“He will go on before the Lord their God…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord”

Read: Luke 1:14-17

The son of Elizabeth and Zechariah was given the important responsibility of announcing the coming of Christ. John introduced the Messiah and prepared the people with a message of repentance. He turned “the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.”

We need help in opening our lives to God. Left to ourselves we concentrate on ourselves. Fathers reject their children and the disobedient thumb their nose at righteousness. Confession and repentance are the correct preparation for celebrating Christmas a Christian can experience and encourage. If we want others to turn from their sin and seek Christ we need to set the example. The forerunner of the Messiah was not a publicity agent but a prophet calling for repentance.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we repent of our sins. We confess our selfishness and turn away from what displeases You. Help us to overcome our impatience, anger, deception, and pride. Forgive us our sins and help us to forgive those who sin against us. May Christ’s forgiveness fill us with gratitude and prepare us for Christmas. Amen.

Read: Luke 1:26-38

Mary is not a modern Madonna who must make a name for herself. She is not a star or a celebrity. Mary is not a heroine. She is a disciple who lives her life in quiet obedience and humble obscurity. Mary has only one thing to say to us about personal ambition, self achievement, and popularity; Let God be God.

If we live our lives in righteousness why do we worry so about getting ahead? If God wants to use us a certain way He will. Mary did not aspire to greatness the way modern people strive to get ahead. There was no competition to be the mother of Jesus. No job interview or competency test. God simply chose Mary.

Prayer: You have promised, O Lord, never to leave us or forsake us. Above all else we desire your favor. We need your blessing. Forgive us for seeking the world’s fame and recognition. Help us to seek Your favor and righteousness. Amen.

“The Lord has done this for me.”

Read: Luke 1:5-26

Elizabeth and Zechariah became involved in God’s timing. They were co-workers, partners with God, in the unfolding work of redemption. They entered into the work of faith, removing their disgrace and filling their lives with purpose. God’s work does not use us up and cast us off. It fulfills us. In the fullness of time God makes good on His promises. Personal fulfillment and God’s cosmic mission coincide. God’s glory and our joy stand together.

Elizabeth cherishes God’s favor. Her personal acquaintance with disgrace is overcome by blessing. Like Elizabeth we need to go beyond a barren, sometimes bitter, past and trust in God’s goodness for us.

Prayer: We rejoice in Your favor, O God and look to You for our salvation. In ourselves we cannot remove the disgrace of sin and death. We turn to You for our fulfillment, both for our personal, daily well-being and for our future everlasting life Thank you, Lord, for designing a lift plan that is for our best and your glory. Amen.

O Father, you are sovereign in all affairs of man;
No powers of death or darkness
can thwart your perfect plan.
All chance and change transcending,
Supreme in time and space,
You hold your trusting children secure in your embrace.

“How can I be sure of this?”

Read: Luke 1:13-25

There is not a Christmas that goes by that we are not tempted by Zechariah’s question. We live in the scientific age. How can we believe in an honest-to-goodness God inspired prophet? How is it possible that a virgin conceived and the Lord of the Universe laid in a manger? Do we believe in the unbelievable during the holiday season only to revert back to business as usual January first?

The answer is “No”, we reject the unbelievable.

“We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried; on the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.”

This is what we believe. We do not believe that time plus chance produces the world we live in or that biological determinism accounts for the depth and meaning of human personhood or that death ends all. And we don’t believe in Santa Claus, either.

Prayer: Lord, we believe, help our unbelief. Celebrating Your birth as a human being reminds us of the profound realities that shape our lives and our cosmos. But we so easily forget and limit You to what we can see and touch. Reality is the mall. Its something we can buy. But we know otherwise. Help us to live in the reality of Your world and Your salvation. Amen.

“Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.”

5 Read: Luke 1:5-22

It was not by accident that God spoke to Zechariah when he was in the temple praying. Time and Place are always important. God made His will known to Zechariah as he fulfilled his priestly responsibilities. Right in the middle of worship and prayer God moved the plan of salvation one step closer to fulfillment. He brought this old, faithful priest into his confidence. He answered his prayer. God’s will and Zechariah’s plea intersected only to take off in a direction Zechariah never dreamed of.

It is in the thoughtful routine of worship and in the practice of spiritual disciplines that the meaning of Christmas becomes clearer. It is as we pray and sing and wait in quietness that God often speaks. Worship frees us from all the hassles and the clutter and points us in the direction of the Savior.

Like Zechariah we often find God taking us in directions we never expected. The world and the forces of evil are pulling on us as well. Will we listen and obey God?

Prayer: Father help us to quiet ourselves and discipline our restlessness. We need to hear Your Word and rejoice in Your promises. If we cannot center on You we will be pulled in every direction. Teach us to know You, quietly sovereign, Lord of our life. Amen.

