The light...is about to break!

Luke 1:78-79

Because of God's tender mercy, the light from heaven is about to break upon us,

To give light to those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death

and to guide us to the path of peace.

This verse struck me as I came across it this morning.  I have read Luke 1  before.  It's the story of  Zechariah. a priest in the time of Herod the king of Judea.  He and his wife, Elizabeth, are good people, in fact the Bible says they 'were righteous in God's eyes'. Who wouldn't want God to say that about them?  But they had no kids and now they are both very old.

Then one day, Zechariah is on duty at the Temple and he is chosen to be the one to enter the sanctuary and burn incense while the people prayed outside.

That's where it happened!

An angel of the Lord shows up!

Zechariah is overwhelmed, you can imagine!  But the angel says, "Don't be afraid Zech! God has heard you praying and you will have a son. Name him John! "

The angel tells Zech incredible things about  his son, that he will be a man of spirit and power and accomplish great things.

Zechariah's response is to ask a question, "How can I be sure this will happen?  I'm an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years."

The angel gets ticked!  At least I think he's ticked.  He says, "I am Gabriel!  I stand in the presence of God.  He sent me to tell you this good news.  But since you didn't believe  me- you won't be able to speak until your child is born."

And he didn't! Not a word!

Right after that story is when Gabriel shows up to talk to a young girl named Mary.  Again Gabriel says, "Don't be afraid! "  (I wonder how many times Gabriel has said that in his angel life.)

Gabriel tells Mary "you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son. Name him Jesus!"  Again he tells Mary that her son will be very great and that he will be given the throne and will reign forever.

Mary's response is to ask a question, " But how can this happen. I am a virgin."

But Gabriel doesn't seem to get upset with Mary.  He doesn't take her voice away like he did with Zechariah.  He seems more gentle, more patient.

And he tells her, "the Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age.  People used to say she was barren, but she's now in her sixth month.  For nothing is impossible with God."

It was like I reading this chapter for the first time.  Seeing similarities in the passages I had not seen before.  And yet the differences astound me.

Why did Gabriel react to Zechariah's question as he did and yet not treat Mary that same way when she questioned.  Was it in what they insinuated in the question?  Was it in their tone of voice- which of course we can't hear.  Hmm?  I may have to study that a bit more.

But the other thing I noticed is that, unlike Zechariah,  Mary was able to respond to Gabriel's message right away.  And in amazing faith, she says, "I am the Lord's servant.  May everything you have said about me come true."

I can't say for sure- but I wonder if I had just encountered an angel that's telling me not to be afraid and he tells me that I'm going to be an unmarried pregnant virgin that I would say, "Yeah, I hope it all comes true."

And a few days later, her response swells to an incredibly beautiful song recorded as the  Magnificat. 

Zechariah, in the meantime, is completely silent.  Silence that has been forced on him because he refused to accept the angel's word as coming from God.  Until the day his new baby turned 8 days old.  As these new parents take their son to be circumcised,  everyone is asking what the child's name will be.   Elizabeth states that it will be John. No one believes her because there's no one in the family named John.   So they start 'making gestures' to Zech (not sure why, he was mute, not deaf), anyway, they ask Zechariah what the baby's name should be.  Zechariah writes on a tablet.  HIS NAME IS JOHN.  Immediately he is able to speak again.

That's when Zechariah breaks out into a song of his own.   A song he could sing with great emotion, and deep gratitude for the gift of this child.  A hymn of praise to the Most High God. 

At the end of his song, he sings these words.

Because of God's tender mercy, the light from heaven is about to break upon us,

To give light to those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death

and to guide us to the path of peace. Luke 1:78-79

Ah Lord God, let your light break upon us, give light to those who only see darkness this advent season.  To  all who sit in the shadow of death, guide us to peace!  

Lessons Learned as a Beauty Queen

This morning  I woke with a vivid memory of a conversation I had years ago.  Actually it was two conversations, with two different sets of judges for two local beauty pageants.  My experience as a beauty queen was short lived, but never the less life changing!  And obviously these two conversations impacted me significantly enough to be brought to mind again today.

What made these two conversations stand out was how different they were!

The first time I appeared before judges was for the Miss Lipscomb County pageant held on the 4th of July.  I had often dreamed of being Miss America as a young girl, but never dreamed I would ever be in a real pageant.  I write more about that part of the story in my E-book called "What's Your Story Telling You?" (If you would like a free copy, go to my website, www.greenhopecoaching.com) 

But now through a miraculous turn of events, I was preparing to walk into the judges chambers.   I was so excited just to be included in all the festivities. I had no expectation of winning so I had nothing to lose and everything to gain as I spoke with them.  I shook out any jitters I had before i walked in.  I engaged them fully, answering their questions with delight and even asking them questions about their families and careers.  We laughed together and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them.

The next time was not so enjoyable.  This time I was competing for Miss Wheatheart.  This time I knew what was at stake.  I knew what it meant to win and was afraid  to lose. I saw everyone as competition. I couldn't shake off the fear in the interview with the judges, so I responded nervously and was consumed with what they wanted  from me rather than who I was.

So what did I learn from this?

NOTE to self:

Shake out the jitters so you can

Be who you are!

Engage others-not to be consumed by them, but be authentically interested in them.

Laugh together

Live as if you have nothing to lose!

     Everything to gain!

So anyway, what does any of this have to do with Advent?  Well, I asked the Lord the same question.  What does an ordinary high school girl who had nothing to lose have to do with the Christ Child coming to us?

His answer was "Everything!"

First of all, at His coming He had everything to lose.

John 1 tells us

In the beginning the Word already existed.

     The Word was with God,

     and the Word was God.

2 He existed in the beginning with God.

3 God created everything through him,

    and nothing was created except through him.

4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,

   and his life brought light to everyone.

5 The light shines in the darkness,

    and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Imagine! Being with God AND being God!  Existing at the beginning!  Creating all that was to be!

Having the ability to give life to everything that was created and in that life, bring light that can never be put out.

But then comes vs 10

He came in the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize him.

11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.

He who had it all- who WAS all- made His entrance before humans who became His judge!  And they deemed Him not good enough.  They rejected Him, and therefore rejected the Lift and Light that He brought with him.

Those who have lost- whether it's a job, or relationship, perhaps a loved one, (or a myriad of other losses) know what it is like to lose. We know the pain, the ache that cuts deep to the core of who we are.  We know that if we had a choice- we would not choose to lose something so central to who we are, especially if we knew that our sacrifice would not be received after we made it.  Yet even knowing that would happen, He came!  So that an ordinary little high school girl trying desperately to figure out how to live could find LIFE itself.

12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

13 They are reborn- not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan,

     but from a birth that comes from God.

14 So the Word became a human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.

Pasted from http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201&version=NLT;

How grateful I am!  How about you?  What is God saying to you this Advent season?

I encourage you to take a moment to listen right now!  Open your eyes to SEE His Light!

Seeing GREEN HOPE!