Christmas : Don’t Miss It!

Posted on by December 20, 2013
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Luke 2:15 — And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

No, I know you’re not going to miss Christmas. I mean don’t miss the opportunity of Christmas.
Those shepherds now … They knew an opportunity when they saw one, but there’s a couple of Christmas traditions that suggest not everyone was so smart.
I love our Christmas traditions (yes, I really do believe in Father Christmas.) But did you know that lot’s of other countries have really different traditions. In Italy, for instance, there’s La Befana who brings good children gifts on the evening before January 6th (The Feast of the Epiphany). Actually, she’s looking for Jesus. The story is that the Magi were searching for the Christ child and they stopped at her house to get information. She had no idea who the three colorfully dressed men were at her doorstep, who they were looking for and which way they should go. Before the three men left they kindly asked the old woman to go with them to search. She decided she had too much housework to do … but when they had left she felt she’s made a mistake and decided to go and catch up with those kindly wise men — but she had no luck. Thinking of the chance she had missed, the old woman stopped every child to give them a little gift in case one was the special baby. Each year on the eve of the Epiphany she sets out looking for the baby Jesus. She stops at each child’s house to leave those who’ve been good a gift in their stockings and of course those who’ve been bad get a lump of coal!
You can be a shepherd, and go looking for the Christ child. Or you can be the one who misses the opportunity to join the search. But there’s another angle. Suppose the angel had missed the opportunity? The shepherds would have spent that wonderful night in the fields with the sheep. And some folks did miss the chance to greet the king. I might be being unfair … but I can’t see where Joseph and Mary’s families jumped in to help the young parents-to-be. Then there was that innkeeper. Really, no room for a young lady right on the point of giving birth? How about you — if someone comes and asks you where to find the Christ child, what will you say? Grab the opportunity — show them the way, preferably by taking them by the hand right to the manger!

Christmas : Silent Night

Posted on by December 19, 2013
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Matthew 6:6 — But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

A few days ago I wrote “The King of kings entered into history with no fanfare, no desire to make a great statement …” Today, one of my favorite Christmas carols has been in my mind:

Silent night, holy night all is calm, all is bright
Round your Virgin Mother and Child, Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace

I never thought enough about that word “round” before — and maybe the way I’m looking at it today is peculiar to me. But I’m thinking that the night was silent around Jesus, Mary and Joseph because that wondrous child created a pool of peace surrounded by a sea of turbulent bustling life.
Jesus often had that effect I think — remember the storm on the Sea of Galilee that He calmed with a word?
I have the feeling that the silent step from infinity to mortality and the quieting of the waves were not just “how things happened”. I think they were teaching moments too. “Look,” The Lord says, “do it like this … Calm the storms, make peace, create your effects without fuss.”
One way of looking at Matthew 5 and 6 — the Sermon on The Mount — is that it lays out some new “rules” for living. I’ve seen it suggested that one reason the Jews did not, in the end, embrace Jesus is because He was offering an alternative to the established body of the Law. I’m not sure I see it like that. To me it’s more about defining the style of the Kingdom, the tone of voice if you like.
When you do charitable things … when you pray … when you fast … keep it to yourself, do it in secret. But why?
William Barclay has a wonderful description of how Christian generosity must be — “it must be the instinctive outflow of the loving heart; we must give to others as Jesus Christ gave himself to us.” It is that idea of the outward flow of love that I think The Lord is trying to get across to us. We are to throw pebbles of love into seas of pain to create love, joy, peace …
Christmas provides so many opportunities for silent generosity. Whether it’s a dollar or so in a Salvation Army kettle, or a toy for a tot, or a gift for a senior under a giving tree … Opportunities to impact people we will never see and create a little peace. When we create peace — Shalom — in a way we step out of mortality and into infinity as we associate ourselves with the great — the perfect — peacemaker.

Christmas : Dinner Time

Posted on by December 18, 2013
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Luke 14:12-14 — Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

How’s Christmas dinner (or lunch) at your house? I have to be honest, we always have something nice. (Did I tell you that Myra’s a really good cook?) I know we’re not the only people that like to enjoy a mini-feast at Christmas either.
But here’s the thing, I can’t really find the Biblical base for a Christmas party. Can you? I don’t see where Joseph and Mary tucked into turkey and all the trimmings …
So I’m not trying to depress anybody, because there’s no good evidence that Jesus didn’t approve of people having a good time together … And I think there are some really important things that the Christmas celebration can do for us.
Christmas dinner is a great time to remember everything God has done for us. There is, of course, the greatest gift of all — the gift of His son. Then there’s the sheer magnificence of His generosity. This is the God who “richly gives us all things to enjoy”!
But did you see what Jesus said about dinner guests? I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean “don’t feed the family”. But isn’t it interesting — that idea of not throwing the kind of party where all the guests might ask you, in return, to their next celebration. Is there a way we could take that idea and apply it to Christmas?
In year’s past, Myra and I have shared somebody else’s Christmas table — or invited friends to ours. But that’s not quite what the idea is, is it? Now I’ve got to admit that calling the “the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind” might not be practical. But here’s a simple proposal. How about we each commit to making sure that one family, that would otherwise go without, gets a good Christmas meal?
There’s quite a few ways of meeting such a commitment. There’s a Housing and Homeless Shelter that Myra and I support. Then there’s any number of groceries running “Point of Purchase” programs that provide an opportunity to donate a family meal. Then there are food pantries that run desperately short of food at this time of year.
What do you think? Will we all enjoy our Christmas meal more if we know another family is having just as much of a celebration — instead of missing out?

Christmas : Home And Family

Posted on by December 17, 2013
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Mark 5:19 — Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.

Most of us have a place we call home.
In December 1856, The “Prince of Preachers”, Charles Spurgeon, preached a Christmas sermon on this text. He was speaking to a congregation many of whom were young men living away from home of necessity, to find work. Nowadays, of course, social and geographic mobility mean that many of us might live and work far from that home where the heart is. We might well share the sentiments of the soldier in the song for which Kim Gannon wrote the words in the 1940’s:

I’ll be home for Christmas you can count on me. Please have snow and mistletoe and presents under the tree. Christmas Eve will find me where the love light beams. I’ll be home for Christmas if only in my dreams

But it’s not just “home” is it? We have friends and family too. Some of us are in close contact with our families, day by day. Some of us, sadly, are not. And Spurgeon’s sermon somehow intersected with a devotion from David Wilkerson on the subject of forgiveness.
Here’s what Wilkerson said:

The most difficult thing in all the world for Christians to do is forgive. For all the talk in the Church about forgiveness, restitution, and healing, very little of it is truly demonstrated. We all like to think of ourselves as peacemakers, lifters up of the fallen, always forgiving and forgetting. But even the most deeply spiritual are guilty of wounding brothers and sisters by not showing a spirit of forgiveness.

Spurgeon said:

True religion seldom encroaches upon that sacred, I had almost said divine institution called home; it does not separate men from their families, and make them aliens to their flesh and blood. Superstition has done that; an awful superstition, which calls itself Christianity, has sundered men from their kind; but true religion has never done so.

Many of us are separated from our families not just by a physical gap but by a gap caused by a disagreement over one thing or another. Sadly, sometimes it’s over our faith. Myra, when she became a believer, found a little gap opening between her and her son Scott. “You’re not my Mum anymore” he said. Sadly, it was a sign of things to come. There is a constant tension, and our “all in” Christianity is one underlying cause.
Over the years Myra and I have reached out several times, to offer help, and share God. We intend to keep trying … and keep praying. Maybe it won’t happen this Christmas but we are sometimes reminded of Augustine’s mother Monica, who prayed for him for thirty years before he was converted.
If you have a friend, or a parent, or child, or brother or sister, from whom you are somehow separated, will you think of reaching out this Christmas? Will you be the one to offer Christian forgiveness? Let “true religion” be the watchword for this Christmas.

Christmas : Enter The King

Posted on by December 16, 2013
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Psalm 2:4-8 — He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

As I have been contemplating Christmas this year some things have really struck me. One of the biggest is the unfathomable humility of God.
I love to sing. The first things I ever remember singing were Christmas carols. “O little town of Bethlehem” is a favorite. This verse, in particular, makes my point …

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given; So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heaven. No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

The King of kings entered into history with no fanfare, no desire to make a great statement …
How different from the rulers of earthly “kingdoms”. The verses of Psalm 2 that go immediately before those at the head of this devotion say:
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
Oh how I enjoy those words. … “Why do the heathens rage …” or as they are expressed in Handel’s Messiah, “Why do the nations so furiously rage together: why do the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsels together against the Lord and His anointed.” Isn’t it amazing how impressed people become with themselves once they have a little power? But Jesus — God, the Son of God? The one who — on demand — could have the whole earth for a christening gift? No fanfare, no raging, just a silent entry as the son of a humble Jewish couple … And in that moment all the bliss of Heaven became available for anyone who will open their heart. God quietly, humbly, makes the offer — and anyone who will quietly, humbly, accept may join the family of the King of kings!

