January 5, 2003
At the beginning of a new year, a high school principal decided to post his teachers' new year's resolutions on the bulletin board. As the teachers gathered around the bulletin board, a great commotion started. One of the teachers was complaining. "Why weren't my resolutions posted?" She was throwing such a temper tantrum that the principal hurried to his office to see if he had overlooked her resolutions. Sure enough, he had mislaid them on his desk. As he read her resolutions he was astounded. This teacher's first resolution was not to let little things upset her in the new year!
A new year does not necessarily mean a new future, but you are never going to stop living. There is nothing you can do about that fact. All you can do is prepare for the kind of future you want. You have a future and it will last longer than the year 2003. One of the issues you have to consider is: how much of your past are you going to drag with you into 2003 and the future?
Some of us, as we look at our past, see repeated cycles of defeat. Our fear is that these habits of failure will take up the majority of our future. We have this fear because we have learned that human effort is not enough to break out of deep patterns of spiritual breakdown.
How often have you resolved to get out of debt and before another month has passed, you have used a credit card to soothe an emotional disturbance? How many times have you decided to diet...after the next holiday? Ever determined to avoid degrading entertainment, only to find it has more power than you do? Then if you add booze or drugs or porn or gambling addictions to the mix, you really know what repeated cycles of defeat feel like. Some this morning may have reason to believe your future looks like your past and that thought is frustrating you.
The people of Israel had their own history of cyclical defeat and revival...repentance followed by backsliding. They started with Joshua in the Promised Land, determined to obey God. Then the allure of the sensual and impious and corrupting would lead to backsliding. God, in mercy, would bring them back - then the next cycle of temptation and sin would start in.
Ultimately the warning for unfaithfulness to God spelled out in Deuteronomy came to pass. Israel was defeated and scattered to the four winds. Even then God had mercy. In the closing chapters of Isaiah a small remnant of Israel is celebrating a kind of second exodus out of captivity in Babylon. No Moses, no miracles, but they were coming home! They were to be brought back to the land of promise. This would be a great chance for a new beginning. They could celebrate the miracle of a new future.
But as chapter 65 opens, God reminds those who are coming back of their history of failure. It is kind of like being reminded that you have a history of defeat with pornography, drugs, or your temper. It is a reminder that human resolve is no match for sin. It is a reminder that every time I've started over I've fallen again.
God is bringing Israel and us to a place where we can admit we are powerless over sin. Because of sin our lives are unmanageable. This is bad news. But once it is acknowledged a new door into the future is available. We can now begin to look for a power greater than human resolve. When we realize we can not help ourselves we can start looking for outside help. At this point the lavish love of God can be allowed to have an influence.
Read Isaiah 65: 17-25
God provides the possibilities of a new beginning- without the burden of lurking cycles of defeat. Memories of those failures will be healed. It is a miracle of a new future. Three blessings are a part of your future, if you chose to put your confidence in God's Messiah: joy, abundance, and peace.
First, let me say the beginning of the new future (new heavens and new earth) was established when Jesus the Messiah defeated death. It will be fully achieved at His Second Coming. In the mean time, we live between the day after D-Day and V-Day. Because of the resurrection, Satan and sin and evil are doomed. Followers of Jesus share in the confidence of ultimate victory while we continue the battle.
The consummation of the promised blessings is still coming- but living in the mean time (between the beginning of the end and the end itself) - those blessings can touch us in ways that provide significant nourishment. Isaiah 65 talks about the new heavens and the new earth being a place of (1) joy and delight; (2) a place of abundance and long life; and (3) a place of peace. It is a kind of living that starts with faith in Jesus. The Bible says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a New Creation; the old is gone, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
In this life we can begin to experience joy, abundance, and peace. Jesus reiterated each of these promises for His followers. In John 17:13 He prayed that His followers would "have the full measure of my joy within them."
Peter spoke to people like us when he said, "though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy." (1 Peter 1:8)
If you know Jesus you can know the flavor of the joy of Heaven. On that day when you see Him face to face, that familiar joy will engulf and saturate you.
Isaiah also promised abundance. Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). When you become a follower of Jesus, you immediately become a student of the undying life. In John 8:51 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word (like a good student would), he will never see death." He told Martha, "whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:26).
Isaiah also promised peace. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
If you and I are going to live effectively in the joy, abundance, and peace of God, our distant future must make sense to us. Is your ultimate future a time beyond your physical demise- something real enough that you can make decisions today based on those plans?
For the follower of Jesus, abundant life is always growing on our horizon. This present universe is just one component in our long life in the Kingdom of God. The resurrected Son of God Himself said, in my Father's home are many rooms...I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may be where I am" (14:2-3).
Isaiah and Peter and John in Revelation describe this place as a new heaven and a new earth- the miracle of a new future! You are never going to stop existing. There is nothing you can do about that fact. You can do something about what kind of future you will have, however.
Those who do not enter the joy, peace, and abundance of God, through confidence in Jesus will still experience eternal existence. Because we've been created in the image of God we are everlasting. But the Bible describes that everlasting existence as isolated and a place without hope.
This is possible because these people have chosen to be their own ultimate source of authority (god) and disregarded the one legitimate authority (God). Obviously that posture can only be sustained at a distance from God- a place isolated from real hope.
The invitation to you in the mean time is to enter the new heavens and the new earth. To experience this prophetic promise it takes more than a kinda-sorta faith in a vague higher power. It requires a focused confidence in the person of Jesus - the one who died for you! Don't diminish the sacrifices of the Son of God. You have a future. Will it be a repeat of past defeats stretching into eternal hopelessness, or a life of joy and abundance and peace provided by the eternal and intimate presence of Jesus?
