King's daughter is all glorious within; her gown is interwoven with gold.

Psalm 45:13

Most translations insert the words “in her chamber,” or “in her palace.”  Nope. It’s not there.  It’s not in the Hebrew.  A woman’s true beauty is found inside. 

Psalm 45 is a Christmas psalm pointing to Christ, because Jesus, through his life and ministry, personifies the righteous warrior who rides victoriously, expressing the presence of the Kingdom -- a new Order -- in word and deed.  

His grace filled words…

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  

… are matched by his character actions: 

and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 

Luke 4:18-19

Christ was born to preach (there are those words) good news of grace to the poor in spirit, and to bring freedom to the oppressed (the awesome deeds).  He did it especially in his death on the cross.  Jesus was born in order to die.     

The Bible describes Christ's relationship to his people as a romance.  It's a love so strong that many waters cannot quench it. 

It is the love you are created to know. It's a relentless love that is stronger than your worst failings.  Believe me on this one. A love most people only dream of even comes to us from God, through Christ. 

At the end of the psalm, the bride and groom leave the crowd and go off alone together.  They put behind them their individual pasts and begin a new life together. 

Christmas is a high holy day, but Easter is greater still.  We celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas: the Christ whose birth we celebrate is the groom, and we who are the people of God are his bride.  He meets us, and defends and protects us.  He makes us his bride; he creates love, and evokes an inner beauty that we cannot create ourselves – and he takes us and he leads us to new life. 

That’s quite a baby in that manger. 

A Baby Born Abroad

Comfort zone, learning zone, panic zone.  

Ready to get restless?  

God calls people out of their comfort zones, off their couches, careers, and countries to let him get all up inside them.    

He called the father of Israel Abraham out of the pagan land of Ur to settle in Canaan.  He transplanted Daniel to enemy Babylon where Daniel served a foreign (and ruthless) government faithfully, with honour, and distinction.  

He called me out of my home country; he may do the same to you.  Ready?  

 

When people become Canadians, they gain rights:

•  legal rights;
•  equality rights;
•  mobility rights;
•  freedom of thought;
•  freedom of speech;
•  freedom of religion; and
•  the right to peaceful assembly
•  the right to hold certain jobs
•  the right to vote
•  the right to hold public office

At the same time, there are obligations; there are duties; there are responsibilities.  Every Canadian is responsible to:

• obey Canada’s laws;
• help others;
• express opinions freely while respecting the rights and freedoms of others (sort of like freedom of speech with an asterisk);
• care for and protect our heritage and environment; and
• eliminate discrimination and injustice.

Rights and duties go hand in hand.  

When Jesus came to earth, he gave up his rights (like omnipotence, for starters). 

Christ Jesus… though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Phil 2:5-8

Jesus gave up his rights so that we can have all the rights of natural born children of God, regardless of bloodline, colour, creed, or country.  Jesus let go of his rights, so that others might gain a citizenship that will endure and exceed our petty political patriotisms. 

For to us a child is born,

       to us a son is given,

       and the government will be on his shoulders.

       And he will be called

       Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 Of the increase of his government and peace

       there will be no end.

       He will reign on David's throne

       and over his kingdom,

       establishing and upholding it

       with justice and righteousness

       from that time on and forever.

Isaiah 9:6-7

Jesus is the king of a better kingdom, born abroad.  Like babies born abroad, we have never been to our home country.  But this citizenship can fill our lives with dignity and destiny. 

We western Christians can be big on our rights. We do well to review our duties, as well, like the duty to love; the duty not to be a butthead in Jesus’ name, the duty to examine ourselves rigorously and regularly, the duty to repent, and the duty to consider the counter-intuitive power of the Kingdom, where weakness is strength, whose king comes in a cradle and dies a criminal, whose death brings life beyond our knowing. 

Citizens and ambassadors we are, we who are Christ’s, with a share in His destiny. 

This Christmas Eve, there’s no better place to call home than away in a manger. 

The Key to Humanity Restored

No one’s indifferent about Jesus.  There’s no middle ground.  When people actually experience Jesus their response leads them to strong emotion.  It leads to contagious joy – or rage, of course. 