Christmas : Sacrifice

Posted on by December 15, 2013
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Romans 12:1 — I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

It is a constant blessing and surprise to me that each time we share the Lord’s supper — celebrate Communion — I am moved in new ways, and Jesus’s sacrifice presents itself to me in new ways.
Today I was struck by the contrast between Christmas and Easter.
In our Living Christmas Tree presentation this year we have a mini nativity. Surely every heart is touched by the sight of the tiny baby, sometimes slightly fretful but usually completely at rest in Mother’s loving arms.
Later the Magi come to pay their respects to the Messiah — now, of course, a toddler. The next stage in the life of a man.
In his play “As You Like It” Shakespeare puts the well known “7 ages of man” speech into the mouth of the cynical nobleman Jaques. The speech traces the life of a man from birth and childhood, through manhood and maturity, to extreme old age. Somehow it came into my mind this morning. Jesus, in one way, had a life interrupted. We see Him at birth, then as a toddler. We see Him as a young lad on the brink of manhood talking with the “Doctors” in the temple. The next time we see Him He is entering upon His ministry and we follow Him for the next three years. And then … Well, you know. No respected middle age or senior years. No extreme old age. Instead that shining star in His early thirties is pulled down and cruelly crucified. Those little baby feet that so touch our hearts are brutally nailed to the cross.
The thing is, it was no surprise to Jesus. I don’t think we can understand how this worked. I can’t believe the baby in the manger understood that He had chosen to make that that reasonable sacrifice. I doubt if the toddler could. (Was He, I wonder, bemused by the Magi?). I am sure that the twelve year old knew exactly what was ahead. He was “about His Father’s business”. And when Jesus entered on His ministry He knew for sure that no matter which direction He headed, all roads led to a hill outside Jerusalem.
The Magi knew. It was not for nothing that they were called “Wise Men”. They provided the anointing oil for the holy sacrifice. I almost wonder if they had someone at that sacrifice.
If Jesus had been an ordinary man the cross would have been a fatal interruption in His seven ages. But of course, He was not. He was the God-man. As I meditated on it, I saw His was not a life interrupted.
Presenting the only acceptable, necessary, living sacrifice is the natural endpoint to the journey that begins in Bethlehem. Without Christmas there could have been no Lord’s supper this morning.

Christmas : Gold, Frankincense, Myrhh

Posted on by December 14, 2013
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Matthew 2:11 — And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Gold, frankincense, Myrhh. Three gifts. (By the way, that’s the only basis for the tradition that there were three Magi.)
There are traditions all around the Magi — how many there were, what there names were, where they came from … And what those gifts meant. Do those gifts tell something about who Jesus is, or what was in His future, or something else? Does the carol have it right?

Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain, Gold I bring to crown Him again, King forever, ceasing never, Over us all to reign.
Frankincense to offer have I; Incense owns a Deity nigh; Prayer and praising, voices raising,Worshiping God on high.
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume Breathes a life of gathering gloom; Sorr’wing, sighing, bleeding, dying, Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

The carol really reflects the Western Christian tradition. The gifts, it is reckoned, were prophetic — Gold is for King Jesus, the King of Kings! Frankincense is for the God that Jesus was. Myrhh was used in embalming, and so foretold Jesus’s sacrificial death.
The Eastern church understands things just a little differently. The gifts, it has been suggested, reflected a choice that Jesus would make. If He took the gold, He would be choosing the royal road. If He took the Frankincense, it would be the priestly path. Myrhh would be the choice of the healer.
Both interpretations are interesting — but it’s hard to see that Matthew would have recognized either one. His view of the gifts would surely have been informed by his whole gospel viewpoint.
Harry Ironside provides a good description of Matthew’s point of view: “Matthew is in a very real sense the Jewish Gospel. This does not mean that it has no message for Christians, but rather that it is designed by the Holy Spirit to present Christ so as to make it clear to honest Jewish inquirers that He is the One of whom Moses and the prophets spake.”
Everything about the three gifts speaks about the temple. The Jews would recognize the association with divinity — and surely that is the significance of the three gifts. The temple vessels were Gold, the temple incense was made with frankincense and burned to invoke the presence of the Lord, and myrhh was an important component of the perfumed anointing oil that imparted holiness and could not be used outside the temple. The Jews must surely have recognized that the Magi were worshiping Jesus, Immanuel — God with us.
It’s easy to take the Christmas story and romanticize it — to build out from the elements of the accounts of Matthew and Luke. There’s really no need. If we look at the words they were given to speak, from their points of view, there is more than enough glory!

Don’t Hide From The Revelation

Posted on by December 13, 2013
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Revelation 22:6-7 — And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