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Heaven on the Brain
December 27, 1998
During the installation of new lighting inside an old English cathedral, an electrician working on the top floor, accidentally left the elevator door open. This prevented the elevator from returning to the ground floor. Visitors were stunned to see the Clerk of Works standing in the middle of the cathedral, yelling heavenward, "Peter! Close the gates!"
Most of us would wait until we ourselves were in before closing the gates of heaven. How often in a day or week do you think about heaven? Is eternity an important part of your plans for the future? I'm convinced that if you and I are to live with any kind of gusto under Jesus' leadership, we need to have a basic grasp of what our future life will be like. That future must make sense to us. It must be something you can plan on and make decisions in terms of.
Who talks about heaven any more? What difference can a lesson on heaven make in my life today? I heard about an English professor who assigned his class to make their own funeral arrangements: pick out a casket, write the order of service, and even write out how they would like their life to be eulogized. Many of the students discovered their lives had no meaning. They realized they had wasted their lives- up to that point- and that their plans for the future were as pointless as their past.
When you ask someone for advice about a crossroads decision you have to make and they point to one option and say, "I can tell you that choice has no future," they're saying it has no meaning, no significance. A human life holds together around its prospects for meaning- its view of the future. A meaningful life is not a nice extra. Having a purpose in life is like having enough to eat and drink, enough air to breath. If something has no meaning we say it has no future. Meaninglessness stifles our souls.
Jesus teaches that ultimate meaning is found in life under His leadership. We are nourished in this life by understanding how our future with Jesus relates to our life with Him today.
In Luke 10 Jesus was hearing the reports of 72 apprentices. They were rejoicing that their short term mission had produced some dramatic victories over Satan and the demons. Jesus agreed with their assessment but said, "Do no rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven (v. 20)."
In Jesus' mind our heavenly destination should be a key landmark determining how we navigate our lives. Sailors use the stars to determine their course. You and I use heaven. Heaven is more important than any earthly landmark.
According to Jesus our destination is a custom-made home. The night before His crucifixion He told His followers, "I am going there to prepare a place for you." At His first advent Jesus prepared us for the Place. He has returned now to prepare a place for us. His second advent will be for the purpose of bringing the prepared people into the prepared place. He said in John 14:3, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
What is that future life going to be life? If I could know that, chances are good I wouldn't be able to find the words to describe it. The Bible uses symbols and comparisons to help. Everything points to an enhanced life without limits- an intense aliveness with all the necessary energy needed to live it vigorously.
The new age influences have caused us to think of heaven as a place for disembodied spirits. The primary activity is thought to be choir music or reminiscing about the good old days. However, the Bible says when we pass through death, we do not lose the good things of this world. Indeed we see this world and everyone in it, for the first time as it really is. In this regard Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13:12, "Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
He had just reminded the Corinthians that in this life we are like little children who have only a vague idea of what is going on around them. But on the other side of death or the second advent, we shall know fully, "even as I am fully known."
Paul does not tell us who fully knows us now, but we might guess that beyond God/Jesus/Holy Spirit we are fully known by the angels and the righteous followers of Jesus. They see and know things as they are. Beyond that concerning our future, we know we will have bodies like Jesus' resurrection body. Jesus' resurrection was the very first of its kind. The Bible calls it "the first fruits" and refers to Jesus' new life as "the Pioneer of life." Without the first advent, without the incarnation, there would be no resurrection and no resurrection bodies.
Jesus forced open a door that had been locked since the death of the first man. Jesus defeated the ruler of death. Because of that the Bible speaks about, "the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:25)." Sometimes we think of Jesus' resurrection as the undoing of the incarnation. NOT SO! It is the final stage of the incarnation. Jesus' life and death, and your confidence in His leadership prepares you, too, for that stage of "body life."
When Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us, we can take it to mean He is preparing a renovated space and earth. A new place that will provide the perfect conditions for our glorified bodies.
Just as our brain obeys our mind, other parts of nature may obey us. Remember Jesus was not confined by walls or locked doors. He could walk on water, yet He insisted He was not a spirit and sat down and ate dinner to prove it. That is a model of your future body!
Romans 8:11 says, "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies." Suppose you are going to live forever and there is nothing you can do about it, except to do the things that would make your future existence as desirable as possible? You can not choose eternal sleep or nonexistence.
As far as your future life is concerned the question you need to answer is: what kind of character have you and Jesus together been developing? Have you allowed Jesus to shape your values and beliefs? Have you found Jesus to be the most fascination person in the universe?
Socrates did not know Jesus, but he knew character development was "priority one" for eternity. Plato's account of the last hours of Socrates has him saying:
Read Matthew 25:14-46
Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven: how we enter it in this life and how this life impacts the next stage of life. God has placed in our life various gifts and skills and potentials that will prepare us for "real life" if used and developed properly. This parable leads us to ask why should God entrust us with eternal riches if we cannot be trusted with temporary wealth. How can I be trusted with a supernatural body if I cannot control even an earthly body?
C.S. Lewis writes in Miracles:
During the installation of new lighting inside an old English cathedral, an electrician working on the top floor, accidentally left the elevator door open. This prevented the elevator from returning to the ground floor. Visitors were stunned to see the Clerk of Works standing in the middle of the cathedral, yelling heavenward, "Peter! Close the gates!"
