Living by Faith – January 6, 2017

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Before Relinquishing the Christmas Season to the new year…Part 4 of 4

The 12th and final day of Christmas…Three Kings Day…Epiphany…

I looked up the word “epiphany”, as it relates to the Christian tradition. According to ReligionFacts.com,   the Epiphany is the “’shining forth’ or revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ.”

This final day of the Christmas season, called the Day of Epiphany or Three Kings Day is typically associated with the magi who recognized Jesus as God in human form and came worshiping Him and bringing Him gifts fit for a King.

However, since we talked about the wise men (magi) in this week’s Wednesday Wisdom Chat, today I want to consider the shepherds. It is with the shepherds that we find the fourth appearance of one angel followed by the appearance of a multitude of angels as these shepherds were out in the Bethlehem fields watching over their sheep on the night of Jesus’ birth.

As you remember, Zacharias was the first to receive a visit from an angel. The angel appeared to him in the temple as he was going about his duties. The angel told Zacharias that his prayer had been heard and God was going to answer by giving him and Elisabeth a son. But Zacharias didn’t believe him and asked for a “sign”. As a result of his lack of faith, Zacharias was mute until after his son, John (the Baptist), was born. Action was necessary on the part of Zacharias in order for his prayer to be answered and obviously Zacharias realized it. He went home and Elisabeth conceived and John was born. It is interesting to note that Zacharias still could not speak after the baby was born. It was not until he wrote the name of the child given by the angel, “John”, that his tongue was loosed and he could now vocalize his joy to those around him.

Mary was the next one to receive a visit from an angel. Her response was one of faith, “Behold, the bond-slave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”  There was no action was required by Mary. The angel announced to Mary what would happen to her. Joseph had several vvisits by an angel in his dreams, but each required immediate action. And each time, Joseph responded in faith, getting up and promptly and carefully doing exactly what the angel told him to do.

Finally, we consider the shepherds. They weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary. It was just another night in the life of a shepherd, until the angel appeared and their lives were forever changed. The angel didn’t require anything of the shepherds; there was no command to “Get up and go!” as Joseph had been told. On the other hand, there was an assumption in the angel’s announcement that the shepherds would do something with the message he gave them. The angel said to them, “you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12) He didn’t say “go find the baby”. They didn’t have a star to lead them to the baby. The angel just named the town and described what the baby would be wearing and what his crib looked like.

When the angel first appeared, the shepherds were startled and afraid, just as Mary, Joseph, and Zacharias had been. The first words of the angel, as with the others, was, “Do not be afraid…” followed by the angelic announcement of the good news, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) The angel knew that once the shepherds heard this news, they would surely go and find the baby. He was the child that had been promised so long ago. He was the long-awaited Messiah. The shepherds had missed out on a lot of things in their lives, due to being out in the fields taking care of sheep, but there was no way they were missing this!

Following the angel’s proclamation, the sky filled with the most amazing and brilliant beings they had ever seen and the most magnificent powerful voices they had ever heard. The disappointments of  all the years of missing the services at the temple and the  music of the choirs disappeared as the brightness of the angels  and the glorious sounds filled the sky as they proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men!”  When the angels disappeared from sight, the sheep were forgotten. Leaving everything behind, the shepherds, believing the words of the angel and acting in faith, made their way into Bethlehem and found “Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.” From there, they went on their way, telling everyone who they had seen with their own eyes – “the revelation of God to mankind in human form.”

The angel didn’t need to command the shepherds to tell people about Jesus. Once they found Him, it was the natural thing to do, and they just did it, unashamedly. When we really find Jesus, telling others about Him will be the natural thing to do. We should not be afraid, for Jesus is with us. Our joy and our excitement, like the shepherds of old, should just spill over. But just in case the excitement of these good tidings of great joy have slipped from our hearts, Jesus commands us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) He promises as we listen and obey His words, His joy will be in us and our joy will be full. (John 15:11).

Do not be afraid, only believe!

Living By Faith – January 5, 2017

 

Before Relinquishing the Christmas Season to the new year…Part 3 of 4

Remembering our theme of faith for 2017 and our focus for January, “Do Not Fear, Only Believe”, let’s consider the third character in the Christmas story, from the first two chapters of Matthew and of Luke.

On Tuesday we mentioned the encounter between Zacharias and an angel of the Lord. We learned that Zacharias, the only one of the characters in the account who had prayed specifically for something – a child, was also the only one who exhibited a lack of faith by asking for “a sign”.  He got his request. He became mute, unable to speak, until after the longed-for son, was born.

Yesterday, we considered Mary. She also asked the angel, Gabriel, “How can this be seeing I do not know a man?” But her response was one of faith, as she sacrificially submitted herself to God and His plan, even though she did not understand.

Today, we see Joseph, a man of honor and integrity, a man with a gentle spirit. Even when he heard that Mary was pregnant, he did not want to humiliate her and was planning to silently “divorce” her, and so minimize her shame and reproach. That was his plan, until God intervened, sending his angel to appear to Joseph in a dream. In fact, Joseph had four dreams and four appearances of an angel of the Lord (although in the fourth dream, it may be that God Himself appeared to Joseph). This all happened over about a two-year period. Whereas Mary’s faith response was one of the heart, Joseph’s faith response was one of action.

  1. It was in the first dream that the angel began with the words, “Do not be afraid…” and proceeded to explain to Joseph the truth about Mary’s pregnancy. The angel told Joseph, “Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” Joseph’s response was swift. He “awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Maryas his wife…” His complete faith and resolve to fulfill the prophesy from Isaiah, spoken by the angel, is included in the next phrase, “but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24)
  2. The angel appeared a second time to Joseph in a dream on the night following the visit by the magi. Again, the angel told Joseph to do something. “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you…” Joseph got up and went immediately before the morning came. (I suspect that gold, frankincense, and myrrh came in quite handy for taking care of the family financially during those years in Egypt!)
  3. The angel appeared the third time in a dream, as he had told Joseph he would. The angel, again, had a message from God directing Joseph to get up and go. “So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.” (Matthew 2:20-21) On his arrival, he knew he had obeyed the angel of the Lord, but now he was afraid, because even though Herod had died, Herod’s son now reigned. But the Lord did not leave him in fear.
  4. Even as Joseph got up, took his family and returned to Israel in faith, he wasn’t sure where to go to keep his family safe. But somewhere along the way, he was warned by God in a dream, to take his family to Nazareth. His concern for his family was completely legitimate, and God had him covered even before Joseph knew of the danger. Joseph had obeyed right away, and now God took care of the details, sending them to Nazareth, which was part of the plan all along.

Sometimes, God only tells us what we need to know, just as he did with Joseph. And hopefully, we will respond as Joseph did, with faith and immediate obedience, knowing that the Lord has our back, that He goes before us, and that He stands beside us, just as He did with Joseph. We have no need to fear, only believe!