“How can this be?” ---Mary (Luke 1)
“Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
“For nothing is impossible with God.” Or, all things are possible. There is nothing—no- thing too hard for the Lord. All things can happen, no matter how absurd or ridiculous as long as the Spirit of the Lord is behind it. No matter how illogical or impossible it may sound, with God, it can happen. It doesn’t matter if we think it makes sense or not. I am not too sure God is concerned with making sense.
If all things are possible, then what are we to expect? If God can do far more than our wildest dreams or expectations, more than we could ever dare ask or imagine (Eph. 3:21-22), then how are we to pray? Wildly! Largely! Without limits!
And the drums are beating wildly in anticipation of the arrival. Echoes are bouncing and ricocheting off the cracks and crevices of the earth. All of creation is on edge as they watch the two most unlikely women get ready to have children.
Neither of them should be pregnant. One is a virgin and the other is too old. I wish I could have been there when they pulled one another aside in a secret place and exchanged their stories and are enveloped in laughter and wonder. It is laughable if we box these circumstances in with only our finite human minds. But for some reason, this is how God has chosen to work. These two babies--these two children--One has journeyed from Heaven and will save the world and the other will go ahead of Him in order to get the world’s attention; to get them ready to listen. Come, Lord Jesus, come!
“…blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”---Luke 1:45
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
the silence of zechariah
How Can This Be? Part 1
The silence of Zechariah—
“How can this be? How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”---Zechariah (Luke 1)
“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”
If I came home from church or prayer and was silent and did not speak, my wife would hit me with a pan. She’d never believe me and would think it was a ridiculous joke. More than likely I’d lose my job. My “job” is ministry and it requires much talk and interaction. Too much talk, I think. It seems to me that there is too much talk in Christianity and ministry; not enough listening—not enough silence.
It would be extremely difficult to do ministry if I could not talk--or would it? Perhaps I would be more effective at ministry. Perhaps, because I could not talk, it would lead me to pray more, to remain silent more, to be in a better place to listen both to God and to others. God would have my attention. Perhaps with Zechariah, silence was the best place he could be. Maybe God was pushing him to a place where he could be silent and reflect on what was taking place. After all, Zechariah had been invited to sit on the front row and witness God’s plan to save the world.
“Zechariah returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.”
The silence of Zechariah—
“How can this be? How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”---Zechariah (Luke 1)
“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”
If I came home from church or prayer and was silent and did not speak, my wife would hit me with a pan. She’d never believe me and would think it was a ridiculous joke. More than likely I’d lose my job. My “job” is ministry and it requires much talk and interaction. Too much talk, I think. It seems to me that there is too much talk in Christianity and ministry; not enough listening—not enough silence.
It would be extremely difficult to do ministry if I could not talk--or would it? Perhaps I would be more effective at ministry. Perhaps, because I could not talk, it would lead me to pray more, to remain silent more, to be in a better place to listen both to God and to others. God would have my attention. Perhaps with Zechariah, silence was the best place he could be. Maybe God was pushing him to a place where he could be silent and reflect on what was taking place. After all, Zechariah had been invited to sit on the front row and witness God’s plan to save the world.
“Zechariah returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.”
Friday, December 11, 2009
keeping watch
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch… (luke 2.8)
Keeping watch. It is an active statement full of stillness. It’s a verb describing inactivity and stillness. As if to say, “I am doing nothing.” To do nothing is still doing something, but it is not. It is stillness.
The announcement of the arrival of a king is usually surrounded with much fanfare and celebration. It is an event full of publicity and attention. I remember a few years ago when the Pope was chosen. The streets were crowded with thousands and thousands of people. People were packed into bars and restaurants intently watching the television. All were waiting. Then the smoke ascended out of the chimney of the Vatican, which meant that a new pope had been affirmed and chosen. The same goes with elections of our presidents. It’s a process that takes years and sucks up the attention of the media. You can’t get away from it. Everyone is constantly talking about it; debating and discussing it. Usually, the announcement of a king, pope, or president is an event that the whole world watches.
Here, though, in this field outside of Bethlehem, it is quiet. You can hear the sheep rustling, but that’s about it. The fire crackles. And the shepherds were keeping watch. The announcement of the arrival of the King of all kings is being made to people. Not to the religious, or powerful, or influential, but to mere ordinary shepherds. The declaration of the event was made privately and in secret. There was no worldly pomp and celebration to be found here. No, God had visited the earth. He had come to rescue his people.
