12-21-13 The keeper of the stable

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. (Luke 2:4-7)

Thoughts:
I kept the stable for the innkeeper.  It was my duty to feed the animals while he kept the inn. I was the innkeeper's son and I was learning how to be a great businessman like my father.  He was always friendly and always went out of his way to help people.  He was full of hospitality.  I want to be just like him. 
    Bethlehem was packed with people.  The Romans had issued a rule that everyone had to go to the home of their ancestors.  Many people wanted to come to our little town because it was also the home of king David.  So if you wanted to claim any royal blood, this was the place to be for the census.
    Everything was so packed and everyone got here on time for the census.  Everyone except for this one couple.  They looked like they had been moving slow because she was so pregnant. They came straight for the inn and asked to see my father, the innkeeper.  I ran to get him.  He told them the bad news that there was no more room in this inn and there wasn't another inn in our small town.  The man begged for help.  He said his wife was pregnant and about to have a baby any minute.  My father, as I said was hospitable.  So he let them stay in our stable instead of in the street.
      Our stable, like most around Bethlehem, was a cave in the hills. It wasn't that clean- we weren't expecting guests there.  I did clean it out daily, but it wasn't meant for inspection and definitely not for a baby to be born there.  The man was desperate, and I led him to the stable.  Almost immediately the woman cried out in pain.  She was going to have her baby before he could even unload the donkey.  I tried to clean out the dirty hay and put some fresh hay down, but it still wasn't very clean.  I tried to start a small fire to get some warmth, but it wasn't much. The father wanted me to get the midwife- but by the time I found her in all this crowd I knew it would be too late.  But I still tried to find the mid-wife.
     When I came back an hour later- I still hadn't found the mid-wife, but there was no need- the mother had her baby.  I was so sad for them.  I went back and told my father and he sent me back with some cloth strips for the baby, water, and a little food.
      Everyday I would come visit the baby and the family.  Shepherds came to the inn looking for the new baby born.  I took them to the stable as my father was busy.  The shepherds told me that the baby was special- that they heard angels who said the baby was special- the Messiah.
     My father said he was not sure.  But I believe the shepherds.  Why not?  

Prayer: Help me Lord, to care for those who are in need.  Help me to believe.
      
      

12-1-13- The Angel Gabriel

19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
(Luke 1:19,20)

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. (Luke 1:26-31)

Thoughts: While advent really begins in the mind of God, and shows in the prophecy of scripture, but it is the angels who give the message of the coming.
    It is the angel Gabriel that we want to examine as the first character of advent.  Gabriel appeared by name to Daniel (8:15-17; 9:21).  Some scholars consider Gabriel's message of seventy-sevens as a message of 490 years between the time of the exile and the time of Christ around 30 AD.
     Gabriel spoke to believers.  He is called an "Archangel" by some- one who "stands in the presence of God." In Enoch (an apocryphal book- non-canonical in the Protestant Bible), Gabriel is joined with Raphael and Michael as named archangels.  In later (post-biblical) Christian tradition, Gabriel blows the horn for the end of the world. Never in the Bible is anyone encouraged to pray to angels.  In fact three times angels tell people not to worship them.  

If Gabriel could speak, perhaps he might say something like:
"Often when I appear to humans they are afraid.  But part of my job is to calm them down so they can hear the message that I have to deliver to them from God.  It is my joy to bring good news.  I told Daniel the meaning of his vision and the hope of a Messiah coming.  I told Zechariah, an old man, that he was to have a child- John.  It was my joy to tell Mary that she was highly favored to bring the Messiah into the world. I think I have one of the best callings in the world- to tell the important and good news.  But what I have to say from God is not trivia and it is not to be trifled with.  It is to be believed.  in fact, if God sends you a message whether through an angel or through His Son or through His servants the prophets or apostles- it is not to be trifled with but listened to.
    Zechariah was a believer, but he did not believe me and became mute.  Mary was a believer who humbled herself to listen and believe.  Humans often just expect the usual and the normal.  I exist to disrupt that expectation.  The fact that I exist means that there is more to life than simply what we see on earth.  

Prayer: Lord, give me ears to hear your message you have already made known to me.  Help me to believe in more than I can see.