A couple of days ago I was talking with someone, a good Christian, and the conversation saddened me a little. I missed an opportunity. It’s been on my heart and I’m taking a break from my Christmas devotions to address it.
The person I was talking with — perhaps with Christmas in mind — asked me if I thought we would ever see universal peace. I said that I saw no reason to believe we would see it before the events described in the Revelation. I see our job, as Christians, as to make a difference where we can. We hold back the tide of sin, we do what we can to reverse the flow — but it can only be localized. There will be a long term decline until the end. When we witness we are, if you like, like firemen rescuing victims from a fire while everything collapses around them.
The person I was talking with said that was why they didn’t like the Revelation, and tended not to read it — “all those unpleasant events”. And that was a misunderstanding that saddened me.
There are two things about those “unpleasant events”. The first is that I don’t think Christians are going to experience them. I believe that 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 teaches a key message: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” I believe we will be taken to heaven without experiencing the terrors outlined in the Revelation.
The second thing is that those terrible events are, in fact, one more sign of God’s mercy … One last desperate attempt to show those left behind how much danger they are in, and give them one last chance the avoid an eternity of agony.
There are two more things about the Revelation that I should have focused on — First, after the terror comes the glory. The Revelation tells us of the New Jerusalem, the heart of our eternal home.
Second, it tells us that though we cannot know the day or the hour, Jesus is coming quickly.
I can’t deny that the Revelation is hard to understand. Nor can I deny that it depicts some frightening events. But it is also the story of the happy ending. It should be essential reading for any Christian!

Christmas : A Special Family

Posted on by December 12, 2013
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Matthew 12:50 — For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

When I was very young I had the idealized view of family that I guess many children do … Mum, Dad, 2 or 3 kids, car, nice house, grandparents … you get the picture.
As I got into my teen years, and Dad had left us, and Mum and 4 kids were having a rough time in places that weren’t very nice, and there was no car (and not much else in the way of so many things that were taken for granted by a lot of my peers) I have to admit that I felt like I was missing out — but I still cherished the ideal.
I got married to a nice girl, and we started work on building the dream. Pity nobody ever really gave me much of an idea of how to be married, or manage my money, or any of those other things that might have helped. My parents were missing or dead and hers were not my favorite people …13 years later we got divorced … and I still really thought I knew what family should look like.
Nearly 30 years later I’ve come to realize that successful families come in a lot of shapes and sizes, and any particular expectations might not make sense.
So what? So how about Jesus’s family? Did the Son of God have a perfect family? I’m not sure …
How come He was born in a stable? Joseph and Mary were desperately poor. Seems like there might not have been a lot of family support?
Then there’s the question of what happened to Joseph? By the time Jesus starts His ministry, when it comes to the wedding at Cana, it seems fairly clear that Mary is running the family. Joseph has disappeared from the record …
What about Jesus’s brothers and sisters? The verse at the top of this devotion is the punch line from a shocking little incident. Here’s the full story:

While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Now I’ve heard plenty of preachers “explain” this text by saying that Jesus was prioritizing spiritual relationships, and focusing on His Father in Heaven — but that’s prettying up a harsh truth. William Barclay gets it right “It was one of the great human tragedies of Jesus’ life that, during his lifetime, his nearest and dearest never understood him.”
Jesus didn’t have a perfect family life. That hardly stopped Him did it? Of course, His family did eventually prove to have some wonderful people in it!
So what’s the Christmas point? If you don’t have what you think of as a perfect family, and you’re feeling a bit depressed — think of the special Christmas family, and cheer up!

Christmas : A Giving Portfolio

Posted on by December 11, 2013
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2 Corinthians 9:11-12 — You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to Christmas : A Giving Portfolio. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

I’m not sure this is a very “devotional” devotional — but I wanted to share something that’s been on our hearts and minds for the last few days.
If you’re anything like Myra and me, you get a lot of request for contributions to this, that, and another good cause. Also, if you’re anything like us, at this time of year the requests start to pile up and your “want to” soon mounts up to much more than your “can do”!
So what to do when all those demands on your pocket come along? We’ve been praying about it, asking God to guide us — to show us what and who we should support. We got an answer, but it wasn’t a neatly ordered list with check marks next to the winners. What we got was more like guidelines. So here they are.
Give as your heart directs, and enjoy it! Earlier in 2 Corinthians 9 is that wonderful remark that “God loves hilarious givers”. “Hilarious”, really, is a bit of a mistranslation — “prompt, willing, or cheerful” might be better. Most of us have areas that tug powerfully at our heart strings. In my case anything that focuses on Christian education and anything that focuses on building the family will always have that powerful claim.
Give where you can make a difference. There are many seemingly wonderful causes that you might want to give too … but no matter how much you give it will make no difference — the poor will be always with us.
But don’t use that as an excuse to do nothing for those in need — but seek to give where you have relationships. Deuteronomy 15:7 says “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:”
Give cheerfully — but judiciously. The instruction to the rich young ruler to “sell all you have and give to the poor” is not a direction to foolish generosity, but an injunction against idolatry. There is a verse later in Deuteronomy – 16:7 – that provides a more general guideline, “every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.”
So there you have it — Decide on what good stewardship dictates you can give, and enjoy giving. Give where you can have a kingdom impact.
Remember, always, that giving is for nobody’s benefit except your own! God doesn’t need your money. Those who need you don’t “need” you to give either — God can take care of them too. But when you give you participate in the remaking of yourself into the image of God — the greatest and most generous of all the givers.