Episode 1500: Promise

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1500 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:08] April Ebeling: Hi, I'm April Ebeling. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence, and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to find a connection with mindfulness Faith and peace is key.

[00:00:29] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.

[00:00:43] Scott Maderer: And through our acting, not just to each other, not this, just to those that we see like us or think are like us, but to all people that will reach out and we'll touch them and we'll. recognize and invite them as well [00:01:00] to be present in God's presence. That is the season we celebrate. Welcome, and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:01:12] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your gift. And your treasures for your True calling. In the Inspired Stewardship podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:39] In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk about Micah chapter five verses two through five, and Luke chapter one, verses 39 through 55. I share how the invitation is not just to those in the past, but to those of us living today. I also share how this invitation is a promise to live into, not the easy, [00:02:00] but the hard.

[00:02:02] Micah chapter 5 verses 2 through 5 says, But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, Who are one of the little clans of Judea, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth, then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.

[00:02:27] And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall live secure. For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall be the one of peace. Luke chapter 1 verses 39 through 45 says, In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

[00:02:55] When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And [00:03:00] Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.

[00:03:17] And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked with favor on the lowly state of His servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name.

[00:03:40] Indeed, His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arms. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.

[00:03:59] He has come [00:04:00] to the aid of his child Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he has made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendants forever. Greetings, favored one, and but you, O Bethlehem of Ephra, This is us being addressed. Maybe not us per se. After all, in the first one, Greetings Favored 1, it's addressing Mary, and we'll come back to that story in a moment.

[00:04:30] But in the other, there's a whole people of a community called Bethlehem of Ephrathah, and we'll get back to them in a minute, too. So in these addresses, we're not being addressed except we are. We are the ones being called out, being invited, being included. The us in these statements is all of humanity.

[00:04:56] It's us. We are here, captured [00:05:00] in these texts. We are in the story. We are present, are represented, or recognized, or invited, or connected, or however and whatever word you want to use to be read into this story. There's an invitation in this story this week. An ongoing invitation to enter into the party that is the kingdom of God.

[00:05:29] It's a welcome to the celebration to be present in the presence of God. What's clear in both of these texts is the incredible news that not only is God present, but God has chosen to include us in the process of being the kingdom. Now, I don't know about you, but that sometimes might make me question the wisdom of the [00:06:00] divine mind in allowing us free will, allowing us to be part of the process.

[00:06:06] I don't have full confidence in myself or others to really understand what God is calling for us to do. We would wonder and could wonder. And I wonder why God doesn't simply snap their divine fingers and make the kingdom happen. Why is it there an inevitable assembly line process towards this perfect kingdom and that we're just invited to watch it unfold, to sit on the sidelines and watch it happen?

[00:06:39] Why didn't we just start with the end already in place? Why not that? But that's truly another gift that we're given. The capacity to question and to wonder, why are things the way they are? The tragedy of this capacity to question is [00:07:00] also the possibility of missing the invitation. After all, that invitation probably doesn't include us.

[00:07:07] It only includes those more directly involved or more perfect, those that are more qualified than us, those that haven't done wrong. Or we might think that these stories are just old stories and therefore really not directed towards us except maybe something to remember and appreciate. Think about that greetings favored one.

[00:07:32] There's an angel in our living room. A shining presence inviting us to acknowledge that God has chosen to use us in this exercise of building the kingdom. This exercise called incarnation. And don't take anything away from Mary when we do this. This isn't lessening her part of the story. But we can stand there with her in wonder and in awe.

[00:07:59] [00:08:00] How can this be? We aren't equipped. We aren't resourced. We aren't prepared to bring to life this Christ, to bring the Christ's presence into our world today. We're not able to do that. We're too fallible, too uncertain, too busy with our own lives. And if you look at the story, Mary asked those questions too.

[00:08:22] It was all too much for this young woman. Here she was, engaged to be married and that she knew that as things usually work she was not prepared to be the mother to a savior. And frankly the angel wasn't all that much help. The instructions were frighteningly vague. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

[00:08:47] Before rushing on to talk with maybe some relief on the angel's part about this child to be born. The invitation seems to be about being the center and also not the center of this event. [00:09:00] To be the means of grace in incarnating to the world, but also it's not about you in the end. Overshadow? That's the antithesis of self actualization and self centeredness and all of the things that the world seems to want to focus on.

[00:09:17] It is both an elevation and a dimunation of the person. It's a blessing, but it's also a burden. These moments where God lives in the both and is something that I'm beginning to struggle with. It all hinges on the acceptance of this young girl, this overwhelmed, under equipped young girl, who's trembling before an angel in her living room.

[00:09:45] Think about that. What an amazing thing! I wonder if Gabriel, the angel was just as nervous as Mary on that day, nervous that she had power. Mary had the power and the agency. And that was not [00:10:00] something that the angel was probably used to dealing with. God chose to invite and not force. God chose to wait for our willingness.

[00:10:11] God didn't force it upon us or bend our will with power beyond resistance. Why has this happened to me that the mother of my Lord comes to me? In Luke chapter 1 verse 43. This passage is about Elizabeth, except Elizabeth wouldn't say so. Elizabeth redirects. She looks beyond. She has her role in this story, but she moves willingly from center stage so that another might stand in the promise of which they are both a part.

[00:10:45] And now Mary hears another greeting. This one is a bit more human and yet even there with Elizabeth There's a touch of the divine in it. There's a promise in the greeting and in the question that follows [00:11:00] Elizabeth glowing from her own miracle points that light on to Mary onto the one She carries onto the hope of the world the promise to which the people of God had clung for centuries Blessed is she who believes, it says in Luke, verse 45.

[00:11:18] Elizabeth says at the end of her welcome to Mary, but who is the she in this sentence? Mary, of course, Mary believed, but think about it, Elizabeth, didn't Elizabeth believe as well? Or if she did not believe ahead of time, didn't she believe in the process and in the moment? How else could she come to greet Mary with such conviction and certainty?

[00:11:40] Elizabeth is the living into the promise. She is a sign, just like Mary is a sign, that God is with them. She who believed includes Elizabeth. And, who else is included in this affirmation, this greeting at the door [00:12:00] of Elizabeth's house? Go back to the other Passage from Micah, And you, O Bethlehem of Ephra.

[00:12:08] What about this village? Where is their agency? What does prophecy mean in the end? Does it mean it's inevitable no matter what? Maybe. But this prophecy is coming true, Luke says, through the agency of a young woman. Fulfillment is a choice. It's not inevitable. It's an invitation. It's an invitation to participate in the workings out and of the workings of God.

[00:12:38] We are citizens of Bethlehem. We are Mary standing before the message. We have a choice. We are part of what God is doing and continuing to do in our midst. And the invitation here is to respond like Mary did. Here I am. Let it be me. Here we are. Let it be us. Let us [00:13:00] be the ongoing incarnation of God at work amongst us.

[00:13:05] That's the promise of this last Sunday of the Advent season. That we promise to be God bearers as we work and we walk as disciples of Jesus Christ in the world and in our communities. Not that we're perfect at it. We're never perfect at it. But that we'll strive to be powerful expressions of our faith as we worship together.

[00:13:27] That as we enter into this season where we are recognized that there is a Savior born amongst us, we'll make room for that. We'll make room for God to be present with us and between us and through our acting. Not just to each other, not this just to those that we see like us or think are like us, but to all people.

[00:13:52] That will reach out and will touch them and will recognize and invite them as well to be [00:14:00] present in God's presence. That is the season we celebrate. Thanks for listening.

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