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41: Christmas Reflection Day 2 - Waiting
196 Plays3 years ago
How many times have you let Christmas come and go without reflecting on what actually happened that first Christmas long ago? It’s a story of wonder AND it's a story that causes us to wonder. Each day of the week before Christmas, these 5 minute daily reflections from Laura Fleetwood will transport you to the time of Jesus’ birth and help you reflect on the miracle that happened in your midst.
How long? The waiting we experience in our life is nothing compared to the season of waiting that God’s people endured as they longed for their Savior.
Scripture: Luke 1: 11-20
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Transcript
Introduction to Jill Devine's Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
The following podcast is a Jill Devine Media production. Christianity has become known for judgy people, strange words, ancient stories, confusing rules, and a members-only mindset. This is why I stayed away from the church for so long, but it's not supposed to be that way. I'm Jill Devine, a former radio personality with three tattoos, a love for a good tequila, and who's never read the entire Bible.
00:00:24
Speaker
Yet here I am hosting a podcast about faith.
Purpose of the Podcast: Faith and Real Life
00:00:28
Speaker
The normal goes a long way podcast is your home for real conversations with real people using real language about how faith and real life intersect. Welcome to the conversation.
The Wait for a Messiah
00:00:42
Speaker
Waiting, longing, yearning. The people of God had been promised that a king would come.
00:00:54
Speaker
They had been promised that God was going to send them a Messiah, somebody who would save them and usher in a new kingdom in which they could live.
00:01:07
Speaker
And God had spoken this promise through men and women who were prophets, and the people of God had been waiting hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. That's what the beginning of the Christmas story is all about. It's all about waiting.
00:01:29
Speaker
And I don't know about you, but in my life, sure, I've had to wait on things. I have to wait on the next season to come out for my favorite show that I'm binging, or I have to wait to finish a project that I'm doing, or maybe you've had to wait to start a family, or wait to find the one you love. You've had to wait for things in your lifetime.
00:01:56
Speaker
But the people of God had been waiting for this promise, not just in their lifetime, but for generations and generations and generations. And each generation would pass on this promise that God was going to make this happen. But they did not know when and they did not know how.
Zechariah and Elizabeth's Story
00:02:17
Speaker
All they had was this promise and then this long, long, long season of waiting.
00:02:26
Speaker
Well, as Luke is sharing the story of the birth of Jesus, this is where he starts with this season of waiting and not just waiting of God's people, the Jewish people, but also of this intimate story of waiting of a man named Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth. They had been waiting to have a family.
00:02:50
Speaker
They had wanted to have a child their entire life and now they were old in years and were unable to see that dream fulfilled, to have that longing come true, to have that season of waving be over. And yet, this is what Luke tells us happened.
The Angel's Promise to Zechariah
00:03:12
Speaker
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
00:03:33
Speaker
you will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord." And of course, Zechariah is probably filled with wonder and filled with awe, but also filled with many questions. And we know this because he asks, How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.
00:03:57
Speaker
The angel answers, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not be able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.
00:04:16
Speaker
So how does this miniature story of waiting relate to the bigger story of waiting that God's people had been experiencing for generations?
Elizabeth and Mary's Connection
00:04:27
Speaker
Well, it so happens that Elizabeth and Mary, who would be Jesus' mom, were related.
00:04:34
Speaker
We don't know how, we don't know if they were cousins or if Elizabeth was the aunt of Mary, but somehow they were related. And this waiting that Zachariah and Elizabeth had been experiencing is like a foreshadow, a foretaste of what was about to happen
00:04:54
Speaker
with God sending the Savior for his people. Finally, it's like God is saying, let me give you a little taste of what is to come in this story. And then we will see it play out in the life of Jesus. So next week, we are going to see how Mary receives the news.
00:05:16
Speaker
that she will have a son, not just any son, but God's son. And what she does, how she responds, and how it actually relates back to Elizabeth, who would be the mother of John.
Reflecting on Fulfilled Promises
00:05:31
Speaker
As you think about this story today, I want to just encourage you to think about the wonder that Zachariah and Elizabeth must have been feeling. They thought their dream of having a child was gone, was dead.
00:05:45
Speaker
And yet here it is happening. How must have that felt? What must they have been thinking and wonder about how it affected their life and how something could affect your life today if you saw a promise or a dream that God had given you suddenly start to become fulfilled? Ponder that today and we'll pick up again tomorrow with Mary. Be still.