So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. (2 Peter 2:9 NLT)

Little did Zechariah know how life was about to change for him, for his country, and for the world. Gabriel announced to him that he and his aged wife, Elizabeth, were to be the parents of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. In fact, they would be the parents of the greatest prophet in the history of Scripture and the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.

Israel hadn’t heard from God for four hundred years. There hadn’t been a miracle for four hundred years. And there hadn’t been a prophet for four hundred years. Then along came the angel Gabriel, not just with an announcement of a prophet but of a super prophet, one who would precede the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

But because he was an old man, Zechariah had a hard time believing this. So, Gabriel told him that he would not be able to speak until the child was born. And indeed, Zechariah did not communicate verbally until John was born. Then God restored his ability to speak.

Meanwhile, in a seedy little town called Nazareth, there was a godly young woman named Mary. The angel Gabriel also appeared to her and told her she would have the privilege of being the mother of the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world.

But in contrast to Zechariah, who doubted, Mary believed. She said to Gabriel, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true” (Luke 1:38 NLT).

Nazareth was known for its corruption and sin. That is why, when Nathanael heard that Jesus was from Nazareth, he responded by saying, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46 NLT).

This wasn’t the first time God dispatched an angel to a godless city. He sent angels into Sodom and Gomorrah to deliver Lot and his family from the destruction that was coming. Sodom and Gomorrah were known for their sin, just as Nazareth was.

Abraham’s nephew Lot lived in Sodom. The Bible says of him, “Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day” (2 Peter 2:8 NLT). Mary and Lot lived at different times in different cultures. And both cultures were wicked.

Yet Mary lived an uncompromised life. Lot, on the other hand, lived a compromised life. And when it was time to leave the ungodly place where he was living, the angels had to take Lot by the hand and rush him and his family out of the city.

There is no power in a compromised life. Compromising people reach no one. Mary, however, lived a godly life in an ungodly place. Lot was a thermometer, but Mary was a thermostat. Unlike a thermometer that is affected by its surroundings, a thermostat controls the environment around it.

We often blame our wicked culture for the way we are, but the fact of the matter is that it’s our job as followers of Jesus to permeate and affect our culture.

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