The Turning Point

Halfway through any episode of Doctor Who, everyone ends up running for their lives. Halfway through a mystery, everything the detective thought he knew turns out to be wrong. There is a narrative structure that is almost universal. And it tells us something about the Christmas story.

Light Breaks Through

It's fitting that we commemorate the birth of Christ, in the northern hemisphere, during the darkest time of the year. We don't know the actual date, but it was a very dark time on earth. Cruelty, oppression, and wickedness seemed to have won the war. The faithful were tempted to believe God would never keep his promise. Then God acted.

Preparing for Christmas

Every year more and more of my neighbors have their Christmas decorations up on November 1. I understand the impulse. The older I get, the more this fallen world wears on me, the more I look forward to the hope and joy of the Christmas season. But every year we also hear more people complain about the struggle to "get in the Christmas spirit" or to "keep the Christ in Christmas." I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the best way to get the most out of Christmas, to get into the spirit of Christmas, and to keep Christ in Christmas can be summed up in one word: Advent.

A Hidden Wonder of the Incarnation

When studying the Bible, sometimes noticing the smallest detail can open the passage up to you. And sometimes they reveal little gems of truth that are just casually tucked in beside the author’s main point. We hit upon one of those in our small group recently, and I thought it made an excellent meditation for Christmas.

Impossible Things

The virgin birth of Christ seems to be the miracle the most people have a problem believing. Even many people who believe in the resurrection struggle with the idea of a virgin getting pregnant. Here in the modern world, we know that such things cannot happen, but back in ancient times, they were gullible people who would believe anything. We can imagine how the conversation between Mary and Joseph went:

Mary: Joseph, I’m pregnant.
Joseph: What? You’ve been cheating on me?
Mary: No! I have been with no man! I am still a virgin.
Joseph: Phew! That’s a relief. Well, these things happen you know...

The reality is their conversation looked nothing like that.

Celebrating Christmas Beside Xmas

CS Lewis has a cute little essay called “Xmas and Christmas” that pretends to be a description by Herodotus of antics on the island of Niatirb.

He describes the “Exmas Rush” as the fifty days of preparation for the holiday Exmas when people scramble about buying cards and gifts the recipients don’t want and the giver can’t afford to give. In the end “the sellers of gifts no less than the purchasers become pale and weary ... so that any man who came into a Niatirbian city at this season would think some great public calamity had fallen on Niatirb.”

But some celebrate a different holiday, “Crissmas”. A religious feast centered around “a fair woman with a new-born Child”. The few who celebrate this holiday behave very differently than those who celebrate the other day.

The writer assures us the claim that Exmas and Crissmas are the same holiday “is not credible” because “it is not likely that men, even being barbarians, should suffer so many and great things in honour of a god they do not believe in.”

This fun little essay presents a healthy way to look at the commercialization of Christmas. The world hasn’t ruined Christmas, for they were never celebrating it. They have their own feast day, which happens to coincide with ours — just as Christmas and Hanukkah might. They even have their own songs. As Christianity Today recently reported, the most-played Christmas hits “celebrate love, snow, and chestnuts before getting around to Christ.”

And though Exmas and the Rush can “distract the minds even of the few from sacred things,” they don’t have to.

So let the worldlings have their holiday. Do your best to step back from theirs and focus on ours. Let them worship family or capitalism or whatever it is they get on about.

We’ll focus on “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”


Image via Pixabay. Incidentally, I had to go to page 5 before I found an actual religious image when I searched for "Christmas".

The Humiliation of Christ

When believers pass away, you’ll often hear someone say, “Even if they could come back, they wouldn’t.” Who would? How traumatic would it be to leave heaven and come to earth?

Christ knows.

In his great high priestly prayer, he said, “Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). Before the incarnation, God the Son existed in perfect loving union with his Father and the Spirit, worshiped by angels, and free from the trials of a mortal existence. Then he who

“was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness” (Phil 2:6-7 NRSV).

One day, “the heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain” him (1Kings 8:27); the next he is neatly tucked into Mary’s womb with room to spare. One day he hears angels call him “holy, holy, holy” (Is 6:3); the next he literally cannot hear, for he has no ears. The one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalms 50:10) chose to become the child of a poor couple in a poor land ruled by an empire that put very little value on human life.

The infinite became finite. The Almighty became an embryo. The Judge was willing to be treated unjustly. All because the Eternal chose to die.

Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was amazing, but let us not lose sight of the fact that it was the last in a long line of sacrifices that he made. For us.

Waiting

What was it like waiting for the Messiah to come?

