Scripture: Luke 1:39-45 (NRSV)
DEVOTIONAL:
I hear music of Christmas everywhere. In the stores, in businesses and on the radio, the sounds of Christmas ring loud and clear. Music can be transformative and transcend barriers.
One my favorite songs is titled, “Perfect and True.” The lyrics are based on Psalms 8:4 and beautifully proclaim: “What is man that thou art mindful of him? Could an awesome God find common ground within? Just to know that you delight to be with me fills my heart, with joy.” I am prompted to sing when I think about the favor of God and his blessed plan for our lives.
God had a plan for Mary, the mother of Jesus who was there for Jesus’ first miracle, there at the foot of the cross and then she was even present on the day of Pentecost. Mary had been called blessed and highly favored. When you are blessed, you feel obliged to bless others.
This poem by theologian and civil rights leader Howard Thurman reminds us to share the music in the heart and our blessings. “When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among brothers, to make music in the heart.”
Scripture: Luke 1:39-45 (NRSV)
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”