The God Who Prepares- Advent Reflection #3

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways…” Luke 1:76

There’s nothing that quite compares to the excitement of students the day before Christmas break, and this year was no exception. The 5^th and 6^th graders wiggled in their seats, all decked out in their Santa hats and Christmas pajamas, ready to go outside and play until dismissal at noon. That’s when one of my fellow teachers made an important announcement.

“While we’re gone over break,” she began, “the school’s going to be recording a series of videos to put together as a virtual tour for potential families. This means our classrooms need to be looking their best.”

You could see the excitement plummet with the collective eye-roll. They knew what was coming…

“So it’s like we’re having guests! And what does your mom make you do before guests come over?”

“Clean,” moaned 100 12-year-olds in unison. And clean they did. And then they got to go outside and play.

Preparation is a natural part of our rhythm of life, especially around the holidays. Even kids know the importance of readying a space before guests come. We decorate. We cook. We clean, clean, clean. And often times these precursory steps take up more time than the actual event itself. Our preparation denotes the importance of what is to come.

So of course it shouldn’t surprise us that Scripture tells us about the preparation needed before the Messiah shows up on the scene. Zechariah alludes to it here in his prophecy. After all, his son John would play a major role in helping the world get ready for the Son of God.

The prophets of the Old Testament spoke implicitly of John and his responsibility. Isaiah wrote, “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God’” (40:3). All four Gospels cite this passage in reference to John, by the way, lest we try to create an alternate interpretation. Malachi also tells us about John’s function when he explains from God’s perspective, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me…” (3:1).

The obvious next question is how did John prepare the world for Jesus. When he grew up, John’s eccentric style and straightforward preaching drew large crowds, perhaps out of curiosity more than anything. But it was his message that truly prepared the way for God in the flesh. Matthew sums up his sermons with this simple, yet profound, call to action: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (3:2).

Repentance. Preparation for the King of all kings looks like repentance. Preparation looks like turning our hearts away from pride and idolatry and turning to the Savior who was born on that first Christmas.

In all the preparation for Christmas, let’s not forget to prepare our hearts.

We remind ourselves about this kind of preparation whenever we sing, “Joy to the World.” “Let every heart prepare Him room,” we sing. We’ve readied ourselves for this holiday. We’ve baked. We’ve wrapped gifts. We’ve trimmed the tree. We’ve vacuumed 50 times, it seems. But have we repented? In all the preparation for Christmas, let’s not forget to prepare our hearts.

But wait, you might be thinking, is this not titled The God Who Prepares? What is God preparing? It sounds like this responsibility of preparation falls on me.

Well, yes and no. Yes, we must actively make the effort to turn to God today. But here’s the truth I’ve found: my ability to prepare my own heart to receive the gift of Jesus is pretty limited.

Going into this Christmas, my heart is plagued with worry, discontentment, selfishness, restlessness. I can’t rid myself of those things. I can’t make my heart squeaky clean like I can my house. This kind of preparation needs divine intervention.

I had a professor in college who always said, “That which God requires, He gives.” I think that’s a gift we can all receive going into Christmas. God requires a prepared heart, a repentant heart. This is the kind of heart that can truly appreciate and accept the birth of Christ. We, however, are unable to manufacture that type of heart on our own. Left to our own devises and bogged down with brokenness, we would never be prepared for the joy of Christmas. But praise be to the God who gives us new hearts!

Do you feel that your own heart is unprepared? Unable to genuinely celebrate all that Christmas means for one reason or another? Ask God to prepare you. That which God requires, He gives, dear friend. Let’s rejoice in our weariness. Merry Christmas to you and yours.  

The God Who Delivers- Advent Reflection #2

“…that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear….” Luke 1:74

“Enemy” is such a strong word to me. When I think about my life personally, I don’t consider anyone to be my actual enemy. Yes, there are people who malign and hurt me. And yes, there are entire nations that stand against the religious movement that I hold to. Maybe this is my privilege talking, but “enemies” is not a category of people that I interact with on a regular basis.

Now the Israelites, they had enemies. All throughout history, God’s chosen people might as well have had targets on their backs. Persecution abounds for the Jews in the biblical narrative.

Let’s start with the Egyptians. The dominating empire enslaves the Hebrew people for centuries all the while mandating that their baby boys be drowned upon birth. The whole situation is so dark and gruesome. When God does raise up Moses to lead them out of their bondage, it sparks a celebration that carries on for generations. Whenever poets and prophets speak of YHWH’s mighty acts of rescue, it’s likely that they refer to this mass exodus.

