A Life of Jesus, by the Good Doctor

The Christian life is the most difficult option. You see, if it is only a matter of my own strength and effort, then I just need to try harder. It is something in my control. If it is a matter of God coming into life and zapping me, then I have nothing to do but wait for that. The Christian life is what I can accomplish through the power of the Holy Spirit. You see, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in me as I partner with Him. In other words, He does not override my will. He works in me as I offer up myself in surrender to Him. The act of surrendering is something that must constantly be done afresh. What we find is that as we overcome one issue or grow in one area, then we see that there is another area that needs work. It is the Holy Spirit in partnership with me.

Take, as an example, a marriage. A marriage lives or dies on one point, and that is the ability of the husband and wife to partner together. A marriage in which there is only the will of one person to determine things is not a marriage. You see, a marriage is where a man and a woman work together. (This is why the idea that marriage in any way can be a union between people of the same sex is so ludicrous.) You see, they each bring something to the relationship that the other cannot supply. So the marriage is a recognition of my limitations and of the need to work together. In this imperfect example, we have an example of the spiritual life.

Now notice the double partnership in this passage. God gave Zechariah a vision of what would be. But did you notice that it would take effort on the part of Zechariah? Jesus was conceived by the act of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist was conceived—well, we could say by old-fashioned means. Zechariah had to partner with the Holy Spirit. Do I need to make it clear that what God calls us to do is not always unpleasant? There are times when what God calls us to do is something arduous and painful. There are other times when doing the will of God is pleasant and sweet.

Zechariah not only had to partner with the Holy Spirit, but he also had to partner with Elizabeth. The will of God will often call us to work with people. One way you can tell that the will of God is at work in people is that it brings people together. (When the will of God is not pursued, it leads to divisions.) So the life of faith calls us to partner with the Holy Spirit but also to partner with people. You see, it is much easier if I do not need to discern what God is doing or if I have to wait for people to catch up with me.

Elizabeth’s side of the story is not told. In the case of Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus, the angel of God appeared to both. We are not told that the angel appeared to Elizabeth. Elizabeth was left with a choice to accept what Zechariah told her or reject it. She could have run off in a pout, saying, “Where is my angel?” But Elizabeth and Zechariah represent a mature marriage. In a word, she was submissive (a word held in ill repute today) to Zechariah. She partnered with him, and they created a baby. In the process of accepting Zechariah’s vision, the years of disgrace were removed from her. So today we can say that the life of faith is a call to partnership. It is rooted and grounded in our need to surrender to the work and will of God. It is worked out as we work with people. So like Elizabeth, there exists before us great possibilities. The challenge for us is to accept this.