Larry Devich
Friday, March 02, 2007
Shaking and quaking
Last night, while Mike and Serenity were at church and I, having just gotten home from work, was sitting on my bed, there was a small 4.2 earthquake in Lafayette. No damage or anything, it was just enough to get your attention and then it stopped.
Tomorrow I'm going to bring Serenity to work with me. I hadn't realized until today that the Chinese New Year's Parade is tomorrow so that is just a bonus, after work we will take in the parade, since it is right here in the neighborhood where I work anyway. I think it should be a fun day! ¶ 3/02/2007 11:39:00 AM 0 Comments
Tomorrow I'm going to bring Serenity to work with me. I hadn't realized until today that the Chinese New Year's Parade is tomorrow so that is just a bonus, after work we will take in the parade, since it is right here in the neighborhood where I work anyway. I think it should be a fun day! ¶ 3/02/2007 11:39:00 AM 0 Comments
Friday of Lent 1
The Annunciation and Incarnation
Read Luke 1:26-38
And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the
Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" (Lk. 1:28)
She's a young girl in a backwoods town, far away from the temple in
Jerusalem. We know nothing of her parents, and Mary may in fact be orphaned.
And it's to this girl that the angel appears and says, “Rejoice, highly favored
one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.” These words
trouble Mary, evidently more than the angel's appearance. Perhaps it is that
God highly favors her; then again, perhaps it's that statement that God is present
with her. How can that be? She's in backwater Nazareth, not anywhere near the
temple where the Lord dwells with His people. The angel answers, announcing
God's Word that this virgin will give birth to the Son of God. (Because of the
angel's announcement, this is called the Annunciation; it's a church holiday,
celebrated March 25—exactly nine months before Christmas.) When the angel
said, “The Lord is with you,” it was a “there He is!” statement of presence: God
is now a tiny cell or two clinging to the wall of Mary's womb.
Now, note the angel's explanation when Mary asks how a virgin can give
birth: “And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that
Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'” (Lk 1:35) “The
power of the Highest will overshadow you,” said the angel. That's what the
cloud did over the tabernacle and temple when God came to be present there.
Now, God is present in and with Mary; in fact, she is now the temple of the Lord
because the Lord dwells in her for the good of His people.
So the Lord becomes incarnate, or in flesh; and for this we give great thanks
to God by faith. But note how it all looks: a young woman in a small town
claims to be a virgin, pregnant with God's Son by the work of the Holy Ghost.
It seems unbelievable—especially to unbelief, and many still attack Mary's
virtue today. This is consistent throughout Scripture. Doubtless there were
some who looked at the pillar of cloud and dismissed it as strange weather, not
the Lord's leading. Doubtless there were many who looked at the tabernacle and
temple and saw only buildings, dismissing God's presence there as superstition.
Clearly, many looked at the Savior on the cross, while He was redeeming the
world from sin, and saw a dying criminal getting what He deserved, nothing
more. To the eyes, God's works of mercy will always seem ordinary at best,
scandalous at worst. To most today (and sadly to many within Christendom),
the means of grace appear to be quaint rituals and only symbols, nothing more.
But by these means of grace, the Lord is just as with you as He was with Mary
as He developed in her womb and suckled at her breast. No matter what the
world thinks of you, because Jesus is present with mercy, you are highly favored
by God, both now and forever. ¶ 3/02/2007 11:36:00 AM 0 Comments
Read Luke 1:26-38
And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the
Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" (Lk. 1:28)
She's a young girl in a backwoods town, far away from the temple in
Jerusalem. We know nothing of her parents, and Mary may in fact be orphaned.
And it's to this girl that the angel appears and says, “Rejoice, highly favored
one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.” These words
trouble Mary, evidently more than the angel's appearance. Perhaps it is that
God highly favors her; then again, perhaps it's that statement that God is present
with her. How can that be? She's in backwater Nazareth, not anywhere near the
temple where the Lord dwells with His people. The angel answers, announcing
God's Word that this virgin will give birth to the Son of God. (Because of the
angel's announcement, this is called the Annunciation; it's a church holiday,
celebrated March 25—exactly nine months before Christmas.) When the angel
said, “The Lord is with you,” it was a “there He is!” statement of presence: God
is now a tiny cell or two clinging to the wall of Mary's womb.
Now, note the angel's explanation when Mary asks how a virgin can give
birth: “And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that
Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'” (Lk 1:35) “The
power of the Highest will overshadow you,” said the angel. That's what the
cloud did over the tabernacle and temple when God came to be present there.
Now, God is present in and with Mary; in fact, she is now the temple of the Lord
because the Lord dwells in her for the good of His people.
So the Lord becomes incarnate, or in flesh; and for this we give great thanks
to God by faith. But note how it all looks: a young woman in a small town
claims to be a virgin, pregnant with God's Son by the work of the Holy Ghost.
It seems unbelievable—especially to unbelief, and many still attack Mary's
virtue today. This is consistent throughout Scripture. Doubtless there were
some who looked at the pillar of cloud and dismissed it as strange weather, not
the Lord's leading. Doubtless there were many who looked at the tabernacle and
temple and saw only buildings, dismissing God's presence there as superstition.
Clearly, many looked at the Savior on the cross, while He was redeeming the
world from sin, and saw a dying criminal getting what He deserved, nothing
more. To the eyes, God's works of mercy will always seem ordinary at best,
scandalous at worst. To most today (and sadly to many within Christendom),
the means of grace appear to be quaint rituals and only symbols, nothing more.
But by these means of grace, the Lord is just as with you as He was with Mary
as He developed in her womb and suckled at her breast. No matter what the
world thinks of you, because Jesus is present with mercy, you are highly favored
by God, both now and forever. ¶ 3/02/2007 11:36:00 AM 0 Comments
