When the Lights Come On - January 2 Readings: Luke 1

Readings for Today

Context:

We call it the Intertestament Period, but it was a time of spiritual darkness. From Malachi on, for 400 years, the voice of God had been silent. There had been plenty of false prophets who had led the people of God astray but there had been no true word from heaven. Someone with spiritual discernment might wonder if God had forgotten his people, had turned his back forever. But there were those who knew better. Later we will read of Simeon and Anna who seemed to know that the time had come.

Luke 1 is the story of God turning on the lights. After 400 years he appeared twice to unlikely people. First he appeared to Zechariah, a Levite chosen by lot to enter the Temple and burn incense. It was a great honor and it turned out greater than he imagined when he encountered an angel and received a message that his barren wife, past childbearing years, would have a son. Then an angel appeared to a normal peasant girl in Nazareth, a small town nestled in the mountains between the Sea of Galilee and and the Mediterranean, overlooking the Jezreel Valley, an insignificant town in every way. The angel told her that she would be the one to bear the Messiah, the hope of Israel, the one the prophets promised.

The responses of Zechariah and Mary are instructive. Zechariah's response was amazement, even disbelief. He was astounded that God would do what he was doing through him. Mary's response was pure - obedience. Do with my life as you will, Lord. When God is at work, we will always have a sense of wonder at what he is doing in us, and the obedience of Mary is essential as well.

Devotional:

"If you just believe hard enough, God will do miracles!"

That's what we've been told - if only we can work up enough faith, enough confidence, if we confess it boldly enough, we can make it happen. We have made our feelings the basis of God's work. We noted that Zechariah and Mary responded differently...well, sort of. In reality, there were some similarities. Mary was absolutely amazed and astounded at what God was doing, much as Zechariah was. And Zechariah yielded to the plan of God, just as Mary did.

They were both amazed, shocked, even disbelieving. "My wife is old." "I am a virgin." How can this be? The work of God is well beyond our limited ability to understand. The key to the powerful work of God is not working up confidence or some sort of positive confession. God knows our hearts, our doubts, our weaknesses, and he continues to work in us despite them. He worked in Zechariah despite his doubting. He continued in Mary despite her doubting.

They had doubts and disbeliefs, but they did the one thing that mattered most - they obeyed. Zechariah did exactly what he was told to do, even if it seemed so strange to him. Mary did what she was told, though she did not know how a virgin could conceive. Obedience is the key to experiencing the blessing of God, not some kind of showy display of bravado. Many of God's great servants had serious doubts and questions about what God was doing, but they walked in obedience and kept doing what God led them to do even when it got hard. So God blessed them and worked him powerful purposes through them.

The key, when God is at work, is obedience.

Father, may I be a man of obedience, even when I doubt, when I don't understand, when my heart cries out. May I continue to walk in your ways as you lead me and guide me. 

 Think about It:

Think through your life - the amazing things God has done. Is your response more like Zechariah's - doubt and disbelief - or more like the yielded obedience of Mary?