Monday, September 14

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.” - Luke 1:11-13

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” - Luke 1:26-28

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. -Matthew 1:20

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  – Luke 2:8-10

In each of these passages, an angel is sent with an amazing message about the coming of the Messiah. But think for just a moment about who the angels were sent to; an old priest Zechariah, a teenage peasant girl Mary, a common carpenter, Joseph, and a band of nameless shepherds out in a field. Not exactly the top of the A-list for influential people in the first century!

I can’t help but imagine what the conversations must have been like between God and the angels when God laid out his plan for the birth of the Messiah.

For 400 years since the prophet Malachi, no word from God has been heard. Now at the apex of human history, when God himself is about to break into our world, He gathers together the heavenly host and says; “Alright, this is how it is going to play out.” (I know that angels probably do not talk to God this way, but let’s just imagine for the sake of the point.)

God- “Gabriel, I want you to fly down to Zechariah.”

Gabriel – “Zechariah? You mean that old bitter priest?”

God – “Yeah, the one who is mad at me for not giving him a son, I am going to bless him.”

Gabriel – “Shouldn’t we punish him?”

God – “Yeah, but instead I want you to tell him that I am going to give him a son.”

Gabriel – “He’ll never believe it, his wife is like 150 years old.”

God – “I know, but just go tell him!” 

(After Gabriel returns):

God – “How did it go?”  (As if God would need to ask…)

Gabriel – “He didn’t believe it, so I made him mute for awhile.”

God – “Perfect, just as I planned. Now go fly down to Mary.”

Gabriel – “Mary who?”

God – “Mary the fourteen year old peasant girl from Nazareth.”

Gabriel – “Ummm, why?”

God – “Because she is going to give birth to the Messiah! (And because I said so!)”

Gabriel – “Okay.” 

(Gabriel goes and returns)

God – “How did she take the news?”

Gabriel – “Better than Zechariah.”

God to another angel – “Go fly down to Joseph”

Angel – “What should I tell him?”

God – “Tell him the baby is not his.”

Angel – “Ummm, I think he knows that.”

God – “Tell him that he should not divorce Mary, because she will give birth to my Son.”

Now God gathers the heavenly host again and tells them that it is time to announce the birth of his Son to the world.

Host – “Where are we going? Rome, right? We’re going to Rome, to the Coliseum right?”

God – “No, not Rome.”

Host – “Of course! We’re going to Jerusalem! To the Temple, right?

God – “Nope.”

Host – “Well, where are we going to make this announcement?”

God – “In a field, just outside of Bethlehem.”

Host – stunned silence…”Why there?”

God – “Because there is a group of shepherds there.”

Host – “Shepherds??”

God – “Yeah, shepherds. They are going to be the first to hear the news.”

Host – more stunned silence…

God – “Well, don’t just stand there looking at each other, get going!”

Two simple, but important observations;

First – God appears to enjoy using common circumstances and ordinary people to accomplish his plans. This means that he just might have plans for you too!

Second – Most of the people don’t get the angelic vision and heavenly choir singing to them. Most of the people get the message from people like shepherds, common everyday people. I think most of us want the big vision from God, the unmistakable sign from heaven. But God speaks to us in the ordinary, common, everyday relationships and events of our lives.

Don’t miss the message because you overlook the messenger!

Jeff Frazier