Most of us would wait until we ourselves were in before closing the gates of heaven. How often in a day or week do you think about heaven? Is eternity an important part of your plans for the future? I'm convinced that if you and I are to live with any kind of gusto under Jesus' leadership, we need to have a basic grasp of what our future life will be like. That future must make sense to us. It must be something you can plan on and make decisions in terms of.
Who talks about heaven any more? What difference can a lesson on heaven make in my life today? I heard about an English professor who assigned his class to make their own funeral arrangements: pick out a casket, write the order of service, and even write out how they would like their life to be eulogized. Many of the students discovered their lives had no meaning. They realized they had wasted their lives- up to that point- and that their plans for the future were as pointless as their past.
When you ask someone for advice about a crossroads decision you have to make and they point to one option and say, "I can tell you that choice has no future," they're saying it has no meaning, no significance. A human life holds together around its prospects for meaning- its view of the future. A meaningful life is not a nice extra. Having a purpose in life is like having enough to eat and drink, enough air to breath. If something has no meaning we say it has no future. Meaninglessness stifles our souls.
Jesus teaches that ultimate meaning is found in life under His leadership. We are nourished in this life by understanding how our future with Jesus relates to our life with Him today.
In Luke 10 Jesus was hearing the reports of 72 apprentices. They were rejoicing that their short term mission had produced some dramatic victories over Satan and the demons. Jesus agreed with their assessment but said, "Do no rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven (v. 20)."
In Jesus' mind our heavenly destination should be a key landmark determining how we navigate our lives. Sailors use the stars to determine their course. You and I use heaven. Heaven is more important than any earthly landmark.
According to Jesus our destination is a custom-made home. The night before His crucifixion He told His followers, "I am going there to prepare a place for you." At His first advent Jesus prepared us for the Place. He has returned now to prepare a place for us. His second advent will be for the purpose of bringing the prepared people into the prepared place. He said in John 14:3, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
What is that future life going to be life? If I could know that, chances are good I wouldn't be able to find the words to describe it. The Bible uses symbols and comparisons to help. Everything points to an enhanced life without limits- an intense aliveness with all the necessary energy needed to live it vigorously.
The new age influences have caused us to think of heaven as a place for disembodied spirits. The primary activity is thought to be choir music or reminiscing about the good old days. However, the Bible says when we pass through death, we do not lose the good things of this world. Indeed we see this world and everyone in it, for the first time as it really is. In this regard Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13:12, "Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
He had just reminded the Corinthians that in this life we are like little children who have only a vague idea of what is going on around them. But on the other side of death or the second advent, we shall know fully, "even as I am fully known."
Paul does not tell us who fully knows us now, but we might guess that beyond God/Jesus/Holy Spirit we are fully known by the angels and the righteous followers of Jesus. They see and know things as they are. Beyond that concerning our future, we know we will have bodies like Jesus' resurrection body. Jesus' resurrection was the very first of its kind. The Bible calls it "the first fruits" and refers to Jesus' new life as "the Pioneer of life." Without the first advent, without the incarnation, there would be no resurrection and no resurrection bodies.
Jesus forced open a door that had been locked since the death of the first man. Jesus defeated the ruler of death. Because of that the Bible speaks about, "the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:25)." Sometimes we think of Jesus' resurrection as the undoing of the incarnation. NOT SO! It is the final stage of the incarnation. Jesus' life and death, and your confidence in His leadership prepares you, too, for that stage of "body life."
When Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us, we can take it to mean He is preparing a renovated space and earth. A new place that will provide the perfect conditions for our glorified bodies.
Just as our brain obeys our mind, other parts of nature may obey us. Remember Jesus was not confined by walls or locked doors. He could walk on water, yet He insisted He was not a spirit and sat down and ate dinner to prove it. That is a model of your future body!
Romans 8:11 says, "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies." Suppose you are going to live forever and there is nothing you can do about it, except to do the things that would make your future existence as desirable as possible? You can not choose eternal sleep or nonexistence.
As far as your future life is concerned the question you need to answer is: what kind of character have you and Jesus together been developing? Have you allowed Jesus to shape your values and beliefs? Have you found Jesus to be the most fascination person in the universe?
Socrates did not know Jesus, but he knew character development was "priority one" for eternity. Plato's account of the last hours of Socrates has him saying:
If the soul is immortal, it demands our care not only for that part of time which we call life, but for all time...If death were a release from everything, it would be a blessing for the wicked, but since the soul is clearly immortal, there is no escape for evil people except by the development of a good and wise character. This is of supreme importance for beginning the journey there." ParaphrasedSocrates had no opportunity to know Jesus and Jesus' profound impact on character development. He did the best he could with what he had. You and I have Jesus.
Read Matthew 25:14-46
Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven: how we enter it in this life and how this life impacts the next stage of life. God has placed in our life various gifts and skills and potentials that will prepare us for "real life" if used and developed properly. This parable leads us to ask why should God entrust us with eternal riches if we cannot be trusted with temporary wealth. How can I be trusted with a supernatural body if I cannot control even an earthly body?
C.S. Lewis writes in Miracles:
These small and perishable bodies we now have were given to us as ponies are given to school boys. We must learn to control them: not that we may some day be free of horses altogether, but that someday we may ride bare-back, confident and rejoicing, those greater mounts, those winged, shining, and world-shaking horses- which perhaps even now expect us with impatience, pawing and snorting the king's stables.God's plan is for you to develop as an apprentice to Jesus today- so that in another day you can take your place in the ongoing work of the universe. As a follower of Jesus you will encounter struggles and tests. Some will be in the form of adversity, some will be in the form of prosperity. You're asked to use Jesus' resources and do what He would do. If you do this consistently you will be victorious. Jesus said in Revelations 3:21, "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne." Does that kind of future make sense to you? do you "see a future" in the kind of life Jesus calls you to live today? Is Heaven on your compass?
