You have found favour with God

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You have found favour with God

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! 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 favour with God.”

Luke 1:28-30

A year or so ago, I was selected to represent the staff at my school on the governors’ education committee, responsible for overseeing the education provided by the school. Since the primary focus of a school is to education, I felt very privileged to have been selected for this important post. I also congratulated myself on achieving this honour; clearly the school had recognised just how good I was at doing my job, and how special I am, to have bestowed this responsibility on me. When I attended the meetings, however, I quickly discovered that being on the committee was rather – well, dull really! I also discovered that my primary purpose was to sit still and shut up whilst the genuinely important people got on with their job!

In today’s reading, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her that she has been singled out for a very special job. He announces that she is favoured by God. He tells her that the Lord is with her. Mary is “greatly troubled” by his words. I suspect that if I encountered an angel, I would probably jump out of my skin, so Mary’s reaction, as recorded by Luke, seems quite restrained! Mary’s reaction is also a testament to her modesty. She did not puff herself up and think of how important she must be to have been chosen by God. She didn’t look down on a mere angel, as she might have done for being so highly favoured. Instead, she is afraid, and humbled by the experience. Clearly it was unexpected, and Gabriel has to reassure Mary. Gabriel comforts Mary, and tells her not the be afraid, and reassures her that she has found favour with God.

I suspect that many of us, if we were selected for a special task by our bosses, or if we met a representative of our government who told us that we had been chosen for a special activity would be full of self-importance. Perhaps we should learn from Mary, however. Maybe we should reflect on our own humility and meekness. We may have been singled out to do a specific task by the Lord, but do we think that this is because we are special in God’s eyes? Or should be we humbled by the fact that God has chosen us, mere weak sinners, to serve him in this way?

The Eternal Kingdom

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The Eternal Kingdom

26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”

29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He 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, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon 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. 36Even 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. 37For nothing is impossible with God.”

38“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38

Every year, Christmas seems to come round that little bit faster.  I’m told that’s a consequence of getting older!  I do think, though, that the shops start introducing their Christmas ranges earlier and earlier, no doubt to try and get as much cash out of us as they possibly can!  The first Christmas story gives even Tesco a run for their money, however.  The first Christmas story began nine months before the birth of Jesus Christ, with the appearance of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary.  It is that vital, and oft-questioned, element of the Christmas story that this article will consider.  Firstly, we will consider Mary’s situation.  Secondly, we will look at how Gabriel introduced Mary to the baby that she would give birth to.  Finally, we will think about Mary’s response to Gabriel.

The Virgin Mary must be one of the most painted people in the whole of human history.  I doubt that there is a gallery anywhere in the world without at least one depiction of the mother of Christ.  Most people know very little about this woman, however.  What can we glean from this passage?  We know that she lived in Nazareth, a small, insignificant farming village on the road to Samaria.  We know that she was engaged to marry a carpenter named Joseph.  Whilst Joseph himself had a rather humble job, he was descended from the great king, David, as indeed Mary probably was too. We can also see that Mary humbly submitted herself to God’s plan. We know too that Mary was a virgin, since it is made explicit in this passage.  There are many high profile Christians who dispute whether Jesus was the result of a virgin birth, but if we are to believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God then there can be no doubt at all.  Luke introduces Mary as a virgin, and Mary herself affirms this.  So it is, then, that the messiah was born to a young, nervous woman who lived in a small village in the Middle East.  Perhaps rather surprising!

Who is this child who Mary is to bear?  Mary is told to call the child ‘Jesus’, which can be translated as ‘God rescues’.  Right from the name of this child, then, it becomes clear that God has an important plan for this child!  Gabriel says that the child will be great, and ‘Son of the Most High’, a term usually applied to God himself.  Jesus will be given the throne of his father, David, the king of the people of Israel.  Unlike the kingdom of his forefather, though, Gabriel explains that Jesus’ kingdom will go on forever; his kingdom will never end.  This is particularly significant, since how can a kingdom continue once the king has died?  Once Queen Elizabeth dies, those of us in the United Kingdom will be ruled over by her son, Prince Charles.  Jesus’ reign will be different, however.  We have here a foreshadowing of Jesus’ resurrection; if his kingdom is to continue, he cannot die.  It stands to reason, then, that Jesus’ kingly rule is still with us today!  We are servants of Jesus, the Son of God!  Just as Jesus’ kingdom knows no boundaries in terms of time, neither does it in terms of space; Jesus’ rule stretches to every corner of the globe, even to those who do not yet know him.  If Jesus is our king, perhaps we should reflect on how we are to serve him, particularly if we wish to be a part of this eternal kingdom.  How marvellous it would be to live under the rule of someone as dynamic, pure and righteous as Jesus!