And the angel gives them a sign:  “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

Suddenly army of heaven appears with the angel, praising God saying,
  “Glory to God in the highest,
     and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Ironic that an army proclaims peace, wouldn’t you say?  The Kingdom of God really does do things differently. 

When the army of angels went back to heaven, the shepherds look at each other.  “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 

So they hurry off and find the sign: Mary and Joseph, and the baby, lying in the manger.  And they can’t help it: they spread the word about what the angel told them about this child, and everyone who hears it is amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

You see, when God acts redemptively in history, he isn’t performing random acts of kindness.  He tells us what he’s doing.  The baby is born; that is the sign.  And the angel tells us what it means: he’s the Saviour, Christ the Lord. 

The shepherds return, glorifying and praising God for everything they have seen and heard, which is just as they had been told.

They praise God.  That’s the vertical.  And the shepherds can’t stop praising God.  Everything happens just as they are told. 

They talk about it.  That’s the horizontal.  Everywhere they go the shepherds tell people what they have heard about this child.  Everyone who hears it is amazed.  The shepherds spread the news about the things that are told them.  

When we hear the story of the gospel, its truth strikes chord within our souls.  Something stirs within us.  We think God might be real after all. 

It’s hard to pray at first.  It seems so unnatural.  It’s hard to sing at first because we don’t know the songs, and we’re more conscious of the people around us than the God before us. 

But we give it a go.  Pretty soon we don’t care what the others around us are doing.  We pray.  We praise.  We begin to change inside, and we like it.  Pretty soon others notice. 

When we experience Christ, like the shepherds we can’t help but talk about it.  It has the ring of truth.  And the truth grows inside.  Let it grow enough and it will begin to leak out of you. 

                  People who heard the shepherds’ report were amazed.  Their response exemplifies the                         awe that should fill anyone who hears Jesus’ story. 

Darrell Bock

This baby born in this feeding trough is a king.  He is the key to a humanity restored to God.  This is the message of Christmas.

Scared Shirtless

Read Luke 2:8-14

Celebrity rock climber Alex Honnold is a big fan of getting truly scared every now and then.  When’s the last time you were scared? Truly terrified? Ever? On that night, the shepherds were.  

The angel fills the sky.  What can only be described as the glory of the Lord is shining everywhere.  And the shepherds are, yes… terrified.  Imagine you living this moment. You're the director. The Steven Spielberg, The Ron Howard, the Quentin Tarantino directing the movie.  Well, maybe not Quentin Tarantino. How 'bout the Coen brothers?  That'd be fun. What does the scene look like? 

The announcement focuses on Jesus, and these titles of "Christ" and "Lord" are no nicknames.  They’re no mere accolades.  No honorifics. Jesus' titles reveal his divine authority and his power: to heal addictions, to repair relationships, to resolve shame, to forgive, to transform.    

This is the only place in the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke that the words Saviour, Christ, and Lord appear together.  For the first time in history, the Savior, the Christ, and the Lord are identified in one person, this baby in a feeding trough.   What's in a name? 

As Saviour, Christ is the deliverer, the one who saves. 

“Today, in ‘the town of David, the Saviour has been born. 

God appeared to shepherds, and so you can have no doubt his strong arm is long enough to reach you, and(!) everyone else, too.  

As the Christ, Jesus is announced as "The Anointed King," born in the city of David.  The angel is recalling the prophetic roots of Bethlehem.  He is the King. 

 He's Christ the Lord!” 

Priests and kings were typically anointed with oil to signify their unique, divine role.  A priest would be an anointed one. Israel looked forward, however, to the coming of "The Anointed One" the one prophet, priest and king who would be the messiah. 

Jesus as Christ is the chosen, divinely sent, royal Deliverer. God is engaged in the world, even now, and he has acted in history to secure for himself a people. 

As Lord, he is the master, and its usage throughout the New Testament is an unequivocal claim to Jesus' divine authority.  The One who created you knows you best, and you can trust him to know what he’s doing.  As you trust his rule, you’ll avoid a lot of problems (though it creates a few of its own), and find a love that can calm your heart in a world gone wonky.   

This is love for God: to obey his commands.  And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.

~ 1 John 5:3-4

His titles reveal his claim over us and his power to transform lives. “Christ the Lord” means Christ the priority.  And when Christ is the first priority, everything else seems to fall into place. 

