Two Special Children

Luke 1: 39-45 

“39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Elizabeth and Mary, two women of faith, two women chosen by God to fulfill His plan, two relatives glad to see each other at such a special time in their lives, two women rejoicing in each other’s company.  

The yet unnamed babe, the baptist, the forerunner, the herald, the eater of locusts and honey, the voice in the wilderness crying repent, rejoiced at the sound of the virgin’s voice and leaped in his mother’s womb.  Years from that day he would point out the Lamb to his followers as he walked by.

Two relatives touched by God. Two special children in two wombs to be born.

And the world would never be the same.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Word

Luke 2: 38

“38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.”

Mary, the Lord’s servant,  said yes.  

Yes to God.  Yes to love.  Yes to trust in the Lord. Yes to the true meaning of the words “Fear not.”  Yes to becoming God’s portal into the world.  Yes to becoming mother to the Messiah.  Yes to turning her back on the normal life she knew.

She asked only that God’s word to her be fulfilled.  But Mary did you know….

“In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Called to Follow God

Matthew 1: 20-24

“20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.”

In ancient Israel, being engaged carried certain legal obligations and if an engaged couple wanted to nullify the engagement it required a “divorce”.  Joseph had considered divorcing Mary, his fiancé, because she was pregnant with a baby that was not his.

God intervened.  An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, the first of four dreams in which God communicated with or warned Joseph.  After each dream, Joseph awoke and did what God asked him to do.

Joseph was more than a man who was faithful to the law.  He was a man of God, who apparently had spent enough time with God to recognize His voice, to believe His visions, and to trust in His word.  For Joseph, the word of God was more important than the letter of the law.

Because of his relationship with God, Joseph chose to be part of God’s plan for the salvation of the world rather than conform to the world.

This Christmas season, let’s all choose to be part of God’s plan.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

God’s Favor

Luke 1:30-35

“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.”

Mary, a young woman, a virgin, who was engaged to Joseph, a carpenter, was visited by an angel, a messenger of God.  She was afraid.  We would have been afraid too.  

The angel told her that she had found favor with God.  Most of the time we think that this is a good thing.

In this case, God’s favor was a double edged sword.  It meant that Mary was to bear a special child, a child who would be called Son of the Most High, the Son of God.  It would also mean that she would be pregnant with a child that was not Joseph’s.  This meant that she would put her engagement with him at risk, and also risk public ridicule and disgrace.

God’s blessings are not always easy or easily understood.  But sometimes the redemption of the world hangs in the balance.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

A Heart Ripe for God

 Matthew 1:18-19

“18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”

The story of the birth of Jesus begins with two, ordinary, very human people. Joseph’s reaction of concern was a reaction you or I might have,  when he discovered that his fiancé was pregnant with a child that was not his.

Joseph was faithful to the law, and Jewish tradition called for divorce to take place in a very public way.   If Joseph had followed the law, Mary would have stood in the public square to face questions about her faithfulness to Joseph. All the townspeople would be watching, and likely judging.

But, Joseph was not only faithful to the law, he was also just and caring. He gave up his rights under the law, and instead of choosing the path of vengeance, he chose the path of mercy and decided to divorce Mary quietly.  This is a reaction that you or I may not have had. 

Joseph was an ordinary man with an extraordinary heart; a heart that was ripe for God.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Christ Came into the World

Isaiah 61: 1-2

“1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me

 to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

 to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,”

Christ was sent into the world because God loves the world.  

Christ was sent to proclaim the good news that all who believed would have eternal life, not just a select few, but all. 

He came into the world to comfort, heal and rescue the least, the last, and the lost; to be the light for all who are bound in sin.

Christ, the Son of God, the Christ child, who was born on a quiet night in Bethlehem, came into this world for you and for me.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Light

Isaiah 60: 1-3

“1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

Have you ever been in a cave in which the lights were turned off?  The darkness in a cave is darker than any darkness I have ever witnessed.  Inside a cave, no light penetrates and the darkness feels heavy and thick, almost solid.  When someone shines a light into that darkness, it immediately lifts that thick, heavy feeling.

The birth of the Messiah represents God’s light shining forth into a dark world, a world covered in thick, spiritual darkness.  A light shining in such darkness would be a beacon of hope for the lost of all nations.  

But will we follow this light?  John tells us that the “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19).  

The darkness is thick, but the light has shone forth, is now shining, and will shine forth for the hope of the world.  

Walk in the brightness of Christ’s new day.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)