God had promised to fix things from the very beginning (Gen 3:15). God made similar promises to Abraham (Gen 12:2-3), to Moses (Deut 18:15), to David (2Sam 7:16), and again and again through the prophets to Israel. Messiah will come and bring healing and justice. He will bring righteousness and knowledge of God. He will free the oppressed and give sight to the blind. He will cause the nations to follow the God of Abraham. For over a thousand years, Israel heard these promises and waited. And waited.

What was it like for the faithful, wondering for generations when this would all take place?

It was just like it is for us today as the faithful wonder when Christ will return to finish what he started.

Let the celebration of Christ’s first advent remind you of his second. This is a busy time of year, but try to stop and focus on what we’re waiting for.

We’re not waiting on a baby this time. We’re waiting for a King. We look for the day when every knee will bow. He will cause wars to cease. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Death will die. Earth will be healed. We will be free from even the presence of sin. And we will see the face of our Savior.

God fulfilled his promises once. He will do so again. Christ is coming.

Come, Lord Jesus!


Image via Pixabay

What the Angels Said About Jesus

Before John called Jesus the divine Word who "was with God and ... was God," before Paul called him "the image of the invisible God," even before Jesus ran around Judea and Galilee claiming divine prerogatives for himself, people were warned what to expect from this Jesus. The angel Gabriel did not just tell Mary, "You're going to have a son." The angelic visitations attending the birth of Jesus laid out the story for anyone who was ready to listen.

Luke 1:26-38
"You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 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.

"The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."

Matt 1:20-21
"...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."

Luke 2:11
"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

"He will be called the Son of God." In the Old Testament, there are many "sons of God." There is whoever Gen 6:2 refers to, there are references to angels being sons of God, and kings and all Israel are called sons of God. So what makes this kid special? This son will be conceived when "the Holy Spirit will come upon" Mary. He will be no normal man. Many in the Bible were unable to conceive without God's help, but this time it will be without the involvement of a man. Furthermore "He will reign over Jacob's descendants forever." Forever. This is no mere mortal. He's not mortal at all.

He will be "holy." Holy, especially when talking about people, means to be set apart. Samson was set apart from birth. So was John the Baptist. You know about Samson's hair. Zechariah was told about John, "He is never to take wine or other fermented drink" (Luke 1:15). These restrictions highlighted that they were set apart for God's use. There are no special instructions for this child. He's not a Nazirite. He's not "set apart for a special work." He's intrinsically holy. Like God.

"He will save his people from their sins." Do you think Mary and Jospeh wondered how he would accomplish that? I doubt they could have imagined the form that would actually take, but besides that, how can a human being save anyone from their sins? A human being cannot. The blood of bulls and goats does not bring forgiveness of sins, and neither would the blood of any mere man.

"He is Christ the Lord." "Lord" in the New Testament means different things. It can mean as little as "sir." It can mean a servant's master or an exalted person. Or it can mean the king. Calling him "Christ the sir" makes no sense, so he's obviously exalted to some extent. To what extent? He's no mere mortal. He's the Son of David. He's the special Son of the Most High. He'll reign as king forever. He will not be a lord but the Lord.

The Savior that was born to them and to us was no mere man. To anyone who was listening, the angels spelled out that this baby was going to be God in the flesh, come down to save mankind and call the nations to himself. The shepherds "spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child" (Luke 2:17), and so should we. We worship him best by joining his mission to call all nations to be reconciled to God.

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Related:
Of Sons and Promises
The Forever King

The Humility of God

C.S. Lewis' comments on "the Divine humility" from The Problem of Pain have been rattling around in my head for years now, and it's still such an amazing thing.

"[I]t is a poor thing to strike our colours to God when the ship is going down under us; a poor thing to come to Him as a last resort, to offer up 'our own' when it is no longer worth keeping. If God were proud He would hardly have us on such terms: but He is not proud, He stoops to conquer ...."

How well this describes the way God deals with us.

God revealed himself to Jacob only when he was fleeing his brother's vengeance.

God did not choose a great nation for himself. He chose a nation of slaves who were groaning under their burden.

And when that nation rebelled against him, they never repented until they were beaten down by enemies, until they had nowhere else to turn — and God took them back. Again and again.

Naaman did not turn to the God of Israel until he had leprosy.

Paul did not bow the knee to Jesus until he was struck blind.

Jesus himself did not appear to a nation at its prime. He appeared to a people that had been subjugated again and again, who were groaning under the burden of Roman rule, who were starving for a word from God after centuries of silence. Only then, when pride was broken, did the Word become flesh and make his dwelling among us.

And God did not come as a conquering king, astride a great horse, leading a mighty army. The one who "measured the waters in the hollow of his hand," and "with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens" was born as a baby with a little wrinkly hand that couldn't reach around his mother's finger. The LORD of Hosts appeared in the flesh, not attended by armies but by a few shepherds.

