Advent
Meditation
November
25th
3.
Goodness doesn't mean freedom from pain
Luke
1:6,7 Both
of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments
and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth
was barren; and they were both well along in years.
Much
of a Christian leader's life is spent, not simply in teaching, but in
correcting wrong ideas about Christianity. One idea, that is often around
in people's minds, is that if you are good, godly and/or a Christian,
life will always be good. Not entirely true!
There
is a truth in the teaching that if you are a Christian you are in line
for God's blessing, because that's what Jesus came to do. The only problem
is that we live in a Fallen World where Sin is the name of the game
and because of that, things don't always work out right. Sometimes we
get it wrong, sometimes other people get it wrong, sometimes it's just
that's how a Fallen World works.
Elizabeth
and Zechariah, as recorded in Luke, chapter 1, are good examples of
good people. Luke doesn't give us any grounds to think badly of them
in his description. They were upright in the sight of God;
in other words that was God's view of them, so that must be right! Moreover
they observed all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly.
Now that says something. There aren't too many of us who could
make that claim, so these are good people, but life isn't truly wonderful
for them. Why? Because they had no children and, to make it
worse, they were both well along in years, so they weren't
likely to have children.
Anyone
who has struggled to have children and been unable to, knows the anguish
that this couple would have felt. Even more in their culture, for having
children was a high priority. Solomon had written, “Like arrows
in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the
man whose quiver is full of them.” (Psa 127:4,5). That was the
thinking of the culture. It was bad news not to have children. So here
is this elderly couple who have struggled through life without any children
– but they are good!
Doesn't
God reward goodness, someone might ask. Isn't there a link between being
good and God blessing you? Well if you look at most world religions
you might be led to believe that, because striving to be good is so
often equated with encounters with God, in their claims. However, that's
where Christianity veers away from the rest because it acknowledges
‘goodness' is something that evades us. Chief letter-writer in the New
Testament, the apostle Paul, knew this to his detriment. He wrote, “what
I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do
– this I keep on doing.” (Rom 7:19)
No,
even our best efforts at doing good are tainted with self-centredness
or self-effort. As we come to this ‘Christmas Story' we need to realise
from the outset that this is all about people, but none of them are
perfect. This is all about God doing amazing things (including with
Zechariah and Elizabeth) but not because they are good, but simply because
He's chosen them and they're available. This is a story of God doing
great things, not people doing them. Put aside your self-righteousness
and you're ready for this story!
If
you wish to e-mail us any comment on this meditation please click here
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tony.thomas@rochfordcc.co.uk
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