“Both of them were upright in the sight of God . . . But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren.”

Read: Luke 1:5-17

From a human perspective the timing looked all wrong. “In the time of Herod king of Judea” was about the worst time we could imagine. But from God’s perspective it was the fullness of time. God does not operate on worldly standard time. Nor does he use the people we might expect. There is no perfect time. There are no perfect people, but that didn’t stop God!

Life often does not turn out the way we expect it should. It certainly didn’t for Elizabeth. She had no children. If we read between the lines we sense a lot of suffering in Elizabeth’s life even though she was good and obedient. The danger faithful people face, especially older Christians, is believing that life is nothing more than a mixed bag of good and evil. We need to learn what Elizabeth did; that in one way or another God does overcome the barrenness of life when we trust Him and are faithful to Him.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, teach us to trust you in the middle of our disappointments. Sometimes we are frustrated that You do not work the way we expect you should. We keep looking for a blessing that doesn’t come. Lord enable us to accept both the strain and the promise of faithfulness. We are Your children and we look forward to Your inheritance Amen.

“Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

Read: Matthew 1:1-17

As we read through the family history of Jesus we recognize some well known Bible characters: Abraham, Ruth, David, and Solomon. There are also quite a few names we can’t pronounce let alone remember. There are heroes of the faith listed side by side with evil characters who cared nothing for God’s plan of salvation. It’s a miracle that the line of faith and promise extends to Joseph and Mary.

Through it all God’s redemptive history prevails. If we are believers our names are added to the list. We are part of Jesus’ family. As we look at our family history we can thank God that His Salvation reaches us. God brings us through the confusion, the immoralities, the deaths and births, the sorrows and blessings, to Himself.

Prayer: We worship You, Lord God, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. We know that all things do work together for good for those who love You and are called according to your purpose. We praise you for your faithfulness and patience. Help us to persevere and stick to your purposes. Amen

Read: Micah 5:2

Time and Place are important to God and man. God’s prophecy seeks fulfillment in the territory of space and time. The Bible is not an ingenious literary invention created to give shape to the human imagination. The Bible is biographical, historical, and descriptive. It is inspired commentary on God’s interaction with mankind.

Bethlehem is just as real as Kansas City or Chicago or Des Moines. The birth of Christ took place in a relatively small and insignificant village. But it happened. It’s not a fairy tale staged in never, never land. In the fullness of time God entered our world and His creation. The Incarnate One was born in a little Palestinian village. The Savior of the world did not need the world’s power or publicity to make an impact. The angelic host was real, not ornamental. They praised God with real music heard by ordinary shepherds. The characters from Mary to Herod are not actors in a performance but people like you and me living in the real world.

Prayer: Father God, help us to appreciate what is real and what is important. We know you didn’t come to impress but to save. We accept your rule in our lives right where we live. We acknowledge that you are King of kings and Lord of lords in the place where you have put us. May the reality of Christ’s presence be felt in our community, in our homes, as it was in Bethlehem. Amen.

Read: Galatians 3:26-4:7

History is much more than a collection of random facts and a chain reaction of events. History is shaped by God. Who we are depends on a relationship with a real life historical person, Christ Jesus. Because of the salvation Christ offers, we are no longer slaves to sin. The Lord of history has made a way for our salvation. God, in Christ, entered into human life fully so that we might fully know our Heavenly Father.

Our thoughtful, Biblical celebration of Christmas helps us understand the substance of personal life. As we consider the grand scale of history we find our attention on a single subject, Jesus Christ. Apart from Christ, our ordinary lives lack purpose. If we don’t see ourselves as image-bearers of God, what defines our self worth? Without the Lord of history the confusion, frustration, and burdens of life penetrate and shape our self-understanding. Christmas is a reminder of what counts in life. It is a time of spiritual renewal when we re-examine the meaning and the practice of our faith in Christ.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son to make us your children. Thank you for freeing us from sin and slavery and bringing us into your family. With the Spirit of your Son in our hearts we call you our Father, Amen.

I had the privilege of serving as Administrative Pastor with Douglas Webster at Christ Community Church in Bloomington, Indiana when these devotionals were originally written. Doug is now Professor of Pastoral Theology and Preaching at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama and has graciously allowed me to revise and post them.

Doug Webster is my friend and mentor and in the late 1980’s I had the privilege of serving as Administrative Pastor at Evangelical Community Church (ECC) in Bloomington, Indiana during his tenure as Senior Pastor. These devotionals were originally prepared for ECC and Doug has graciously allowed me to revise and post them. Doug is now Professor of Pastoral Theology and Preaching at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.

Jim Eschenbrenner

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