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Adult Bible Study December 9, 2007 |
Lesson Text: Luke 1:26-38
By George Epp
E-mail: g.epp@sasktel.netWe live in an age enamored with the logical and contemptuous of the spiritual. Mary’s announcement that she was with child—and her claim that hers was not an illegitimate pregnancy but rather a work of the Holy Spirit—would likely land her in a psychiatric ward today.
We can be as insistent as we can regarding the miraculous nature of the birth of our Saviour, but that only makes the skeptics smile indulgently and diverts the followers of Christ from what is most important about the event of Jesus’ coming to earth.
Whatever anyone says about the virgin birth makes no difference in the end; what we know from experience is that Jesus can save, renew, soften the hardest of hearts, and bring peace and joy to those who are lost. That is the relevant miracle.
We believe that Osama bin Laden needs to be introduced to Christ and be reborn into the kingdom, not be killed, don’t we?We believe that peace is won by putting up the sword, not by brandishing it, don’t we?
We believe that God’s deepest longing is not for revenge but for the redemption and the raising up of the lost, the hostile, the poor, the sick, the destitute, and lonely, don’t we?
We believe that the fervent faith of the disciples of Christ is more powerful than governments and armies, don’t we?
We believe that Christ’s love can bridge the canyon between the kingdom and our most feared and dangerous enemies, don’t we? (Think about Mujahideen, al Qaeda and 9/11, Iran’s nuclear program, AIDS, Hell’s Angels, corporate greed, North Korea, hurricanes, Darfur, cancer, etc., etc.)
If we give up on Christ’s transforming power, we are admitting to a much more significant loss of faith than any skeptic casting doubt on the virgin birth of Jesus. This Advent, we need to renew our commitment to Christ’s radical, transforming entry into our troubled world and celebrate the miracle of it with Mary, who embraced his humble entrance with joy . . . and a vigorous faith.