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The Incomprehensible Transition

The Incomprehensible Transition

The golden goal … the certain hope … the lift in life when circumstances seem to keep dragging us down and our spirits are flagging … the profound promise that we hold before our spiritual eyes and the eyes of fellow Christians … is our heavenly home. 

The concept entails so very much.

Finally finding ourselves before our loving Lord.  Leaving behind our sinfulness, imperfections and frustrations once and for all.  Glorified bodies and souls.  Perfect happiness forever and ever.  Salvation. 

These wonders comfort, uplift, and motivate us as broken people in a broken world.  The hardships here are all temporary; the blessings of heaven are eternal.

Heaven is almost taken for granted.  And it should be!  It’s a fundamental biblical truth given to us from God to comfort, uplift and motivate us.  To provide hope when circumstances can seem rather hopeless.

But here’s perhaps the thing we lose sight of.  Before his birth on earth, Jesus was already there! 

And not just as a guest to heaven, but as the Lord of lords and King of kings!  The holy, almighty, all-knowing, eternal God … the very Creator of heaven itself … the incomprehensible One worshipped and adored by the angels … the Supreme Deity who answers to no one and rules over everyone and everything … makes heaven his throne room.

God’s essence is heaven’s centerpiece; his “everything” is everything in heaven.  His holiness fills its halls and lights its farthest reaches.

And frankly, it would be ludicrous for you and me to expect to enter that place. 

But then Christmas happened.  The inconceivable God did an inconceivable thing; he exited that glorious place and entered this inglorious place called earth.  And he did it for an even more inconceivable reason – to be ridiculed, rejected, tortured and killed as our Substitute.

Who in his right mind would do such a thing? 

Only Jesus, the Son of God.  And he did it for the rightest of reasons – to make it possible for us to transition one day from here to there.  So you and I could be forgiven and finally be right with God.  So you and I could enter that incredible place when we leave this impossibly difficult one.  So we could be with Him!

The Scriptures describe this truth – this incomprehensible transition – beautifully:

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  “For the wages of sin is death, [both physical and eternal], but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

This transition is doubly incomprehensible. 

First, Jesus’ journey to earth and the purpose for it is incomprehensible.  It only makes sense in light of God’s boundless and unfathomable love – a love he holds for us.

Secondly, our journey to heaven one day is equally incomprehensible.  It also only makes sense in light of God’s boundless love for us, coupled with Jesus’ astounding sacrifice for us. 

The God of heaven left heaven to come to earth.  And he did it specifically so that all who know him and love him could leave earth and enter heaven. 

Incomprehensible transitions indeed! 

How awesome is our God!  And how incredible is Christmas!  It’s where God makes the incomprehensible visible and plain.  Just look at the Baby in the manger.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Philippians 2:6-11
Christ Jesus … being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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Bah, Humbug ???

Bah, Humbug ???

We knew it was coming.  We just didn’t know when.  Nor did we know if it would be good news or bad.

Short story long, I was told I needed a special medical test.  When I asked if it was really necessary, I was told it was.  (The situation is nothing truly horrible; but it is serious.  Severe sleep apnea.)

What I should have asked, apparently, is if my medical insurance would cover it.  I assumed the medical staff had checked on this important detail; evidently they hadn’t.  Maybe like me, they assumed our insurance would pay for it; they’re normally very reliable about coverage.  (Had I been aware that insurance would not, I would have refused the test.)

All of which led to the shocking notification that we owed the hospital thousands of dollars for the prescribed “in-hospital sleep study.”  That’s thousands of dollars that aren’t actually within our means to pay at the moment.

Fortunately, there was an avenue to appeal the insurance company decision.  So I prayed about it, wrote the best appeal letter I could write, and submitted it to the insurance company.  They acknowledged the appeal and informed me they would send their decision via standard mail.

That was several months ago.  A few days ago – exactly two weeks from Christmas – the response arrived via the U.S. Postal Service.  The return address was our insurance company’s “grievances and appeals division.” I knew immediately what it was.  I said another prayer, held my breath, and opened the envelope. 

“Denied.” 

Of course, they elaborated much more than that, and did so in polite fashion.  But the answer was still the same: “denied.”

Bah, humbug!  What a lousy way to enter the final few weeks before Christmas!

Of course, literally the day before the decision arrived in our mailbox, I had “splurged” on probably the largest Christmas present for my wife I have ever purchased. (It wasn’t even a thousand dollars, but it was hundreds.) She had endured a challenging year and I wanted to surprise her with a special gift.  (Thankfully, she was surprised, and she loved it!)  

Nevertheless, we were both aware of the “denied” notification which had just been delivered. 

Double bah, humbug!

Perhaps you have your own challenges in these days approaching Christmas?  None of us floats  through life unencumbered with difficulties.  “Bah humbugs” can arrive in a multitude of fashions.  Satan loves to bring them, and delights in attempting to undermine our Christian and Christmas joy.

Unfortunately, too often he is successful in his endeavors.

The message the angel brought to Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather, is a message for you and me as well.  Joseph realized that Mary, his fiancée, was pregnant.  He also knew with complete confidence that he was NOT the father.  Consequently, he decided to quietly break off the engagement.

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’” (Matthew 1:20-21)

To which, Matthew adds this commentary: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel,’ (which means “God with us”).” (Matthew 1:22-23)

No matter the seriousness of our other problems, our most serious problem has always been our sin, and the need for atonement for that sin.  The Spirit-conceived Baby inside Mary was God-sent – and God himself! – sent to make the atonement that only the holy God could make!  As promised by the angel, “He will save his people from their sins.”  And Jesus has!

That takes the “bah humbug” out of all our other bah humbugs.  Because of Jesus, we are freely and fully forgiven by the Lord.

A Savior from our sins is astounding and exhilarating enough.  But Jesus is even more than “just” God come to earth to be our Savior.  He is also God here on earth even now; He is Immanuel, “God with us.” 

Which means we are not facing our problems and hardships alone.  Immanuel himself is with us!  Even if he doesn’t solve them for us, (which he often does!), he will help us through them.

All of which replaces our “bah humbugs” with the “good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10).  In fact, it allows us – moves us! – to join wholeheartedly with the angels’ refrain, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:10).

Problems?  Difficulties?  Bah humbug to them!  Jesus was born for you and me!  Both to save us … and to be with us. 

This glorious truth changes everything – our perspective, our attitude, our heart, our life!  It makes Christmas wonderful, despite the sometimes less than wonderful frustrations we endure in our lives.

Thank you, Lord, for hope, help, and happiness!  Thank you for Christmas.

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Anticipation

Anticipation

The Christian Church is now in the Advent season – the 4-week prelude to Christmas.  The word “Advent” is derived from Latin and means “coming” … as in Jesus “coming” to this world – initially, on the first Christmas as Savior, but also on the Last Day as Lord over all.

Which makes Advent a season of anticipation.  Christians anticipate celebrating Jesus’ birth on earth.  They also anticipate celebrating Jesus’ return to earth on the Last Day.

The anticipation for Jesus began in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had disobeyed God and brought the devastation of sin into the world, and into their lives.  Astoundingly, instead of sweeping them aside and starting over, the Lord promised to send One who would make things right again (Gen. 3:15).

From that moment on and through the rest of the first couple’s many hundreds of years of life, (Adam lived to be 930!), they must have eagerly anticipated the Lord fulfilling his promise.  With every new male born, they must have hoped this was the One.  But the Savior didn’t come in their lifetimes.

The anticipation continued with all the believers through the Old Testament.  The time passed and the waiting continued …  not just for decades, generations or centuries, but for millennia! 

A continual refrain of the Old Testament, and especially their worship songs (the psalms), was to “wait” on the Lord who is “faithful.”  The beating heart of this encouragement was the ongoing anticipation of God keeping his promise to send the Savior.

The long anticipation was heightened dramatically with Zechariah and Elizabeth … and Joseph and Mary … whose encounters with angels made it clear that the time had finally come!  The epiphanies shared with them led to miracle baby boys – John the Baptist born to a childless couple well past childbearing years, and Jesus born to a virgin. 

Even amidst the swirling questions and amongst the wonder … how their hearts must have yearned for the boys to be born!  What anticipation must have filled them for 10 months!  What joy they felt at being the Lord’s servants and at what the Lord was doing!  The Holy Spirit actually moved both Mary and Zechariah in their anticipatory joy to speak profound words of prophesy (Mary’s Song and Zechariah’s Song – Lk. 1).

Clearly the unnamed shepherds in Luke 2 were also believers who were among those longing for God’s promised Messiah to arrive.  So while the angels staggered them with their unexpected appearance while out in the fields, they were even more stunned by the angels’ message – the Promised One was born that very day! 

The shepherds’ lifetimes of anticipation were now compressed into a frantic search to find the Baby lying in a manger.  Imagine their excitement!  Their eagerness!  Their anticipation at personally meeting the One whom God’s people had been waiting for since the Garden Promise thousands of years before.

And imagine their wonder when they finally laid eyes on Baby Jesus.

It was similar with the Magi.  The promise had been passed down to them from Daniel, but they surely never expected to actually observe the announcing star in the sky.  But they did!  And when they did, they simply had to go see the newborn King.  Never mind the length and inconvenience of the journey; they set out for Judea.  It was an arduous journey.  Yet every day closer to their destination, their anticipation of meeting Jesus fueled them on. 

What did they feel … think … say … when finally fixing their gaze on the Baby fulfilling centuries old prophesies? 

Then there was Simeon and Anna in the temple in Jerusalem.  Simeon was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” (Lk. 2:25), and the Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would meet the Messiah before he died.  How he must have anticipated this incredible privilege! 

When Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple to present him, a firstborn son, to the Lord as the Lord had commanded in the Law, the Spirit moved Simeon to the temple courts.  There he met the new parents and the Newborn.  He swept Jesus into his arms and praised God in the words now known as the “Song of Simeon.”  Anticipation answered!

At that moment, Anna, an elderly prophetess who essentially lived at the temple worshiping and praying, arrived and began praising the Lord as well!  Her anticipation was also realized.  And from that moment on, she began telling all the other anticipating believers that the Lord had finally fulfilled his promise.

So many people; so much anticipation!  All fulfilled in a little Baby born in a barn in Bethlehem.

I can’t help but wonder how the Lord himself viewed Jesus’ transition to earth.  Of course, the Triune God is not a human, doesn’t think like a human (Is. 55:8), and doesn’t approach time as humans do (2 Pet. 3:8).  Consequently, he is utterly incomprehensible to humans, and to attempt to discern his perspective is impossible.

But still, as earth’s history unfolded was there an eagerness burning in the Lord’s heart to finally fulfill his many promises to send the Savior?  Did he experience his own holy anticipation to give the first and greatest Christmas Gift; to unveil the Promised One who would at last make the wrong right?

It almost seems that he must have!  I offer the incredible words from Hebrews 12:2 as a possible insight into the Lord’s mind and heart.  Referring to Jesus, the writer states, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

If Jesus viewed the horrors of the cross with joy, surely the Lord must have viewed his long-awaited arrival on earth with eagerness as well.  Astounding!  Wonderful!

Which brings us finally to you and me.  We are once again in the season of anticipation.  Soon we will celebrate anew the arrival of Immanuel – “God With Us.”  May we eagerly anticipate that celebration!  It is surely worth anticipating and celebrating!

And in the same way, may we also eagerly anticipate celebrating on the day that Jesus returns and ushers in eternity.  “[Jesus] … says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon’” (Rev. 22:20).

To which we echo John’s response, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lamentations 3:22-26
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Psalm 130:5-8
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.  I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.  Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.

He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

Galatians 4:4-5
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

Luke 21:25-28
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.  People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

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To Comment – Please share your thoughts!  (Commenting is the fun part!)  To do so, click on the “Comments” tag under the title and start typing.  I, and many others, would love to benefit from your insights!

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Christmas All Year Long

Christmas All Year Long

My wife will likely be unhappy with me for sharing this, but I’ve always liked living on the edge.  So here goes …

The truth is that we still have our Christmas tree and decorations up.  I imagine this is shocking and even unimaginable to some readers.  However, the fact is that if you keep them up long enough, you don’t have to dig them back out and put them back up again! 

Though this seems rather practical to me – rest assured, this is not our intention. 

The simple reality is that this past year has been one of massive transition for my wife and myself.  Really, for our entire family.  Suddenly, none of our children live with us anymore.  (Which is part of the issue: there’s no one to help take it all back down like the past 25 years or so!)

But the bigger issue is that my wife and I are both fully immersed in full-time service to the Lord.  So much so that while we’re kinda settled, we’re still a lot not-settled.  (I know that last sentence has some improper words and grammar, but I like it; it seems to sum up our situation well.)

In short, there is precious little spare time for extras like packing up the Christmas things.  And especially for her, who commutes to her school and is gone 12 hours a-day for 5 days of the week.  That leaves only the weekends for her to get all of her other personal stuff done.  And by the way, as a pastor, weekends are extremely busy for me.

Which is why the Christmas tree still commandeers a corner of our living room, the stockings are still hanging off the fireplace mantle, the wreath still occupies the front door, and the Christmas knick-knacks and do-dads still remain where they were originally placed.

With God’s blessing, they’ll be dealt with in the next few days.  (Which unfortunately means I’ll have to drag them all out again next winter and put them all back up again.)  Nevertheless, the visuals of Christmas will get tucked away.

Even though the tree and all the other Christmas sparklies will be returned to their proper storage boxes, and the boxes returned to their storage places, it is appropriate for us all to remember that Christmas is something we can and should celebrate all year long. 

I recognize that this next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday … the first day of the Lenten season when we spend six weeks remembering our Savior’s suffering and death.  Consequently, it may strike some as odd to mention Christmas now.  Yet, I stand by my statement: Christmas is something worthy of continued celebration, no matter the date. 

Had Jesus not be born, he could not have been crucified.  Had he not allowed himself to be killed, he could not have risen back to life.  In fact, the primary purpose for Jesus’ birth was so he could eventually take his holy life to the cross to make atonement for sin.  And his resurrection was the holy receipt that full payment had been made by the true God, whom death could not hold.

They all tie together in the most necessary and wonderful way!

Christmas is incredibly pertinent through the entire church year, and through the entire calendar of our lives as well.  And so is Good Friday (Jesus’ crucifixion day).  And so is Easter Sunday (Jesus’ resurrection day).

These cardinal events are not just highlights of the church year … but of every day of our lives!  They are, in fact, the most significant events in the history of the world!  Consequently, they are worthy of celebrating any day.  Every day! 

Christmas in February?  August even?  Certainly! 

Easter in December?  Definitely!

The Holy Spirit moved the writers of the Scriptures to combine these mind-boggling and eternity-altering activities a number of times in God’s Word.  Jesus’ miraculous birth, his holy life, his horrible death and his glorious resurrection are often listed as corresponding parallels on Jesus’ path to saving us.

Such as when Paul wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures …”  (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

Even more lengthy, detailed and remarkable summaries are included elsewhere in the Bible, such as Isaiah 53 and Philippians 2.  (See below!)

Which means Christmas décor is never out-of-date or out-of-place.  It’s always appropriate because for Christians it’s always Christmas.  And it’s always Easter too!

So merry Christmas, blessed Good Friday, and happy Easter to you all – today and every day!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Philippians 2:5-11
… Christ Jesus … being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Isaiah 53:2-12
[Christ] grew up before [the Father] like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on [Jesus] the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.

 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

How to Interact on This Blog

To Comment – Please share your thoughts!  (Commenting is the fun part!)  To do so, click on the “Comments” tag under the title and start typing.  I, and many others, would love to benefit from your insights!

To Subscribe – Go to the “Follow This Blog Via Email” column.  If you don’t immediately see that box, click on the “Comments” tag under the title, and scroll to the very bottom.  You should find it there.  OR simply comment you want to follow and I can add you!

Time at the Manger

Time at the Manger

“Christmas time.”  They are common words and a common concept at the end of December.  Usually they are supposed to denote a super-special and extra wonderful time of year.  Technically, the word “Christmas” translates to “Christ-worship.”  In reality, “Christmas time” actually seems to equate with “crazy-busy time,” leaving very little time for anything else. 

Especially, it seems, for Christ.

There are so many things to do, see, hear, smell, taste and experience during the holiday!  So many attractions and distractions that demand our attention, and we invariably find ourselves distracted by the attractions, and attracted to the distractions.  Obliged by the obligations, consumed by consumerism, overrun by the running – the season of peace tends to be anything but! 

Family and work obligations, attending or hosting holiday parties, tree trimming and special decorations, gift-buying and wrapping, travel time, Christmas cooking and baking, and an assorted menagerie of expectations keep us hopping and not-always-so-happy during what is supposed to be a joyous season. 

It’s a time for exuberance!  Unfortunately, we’re exhausted.

This quantity of typical Christmas doings is not what Christmas is about!  Rather, if we want to do Christmas right, there is only one proper approach.  We must spend quality time at the manger.

Of God’s countless miracles and on-going actions of love, this was undoubtedly the greatest.  Or at least the most significant to sinners who recognize their need for a Savior! 

God himself sequestered himself in a womb for nine months, wrapped himself in flesh, and was born in common fashion.  And not even in top-notch accommodations, but in a smelly cattle stall!  And not to be exalted and honored as the Lord that he is, but to be ignored, rejected and ultimately killed by people he had created and to whom he had given life.

“Christ Jesus … being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!”  (Philippians 2:5-8).

What god is like our God?  What god would be so great in power … and yet so good and so gracious and go to such extremes of love for undeserving people as our God did?  There is no other.  Our God is incomparable in every measure!

“This is what the Lord says — he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; … he says: ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other. … There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.’” (Isaiah 45:18 & 21)

With the multiple demands of the Christmas season, may we never forget the magnitude of the love of our God.  It brought him to the manger to rescue a world of people who rebelled against him – the only true God and their very Creator.  Thirty-three years later, he would also become their Savior.  Which is specifically why Jesus was born in the first place.

There is no God like our God; there is no love like the love he demonstrated.

So if we are going to properly observe Christmas, we must worship Christ.  We must spend some time at the manger.  Not out of obligation, but gladly!  Willingly!  Eagerly! 

We come in awe.  We approach in wonder.  We kneel in adoration.  We weep in joy.  Our hearts gush in thankfulness. 

Manger scenes on our mantles or under our trees are wonderful reminders – often precious and beautiful, but always somewhat sterile.  Rather look in the real manger in Bethlehem.  See the mold forming in the corners of the feeding trough and the slobber and spittle left behind from the livestock.  And see the Baby nestled there, wrapped in strips of cloth, sprinkled with bits of straw and hay, and making his tiny baby movements.  He’s real, and he’s really important to you and me.

Christmas is a time of bright adornments.  Ornaments and tinsel on trees; wrapping paper on presents; candy sprinkles on cookies and cakes.  Pass them by and kneel in the dirt, straw and dung beside the manger.  The Baby we see there doesn’t look all that special, but there has never been a more special Child or a more beautiful sight.

Holiday lights are eye-catching.  But go to the manger and look upon the Light of the World.

Most can’t imagine Christmas without a tree.  Cast your eyes on Jesus’ manger, and recognize the shadow of the cross … the “tree” … that hangs over it. 

Christmas music is beloved.  But sidle up to the manger and the shepherds gathered there and listen to their description of the angels’ praises to a God who sent his Son to rescue the lost.

Presents will be given by us and to us.  We’ll buy them, wrap them and open them.  But peer into the manger and see the first and greatest Christmas Gift of all. 

Many relationships are treasured and enhanced at this time of year.  But step into the stable and have your heart warmed by the gurgling of God’s Son, lying in love in the manger … born solely to save us. 

With all the busyness of the holiday season, certainly take time for worship at your church.  Greet God’s people there and glorify God.  Sing the hymns and hear God’s Word.  It is good for us to be there!  Important even!  But while there, may the worship take us to the manger, and God’s Son resting on the hay inside it.  Because it’s not being in churches that is most important at Christmas time.  It’s being beside Jesus’ “cradle;” it’s bowing at Jesus’ manger.

Christmas.  “Christ worship.”  There’s nothing like spending time at the manger to foster our adoration of our God who loves us so very much that he would be found there.

How to Interact on This Blog

To Comment – Please share your thoughts!  (Commenting is the fun part!)  To do so, click on the “Comments” tag under the title and start typing.  I, and many others, would love to benefit from your insights!

To Subscribe – Go to the “Follow This Blog Via Email” column.  If you don’t immediately see that box, click on the “Comments” tag under the title, and scroll to the very bottom.  You should find it there.  OR simply comment you want to follow and I can add you!

Having Everything

Having Everything

Charles Dickens’ classic story, “A Christmas Carol,” was an ingenious concept that has touched millions of people through the years.  It can’t be improved upon.  However, I thought I would provide a bit of a different twist to the concept, and be a bit more direct in the three different “insights” provided.  Dickens was a devout Christian and hinted at these truths.  I trust he would approve of the content of the messages in this version. 

May this story be thought-provoking and ultimately bless all who read it!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Randy Thomas swung his leather-covered swivel chair slowly around, indulging himself in the sight of his luxuriously appointed office and his above-the-city view.  Nice.  All very nice.  And everything around him was the fruit of his own ingenuity and grit.  He had accomplished it all himself. 

It had been a grueling ascent, but it was behind him now.  He was fabulously wealthy and “on top of the world.”  And the best thing about wealth – he could now afford to hire the very best employees to keep his company prospering. 

Perhaps this would be a good time to check in with Simpson on that multi-million-dollar contract.  He stood, stretched, and sauntered out of his sanctuary. 

Drat!  Lousy timing!  That irritating Johnny Johnson was restocking the snack dispensing machine in the break area of the office.  Maybe Johnson wouldn’t notice him?

“Morning, Mr. Thomas!”  (Clearly he had noticed.)

“Hello, Jansen.”

“It’s Johnson.  But you know that, Mr. Thomas.”  Randy grunted, and Johnny smiled. 

They didn’t come any more gawky than Johnny Johnson.  Long and lean, he seemed all arms and legs; elbows and knees.  His ears stuck out perpendicular from his head, and a sharp, thin nose like a shark’s fin dominated his face.  He sported a small patch of hair centered on the front of his bald head … barely more follicles than protruded in obvious abundance from his nose and ears.

Randy didn’t even pretend to be kind; the man irritated him to no end.  “Why do I seem to run into you every time you are here, Jansen?”

“Just lucky, I guess,” the other man replied, with a grin.  (How could he be so frustratingly nice!)

“I can’t believe they haven’t replaced you yet.”

Johnny showed no response to the insult; he simply continued stocking the machine.  “Good workers are hard to find these days, Mr. Thomas.  You should know that.”  (Hard to rattle this guy!)

Johnny closed the vending machine door, locking it tight.  He stood and looked directly into Randy’s eyes.  “Mr. Thomas, I’d like to give you something.”

Again!  He offered the same thing again!  Every time they talked, Johnny made the same overture!  An exasperated Randy replied, “Why do you keep offering that?

“Because I have something you need.”

“What could you possibly have that I need?  What can you give to someone who has everything?”

“But you don’t have everything, Mr. Thomas.”

“Go away, Johnny.  Just go away!”  Randy wheeled around and stormed back to his office.  Only after he sat back down did he remember he had intended to chat with Simpson.  That stupid Johnson!

Later that evening, Randy nursed a drink while gazing out over the skyline from his penthouse.  Strangely, it wasn’t the business transactions of the day that engaged his mind, but the irritating repeated offer of that goofball Johnson.  To his great annoyance, Randy was intrigued.  What could Johnny’s gift be?  Undoubtedly something meaningless.  Certainly something he already owned, and probably three times over!  Yet Johnny claimed it was something he needed – something he didn’t have.

The man was beyond exasperating!  He was infuriating!

Randy’s thoughts tracked further down the rabbit-hole Johnny had dropped him in.  He was one of the wealthiest men in the world.  There was nothing he wanted that he lacked.  And if he happened to actually find something else he wanted, he wouldn’t lack it for long … no matter the price!  Few people in the world could claim that. 

He allowed himself a moment of honest reflection: “So why do I feel so empty when I have so much?”  There was no easy answer to that.

Randy shrugged and made his way to bed.  Unsettled, he tossed and turned for a while before the alcohol pulled him into a deep sleep.

Gradually it registered on his consciousness that he seemed to be falling face-first from his high-rise apartment.  While plummeting to the street below … faster and faster … the air rushing past him increased in intensity.  His pajamas were pinned to his body; his hair flopped and pulled against his scalp.  Randy was terrified! 

Suddenly, a man with golden hair, piercing blue eyes and a glowing white robe stood suspended in the air below him … his hand held upwards in a halt gesture.  Randy slammed to a stop above him.  Slowly his body rotated until his feet were below him and he was suspended beside the startling gleaming man.  And just that quickly, they were both standing on the ground in a fog-filled field.

“Greetings, Randy.  My name is Soniel.”  His voice was rich, deep and strong … like a ship’s horn melodiously forming words.  “I have been sent to show you things that most never get to see … at least not before their lives end.  You will see … and then you will see or not see.”

Randy swallowed hard.  “Who are you?” he sputtered.  “I mean, what are you?”

“I am a messenger of God bearing a three-fold message to you.  I urge you to watch and listen carefully.  Eternity rides in the balance.”  The angel stared intently at Randy.  Randy wanted to look away, but somehow couldn’t. 

The angel continued.  “Message one: you believe you have everything.  Here is what you really have.”

Soniel swept his arm to the right and pointed.  A casket materialized in the mist.  It was overflowing with his possessions.  Gold and silver bullion, his Rolexes and favorite jewelry from his jewelry chest, fancy clothes from his closets, precious paintings from his homes, titles of his properties and registrations of his vehicles.  Even his personalized and personally-fitted golf clubs. 

The angel spoke.  “Meaningless!  Meaningless.  Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.” (Ecc. 1:1)

As he looked on, Randy suddenly realized with horror that there was a body … his body! … in the casket.  He could see his pale face peeking out amidst his piles of possessions!

The shock hadn’t even settled in when riches began to cascade off the mounded up treasure and his naked corpse rose upward, levitating above the casket.  There was a huge void in his chest; a dark emptiness where his heart should be. 

Soniel’s voice resonated yet again.  “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Mt. 16:26)

No sooner had the words been spoken when the casket burst into flames – the stockpiled riches incinerating in the conflagration.  The heat was all-consuming.  In short order, there was nothing left but smoldering ashes where just moments before had been a fortune. 

Randy’s dead body remained suspended in the air … seemingly untouched by the heat. 

“You brought nothing into the world, and you can take nothing out of it,” (1 Tim. 6:7) the angel said.  “Therefore do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world passes away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 Jn. 2:15-18)

The angel turned back toward Randy.  “Your everything is absolutely nothing.  Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions, (Lk. 12:15) so fix your eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18)

Randy felt himself shuddering.  He wrapped his arms around himself to try to stop the shaking.  It didn’t help.

“That is message number one.  Here is message number two.”  Soniel swept his other hand in the opposite direction from before, his top two fingers pointing at the vision manifesting there.  “This is where you are headed.”

Randy reluctantly turned his attention where the angel directed.  A small, gray shimmering oval appeared, expanded rapidly and then burst open.  The fabric of the physical was pierced and a view into another world was suddenly revealed.

Initially all he saw was the deepest blackness.  But his nose was immediately filled with the gagging smell of decay and vomit, and his ears were overwhelmed with agonized shrieking.  Women screamed shrilly and men bellowed; sobbing and wailing prevailed.  Meanwhile, the voices of clearly spiritual entities filled the darkness with cursing and manic demonic cackling.  “You’re all doomed!  Doomed! Doomed!” More disturbing and unsettling laughter.  “You’re all doomed to this place and this pain and this darkness with us!  Forever!  Forever!  For-ev-er!”

Randy shuddered involuntarily.  He was profoundly moved.

Gradually his eyes assimilated and he began to discern that the place was filled with black fire – the edges of each flame tinged with the faintest orange.  The flames were broken up by the outlines of writhing bodies, trying but failing to escape the licking reach of the fire.  And though the flames burned furiously, the bodies never burned up.

Randy was horrified!  “Hell is real!” he shouted.

“Yes.”

But then something even more horrifying became evident.  Above the blackness was a “sky-light” revealing a bright view of Jesus on a throne surrounded by countless people singing and laughing and rejoicing.  The light from that place didn’t stream downwards into the blackness below, but everyone below could clearly look through that “window” and see that bright and beautiful world.

“Heaven’s real too!  And they can see it!”

“Yes.”

“That’s cruel!”

“That’s just.  They made their decisions in life, and now they can see life, but have only death.”

Soniel flicked his fingers and the view disappeared.  “It is too much to bear for those still in the physical world.”  He paused.  “It is too much to bear for those in that world as well, but bear it they must and bear it they do.”

Randy didn’t even realize that he had begun sobbing uncontrollably until once again in the silence with Soniel.  “No!  No!  No!” he cried out.  “I have nothing!  Nothing now, and nothing after!”  Tears streamed down his cheeks.  “N O T H I N G!” he repeated in the shock of the revelations.

Randy tried to compose himself … to no avail.  He asked in a shuddering voice, “Can I bear your final message, Soniel?  I am terrified to hear it!  Is it that you are taking me to that horrible place now?  Please, not that!  Please!”

The angel actually smiled.  Not unkindly, but lovingly.  “You are now ready for my final message.  It is quite different from the first two.  It is to reveal what God has done.”  He spread both arms wide.  “Behold!”

The view of Jesus on his throne reappeared.  Beside his throne was another one, where a brilliantly gleaming essence resided.  Jesus stood and bowed to the other throne.  Then a golden whirlwind swirled around Jesus and he disappeared.  The glowing stream grew brighter, arced upwards and then swooped downwards.  Randy watched it rocket past stars and planets on its way to earth. 

Soniel began speaking again – but more quietly now.  Randy could actually hear the wonder in his voice.  “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  He paused, then continued.  “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned …”  (Jn. 3:16-18a)

A young dark-haired woman came into Randy’s view.  Her pregnant belly glowed with golden light.  Randy somehow realized that the aura wasn’t evident to anyone but him. 

The previous view faded and was replaced with the same woman resting on a blanket on a bed of straw.  Beside her a newborn baby boy, glowing golden, wiggled in a feeding trough, while a concerned man knelt between Baby and mother. 

Soniel again.  “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that they might receive adoption to sonship.” (Gal. 4:4-5)

Another scene took shape.  It was a bloodied and battered man hanging from a cross … again faintly glowing golden.  He lifted his head and in a hoarse voice cried out, “It is finished!”

Soniel explained.  “God shows his love for humans in this: while they were still sinners, Christ died for them (Rom. 5:8) … the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” (1 Peter 3:18).

Yet another view was revealed.  Angels like Soniel effortlessly rolled a huge stone away from a tomb.  The living Jesus stood just inside the cavity, waiting and smiling.  Then he stepped into the early morning light. 

The angel before Randy laughed joyfully.  “Praise be to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given believers new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you …” (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Then it was only the two of them again.  Randy was sobbing again, but no longer in terror.  He choked out, “I loved the last message!”

“Without the first two messages, it would have meant nothing to you.  I will leave you now.  Do not dismiss my messages.  Do not forget them.  They are truth.”

“Never!  I never will!”  The angel nodded.  “One more thing, if I could,” Randy asked timidly.  Again the angel nodded.  “Why did you come to me?”

“This is certainly not the usual approach, but someone has been praying for you relentlessly, so the Lord sent me.”

“Who has been praying for me?”

“Let’s just say it’s someone who has wanted to give you a gift.”  Randy was stunned. 

The angel disappeared.  And there again was Randy’s body.  But the gaping cavity in his chest was filled with a glowing Baby in a manger.  He began crying again.  He finally truly had Everything, and everything else he had would be used for Him.

Wait until he saw Johnson again!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A few important comments:

I fully recognize that the concept of an angel sharing these in-depth messages with an unbeliever is NOT how the Lord typically works.  (At least there are no examples of anything similar in the Scriptures.)  God has entrusted the crucial task of sharing Him and His truths to you and me.  (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).  However, I approached it this way simply to attempt to share crucial messages and provide insights in a hopefully impactful way.  That is the benefit of stories.

Hell is often described in the Bible as fiery, but often as darkness as well.  How does one reconcile the two?  I did my best to include both aspects.

Jesus’ account of the rich man in hell (Luke 16:19-31) is absolutely fascinating (and heart-breaking!).  Was Jesus simply sharing a powerful story to pass along powerful truths, or was he giving a glimpse of how things really are?  Or some of both?  I don’t pretend to know.  However, it is a story unlike any others he told.  Therefore I borrowed concepts from it, feeling that if Jesus used these pictures, then I can safely do so as well. 

One of the striking lessons Jesus was teaching in his story was summarized by Abraham to the rich man when he begged that Lazarus be sent back to warn his brothers.  Abraham stated, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets [i.e. God’s Word!], they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”  Taking this to heart, it is clear that even an angel and the remarkable things he could reveal wouldn’t be sufficient to turn a heart either.  Consequently, I had God’s angel share God’s living, heart-altering words with the rich man.  Finally, it is the Holy Spirit working through Scripture that brings faith and changes perspectives.

Despite the licenses I took, I pray that this story glorifies God and brings blessing to God’s people.  Perhaps especially to some who are losing sight of the most important things – their Savior and their soul.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  We have Everything in Jesus!

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A Time for Peaceful Joy?

A Time for Peaceful Joy?

It seems like everyone urges taking time for reflection at Christmas … but hardly anyone takes it.  Even those who encourage it!

The Christmas “obligations” are many and seem daunting.

Putting up the Christmas tree and decking the halls and the house, inside and out, with decorations and brightly-colored lights.  Writing the “Christmas letter” and sending out the Christmas cards.  Assembling the shopping list, purchasing all the presents and then wrapping them.  Attending the special Christmas work and school parties, and arranging the family get-togethers.  (How many gatherings are there, and how many are gathering?  Who goes where?  And when?  And who brings what?)  Christmas baking and Christmas cooking.  Not to mention, the inevitable and formidable Christmas cleanups!  (Usually plural.)

It’s a wonderful time of the year … and a stressful one as well.  Typically busy and not necessarily peaceful.

Which leads me to this outrageous statement: while most of the traditional Christmas activities are certainly wholesome, they are not necessarily beneficial.  At least not spiritually beneficial.  And therefore one might wonder how God-pleasing those activities even are.

Despite what many in the world proclaim and believe, Christmas is a Christian holiday.  Christmas literally means “Christ-worship.”  It’s the time of year we worship Christ our Savior – born to die for us. 

At least, that’s what it is supposed to be.  But that is not what it often turns out to be … even for Christians.

Here’s another hard statement: the Lord takes no pleasure in our frantic Christmas busyness.  But the devil certainly does!  The more we focus on the externals of the season and the less we focus on worshiping Christ, the better our spiritual enemies like it and the more concerning it becomes to our God.

Undoubtedly there is joy to be found in the usual “obligations” of the season.  In the preparing and the decorating and the gathering and the opening.  But it is a superficial and temporary joy.  Anticipation is exciting and memories are precious, but in the end – the literal end when our life concludes – they are meaningless.

All that will matter at that time is whether we know our Savior Jesus … born to die for us, and risen victoriously back to life.  Is He the King of our heart?  Do we recognize he saved our soul?

Am I advocating for the tossing away of the Christmas usuals?  Not at all!  I’m simply urging that we don’t lose sight of the real reason for the season, and that we take time (make time!) for the most important aspect of Christmas – worshiping Christ. 

Decorating home and hearth?  Of course!  But even more importantly, being sure to adorn our hearts and minds with God’s Word!

Time with family and friends?  Definitely!  But a quantity of quality time with the Lord as well, our Father, our Brother and our Comforter!

Holiday parties?  Undoubtedly!  But also gathering together with God’s people in God’s House to celebrate the newborn Savior!

Feeding the body?  Sure!  But designating time for feeding the soul too!

Watching classic Christmas shows?  By all means!  But making sure there are also moments of rapt focus on the Baby in the manger.

You get the idea.  And realize that I am writing as much to myself as to anyone.  For a pastor, this is one of the busiest times of the year, so I of all people need to take this to heart. 

Christmas should be a time of peaceful joy.  Our Savior was born for us, and this is profound.  Something that demands reflection and appreciation.  And when we embrace the essence of Christmas, it actually becomes a time of peaceful joy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Philippians 4:4-7, 9
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. … And the God of peace will be with you.

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God with Us?

God with Us?

This is a post I wrote several Christmases ago.  It seemed to be enjoyed by many at that time, so I share it again as another Christmas approaches.  As always, I pray these words are a blessing to all who read them.

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How constantly aware were Joseph and Mary that when they were with Jesus, they were in the very presence of God himself?  Not just spiritually, but physically? 

Angels from God informed both Mary and Joseph separately that this baby she would be bearing was no ordinary child.  Some elements of the two messages were similar.  Both were told that Mary’s conception would be a miraculous one brought about by the Holy Spirit.  Both heard it would be a boy and that he should be named Jesus, which means “The Lord Saves.” 

Mary was given the additional information that, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:32-33).

Immediately after recording the angel’s message to Joseph, Matthew adds the parenthetical statement, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’)” (Matthew 1:22-23).

Joseph and Mary were God-fearing Jews, well trained in the Scriptures.  They were very familiar with the prophecies about the Christ, the Messiah.  So, of course, they also knew of the Savior being born of a virgin, and that this baby would be “God With Us.”  It just never occurred to them that Mary would be that woman, or that they would have to raise the “Son of the Most High!” 

Nor did they anticipate becoming husband and wife quite so immediately, (albeit without consummating the marriage until after Jesus was born.)  Just that quickly their entire lives were turned inside out.  It was an incredible privilege; it was also a daunting responsibility!  How does one properly raise the Son of God?

One doesn’t forget the appearance of an angel or the message that angel brings.  Nor does a Jewish believer in their day forget the critical prophecies of the Christ.  But how constantly aware were Joseph and Mary that they were raising “God With Us?”

From our perspective, Baby Jesus is always acknowledged as the Son of God – the Savior of the world.  That truth is in our Christmas hymns.  It’s the centerpiece of Christmas sermons.  It’s addressed in every Christian Christmas card and alluded to in all the Christian Christmas traditions.  Consequently, it’s nearly impossible for us to separate Jesus’ divinity from the human baby he was.

But was Jesus’ God-hood always in Mary and Joseph’s consciousness as they cared for the little boy?

The famous Christmas lullaby, “Away in the Manger,” describes Baby Jesus with these words: “The baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.”  Since crying is one of the only ways a baby can communicate discomfort, that’s a pretty significant leap of logic.  Was that really how it was?   Maybe.  But maybe not.  (We know Jesus cried as an adult.)

If Jesus had to share an important need to his parents, and if he did that by crying, did it register with Mary and Joseph as they stumbled to his side in the wee hours of the night that these tears were being shed by God himself?

As they washed the afterbirth off him and cut his umbilical cord, did they view this newborn infant as the eternal God?  As they changed his fouled “diapers” and wiped his bottom clean, were they always aware of his holy identity?  As they looked on the helpless baby and as they lifted his uncoordinated body out of the manger, did they marvel that this was somehow also the almighty God?  As they struggled to understand and address his infant needs, did it astound them that he was also the all-knowing Lord?  As they filled the basic physical demands for this infant boy, did it strike them that they were caring for the One who had created them … and all things?  As he nursed from Mary’s breast, did the stunning incongruity of it all ever strike her? 

When they snuggled with little Jesus, smelling his unique scent, did they realize this was the aroma of heaven?  When they kissed his cute little cheeks, did it register that they were kissing Jahweh himself … the one so sacred the Jews dare not even mention his actual name?  When they tussled his dark locks, did they consider that they were handling holy hair?  When they held his tiny hands, did they recognize him as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?  When they hugged him, did they understand that they were embracing the one who referred to himself as “I Am Who I Am?” to Moses at the burning bush? 

Was it always on their minds that Jesus was so much more than just a baby boy?  Did they daily reflect that this little one wrapped in flesh and blood was quite literally “God With Us?”

How does one wrap their mind around these things?  How does one retain their cognizance of such heavenly truths while they handle the many mundane matters an infant demands?

And did they fully understand precisely what Jesus would have to endure to accomplish his mission of saving sinners?  It’s doubtful.  But they certainly understood his purpose in a general way; the angels had made it clear to both of them.

Yet almost certainly those future events didn’t dominate their thoughts.  Mary and Joseph were too preoccupied with caring for the infant.  Undoubtedly they often forgot that he was “God With Us” because Baby Jesus looked like a typical baby; he smelled and sounded like a typical baby; he acted like a typical baby.  Yet he was so much more!

It likely slipped Joseph and Mary’s minds, at least temporarily, that Jesus was “God With Us” because he was “with them” constantly.  We, on the other hand, forget that Jesus is still “God With Us” … because He isn’t always so visible in our lives.  At least not to our physical eyes.  But this doesn’t change the wonderful truth that he is indeed “With Us.”  He is still “God With Us.”

I find it interesting that when Jesus was born into this world, he was referred to as “God With Us.”  Then, just before he physically ascended back out of this world, he emphasized: “And surely I am with you always!”  (Matthew 28:20).

How incredibly comforting to know that Jesus was the “God With Us” at his birth, that he is still “God With Us” today, and that he will always be “God With Us” for all of eternity!

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The Earliest Christmas Songs

The Earliest Christmas Songs

I don’t doubt that you will listen to plenty of Christmas music in the next few weeks.  Good for you.  And especially if they are Christmas songs celebrating the Savior’s birth!

I hope you sing some of those songs too.

It’s interesting that in the first two chapters of Luke, Luke records no less than 4 accounts of people being moved to spontaneous praise of the Lord.  These are the earliest Christmas “songs” … even though they all were almost certainly spoken.

There is “Mary’s Song” – the words the pregnant Mary said after her relative, Elizabeth, greeted her (Luke 1:46-55).  Then we have “Zechariah’s Song” – the first words John the Baptist’s nine-month-mute father spoke after his son was born (Luke 1:67-79).  Of course, there is also the famous “song” of the angel host before the shepherds (Luke 2:13-14).  And the Gospel writer closes out the list with the “Song of Simeon,” when Joseph and Mary presented Jesus to the Lord in the temple (Luke 2:29-32).

What was the motivation, message and purpose behind these songs?  It’s actually quite clear; there’s a common refrain.  Let’s listen.

Mary proclaims:

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior … His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.  He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; … He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

What did Zechariah have to say?

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.  He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago) …”

As for “the great company of the heavenly host,” the angels were praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

It was a similar story with Simeon.  Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.”

What was the motivation, message and purpose behind these songs?

The motivation of both the sinful humans and the sinless angels was the same – profound joy in the goodness of God.  The message was “God has kept his promises and sent a Savior.”  The purpose was simply to praise God.

When God revealed that he had kept his promises and the Messiah, the Savior, had finally come … and they recognized the extent of his love and his absolute faithfulness … they simply couldn’t contain themselves.  They burst into inspired, highly emotional, incredibly moving, words of praise.

That is the same motivation for the Christmas songs we sing to our Lord: profound joy in the goodness of God.  That is the same message in our singing: God has kept his promises and sent a Savior.  We share the same purpose for our songs as well: to praise our gracious God.

We desperately needed a Savior, and in Baby Jesus God the Father gave us one!

So sing your praises to your God, this Christmas and always!

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A Telling Touch

A Telling Touch

Eli was back with the flock.  He was exhausted, but he wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon.  Not just because his eyes needed to be on the sheep this morning as usual, but because the extremely unusual night he had experienced.

He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t personally lived it.  Fresh tears welled up in his eyes as he reflected on the events of the previous hours.

Once again at nightfall, despair had been overwhelming him.  In the quiet of the evening when the flock was bedded down, it often hit him hard.  Those were the moments he missed his tender wife and young children.  The shepherds had a rotation of sorts where one of them could occasionally enjoy some family time.  Those were precious, but the reality was that Eli still spent more time with the sheep than his loved ones.  He missed them so much!

And while in the fields, he was exposed to the elements and whatever they might bring.  He was well “weathered” after all these years.  But being able to handle the conditions and enjoying them were two completely different things.  Being drenched by the rain and then spending the night shivering from the chill never became easier or even a little bit enjoyable. 

Then there were the potential predators on the flock, both animal and human.  Shepherding had inherent dangers.  One never knew what the next day would bring.

Couple those challenges with the reality that as a shepherd he wallowed at the very bottom rung of Jewish society like the cursed swine made his situation even harder to endure.  Despite the fact that he was overseeing the sheep and lambs destined for the temple sacrifices, he was still a lowly shepherd –  despised, ridiculed and ignored.  He wasn’t sure which was worse: being pointedly ignored or being openly sneered at by the “higher citizens.”  The tax collectors and dung sweepers had nothing over him; they were all equally ostracized!

Eli was constantly battling discouragement.  It wasn’t the sheep; he loved the sheep and their quirky ways!  Nor was it the other shepherds.  Thankfully, they were devout men who loved to discuss the Scriptures and the promises of God, which certainly made the days more enjoyable.  Rather, it was the ramifications of the occupation. 

Granted, he had it better than the typical shepherds who were banned by Jewish law to the wilderness with their flocks.  All the drawbacks of the job were doubled for them.  Overseeing the temple flock had its perks.  But still, he struggled. 

Last night he had been spiraling downhill mentally and emotionally – sliding inexorably deeper into despair.  He didn’t know how to halt the descent, and he wasn’t even sure he wanted to.  Hope was a dying thing, flitting and fluttering like a moth flying toward the flames.

And then the angels had appeared!  And then they had shared the message that the Messiah was born in Bethlehem!  And then they had told the shepherds where to find him!  “Wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Even though the shepherds never abandoned the flock, there was no hesitation.  They had to find the Baby, the Messiah, the Christ – the Promised One the whole nation had been awaiting so very long.

The search began immediately.  Fortunately, Bethlehem was a little town, so it was only a matter of time until they located the Newborn.  And it was just as the angels said it would be!  The Baby was swaddled and settled into a feeding trough for livestock, resting amidst dried slobber and circled by flies.  What an unlikely cradle for the King!

His exhausted mother was covered with a blanket and resting on the straw; her emotionally spent husband alternating between tending to her and the Child.  Both were startled when the shepherds materialized out of the darkness; stunned when they explained why. 

The little Boy looked like just another newborn, but clearly he was so much more.  Cherubim don’t herald the birth of normal babies. 

The shepherds were enthralled by the Babe, joy overflowing from their hearts.  God had indeed kept his promise!  However, they were conscious that we were intruding on a very private moment.  Finally, Eli was compelled to speak.  “We’re sorry that we burst in on you.”

Joseph smiled and replied, “It seems clear you were meant to come.”  The herdsmen all nodded in agreement.  Joseph continued, “We are supposed to share this occasion.”

Mary spoke quietly, “You will always be remembered for your devotion.  You will always be honored.”  Tears poured from the sheep-keepers’ eyes.  They were the kindest words ever spoken to them by strangers.

Eli wondered if it were true.  And if it was true, would it be enough to pull him from the depths of his despair?

It was then that he noticed one of Jesus’ arms had broken free from the bundled clothes … his tiny fingers seemingly reaching for him.  Without considering the propriety of his request, Eli asked if he could touch the Babe.  “Of course,” replied Mary.

Baby Jesus was staring at him with unblinking eyes.  Eli stretched his calloused hand toward the tiny tender one.  The little fingers gripped his forefinger with surprising strength, and a gentle jolt rolled through his body.  Jesus kept eye contact with him and a youthful voice sounded in his mind, clear as could be.  “I love you.  I will save you and all who trust in me.  Have hope.  This life is temporary.  Heaven is forever.”  The fingers squeezed, and then released.

Eli’s eyes grew wide and he gasped.  Joseph and Mary asked together, “What just happened?”  He couldn’t answer for a moment as tears rolled freely down his cheeks.  He swallowed.  Swallowed again.  Finally, he managed a quiet but emotional reply, “He is a very special Boy.”

The shepherds left shortly afterwards; they didn’t want to intrude too long.  But they went through the town announcing the angels’ message excitedly to anyone they met in those early hours.  Didn’t matter to the shepherds that they were considered outcasts; they had news that must be shared.

Eventually they made it back to the flocks.  Of course, the Lord had watched over the sheep while they embarked on their mission.  As they restocked the fire and ate their breakfasts, the men couldn’t stop chattering about the events of the previous hours.  How blessed they were! 

One by one the others drifted off to sleep.  But not Eli.  Eli wouldn’t be sleeping for a while.

Eli had told everyone he possibly could about the angels’ message.  But he kept the Baby’s message to himself.  If no one believed what the glorious angels had proclaimed, they certainly wouldn’t believe what a lowly shepherd said.  But Eli knew what Jesus had told him was true, and he treasured his words.  O, how he treasured his words. 

He had been given hope by a little Baby.  No, by a great Lord … by his very Savior!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I do not ever desire to present our Savior in a mystical manner.  I certainly had no intention of doing so with this story.  

Do I believe that something like this actually happened?  No.  Probably not.  Do I believe that something like this could happen?  Yes!  After all, he was the Son of God, and I am extremely uncomfortable with limiting Him in any way.

While we know that Jesus willingly restricted himself in regard to the full use of his divine attributes while on earth, (Philippians 2:7), we don’t understand exactly how Jesus approached this.  We aren’t even able to comprehend the concept when he was an adult.  What did he understand as an infant in the manger?  What might he have chosen to do in special circumstances?  The truth is no one is able to truly know.

The point I am trying to make with this story is simply that it was love that brought our Savior to earth, love that drove him throughout his earthly life and ultimately to the cross, and love that still moves him.  Love for you and me.  Love that positively impacts our day-to-day lives.  Love that provides hope when there would seem to be no cause for it.  Love that has provided forgiveness and an incredible and eternal destiny for us.

How blessed were the shepherds.  How blessed are we!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Luke 2:1-20
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Philippians 2:6-11
Christ Jesus … being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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