How to Have a Christian Wedding

When is a wedding truly Christian? It seems to me that that question can be answered at two different levels. Consider the first.

Suppose a young community couple approaches a pastor seeking his wedding services. They are not members of any church. They are not believers. Thoroughly secular in their outlook, they nevertheless have a residual sense that a wedding should in some way be religious and, motivated by that sense, they seek a pastor’s help. Can they have a Christian wedding?

In such cases, if the pastor’s ritual is Christian in content – that is, faithful to the word of God — and his prayers are offered in the name of Christ, and if the songs sung have Christian lyrics, then in a broad sense, what he offers may be called a Christian wedding. It’s not Buddhist, Hindu, nor even broadly secular. It carries the notes of Christian truth about marriage throughout.

But if the couple are a man and woman who love Jesus Christ devoutly and who make known that they want their wedding in every way to honor him, that promises a Christian wedding in a much fuller sense. The event has a discernible authenticity. It is this kind of Christian wedding that I write about today.

I remember with particular warmth Ken and Judy, or Larry and Cheryl, Jim and Fern or David and Faith, and a string of others across the decades. Often they were young and inexperienced when they arrived at the altar, starry-eyed, eagerly anticipating the adventure they were about to launch. Sometimes there was slight apprehension over the serious nature of the vows they were to make. But each couple, in their own way, saw the event as a time to reflect the faith they so ardently held.

A wedding marks one of life’s most important rites of passage. It is an adventure and – one hopes — a once-in-a-lifetime event. One couple steeped in romance may approach it as the fulfillment of a dream; to another more down-to-earth couple it may be more centered on the making of vows. Couples come to the wedding altar with a variety of concerns. For all these reasons, the event deserves the full attention of the pastor asked to officiate.

A Christian wedding deserves to be theologically grounded, beautiful, well-ordered, with logical sequences, free of unnecessary distractions, and in all, an experience of the sacred for both the wedding party and the worshiping congregation.

But, it seems to me that the Christian essence of even some church weddings is under siege. It is threatened by the incursion of materialism – the impulse to make the event into a theatrical spectacle that fairly drowns out the Christian notes of reverence and worship. Materialism calls for props, showiness, the piling up of expense. The families involved may be unable to afford the cost and this may trigger a lot of behind the scenes conflict.

Another peril the mood of our times seems to encourage is narcissism – the tendency for one or both parties to make the event into an ego-trip rather than a covenanting service carried out “in the sight of God and the presence of these witnesses.” When narcissism takes over, the wedding becomes exlusively a “now” and “me” moment. The couple cheat themselves of valuable insights about weddings. For example, they deprive themselves of wisdom the church has gleaned across two millennia.

They are likely to scorn the value of traditions which serve an important function – to bring together two families as harmoniously as possible. Traditions have been accumulated across the centuries to meet this goal. It’s a demanding task, and in observing these traditions, family rivalries and interpersonal tensions are reduced.

So, to avoid these perils, what should we aim for in planning a Christian wedding? Here are three goals:

If the wedding is to be seriously Christian, from the start the couple must keep in mind that Christ is to be the guest of honor. Therefore, all planning must be to please him. What better situation than a wedding to put into practice the advice of the Apostle Paul who wrote, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Col. 3:17) Wanting his blessing above all else will assure the proper sense of reverence and restraint.

The couple should also do all they can to lay a groundwork for the expression of Christian joy. Where Christ is honored, there is joy. Joy is a great Christian grace. It is a key element in worship (Ezra 6:22) so it should be in evidence at a Christian wedding. When preparations have been well laid, joy will be present, subdued but deep, and at the later reception it may become jubilant and overflowing.

Finally, in all the planning, the aim should be for simplicity. That doesn’t mean stark plainness — without color or beauty. It means keep things as uncomplicated as possible. Remember that understatement often reveals the heart of beauty. If a main line of planning is established and adhered to this will reduce distractions and mishaps as the big day approaches.

Are such goals worth the trouble? I have in my memory weddings of unforgettable Christian witness and loveliness and I say, Yes! Without hesitation, Yes!

The Abortion Issue Has Not Been Aborted

Thirty-seven years ago this month I preached a sermon to my congregation in Central Illinois on the subject of The Sanctity of Human Life.

The Supreme Court of the United States in its Roe v Wade decision had just produced what one spokesman for life has called “a license to kill the unborn.” This had created a mighty stir and our congregation was ready to hear the subject addressed from the pulpit.

