Grace to the humble: Do not be afraid.
“But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.’” (Luke 1:30-31)
Here comes Christmas – the time we celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Many people have made the celebration into so many other rituals, traditions and fanfares, but Jesus Christ must remain central for the true Christian. In his first Chapter, Luke presents two women experiencing miracles: Mary, the much younger one, is confronted by an angel with the message of favour and an imminent child out of wedlock, while the much older retired Elizabeth is embarrassed with her very first pregnancy in her old age. Through these God was orchestrating the climax of salvation history.
‘Remaking a broken world’ is the title of Christopher Ash’s book that carries the thesis that ‘the judgment of God leads to scattering and He shows his grace and faithfulness by gathering’. In his passionate prayer, Nehemiah asked God to remember His word to His servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them… I will gather’ (Neh 1:8-9). Scatterings away from Eden, at Babel, to Assyria, and to Babylon were such typical judgments, while fellowship gatherings at Sinai, at the Jerusalem Temple, at the Cross, and in the glorious eternal Kingdom are such gracious blessings. The brokenness of our world is propagated by the same evil spirit that brought about the scatterings of the Biblical times – the pride of the heart. The symbol of meekest humility is the Cross of Jesus Christ, and there at Golgotha is the place where godly fellowship can be restored and our world reconstructed.
Lockdown in this year scattered people from markets, schools and airports, but gathered them in their homes, families and neighbourshoods. Many found great blessings in this humbling experience, despite the business disruptions. A keener look will identify systems that were scattering family members to the extent that many children were getting lost; hopefully some have been ‘found’ as they spent longer at home. Or at least we realize the need to be gathered. All I can say is that the evil spirit of pride and greed is always working hard to scatter.
Humility is important to the healing and salvation of our world: Mary humbly received favour (recognized her needy state) and accepted to be used of the Almighty God (potentially losing her planned comforts and marriage prospect), while Elizabeth was also humble enough to call the baby in Mary’s womb ‘My Lord’. We can only receive Jesus Christ today as our Saviour when we look at our needy state, humble ourselves and draw near to Him. Are you frightened by world powers? Or by a celestial revelation? Do not be afraid; just humble yourself before God and receive His will, receive His salvation plan, receive your Saviour.
God bless you all.