No Stranger at the Manger: Zechariah and Elizabeth

Elizabeth and Zechariah welcome their son, John
http://media.ldscdn.org/images/media-library/jesus-christ/john-elisabeth-zacharias-1102132-print.jpg

More than once scripture shows the heart of God and his power through the elderly, the barren, taking even dried bones scattered on an ancient battlefield to create living human beings.  God delights in using the weakest, the most crippled, the least likely to display his power.  So it is not unusual that he would choose the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth to bring forth a son, who Jesus would describe with these words:  “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  [‭Matt. ‭11:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬]  The angel Gabriel greeted Zechariah by saying God had heard his prayer followed by the proclamation that he and his wife, though old would have a son.

Call me strange, but I expect Zechariah had not prayed for a child in a good many years.  Certainly, it had been the prayer of his youth and maybe well into middle age, but it is highly unlikely that it had been on his most recent prayer list.  Still way back when, God had heard his prayer and NOW was the time for the answer.  As Pastor Dan told us this morning, write down your prayers, your requests so you can check them off when God answers.  Then you won’t be scratching your head like Zechariah, you’ll be checking off ‘Lord, bless Elizabeth and I with a child’ or your equivalent thereof.  No wonder Zechariah scoffed at Gabriel…can’t you hear the touch of sarcasm in his remark,  ‘what? Now?’  Be careful, God closed his mouth until after the answered prayer had been accomplished and named, John.

Now I doubt Zechariah or Elizabeth were anywhere near the manger physically, seeing as how these old folks were caring for their then three month old son when the Christ Child was born.  Nevertheless, this old faithful couple played just the role God chose for them in the narrative of the nativity and the life of Christ.

Watch out for folks who seem cut off from the joy of Christmas.  Speak to strangers.  Offer assistance.  Ask someone older for help or to go shopping or invite someone to share a conversation or a meal.  It is so easy to fall into being with folks we know, that our circle becomes tight and those on the fringes go unnoticed.  Don’t be a STRANGER.  Let Christ be in Christmas through how You and I treat ALL people this season.

And by the way…

Reach out to  the grumpy old people—wait a minute–I am one of those.  That’s ok, sometimes I need a reminder of what Christmas really is about, too.

Waste Not God’s Mandate to Be A Good Citizen

“Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens.

Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God’s emissaries for keeping order.

It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society.

Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules.

Treat everyone you meet with dignity.

Love your spiritual family.

Revere God.

Respect the government.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2:13-17‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Waste Not the Good Citizen Card

Show respect for the offices of power

Show respect for civil law

Show that love conquers fear

Show yourself to be one who can

Cross the street, shake a neighbor’s hand

Keep the peace, follow God’s plan

Which never includes giving up what you believe

Or keeping your opinions up your sleeve.

Instead it is up to you and me, to be

Prayerful first, exhibiting courage based on kindness

Not empty mindedness.

To echo scripture:  Revere God, respect, love, and serve

Go over the top, give more than others seem to deserve

Waste not the mandate to be a good citizen.

Waste Not Grace

“As for me, I will sing about your strength; I will praise your loyal love in the morning.

For you are my refuge and my place of shelter when I face trouble.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭59:16‬ ‭NET‬‬

Dependable Love
Unfathomable Grace
Strong arms that reach
Catching me there in midair
before my faith
Dissipates
Before the flames lick my feet
Before I give in to fear
There You are in my face
In your powerful embrace
I know without question
Dependable Love
Unfathomable Grace

Waste Not a single moment doubting the powerful embrace of Grace..Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Photo Credit:  Tom Wilson, Kentucky

Waste Not Movement–Do What You Can While You Can

“If I keep my eyes on GOD, I won’t trip over my own feet.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭25:15‬ ‭MSG

Waste not walking
While you can
Even if you need a walker,
A cane, a hand
Waste not walking
Outdoors, indoors
A few steps here
A few steps there
Especially if you are going nowhere
Even if you forget
Why you rose to walk from this room
To that
Waste not movement
Don’t sit too long
Move while you can, upright
Posture conscious, eyes open
Waste not walking if you can
For there are many who cannot
And if you number in that span,
Move your arms, your hands,
Don’t just simply sit or lie
Waste not the chance to move
What ever body part you can
Blink your eyes, wiggle your ears
Waste not motion while you can
Even if you need a hand.
And with each effort sing a tune
Of gratitude.

 

Waste Not the Power of One

“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭15:4‬ ‭

Waste not the value of ONE
One sheep
One coin
One child
One life in danger
When many are safe
One voice
One vote
One final embrace
One life in danger
When many are safe
One kiss
One hug
One kind word

One life in danger
When many are safe
One phone call
One note
One steadying arm
One life in danger
When many are safe
One praise
One prayer
One yielding hand
One life in danger
Though many are safe
God yielded
His One Son
One gesture
Of Grace
So great is
Heaven’s Love
So gratefully
Waste not the Power of One

One God, Triune

One me

One you

Seeking the one in danger
Until all are safe
Just ONE

by one, Until all are safe.

Waste Not Time Pleasing People–CANNOT DO IT ANYWAY.

“Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the One I am trying to please. Am I trying to please people? If I still wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1:10‬ ‭NCV‬‬

Waste not time pleasing people

CANNOT DO IT ANYWAY!
Strategizing, manipulating,
Only serves to breed distrust
Of fellow human beings
Or sneering disgust
Waste not time pleasing people
To do so divides the mind
Doing this for one
And the opposite for another
While trying to keep the stories
Straight breeds HATE
Waste no time on this slippery slope
Sliding into the muck of twisted
Agendas that so often court enemies
While ignoring friends.
Speak truth, stay strong, when tempted
To project a self that fits
Conversations with any group of people
Or simply keep your mouth shut
No if’s, and’s, and buts
Choose instead respect of all opinions
Without parlaying favor with politic speech
Pull close those whose grace upends
Any need to parlay them as friends
Choose to please God
By loving people, praying for them
God’s will for all, including you.
Waste not the energy needed
To try and please people

BE KIND WITH NOTHING ELSE IN MIND
Be a SIMPLE  servant of Christ
So you can love them.

AND BE GRATEFUL TO HAVE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE.

 

Waste Not a Single Greeting

Waste not a single greeting
Planned or chanced

However, meeting
Smile, reach a hand,
Exchange a hug
Look up, look out
Kneel and look
Into the eyes of child
Whether bold or shy
When you look them in the eye
When you are face to face
See with grace
In every one you meet
A precious child of God
Waste not a single greeting
Make that call, send that text
Message someone on Facebook
Waste not any modern means
You have to renew and keep new
Relationships most precious
For which we were created.

 

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.

This is my command: Love each other.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15:15, 17‬ ‭NCV‬‬

Waste Not Awe

 

“Start with GOD —the first step in learning is bowing down to GOD; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭MSG‬‬‬‬‬‬

Waste not the awe
That comes just before dawn
Moments at 4 am when
The dog insists on a walk
Off you go leash and doggy bag
In hand to seize the day
Accompanied by
The hooting of the owl
A crisp clear sky with stars
Only so bright right before
The rising of the sun
Waste not moments
When creation screams
Worship not stars or skies
Or owls in the woods
Worship the One
Who creates, recreates
Who takes the trash like me
From scornful sacrilege
To one who sees the Star
Beyond the stars
Waste not awe
Sunrises, Sunsets,
Be present in God’s Presence
For AWE is the beginning of Wisdom.

Wisdom cannot be measured by the number of gray hairs or years.

The first breaths of wisdom come at the first quick inhalation: the first time one’s breath catches as the tiny purple Crocus pushes its way up to the sun through the snow or as mouth finds nipple flooding the emptiness with substance and nutrition.

Wisdom begins with awe, wonder, and gratitude. Wisdom begins with the acknowledgment of God. One can be smart, intellectually gifted, one can be savvy, one can even have common street smarts without gratitude, but one cannot be wise without bowing the knee to the Creator.

Waste Not, Want Not–Thanksgiving 2016

“I wonder if they will finish this road in my lifetime?”

I remember when a question like that one involved what seemed like, well, a LIFETIME!  At seventy one years of age that period of time on earth has dramatically shortened.

Where has the time gone?  What have I been doing?  How many of those years passed without a single thought? Just getting up, getting kids up, going to work, to school day upon day.  I call those the Blur Years.

At this point, I cannot afford another Blur Year.  That doesn’t mean a MEMORABLE Year–The Lord knows that ship has sailed–it means a life lived in the NOW.  A life lived in the gratitude of every moment, a life lived without waste.

That set me thinking, a fairly dangerous undertaking, what am I discarding, ignoring, missing?  What am I wasting?

The cliche would be ‘time’.  BUT that tends to send me into a tailspin of activity, work, frenzy, and frustration.  So I started writing short takes on what a ‘Waste Not’ life would include.  My desire this Thanksgiving Season isn’t to compile an all inclusive list, but to hopefully, spark others to consider those precious and ordinary life moments in danger of being wasted.

Just Saying

 

 

EGG HOUSE Comments Under THE Microscope of God

At The Egg House in Lake Wales, FL for our Sunday morning breakfast before church, the multiple TV screens were tuned to Fox News.  Sound was muted, but closed captioning revealed the latest bombshells from Campaign 2016.  I leaned into Terry’s space at the table and commented, choosing to use Secretary Clinton’s term from an earlier speech, “Frankly, as people I find both major party candidates ‘deplorable’.”

I could elaborate on why I said this, but I will not, because before the morning was over, the Holy Spirit convicted me in a way that I hope will continue to stay with me until I leave this earth.

“You, too, have been and occasionally still are deplorable.”

“If tapes of what you have said and the ways you have acted in the past were played on a public stage, people would condemn you.”

“I suggest you don’t replay those and reject them when the enemy comes and taunts you with them, because YOU have been forgiven.”

“However, that forgiveness was bought with a price and it is available to ALL.

“Let ME,” the HS said, “remind you that Jesus died for deplorables like you and likewise died for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and even for the despicable members of terrorist groups, for skin headed neo-Nazis, for bleeding hearts, and war hawks.”

Like an alcoholic or a addict of anything, I once lived in bondage to my prejudice, my selfishness, and my pride.  Because of Christ I live a life in recovery.  I literally have to guard my mouth and guard my fingers on the keyboard, submitting them to Christ, to keep foul despicable speech from making the rounds.  Most of the time it is not a constant reining in that it once was as God works in me, but there are still moments when I lose it or very nearly do.  Like anyone in recovery, I live one day at a time but I am never alone.  When I am on the verge, when I call other people names, when I get to thinking I can handle this on my own, God steps in and redirects my path….like I have often done with a toddler.

So, I will pray for the United States of America, the country I love, and for whoever becomes President.  I will even vote, but I am just saying that is not a decision I want to make.

Praying for all deplorables for whom Jesus died of whom I am the worst.