Songs for the Heart

Luke 1:39-80

    Can you believe it?  This question hovers in the background of our daily lives. We make decisions and take action based on the answer to this question.  We may not have all the evidence nor understanding, but we have an immediate opinion.

Faith operates on the edge of credibility.  It does not ask us to be irrational nor thoughtless, but it will push the limits of human understanding.  (And we like to understand the hows, whys and wherefores of our situation, don't we?)

Mary has just received news that had to stretch her faith. She heard the angel. She accepted her mission, but what would happen next?  Could she believe it?  Would everything she had been told really come to be?

    Mary finds real encouragement from her visit to Elizabeth.  She is greeted by the blessing and joyful proclamation, "You are the most blessed of women, and your child will be blessed." Here is confirmation of the angel's announcement.  Mary is told from a second source that she is following God's plan for her life and for the salvation of the whole world.

    I find the Lord nurturing faith in our lives as well. He calls us and draws us.  He wants us to follow Him, to trust His plans. But He wants us to grow in the process.  Our faith needs to take root, sprout and bear fruit. So the path is marked out with subtle signs of confirmation. He wants us to walk with Him, so He leads us on the journey.

    Faith is nurtured and dependent.  But real faith requires a sufficient object. It is not blind faith, it doesn't leap. Real faith follows.  It knows one with the power, ability and willingness to carry out and fulfill the promises that have been made.  Mary has been reminded of the greatness of the One Who promised.

    Mary responds with her song of praise, recognizing the hand of God in preparing and doing great things for her.  Her song is about the wonders of the Almighty, the holy One.  He exalts the lowly and topples the mighty.  She concludes by noting the Lord keeps His mercies and promises to Abraham and his descendants forever. .

    May my faith find encouragement in the signposts of God's leading, in the following His paths. I want to remember His greatness and His compassion. I want us to grow in confidence in the one who cares for us, who calls us.  Can we believe Him?

   Yes. Yes we can.

    

An Unlikely Choice

    Gabriel's second trip to earth in the New Testament was not quite like the first. His first trip made sense.  He went to the Temple, he spoke to a priest in the Holy Place.  This time he was going to Nazareth in Judea of all places.   "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

    Nazareth was an unlikely choice. Wasn't the Messiah to come from Bethlehem, the city of David? Nazareth was anything but royal. They had a reputation. David Guzik notes Nazareth "was a tough town, known for its corruption and low morals."  David Guzik Commentary on the Bible  www.studylight.org

    Mary found the greeting to be unlikely as well.  What did this angel mean, "Greetings, highly favored one! The Lord is with you"? Favored?  I'm from Nazareth!

    And Mary was faced with an unlikely choice.  The angel said she would be with child, a great son, who would be called the Son of the Most High.  Mary understood plainly that the child would not be Joseph's son following their marriage. She understood the risk that Joseph may not go along with the idea of a pregnancy before they married.

    But on the other side of the decision stood a messenger from God, the angel Gabriel. He reminded her that her relative Elizabeth (the barren one) was in her sixth month.  God was already at work to bring his son into the world. Her circumstances were daunting, but "nothing is impossible with GOD."

    And so Mary made the most likely choice.  She agreed with God.  What He wanted for her is what she wanted also.  "I am the Lord's servant."  She chose to walk the path the Lord had laid out before her.  She didn't have all the details and all the answers, but she accepted.

    My prayer for all of us is that we choose to follow the paths the Lord has laid out before us.  We may not see Gabriel but if you look God is going before you, preparing the way.  Your circumstances may be daunting or worse.  Never forget the angel's words of truth,  "For nothing is impossible with God."

    Let's make an obvious choice.  May it be to me as He has spoken.

    

What is your story?

    Zechariah and Elizabeth felt the reproach and shame of being childless.  In their day, being without an heir carried a stigma.  It meant that God was somehow displeased with one or both of you.  Now it seemed that the condition was permanent. They were old.  Their hopes had faded with their youth.  Luke tells us they were upright in the sight of God. They observed all of the regulations and commandments. But they were still childless.  I feel confident they prayed and prayed often about their situation. And they still had no infant.

   

    What is your story? What dreams of yours have faded? When did hope begin to fail?  Have you laid aside the plans of  youth, traded in for the practicality of daily living and marking time until the Lord calls you home?  Or is your feeling even more desperate?  Has your faith turned into religious routine? Has unbelief begun to creep in?  

    Zechariah's career kept him on duty. He still served as a priest, taking his turn with the priestly division of Abijah. It paid the bills.  But the silence from heaven was deafening.  The Lord had not spoken to men directly since the time of Malachi, some 400 years earlier. The waiting and working continued.  

    "Zechariah, come in here. I want to speak to you."  The words were never spoken, but the purpose was clear.  While being dutiful, Zechariah went into the Holy Place to offer incense.  It was the moment of a lifetime, with some evidence that due to the number of priests, this offering was limited to just once per priest.  Those selected to serve in the Holy Place on that day entered, completed their duties and withdrew, leaving Zechariah alone before the alter of incense.

    "Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the alter of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear."  I can only imagine! 

    God works in our lives with His own timing. It seems that often He waits until it will be obvious that only He could produce the result.  That doesn't mean He shouldn't be praised when His timing is more to our liking.  But Zechariah's response intrigues me and leads me to wonder how I respond when I understand the answer to my prayers.

    Sometimes a reverent fear is most appropriate.  But I have to admit, sometimes my fears of disappointment lead me to ask, like Zechariah, "How can I be sure of this?"  I can usually offer reasons why this answer from God will fall through.

    Today, I want to learn to pray, to ask the Lord to rule in my impossible situation.  To be able to believe and continue believing in His answer and His willingness to work in and through us.  My request is for the next generation of believers to rise up, empowered and faithful to know, worship and serve the Lord God of the Scriptures.  I want my story to be about Jesus.

    

    

Welcome!

If I asked you, "Who wrote the most books in the New Testament?"  Most of you could answer the Apostle Paul.  But if the question was rephrased as who wrote the largest portion of the New Testament, would that change your response?  Would you think of Luke without the title of this blog?

  Based on word count, Luke carries the day. I even ran across a Catholic writer who suggested Luke may have translated Hebrews for Paul and Peter's first letter.  Regardless, Luke has the privilege of recording the largest volume of work in the New Testament.

    The Sunday School class will be studying in the book of Luke for the coming weeks. We want to spend some time walking with Jesus, letting His life develop in us. I would invite you to journey with us.  We have been challenged in the morning services to tell others what we know about Jesus.

 My prayer is that this time and study will deepen our connection with Him, so we have more to share.