Hardly A Peaceful Greeting

December 15, 2016

Hardly A Peaceful Greeting

Mary responded,

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.

How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

Luke 1: 46-47

Have you noticed how peaceful and tranquil are the Christmas Cards we receive? They are designed to make us feel warm and secure through their quiet scenes with gentle animals and non-offensive language. WOW, what a difference from one of the first Christmas Greetings. When Mary visited her Aunt Elizabeth, who was pregnant with the baby who would become John the Baptist, Elizabeth felt the baby jump at the arrival of Mary. Mary responded with prose that we call the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Hardly a peaceful greeting, it was a revolutionary song. 

Before India won its independence, it was under British rule. Bishop William Temple of the Anglican Church warned his missionaries to India not to read the Magnificat in public. He feared that it would be so inflammatory that it might start a revolution! Actually, it was not Mary’s song that started a revolution two thousand years ago. The song was about Jesus, and Jesus did in fact start a revolution. His revolution was on several fronts: spiritual; social and economic. His revolution is still causing upheavals around the world.

A very good question to consider during Advent is whether Jesus’ revolution is still causing an upheaval in our life and in the life of our church. If you happen to be in one of those places where everyone goes along to get along, that is one of the surest signs that the revolution of Jesus has died out. I recall reading, I think in one of Fred Craddock’s books, that in a country where everyone is Christian, no one is a Christian. Jesus’ announcement of his Kingdom was not well received in all quarters of Israel, or Rome, and it most certainly is not well received in all quarters of the USA or the world around us today.

During our journey through the season of Advent, let us pause to consider those elements of our doctrines, those aspects of our faith in Jesus that put us at odds with our culture. Let us pray for steadfastness to hold firmly to our faith and for the strength of character to respond to persecution and criticism with the eloquence of Mary:

 Mary responded,

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.

How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

Luke 1: 46-47

  

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.