Month: December 2017

Imagine this scene for a moment. You come to your family’s home on December 24 and look inside, seeing a Norman Rockwell-like scene… fireplace, Christmas tree, stockings hung and the smell of coffee brewing and Christmas ham wafting from the kitchen. You come with gifts you chose for the members of your family you haven’t seen for some time. Once again, you carefully check to make sure each gift has a tag with their name. You love these people. They are your flesh and blood… your family.

And so you come to the door, and as you step inside the people stop laughing and celebrating… and stare. You don’t understand, but you say “Merry Christmas everyone,” and they continue staring in silence. And then, the children leave the room. And the adults come to you and stand blocking your entry into YOUR home! Now, you’re more than a little confused and frankly, hurt. They did not welcome you. They did not invite you in. They did not want your gifts. In fact, without reason why, they simply say, “We’d like you to go.”

Now if you’ve read yourself into that painful scenario, you can begin to understand the emotion that accompanies the verse in John 1:11 which says, “He came unto His own, and His own did not receive Him.” They did not welcome Him. They did not rejoice to see Him. He began, from birth, to experience the prophecy in Isaiah which said, “He was despised and rejected by men.”

But now, that’s history. What’s important is this: When Jesus knocks on the door of your heart… will you welcome Him in?

“….He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” (John 1:11)

Father, the account of our Savior’s birth has many soft edges… but some that are jagged and hard to hear. This is one part that is hard. To imagine Your only, begotten Son coming to us in love and to read again of the rejection is heart tearing for us. Thank you that, in spite of our ingratitude and lack of rejoicing in His Presence, He came anyway, and died for us. We love You for that sending, and for the Savior who came… for us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Of all the Christmas journeys we could talk about or point to, none compares to the journey our Savior undertook. We can by no means wrap our minds around what it meant to leave Heaven’s glory and journey to a world that would reject and kill Him… to occupy not a throne, but a virgin mother’s womb… to live as brother to people who would spurn His coming and not welcome it.

“The Word became flesh….” John tells us. Incredible! Unheard of! We sometimes gold-plate words like that. Let’s use another that equally conveys the message. How about, “The Word became soft?” That’s actually what is being conveyed. We are not born plated in iron or wrapped in armor. We are born in pliable, vulnerable skin.

We bleed. In the thick catalogue of superhero movies released in recent years, one of the movies portrays a battle between Superman and Batman. (Let’s get it out of the way… your pastor is a geek). There’s a classic and important line in the movie as these two, mythical heroes stand toe-to-toe. In one part, Batman in low, raspy voice asks Superman this question: “Do you bleed?” Maybe Superman doesn’t… but Jesus did.

He became “like His brothers in every way.” He became soft. Not weak, but vulnerable. Able to be hurt, by stones or whips or nails or words.

Because that’s what love does. It makes itself vulnerable.

God became… vulnerable. Not an untouchable “Superman” who lived outside of our world. But as a baby… fleshy… soft. One who would one day sweat and thirst, hunger and be heartbroken, bleed and die.

But not for Himself… for us.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…..” John 1:14

Father in Heaven, we cannot imagine the journey that Jesus took to lay aside the robes of royal splendor, the glory of Your Presence, to come and live in our flesh. He was made vulnerable for us, and ultimately paid sin’s penalty in that body that You prepared for Him… a body that hurt, that suffered, that bled for us. We cannot imagine the journey…and we can never thank You enough for the gift He came to bring. We praise You for it today. Amen.

Sometimes the longest journey is not marked in miles or kilometers. It is marked by significance. Mary and Joseph journeyed only a few days on their path to Bethlehem. The wise men journeyed from the other side of the world to see the newborn King. The importance of these journeys cannot be underestimated. The wise men were the first Gentiles (non-Jews) to formally acknowledge the Savior. But Mary and Joseph were about to birth and then parent Him!

Physically, their journey was less than the thousand or so miles traveled by the wise men over two years. But in terms of importance, Mary and Joseph’s far outweighed that.

When Pam passed away in August, I left after a week for a “journey” of my own. In all during those weeks, I drove over 3,000 miles and visited places meaningful to us over our forty-year marriage. But the miles I covered were not nearly as long as the few feet I had to cover when I walked from my garage into my house… alone for the first time after her death.

The most significant journey you take this Christmas may not be measured in miles. It may be the journey to end a family feud. It may be your first time home… in a lot of years. Or it may be your first Christmas without a spouse or parent or child or friend. It may not click off a lot of numbers on your odometer or add to your frequent flyer account. But the significance of that journey may be so very weighty.

And for some, (as it was for me), Christmas may lead you on that most important journey of all… to the foot of the cross. Eternal life waits for you there!

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David….” Luke 2:4a

Father in Heaven, no matter where our Christmas journey takes us this year, may we know that You are guiding and enlightening our steps. For some, the trip may not be long in miles, but nonetheless deep in meaning. Help us to trust You no matter where the journey leads as we follow Your Light, and the Life that is in our Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray in His great Name. Amen.