My sermon was based on the words of Psalm 139, “For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (v. 13).

This psalm was indeed written before the age of science which began in the 17th century. It is therefore written in poetic, not scientific, language to describe our human state before birth.

But it eloquently reflects the Judeo-Christian view of humankind – we are creatures from God’s hand, we bear his image, so our existence is to be regarded as sacred before as well as after birth.

The day after I preached that sermon a troubled high school student from the congregation came to my study. She had recently encouraged a fellow student to solve the problem of an unwanted pregnancy by getting an abortion, and she was troubled about what she had done. My sermon had pricked her conscience. That was 37 years ago.

It is shocking to think that since that Supreme Court decision in January, 1973, an estimated 52 million unborn children have been dismembered or chemically poisoned, or if on rare occasions they survived the abortion, left to die. That is to say nothing of the uncounted number of women who have been damaged whether emotionally, physically, or both by the procedure.

The issue of the sanctity of life is so deeply rooted in the moral nature of things that it will not go away. Last week, a March for Life in Washington D. C. drew a crowd estimated to be 300,000 strong. The most encouraging feature of the celebration was that it was heavily attended by young women who see the issue clearly. They were there to celebrate life.

The Roman Catholic Church is to be commended for its unceasing drive to protect the life of the unborn. It has the numbers and is in several ways mobilized to keep the issue before the public. This is so even though some of its members who are leading political figures are an embarrassment to the church in claiming to be “practising Catholics” while at the same time openly and defiantly supporting pro-abortion positions.

Now, as the Super Bowl contest draws near, conflict over the issue breaks into public view again. All-star Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in an ad sponsored by Focus on the Family celebrates his mother’s courage in not aborting him even though her doctor’s advice and her tough circumstances could have tempted her to do so. Tebow pays her tribute. CBS has agreed to air the ad but this has raised a storm of protest from pro-choice crusaders.

It’s interesting that organizations that support, even celebrate, a woman’s right to choose do not want a woman who freely chose life to bear witness to her freedom of choice in this public way.

Recent polls indicate that the public is shifting away from the pro-choice and toward the pro-life stance. But the battle is far from over. One lone sermon here and there during the Super Bowl season may not seem like a very telling influence urging the protection of unborn humans. But who can estimate the impact if sermons opposing unrestricted abortion were preached from 350,000 pulpits across the land at this time?

Making Good Decisions and Sticking With Them

Our grandson, Zachary, has just finished his first semester of medical school. Recently he told me of a talk a doctor had given to a meeting of the Christian Medical Fellowship he attended. It was instructions for making good decisions.

Decisions are a key function of being human. We make them every hour of our day. There are mostly inconsequential decisions like: What shall I wear today? Or moderately consequential ones like: Shall I study or send a text message? And there are major, history-making decisions like: Is this the time to propose marriage?

Some decisions are morally-neutral like: Shall I wash the car today? And some are morally-fringed like: Shall I do business with that person, when I’m not sure of her honesty? And some decisions are morally saturated to the core like: When I discover that the cashier accidentally gave me two five dollar bills stuck together in my change, shall I return one of them or keep them both?

What you’ve read so far is my elaboration of my grandson’s report. What impressed him about the doctor’s talk was his outline and its common sense. The doctor apparently set forth two reference points that should be reckoned with when we are making important, life-shaping decisions. They are “righteousness” and “wisdom.”

As I understand it, the doctor’s point was that righteousness is fixed. The standards are given to us in the Scriptures. The commandments of God give us solid reference points about life and we are sure to make good decisions only if we act in sync with them. For example, we are to have no other gods, to reverence God’s name; we are not to steal or bear false witness, etc. Issues like these are not negotiable.

On the other hand, according to the doctor, wisdom is the application of common sense in accordance with our understanding of righteousness. We apply the two together to the specific decisions we must make. Wisdom helps us to choose our friends wisely. It saves us from becoming entangled with substance abuse. It aids us in making vocational moves. It allows us to maintain our commitments to righteousness while we wrestle with the uncertainties of life. We don’t lose our solid footing while we choose.

The point the doctor made that seemed most helpful to Zach – and would have been most helpful to me — was that when we take righteousness seriously in our deliberations but must go ahead and make a decisions for which there’s not a clear chapter-and-verse to guide us, we can go forward without fear.

And when we go ahead with the best wisdom at our disposal we are saved from the paralysis of second-guessing ourselves. We believe that the Good Lord can take our decisions and bless their outcomes because we have used the best resources at our disposal. Those resources are righteousness to which we are clearly committed and wisdom for which we earnestly pray (James 1:5).

About Same Sex Marriage in California

On January 11 the Supreme Court of California heard the opening arguments in favor of overturning Proposition 8. This proposition, you will recall, amended the State constitution by means of a statewide vote of its citizens.

It’s more than a California matter because the marriage laws of 45 other States are at issue. It’s even more than an American issue because the assault on marriage is going on in Canada and the United Kingdom and other places in the western world.

It appears that those who are pushing for the collapse of the historic and virtually universal belief that marriage is a covenanted union of one man and one woman do not respect or believe in the democratic process.

A state-wide vote was taken at great expense. Impassioned speeches were made. There were demonstrations. And then a referendum. The citizenry said they want the historic position to be enshrined in the state constitution. The procedures were followed carefully. But the arguments must be made again.

In the opening arguments on January 11 a lawyer representing California said, “the traditional definition of marriage does not reflect animus against gays and lesbians – in California or anywhere else. Nor is it any way arbitrary or irrational.”

The argument continued, “Rather, it simply reflects the fact that the institution of marriage is, and always has been uniquely concerned with promoting and regulating naturally procreative relationships between men and women to provide for the nurture and upbringing of the next generation.”

It further states, “This understanding of the central purposes of marriage has been repeatedly and persuasively articulated by leading lawyers, linguists, philosophers, and social scientists throughout history up to and including the present day.”

The attack mounted against traditional marriage is multi-pronged: divorce has become surprisingly commonplace; living together unmarried almost mainstream; and a seemingly relentless campaign is on to broaden the definition of marriage to include an unnatural same-sex arrangement (possibly to be followed later by polygamy, polyandry and even state approved incestuous unions).

Those of us who hold to a Judeo-Christian understanding of life and particularly of marriage will need to give greater attention to what’s going on in this society. Do we understand why the traditional view of marriage is critically important? Can we articulate clearly the position we hold? And do we take opportunity whether in church or newspaper or local meetings to support the idea forthrightly but with civility?

I would be glad to hear from you, my reader, a one sentence or no more than a one paragraph reason why traditional marriage is to be protected for the good of the family and the good of society. That little assignment would test us all on the depth and clarity of our understanding of the problem. Good solutions begin with understanding.

God of the Storms

I remember how storms came up during hot summer days on the prairies of Saskatchewan. It might be mid-afternoon, the sun shining brightly in the sky, the air still, and the heat a bit oppressive. Then, usually on the western horizon, a menacing dark cloud would form. In a very short time it would expand and within a few minutes ascend to fill the heavens.

It became semi-dark and the rain began to pelt the landscape. Lightning flashed like a giant’s welding torch, and these flashes were followed by thunderclaps that made the earth seem to shake. After a good drenching of the fields the storm moved on and the sun filled the sky again. Our world had been freshened.

As a child, it was one thing to be caught running for home in terror during such a pyrotechnical display. It was another thing to be sitting on the safe side of a window, attended by a parent looking out together on the magnificent demonstration of nature’s fireworks.

You might think that the description of such a storm would find no place in the worship manual of a church. Psalm 29 is built on such a description. During his fugitive days the psalmist, David, must many times have had to watch the amazing drama in the heavens from the mouth of a cave.

Here’s his experience. The storm is coming in from the Mediterranean Sea: “The voice of the Lord is over the waters…” In fact, “the mighty waters” (v.3).

It’s moving inland over Lebanon where it exerts its enormous strength on a few of the mighty cedars of that region, snapping some of them as though they were spindly pines (v.5). And as wind-driven sheets of rain wash across the forest, bending trees in unison, they remind him of a playful, skipping calf (v.6a).

The storm then drives further inland and toward the south where it shows it’s force over towering Mount Hermon (Sirion). Again it appears to skip playfully, but here like a young wild ox (verse 6b).

Driving southward it washes over the desert in the southern regions of Kadesh, where it seems without effort to twist the oaks and strip the forests bare (v. 9).

