Devotional - June 7th, 2023
Scripture: Luke 19: 1-20 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
No..., we are not doing Christmas already! This June, I thought we would spend some time with the angels. For those who have been in my Bible studies, you know that the word for angels in both the Greek and the Hebrew means messenger. In our case, they are messengers from God. But, in certain circumstances they can represent the message itself. In the book of Revelations they represent the message of the churches (Rev 2:1). Meaning, what the church represents and relays into their community, but a little more about that later. Today, it's Gabriel. His name, and I say his because it is in the masculine, has the ending "el", so we can assume God's name is involved. It means Mighty Man of God, or God's go-to Guy, but it also can mean God Is My Strength, My Hero. It is important that we understand the name because no other description is ever given about him. In some ways, that is fitting. Angels are about the business of God, carrying God's message forward. We might be tempted to think that Gabriel is a bit short tempered due to his treatment of Zachariah in the text above, but think again. Zachariah is a priest who has entered the Temple to burn incense and fulfill his priestly duties. To question the messenger of God, to question God, under such circumstances, both personally and situationally meant he needed to stay quiet and learn before speaking again. Notice how different Garbriel acts with Mary (Luke 1: 26-35). Gabriel is patient and understanding. He uses his time to teach Mary the meaning of his message. This is not new for Gabriel. He does the same thing with the prophet Daniel (Daniel 8: 15-26) who struggled to understand the vision God gave him. Later in Daniel, Gabriel will return again to help him (9:21-27) understand the revelation of God. One thing to notice in these texts is the description of whom he was sent. Both Mary and Daniel are highly favored or esteemed. Zachariah is too by way of association, but Gabriel does not tell him such. Now, you may be tempted to think that counts me out. Not so. By way of Gabriel's name, we know he carries the almighty and uncontested power of God. The way he carries such power is in accord with God's will. Gabriel's obedience is the result of his relationship to God; he is God's number one and God is his number one. Is it any wonder that he says he stands in the presence of God. He carries out his missions with grace and understanding. He does not need to boast or flaunt anything, nor does he have time for it. He is a servant who loves what God loves, us, and he is there to help. Even when help might not be the kind of help we want, but need. Long story short, Gabriel is humble. One of the many lessons we glean from him is found in his character. Amidst all his power and position, he is humble. If you look at the character of the people he is sent to, they are humble too. Yes, even Zachariah, he had lived a difficult life, but did so in righteousness and grace. We do ourselves a great favor to heed the example of faith found in Gabriel.
Pray with me .., Holy God, we struggle in this life trying to do the right thing, at the right time. The situations we find ourselves in can be overwhelming and confusing. Help us rest in Your might. To take it day by day with You. Be with our loved ones, we pray, bless them. And be with our church, continue to be our Guide for it is in Jesus name that we pray, Amen.
God's peace,
Pastor Brian
