Praise the Lord for the signs, sights, songs,
and sounds of the season. Praise the Lord for the people of Jesus all around
the world who are celebrating in diverse ways and methods, in songs, giving,
worship, serving, and receiving. Praise the Lord for the cantatas, concerts,
dramas, and plays focused on Jesus and His birth. In Cyprus and as we flew by
way of Paris, we saw many signs of Christmas. In Orissa, people are preparing
for many days of celebration, culminating in Christmas. Here in the Southern
Tier the Downtown Singers are preparing to present the historic work, "Handel's
Messiah", on Friday and Saturday evenings at the Binghamton High School
Auditorium. We are preparing the presentation of a Living Nativity on Saturday
from 5-7 PM at Center Court at the Oakdale Mall, with a rousing rendition of the
Hallelujah Chorus at 6.30PM. Come Share and rejoice
As a young boy for me Christmas was a time of
surprises and things that take our breath away. In fact, all of life can be.
Most of us measure our lives by the breaths we take. Perhaps it would be better
for us to measure our lives by the breaths we miss. It is during those times of
amazement and astonishment, when suddenly our attention is carried away, that
God catches us by surprise. It is He who takes our breath away.
The Biblical narratives about Advent and Christmas are pregnant with surprises. The Lord loves to surprise us. Our Lord is the Lord of mystery and wonder. He can invade our routine and carefully orchestrated lives and surprise us. When we walk with the Lord and serve Him He loves to surprise us. Often we live in the world of mundane and the ordinary. Then the Lord comes to us and interposes Himself, His plans into our lives. We are surprised. Our breath is taken away. We say it is the "Christ Event". WOW!
This is what happened to Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were good people. The Bible says, "Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord" (Luke 1:6). That is the profile of a very religious person. They went through all the right motions. They obeyed the Law. They were faithful in worship. They prayed fervently to God.
It is possible sometimes, to settle into such a religious routine that God has a tough time getting our attention. Jesus Christ, the very God of the universe, is an active observer of all that is going on in this world and particulrly in our lives. He knows our every thought. He observes our yawns. He knows our fears. He is concerned about the health problems, financial needs and deep, aching loneliness that mark the existence of some. You name it and He is aware of it, and He wants to meet us at our point of need. He wants to surprise us with His joy. The Bible records that Zachariah and Elizabeth, faithful servants of the Living God were childless.. Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a child. Despite this, how stunned they were when their prayer was answered, not in their timing but God's.
Let us not be stunned when God answers our prayers. I can look back and document time after time when God has been faithful. I can also describe to you many occasions on which God simply has not answered my prayer in the way I wanted it answered.
Zechariah was a clergy person. He was a paid religious professional, faithful in carrying out the functions that were assigned to him in the temple worship. Apparently, he wasn't accustomed to hearing the Word of God as it applied itself in a highly personal way to himself. How tragic it is when we see a person who should be noted for their faith in the Lord, stumble in disobedience. When God, through the Angel Gabriel, spoke specifically to Zechariah, Zechariah became confused. He doubted. He spoke back these words, "How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years" (Luke 1:18). Gabriel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur" (Luke 1:19-20).
Sometimes God has to use severe methods to get our attention. There need to be times of reflection and contemplation. I love the segment of the Roman Catholic Holy Orders which are referred to as the "contemplatives." These monks, such as Thomas Merton, take vows of silence. Some of us would benefit from at least periods of silence, times in which we stop our talking, our ceaseless babbling, so as to drink from those deep, cool, refreshing springs of spiritual water, which the Lord yearns to provide.
In Jesus our Lord.
Brown
http://youtu.be/mlIThmTNg9w
The Biblical narratives about Advent and Christmas are pregnant with surprises. The Lord loves to surprise us. Our Lord is the Lord of mystery and wonder. He can invade our routine and carefully orchestrated lives and surprise us. When we walk with the Lord and serve Him He loves to surprise us. Often we live in the world of mundane and the ordinary. Then the Lord comes to us and interposes Himself, His plans into our lives. We are surprised. Our breath is taken away. We say it is the "Christ Event". WOW!
This is what happened to Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were good people. The Bible says, "Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord" (Luke 1:6). That is the profile of a very religious person. They went through all the right motions. They obeyed the Law. They were faithful in worship. They prayed fervently to God.
It is possible sometimes, to settle into such a religious routine that God has a tough time getting our attention. Jesus Christ, the very God of the universe, is an active observer of all that is going on in this world and particulrly in our lives. He knows our every thought. He observes our yawns. He knows our fears. He is concerned about the health problems, financial needs and deep, aching loneliness that mark the existence of some. You name it and He is aware of it, and He wants to meet us at our point of need. He wants to surprise us with His joy. The Bible records that Zachariah and Elizabeth, faithful servants of the Living God were childless.. Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a child. Despite this, how stunned they were when their prayer was answered, not in their timing but God's.
Let us not be stunned when God answers our prayers. I can look back and document time after time when God has been faithful. I can also describe to you many occasions on which God simply has not answered my prayer in the way I wanted it answered.
Zechariah was a clergy person. He was a paid religious professional, faithful in carrying out the functions that were assigned to him in the temple worship. Apparently, he wasn't accustomed to hearing the Word of God as it applied itself in a highly personal way to himself. How tragic it is when we see a person who should be noted for their faith in the Lord, stumble in disobedience. When God, through the Angel Gabriel, spoke specifically to Zechariah, Zechariah became confused. He doubted. He spoke back these words, "How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years" (Luke 1:18). Gabriel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur" (Luke 1:19-20).
Sometimes God has to use severe methods to get our attention. There need to be times of reflection and contemplation. I love the segment of the Roman Catholic Holy Orders which are referred to as the "contemplatives." These monks, such as Thomas Merton, take vows of silence. Some of us would benefit from at least periods of silence, times in which we stop our talking, our ceaseless babbling, so as to drink from those deep, cool, refreshing springs of spiritual water, which the Lord yearns to provide.
In Jesus our Lord.
Brown
http://youtu.be/mlIThmTNg9w
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