“In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace [shame] among the people.” Luke 1:25

Elizabeth says these words after many decades of shame. The Bible describes Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, as people who were righteous in every way. They had the right pedigree. Zechariah, a priest, served the people in a clearly righteous capacity. Yet, they had no kids. Different than our world today, people living in the first century in the Mediterranean, could not possibly understand how someone righteous couldn’t have any kids. Having kids marked God’s favor. The inability to have offspring marked God’s curse. Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous, old (also a sign of honor), but they were without kids. They had come to know this constant public shame as their “normal.”

But, what is normal anyway? For so many of us, normal is simply how we have come to expect things to be. Normal is the less-than-ideal way things are. Normal is what we have come to accept as the de facto condition of our lives. Normal is our way of explaining that, while we may have the experience of pain, suffering, or shame, it is somehow legitimized by the fact that it is always there. Normal can become (in its most insidious form) the condition of shame and despair we believe God intends for us to have.

This past weekend, we saw that God hears us and longs to grant us His favor and lift us from our shame. Clearly, we don’t always understand His timing, nor His means. But God, as we read from the Gospel of Luke, is unveiling His intention to enter into our shame with us. This weekend, we’ll continue in our series: THE OUTSIDERS GUIDE TO JESUS. It will be a great opportunity to invite people who have questions about Jesus, who are uncertain about the Bible, who are tired of their normal lives.

See you Sunday,
Jeff

P.S.: This weekend is PUMPKIN FEST. I’m told that, in addition to $5 pumpkins, there will be a giant slide, and a patio full of treats. Bring a friend.