       

As we look briefly at each of these titles of Jesus: Saviour/deliverer; the anointed Christ; Lord and therefore master; which one is the hardest for you?  Which one comforts you most? 

Kingdom Inclusiveness

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

~ Luke 2:8

It's hard to imagine a less deserving audience for the most significant announcement in human history than shepherds.  

Our ideas about shepherds have been romanticized by centuries of sentiment and Sunday School. Shepherds had a bad reputation. They were the bad boys of the Ancient Near East. By announcing Jesus’ birth to shepherds, God makes the gospel an open invitation to all kinds of people.  

First of all, their dirty work left shepherds ceremonially unclean all the time. While their livestock supported the temple system, they were excluded from participating. 

Besides that, people didn’t trust shepherds. They could have a difficult time keeping track of whose sheep were whose. Shepherds' reputations were so suspect that the testimony of shepherds was inadmissible in court. 

By reserving the announcement of Jesus’ birth to shepherds (for goodness' sake), God makes clear that the gospel is an open invitation to every kind of person.  And that’s exactly why God chose them.  And that's exactly why church people might squirm.  

So here are the shepherds, frowned upon as they are, minding their own business, the salt of the earth really, tending sheep as their ancestors had (and still do) for generations.  Some are dozing while others take turns looking out for predators. 

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 

~ Luke 2:9

Yikes! They weren't expecting that one. Now, we non-Jewish types like this part.  It’s our gospel, our "good news," because God’s invitation extends to us: to the (ceremonially) unclean Gentiles, to women, to children, to Samaritans, to the morally icky, to the outsiders.  These are all featured in Luke's gospel account, by the way.  The shepherds may be “outsiders,” but they're not outside God’s reach. And neither are we. And neither is... take your pick. Fill in the blank. 

You see, God's invitation extends to the “outsiders” in our lives, too: to the people who wouldn’t feel comfortable in most churches – and to be honest, that we might not feel that comfortable with either. Kingdom inclusiveness can make church folk fidget, as it challenges our ethnocentricities.  

Counter-intuitive Kingdom inclusiveness flows from God through you and me.  Who is the “outsider” in your world?  Who is the “unclean” one, the morally suspect, the "other?"  Who is the one who’s worthiness is suspect, maybe by virtue of his or her income, or religion, or lifestyle, or skin colour? 

In an era when churches seem as divided as the country, how does God’s choice of "unclean" shepherds inform your mission?  How does it speak to your reason to get up in the morning? How does it speak to the mission of your church?  How can it be better?  

You see, in the end we’re all outsiders.  We’re all unclean, we're all dirty, and each of us needs to be included, that we're welcome, that we belong.  

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 

~ Jesus, in Luke 5:31-32

This third week in Advent reminds us of joy (versus repentance, as Advent has been historically), and the shepherds.  Because after all, the Kingdom – and the King, and Christmas – is also about striking contrasts.  The Saviour of humanity comes through a suspect pregnancy.  The King of Kings is born to a poor couple.  Christ the Lord lay in a feeding trough, among unclean beasts.  And his birth is announced to shepherds. And that's a good thing for you and me. 

The Story That Really Matters

I can't do this, Sam.

I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?

~ Sam Gamgee, speaking to Frodo’s

doubt in Lord of the Rings: The Twin Towers

Read Luke1:26-38

As promised, Mary has a question: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Good question. 

The angel has an answer. "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." 

Nothing is impossible with God, and nothing can thwart his promised, powerful plan: “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be infertile is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

So, brothers and sisters, what is God telling you, that is so hard to believe? What’s impossible? What can't possibly happen? God is all about the gracious plan: promise and fulfillment.

That plan has a purpose, a purpose that requires certain things to occur.  There are steps along the way.  For example, it was necessary that Jesus make a stop at the temple (Luke 2:41-52), that he preach the good news of the kingdom (4:43), that he be counted among those cursed (23:37).  The crucifixion was foreordained. Crucifixion, mind you.  (The National Library of Medicine published in 2021 a compelling academic article on medical views on Jesus' cause of death -- it's worth a look.) 

