The First Angel: Zechariah | Advent Week 1
For anyone still wondering if their faithfulness still matters, this story of Zechariah and Elizabeth reminds us that anything… literally anything… is possible with God.
Steve DeNeff December 1, 2024
For anyone still wondering if their faithfulness still matters, this story of Zechariah and Elizabeth reminds us that anything… literally anything… is possible with God.
What does it mean to be ‘favored’ by God? It’s not a reward. It can’t be withheld. Favor is not a commodity, it’s a relational posture. The ultimate expression of God’s favor is Christ’s filling, the incarnation. Mary was favored and filled so that we may now be favored and filled. How? Faith. The filling of Christ in Mary and in us is a theological mystery. We respond in faith by accepting His favor and magnifying Him.
An angel appeared to Joseph, because (though he didn’t carry the life of God within him) he had a load-bearing role to play in Jesus’ life. The angel’s call to Joseph – to adopt the promise of God – offers us countless gifts in the inheritance of faith: from the way we interpret Scripture, to the way we see our lives in light of other people’s callings. This sermon will explore some of the inheritance Joseph left us through Jesus, and make space for us to overhear Joseph’s invitation as one we might accept, too.
In Luke’s version of Christmas, there are two stories occurring at the same time, each in a different city, with different kings and kingdoms, each with a different spirit. These two stories continue to this day. One gets all the news. We belong to the other.