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Hometown Boy Makes Good
3rd Sunday of Advent, 1998
A crabby lady had been suffering with a bitter heart for years. God decided to send an angel to cheer her up and teach her how to love. When the angel appeared she was very pleased to learn that she had been selected for a special blessing. She could ask for any good thing she wanted - as much money or wisdom or influence as she could think of. She would receive exactly what she asked for and her enemy would receive a double portion. In this way she was supposed to learn about love.
When she heard this, the smile left her face and she returned to a sullen darkness. But a moment later she brightened up. "Whatever you give me, you'll give double to my enemy?" The angel confirmed her question. "Good. Poke out one of my eyes."
For some people it is difficult to be happy when their enemies or competitors are happy too!
Do you have an enemy? A less than friendly competitor? An ex-friend or spouse? What is your Christmas wish for them? Can you pray that they come to know Jesus and all of His blessings?
Read: Luke 4:14-42
Luke has placed this episode in a logical order rather than a chronological order near the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Luke has just reported on Jesus' private battle with Satan and temptation. When Jesus leaves the wilderness setting, it is to begin His ministry.
Luke places Jesus' visit to Nazareth first - not because it is the first thing he did - but because Jesus gave such a clear statement of His purpose. This sermon is Jesus' mission statement. Why did God take on flesh and blood? Jesus gives a detailed answer in his first sermon back in Nazareth.
According to Mark 6 we know that Jesus had been in town at least a couple of days. He had already established his headquarters in Capernaum (20 miles northeast) so this was a visit. In Capernaum he had accomplished some very dramatic healings, but in his home town the skepticism made significant miracles impossible. Faith is an eternal principle. The writer to the Hebrews wrote, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."
These Nazarenes had a kind of anti-faith, and so "He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them" (Mark 6:5). Their open mindedness went far enough to withhold final judgement until they heard him preach on the Sabbath.
They got an ear full! Jesus identified himself as the long awaited Messiah. The passage Jesus read from in the prophecy of Isaiah had been considered one of the more clear Messianic passages.
Jesus says He is the anointed one referred to in the passage. Anointing with oil was an inaugurating ritual for both kings and priests. Oil was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The ceremony was an acted prayer that God would give the king or priest a portion of his power and wisdom.
Isaiah prophecies that one would come who was especially anointed. It is also significant that the Hebrew word for anoint is the word we get Messiah from and the Greek word we get Christ from. The prophecy refers to the anointed - the Messiah and His ministry.
What specifically is the Messiah's mission? First, it is to evangelize the poor - put another way - it means to declare victory for the impotent or helpless. Evangel means good news. The verb means declare the good news of victory. The powerless and helpless dream about victory, but can never pull it off unless someone gives them the resources. Jesus brings victory to the defeated.
Second, His mission is to proclaim release to those entangled in sin. "Proclaim" is the work of a herald, the person who informs us of current events. Put it on the evening news: Those trapped in death-inviting addictive behaviors have someone who will set them free.
The NIV's use of "freedom" (for the prisoner), is the same word Jesus uses in Matthew 26:28, "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the release of sins." The trap of sin is disabled by the blood of Jesus: Forgiveness, release.
Third, His mission is to bring insight to the unaware and misinformed. In the spring of 1996 a seventeen year old high school senior from Fremont made national news when she did something remarkable. She achieved a perfect score on both sections of the SAT, and a perfect score on the tough University of California acceptance index. Never in history has any one student accomplished this intellectual feat. At her high school, she was known as "Wonder Woman" because of her brains. But what was interesting in the news story about this young woman was a little exchange between her and a reporter. He asked her, "What is the meaning of life?" She replied, "I have no idea."
This very bright young lady's intelligence can't compare to the One who does know the meaning of life. The One who knew how to turn water into wine, change the atmosphere from hurricane to utter calm, and give sight to a man born blind. He brings His insight.
Fourth, Jesus' mission is "to release the oppressed." The word "oppressed" comes from a word describing a piece of pottery that has been broken because someone stepped on it. The oppressed are the down trodden and Jesus has come to restore their broken places. All the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again, but Jesus can put you together again.
Jesus offers the best news the disadvantaged could ever hope to hear - and they promptly go out and try to throw him over a cliff. "Good News Brings Violent Rejection" might be Nazareth's Sunday morning headline.
Jesus troubled the Nazarenes for two reasons. First, He stopped reading the prophecy too soon. If He had finished, it would have gone " . . . to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God." The Nazarenes were sure their day of favor would correspond with God's wrath on their enemies.
For centuries the Jews had been persecuted in their own land. Horrible things had been done to them. Sometimes the thing that kept them going was the thought that God would crush these cruel overlords.
Not only did Jesus not mention this sweet revenge - He suggested some of these enemies would receive the same favor and blessing promised to Israel. Jesus was asking them to give up their prejudices and juicy thoughts of vengeance.
This is a very important part of Jesus' agenda. He invites us into the rule of God (Kingdom of God), but among the things we have to give up to step in are vengeance, bitterness and prejudice.
For this the Nazarenes promptly rejected Jesus. As far as we know Jesus never returned to Nazareth. Rejection of Jesus can be final. It is bad enough to be rejected. Sometimes it is even worse to know you are the one rejecting, because we find out too late who it is we've rejected.
Gary Inrig tells the story of parents on the east coast who got a telephone call from their son during the Korean War. They were thrilled because they hadn't heard from him for many months. He said he was in San Francisco on his way home.
"Mom, I just wanted to let you know I'm bringing a buddy home with me," he said. "He got hurt pretty bad, and he only has one eye, one arm, and one leg. I'd sure like him to live with us."
"Sure, Son," his mom said. "He sounds like a brave man. We can find room for him for a while."
"Mom, you don't understand. I want him to come live with us."
"Well, OK," she finally said. "We could try it for six months or so."
"No, Mom, I want him to stay permanently. He needs us. He's only got one eye, one arm, and one leg. He's really in bad shape."
By now his mother had lost her patience. "Son, you're being unrealistic about this. You're emotional because you've been in a war. That boy will be a drag on you and be a constant problem for all of us. Be reasonable."
"OK, Mom, I'll try."
A couple of days later the parents got a telegram: Their son had committed suicide. A week later the parents received the body. They looked down with unspeakable sorrow on the corpse of their son -- who had one eye, one arm and one leg. They had rejected the one they loved and the one who had loved them. Their rejection had been final.
The Nazarenes thought Jesus would be too big a problem, and in rejecting Him, they rejected the loving heart of God. The God who would've given them victory in place of impotence, given them release from a sin tangled life, given them insight for ignorance and given them healing for brokenness.
This is why Jesus has come. His birth was the beginning of this all-important mission. For that reason it is well worth celebrating. But we must do more than celebrate the beginning. You and I are invited to participate in the whole process by opening our hearts to the Lordship of Jesus. If the baby born in a barn is the Lord of your life, you can celebrate victory, release, insight and healing of spiritual brokenness. It is a choice between acceptance and rejection.
A crabby lady had been suffering with a bitter heart for years. God decided to send an angel to cheer her up and teach her how to love. When the angel appeared she was very pleased to learn that she had been selected for a special blessing. She could ask for any good thing she wanted - as much money or wisdom or influence as she could think of. She would receive exactly what she asked for and her enemy would receive a double portion. In this way she was supposed to learn about love.
When she heard this, the smile left her face and she returned to a sullen darkness. But a moment later she brightened up. "Whatever you give me, you'll give double to my enemy?" The angel confirmed her question. "Good. Poke out one of my eyes."
For some people it is difficult to be happy when their enemies or competitors are happy too!
Do you have an enemy? A less than friendly competitor? An ex-friend or spouse? What is your Christmas wish for them? Can you pray that they come to know Jesus and all of His blessings?
Read: Luke 4:14-42
Luke has placed this episode in a logical order rather than a chronological order near the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Luke has just reported on Jesus' private battle with Satan and temptation. When Jesus leaves the wilderness setting, it is to begin His ministry.
Luke places Jesus' visit to Nazareth first - not because it is the first thing he did - but because Jesus gave such a clear statement of His purpose. This sermon is Jesus' mission statement. Why did God take on flesh and blood? Jesus gives a detailed answer in his first sermon back in Nazareth.
According to Mark 6 we know that Jesus had been in town at least a couple of days. He had already established his headquarters in Capernaum (20 miles northeast) so this was a visit. In Capernaum he had accomplished some very dramatic healings, but in his home town the skepticism made significant miracles impossible. Faith is an eternal principle. The writer to the Hebrews wrote, "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."
These Nazarenes had a kind of anti-faith, and so "He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them" (Mark 6:5). Their open mindedness went far enough to withhold final judgement until they heard him preach on the Sabbath.
They got an ear full! Jesus identified himself as the long awaited Messiah. The passage Jesus read from in the prophecy of Isaiah had been considered one of the more clear Messianic passages.
Jesus says He is the anointed one referred to in the passage. Anointing with oil was an inaugurating ritual for both kings and priests. Oil was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The ceremony was an acted prayer that God would give the king or priest a portion of his power and wisdom.
Isaiah prophecies that one would come who was especially anointed. It is also significant that the Hebrew word for anoint is the word we get Messiah from and the Greek word we get Christ from. The prophecy refers to the anointed - the Messiah and His ministry.
What specifically is the Messiah's mission? First, it is to evangelize the poor - put another way - it means to declare victory for the impotent or helpless. Evangel means good news. The verb means declare the good news of victory. The powerless and helpless dream about victory, but can never pull it off unless someone gives them the resources. Jesus brings victory to the defeated.
Second, His mission is to proclaim release to those entangled in sin. "Proclaim" is the work of a herald, the person who informs us of current events. Put it on the evening news: Those trapped in death-inviting addictive behaviors have someone who will set them free.
The NIV's use of "freedom" (for the prisoner), is the same word Jesus uses in Matthew 26:28, "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the release of sins." The trap of sin is disabled by the blood of Jesus: Forgiveness, release.
Third, His mission is to bring insight to the unaware and misinformed. In the spring of 1996 a seventeen year old high school senior from Fremont made national news when she did something remarkable. She achieved a perfect score on both sections of the SAT, and a perfect score on the tough University of California acceptance index. Never in history has any one student accomplished this intellectual feat. At her high school, she was known as "Wonder Woman" because of her brains. But what was interesting in the news story about this young woman was a little exchange between her and a reporter. He asked her, "What is the meaning of life?" She replied, "I have no idea."
This very bright young lady's intelligence can't compare to the One who does know the meaning of life. The One who knew how to turn water into wine, change the atmosphere from hurricane to utter calm, and give sight to a man born blind. He brings His insight.
Fourth, Jesus' mission is "to release the oppressed." The word "oppressed" comes from a word describing a piece of pottery that has been broken because someone stepped on it. The oppressed are the down trodden and Jesus has come to restore their broken places. All the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again, but Jesus can put you together again.
Jesus offers the best news the disadvantaged could ever hope to hear - and they promptly go out and try to throw him over a cliff. "Good News Brings Violent Rejection" might be Nazareth's Sunday morning headline.
Jesus troubled the Nazarenes for two reasons. First, He stopped reading the prophecy too soon. If He had finished, it would have gone " . . . to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God." The Nazarenes were sure their day of favor would correspond with God's wrath on their enemies.
For centuries the Jews had been persecuted in their own land. Horrible things had been done to them. Sometimes the thing that kept them going was the thought that God would crush these cruel overlords.
Not only did Jesus not mention this sweet revenge - He suggested some of these enemies would receive the same favor and blessing promised to Israel. Jesus was asking them to give up their prejudices and juicy thoughts of vengeance.
This is a very important part of Jesus' agenda. He invites us into the rule of God (Kingdom of God), but among the things we have to give up to step in are vengeance, bitterness and prejudice.
For this the Nazarenes promptly rejected Jesus. As far as we know Jesus never returned to Nazareth. Rejection of Jesus can be final. It is bad enough to be rejected. Sometimes it is even worse to know you are the one rejecting, because we find out too late who it is we've rejected.
Gary Inrig tells the story of parents on the east coast who got a telephone call from their son during the Korean War. They were thrilled because they hadn't heard from him for many months. He said he was in San Francisco on his way home.
"Mom, I just wanted to let you know I'm bringing a buddy home with me," he said. "He got hurt pretty bad, and he only has one eye, one arm, and one leg. I'd sure like him to live with us."
"Sure, Son," his mom said. "He sounds like a brave man. We can find room for him for a while."
"Mom, you don't understand. I want him to come live with us."
"Well, OK," she finally said. "We could try it for six months or so."
"No, Mom, I want him to stay permanently. He needs us. He's only got one eye, one arm, and one leg. He's really in bad shape."
By now his mother had lost her patience. "Son, you're being unrealistic about this. You're emotional because you've been in a war. That boy will be a drag on you and be a constant problem for all of us. Be reasonable."
"OK, Mom, I'll try."
A couple of days later the parents got a telegram: Their son had committed suicide. A week later the parents received the body. They looked down with unspeakable sorrow on the corpse of their son -- who had one eye, one arm and one leg. They had rejected the one they loved and the one who had loved them. Their rejection had been final.
The Nazarenes thought Jesus would be too big a problem, and in rejecting Him, they rejected the loving heart of God. The God who would've given them victory in place of impotence, given them release from a sin tangled life, given them insight for ignorance and given them healing for brokenness.
This is why Jesus has come. His birth was the beginning of this all-important mission. For that reason it is well worth celebrating. But we must do more than celebrate the beginning. You and I are invited to participate in the whole process by opening our hearts to the Lordship of Jesus. If the baby born in a barn is the Lord of your life, you can celebrate victory, release, insight and healing of spiritual brokenness. It is a choice between acceptance and rejection.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Man, that's living!
December 12, 1998
Lloyd Ogilvie, chaplain of the US senate retells an old joke with fresh humor. It is a story about two gravediggers who were responsible for digging the largest grave they had ever been told to dig. The dimensions of the grave were six feet wide and 15 feet long.
As they grumbled and complained about digging such a large grave, they questioned as to what kind of casket would go into it. Just as they finished shoveling, a hearse drove up carrying the casket, funeral director, and the attendants. No one else attended: no family, no friends.
The gravediggers were bewildered why they had been told to dig such a large grave for such an ordinary casket. Suddenly a trailer for transporting cars pulled up beside the grave. Fastened securely to the transporter was a magnificent gold plated Rolls Royce.
The gravediggers' surprise turned to downright astonishment as the funeral attendants placed the casket next to the Rolls Royce, opened the lid, and slid the fully embalmed, neatly dressed corpse out and put him behind the wheel on the driver's side of the car. The funeral director came over to the corpse and wrapped his cold, dead fingers around the steering wheel, and then molded his lifeless, expressionless mouth into a big smile. His finishing touch was to open the dead man's eyes, which looked out onto the world with a blank stare.
As the door was shut, the crane swung into position and hooked its metal cable to the top of the car. It carried the dead man and his gold Rolls Royce to the grave and lowered it all to the bottom with a gentle thud!
One of the gravediggers glanced at the other, looked at the Rolls Royce, and blurted out, "Man, that's living!"
The story becomes a parable of those without a spiritual life. The spiritually dead seldom slow down long enough to recognize their own deadness. Think how often we say, "That's really living," about lifeless kinds of popularity or prosperity or power.
Does your life have a vitality, a positive intensity mixed with rich solitude? Is it cheerfulness mixed with a spark - a little passion and some pizazz? When you stop to rest, do you become restless with your wooden existence and lackluster survival? Or is there contentment in your calm times?
Jesus said, "I have come that (you) may have life and have it to the full." Advent is the time to remember Jesus' coming and ask, "Why did He come?" Advent means "coming." Some apply the word exclusively to His second coming - the Seventh Day Adventist, for example - but it is appropriate to celebrate His first advent as we wait for His second advent/coming.