Of course, the wise men were not the only people on a journey to Christmas. Let’s take a moment and visit a young couple struggling along a dirt pathway from Nazareth to the little burg of Bethlehem. The journey would have taken several days on foot, and there is no indication in the Bible that a donkey was available to Mary and Joseph.

We really aren’t told how long their journey was, but if you’ve traveled with an expectant mother before you know that several “pit stops” along the way would be necessary. But this journey was significant, perhaps far more than they knew.

Outwardly, the trip was mandated by Rome. More taxes… new taxes were required by the occupying government. Pregnant or not, taxes must be paid and a “head count” was not a thing they could opt out of. So they traveled from their humble home in Nazareth to the “little town of Bethlehem.” And in so doing, they fulfilled an ancient prophecy spoken by Micah in 5:2, that said this is where Messiah would be born.

Sometimes we are right where God wants us when we least expect it. I doubt that they were studying Scripture by candlelight late one night and suddenly read that prophecy… thinking, “We’ve got to get to Bethlehem!” It was just the course of events that moved them… and moved them right into the center of the will of God at that!

And even when God’s “providence” in our lives seems bitter or difficult, He is still working the full counsel of His will in us. On that day as they walked with wearying steps to the manger, life seemed harsh perhaps… even bleak. But Mary was about to birth the Light who would come into the world.

No matter the journey you’re on this Christmas, it too will end in light. Eternal light that will make every step worthwhile, if you trust God on the path.

“And you, Bethlehem Ephratha, though small among the tribes of Judah, from you will come for Me One who will be ruler over Israel, Whose origin is from old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2

Father in Heaven, we all are on a journey today. Some find the pathway wearying and hard. Please remind us in this season that our steps are ordered by You, and the end will be in Your timing abundant in blessing and rich in glory as You bring Light through us in the darkness. May we walk obediently as we wait for that glory to be revealed as Your will is done. In the Name above every name we pray, the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Perhaps this is a good time to ask the question I will seek to answer in this blog series: “How did we get to Christmas in the way we celebrate today?” Is our celebration of Christmas biblically informed, or is it a cultural creation? Did we “steal” it from pagan religion as some have insisted, or do we find the purpose for celebration in the Bible?

All good questions. The answer is: some of each. The Christmas that most are familiar with in the modern western world, at least, is something far removed from biblical roots. There is, for instance, no mention of a “Christmas tree” in the Bible… no colorfully wrapped gifts… no bright shining lights or chestnuts roasting on an open fire. There was, in the Bible, no Christmas dinner… no Perry Como or Pentatonix singing “Winter Wonderland.” And, heavens, no blow-up Santa Claus or tiny reindeer.

Now all of that said (I feel better), let me hasten to say there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with celebrating as we do. Certainly the emphasis on family and Christmas decorations and dinners and carol singing don’t take anything away from us if we do it. And I, for one, like chestnuts roasting and eggnog (non-alcoholic, of course) and Christmas songs. Okay, I admit it: I even like fruit cake!

Nothing is wrong until we push Jesus out of the picture. If our celebrations can carry on just fine without mention of, reference to or worship of Jesus… then we’ve crossed a line. We have allowed it to become a secular observance with a materialistic overtone.

If we set aside Jesus in favor of Santa, and getting gifts in preference to giving homage to the King, we have moved our celebration into the area of secularism at best and idolatry at worst. If Christ is removed, the best we can do is Xmas.

But if Christ is present, the meaning of Christmas can be known… and enjoyed. And with the angels we can sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Father, may we rejoice with the angels again this Christmas. Let our celebration be bright with His Presence, and our songs rejoice in His coming most of all. May all other aspects of this seasonal celebration pale in the light of His glory and grace, who has come to save us all. In Christ’s Name we pray, Amen.

We don’t know much about the strange men who showed up late for Christmas. The “wise men” or “magi” were ancient Babylonian astrologers who spotted what we call the Star of Bethlehem, indicating the birth of Christ.

And so their path to Christmas began. They traveled, possibly from the Far East, to visit this newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been ignored by kings and missed by wise men that lived within twenty miles of His humble birthplace.

Like some today, we can sometimes search down amazingly complex and scattered paths to find what God has placed within simple reach. The Messiah was born and laid in a place easy to find, and He arrived with directions making the place of His birth easy to locate… foretold by prophets and written in Scripture.

And for some reading this today, you find yourself on the same path as the magi… searching for something important enough to give your life to when you find it. Beneath the lights and tinsel and “Christmas cheer” is the gift of eternal that God gave to you and to all who will simply “call on His Name.”

That name is Jesus.

And (they) asked, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:2

Heavenly Father, You created the heavens and the earth with a word… Your Word. And You have not made Yourself difficult to find, since even the heavens and the stars shout the glory of God. When our path has led to a dead end, help us to know that the One who came at Bethlehem, our Lord Jesus, was Himself “the Way.” May our path and our journey lead us directly to the Christ who waits for us to call on His Name. There is no name higher… and none more beautiful than His. In that Name alone do we pray.