Reading this, I am rather gobsmacked at what Mary is told.  What is her response, though?  Surely she must have been even more shocked!  Initially, we can see that Mary was, indeed, shocked; Gabriel tells her not to be afraid.  She then questions how Gabriel’s prediction can come true, since she is a virgin.  On hearing Gabriel’s explanation that the Holy Spirit will come upon her, Mary reacts in what can only be described as a cool, calm manner.  She simply responds, “may it be as you have said.  I am the Lord’s servant.”  For a young girl to respond in such a way demonstrates just how much faith Mary must have had.  It also reveals an incredible amount of humility, to accept God’s plan for her without questioning.  We can all learn from Mary’s response to Gabriel.  How often do we try to push God out of our lives in our determination to do things are own way?  How often do we reject the sovereignty of Christ, which we have just seen Gabriel foretell?  On a fairly regular, if not a daily basis, I should imagine.  Perhaps we should all resolve to adopt Mary’s attitude, and simply tell God that we will conform our lives to his will, and won’t try to pursue our own agendas.

What have we seen in this passage, then?  We have seen just who Mary is, particularly the fact that she was a virgin.  We have also seen Gabriel foretell the coming of Jesus, who will rule over an eternal kingdom.  We’ve also seen that Mary simply gave herself over to God’s will.  Let’s remember this Christmas just who Jesus was, and think about how we respond to his rule, and his will for our lives.

We like sheep

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We like sheep

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:6

I’m very fortunate to own shares in a bit of land near a river estuary. On a bit of this land, we let someone we know as the ‘sheep lady’ keep a small flock of sheep. For this privilege, we charge her an annual rent of £1. The truth is that she does us a favour keeping her sheep on our field, because it means that we don’t have to pay someone to cut the grass for us!

Her sheep are crazy creatures. Over the years, I’ve attempted to see how close I can get to them, to feel their thick, woolly coats. I never manage to get very close at all, though! Before I get anywhere near them, one of them always takes fright and goes running off across the field. Before I know it, all the sheep in their field have taken fright, and scatter themselves right across the field! It’s not even as if they all follow one another, they all run in different directions, and it’s as if they’ve decided that it’s every sheep for themselves!

People are not dissimilar to sheep, really. We might not look much like the crazy fluffy animals, but we can certainly act in a similar way! If you’ve ever seen news footage of a cataclysmic event – maybe a bombing or a natural disaster – everyone seems to take off in a separate direction, much like the sheep when they are frightened!

This sheep-like behaviour is exactly what today’s verse mentions. We’re told that we’ve all gone astray, and everyone has turned to his own way. We all seem to have decided that we make our own luck in this world, and are trusting in our own judgement to take us the right way. This verse, however, sees that wisdom as little more than the idiocy of the sheep. We might think we know what we’re doing, but the reality is that we do not at all. This is particularly true when it comes to following God’s pattern for living as laid down in the Bible. You’d think that we’d follow the advice set out in the Bible, but like someone trying to set up a piece of high-tech electrical equipment without the manual and inadvertently snapping off a vital piece, we choose not to follow our creator’s advice, and that too usually ends up in disaster.

The good news is that God is willing to forgive us our pig headedness, however. He sent Jesus, his only son, to live amongst us. As well as teaching us how God wants us to live, he himself lived a pure, blameless and sin free life. Consequently, he was able to take all of our sin upon himself, and to die in our place. God laid all of our wrong doing on him, so that we could be reconciled with our maker.

That is the fundamental message of Christmas. We might get carried away thinking about Wiis or celebrity autobiographies, turkey and roast potatoes, shepherds and the wisemen, but often we get nowhere near the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus came to die for you. For me. He took our deserved punishment, so that we could have eternal life.

I doubt you’ll get a better present this Christmas.