How should a devout observer consider such a demonstration of nature’s power? As the nasty work of some malevolent force? As nothing more than the unfeeling tricks of nature? As the business of Baal whom the Canaanites worshiped as the storm god? None of the above.

Rather, the sight filled the psalmist with an impulse to call all the unseen heavenly beings to praise the Almighty: “Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,/ ascribe to the Lord glory and strength./ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;/ worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness” (vv. 1, 2)

His closing words are no less exultant: “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;/ the Lord is enthroned as King forever./ The Lord gives strength to his people;/ the Lord blesses his people with peace” (vv. 10,11).

To enter the spirit of Psalm 29 is to enlarge our vision of our God. We worship him while the wind blows and the thunder rumbles. He is God over the storms; he is God over all; he is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Conversation In a Wal-Mart Check-Out Line

Kathleen and I were standing in the twenty-items-or-less check-out line at Wal-Marts. We were there to pay for a couple of items of groceries before going on to our place of residence.

The line was long, snaking its way back and forth from the four cashiers who were checking customers through.

Kathleen whispered to me, “Look at that man up ahead eating grapes out of his bag before they’re weighed.” The man was making a snack of it.

A woman ahead of us overheard Kathleen’s comment. She too had seen the man snacking as he waited. She turned and said, “I suppose you’d call that stealing.”

Then she added, “Maybe stealing doesn’t matter for an older person in the way it might for someone younger with a fresher conscience.” But, after a pause, she corrected, “You’d think it would matter more because he’s closer to the judgment.”

It was an unexpected comment. And it identified her immediately as someone whose thinking was shaped by Christian truth.

We were total strangers, but we shared the conviction that our conduct in this life, whether good or bad, will come under judgment in the life to come (Rev. 20: 11-15).

Even hundreds of years before Christ, the Preacher wrote, “God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed” (Ecc. 3:17).

Not all Christians think that way. There’s an idea afloat that the death Christ died on our behalf at Calvary gives us a complete pass as to any final judgment. And in one sense that is indeed true (Rom. 5:9,10). By faith we are justified — that is cleared of the penalty for our sins — because Christ has paid that penalty for us.

But there is another truth that goes with it. The Apostle Paul made this further point to a young congregation in the city of Corinth, a metropolis that was notorious for its moral looseness. He reminded young Christians there that, “… we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:9). His “all” includes believers.

If we take his words to heart, they mean that, although we are justified, we will nevertheless be judged for the quality of life we have lived as Christians. That is one of several reasons why Christians take the commandment against stealing seriously. And the issue turns out to be about more than a handful or two of grapes.

Think of some of the ways stealing can be a way of life. Fudging on taxes, failing to pay legitimate debts, not returning library books, stealing grades in school. The list could get long. It’s a much larger issue than a mere handful or two of grapes belonging to a large corporation.

On this matter, even the Apostle Paul did not absolve himself. He said in his defence before the Roman Governor Felix in Caesarea that at the end of time he believed there would be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. “So” he went on, “I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man” (Acts 24:16).

Our brief conversation with a stranger in the WalMart check-out line was good for us. It made us freshen our thinking on the relationship between believing in Christ and behaving as Christians.

Departing Thoughts on Advent

A lay leader asked her pastor to recommend some songs suitable to be sung at an informal ladies gathering during Advent. The pastor responded, “How about some of the Christmas carols.” Her response: “But they’re all so theological.”

Indeed, they are theological. That’s the glory of them. At Christmas time, Christians are less inclined to sing ditties that lack good, singable theology. The meaning of the season and the beauty of its hymnody are too important for that. Consider:

For Christ is born of Mary, And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.

Or

Infant holy, Infant lowly, for his bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing, little knowing Christ the babe is Lord of all.

Or

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth;

Or, one more

O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

Christmas carols are unavoidably theological. And their theological content is only enhanced by the fact that they are lyrics devised by such illustrious hymn writers as Charles Wesley and matched to some of the best music in the hymnal — tunes by great musicians like George Frederick Handel and Felix Mendelssohn. And, what’s more, they come to us from several periods of history and also from many different lands.

The world can’t seem to forget the Christmas hymns. During this advent season, I heard some of these memorable melodies wafted over the sound systems of business establishments as background to the buzz and click of computer-driven cash registers. I heard them several times on television and radio stations that are professedly secular in their programming. The whole world, it seems, cannot keep itself from remembering that a Savior has been born and his name is Christ the Lord!