And no one noticed…
…except a few shepherds…
...they were watching…
…were still enough to notice.
Keeping watch. It is an active statement full of stillness. It’s a verb describing inactivity and stillness. As if to say, “I am doing nothing.” To do nothing is still doing something, but it is not. It is stillness.
The announcement of the arrival of a king is usually surrounded with much fanfare and celebration. It is an event full of publicity and attention. I remember a few years ago when the Pope was chosen. The streets were crowded with thousands and thousands of people. People were packed into bars and restaurants intently watching the television. All were waiting. Then the smoke ascended out of the chimney of the Vatican, which meant that a new pope had been affirmed and chosen. The same goes with elections of our presidents. It’s a process that takes years and sucks up the attention of the media. You can’t get away from it. Everyone is constantly talking about it; debating and discussing it. Usually, the announcement of a king, pope, or president is an event that the whole world watches.
Here, though, in this field outside of Bethlehem, it is quiet. You can hear the sheep rustling, but that’s about it. The fire crackles. And the shepherds were keeping watch. The announcement of the arrival of the King of all kings is being made to people. Not to the religious, or powerful, or influential, but to mere ordinary shepherds. The declaration of the event was made privately and in secret. There was no worldly pomp and celebration to be found here. No, God had visited the earth. He had come to rescue his people.
And no one noticed…
…except a few shepherds…
...they were watching…
…were still enough to notice.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
go and make a careful search for the child
“…the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem,
but they were unaware of it.
Thinking he was in their company,
they traveled on for a day.”
Luke 2
An entire day passed before Joseph and Mary realized Jesus was no longer with them, before the silence of absence spoke up and got their attention. Neither was he among their friends or relatives. And for what it’s worth, it seemed as far as they could tell that the plans were fairly simple, clear and straight-forward: they were to go to the feast and when it was over, they were to return home, together. Somewhere along the way, what Jesus had in mind and what his parents had in mind were not the same.
As this nightmare materializes; as they come to grips with the reality of what has happened, Joseph and Mary leave the company of travelers and hurry back to Jerusalem to search for him. Fortunately, only one day had gone by before they discovered Jesus’ absence. And possibly it was not Jesus who was absent. Perhaps Jesus was where he was supposed to be all along. Maybe Mary and Joseph were the ones who did the leaving? Perhaps they wandered off from where Jesus was.
It is a parent’s worst nightmare: to be in a crowded place and suddenly realize that your child is not with you. Seconds upon realizing that your child is missing, you immediately and hastily scan in every direction, hoping to catch a quick glimpse. You begin to shake. Words have no place here because you have lost the ability to speak. You spin around and look again, knowing that every second that goes by means they may be further and further away. Fists of questions begin pounding on the big wooden doors of your mind:
Have they wandered off?
Did somebody take them?
How long?
Where?
Are they safe?
Why?
How did this happen?
As worthy as these questions are, still the matter of first importance is to find your child. To discover how it happened is secondary. You can get to that later.
“Go and make a careful search for the child.”
—King Herod
Although, these statements were made with evil intentions, they do have something to say to us. Those words are worth listening to. And I think they may even be more relevant to us today. “Go and make a careful search for the child.”
The same goes with our lives. Some of us need to go and make a careful search for our lives. The life we are leading may not be the life you had dreamed of. You may even smirk at the thought of even calling what you are doing a life. You may not feel like what you are doing is living. Perhaps it feels more like survival, struggle, or just getting through the day. A life lived simply to survive is no life lived at all. A day lived with the hopes of just getting through it and putting it behind you is no day worth living.
How do we move from simply surviving the day to living a life that is fully alive? And what does that even mean? Our culture has become more and more saturated with the idea of living a life that is fully alive. And I think the reason for that is that more and more people are realizing that they are a good ways from doing so. It’s as if we have all been awakened to the fact that we are living a pace of life that is killing us. We are distracted and hurried at every turn. There is no peace. There is no stillness. There is no life. We are learning this. And in this learning we are beginning to declare louder and louder that we want off this wheel. We want out of this race of rats.
