They spoke of the Messiah

It is Christmas Eve.

I am sitting, cozy and comfortable under a blanket, by a fireplace (that isn't lit), while enjoying the feeling of a profitable day.

Tomorrow is Christmas Day.

The day that thousands of children wake to find piles of brightly colored packages laid under a heavily decorated tree.

They wake up too early from the anticipation; and "gently" wake the parents too!

Christmas is a day for family and friends and good food and games.

It is the day that we remember our Savior's birth.


I have been reading the Christmas narrative from Matthew and Luke's gospel for the last couple of days, and have been impressed over and over again of the wonderful miracle of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!  Three people in particular stood out to me, as I read the familiar account.  They are Zechariah, Simeon, and Anna.

Zechariah:

He spoke of the Messiah.  He was Mary's cousin by marriage and the father of John the Baptist.  Because of his unbelief after hearing about his wife's pregnancy, he was unable to speak.  Yet, when the birth came to pass as the Lord had foretold, his "...tongue was loosed..." and he began to prophecy concerning the soon-coming Messiah. (Luke 1:67-79) 
He spoke by the Holy Spirit, blessing God for His provision of salvation through the Messiah.  He was raising up a "horn of salvation" for Israel--God's chosen people--just as He had spoken in the ages past to the fathers and prophets.  God was fulfilling His promise.  Salvation was born.  The Messiah had come!  The Messiah came to save.  For Israel, they were looking for the physical salvation and the return to their land with a mighty political ruler, but God's plan, set from before the foundation of the world, was to redeem people from the power, presence, and penalty of sin and death so that man could live forever in heaven to the glory of God.
This Messiah has delivered us from our enemies, so that we might "...serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days..."  Server God, without fear, because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ applied to our account through the cross.  This is Messiah.  Messiah has come!

Simeon:

He had waited and waited.  He was growing older.  His body was beginning to fail.  But he had a promise, a promise from God that he would not die until he saw the Promised Messiah.  At just the right time, Christ was born; and eight days later His earthly parents took Him to the temple for the customary rites of the Law.    And there was Simeon.  

Imagine the overwhelming delight to see God's promised Son.  Here was the One he had been waiting for all his life.  And it was a Child.  A small Baby, wrapped in rough cloth, held by a young woman who looked a little scared.  Here was the Messiah, God's chosen Lamb!  

This Child was salvation, promised by God, to be "...a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel..."  Jesus is the Messiah.  The Messiah has come!  

Anna:

Anna was a prophetess.  Having seen her share of sorrow, a widow of 84 years, she stayed in the Temple worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.  She too, was looking for the salvation of Israel.  And here it was!  Her response: "...she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem."  

She gave thanks to God for bringing salvation to earth, His Son in human form!  The Messiah has come!  

Jesus is the Messiah, the promised Christ, come for you and me!

16 days

16 days.

Two days past two weeks.  A normal amount of time for grass seed to sprout.  Sixteen days, plus five, is all the time it takes to break a habit.  Sixteen days from now it will be January 3, 2013.  Sixteen days ago, it was December 2, I was going to a Christmas Tea.

16 days.  Such a short time.  Not long enough, but that was all they had.

He stood out in the cold, tears streaming down his face.  His wife stood beside him, not crying, but overwhelmed.  His uniform looked official, but underneath, there was a man, grieving, hurting, touched by a song.  She was holding back the tears, but we knew that there had been many days when the flood hadn't ceased to run.
We were Christmas caroling.  You know that old-Christmas tradition, famed by well-bundled people singing carols in the cold on people's doorsteps.  There were about twelve of us who braved the cold that night.  It was a beautiful night, chilly and dry, but clear.  The stars were shining, and you could almost see most of them despite the city lights.  We were jolly and loud.  It had been a fun evening.  We had sang to many houses, and had blessed many people.
As we were coming to this house, we began to ask the same question: "Should we stop here?"  "There aren't any lights on, maybe no one's home."  Our fearless leader led the charge, saying that we would sing one song and see if anyone came to the door.  We started and the door opened.  At first, the man in the uniform looked a bit confused.  But soon, his expression changed and he called to his wife.  She rushed to the door with an exclamation.  As we started the second song, her camera came out and she took a couple of pictures and a video.  Needless to say, we were delighted to have made such an impact!  We could tell from the tears and their body language that they had been touched by the love of God.  When we finished the last chord of "We Wish you a Merry Christmas", they both thanked us deeply.  Then we heard why...

This was a hard time for them.  They were grieving.  16 days was all the time that they had with their newborn son.  Just a few months back, they had a son, but he only lived 16 days.  This Christmas was the first Christmas of many without him.  There had been months of preparing and planning for this new little life to change their lives, and then after 16 days, the dream was taken away.  What was supposed to be the first Christmas with their son, was instead the first Christmas with the memory of those few short days.  16 days.  

They told us that we would never know how much it meant to them for a handful of college students to come out in the cold to sing some Christmas carols to them.  We would never know!  We can't know.
But God used us.  We weren't even going to stop there, and that house alone would have made the whole evening worth the trip in the cold!  We got to pray with them, endeavoring to show God's love to them.

We'll never know the full impact that God allowed us to have in this couple's life.  We pray that it is a testimony to the gospel of Christ, and that they are surrounded by His love and see their need of a Savior from their sins.  But God used us!  He used selfish motives, cold fingers, noses, and toes, and froggy voices to glorify Himself!  Praise God!

We can never know how God is going to use us in other's lives.  Most often, it is during the oddest circumstances and situations that God's hand is most seen.  He works in mysterious ways.  But He knows, and He calls us to be faithful; faithful to proclaim His truth, His love, His grace to a dying, hurting world.

This Christmas season, may we not be too quick to overlook a person who may be hurting.  May we be vessels filled to overflowing with the grace and love of God, so that we can spill over onto others and God may be glorified!