God acting amidst barrenness in Christmas
A part of the Christmas story I’d never heard before last quarter–God’s ability, and tendency to work amidst human barrenness and brokenness. He began with a promise to Abraham, that he and Sarah would have a child despite her barrenness and great age.
Then he made a promise to Mary, a virgin. Because she believed, was obedient, and open to God’s word she heard that…
“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
For with God nothing shall be impossible.
And Mary said, Behold the servant of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.”
And Zechariah, who believed the promise that God could act amidst his barrenness and loss said…
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might
serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.”
So Merry Christmas and thank God for coming to us in a way we could never have foreseen or deserved.