So, as a wrap-up to Advent and a preparation for the celebration of New Years it is good for Christians to refocus on the fact that all of life, not just Advent, is inescapably theological. During Advent, it is about God and how he has revealed himself “bodily”. It’s about how deeply he cares for his world. That too is theological. It is about the predicament our world is in because of sin and about how this Great God provides for the redemption of man, both in time and for eternity.

Just because we say goodbye to Advent, we dare not let ourselves forget: Christ came! Christ comes! Christ will come again!

So, because of Our Lord’s humility in his first coming, his goodness, his power soon to be revealed I say: Blessings, and Happy New Year to my readers, one and all!

A Day in the Life of a Retired Bishop

Can I interest you in a glimpse at what a day in the life of a retired bishop looks like? To be exact, December 15 2009?

I usually get up at about 5 A.M., wash up, shave and get out to my study as soon as possible. Here in Florida the study is a room on the side of our place which I call my shack, a rustic but comfortable space with glass on two sides and the basics for pleasurable work – a computer, printer, a few reference books and a work table where I spend satisfying hours almost every day.

Out here at 5:30 A.M. I look out on an environment that is still dark and quiet, and I have time alone for the Scriptures and prayer. How refreshing! I meditate on the Lord Jesus who gave his life for me, and who is in me. I acknowledge how much I need his grace moment-by-moment, and reflect on what I believe he has placed me in the world to do. I also offer petitions for a string of needs in family and among friends, and for the church in the world – always revisiting unanswered prayers I repeat in faith daily.

Kathleen calls me in at 6:30 A.M. and together we do 30 minutes of exercise to a Leslie Sansone DVD. It’s called Walk and Firm For Older Adults. We know this is really good for us – both in body and soul. Then we eat breakfast together and spend some time reading from (at present) Jeremiah, and praying together. By 8 A.M. we have set our goals for the day.

Yesterday, back in my shack, I completed work on a piece I’ve called, Questions I Would Like To Ask the Virgin Mary. This is Advent – the four weeks prior to Christmas — and I’ve been teaching a Sunday night congregation on the opening passages of St. Luke’s Gospel. For believers especially, the coming of our Our Lord in human flesh is a stunning truth. Yesterday’s effort was to capture in writing some of the things I myself have been pondering during Advent. I’ve put the piece on my blog and also submitted it to an editor for possible publication.

At 12 noon I went in for a good, tasty spread. Our custom is to have our main meal at noon. It’s more healthful, we believe, than a main meal in the evening, and t gives us time to connect. Then, after a short nap I am usually back in my shack for further study by 2 P.M. And most of the time there there are no urgent telephone calls, consultations, committee meetings, and short trips away — all necessary and valuable — as in the busy past.

My other major assignment yesterday was to read through the 12 chapters of Daniel and start creating a chart of the book. In the New Year the Sunday night lessons will be from passages in Daniel. I don’t know this book as well as I should so on the days between now and New Years I will spend time reading and studying it.

At 12 noon I went indoors for the noon meal, our main meal of the day. After a leisurely repast during which we shared our interests we took time for a quick nap and by 2 P.M. I was back in my shack, my favorite place to be.

As one of yesterday’s incidentals, its pleasant distractions, I talked by long distance with our daughter, Carolyn. She told me of a conversation she had with a new acquaintance in her school, a young teacher who is thinking a lot about marriage and family. This friend shared with Carolyn the following idea: when girls are growing up their fathers should take them on a date occasionally – something interactive like bowling, or roller blading, or even a lunch or picnic. Then later when she begins to date, this teacher believes, such treatment would be in her mind as a model of what a girl should expect from the treatment of a man. The idea’s worth pondering!

It reminded me of a time when I took a 10-year-old granddaughter to lunch. We went to a buffet. Among the other tasty foods, I took a helping of shrimp. But she had never tasted shrimp so she didn’t take any. While we were eating I offered her one of mine. She liked it and, after that — one shrimp at a time — she cleaned the rest off my plate. I chuckled inside and was glad she felt so comfortable with me!

Late yesterday afternoon I went indoors. My wife, Kathleen, was reading Sarah Palin’s new book, Going Rogue. Later, during our evening sandwich-apple-and-hot-drink together, she told me about it. She is really impressed with this woman. She finds her down-to-earth, smart, real, and apparently very open about her Christian faith.