In John 10:10 Jesus gives one very clear reason for His first advent: to offer abundant life. In the gospel of John the life that Jesus offers is unique. Usually it is called eternal life. However, the reference to eternal, has less to do with quantity than it does with quality. The Bible gives us reason to believe that God has already given everyone immortality; originally the gift of endless life would not have involved a disruptive moment we call death. Unfortunately, our rebellion brought that about. Jesus did not come to extend our lives into eternity. That is already going to happen, either in heaven or hell. Jesus came to change our quality of life, both now and the quality of our eternity.
In some ways this quality is a by-product of a restored relationship with God through Jesus. Think of the best friendship you've ever had, perhaps with your spouse. Then suppose in one of your stubborn or greedy or lustful moments you did something to damage that friendship. Perhaps you still live together or work together, but there is friction and relational pain where there used to be harmony.
Then suppose that your friend, in a lavish demonstration of love, let you know that you were totally forgiven. You knew it was not a trick or illusion- you really were forgiven and loved. What has that forgiveness done for your quality of life? Doesn't it make all the difference in the world? Jesus has come to bring that quality of acceptance and love into your life, along with His power to live a joy filled life.
Today we will be reading from John 10. The immediate context is all of chapter nine. That chapter opens with Jesus and His disciples on a Sabbath stroll through the streets of Jerusalem. They see a man that is so well known that everyone knows he was born blind. The disciples ask whose sin caused this blindness. Jesus said sin had nothing to do with this tragedy, directly.
Furthermore, Jesus made a mixture of saliva and dirt, rubbed the mud on the man's eyes and sent him to a specific pool to wash. The man did, and was healed. The healing was so remarkable that those who knew him best couldn't believe it was really him. They asked the obvious questions: how did this happen? He told them about the mud and the trip to the pool and Jesus.
Such a remarkable miracle deserved to be investigated, so the friends took the formerly blind man to the religious leaders. The Pharisees were immediately suspect - not because the miracle itself seemed fraudulent, but because Jesus had made the mud on the Sabbath. The Pharisees had a bad case of something we all battle with: we prefer to limit God to act in ways that we can approve of!
Because Jesus did not heal with the approved sort of methods, he was branded an evil person. To shorten the story, the healed man endorsed Jesus methods, he did not understand how they violated any of God's laws. Consequently he was excommunicated. He was healed of blindness and then kicked out of his congregation by those born with good eyes!
When Jesus heard that this had happened, he found the formerly blind man and some of his accusers. Chapter 10 is Jesus' verbal whipping administered to the Pharisees, and words of encouragement to the outcast.
Read John 10.
Jesus explains who it is who has the real authority to "let in" and to "cast out." To the outcast this must've been music to his ears. To the religious leaders and wanna-be authorities it was another reason to do away with Jesus.
Wanna-be leaders are in for themselves. They use their followers for selfish reasons. Jesus came in order to lay down His life for anyone who would follow Him. He came to lay down His life and to give life.
When we get ready for Christmas we make our homes as fancy as they will be all year. We dress up the outside and inside and sometimes we even get dressed up - decked out. When God got ready for Christmas, He laid aside His scepter, took off His crown and came as a naked baby. There wasn't much gloriousness about His first advent. A baby was born - that is very impressive, but it also meant other stuff: meconium, squalling, a desperate need for mother's milk. God was naked and vulnerable.
This beginning is an interesting comparison to the end of His life where he hung on the cross, naked and vulnerable. God chose to live in the same flesh you and I live in, the same flesh we die in. His pain does not erase our pain, but it can redeem it and transform it.
Years ago a missionary was serving the Lord in Korea. A young Korean woman was expecting a baby, and on Christmas Eve she went into labor. There was a major storm in progress, but the woman knew if she could just get to the home of the missionary she would have the help she needed. She put on her winter wraps and started out alone, on foot. She was several miles from home when her labor pains grew in frequency and intensity, and she knew she could not make it to her destination.
She got beneath an old bridge that provided some shelter. There alone, in the middle of the night, she gave birth to a baby boy. She immediately removed her coat and then, piece by piece, the rest of her clothing. Carefully, she wound every item around her baby until he looked like a cumbersome little cocoon. Then she fell asleep, too exhausted to do anything else.
The next morning dawned, the missionary awoke with a song in her heart. It was Christmas day, and there were so many people she wanted to see. She packed the car and started on her way. A few miles down the road the engine sputtered and the car finally stopped on top of an old bridge. As the missionary opened the door to go for help, she thought she heard a baby crying. Following the sound, she went under the bridge where she found a tiny baby boy- very hungry, but very much alive. Next to the infant, lay his mother - frozen.
The missionary picked up the baby and took him to her home. In time, she was permitted to adopt the boy. As the years passed she told him how his biological mother had given her life that he might live. The son never tired of hearing the story and he asked her to repeat it often.
On his twelfth birthday he asked the missionary to take him to the burial place of his mother. When they arrived, there was snow on the ground, and he asked his missionary mother to wait while he went to the grave alone. She watched her son as he trudged through the snow, tears streaming down his cheeks. In amazement, she saw him slowly unbutton his coat, remove it, and gently lay it on the snowy grave. Next he removed his shirt, pants, shoes, and socks and carefully placed each item on the grave of the mother who had given her all for him.
The missionary could take it no longer and went to her son, placing her coat around his bare, shivering shoulders. Through his tears, she heard him as he asked, "Were you colder than this for me, mother? Were you colder than this?" And he knew that she was.