The man of sorrows

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The man of sorrows

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isaiah 53:3

When I was a child, I went to a school that was considered quite posh. Not posh by Eton or Harrow standards, but still posh enough. At my school, the pupils liked to jostle each other about who was better. How much money our parents had, or how smart our parents’ cars were, or what their personalised number plates were seemed to be a big issue. Interestingly, it tended to be those with the most to prove who participated more forcefully in these discussions – the ones whose parents were not actually all that rich, but had scrimped and saved to send them to independent school. They were the ones who seemed most intent on proving their worth, and undermining the worth of others.

School children can be funny creatures!

In today’s reading, we have a direct prophecy of Jesus, the messiah. This prophecy would have shocked and surprised many Jewish people who were expecting the messiah to be a triumphant leader, and an incredible king who would save God’s people. That is certainly not the picture of the messiah we see here, though. Here, we see a man who is despised and rejected, a sad man who has experienced sadness and suffering to the full. This man will not be held in high esteem by anyone.

This prophecy is, of course, startlingly accurate. Jesus was not born into a privileged family; his mother was an unmarried teenager, whose boyfriend, and later husband, was a carpenter. Jesus was born not in a grand palace, but in a cold and dirty stable, surrounded by animals. Jesus experienced plenty of sorrow in his life, ranging from the death of close friends to rejection by those who should have known better. He was certainly familiar with suffering – he was executed in the most cruel way the Romans had devised.

Of course, it’s easy to read this, and think about how poorly Jesus was treated, and reason that we would have been better. But can we really say that? One of the hymns that I find most moving is called, “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us.” It has the words:

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon his shoulders.
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers.

Would we really have been any different to the people shouting for Jesus to be crucified? Would we really not have rejected Christ? Would we really not have followed the crowd? It’s a pretty unpleasant thought.

Of course, we may still be in that crowd of scoffers. Do we really give Jesus the respect that he deserves? After all, he died for us! Or do we reject him on a daily basis by ignoring his pattern for living, and continuing to do things our own way? Do we really honour Christ with our thoughts, our words and our deeds?

The exalted servant

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The exalted servant

See, my servant will act wisely he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

Isaiah 52:13

When I was studying at Cambridge, I had a “bedder,” an unseen person who came into my room every day whilst I was at lectures, who would make my bed and empty my bin. It took me a while to work out what was going on. I thought at first that I had somehow managed to turn into a tidy person without even realising it! Then I thought that there must be some friendly elves who would come in every day. Finally, I learnt the truth about “bedders.” It was rather nice having someone sort my room out for me every day!

Now, quite a few people in my college were unpleasant to the bedders. They could also be unpleasant to the cleaners and the kitchen staff, seeing themselves as somehow superior to the domestic staff that kept the college running. They viewed the staff as little more than servants to carry out their every whim, and who it was excusable to be quite unpleasant to.

In our current Isaiah article, we see the prophet explaining about God’s suffering servant, who would come to earth to take on the sins of every believer. If we are sinful, then a price must be paid for our sin before we can be reconciled to God. The prophet tells us that the suffering servant will take on the burden of our sin.

In today’s reading we encounter God talking about his servant. Rather than a servant who God regards as lowly, we see that God says that this servant will be “raised,” “lifted up,” and “highly exalted.” This servant is to have a very special relationship with God indeed. The servant will, in turn, act wisely. He will know what to do. He will know how to live his life in a way that glorifies and honours God.

There’s a lot that we can glean from this one, short, verse. We can be joyful because God has chosen a servant to pay for our sin. We can see just how much confidence God has in his servant to do the right thing, which tells us not just about the servant himself, but gives us an indication of how we, too, can please God. And we can see God’s attitude towards his servant, raising him up to be with him. We too can be raised if we have confidence in God, and seek to please him. Finally, if God treats his suffering servant in such a positive way, maybe we, too, should think about how we treat people we see as “less good” than us?

Header image: Hughesstudent at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Be Separate

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“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

2 Corinthians 6:17

Yesterday evening I had a bath, and whilst I was in the bath I watched ‘Gavin and Stacey’ on the BBC’s iPlayer. After my bath, no doubt inspired by an integral part of the sit com’s story, I felt like getting an Indian takeaway, so I duly drove to my local. Whilst there, I saw an advert for a new gym that has opened in town, and so went to have a look. Although I do need to exercise more, I thought that rather than joining a new gym, I should make better use of my membership at my local swimming pool.

