CHRISTmas Stands Alone - December 19 Readings: Luke 1:57-80

 

 

25 Days of Christmas

On the nineteenth day of Christmas, my Bible said to me...those who follow God must stand against the world. 

Today's Reading:  Luke 1:57-80           

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, 60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah's Prophecy

67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

for he has visited and redeemed his people

69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

in the house of his servant David,

70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

71 that we should be saved from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us;

72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant,

73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him without fear,

75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people

in the forgiveness of their sins,

78 because of the tender mercy of our God,

whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Through the Bible Readings: Habakkuk 2:6-3:19, Revelation 8, Psalm 144:5–11, Proverbs 31:1-2 

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: Contra Mundum       

Sometimes, it is fun to pick fights online. On of my favorites is to scoff at the idea that Die Hard is a Christmas movie (it isn't) and get people stirred up. It's about terrorists blowing up a building. Just because it happens at a Christmas party doesn't make it a Christmas movie. 

I have stood alone on this one and I've painted myself as suffering for truth and righteousness, a modern-day Athanasius. He stood against the heretics who denied the deity of Christ in the early centuries of church history, often standing alone against the entire world. Athanasius contra mundum, (Athanasius against the world). 

I've been having fun, but standing against the world is a requirement for those who would follow Christ, seen at the very beginning of the nativity story. Zechariah was told by the angel that the miracle baby was to be named John. That was against protocol - sons were named after fathers, grandfathers, or other family members. 

But John was put on this earth to prepare the way of the Lord and since he was devoted to the service of God his name came from God.

When the time came and the baby was born, those gathered around inquired about the name. When Elizabeth told them, they argued. John can't be the name. What is it really? Then Zechariah wrote it down. "His name is John." He was going to obey God, not men. 

This was a minor confrontation, but people have been forced to decide whether they would follow God or follow man over and over again. The ways of this world stand opposed to the ways of God. We must choose whether we will go with the flow and follow the crowd or will we stand with God against the world. We cannot do both. 

Daniel had to decide whether to eat what everyone else did or whether to follow the diet he knew was in accord with the laws of God. His friends faced a fiery furnace rather than bow down like everyone else was doing. Elijah faced down hundreds of false prophets on top of Mt. Carmel. One against the many, against the majority, against the world. 

It is part of our life in Christ, as it was for Zechariah and Elizabeth, that we stand for what is right and true, against the world. 

Father, help me to stand for you and against the pressure to do what is evil in the world. 

Think and Pray :

Do you tend to go with the crowd, and bow to the opinions of others, or do your stand for Christ regardless of what others do? 

Carol of the Day: 

The First Noel, the Angels did say

Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay

In fields where they lay keeping their sheep

On a cold winter's night that was so deep.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

They looked up and saw a star

Shining in the East beyond them far

And to the earth it gave great light

And so it continued both day and night.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

And by the light of that same star

Three Wise men came from country far

To seek for a King was their intent

And to follow the star wherever it went.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

This star drew nigh to the northwest

O'er Bethlehem it took its rest

And there it did both Pause and stay

Right o'er the place where Jesus lay.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

Then entered in those Wise men three

Full reverently upon their knee

And offered there in His presence

Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

Then let us all with one accord

Sing praises to our heavenly Lord

That hath made Heaven and earth of naught

And with his blood mankind has bought.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel

Born is the King of Israel!