Emails to God

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:8-12

Dear God, what a message! The Messiah is here and he couldn’t be born into a much more lowly state. He’s in a trough in a barn. What exactly will this child’s path be and how will he become the Messiah? I know these shepherd will later go around telling everyone what they saw, but I wonder what was going on with them a week later. A year later. 10 years later. Did they remember? If they had made it the full 33 years of Jesus’ earthly life, how would they have responded to the crucifixion knowing what they knew from this night? Would they have been disillusioned?

And what if Mary’s and Joseph’s feelings that night. They had been told who Jesus was. Did they feel like they were failing you? Right out of the box, did Joseph feel like he was letting you and this baby down?

My point in all of this is that even when things might appear bad they can be part of your plan. Herod chased the young family out of Israel. They were poor. Jesus was rejected by the established church. He was ultimately killed by then. Poverty. Death. Rejection. Anger. Fear. It all combined to result in me being able to sit here this morning and worship you. And the story is Still told 2,000 years later.

Father, help me to NOT try to read the tea leaves and interpret what is going on by evaluating the physical world around me. Help me to simply embrace you, worship you, and trust you. That’s it, really. That’s the most important thing I can do today.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

Luke 2:1-5

Dear God, I read this passage and can’t help but feel relieved that there’s some failsafe in your plan to keep me from messing up your will too badly. Why? Because Augustus was sitting in Rome, thought he himself was god (at least, he made others treat him that way), and yet he was fulfilling prophecy. So did you cause him to do it or did you just know in advance that he would do it? I believe it’s the latter. But my point is, you know everything I have done and will do and yet Jesus came for me anyway.

Father, help me to live within the peace of knowing that I just need to stay in the moment, worship you in the moment, love in the moment, serve in the moment, and lead in the moment. I offer you all of that for your will’s sake and for your glory.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant— the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.

Luke 1:72-73

Dear God, I’m guessing that in the midst of suffering under Rome the Israelites talked about your covenant with Abraham a lot. This is the second time I’ve seen it show up in the Christmas story with the first time being the Magnificat when Mary greeted Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth in their home.

I suppose that there are times when I am suffering that I look to your promises. But what exactly are your promises? Much like even the people in this story who were thinking you were there to physically rescue them from Rome, I think I sometimes mistakenly expect you to remove a burden or a yoke. But sometimes your plan includes the burden—either for my good or for someone else’s. So in this case your plan wasn’t to overthrow Rome with Jesus, but to create a new covenant that called people into deeper love, forgiveness and peace than they had ever known or considered. In fact, now that o think about it, I can’t really think of an Old Testament prophet or character who spoke of love and forgiveness the way Jesus did. This was a brand new message.

Father, help me to sink into your peace. Help me to have energy that is fueled by your Holy Spirit, by love, and by grace. And help me to spread and encourage that peace in others.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago.

Luke 1:67-70

Dear God, the theme for my morning seems to be gratitude. I am grateful for the different things you are doing in my life. I am grateful for the prayers to which I’m starting to see some answers. Especially after seeing how some people in our community are living, I am grateful for my home and my income. There are a lot of things for which I should be grateful—too man even more me to realize. I take so much for granted.

So what is my calling in this bounty? What would you have me do when you say yes to my prayers? What can I do to glorify you and spread your blessing to others? Those are the questions that are resonating with me this morning. If “to whom much is given much is required,” then I owe everyone a lot.

Father, help me to be your servant in every moment of this day. Love others through me. Be glorified through me. Make our community better through my faithful work to you. Help me to do all of this with one goal—to bring others into your presence and worship you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen