God loves the outsiders and misfits

It’s Christmas.  The time when we ponder afresh the wonderful news of God becoming a baby, Immanuel, God with us.  This year I am drawn again and again to the misfits, the outsiders that are an integral part of this incredible story.

Firstly Mary, a completely unknown young lady living in Nazareth, a despised town, called to the greatest honour for a woman – to be the mother of the Son of God.  Joseph, an ordinary carpenter, called to stand with Mary and share in the social disgrace of a child conceived outside of marriage.

The first visitors to the infant Jesus were the social outcasts, the shepherds, those lowest on the ladder. The other significant visitors were the religious outcasts, the Gentiles. The contrast between the rural, coarse, illiterate Jewish shepherds and the highly educated, foreign, exotic Gentiles could not be stronger.   Jesus came for everyone not just the rich, the famous, the respectable or religious people and not just for his people the Jews but for all people.

It is hardly surprising though for the Bible is full of stories of those chosen from the outside to become important players in God’s plan of redemption. Moses was an exiled murderer hiding out in the desert so inadequate and insecure he didn’t think he could do anything for God. He certainly didn’t want to go and talk to Pharaoh and be the instrument for the release of the Israelites from captivity.

Or David, the youngest member of a large family of sons so insignificant he was out with the sheep not even in the family home. Some have proposed his legitimacy was in doubt which was why he was looking after the animals. However this was where he learned all the skills necessary to kill Goliath, survive in the desert when a king was determined to kill him and most importantly of all, the place where he developed into a man after God’s own heart. His beautiful psalms are a lasting testimony to the years spent as an outcast but which prepared him to be the greatest king Israel ever had and the ancestor of the Messiah.

Even Jesus’ forerunner and relative John the Baptist was a social outcast and misfit growing up in the desert dressed in camel hair. Yet Jesus said of him among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11: 11). Surely in the desert John developed into the one called ‘to prepare the way of the Lord.’

Jesus didn’t choose his disciples from the religious elite or synagogue. He chose rough fishermen who would become great fishers of men.

All of these men had to flow against the tide of the day, to stand up for the Lord and lead their nation into righteousness.

Jesus himself was the greatest outcast. The Son of God was born in a stable in obscurity and poverty because there was no room for his parents in society. His whole ministry was lived on the edge of society, feted one minute and condemned the next.

However this is a great source of encouragement for us, the ordinary made extraordinary by God’s call. Wherever we are whether we are in the spiritual desert, running from persecution, a social misfit or down the bottom end of society or just plain obscure, God uses people just like us. He calls us from the desert, obscurity, the despised places, the mundane where he has been transforming and training his sons and daughters, his people, his chosen ones to do extraordinary things for him.

People of courage

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” Luke 1: 59 – 60

There are some amazingly courageous people in the Christmas story and one of these is Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. God showed great favour to Zechariah and Elizabeth.  Like some other elderly couples in the Bible, God gave them the ability to have a child; no ordinary child either. He would be the forerunner of the Messiah and he would prepare the hearts of the people for his coming.

The angel Gabriel had told Zechariah that his elderly wife would become pregnant and they were to name the baby John. Zechariah though did not believe the angel and as a result was struck dumb. The baby was safely born and on the 8^th day, it was time to circumcise him. This was a special occasion and one where the men did everything; the women might perhaps have been allowed in a corner but would have taken no part in the ceremony.

So with the father unable to speak and mothers not considered, the priests were about to name the baby Zechariah after his father. Elizabeth did a very courageous thing.  She spoke up and contradicted what the priests were about to do by saying that the baby was to be called John. The angel had only spoken to Zechariah about the baby and his name and he must have somehow told Elisabeth. She though was the one who had to bravely tell the gathering.

Everyone was amazed because there was no one called John in the family.  Today with everyone striving to call their children something different with some very strange results, it does not seem particularly unusual but in those days it was extraordinary that Elizabeth would speak up at all and even more so that she would suggest a name that had no family connections.

Thankfully the priests gave her the benefit of the doubt and consulted Zechariah who asked for a writing tablet and he wrote that the baby’s name was to be John. Immediately his tongue was loosed and everyone was amazed.  They knew that it was a miracle that Elizabeth had had a baby but now everyone wondered who the baby might be.  This was no ordinary child.

There was no indication that Zechariah the father was going to intervene in his naming of his child until Elizabeth spoke up. She had to push through the social norms of the day to do the will of God. Elizabeth faced ridicule and disbelief but it was too important not to say anything.

We may find ourselves needing to speak up and say something when no one is asking or even requiring our input. God may ask us to say something that goes completely against the flow of what is normally done. We need not fear; if God is in it, God will confirm it. Like Elizabeth, we must be courageous; the consequences of our silence may be far worse than saying the wrong thing.  Trust God, be brave and say what needs to be said.

 

Serving where we have been called

To this John replied, ‘A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.’ John 3: 27

John the Baptist’s disciples were getting very concerned with what appeared to be the rising popularity of Jesus at the expense of John’s ministry. People were leaving John to follow Jesus. John explained to them that you can only operate in the gifting and calling that God has given you. This is what he was doing; preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah so when he arrived, John’s role would inevitably diminish.

He encouraged them that when the bridegroom (Jesus) arrived, the bride (believers) had eyes only for him because they belong to him. The groomsman or ‘friend’ is ‘full of joy’ when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. John is the ‘friend’ and now he has heard the bridegroom’s voice, his joy is complete (John 3: 28 – 30).

John understood his calling and was content with his role in preparing the way for the Messiah. He understood we can only do what we have received from heaven. This is such a valuable lesson for us too to learn.  There will be times when others appear on the ascendancy or when others take over things we have been doing. We, however, are called to do what God has called us to do which may mean laying down areas of service or taking up new things.

One thing is certain, all gifts and ministry come from God and are given as the Spirit determines (I Corinthians 13: 11). It is foolish to try and do what God has not called or equipped us for. Walking in the centre of God’s plans is a place of great fulfilment and contentment. Longing for a different gifting or ministry outside of God’s anointing is a place of discouragement that can lead to great disappointment. 

Thank God for the gifting he has given and seek to serve faithfully in what God has called you to do.  ‘Hold it lightly’– it is not yours but something God has entrusted to you. It is an honour to serve God.