But pride wasn't broken completely. So the God-Man allowed himself to be killed for the crime of claiming to be exactly who he was. In doing so he bought for us forgiveness of our sins.

And still, we choose him only because we have no choice. As Lewis said, "It is hardly complimentary to God that we should choose Him as an alternative to Hell: yet even this He accepts."

When we had no hope, God came to rescue us. When we realize we have no choice, God accepts our meager offerings of a torn, filthy life. And then he gives us everything, making us "heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ," not slaves, or even servants, but sons and daughters.

Take some time to marvel at the God who came to us because we had no hope. Give thanks to the God who accepts us even though we call to him, not from the mountain top, but the pit. Worship the Savior who gives us everything even when we have nothing to offer in return.


Image via Pixabay

You Shall Call His Name

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Our chief need was not for a teacher.

Our chief need was not for an example.

We were lost in sin, rebellious and prone to evil. So he sent a savior.

Yes, Jesus was a teacher, and he lived a life we should try to follow. But most of all he came to save, to "give his life as a ransom for many."

There are those who, as Spurgeon said, "cry up Jesus as Messiah, sent of God, to exhibit a grand example and supply a pure code of morals, but they cannot endure Jesus as a Saviour, redeeming us by his blood, and by his death delivering us from sin." They "speak only of him as a prophet, a teacher, or a leader, and care not for him as a Saviour ...." These people do not know him.

To know him is to take him as God has revealed him. "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Matt 1:21).

Let us rejoice that God saw our true need and met it.

A Johannine Christmas reading

St. John doesn't get much love at Christmas. Here's a little something from him on the subject:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. (1)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (2)

(1) 1 John 1:1-2
(2) John 1: 1, 14, 10-12

Two Quick Thoughts on Christmas

I enjoy Christmas and most of what goes along with it. The story of God's love, expressed in the birth of Christ, is beautiful and powerful. But it's only a small part of a much bigger story that gets lost among the tinsel and lights, the angels and the wise men. So here are two thoughts to carry with us in the Christmas season and all of our celebrations.

Easter would be impossible without Christmas. Christmas would be meaningless without Easter.

At Christmas, Jesus came to save us. One day, Jesus is coming to get us.

Christmas is wonderful, but I think it's more amazing, more beautiful, more profound when we keep its place in the story in mind. It's only the beginning of so much more.


Image from Flickr

The Night Before Christmas

The first time I listened to the lyrics of my new favorite Christmas song, it took my breath away. It so captures the beauty of Christmas because it encapsulates our need for Christ.

Brandon Heath's The Night Before Christmas*:

Empty manger, perfect stranger, about to be born
Into darkness, sadness, desperate madness, creation so torn

We were so lost on earth, no peace, no worth, no way to escape
In fear, no faith, no hope, no grace, and no light

But that was the night before Christmas

Listen to the whole thing from YouTube:



Or buy it on Amazon.

*written by Luke Brown, Chuck Butler, & Regie Hamm

Top 7 Christmas Carol Remakes

Everybody's done the traditional Christmas songs, but I really like it when they jazz it up a bit. These are my favorites.

7) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen — Jars of Clay



6) It Came Upon a Midnight Clear — Caedmon's Call



5) Little Drummer Boy — Jars of Clay



4) O Come, O Come Emmanuel — Big Daddy Weave

I couldn't find a video — or even the whole song — but it's too good to not list. This link will take you to Amazon where you can hear a clip.

3) What Child is This? — Mercy Me



2) Silent Night — Jaci Velasquez with Burlap to Cashmere

This arrangement, which I've seen called One Silent Night, is a combination of Silent Night with her God So Loved to beautiful effect.



1) I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day — Casting Crowns

This arrangement of the old poem manages to be heart-rending and hopeful as well as beautiful. It is absolutely worth your time to listen. Twice.



Honorable mention: Anointed's version of Joy to the World is a lot of fun, but I couldn't find a good link. A sample can be heard on this album on Amazon.

The Most Important Verse for Christmas

The Christmas season is a time of fun, food, and family. And rampant skepticism. The Christmas story goes from one supernatural element to another climaxing with the virgin birth — elements that many people can't quite stomach.

Though there are certainly plenty of atheists, agnostics, and deists among the doubters, many of these skeptics are theists of one stripe or another — even Christians.

Why do people who believe in the resurrection doubt the virgin birth? I have no idea. But what do we do?

For the doubting Christian, one verse in the Bible out weighs all the rest:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Do you believe God made the universe from scratch? If not, there's not much I can say about Christmas, but if you do, ask yourself: If God can make a universe, is a virgin birth or a special "star" (whatever it may have been) really that hard?

