Curious

Now that Thanksgiving is past and we've moved into the Christmas Season, I thought I'd throw out a few questions I wrote down a few weeks ago after reading Luke 1.

1) Mary went to visit Elizabeth in a town located in the "hill country of Judea."  How far away was that?  

2) Mary was just a teenage girl.  How safe was this trip?  

3) Did anyone (Joseph or a parent) go with her?
4) Did "Mary's greeting" to Elizabeth include an announcement that she (Mary) was pregnant
** Remember, Elizabeth had an immediate reaction (in her stomach) to Mary's arrival.
** She stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months.  
5) Did Elizabeth "mentor" Mary during that time?
** Mary wrote what we now call, The Magnificat.  
6) When, during this 3 month period, did she write it?
7) Was it spontaneous or was it something she worked on for weeks?
** Mary's response to the angel is pretty incredible if you think about it.  
** Remember, God's people had not heard from Him (i.e. the prophets) for 400 years.  
** Then, a teenage girl is the recipient of His message!
8) How would you respond (either as a teen or a parent of a teen)?
** Mary had to be incredibly grounded spiritually, because she was going to return home     three or four months pregnant and the rumors were going to be flying -- big time!
9) What was her home life like?  
** (I'm just guessing her parents did a pretty good job.)
10) Did Joseph know Mary was pregnant before she went to see Elizabeth or did he find out when she returned home?
** It's not real clear from reading the Matthew/Luke accounts.
11) How did Mary's parents handle this whole situation?
12) How would you handle it, if you were Mary's parents?
13) Did Mary stay with Elizabeth until John (the Baptist) was born?
14) "He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” (Luke 1:63 NLT).  Was this the first iPad?  

Other questions?
Answers?

BORING

I read an article while eating breakfast the other morning about "boring testimonies".  What a great reminder!  Some of us, like myself, who were raised in Christian homes and have been Christians most of our lives view our testimonies as "boring".  We don't have a Damascus Road experience and we haven't come from a lifestyle of wickedness, debauchery and decadence.  Thus our testimonies are boring.

It is the individual who has a radical swing from one end of the spiritual spectrum to the other that we so often hear from when a testimony is given.  I guess in one sense, those are good.  It gives hope to those who are listening that might be searching.  And it also gives hope to those who are praying for a family member or friend who hasn't made a decision yet – and don't seem very close.

Yet, what I was reminded of is that ALL testimonies are spectacular.  None are boring. Why?  Because Romans 3:23 tells us that we are all sinners.  I’m no less a sinner than anyone else (and dare I say neither are you).  The Apostle Paul referred to himself as being the “worst of sinners” (in 1 Tim. 1:15) and King David, the ‘man after God’s own heart’ wrote a whole psalm (Psalm 51) confessing a particular sin in his life.  A Christian's credibility does not come from the absence of sin, but how we respond to it.  If we have a soft view of sin in our lives, we then have a cheap view of grace.

Sometimes, those of us who have been Christians for many years fall into the trap – subconsciously – that we’re pretty good people.  That God should be happy to have us on His team.  We haven’t come from “that end” of the spiritual spectrum.  Of course we would never verbalize that. Certainly not in those words.  But is it in the back of our minds?  That is oh-so-scary.  God really is not a fan of pride and that is something we have to continually root out of our lives.  Pride makes a specific list of things God hates (Proverbs 6:16-17)

It's easy, without realizing it,  to become like the prodigal son's older brother -- thinking we deserve something (God's grace) because of our good behavior.  It doesn't work like that.

God only accepts one kind of person -- perfect.  And since none of us are that person, we're all condemned -- unless we admit His sacrifice covers our imperfection (including pride, selfishness and all the other sins that are so easy to hide).

So, I don't know about you.  But I am going to celebrate and rejoice in my spectacularly boring testimony...that Jesus saved a sinner  -- even a boring one like me.