Advent: Mary

 This Advent I am taking a closer look at four characters in the Christmas story.

You're pregnant.

Those two words will change your life forever.  If you've ever heard these words you remember what you were feelings.  If you've ever seen that stick with a dark line and a faint, yet life-altering, line you know what the knowledge of those words can mean: fear, excitement, anxiety, hope, anticipation, planning.

When you found out you were pregnant it came after sex or IUI or something like that, but Mary had the most surprising "You're pregnant" of all time from the angel Gabriel.

"Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"  But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.  And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." Luke 1:28-33

Now for the million dollar question.

"And Mary said to the angel, 'How will this be, since I am a virgin?" Luke 1:34

Gabriel went on to tell her that the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High will overshadow her and cause this to happen (Note the Father and Spirit begetting the Son).  He also said that Mary's elderly cousin Elizabeth is six months pregnant with a son.  

Mary responded to this life altering news in a wonderful way:

"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." Luke 1:38

Think about what Mary was finding out.  She, an unmarried virgin, was pregnant.  God had chosen her for the awesome task of carrying, birthing and raising the Son of God.  Yet Mary was in for the shame of people thinking she was a loose woman, she was to bear the taunts of people calling her son a bastard.  She was to live a life with a story few could ever believe.

Following Mary's encounter with the angel Gabriel there was nothing else God needed to do for Mary to confirm her role in the Christmas story.  Yet our gracious God did give her further confirmation.

Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth as quickly as she could to see the miracle that Gabriel had told her had happened.  As soon as Mary entered she didn't have to tell her story, she didn't need to ask Elizabeth's story.  No, God graciously gave Mary more confirmation than she needed.

"And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." Luke 1:41-45

At hearing this prophesy of the mother of the greatest prophet, Mary was filled with joy.  God graciously gave Mary the glimpse into His plan that she needed to carry on.  Mary then burst into a song that mirrors that of Hannah in 1 Samuel (you can read this in Luke 1:46-55).

Mary was given a wonderful and hard job.  

You're pregnant.

Those two words changed Mary's life.  They gave her the most blessed title a woman could have, mother of Jesus.  They also gave her a future that included pain like a sword through her soul (Luke 2:35).

The announcement of Mary's pregnancy was the announcement that God was coming down to us.  Emmanuel was embryonic.  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) and that process began right after Gabriel's very early gender reveal party for Mary when he told her she would have the Son that would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

Think today at how the surprising pregnancy announcement changed Mary's life.  Consider how our gracious God gave her strength to perform her task.  Most of all, ponder what the incarnation of Christ means for you today.

Christmas Letter- 2023

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Rays.

We hope your 2022 was one that left you with memories and growth, like ours did.

This Summer we did a vacation filled with day trips to places in Iowa.  We went to Adventureland, our county fair, explored a beautiful park in Decorah with a stunning waterfall, went mini-golfing, took the kids to the science museum in Waterloo, visited Dubuque and saw the Mississippi River Museum, the Fenelon Place Elevator and went deep into a spectacular cave.  

This year we also got to host Thanksgiving for the first time.  We had family and friends from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Australia pack our house for the big dinner.  Then our Iowa, Minnesota and Australian family was able to stay at a cool B&B inside their dairy barn.  It was great and especially great to watch the kids play with their cousins from Down Under.

"Big J" will be 18 on Christmas Eve and soon hopefully we won't have to refer to him as "Big J" online.  He continues to work at Walmart, is nearly done with school.  He, like so many other 18 year-olds, is trying to figure out what's next.  Pray for him to have wisdom and direction in the many big choices he has soon.

Joshua turned 5 in May and started kindergarten in the Fall.  He reads everything he sees.  This Summer he played T-ball and loved being part of a team and making friends.  Joshua also got to move beyond the parent-and-me to solo swimming lessons.

Anna turned 3 in February and started preschool in the Fall.  She goes Monday, Wednesday and Friday and loves that she has progressed beyond toddler to preschooler.  She also took tumbling classes and swimming lessons. 

Gideon is 19 months now.  He is running everywhere chasing his big siblings.  Right now he seems to gain new words every day.  2022 was a big year of growth for Gideon.

Christine continues to work very part-time (about once a week) at the walk-in clinic.  She has gotten involved in the local Bible Study Fellowship this year and is enjoying it.