Can't the God who made DNA make some for a virgin birth? Can't the one who made the heavens find a way to get the magi to Bethlehem?

Asking questions is healthy; stubborn skepticism is not. Don't let a few miracles ruin the Christmas season.

I Think She Knows

My six-year-old daughter asked me if Santa Claus is real.

I think it was a visiting cousin that prompted this. Talk about putting you on defense.

I've never really supported the whole Santa Claus bit, but my wife — and my mother — wanted to do it. And a number of people pointed that telling her all along there was no Santa would cause problems among her classmates. So I put up with it.

But I don't really like the Santa bit for two reasons. One, I don't like giving credit for what my hard-earned money buys to someone else, especially someone ficticious.

But more than that, I don't want her to wonder if she should add God to the list of imaginary people we told her about. True, my outgrowing Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy didn't cause me to wonder about God, but it still strikes me as asking for trouble.

So I've been very non-committal about the whole thing from the beginning.

And when she asked me if Santa Claus is real, I told her, "Santa Claus is a game we play that makes Christmas more fun."

"Like the Tooth Fairy?"

"Yes."

"Cool!"

Yeah, I think she knows.

Top 10 Modern Christmas Songs

...according to my opinion, of course, but since I have impeccable taste, I think my judgement is sound :)

I gravitate toward songs that don't over idealize the Christmas events and that talk about the whole picture — not just the manger but the mission. It should go without saying that if a song only says "Christ" when followed by "mas," that's not a Christmas song. "Holiday" music is nice, but I want my Christmas music double-barreled, full-throttled, ACLU-heart-stoppingly religious.

Now without further ado, here's the Top 10:

(If you enjoy these songs, you might consider buying some. These folks take a financial risk by allowing their work to be on YouTube.)

#10 Strange Way to Save the World by 4Him
Poor Joseph finally gets a little attention as he reflects on the wonder of the events unfolding around him.




Buy on Amazon

#9 Sing Mary Sing by Jennifer Knapp
Mary already gets a lot of attention, but Jennifer Knapp rocks.




Buy on Amazon

#8 Christ is Come by Big Daddy Weave
A beautiful reflection on who this baby is and why He came.




Buy on Amazon

#7 Welcome to Our World by Chris Rice
Meditating on the wonder of the Incarnation and looking forward to the cross as only Chris Rice can. Sorry no video, just audio (will launch new window).

Buy on Amazon

#6 How Many Kings by Downhere
"How many fathers gave up their sons for me?" A knot in the throat equals a spot on the list.




Buy on Amazon

#5 This Baby by Steven Curtis Chapman
A quick tour from the manger to the cross with realism (and a video that has nothing to do with the song).




Buy on Amazon

#4 Adoration by Newsboys
And sometimes words just fail...




Buy on Amazon

#3 Mary Did You Know by Spoken
Just about everyone's covered Mark Lowry's modern classic, but I like Spoken's rock version.




Buy on Amazon

#2 Here With Us by Joy Williams
Words fail again. Just listen.




Buy on Amazon

#1 Our God is With Us by Steven Curtis Chapman
There are lots of great songs about Christmas, but this one reminds us why Christmas changes lives today. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video, but I've excerpted the first verse and linked to audio (will open in new window) of the song.

It's so worth your time:

One of us is cryin' as our hopes and dreams are led away in chains,
And we're left all alone;
One of us is dyin' as our love is slowly lowered in the grave,
Oh and we're left on our own.
But for all of us who journey through the dark abyss of loneliness
There comes a great announcement - we are never alone -
For the maker of each heart that breaks, the giver of each breath we take
Has come to earth and given hope it's birth.

CHORUS
And our God is with us, Emmanuel.
He's come to save us, Emmanuel.
And we will never face life alone
Now that God has made Himself known,
As Father and Friend, with us through the end, Emmanuel.

Buy on Amazon

OK, I'm sure I'm missed your favorite. Please share the name and a link if you have one. And if you think my choices are just nuts, feel free to tell me so :)

Christmas Spirit

In a year when so many people are struggling, so much fear and pain, it can be hard to feel that "Christmas spirit."

But that may be because the traditional Christmas spirit is based on an atmosphere of family, gifts, food, and decorations. When money is tight, all of those things can be hard to come by.

The "meaning of Christmas" is no more about family than about gifts. It is about God becoming a man to free the burdened and oppressed:

"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. ...
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end." (Isaiah 9:2, 6-7)

When we gather, God willing, with our families we should be thankful first of all for a God who "made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant" for our sakes. That sentiment, that spirit, does not rely on our circumstances.

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You may also be interested in:
God in a Manger
The Lamb of God
The Peasant Prince

2 Minutes of Quality Television

In case you haven't watched this yet this year, or even if you have:




(link to YouTube)