The Christmas Story

Have you ever stopped to think of the story of Christmas?  Movies try to tell it, beautiful books share stories with pictures that are amazing.  Sweet rhymes, carefully crafted cards, and eloquent songs sing of the Christmas story.  But, as with many changes from the original book to the movie – there are many parts left out.  So, I find myself heading back to Luke, my personal favorite of the truth tellers. 

You see, the story doesn’t start with Mary, Joseph, and the manger.  It really starts a long long time before that.  But, Luke starts when King Herod ruled Judea.  The Romans were in control.  A priest went to go serve at the temple, his name was Zechariah.  Elizabeth, his wife, probably packed his bags and sent him on his way.  I wonder if Zechariah lived near the temple or if this was a long journey for him.  Can you imagine approaching the city?  Tension would have filled the air as Roman soldiers were seen on the streets.  Daily tasks still had to be done.  And there was Zechariah, walking to the temple.  Were there people he stopped to greet on his way? 

Elizabeth and Zechariah were “upright in the sight of God.”  They followed the Lord’s commandments and regulations.  These were people who knew what the Lord expected of them and put great effort into this.  These two were also not parents.  Elizabeth couldn’t have children and they were past the age of having children.

As I said, Zechariah was called – it was his turn to go serve as a priest before God.  Preparing himself, his heart he was to go to “into the temple of the Lord and burn incense”.  Now, this was more involved than just walking into a church with an incense burner.  This was a solemn act of worship, one that was taken very seriously.  And Zechariah went into the temple while the worshipers gathered outside prayed.

What does this have to do with the Christmas story?  It tells us that like all true stories, this is not a simple plot line that just starts and stops based on someone’s imagination.  This is also a reminder that our stories are also multi-layered.  The actions that Elizabeth and Zechariah were taking were setting the stage for the ultimate Christmas gift.  They were faithful to obey and allowing the Lord to use them to move.  So, my first question is – how are you faithful to obey and allow the Lord to use you?