messenger

In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:5-17, NRSV)

Zechariah was chosen by lot to go into the Holy of Holies to light incense at the altar. This was a high honor.

And as he was in there an angel, a messenger appeared to him and told him his prayers have been answered, you will have a son.

You will name him John and he will be filled withe the Holy Spirit.

Now what would you do if this happened?

How do people react to you when you are the messenger?

Yes that’s right, you are a messenger of God.

You take His word to the world. And when you speak of God to the world, do they look at you like you have six heads and 12 hands?

Maybe we should say to the world before we speak of God, what angels seem to say to all they deliver a message to in the Bible, “Do not be afraid…”

Why did the messengers of God say this before their messages?

Maybe because what they were going to say was a bit scary… Or maybe because their appearance was a little scary. In that they looked different, or in that they shouldn’t be where they are.

And as those who take His message to the world, we sometimes look different, and seem out-of-place.

But know as His messenger that He is always with you! So go and boldly share his love and mercy with all!

His image…

See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. (Malachi 3:1-4, NRSV)

This is one of my favorite verses!

God will purify us in a fire and refine us like gold and silver.

God is going to put us in the fire and heat us up and get all the impurities out of us.

It sounds hot and not very much fun.

But the fun comes in the process with which we will be refined, like silver!

And in order to refine silver, the one refining has to sit and watch it all time. You can not remove it too soon, or allow it to sit in the fire too long, either will not make the silver the best it can be.

And how does the refiner know when the silver is done? When they can see their reflection in the silver!

God knows you are refined and ready when He can see His reflection in you!

So Take the heat, for God is making you just like Him!

level

Trust in the LORD forever, for in the LORD GOD you have an everlasting rock. For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height; the lofty city he lays low. He lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. The way of the righteous is level; O Just One, you make smooth the path of the righteous. In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and your renown are the soul’s desire. My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:4-9, NRSV)

Have you ever dealt with a counter or a desk that wasn’t level?

It is horrible! nothing stays in the place you set it, because it all seeks the place of no motion…

And our lives can be out of synch, or rough.

But the way of righteousness is level. And if we can trust in God and follow where He is leading us and do what He has commanded, our lives will be level.

And while this does not mea we will not have problems or issues or complete smooth sailing, we know that God will be with us to help us maintain balance in the waves of life!

The beginning…

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:1-8, NRSV)

Here we see the story of John the Baptist, one who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. To help the people prepare for the coming Messiah.

But if all we come away with here is a weird guy wearing camel hides and eating bugs was shouting at people, I think we have misses the boat, or the point…

The gospel of Mark ends with the woman running from the empty tomb, “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mark 16:8) Not a really good ending to the story, but it actually isn’t the end…

You see Mark gives us the beginning. The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ! And today you continue the story!

We are still writing the story of the good news of Jesus Christ by living our lives as the beacon of hope and spreading His love!

footstool

The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes. Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you. The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth. He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head. (Psalm 110, NRSV)

God says to the Messianic King, who is the Lord of David, Sit here on the throne at my right hand, until I subject all of the world to you!

You will rule over all and people will willingly offer themselves to you. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.

The image of the footstool of the enemies is what sticks out to me in the passage. Can you imagine using your enemies as your footstool? It is great imagery! And a wonderful thought. It shows complete surrender to the will of the other. And this is not only something that God wants for the enemies of Christ, but for all of us! To be so fully committed to following and trusting the Lord that we will do whatever we need to do to move forward the mission and ministry of Christ in the world!

So follow and trust. He will never leave you nor forsake you and He will rule all!