What Does God Want You to Know About Himself?
(Luke 1)
Luke’s gospel begins:
Dear friend who loves God . . .
(v.1 TLB)
His greeting captures my heart.
As though the words I’m about to read are written to me alone.
Personally.
Dear Cindy.
Try inserting your name.
Say it aloud.
Feels personal, right?
Most Christmas seasons I hurry through Luke’s gospel to reach the manger scene, the O Holy Night crescendo. But this year I feel the Lord’s invitation to slow down and park at the very beginning.
No agenda at all except to ponder . . .
What does God want me to know about Himself here?
As Luke’s narrative opens, an elderly Zachariah is working in the Temple when he learns his name has been drawn to burn incense in the inner sanctuary.
Likely a once-in-a-lifetime honor.
And once-in-a-lifetime pressure.
Perhaps he’s cool as cream, but I doubt it.
I imagine him stepping inside.
Fiddling with the matches.
Muttering under his breath, “ Don’t screw this up, Zachariah. Don’t screw this up.”
When suddenly an angel appeared . . .
“Don’t be afraid, Zachariah!
God has heard your prayer.”
(vv.11,13 TLB)
At which point the items on Zachariah’s prayer list must be spinning around in his head like cherries and melons in a slot machine.
Which prayer?
The angel continues.
Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son!
(v.13 TLB)
A son?
That prayer?
Impossible.
It doesn’t take an angel to see that Z’s baby-ship sailed long ago.
The angel interrupts Zachariah’s line of rational thinking.
Because you haven’t believed me, you are to be stricken silent until the child is born.
(v.2 TLB)
Which sounds like a punishment.
But I wonder if, instead, silence turns out to be a gift.
Because I suspect when Zachariah’s external world gets a whole lot quieter, he’s able to quiet his internal world a whole lot more easily.
And ponder, “What does God want me to know about Himself here?”
In due time Elizabeth delivers a son.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zachariah utters prophecies about the baby cradled in his arms and about the coming Messiah.
All familiar words . . . until the end.
Until Z’s takeaway.
All this will be because the mercy of our God is very tender.
(v.78 TLB)
I roll down the window of my metaphoric parked car, breathe in the crisp December air, and ponder.
What does God want me to know about Himself here?
And it hits me – it’s Zachariah’s takeaway.
Gleaned in the quiet.
God’s mercy is very tender.
Last Christmas was my first without Ron. His absence was a gaping hole. I couldn’t bring myself to even put up a tree. I just wanted to speed through Christmas until I reached the safety of January.
This year I haven’t bothered with ornaments, but the tree is up.
And twinkling.
Evidence of healing.
Evidence of the very tender mercy of God in my life.
His very tender mercy is written all over the story of our lives.
Like a personal letter.
Dear Cindy.
Insert your name.
Sometimes we just need to pull in.
Turn off the metaphoric motor.
Roll down the windows.
Breathe in the quiet.
Thumb through the pages of our lives.
And notice God’s tender mercies written there.
See you in a couple weeks.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
PS I wrote today’s blog last December. This year my tree is up, the lights are on, and ornaments are dangling from the branches. Thank you to my sweet, funny, energetic granddaughters for showing up and making it happen!
Beautiful tree!
We talked about those strings of beads going round and round the tree, but in the end they went for more of a spiderweb look. It makes me laugh every time I look at it. In good way!
The tree is beautiful but its beauty is eclipsed by the beauty of your granddaughters!
That’s exactly what I was thinking!!!
Merry Christmas to you , sweet cousin!! 🎄❤️
Merry Christmas to you, too, sweet cousin! 🎄❤️
Thank you once again and Merry Christmas to you and all your family!! You must know the story about the spider family who adorned the tree of a poor family at Christmas!! I always have a spider ornament on my tree to remind me of it!!❤️🎄🙏🏻
I don’t know that story, Kay! Looks like I’d better look into it . . .
God’s mercy is tender❤️. Your Granddaughters are beautiful and I’m so glad they decorated- please remind them you need them in January to take it all down❤️
They’ve got so much energy they probably won’t mind at all. When they finished decorating they wanted to watch Little House on the Prairie. It was a real sweet time.
Tender mercies….I’m pondering that one. God has always been so merciful and good to me. Love those two cuties by your tree. My, how they’ve grown. So…much…fun! Merry Christmas sweet friend 🎄
They sure HAVE grown. We used to talk about dolls and puppies . . . now we’re talking about diaries and training bras! Merry Christmas, good friend 🎄🎄🎄
Oh what blessings. Oh what memories. You are so so blessed. They are darling and they sure are growing up in a hurry. That tree is beautiful! Get the spider story for me 🤣
I’ll try!
How our grands can pull us in to continue moving forward! Love the tree. As I am rereading Luke, I wondered how shocked Z must have felt! Never thought about his silence being a blessing to hear the voice of God. Merry Christmas, Cindy, and thank you for your poignant messages. Sherrill❤️🙏
You are so welcome, Sherrill. Merry Christmas!
The tree is beautiful and the stars that decorated it!
I don’t know about the tree, but the stars who decorated it are beautiful indeed!
Love this post! The spider story is wonderful. I read it to my class every year. I can not pull the name out of the “file cabinet” but when I do I will message you. My tree is up and the lights are on. That might be it for this year!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
I think a lit tree is plenty! So much less to take down. Please do let me know the name of the spider story when you think of it. Merry Christmas!
Thank you for sharing! I just experienced my first Christmas and our birthdays (just before and just after Christmas) without Stefan. It was more difficult than I had expected. I also couldn’t put a tree up this year but managed to decorate the front porch (cheerful facade at least). It helps to know that it will get better. Thank you for giving me the booster I needed.
Your granddaughters are lovely and so full of youth and excitement! God bless them and you!
I am impressed by your determination and energy to present a cheerful facade! It really will get better, or at least different and gentler. Happy New Year, Rhonda!