I’m always surprised these days that when you go swimming, you have to have a shower before you get into the pool. I don’t remember having to do that when I was a child. I guess it’s a good idea, though, since it washes all the dirt and grime off our bodies before we get into the nice, clean swimming pool.

In today’s reading, Paul emphasises one of the verses from our current Isaiah reading (Isaiah 52:11). He tells Christians that we should come out from unbelievers, that we should separate ourselves from them, and that we should touch no unclean thing. It sounds rather difficult, especially if, as most Christians do, we have friends who are not Christians! The point Paul is making, though, is that if we spend time with people who do not follow God’s path of righteousness, we risk being drawn into their sin, and being tainted by it, when we should be striving to lead pure and blameless lives. Just as a dirty person getting into a swimming pool can dirty the water and spoil it for those people who appreciate a nice, clean pool, so mingling with people who freely sin without thought of the consequences can make our thoughts, words or actions impure. It can sometimes be necessary, then, to take a stand; to not involve ourselves with people who might cause us to sin, or who might take us to an environment in which sin is routinely committed.

It’s very difficult, and I know that I am just as much at fault at this as the next person. Ultimately, it’s worth it, though. The Lord promises to receive us if we follow these three commands.

The Lord reigns!

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The Lord reigns!

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.

Psalm 97:1

Sometimes it’s very easy to forget just how much we have to be thankful for. I have a good job, a nice home, a loving and beautiful fiancée, a generous and caring family, good health, a nice car, stunning surroundings and much more beside. Yet sometimes I can get down and think that my life is not as wonderful as I would like it to be. As I say that now, shortly after listing just some of the things I have to be glad about, it seems absurd. I’m sure that you’re the same, though. If you have a busy day at work, or receive some bad news, or the heating packs up in the middle of the winter, it is easy to feel down and depressed, and to lose sight of all the wonderful things that you do have.

In our current Isaiah passage, the prophet says that the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim that God reigns, are beautiful. He makes no doubt that the message that God is sovereign over all is something to be joyous about. The psalmist agrees. He says that the earth should be glad because the Lord reigns. We are not drifting about left to our own devices as some would have you believe, but we are under the watchful and lo loving rule of God the Father.

As we approach Christmas, we have plenty of opportunities to be glad. We can be happy that we have family and friends that bestow love on us. We can be happy with the gifts that we receive. Most of all, though, we can be happy that in Jesus we have the ultimate gift – real, firm evidence that the Lord God loves us, and the promise of eternal life as a consequence of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Let us say together, then, “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad!”

Beautiful Feet

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Beautiful Feet

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Romans 10:14-15

Being a teacher means that I often hear talk about the latest superstar that has impressed the youth of today. When Thierry Henry handballed in the recent football match, I knew exactly who he was, despite not having any interest in football. Why? Because when I worked in London, every Monday I would have to try and engage in conversation about how amazing Arsenal are. (Apparently they’re a football team!) I would listen to the sports bulletin every Monday as I drove to the station so that I could drop a random comment about Henry’s playing on Saturday to the kids.

Thanks to the kids, I knew that Thierry Henry is an amazing footballer. Or, at least, I believed he was based on what they told me about him, and what I picked up on the radio bulletin. Had I not known who Henry was, though, I would not have been able to believe that he was an amazing player. It makes sense really!

In our current Isaiah passage, we’re told that the feet of those who bring the news of the gospel of salvation are beautiful – probably not literally, but figuratively, because it is as a result of those feet that people come to learn about God.

Paul quotes this passage from Isaiah in today’s Daily Reading, which is taken from his letter to the Romans. Here he explains how people come to faith. In order to have faith in God’s salvation plan, people must believe in God. In order to believe in God, people must know about him. In order to know about God, someone must tell people about him. In order for people to tell others about God, it is important that they are sent. It is at this point that Paul reminds us that the feet of those who share the gospel of Christ are beautiful.

Of course, what Paul is talking about here is not just the good news of Christ’s birth, but also Jesus’ teachings, his death and his resurrection. Christmas provides us with a perfect opportunity to share the gospel with those around us, since people are thinking about Jesus anyway. It’s a perfect opportunity to remind people that Jesus was far more than a baby born in a stable. He died to save us all from our sin.

