Angel Speak - Part 3: The Savior Baby

Judith

Introduction

Have you ever looked for something so hard that you couldn't see it right in front of your face?

That happens to me when I do puzzles. I like puzzles but puzzles don't like me very much. And I'm not alone.

There's the story of a guy who calls up his friend and says "I've got this killer jigsaw puzzle I'm working on but I can't figure it out." The friend says "What's the puzzle of?" The guy replies: "From the picture on the box, it's a tiger." So the friend comes over. The guy lets him in and there on the table the puzzle is spread out. "So can you help me?" the guy says. The friend studies the pieces for a moment, then studies the box. She turns to him and says: "First, there is no way I'm going to be able to help you put this puzzle together to look like that picture of a tiger. Second, my best advice to you is to sit down, have a cup of coffee, and put all those Frosted Flakes back in the box."

Now I'm not that bad when it comes to putting puzzles together - but a lot of times I stare at the box and try my best to find the piece I'm looking for - but the pieces might as well be Frosted Flakes because when I find the one that fits it is invariably nothing like what I was looking for.

For the Jews living in Palestine around 4B.C. trying to figure out the puzzle of the Messiah was a little like my problems with jigsaw puzzles.

The Torah gave them clues as to what the Messiah would be like - but they couldn't put it all together - and so its really no wonder that it took an angel to announce the news that Messiah - the Savior - was a baby, wrapped in some spare clothes, lying in a feeding trough in a rough hewn stable in a small village.

You tell me - if someone told you the President was living out back of the WalMart in McMinnville in a lean-to, would you believe them?

It's a contradiction in terms - Savior and baby. But that's just what we find in Luke chapter 2 as we continue our study of the angel's message to those poor shepherds in fields as the lay.

It's a lesson to us as well - that what we expect God to be and to do - doesn't necessarily mesh with our expectations - and we need to adjust our thinking to be ready to receive what God is bringing into our lives.

o A baby has no strength - a Savior is strong and powerful

"The human infant is a helpless creature at birth. He is virtually immobile, he cannot creep, walk, or speak, and is greatly limited in his ability to act with purpose. Unlike other primates, he cannot even hold on to or cling to his mother. He must be carried if he is to go from one place to another. Seventy-five per cent of his brain develops after birth. He cannot continue to live without the efforts of another human. He requires years of development before he can care for himself. A baby's helplessness and immature development requires a source of care." (James Kimmel Ph.D.)

So how could this little infant, this baby Jesus, do any saving. When the shepherds saw him did they think - 'what can this child do to help us?'

For us - we can make that mistake too. The idea of God may seem powerful, but He is so remote, so distant, and He rarely really does anything to help me. So we do it ourselves.

I want to remind us to 2 scriptures:
2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Isaiah 30:15-16
"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
16 You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.'
Therefore you will flee!
You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.'
Therefore your pursuers will be swift!

In repentance, or more accurately as the KJV puts it: in returning and rest is our strength - quietness and confidence is our strength, not noise and activity and blustering about. We don't have to do ANYTHING. So why do we?

1. We are impatient
2. We trust only what we can see
3. Our idea of strength is simply wrong

And, in fact, it is when we become weak and helpless like a baby in God's arms that He can really begin to move. So let go of your own strength to solve life's problems.

o A baby is born in a hospital - a King in a palace - how could someone born in a cave be anything?

We find God in places we don't imagine - moving through people we didn't think He could or would - and we can find ways to minister to people in places and circumstances we hadn't thought of.

Don't write someone off just because of their place of birth, their upbringing, their hometown, or their appearance or way of expressing themselves.

o Sometimes the obvious is misleading (as in the case of the suffering savior vs conquering king prophecies)

The Jews were looking for the Messiah - but he was the type of person found in Revelation - riding on a white horse carrying a sword with which to lift political oppression. They missed all the prophecies saying that the Messiah must also suffer and die - to conquer sin and death - then return to conquer the world.

We need to avoid letting our preconceived ideas warp our thinking of God.

The next time you are faced with a situation you don't understand - look beyond the obvious for God at work.

An example is a tough situation I went through working in a church - I thought at the time that it was the worst thing I could possibly go through and how could a loving God ?

But later I discovered that under the surface He was preparing me for greater things I would face later. My preconceived idea was that God would never allow someone serving Him full time to be persecuted by fellow believers - it might not be right, but it sure is reality, and God used that, perhaps even planned it, to make me more like Him.

o Sometimes we have to wait for God's plans to mature before they are ready to be implemented

Have patience with your walk with God - don't think you have to be a "super Christian" right out of the gate. Walking with the Lord is more of a marathon than a sprint.

o The angel probably went to the shepherds because they didn't know enough not to believe it. They were like the weak babies of the nation Israel.

Perhaps we need to be more like them and less like the leaders of the day who didn't even take the time to travel to Bethlehem. If God says something, then take it at face value - try to look for how He's working in your life, rather than question whether His Word is true, or about His motives for why you are in the situation you are in.