So, what did we do last evening? Kathleen’s preference was a game of Scrabble. We don’t follow all the rules or use the timer so this is pretty much our game. I’m not as much taken with Scrabble as she is, but we play and more often than not she beats me. Whoever wins, it’s a good way to exercise the brain. Come to think of it, can the brain be exercised?

Oh, yes, and we finished in time to watch Bill O’Reilly. He’s a controversial but engaging figure, and often criticized because he is sometimes too sharp with his guests. Here’s how I have him figured: He was raised and educated in a Catholic environment and this has given him a definite moral framework for life. That is, he believes there are such things as right and wrong. This I like. He is of Celtic stock (Irish) and I assume this explains his fiery temperament and quick wit. He has a disciplined mind and this makes him a formidable debater. And because he believes strongly that there is such a thing as truth he dares to call his hour “the no spin zone.” Reaching for truth sometimes leads to strong clashes. My impression is that he makes an effort to be fair when discussing public personalities that others sometimes love or hate too passionately.

All in all, yesterday, like all days, whizzed by. It went fast but seemed to have something worthwhile to occupy every hour. Our pace has slowed from the pace of former days. It is not swift as it once was, but we try to occupy our time well. We both desire to be meaningfully employed to the glory of God.

When we retired at 10 P.M. we had a deep satisfaction that our day had been spent well. We closed by giving thanks to God for the gift of another day.

Do you agree that every day is a gift from him?

Questions for Mary, the Mother of Our Lord

Saint Luke tells with amazing brevity the story of the Angel Gabriel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary: she is miraculously to be the mother of the Messiah. Mary’s response, her subsequent visit with cousin Elizabeth, and her beautiful song of worship, are all recorded with few words (Luke 1:26-56).

But, when the news broke, were responses in family and community as completely serene as the account would suggest?

After all, how could such an announcement fail to land with jarring impact first on her parents, then on Joseph, to whom she was pledged to be married, and then on the town of Nazareth where she lived?

Here are some questions Luke, the physician, does not answer.

How did Mary’s mother find out about her virgin daughter’s angel-announced pregnancy? Did Mary tell her? If so, what was her immediate response? Imagine the response today if a teenaged girl should say to her mother, “An angel appeared to me yesterday and told me I’m going to have a baby without any man’s involvement.” Would she just say, “Fine,” and go on emptying the dishwasher? And how did her father take the news?

Then there’s Joseph, the man she’s pledged to marry. How did he find out? Matthew tells us that, so far as Joseph was concerned, Mary “was found to be with child. . . .” Did her parents tell Joseph? Or did Mary?

We know that, however he got the news, at first he was downright upset. His immediate impulse was to break the engagement (actually to divorce her according to Jewish customs at the time). But he would do so as quietly as possible so as not to subject her to public disgrace.

Was Mary in anguish during that time over what his decision would be? An angel had to appear to Joseph in a dream to settle him down. He then took Mary into his home though they were not intimate, Matthew tells us, until after the baby was born. (Matt. 1:18-25).

Then I’m curious especially about Mary’s trip to be with her aged cousin, Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56). It is likely that Elizabeth and Zechariah, her husband, lived in Hebron, a town some distance south of Jerusalem.

The distance from Nazareth to Hebron could have been 80 miles or more. How does this carefully chaperoned young woman (according to the customs of the times) get from her home to that distant place? One assumes she walked, as all poor people did back then.

Going straight south, she would have to travel through the hostile territory of Samaria. If not, to avoid this course she may have crossed the Jordan south of Lake Galilee and traveled along the eastern side to another crossing near the Jericho. From there, there would be a long upward climb to Jerusalem, perhaps for 15 miles, and then still a good stretch of travel further south to reach Hebron.

So, did her father go with her? Or was she sent in a caravan of travelers? And, where did she stay overnight on the three- or four-day trip? There were no Holiday Inns.

Then, after three months with Elizabeth, she returned to her home town, Nazareth. How did the community respond? Her pregnancy would then be in its second trimester. So, when her mother sent her to the well for water and she carried the vessel on her head, did her peers snicker behind their hands as she passed by? If so, how did Mary deal with such scorn?

I believe Luke, the careful historian, would have known the answers to these questions. He says (Luke in 1:3) his research had been thorough. Years later he may have visited with Mary in Ephesus where the Apostle John is said to have taken her to live. If so, he would have had the details firsthand.

