This week we looked at some of the people who closest to
Jesus before and around the time of his birth.
What we found was a lot of regular people, devout people, people who
quietly went about their day to day lives – God
broke in and surprised them.
Mary was a
young girl, full of hopes and dreams for her future – looking forward to her
wedding and then, in time, having a family with her new husband. There was no indication that she was going to
be instrumental in a revolution, in God’s plan to bring freedom and peace to the world. Her life was turned upside down with the
visit of an angel. Not only was the
choice of this regular girl unexpected – so was her response – not worry and
fretting about what people, especially Joseph would think, but praise that God
would bless her so unexpectedly.
Zechariah
was from the tribe that served in the temple.
He was no one particularly special in the public eye. He had not managed to have sons so he may
have been somewhat pitied. He quietly
went about his way – just another one of the family doing his duty. Then God burst in and changed his life. Zechariah could no longer perform some of his
church tasks as he had no voice – but he was a witness to God’s presence as his
inability to speak was understood as a sign from God. After many years of wanting a son, of
consoling his barren wife, of remaining true to his wife and to his faith, he
found out he was going to be a father.
His life changed forever as his son became John the Baptist, a famous
prophet, loved feared, followed and watched by many.
Elizabeth, his wife and Mary’s elderly
cousin, was also a regular woman. She
loved God and worshipped regularly, but was seen as somewhat less than women
who had been able to have children.
There was a stigma, as if the childlessness was a punishment for
something she or her husband or her parents had done. Then God burst into her life – Taking away
her husband’s ability to speak, allowing her to get pregnant, then making her
the first person Mary went to when she found she was pregnant, the first person
besides Mary to recognize the significance of the child that was to come. God
burst into Elizabeth’s life and changed it forever. It’s not that it was easier – giving birth to
and raising a child at her age would have been difficult – not to mention
watching him grow into the widely known but dangerously unconventional prophet
would have given a mother lots of anxiety.
But Elizabeth, unassuming and previously looked down upon by others, embraced her new life and felt richly blessed by God.
Joseph, another regular guy, a carpenter
preparing to wed Mary and start a life together, gets his life turned upside
down when he discovers his betrothed is pregnant – and then is told in a dream
to marry her anyway! Suddenly
extraordinary faith and endurance were called for from this ordinary man. Through the months of watching Mary grow
large with child, watching the child be born and strange people coming to see
him, then having to leave for Egypt to keep the child safe – so much for the
mundane life of a small town carpenter.
After the baby is born we meet some more people deeply affected by Jesus’
birth.
On his first trip to the temple
Jesus is met by Simeon – an ordinary but devout man. Prior to that day, Simeon was probably seen
as just another old guy who went to the temple every day. Very few, if any, people probably knew of his
request to see the Messiah before he died.
Many people probably passed him by without even really noticing
him. But God granted his prayer to see
the Messiah, and then used Simeon to pass on a prophecy – to help Mary and
Joseph prepare for what would lie ahead but also to show God’s presence in the
infant so carefully held by this old man.
God changed his life.
They also met Anna. She is another interesting
person. An elderly widow who lived in
the temple. She was a prophet. She seems to be quite friendly. And she was another woman seen as less
valuable because she came, not from Jerusalem or Bethlehem – but from a little
place on the outskirts of Israel where people intermarried with non-Jews and
may or may not remain true to the Israelite faith. I’m sure she spent a lot of
time ignored, maybe even rudely so.
Perhaps she was seen as a little crazy. She was such a fixture in the temple people
may even have forgotten to notice she was there. This is not someone who would
be at the top of the list for meeting the Messiah – yet she was.
All through the Christmas stories we see people who would not be
the expected choice –for a mother, a father, a prophet’s parents, or one of the first
recipients of the Messiah’s news – yet they were chosen to be just that. God can burst into the most ordinary, the
most painful, the most mundane life and make it something special. God can use you. Whether you are super
talented or feel totally untalented – God can use your hands, your voice, your
life to make a difference. Never feel
like you are not good enough – because God is good enough for you – for me –
for all of us fallible humans. We just need to allow God to work through us. Open your
eyes and your arms and embrace whatever it is God is calling you to do or be –
even if, for now, it is just ordinary. You
never know when God will burst in.
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