Advent - Guest Post

 

HOME OUR LATEST SUBSCRIBE Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Why Advent Is Wonderful for Women Imagine yourself as a woman born centuries before Jesus                        came to earth as a baby. You have no cultural or political                        rights to speak of and your safety is tied up entirely in                              your relationship with your father, brothers,                                                  or husband. But then, you hear the words of a prophet named Isaiah. He describes                        God forming a servant in his mother’s womb who will bring freedom.                        Isaiah says that God labors like a woman for his people’s salvation,                             and remembers his people with the same intimacy as a mother                                   who remembers the nursing baby at her breast. This God, it seems, greatly values women. As Beth Stovell writes in                                a CT Advent devotional, he offers a "combination of global salvation                          and personal intimacy." We see this most clearly in the person of                            Jesus,  whose light brings freedom to those held captive. During Advent, may we celebrate the first coming of a Savior sent                                by a God who loves women, and may we look forward to the second                      coming—the day when all oppression shall cease.

Nativity Traditions

Over the years there have many 1,000's of storybooks, pageants, musicals, school and Sunday School children's programs, poems, dramas, and films telling the Christmas story of the Nativity. These renditions have become the norm for many of us. Unless we go to scripture, it's easy to mix the stories with what scripture and history tells us.

For instance:
1. Who told Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem?
2. How do Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem?
3. What did the innkeeper tell them?
4. Where in Bethlehem was Jesus delivered?
5. Who helped with the delivery?
6. What animals were present?
7. How many angels spoke to the shepherds?
8. What did the angels sing?
9. How many wise men came to see Jesus?
10. Who were the wise men?
11. Where did the wise men find Jesus?
12. Is the story of Jesus birth recorded in all 4 gospels?
13. Who told Joseph and Mary to go to Egypt?

Answers:
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11- Scripture does not tells us.
1. Caesar Augustus
7. One; then an army of angels appeared
8. Scripture says they praised God, but doesn't state that it was in song.
10. Note: it is believed that the magi were astrologers.
12. Only in Matthew and Luke.
13. An angel in a dream to Joseph.

So where does a donkey, a stable full of animals, 3 kings and camels, etc. come from?
From our need to try to visualize this awesome event.
As a former children's choir director, I have presented about 10 Christmas musicals. Each one different, each one meant to help us understand how special Christ's birth was for each of us.
And I have sung or watched over 100 adult and children's Christmas dramas, programs, cantatas, pageants, and musicals. Each one has caused me to think anew what Christmas is all about.

My desire is that you, too, will see Christmas in a fresh, new way this year. Whether it's through little shepherds in bathrobes, spectacular kings riding in on real camels with a royal entourage, or a simple song like "Silent Night," open your heart to a heavenly touch.

The words of "Go, Tell It on the Mountain" take on new meaning as I look out my window at the snow-topped Cascade mountains. Three climbers recently perished there. Climbing real mountains is no easy feat; neither are the mountains and valleys within our lives.

No matter what the circumstances are in your life, I want to shout it from the mountain top that Christ was born so you could have Hope! Peace! and Joy! They are not found under a tree, or in a stocking, at a party, or even in a church- only in a manger when the Creator of the universe came to earth as a wee baby in a small, sleeping town.

Selah- think on these things...

Shalom, Connie

Angel 4 & An Army

After Baby Jesus was born, an angel appeared to shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem. They were told where to find the baby; then a company of heavenly host- an army of angels- appeared praising God and saying "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 2:14 NIV)

A very humble birth in a smelly stable for animals; an awesome birth announcement from the throne of God made to sheep herders. Do you wonder about these contrasts like I do?

We know from scripture that Abel was the first shepherd. Then came Abraham, David, Jacob, Moses, and Rachel. From Israel's history we also know that shepherds were of the lowest class; they could not be witnesses in legal cases and were seen as sinners, like tax collectors. In the summer, the sheep were moved from field to field for fresh grass and water. The shepherds usually brought a goat skin bag with food in it, a sling and a rod or stick 2-3 feet long with a knob on one end for protecting the sheep from wild animals and thieves, a flute to calm the sheep and for entertainment, a staff for sheep handling and as a walking stick, and a cloak. A pretty simple life and very lonely; the number of shepherds depended upon the size of the flock- from one to many. In the winter, the sheep were brought into shelters. Apparently it was not winter when the angel appeared.

A cute Christmas story says that a little angel asked God if they could clean up the stable. He responded, "No, it is as I planned, but you can go and announce My Son's birth!"

More than any royal decree, the glory of the Lord shone around the lowly shepherds. Maybe, they were the only ones who would go to see a poor newborn in a manger; maybe they were the only ones able to believe that the Savior was born; maybe God was telling that Jesus would become the Good Shepherd. I do not know the mind of God, but I would have liked to have been in that field that night.

Shepherds, did you know?

Selah-

Shalom, Connie

The Family Tree

The baby born to Mary would become "a man of sorrows... familiar with suffering." (Isaiah 53:3) Those hardships began before he was even born.

"Why now?" thought Joseph as he slowly walked home. He dreaded telling Mary that they would have to go to Bethlehem for the census reporting; it was going to be hard on her so close to her time. All the things she had made for the baby, the cradle he had made- none of it could go with them. Just a change of clothes and some food for the journey... they had room for no more. No family nor the old, but good midwife of Nazareth would be there to help Mary through the birth. "Why now, Lord?"

Gracious, sweet Mary reassured him that God would take of them. Holding her aching back she went inside to prepare for their journey. It would take a long time to cover the 90 miles to Bethlehem.