Then, why does he leave such information out? It must be because he isn’t writing a novelette to portray human conflict and struggle. He’s writing a chapter in the story of redemption. He’s reporting on the Virgin Mary’s willingness to be the servant of The Almighty in bringing into the world a Messiah. Joy is the dominant note.

Only later, a man named Simeon, a devout worshiper of God, prophecies to her that later in her life her suffering will be great as a part of this mission (Luke 2:35).

So, what does all this say about Mary? There’s no trace in the gospel accounts that Mary was to be worshiped, or even treated as in any way unique from the rest of humanity. She is simply a deeply devout young Jewish girl who has kept herself pure, and is selected by the Almighty to be the bearer of the Messiah. She is immediately willing to carry that burden.

We can’t answer the many questions Luke’s story makes us want to ask. But, during Advent, Mary, the virgin, should be held up as a model for purity and openness to God’s will for service to Him. Her response to Gabriel’s announcement rings down the centuries: “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept anything he wants. May everything you have said come true” (Luke 1:39 NLT).

Why Do We Celebrate Advent?

When we observe Advent – the four Sundays leading up to Christmas – what are we celebrating? We know that the word stands for the coming of the Messiah in human form. But what credence are we to give this claim?

There’s the story of Mary, the chosen virgin who was to become the birth mother of our Lord. We think of the angel, Gabriel, who brought her the news. And there is Zechariah, the aged priest, who was also visited by Gabriel while on priestly duty at the altar of incense in the magnificent temple.

The angel’s news to Zechariah was that he and his elderly wife, Elizabeth, were to be favored by the miraculous birth of a special son — later to come to be known to the world as John the Baptist — and this in spite of their advanced years.

These are fascinating accounts, but what kind of stories are they? Myths? Legends? Folk tales? Or maybe just mere fantasies that have worn well through the ages? All would agree that they make wonderful material for little Sunday School skits the children can enact during the Christmas season. But, do they speak of actual happenings at a specific time in history?

It was the physician, Luke, who reported the stories and so he is the one to ask. He answers the question in the opening paragraph of the gospel account in the New Testament that carries his name (Luke 1:1-4).

In splendid classical Greek not obvious to those of us who read his account in the English translations and in the longest sentence of any in the Scriptures (also not evident in English translations) he sets forth carefully what he intended in putting the Christ story into writing. In a series of shortened sentences let me break down and paraphrase that one sentence of his stated purpose. He wrote:

Truly remarkable things have happened. Many have tried to capture the story in writing. They’ve gathered their details about these unusual events from first-hand observers. I have done my own careful investigation of everything from the outset, leaving nothing out. So it seemed like a good idea for me to write my own account of what has happened. I’ve done this for you — most excellent Theophilus — with a special purpose. I want you to be even more certain than you now are of the things you have already been taught.

Does this sound like Luke intends to spin folk tales? Or cunningly fabricated myths? He says, I have “carefully investigated” what I am about to write. I have been meticulous in my search. I’ve checked it against other first-hand accounts. I am convinced of the facts and I reduce this to writing to increase the certainty of my reader, Theophilus, who already is a believer.

Luke is self-consciously attempting to record history. But it’s sacred history. He wants to report what actually happened, avoiding inaccuracies. And he does it well, winnowing out the chaff of speculation from the weighty grains of fact. But, in doing so, his story can’t be authentic without including details of the miraculous elements in the account. He is regarded by most impartial scholars today as, “One of the very best and most reliable historians of antiquity” (New Bible Dictionary p. 756).

That gives us our key to the celebration of Advent. Our celebration is rooted in history. It’s about events that really happened. But Advent is a holy season because we believe these things happened miraculously. The message to Zechariah was solid and he and wife Elizabeth really did receive a child, John, against the impossibilities of nature. And Mary was indeed the virgin mother of the one who became the world’s saviour, Jesus the Christ.

So, in Advent we celebrate the historical coming of God in human flesh. He came as a real person, to be worshiped by his followers as fully human and fully divine. He came into a real world, blessed by resplendent beauty and scarred by the darkest of sins. He came to bring redemption through a perfect life and a sacrificial death.

For those who embrace this truth and declare themselves his followers his coming will now be three-fold: he came in an historical moment; he comes to the hearts of his followers wherever they are; and he will come again to rend the skies and declare his universal lordship over all.