I strongly believe that this life we are looking for is tied tightly to the person of Jesus. Jesus was the Master of living life. Nobody lived life like Jesus did. And if we are going to find life, I’d suggest we start looking a little more closely for Jesus. Not Christianity, not religion, not morality, but looking for Jesus. It is not about learning to smile no matter what or to try to be as nice as you can be. It’s about looking for life and life is about Jesus. Jesus is life. The life we desire so desperately is wrapped up in the person of Jesus.
For some of us it has been longer than a day since we last saw Jesus, or even thought about him. For some of us it has been days, months, years, or even entire lifetimes. In the rushing flow of our days, in all of the noise, busyness, and productivity of life, maybe we just forgot about him. And one day you look up and consider the distance between the two of you. How long has it been for you since you last noticed the presence of Jesus in your life? Perhaps you should leave and hurry back to Jerusalem and search for him.
Hurry. Run! There is no time to lose.
but they were unaware of it.
Thinking he was in their company,
they traveled on for a day.”
Luke 2
An entire day passed before Joseph and Mary realized Jesus was no longer with them, before the silence of absence spoke up and got their attention. Neither was he among their friends or relatives. And for what it’s worth, it seemed as far as they could tell that the plans were fairly simple, clear and straight-forward: they were to go to the feast and when it was over, they were to return home, together. Somewhere along the way, what Jesus had in mind and what his parents had in mind were not the same.
As this nightmare materializes; as they come to grips with the reality of what has happened, Joseph and Mary leave the company of travelers and hurry back to Jerusalem to search for him. Fortunately, only one day had gone by before they discovered Jesus’ absence. And possibly it was not Jesus who was absent. Perhaps Jesus was where he was supposed to be all along. Maybe Mary and Joseph were the ones who did the leaving? Perhaps they wandered off from where Jesus was.
It is a parent’s worst nightmare: to be in a crowded place and suddenly realize that your child is not with you. Seconds upon realizing that your child is missing, you immediately and hastily scan in every direction, hoping to catch a quick glimpse. You begin to shake. Words have no place here because you have lost the ability to speak. You spin around and look again, knowing that every second that goes by means they may be further and further away. Fists of questions begin pounding on the big wooden doors of your mind:
Have they wandered off?
Did somebody take them?
How long?
Where?
Are they safe?
Why?
How did this happen?
As worthy as these questions are, still the matter of first importance is to find your child. To discover how it happened is secondary. You can get to that later.
“Go and make a careful search for the child.”
—King Herod
Although, these statements were made with evil intentions, they do have something to say to us. Those words are worth listening to. And I think they may even be more relevant to us today. “Go and make a careful search for the child.”
The same goes with our lives. Some of us need to go and make a careful search for our lives. The life we are leading may not be the life you had dreamed of. You may even smirk at the thought of even calling what you are doing a life. You may not feel like what you are doing is living. Perhaps it feels more like survival, struggle, or just getting through the day. A life lived simply to survive is no life lived at all. A day lived with the hopes of just getting through it and putting it behind you is no day worth living.
How do we move from simply surviving the day to living a life that is fully alive? And what does that even mean? Our culture has become more and more saturated with the idea of living a life that is fully alive. And I think the reason for that is that more and more people are realizing that they are a good ways from doing so. It’s as if we have all been awakened to the fact that we are living a pace of life that is killing us. We are distracted and hurried at every turn. There is no peace. There is no stillness. There is no life. We are learning this. And in this learning we are beginning to declare louder and louder that we want off this wheel. We want out of this race of rats.
I strongly believe that this life we are looking for is tied tightly to the person of Jesus. Jesus was the Master of living life. Nobody lived life like Jesus did. And if we are going to find life, I’d suggest we start looking a little more closely for Jesus. Not Christianity, not religion, not morality, but looking for Jesus. It is not about learning to smile no matter what or to try to be as nice as you can be. It’s about looking for life and life is about Jesus. Jesus is life. The life we desire so desperately is wrapped up in the person of Jesus.
For some of us it has been longer than a day since we last saw Jesus, or even thought about him. For some of us it has been days, months, years, or even entire lifetimes. In the rushing flow of our days, in all of the noise, busyness, and productivity of life, maybe we just forgot about him. And one day you look up and consider the distance between the two of you. How long has it been for you since you last noticed the presence of Jesus in your life? Perhaps you should leave and hurry back to Jerusalem and search for him.
Hurry. Run! There is no time to lose.
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