All was as planned- one writer said, "Taxes were as good as any reason to get the Holy Family to Bethlehem" for God had said through Micah that the Savior of the World would come out of the little town of Bethlehem and would be a relative of Kind David. (Micah 5:2)

Indeed both Mary and Joseph were of the house of David; their family tree is listed in scripture. By the way, that tree contained David, whom God loved, and Boaz, a righteous man, married to Ruth, a gentile. Even Jesus' lineage indicated that He came for all the world.

Joseph and Mary may have joined a caravan of other travelers also going to the place of their ancestry, but still it would have been a rugged trip. Whether walking or riding, Jesus was bouncing safely within Mary's womb. God would protect them, but that did not include making the trip any easier.

More tough times were ahead: no place to stay in Bethlehem, no easy birth, no royal garments,
Joseph would have to find work, Mary would feel all alone. Then another trip to escape into Egypt while the innocent male babies under 2 years old were being slaughtered by Roman soldiers.

The Christmas card nativity scenes do not show the reality of Jesus birth. Joseph muking out a stall and lining it with clean straw, the smells and sounds of the animals, a rural town unprepared for the large number of travelers, limited food and water, only strips of cloth to wrap the baby, the fear when smelly shepherds arrived.

And Mary pondered these things and tucked them away in her heart ...

Selah-

Shalom, Connie

Angel #3

Joesph truly loves Mary and was barely managing the long wait between engagement and marriage, when she tells him that through the Holy Spirit she was pregnant. An unwed mother is a disgrace and subject to stoning. Joseph wants to protect her, but how can a man believe such a story. He was older than Mary and understood about birthing- sheep, goats, donkeys, cows, and people required a male to begin a new life. How could Mary have done this? He will have to divorce her- quietly if possible.

How very sad and angry he must have been.

He knows the rabbi well. Tomorrow he will talk with him; and Joseph falls asleep grieving for the loss of their marriage.

Angel #3 may have been Gabriel, but we know that an angel was sent, once again, by God.
This time he appears in a dream and tells Joseph that Mary's story is true and she will bear a son. Joseph is to help raise the Son of God and is to name him Jesus.

I imagine that Joseph awoke relieved, confused, and wondering if it truly was an angel from the Lord. When Mary returns from visiting Elizabeth, Joseph knows the truth and takes her home to live with him.

The gossipers are still talking at the well, but Mary and Joseph begin their life together with love and a precious secret. Mary glows as she shows him the baby clothes she and Elizabeth made. She bubbles with joy when she feels the baby move. She giggles in delight as she lets out the seams of her gown. Joseph hums as he builds a cradle of the finest wood; he will carve it with a design fit for a king.

But the Christ child will never lay in that cradle or wear those tiny clothes ...

Selah-

Shalom, Connie

Angel #2

Gabriel, God's warrior angel, visits a young teen, a Hebrew girl, telling her that she has been chosen by God to give birth to the long awaited Messiah. She doesn't offer excuses, but I am sure she was overwhelmed in the presence of this heavenly visitor. She agrees saying, "I am the Lord's servant."

What an honor! All young girls dreamed about the King, who would save Israel.

What a nightmare! Yes, it had to be both horrible and wonderful.

Wonderful to know that the Messiah was coming as promised. Wonderful to realize that God had chosen her.

Yet it was also the beginning of many horrible obstacles. Telling Joseph she was pregnant not by a man, but through the Holy Spirit. Telling her parents that she, their sweet and innocent daughter, was carrying a child that was not Joseph's. Dealing with the gossips in town who were sure to judge her & treat her as a sinful woman. Then, as the pregnancy became real with morning sickness, a growing belly, and the confusing emotions, she realizes the heavy responsibility of raising God's Son.

Mary leaves Nazareth for Judea to visit with her cousin, Elizabeth. As Mary arrives and calls out a traditional greeting, Elizabeth's baby "leaps for joy." Elizabeth not only knows that Mary's pregnant, she knows Mary's the chosen maiden to bear the Christ child. There had been no cell phone calls or telegrams, it was within her spirit that Elizabeth knew these things.

Elizabeth, in her old age, also cannot hide that she is in her sixth month, and Mary also rejoices in her blessing.

For three months they help each other through the symptoms of pregnancy; they talk excitedly about being mothers; they talk about Joseph and silent Zechariah; they sew baby clothes and prepare the rags for childbirth. They talk about their boys growing up to serve God. Little do they know what lies ahead...

Selah-

Shalom, Connie

Phantasmagorical

I just finished reading a mystery by Elizabeth George. Near the end she used phantasmagorical to describe the Detective Inspector's trip to find the woman he loved.

Writers should not use words like that; they stop the reader and can distract them enough to lose the flow of the story. However, it was near the end and I was focused on whether it would end "happily ever after;" and did not stop reading. But I looked it up in the dictionary.

It means dreamlike, illusionary, or as an event swiftly changes; change the ph to a f and you'll recognise it as fantasy-like.

Because it is Advent and I am contemplating the wonders of Christ's birth, I thought of Mary when the angel, Gabriel, told her that she was the chosen one to bear God's Son. I also thought of Joseph as Gabriel told him that Mary was telling him the truth; and of the old priest, Zechariah, when an angel told him that his barren wife Elizabeth, Mary's cousin, would bear a son. That son would be called John; he would prepare the way for Jesus' ministry including baptising Jesus.

Each event must have been phantasmagorical. If the foretold births had not taken place, Mary, Joseph, and Zechariah would have thought the angel was an illusion, a dream, a fantasy of the imagination.

Gabriel and the angel, visiting the old priest, were messengers of God, who were preparing for God's mercy and love to be demonstrated through the birth and death of Jesus, God's only Son. A part of Himself had to come to earth for there is no sin in heaven... no death. He came to remove our separation from Him... to bring us back to Him, who created us.

"Amazing love, how can it be ..."

Selah-

Shalom, Connie