July 31, 2021 – Luke 1,2

July 31st! Wow, we’re looking at August! There’s an old adage about “Christmas in July;” I’m not sure about its origin or its specific meaning. But I do know that it is never a wrong time, even in the middle of the summer, to reflect on what God has done for us in sending his Son into the world.

The Lord inspired Luke the physician to write his account of Jesus and all he did so that we could benefit from the story. It begins with the angel’s announcement of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, then the coming birth of Jesus, the one who “will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (1:33). What a conversation that must have been between Mary and Elizabeth, when they got together! And with what joy Mary sang, “his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation” (1:50). And all this, as Zechariah declared, “because of the tender mercy of our God” (1:78).

Even the machinations of the most powerful men on earth, at the time, could not bring the story to a sudden end. We know the whole story and, so, we can praise God, along with Mary and Zechariah, for the tender mercy our God has shown us! What a story!

Blest be the God of Israel,

who comes to set us free . . .

God from the house of David

a child of grace has given;

a Savior comes among us;

to raise us up to heaven.

Before him goes the herald,

forerunner in the way,

the prophet of salvation,

the harbinger of day. –Michael Perry (1973)