And then there were the Babylonians. Led by the ruthless Nebuchadnezzar, this nation was responsible for forcing the Israelites out of the Promise Land and burning Solomon’s temple to the ground. Though the prophets had warned of exile and God ultimately used this as an act of judgment on His people, captivity was a season of immense pain. As with the Egyptians, God would rescue His people, this time bringing them back to the Promised Land.

And lest you think that Israel’s enemies were all corporate people groups, it only takes a quick reading of the book of Esther to be reminded that opposition sometimes came from individual figures. Here, the Persian leader Haman plots to eradicate the Jewish population through a royal edict. Once again, God comes to the rescue, this time through the boldness of a Jewish queen who advocates for her people.

Fast-forward to the time of Zechariah in Luke 1 and now the Romans take center-stage as the antagonist. The reason why God’s people have not returned to the glory days of King David is because of their oppressive rule.

So naturally, when Zechariah, and every other prophet for that matter, claims that YHWH will yet again deliver His people from the hands of their enemies through the means of a Messiah, the Jews just know that Rome’s about to get it. They draw on their knowledge of history. The Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea. The Babylonians were overtaken by the Persians, who eventually let the Jews go home. And Haman was hanged as a public spectacle.

The birth of the Messiah was the ultimate promise of rescue. Imagine how baffled they must have been when that Man makes zero attempts to overthrow Rome. Did the prophets get it wrong?

What I think we get to see in retrospect is that there was a whole different rescue operation playing out. Jesus the Messiah came to defeat a completely different type of enemy, one that we all share and have no chance of defeating on our own:

Death.

This is the common enemy of mankind. Brutal and inescapable. No matter where you live, no matter how much money you have, no matter how much joy in life you find, it comes for you.

We’ve been sobered by our enemy’s cruel oppression this year. We’ve watched millions worldwide die because of this unexpected pandemic. We’ve witnessed the deaths of some public figures that brought a lot of perspective and joy to this life.

And we’ve felt it immensely close to home in some cases. I personally feel that the sting of death is growing as we approach the first Christmas without my Nana. “She’s in a better place” can’t totally remove the pain. Death is excruciating. It’s our enemy, after all. Where’s the rescue?

Maybe it’s pertinent that we feel the wounds of this enemy in a greater way around the holiday season. This time, of all times of the year, reminds us that this world is not what it’s supposed to be. We pine for the ideal and are instead met with a grim reality. No matter who you are, I’m sure that death is affecting you this Christmas.

Maybe it’s also pertinent that we feel the hope of the deliverance in a greater way as we reflect on the coming of the Deliverer. The Baby in the manger came for this. He came to deliver us from our common enemy. His first coming set the rescue plan into motion, and His second coming will bring it to completion. And this is not just some abstraction that carries a good sentiment at a loved one’s funeral. I really and truly, with all of my heart, believe that death is not a part of God’s people’s eternal future.

This Christmas in our weariness, in our grief caused by our greatest enemy, we can rejoice in His rescue.

This Christmas in our weariness, in our grief caused by our greatest enemy, we can rejoice in His rescue. Paul cites Isaiah 25:8 in 1 Corinthians 15:54 as he reminds us of a coming time where “death is swallowed up in victory.”  Or as Sally Lloyd-Jones puts it in the Jesus Storybook Bible, “God is making everything sad, even death, come untrue.”

The God Who Remembers- Advent Reflection #1

“…to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant…” Luke 1:72

         Broken promises hurt. And we all know the feeling. As kids, we swore solemn vows as we locked pinkies, fully trusting the other party to keep their end of the deal. But somewhere along the way we woke up to the reality that humans aren’t awesome at always following through. Selfishness and peer pressure and better alternatives creep in and the contract becomes null and void.

         But if you ask me, there’s something that’s even worse than broken promises. Forgotten promises. Don’t get me wrong, malicious violation of the terms has excruciating consequences. But there’s something about the mere slip of the memory that belittles the whole agreement. The promise was not even important enough to take up residence in the other person’s brain, and we’re left out to endure the bitter coldness of ambivalence.

         Perhaps this is why the prophets like to use the language of God remembering His covenant. I don’t think that the Israelites would have necessarily thought their Sovereign Being would have literally forgotten. However, years of inactivity sure might have made it feel that way.

         The word for “remember” that Zechariah uses here in Luke 1:72 is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word zakar, first used when God establishes His covenant with Noah in Genesis 9:15. God has just destroyed the corrupted earth with a flood, but then makes an agreement with Noah to never do so again. Whenever the rainbow appears, God will remember, He will call to mind His promise.

         Throughout the generations, God has “zakared” all of His promises at pivotal moments. To spare the earth of the destructive waters. To grow Abram’s offspring into a great nation. To show grace to Jacob’s family. To establish David’s throne. He truly is the covenant-keeping God. 