God doesn’t cause evil.  What he does is that he turns it around and he brings good out of it. He used my parents’ divorce to bring me to himself. Good can come out of every tragedy. Suffering evokes compassion. The death of a son brings life to many. A crucifixion brings forgiveness and resurrection.

You’re here for a purpose. You’re here for a reason. Your adversity can work good in your life. Your disability is an opportunity.  The power and plan of a good God will take the very heartaches you know only too well and turn them to good if you trust him: just keep your heart open to him.

You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.

~ Luke 1:31

Mary’s life may have seemed to her like one surprise after another, right into the heartbreak of the crucifixion, but there were no surprises with God. And there are no surprises in your life or mine. 

We don’t know how the story will end, but God calls us to walk by faith, to trust him in our day to day lives. 

If your situation (or a look at the big picture) makes you question God, you're not alone.  The Bible and human history are full of people of faith who trusted God through trials, and still prevailed, sometimes including through death itself. You can also find examples of people who killed themselves and died bitter and angry.  We cannot always choose our circumstances; we can only choose our response. 

None of us can choose our time.  What matters is what you do with the time allotted to you.

~ Gandalf the Grey

Following God doesn’t mean heartache won’t happen, but it does tell you there's a bigger picture, a larger narrative, a “great story, one that really matters.” I don’t know the answers to a hundred questions I have for God right now. But the best stories have moments when hope is out of sight. 

Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

~ Sam Gamgee

Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They were holding on to something.

What are you holding onto? 

God’s plan has drawn Mary into a remarkable place in history.  How will she respond? Will she respond like Zechariah, with doubt and skepticism?  Or will she trust what God tells her. “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answers. “May it be to me as you have said.” 

You might feel weak, you might be afraid.  You might be looking for something to hold onto.  God has a plan that includes you, and it will not be thwarted.

So. What are you holding onto? And what's holding onto you? 

Ordinary Hobbits, Extraordinary Times

Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!

Aragorn, Return of the King

Lord of the Rings is about the return to the throne of the rightful and good king Aragorn.  When the ring is destroyed, Aragorn is restored to the throne, a “king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” 

J. R. R. Tolkien, a Christian himself, wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as metaphors, depicting spiritual truths in fantasy literature. Ordinary hobbits, extraordinary events. Humble characters are thrust into momentous circumstances, and find out what is really within.  We find the same call to noble courage, in humble biblical characters who find themselves advancing God's extraordinary plan for the restoration of all creation.  

We're going to look at Luke 1:26-38 today.  

Mary is upset as she hears what the angel has to say.  She’s fearful.  The angel reassures her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” Then the angel tells her that she will become pregnant, have a boy, and he also tells her what to name him.

So we have a teenage, not-quite-married pregnancy, by… well, not Joseph, we know that much anyway.  This is a lot for a young teen to consider, in any era, not to mention Joseph.  A quiet breakup is completely understandable.  But wait, there's more!  :-)  Read the following, but not as if you have heard it a million times. Imagine you are hearing it for the first time. 

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

It has to be just a little overwhelming for Mary to hear that from her own womb will come “the long-awaited king, wise, just, and from the line of David who will reign forever,” in other words, the fulfillment of The Promise.  

Just as Aragorn was enthroned as the long awaited king of Middle Earth, so is Jesus the promised king, rightful and good, “who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”

Seven hundred years before Jesus is born, Isaiah makes this prophecy, speaking to the coming one’s authority and position:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

   and the government will be on his shoulders.

   And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,

   Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace

   there will be no end.  He will reign on David's throne

   and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it

   with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

   The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.  (Isaiah 9:6-7)

There it is: promise and fulfillment. In Luke's account, he introduces us to Jesus’ 1) divinity, 2) his position, and 3) his authority, always coming back to that theme of promise and fulfillment.  Here’s how: 

His divinity: he is the Son of God, the eternal king, born by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1: 31, 33, 35). 

His position: he is the promised king from the line of David, the Son of the Most High God (32).  

His authority: his reign will be an eternal reign: “he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end” (verse 33).  

Promise and fulfillment.  Jesus is the long-awaited king, from the line of David and born to Mary.  Ordinary people, extraordinary purpose.  After all, there is a place for you and me in this grand plan. As Gandolf has said, 

We come to it, at last. The great battle of our time.

Mary just has a question…