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A shared miracle

by | Dec 14, 2012 | Uncategorized

The relationship between Mary and Elizabeth was very special.
They were cousins with a wide age range between them.
They were two women sharing the same experience.
Elizabeth was past the child bearing years and miraculously expecting a son she would name John.
Mary still in her youth and a virgin miraculously expecting a son she would name Jesus.
They both shared a miracle and they both knew how miraculous each of those were for each other.
I am sure upon her visit with Elizabeth she wanted to talk and share and tell everything about
the story of the angel and what was said between them. I am also sure she was encouraged and affirmed through ‘this sharing’.
Elizabeth believed her story and believed the call on her life and affirmed her by saying “my baby leaped upon hearing you.”
How could she not believe for she was carrying a child and that certainly was not possible had it not been for a miracle given to herself.
Elizabeth ministered to Mary in such a way that I don’t believe we can realize.
She confirmed in her heart she was special.
I believe because of their age difference Elizabeth understood the important role that Mary would play in becoming the mother of Jesus. I even wonder can you imagine the hugs between them.
It would be a sister to sister hug no one would understand shared only between the two of them.
At first when Joseph heard about the baby he wanted to quietly send Mary away to protect her and her family from shame.
For to be with child and not married was a tremendous shame in that culture and Joseph knew that it would be hurtful to her.
Through his obedience he showed Mary love and compassion by taking her to be his wife.
That is what happens when we care for someone when we want the best for them.
Each person in the story were a part of the miracle.
The miracle of birth and life and peace and hope.
The story of their shared miracles continues through out history.
We are still reading the story of the baby born in a city called Bethlehem.
We still sing about the wise men who came from a far to see him.
Each of them were a part of a miracle and a story of love and redemption too.
If we opened our hearts and understand there was a reason for this ‘miracle’.
This shared miracle … of a baby born in a little town of Bethlehem.

As we remember

by | Dec 10, 2012 | Uncategorized

The Christmas story is the reason for the season.
In our hustling around and shopping for many assorted treasures.
Let us remember what Joseph and Mary were ‘treasuring’ in their hearts.
Let us remember
the importance of the moments.
Let us remember
the significance of each prophecy.
As we remember
the story that has affected so many and has been told for so many years.
Let us remember the journey.
 
Joining Deidra on jumping tandem with the Sunday community.
photo source unknown
 

He Knew

by | Dec 10, 2012 | Uncategorized

(re posted and revised from original written in 2010)

I have been thinking about the Christmas story.
One thing that has come to my mind is the parallel between the story and Psalm 139.
Psalm 139: 13-16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
God knew and spoke life to the Angel… go tell Mary “I have chosen her.”
Just as he had chosen Elizabeth Mary’s cousin. Luke 1:13-15 the angel talking to Zechariah; “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. The way was being prepared. With Elizabeth first then with Mary. Luke 1:26-32 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent an angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” vs 32b vs 34. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
Mary’s response: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
(I wonder what her thoughts were after the angel left remember she was young and this would be very life changing for her) Reading further… vs 39. At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. (I wonder what the greeting was~we aren’t really told) vs 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Isn’t it awesome that God knew us… just as He knew them before we were born. Elizabeth was honoring Mary her relative and the baby heard and the baby reacted. Life in the womb is often a mystery but it is life and it is real and babies can listen. God knew they would be boys. God knew their names. God knew the call on their lives before they were born.
Before they experienced a breath He knew their name and who they would be forever in history. Before they breathed a breath of life God knew them.
Do you believe that God knew you too?
 

I often wonder

by | Dec 6, 2012 | Uncategorized

(originally written in 2010 revised version)

I often wonder
did Mary and Joseph talk about the angels who told them
about the baby arriving?
Each of them were greeted by an angel who spoke the life changing words “you will have a child”.
Wouldn’t that be something special to share with each other?
If we could listen in what would we hear:
“How did it appear to you Joseph and how did it appear to you Mary?
What did you feel or think? Were you scared?”
After all she was very young in her teens and he was just as unprepared.
Also I wonder how did it feel for them to move the engagement time up and become a family sooner than they planned.
The other thing I wonder about is if they ever talked about how Joseph saved her life.
For to be with child and unmarried Mary could have been stoned.
She knew the consequences and yet she said ‘I choose’.
I accept.
I will be obedient.
Joseph also knew she could not be with child and not be married.
He might not have fully understood it all but he knew his responsibility was to take her for his wife as the angel told him.
He had to follow through. There was no discussion it had to be done.
The angel said: Joseph… take Mary to be your wife.
There were so many questions that could have come between the two of them.
So many worries and fears.
I often wonder
what they were thinking in the quiet of the night.
Do you often wonder?

To be chosen

by | Dec 4, 2012 | Uncategorized

When we begin to look at the Christmas story in the book of Luke in the new testament.
The word tells us that Mary was only around age 12-14 when the angel came to visit her.
That is the age of my grand daughter who is in eighth grade.
That is an amazing and almost hard to believe part of the story.
Our Pastor said on Sunday,
“She was not thirty like most people think she was or as ancient pictures present her to be.”
She was young.
She was a teen.
She was innocent.
The God who knows all and
sees all and
cares about all
decided that out of everyone ever chosen to be the mother
of the son of God
Mary was chosen.
Mary who was a teenager and Joseph who wasn’t much older.
Was chosen to be a vital part of this amazing story.
The story we are still talking about and
singing about and
sharing over and over every year at Christmas time.
She was not well known nor was she rich or highly educated.
She was young.
Our Pastor said, “Don’t ever discount or minimize the importance of your youth”.
God chose Mary and the amazing part was her acceptance.
She knew and had heard the story of a Saviour coming.
What she didn’t know would change her life forever.
When the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid’ she was more afraid of the angel talking to her than what the angel was saying.
She was deeply troubled by the angels words but she also accepted them.
Isn’t that amazing?
Here she was an obscure peasant girl very few people knew and
she was the chosen one.
I wonder
would we have the heart of acceptance and attitude of submission
if asked to do something very important.
It’s definitely something for us to think about as we
remember the Christmas story.