Morning Message Text: Luke 1: 26-38
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 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.
37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Morning Message:
Two thousand or so years ago heated conversations broiled around how many terms Quirinus would serve as Governor, the political ramifications of Caesar’s Census, the new tax rates, and the current terrorist threat level. Not much has changed.
Many missed the first Christmas because of the human gravitational pull for a political Savior and a military Messiah. Many give the impression the Gospel is a political message rather than a redemptive invitation to all. No one was looking for the hope of the world or the glory of Christmas in a feeding trough in Bethlehem; yet God the Son humbly put on flesh and chose to dwell among us.
My Christmas wish is that Christmas day will be a “time-out” from hashing out the latest and best arguments from CNN, Fox or MSNBC and remember the words Linus quoted 58 years ago in the premiere showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. He was responding to Charlie Brown’s frustration about the commercialization and distraction of the holiday when he shouts, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” Linus, hearing his friend’s question, carried his blanket on stage and recited a section from the Gospel of Luke chapter 2. “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this (shall be) a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.’ That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”
Linus blanket was, of course a security blanket and his ever present companion. In all the cartoons that Linus was featured in, he was never without it…except one time. At the moment Linus recites the words, “Fear not…a Savior is born, which is Christ the Lord,” he drops his precious blanket. This wasn’t an accident. The writer Charles Schultz was intentional. The birth of Jesus separates us from our fears. May this be so for you, my friends. Merry Christmas.
(Michael Sprague: Capital Commission Chaplain)
In Christ’s Love and Peace, Merry Christmas!
Pastor Bob
Views: 0
