Advent week 2: Peace That Finds You In The Middle of The Chaos

Speaker A: 00:02:07

Marcus Aurelius said, what we do in life echoes through eternity. What is your life echoing through eternity? Welcome to Echoes Through Eternity with Dr. Jeffrey Skinner.

Our mission is to inspire, engage and encourage leaders from across the globe to plant missional churches and be servant leaders. So join us and hear the stories of servant leaders reverberating lives as God echoes them through eternity.

Brought to you by Missional Church Planting and Leadership Development in Dynamic Church Planning International.

Speaker B: 00:02:43

Welcome in that goes through Eternity. I AM your host, Dr. Jeffrey D. Skinner. What is God echoing through your life today? Well, today is week two of Advent.

The scripture that we find ourselves in is Luke 1:26, 36 or 38, I think it is. But I wanted to focus on just one particular version or our verse of this, but I've entitled this episode Peace that Binds Us in the Chaos. Again.

Very short podcast today. Just wanted to hop on and give you guys something. But as I said, we're stepping into the second week of Advent today. It's the Week of Peace.

And I wanted to start by reading one of the most familiar Advent passages. Luke he yet was 1 through 38. Luke 1:26 38.

This is the moment where Gabriel appears to a young girl in Azareth, a girl in the world that didn't notice. A girl with no title. She had no platform, no status, but heaven noticed her. Heaven called her favored. Heaven stepped into her story.

The NRSV Updated Edition the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition this is an interesting word here, says that Mary was perplexed. Other translations NIV will say troubled. You could almost see her heart catch in her throat here.

The original Greek tells us that she wasn't confused, which is kind of how we read perplexed today about the angel's presence. She was struggling to believe that the Lord himself would greet her. She was her world was rocked by the fact that this angel was coming to her.

When angels appeared to you in scripture and tells you that the Lord has favor with you, it wasn't necessarily a good thing.

We ask for the favor of the Lord to be upon us today in scripture and worldview, they had a much more respectful view, a fear of the Lord that we do not understand. Today we have such a casual relationship with God because we're 2,000 years on the other side of Jesus.

And so we understand that the Holy Spirit is present with us and he is our friend. But in that world, seeing God as a friend was not something, was not a familiar view of God.

And so when an angel appears to a young girl who has no status, is forgotten. And actually being forced into an arranged marriage, there is no jubilance. And it's beyond confusion. It's beyond, beyond perplexity.

It is simply that. What is going on here? I'm not sure that we have the words in English language to fully explain it, but that's the echo.

That's the first echo I want us to hear today as God chooses the overlooked on purpose again. That's our story. God Abram was nobody when God appeared to him. Adam and Eve were his creations.

But after the fall, after they sinned, they were kicked out of the garden. And so the presence of the Lord was. Was not familiar to anyone and certainly not the gods in general. You had, didn't.

You didn't have a cozy relationship with the God, with the gods. You. You had to appease the gods with sacrifices and things like that. And even the Lord Yahweh was no one to be trifled with.

Moses, remember, took off his shoes and was left speechless almost as a result of his encounter with God. So here we are. Nazareth was nowhere. Mary was no one. The world valued, and yet the incarnation begins in obscurity.

That's good news for every small town church plant. It's good news for every chaplain who walks hospital halls that no one else sees.

It's good for chaplains who walk and talk in the workplace with employees who are going through incredible stress right now in the holidays with financial problems and family problems. It's good news for every believer who feels unnoticed, unseen, or pushed aside. God starts his greatest work in places the world doesn't watch.

Gabriel calls Mary. I hope I can pronounce the Greek correctly here. Karatomini kikera tomini means favored one.

This is the only place in the New Testament this exact words appear. And for any Greek scholars out there, hey, please write in and give me phonetic spelling. Let me know if I butchered this in any way.

I am not a Greek scholar by any stretch. I'm not a Hebrew scholar by any stretch. The academy is probably ashamed of me. But anyway, it means Mary has already received grace.

And in terms of my denomination, this is the prevenient grace that we speak about. The grace that goes before, before any action, any earned favor, any. Any activity on our part. God's grace is already working in our lives.

So this is the grace that preceded the calling. God's favor was already resting on Mary before she heard anything about a child, a kingdom, or a throne. Now contrast Mary with Zechariah.

Both receive impossible promises. Both stand before the same angel, both wrestle with the message. But Zechariah asked, how will I know for sure? And he struck mute.

Not because he asked a question of God, but because he asked. From a posture of control he comes. He's part of the elite class. He's a priest in the temple. He's part of the religious structure.

Even if he's not abusing the religious structure, his question shows a level of entitlement. Like I deserve an answer here. Mary asks, how can this be? It's the same confusion, but a different heart. She isn't demanding proof.

She's asking for understanding while staying in the conversation. And Heaven honors that. Heaven always honors honest questioning. That comes from surrender, not suspicion. Then Gabriel gives her something she.

She can touch. A sign. Your cousin Elizabeth, old in years, called Baron. She's already pregnant. What? I mean. I mean, the. The questions keep coming for Mary.

At this point in her life, she. She's a unnoticed in an unnoticed town, an overlooked town. And so first angel says, hey, you found favor with the Lord. Okay, that was hard enough.

Now you're telling me that your cousin, my cousin Elizabeth, who's barren and an old lady, is pregnant. This hasn't happened since Abram and Sarah. God knows that. We need living proof. It's not like he wasn't going to provide it to Zechariah.