How are your feet looking this Christmas? Are they beautiful as a consequence of sharing the gospel? Or are they a bit grubby, and needing a bit of a clean?

Put off your old self

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Put off your old self

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

I get really irritated by television adverts at this time of year.  Companies are always trying to flog us the latest tat, proclaiming that the latest celebrity autobiography, computer games or gadgets would make excellent gifts for our family and friends.  Looking at the adverts, I guess that some people must spend a fortune on Christmas presents.  I don’t – but then I have the reputation for being tight!

Christmas is a perfect opportunity for us to think about how much we are affected by this blatant western capitalism.  Not only is it a time when we are subjected to the “Buy! Buy! Buy!” culture we live in more than at any time, but it is also the time when we should be thinking about the birth of Jesus, the Son of God.  Rather than getting bogged down in the commercialism of Christmas, perhaps we should be thinking about preparing ourselves for the arrival of the coming of Christ.

In our current Isaiah passage, the prophet tells God’s people to “put on your strength” and to “put on your beautiful garments.”  The time is coming when the Lord will come, and they must be ready and waiting for him.  They must shake themselves out of the dust where they’ve been hiding, and show themselves as God himself professes them to be.

Paul picks up this theme in today’s Daily Reading.  He tells the Ephesians that they were told to put off their old lives, which had been corrupted by deceitful desires, and to be made new in the attitude of their minds, and to be like God himself.

As we prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birth, it is a good time for us to ponder on whether we are striving to be like God “in true righteousness and holiness.”  It seems ironic that the moment we celebrate the coming of the messiah, we actually get carried away with earthly desires.  We fill our heads with the stuff that we want for Christmas rather than all the good gifts that Christ has lavished upon us.  We get bogged down in our desire for Wiis or DSs, for plasma TVs and new computers, for coffee makers or DVD boxsets.  Does this really display the new attitude of mind that Paul urges us to adopt?  There’s nothing wrong with receiving nice gifts, but when it becomes the focus of our Christmas celebrations, we demonstrate to ourselves and God that we really have not put off our former way of life.

So as Christmas approaches and your family and friends ask you what you would like, why not think about ways in which the money they are willing to spend on you could be spent in a more positive way.  There are lots of charities that sell “good gifts” these days – textbooks for African schools, goats for third world farmers, or water pumps for villages without access to clean water.  Why not ask for one of these?  Or even simply ask for money to be donated to a charity on your behalf?

The Sovereign Lord comes

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The Sovereign Lord comes

See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

Isaiah 40:10-11

If I was to head out into the wild streets of East Grinstead today, and ask a selection of people what their view of Jesus was, I suspect that I would get a lot of different answers. I should think that some people will tell me he is a mythical character, some would say he was a good teacher, some might suggest that he was nuts, and some might even tell me that he was the Son of God. I should think that quite a lot of people at this time of year would tell me that Jesus was a small baby, born in a stable, and who received presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh from the three kings who came to visit him. This, after all, is the image that we have of Christ at the moment.

If you were to ask the Jewish people of the first century what the messiah would look like, I should think that most would tell you that he would be a strong and powerful king, who would lead an army against the Romans, and liberate God’s chosen people. This was certainly a very common view of what the Messiah would look like.

In today’s verse, however, we see not one, but three different facets of the messiah. The prophet tells us that he will be a strong and powerful ruler, perhaps similar to the envisaged by the Jews. The prophet also tells us that the messiah will be generous, and reward those who honour him. Finally, he says that the messiah will be like a shepherd tending his flock, holding them close to his heart.

It is useful to reflect on these three different facet of the messiah’s – Jesus’ – character as we appraoach the celebration of his birth. The little baby that we remember was no ordinary little baby. He was a powerful ruler, with the right to rule over all of our lives. Like all rulers, he wants us to be obedient to him, and to serve him as faithfully as we can. This ruler, though, is generous, and will reward those who honour him. He will help and support us as we lead our daily lives, but will also reward us with eternal life. In a seemingly contradictory manner, the messiah – Jesus – also cares for each and one of his people. He wants to hear our concerns and to support us in our daily burdens. He will look out for us when we struggle, and sustain us when we are tired.

We remember at Christmas the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the messiah. When we think of that little baby in the stable, let’s not forget who he was.

Header image: Recent Runes, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons