At this time of the year, many people long for Christmas in a CUP.
"C" stands for CONVENIENT.
If we are honest, what makes Christmas merry is that it is difficulty-free! We want everything to come together at the right time, in the right way, and as something that works into everyone’s schedule. That would be great! That would be good!
“U” stands for UNCOMPLICATED.
We also believe that Christmas would be best if it was carefree, simple, easy. Free from all the drama!
"P" stands for PERFECT.
We want a Christmas to top all Christmases. Best ever. The most wonderful time of the year. Perfect.
It's true. At this time of the year, many people long for a warm, hot chocolatey holiday. A marshmallow Christmas. A containable Christmas that fits in our hands, warm and frothy, sugary good.
Which is exactly why I find the original Christmas Story so compelling. In reality, the first Christmas was ... well, not perfect. It was inconvenient, awkward, far from ideal. There was difficult travel, awkward news, and inadequate accommodations. The first Christmas was messy.
So why did the angels call it cause for great joy? What was it about this inconvenient, awkward, and messy event that God determined was good? And great? And filled with joy? The angels reveal the source of Christmas joy:
"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.” Luke 2:11—12.
Instead of bringing us Christmas in a CUP, God gave us Christmas in a MANGER. And I’ll tell you why this is so good and great! Here's my acronym for manger. On a Messy, Awkward Night, God Entered Reality.
The good news of Christmas, and all year long, is that even in the midst of our busy, awkward and messy lives, God shows up. And that really is good news. That really is great joy.
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
All is calm... really?
You ask the average person on the street what they want for Christmas and many will say, “World peace.” Some people even think that’s why Jesus came – to bring world peace. I mean, didn’t the angels say at Jesus’ birth, “Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men”? Didn’t the angels announce peace on earth at Jesus’ birth?
The reason many people think this is because that is the way older translations of the Bible put it. But all the recent translations have updated it. The original language actually translates more like …
… and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests… (Luke 2:14)
It is true that, one day, Jesus will bring peace to all the Earth. But that will be at His Second Coming. Instead, at His First Coming, the peace Jesus brought was not an outward peace, but an internal peace to specific people.
Here’s what that means for me. I need to stop expecting peace to be around me and start inviting it to be inside me. I can experience God's peace that is not limited to my circumstances, but actually sourced in Heaven. Just as I accept His grace and favor, I can also receive His peace. Indeed, I need to stop expecting peace to be around me and start inviting it to be inside me.
.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
This is Christmas
My "virtual friend" Ed Stetzer recommended this Christmas video on his blog. It moved me to tears. Sit back and enjoy:
Casting Crowns I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Casting Crowns I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Monday, December 15, 2008
Whatever You Need, God Is
"He who has God and many other things has no more than he who has God alone." ~ C. S. Lewis At Christmastime it is easy to focus on what we are missing. Whether it is family members to surround us, friends to celebrate with, money to spend, or simply time to get everything done . . . this season can accentuate our lack.
Perhaps we have forgotten our best resource. We know Him as Jesus, but in the first chapter of the New Testament, God's Son is also introduced by another name. Matthew mentions His Old Testament name, which is Immanuel (Matthew 1:23). It is a Jewish name, and fortunately Matthew translates the name for us. Immanuel literally means, "God with Us."
Here then, is the amazing truth of Christmas: This God, who we have meditated on these past weeks, is revealed in the Bible as For Us, Wise, Faithful, Able, Just, Light, and Love (among other things). This Holy God is also the God who is with us in Jesus. Amazing! All that we ever needed resides with us and in us through the Spirit of Jesus.
Here's my prayer for you, as we move into Christmas: May God meet your every need, primarily and ultimately, with Himself. Because whatever you need, God is.
.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Friday, December 21, 2007
All the stars looked down
The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap,
His hair was like a light.
(O weary, weary is the world,
But here is all aright.)
The Christ-child lay on Mary's breast,
His hair was like a star.
(O stern and cunning are the kings,
But here the true hearts are.)
The Christ-child lay on Mary's heart,
His hair was like a fire.
(O weary, weary is the world,
But here the world's desire.)
The Christ-child stood at Mary's knee,
His hair was like a crown.
And all the flowers looked up at Him,
And all the stars looked down.
G. K. Chesterton in The Wild Knight.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Home for Christmas
As a kid, I always skipped over the genealogies in the Bible (to be honest sometimes I still do – admit it, you do too). But lately I’ve been thinking about their importance.
In Bible times it was their scrapbook, their photo album. It was a way of saying you belong in the family. Perhaps that’s why the book of Ruth ends with a genealogy (looking forward) and the book of Matthew starts with one (looking back). That Ruth, an outsider and enemy of Israel, would be included in both gives me great hope.
I heard the true story this week of a little girl around age 4 or 5 who was adopted into a rather large family. As she began settling into her new surroundings, she often went to the wall in the house where photographs of all the other family members were on display. She would stand there for long periods of time, silently studying each face. About a month after the girl arrived, her new mother took her to a photographer. The mother noted that she wasn’t sure this little one understood the significance of that outing until days later when she came in from playing and her mother sent her to look at the wall. When the little girl saw her own picture hanging on the wall with the rest of the family, she laughed and sobbed at the same time.
That Ruth was included in the genealogy was God’s way of saying, “You’re a part of the family.” No matter where the holidays take you, I hope you find yourself “home for Christmas.” I hope you experience what it means to be at home with God. To see your photo in His album. To know your picture is on the wall in His hallway.
In Bible times it was their scrapbook, their photo album. It was a way of saying you belong in the family. Perhaps that’s why the book of Ruth ends with a genealogy (looking forward) and the book of Matthew starts with one (looking back). That Ruth, an outsider and enemy of Israel, would be included in both gives me great hope.
I heard the true story this week of a little girl around age 4 or 5 who was adopted into a rather large family. As she began settling into her new surroundings, she often went to the wall in the house where photographs of all the other family members were on display. She would stand there for long periods of time, silently studying each face. About a month after the girl arrived, her new mother took her to a photographer. The mother noted that she wasn’t sure this little one understood the significance of that outing until days later when she came in from playing and her mother sent her to look at the wall. When the little girl saw her own picture hanging on the wall with the rest of the family, she laughed and sobbed at the same time.
That Ruth was included in the genealogy was God’s way of saying, “You’re a part of the family.” No matter where the holidays take you, I hope you find yourself “home for Christmas.” I hope you experience what it means to be at home with God. To see your photo in His album. To know your picture is on the wall in His hallway.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Why Rahab?
Is anyone else surprised that God chose Rahab as one of the premier examples of faith in the New Testament (see Matt 1:5; Heb. 11:31; James 2:25)? I mean, when we first meet her she is described as a prostitute.
What I love about Rahab’s story in Joshua 2 is that even though she had very little information about the true God – just the little she could gather from the gossip around town – she responded in faith to the light she was given.
I was up on a ladder the other day when my little nephew wanted to do what every boy his age wants to do. “Can I climb the ladder, Uncle Dougie?”
“Sure,” I said, “as long as I’m here to watch you.” Climbing up the ladder was no problem. It never is. Climbing down, backwards, that was the problem. No longer able to see where to place his foot, the steps seemed long and uncertain. It felt, to him, as if he were stepping off a cliff.
As he would lower his foot, I would steady the bottom of his sole and encourage him saying, “Just a little further.” Each step got easier.
When we first come to faith, like Rahab, God often finds us in wobbly, precarious places. And the spiritual journey back to Him is often made up of short, awkward steps; backing out of the places we find ourselves.
But as we respond to God’s voice and touch, it gets easier. Little by little, one step at a time, into the arms of God.
What I love about Rahab’s story in Joshua 2 is that even though she had very little information about the true God – just the little she could gather from the gossip around town – she responded in faith to the light she was given.
I was up on a ladder the other day when my little nephew wanted to do what every boy his age wants to do. “Can I climb the ladder, Uncle Dougie?”
“Sure,” I said, “as long as I’m here to watch you.” Climbing up the ladder was no problem. It never is. Climbing down, backwards, that was the problem. No longer able to see where to place his foot, the steps seemed long and uncertain. It felt, to him, as if he were stepping off a cliff.
As he would lower his foot, I would steady the bottom of his sole and encourage him saying, “Just a little further.” Each step got easier.
When we first come to faith, like Rahab, God often finds us in wobbly, precarious places. And the spiritual journey back to Him is often made up of short, awkward steps; backing out of the places we find ourselves.
But as we respond to God’s voice and touch, it gets easier. Little by little, one step at a time, into the arms of God.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Clinging to Hope
As we approach Christmas I will be looking at the women in Jesus’ family tree. Each one is a wonderful scandal.
Like Tamar. Childless, and widowed by two husbands, she takes things into her own hands and disguises herself as a prostitute to seduce her own father-in-law and had a baby. No wonder teachers skip this story in Sunday School.
But a closer look at her story reveals that the Bible paints her in a positive light. In fact, her story in Genesis 38 ends with Judah declaring, "She is more righteous than I.” vs. 26.
In what way is she righteous?
Tamar had married into a family with a promise. Through the lineage of this family the Messiah would come. But Tamar was the victim of two horrible marriages; in each case her husband died before a child was produced.
It helps to know that in that culture if a man died without a child, his closest, unwed, relative (like a brother) was required to marry his widow. More than that, recent discoveries of ancient documents indicate that the father-in-law was also responsible in the same way, if no brother would fulfill the duty. This is almost certainly the law of the land when Tamar lived.
But forget that law, because Tamar’s father-in-law had stopped believing, stopped hoping. He had forgotten the family promise.
While Tamar still believed. Still hoped. Still trusted. And within the law of the land she acted in faith in the hope of a promised child.
The focus of her faith would only be realized centuries later in a place called Bethlehem, where the descendant of Tamar -- this descendant of a baby born out of the strangest of circumstances, a wonderful scandal -- was born.
Tamar reminds us that God still has a plan even when things seem bleak. He keeps his promises. This season, remember we have been grafted into a family with a promise. And cling to hope.
Like Tamar. Childless, and widowed by two husbands, she takes things into her own hands and disguises herself as a prostitute to seduce her own father-in-law and had a baby. No wonder teachers skip this story in Sunday School.
But a closer look at her story reveals that the Bible paints her in a positive light. In fact, her story in Genesis 38 ends with Judah declaring, "She is more righteous than I.” vs. 26.
In what way is she righteous?
Tamar had married into a family with a promise. Through the lineage of this family the Messiah would come. But Tamar was the victim of two horrible marriages; in each case her husband died before a child was produced.
It helps to know that in that culture if a man died without a child, his closest, unwed, relative (like a brother) was required to marry his widow. More than that, recent discoveries of ancient documents indicate that the father-in-law was also responsible in the same way, if no brother would fulfill the duty. This is almost certainly the law of the land when Tamar lived.
But forget that law, because Tamar’s father-in-law had stopped believing, stopped hoping. He had forgotten the family promise.
While Tamar still believed. Still hoped. Still trusted. And within the law of the land she acted in faith in the hope of a promised child.
The focus of her faith would only be realized centuries later in a place called Bethlehem, where the descendant of Tamar -- this descendant of a baby born out of the strangest of circumstances, a wonderful scandal -- was born.
Tamar reminds us that God still has a plan even when things seem bleak. He keeps his promises. This season, remember we have been grafted into a family with a promise. And cling to hope.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)