Matt is still the morning show host and play-by-play broadcaster at KWAY radio.  He's been there for over 13 and a half years.  He continues to be involved in leading the youth group at church.

2022 was a wonderful year for the Rays.  God has been faithful and good to us.  He gave us Jesus 2,000 years ago and continued to give us Jesus and 2022 and we know we have more Jesus coming in 2023.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Rays!

(Legally can't show "J"'s face)

Advent: The Animals

 This Advent I am taking a closer look at four characters in the Christmas story.

My five year-old son was asked what the animals thought on that first Christmas.  He said, "What is this baby doing in my food!"

We can't know what, if anything, the animals thought on that first Christmas, but God gave us an imagination so let's use it today.  Let's make believe that God gave the animals in the stable, cave, courtyard of the home, or wherever they were a mind and mouth like Balaam's donkey.  What might they have wondered and said.

I think, if that were the case, they might have a wonderful perspective.  Think of the way they might have cheered on young Mary in those agonizing hours of labor.  Wonder at what they might have thought when a baby was placed into their feeding trough.  Perhaps Joshua was right.  Maybe they exclaimed, "What is this baby doing in my food!"

Now, imagine God gave these fortunate creatures the ability to hear what the shepherds said as they came in from the fields and into the place where this baby was laid.  The animals may have heard words like 'Christ the Lord' being uttered by these men who claimed to have been visited by a host of angels (Luke 2:9-14).  Then imagine their shock when the young mother, who claimed to be a virgin, told the herdsmen that she also had been visited by an angel that told her that she would have a son that would be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God would give this baby the throne of His father David and that He would reign forever (Luke 1:32-33).  And what's more the father said that he too was visited by an angel who told him that Mary's baby would save His people from their sins and would be God in flesh on the earth (Matthew 1:20-23).

The animals, in this supposed situation, would have jaws sagging and straw falling out of their mouths.  Could it be?  Could salvation be coming?  Could our Maker be lying in our food?

See, the Good News is about more than sinners going to Heaven.  The redemption of the entire cosmos was inaugurated at the conception of Jesus.

"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now." Romans 8:19-22

In those hours of painful childbirth, perhaps, the animals were reminded of their groaning in the dog-eat-dog cosmos to which they'd been subjected.  

Those animals saw the inauguration of the redemption of the whole creation and yet they died or were slaughtered before they saw the fulness of what was brought forth that Christmas day.  

Be like these animals.  Know that Jesus has come and that He will come again.  Christmas announces that God is doing something wonderful and urges us to eagerly look forward to its completion when:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand in the adder's den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 11:6-9

This Advent look forward to the cosmos-wide fruition of the Gospel.  Remember what the animals might have seen and heard today.

Advent: Shepherds

This Advent I am taking a closer look at four of the characters in the Christmas story. 

I didn't appreciate what I had when we lived out in the country.  

As a young boy living in rural Missouri I had the night sky.  It wasn't until I moved into town as a man and then spent Summer nights in southwest Iowa looking up at the glorious black speckled with countless stars that I realized what I should have cherished.

Imagine how dark the night was in ancient Israel.  No electric lights, just dark sky and billions of stars.

This is the night sky that the shepherds experience that first Christmas.  That is until the glory of the Lord shone around them (Luke 2:9).  

God's glory was not just the bright light in the dark night, but it was the announcement of good news (read that Gospel) of great joy that will be for all the people.  That night God announced the fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 9 to men working a menial job, and the night shift of that job.  God revealed His most glorious good news to shepherds on a dark night.

See this through these parallel passages:

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone." Isaiah 9:2
"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them..." Luke 2:8-9

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this." Isaiah 9:6-7 

"For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire." Isaiah 9:5
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased." Luke 2:14

The shepherds, those who were not the cream of the crop of society, were told the prophet Isaiah's words have been verified, go see it!  So, they just ran (read like old lady on the bench in Forest Gump).  They went and saw the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.  They saw and believed.  

The shepherds in the story went from the darkness to light, just like we go from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the light (Colossians 1:13).  They went from lowly shepherds with a distinct smell to understanding and believing what the religious elite would fail to grasp and love.

Who are the shepherds in your life?  Who are the people that you might overlook and fail to share the good news with?  Proclaim the Gospel and enlighten the darkness with the news that what God promised long ago came true and what He has promised and we wait for will certainly occur.  

God has good news of great joy for you today.