The Testimony of the Two Mothers

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Luke 1:37

I love December and the focus it brings on the story of Jesus. I wish the world would pay as much attention to the cross as it does the manger; but, the story of God's intervention in human history begins in the first chapter of the gospel of Luke. It is the story of two women who are cousins. One is old and well past child bearing age. The other is a young virgin. God intervenes in the lives of these two women to declare and affirm his arrival through, not one; but, two miracles. It was not the first time that an older woman well past her prime had born a son with God's help. Issac was the child of Sara and Abram that was born of the promise of God's covenant to bless all of mankind through their seed. Sara thought this was so funny she laughed at God's revelation. Later, her laughter created the name for her son, Issac, which means "he laughs". Issac later went on to become the father of Jacob whose name was changed by God to "Israel".

Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, hid herself for 5 months when she discovered her pregnancy as foretold by the angel Gabriel to her husband, Zechariah. It was Gabriel's revelation to Mary that is quoted in Luke 1:37 above. I find it humorous that God chose two women to bear his testimony. One old and one who was very young. And, lest we think that women cannot testify, the Bible says that each of them was "filled by the Holy Spirit" and spoke prophetically in Luke 1:41-55:

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." 46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, 52 he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."

The promise made to Abraham was fulfiled in the birth of the Messiah. And, the promise of God to Abraham that through his seed all nations of the world would be blessed was initiated by the acceptance of Mary to do what God asked. The reality is that each day every person who lives upon this planet called earth is asked by God to do His will on earth as it is done in heaven. In this age, we don't have an angel who delivers that message. Indeed, the message of the gospel has now been entrusted to the apostles and the church to be proclaimed among all the nations upon earth. But, when one accepts the message of the kingdom within one's heart, the believer will experience the same spirit of God that rejoices and is magnified within the soul of every individual believer who repents and confesses the name of Jesus as both Lord and Savior. Elizabeth and Mary were very special servants of God. But, they were humans just like us. The miracle of birth is repeated in every generation. Yet, these two women experienced something very different that punctuates God's intervention in the history of the world. Away in a manger, the story begins to unfold.

Why We Praise Him?

Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be thou my helper!" Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, that my soul may praise thee and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever.

Psalms 30:10-12

In the story of the prodigal son, I have always been intrigued by the interaction between the father and the older son as told by Luke in Chapter 15:

"Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

While many can identify with the prodigal son, I think the church is often like the older brother. We have remained in the house of our Father being faithful to do the work. But, somehow we missed the point of the relationship? When the big brother was in the field he heard "music and dancing". His brother had come home and there was a party going on! But, instead of joy, what welled up inside of the older brother was resentment and anger. Instead of feelings of love for his brother, he was focused upon his loss of position and concerns for the inheritance. After all, his brother had already blown his share of the inheritance on prostitutes and here he was back again. There is something about sibling rivalry that is so insidious. It was the original evil crouching at the door that enticed Cain, in his anger, to slay his brother Abel. It pops ups so quickly inside of us that we don't recognize it until after the word has been spoken or the deed has been done. So what can counteract the poison? Love.....and, music and dancing.

The secret is that God has created us to overcome all the adversity that life can throw at us. Even in the midst of mourning, we worship a God who has overcome death! He has the ability to take us from mourning into dancing. You want to talk about Dancing with the Stars.....try being girded with gladness in perpetuity. That is why we praise Him! And, we need not to be silent about it.

Thanksgiving

"Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name." - 1 Chronicles 29:11-13

Learning to live life with humility and thanksgiving is one of the secrets to celebrating joy along the journey of life. Knowing that all good things come from the Lord, Jesus taught his diciples to ask for "daily bread". While I would prefer to have a fully funded 401(k) plan, walking in the Way one learns that God provides on a daily basis. The children of Israel had to learn that lesson the hard way in the Wilderness.

With that said, the "good news" is not that God is going to materially bless us and make all of our aches and pains go away. Instead, seeing the bigger picture gives us hope that we can have a relatinship with a living God that transcends any circumstance. Nothing is too big for our Lord.

God's offer to his people is contractual.

"If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14

The way we live makes a difference to the Lord. He cares about our conduct. If we want to be "His" people we must begin with humility and prayer. Learning to be thankful helps one to begin that journey.