           As I was diving deeper into this idea, I had one of those moments where I think I missed the forest for the trees. I was happily gliding down my little nerdy rabbit hole when it was like the Holy Spirit shook my shoulders to wake me up to the obvious. Ashley, WHO is saying that God remembers His promises?!?

         Zachariah. Zakar = remember. Yah = YHWH. The prophetic announcement of God’s remembering comes from a man who has literally carried that message every day of his life through his name.

         You have to wonder if Zachariah felt the irony of his name sometimes. Here he was, an old man continually disappointed on both cultural and personal levels. His people were under Roman oppression, longing for the promised Rescuer who was turning out to be a no-show. He and his wife had no heir to carry the family name, no child to love. And yet he walked around every day with people calling him “God remembers.” What a cruel joke. Talk about enduring the coldness of ambivalence. Only for Zachariah, it wasn’t his friend who forgot. It was his God.

         And then right on time, as He always does, God makes good on His promises. The baby growing in Elizabeth’s womb became the physical manifestation of Zachariah’s name. God remembered. He remembered Zachariah and Elizabeth. He remembered the nation of Israel. He remembered the whole of humanity, lost and longing for salvation. Zachariah knew it too. John was only the beginning of seeing how God was going to keep His promises. The Messiah, the One in whom all of God’s promises find their “yes,” was on His way.  And I have to imagine that for the first time in a long time, John was proud of his name. 

         This year might have felt like one big forgotten promise to you. It has for me. It’s as though the universe just overlooked all the potential that 2020 was supposed to hold. Our canceled plans, unrealized dreams, and broken relationships have left us feeling neglected. They’ve made us wonder if our God is really the promise-keeper He claims to be.

         But let Zachariah remind us of this: God remembers, friend. He remembers you. He remembers His promises to love you, to comfort you, to restore you. In our weariness, this is a truth we can rejoice in this Christmas season.   

The Weary World Rejoices

I get tired of radio Christmas music extremely quickly. It’s for this very reason that I take pride in my Spotify Christmas playlist, a perfectly curated selection (in my humble opinion) of the classics and new originals that encompasses a wide variety of genres and styles, 420 songs and counting. I think that because I am so familiar with the traditional carols, I’m always looking for new renditions to spice up the holiday soundtrack. Songs tend to bore me like that after a while.

But occasionally you’ll hear a song that you’ve heard literally hundreds of times and something new will click. A lyric that you could easily quote will resonate in a much deeper way.

“O Holy Night” did it for me this year. After this (word-of-the-year) unprecedented season, “the weary world rejoices” became the expression that I didn’t even know I needed. Because honestly, I can’t think of a better word to describe where most of us are at this point than weary. Weary of worry. Weary of checking the daily case numbers. Weary of the precautions. Weary of political tension. Weary of our own private matters that add to the stress. Weary of weariness itself.

In this season of Advent, I wanted to be intentional about rejoicing in the midst of weariness. Our “thrill of hope” is found in the coming of God Incarnate.

Over the next few weeks as we approach Christmas, I want us to consider 4 reasons why we can rejoice in the person of Christ that are specifically referenced in Zechariah’s prophecy in Luke 1:67-79. I’m guessing that Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were well acquainted with the feeling of weariness too. Much reminiscent of their ancestors Abraham and Sarah, Zechariah and Elizabeth were unable to conceive and found themselves childless in their old age. But a divine encounter in the temple, rendering Zechariah speechless due to his initial unbelief, changed everything. Through this elderly couple, God was going to send the prophet John. John would come in the spirit and power of Elijah, one of Israel’s greatest prophets, and prepare the way for God’s own Son (see Luke 1:5-25).

John’s birth must have been the ultimate manifestation of hope for Zechariah and Elizabeth. And this was hope not only for their own personal circumstances, but also for the restoration of their entire people group. As Jews, they were well aware of the promise of a Messiah, an anointed One who would rescue them from their enemies. But Zechariah and Elizabeth had lived a long life without seeing this come to fruition. There’s no doubt that this promise seemed to grow stale after centuries of silence from the Promise-Maker.

But John’s arrival was a foreshadowing of the arrival of another Son. Through the latter, hope is realized, love is seen, peace is experienced. 

So Zechariah breaks out in song. His joyful anticipation flows poetically. This prophecy, known as the Benedictus (Latin for “blessed”), is an outpouring of praise to God for something that, at the time, He still technically had not done yet.

We, however, live after the first Advent. We look back at Zechariah’s words and see how they come to life in the person of Jesus. And we look forward to the second Advent, when these truths become our unchanging reality forever and ever.

So this December, let’s rejoice in the person of Christ, dear friends. In the weariness, let’s rejoice. I hope you’ll join me in meditating on Zechariah’s words. Wishing each of you wellness and a surprisingly merry Christmas season!