Was the fact that Zechariah was demanding it. So God understands that we need some assurances, evidence in flesh and blood, something that we can visit and talk to and hold on to.

Faith grows easier when we can see grace in someone else's life, which is the importance of testimony. Gabriel also says the Holy Spirit will overshadow. That's a powerful word. It echoes Exodus 40, when the glory of God overshadowed the tabernacle.

So the same glory that hovered over the tabernacle, the same glory that was present in the holy of holies, that this is the same glory that's now going to hover over Mary. It echoes the Transfiguration when the cloud overshadowed the disciples. The same presence that rested on the mercy seat now rests on Mary.

Her womb becomes the holy of holies. God makes his home with us again. And then Mary speaks the words that make her the first Christian disciple.

Although Christianity as we understand it, did not yet exist. Here am I. Let it be according to your word. There was no negotiation, no conditions, just trust. Now, here's the part we often skip during Advent.

Mary's surrender did not lead her into peace. We. It's so interesting to me how we like to clean up Christmas. It was so messy. Even Jesus birth. And I mean, it came into so much chaos. And yet we.

And I don't say that we shouldn't lament the chaos, but. But we're. Why are we perplexed by it? I guess my question, why are we perplexed when chaos continues to persist?

So at least, you know, not the calm, quiet kind that we like to imagine. That peace did not exist for Mary. Her reputation was at risk. Her engagement hung in the balance. Her future became uncertain.

Her life was about to be turned upside down. This is the scripture assigned for the week of peace. It almost feels ironic because Gabriel's announcement did not create peace around Mary.

something we need to hear in: 2025

Jesus warned the disciples that the days of turmoil would come. Neighbor against neighbor, family against family, voices crying chaos and confusion.

He even said his coming would divide before it united because his presence exposes every false peace that we cling to, whether it be financial, family, you know, whatever, whatever your definition of peace is, whatever your Hallmark card looks like, whatever your painting of peace looks like, whatever you're clinging to, that's a false peace if that peace is not God. And we are living in days that feel like that. Nations are shaking, families are strained.

We have come out of four of the most difficult years as a result of COVID as a result of just crazy monetary policies, you know, and families are fraying, communities are fraying, anxiety is rising. This will be another podcast that we do.

But 45% of young men under the age of 25, between the ages of 18, 25 Gen Z men have never asked a girl on a date in person. This is the society that we're living in today. They're so afraid of rejection that it feels like death, that it feels like danger to them.

They don't ask a girl out in person. We long for peace, but the world gives us noise. We long for rest, but the headlines give us storms. We long for certainty, but life feels unsettled.

Everything in us wants calm. Everything around us feels shaken. But Mary shows us where real peace begins. Peace does not start when circumstances calm down.

Peace starts when we surrender to the God who steps into those circumstances. Mary accepted temporary upheaval so the world could know eternal freedom. She trusted that the birth pains were worth the promise.

She believed God was doing something bigger than her fear, bigger than her confusion, bigger than her story. Maybe that speaks to you. Maybe your life feels like Mary's Questions you don't know the answer to situations that you don't know how to fix.

News that arrived out of nowhere and turned everything upside down. Mary's story is a promise to every one of us who've experienced or are experiencing these situations.

Maybe you're carrying a weight you didn't choose. Maybe your husband walked down on you or your wife walked out on you.

Maybe you found out that you just had a miscarriage right here at Christmas time. Maybe you're still grieving the loss of a loved one, the first holiday without.

Maybe you're trying to walk in obedience when the road ahead feels unclear. Maybe you're longing for peace, but living intention. Hear this. The same spirit who overshadowed Mary's Mary stands with you.

The same spirit that hovered over the holy of Holies, the mercy seat in the holy of Holies. The same spirit who. Who was in the tabernacle. The same Spirit of Exodus 40. The same grace that went before Mary goes before you.

And the same Jesus she carried now carries you. You don't create peace. Politicians do not create peace. Empires and kings cannot facilitate peace. You receive it. You don't manufacture it.

You surrender to it. Mary's words become our prayer. Here I am, Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.

And in that moment, right there in the surrender, the kingdom of God breaks in. Not in the absence of chaos, but in the middle of it. That is the peace of Advent. That's the peace that God gives us.

A peace that finds us not a peace. We find a peace that steadies us, a peace that will one day make all things new.

And so today, if that's you, if you find yourself in the midst of chaos, find hope that peace is not in the absence of the chaos, but God in the middle of your chaos. If you found this message helpful today, helpful, please share it.

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But if you can help by spreading the word for this podcast, that'd be awful. Awesome. Not awful. But thank you for joining me today. And on Echoes Through Eternity.

May the peace of Christ overshadow your heart as it overshadowed Mary, and may his kingdom come through your life in ways you never expected. I'll see you next time. Have a great day. As we close today, remember this. The calling of God does not fade because the road gets complicated.

It deepens if the weight feels heavy. You are not weak. You are human. And you are never meant to carry this alone. Faithfulness often sounds quiet. It looks like showing up again.

It looks like wisdom, looks like asking for help before damage is done. The kingdom is not built on charisma. It's built on obedience, courage, and endurance.

Wherever you're listening from, may you be reminded that your labor is not wasted, your calling is not fragile, and your story is still being written by the hands of a faithful God. Until next time, I'm Dr. Jeffrey D. Skinner, and this is Echoes Through Eternity.

If you found this helpful, please share with your friends and tell your loved ones. This episode of Echoes Through Eternity is.

Speaker A: 00:21:48

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Speaker B: 00:21:52

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