When people doubt or even mock Jesus' promise of abundant life, by pointing to the evidence of pain and suffering still with us, they fail to see Jesus Himself, coming into that same suffering voluntarily. They also have not tried living with Jesus to discover the abundance of that life. Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life, abundant life."
If you have felt touched by The Spirit or His Word I invite you to come forward for prayer. (Editor's note: If you are a blogger we invite you contact us thru the comment section or Facebook and we will talk to you about the life change that is available to you thru Jesus.)
Lloyd Ogilvie, chaplain of the US senate retells an old joke with fresh humor. It is a story about two gravediggers who were responsible for digging the largest grave they had ever been told to dig. The dimensions of the grave were six feet wide and 15 feet long.
As they grumbled and complained about digging such a large grave, they questioned as to what kind of casket would go into it. Just as they finished shoveling, a hearse drove up carrying the casket, funeral director, and the attendants. No one else attended: no family, no friends.
The gravediggers were bewildered why they had been told to dig such a large grave for such an ordinary casket. Suddenly a trailer for transporting cars pulled up beside the grave. Fastened securely to the transporter was a magnificent gold plated Rolls Royce.
The gravediggers' surprise turned to downright astonishment as the funeral attendants placed the casket next to the Rolls Royce, opened the lid, and slid the fully embalmed, neatly dressed corpse out and put him behind the wheel on the driver's side of the car. The funeral director came over to the corpse and wrapped his cold, dead fingers around the steering wheel, and then molded his lifeless, expressionless mouth into a big smile. His finishing touch was to open the dead man's eyes, which looked out onto the world with a blank stare.
As the door was shut, the crane swung into position and hooked its metal cable to the top of the car. It carried the dead man and his gold Rolls Royce to the grave and lowered it all to the bottom with a gentle thud!
One of the gravediggers glanced at the other, looked at the Rolls Royce, and blurted out, "Man, that's living!"
The story becomes a parable of those without a spiritual life. The spiritually dead seldom slow down long enough to recognize their own deadness. Think how often we say, "That's really living," about lifeless kinds of popularity or prosperity or power.
Does your life have a vitality, a positive intensity mixed with rich solitude? Is it cheerfulness mixed with a spark - a little passion and some pizazz? When you stop to rest, do you become restless with your wooden existence and lackluster survival? Or is there contentment in your calm times?
Jesus said, "I have come that (you) may have life and have it to the full." Advent is the time to remember Jesus' coming and ask, "Why did He come?" Advent means "coming." Some apply the word exclusively to His second coming - the Seventh Day Adventist, for example - but it is appropriate to celebrate His first advent as we wait for His second advent/coming.
In John 10:10 Jesus gives one very clear reason for His first advent: to offer abundant life. In the gospel of John the life that Jesus offers is unique. Usually it is called eternal life. However, the reference to eternal, has less to do with quantity than it does with quality. The Bible gives us reason to believe that God has already given everyone immortality; originally the gift of endless life would not have involved a disruptive moment we call death. Unfortunately, our rebellion brought that about. Jesus did not come to extend our lives into eternity. That is already going to happen, either in heaven or hell. Jesus came to change our quality of life, both now and the quality of our eternity.
In some ways this quality is a by-product of a restored relationship with God through Jesus. Think of the best friendship you've ever had, perhaps with your spouse. Then suppose in one of your stubborn or greedy or lustful moments you did something to damage that friendship. Perhaps you still live together or work together, but there is friction and relational pain where there used to be harmony.
Then suppose that your friend, in a lavish demonstration of love, let you know that you were totally forgiven. You knew it was not a trick or illusion- you really were forgiven and loved. What has that forgiveness done for your quality of life? Doesn't it make all the difference in the world? Jesus has come to bring that quality of acceptance and love into your life, along with His power to live a joy filled life.
Today we will be reading from John 10. The immediate context is all of chapter nine. That chapter opens with Jesus and His disciples on a Sabbath stroll through the streets of Jerusalem. They see a man that is so well known that everyone knows he was born blind. The disciples ask whose sin caused this blindness. Jesus said sin had nothing to do with this tragedy, directly.
Furthermore, Jesus made a mixture of saliva and dirt, rubbed the mud on the man's eyes and sent him to a specific pool to wash. The man did, and was healed. The healing was so remarkable that those who knew him best couldn't believe it was really him. They asked the obvious questions: how did this happen? He told them about the mud and the trip to the pool and Jesus.
Such a remarkable miracle deserved to be investigated, so the friends took the formerly blind man to the religious leaders. The Pharisees were immediately suspect - not because the miracle itself seemed fraudulent, but because Jesus had made the mud on the Sabbath. The Pharisees had a bad case of something we all battle with: we prefer to limit God to act in ways that we can approve of!
Because Jesus did not heal with the approved sort of methods, he was branded an evil person. To shorten the story, the healed man endorsed Jesus methods, he did not understand how they violated any of God's laws. Consequently he was excommunicated. He was healed of blindness and then kicked out of his congregation by those born with good eyes!
When Jesus heard that this had happened, he found the formerly blind man and some of his accusers. Chapter 10 is Jesus' verbal whipping administered to the Pharisees, and words of encouragement to the outcast.
Read John 10.
Jesus explains who it is who has the real authority to "let in" and to "cast out." To the outcast this must've been music to his ears. To the religious leaders and wanna-be authorities it was another reason to do away with Jesus.
Wanna-be leaders are in for themselves. They use their followers for selfish reasons. Jesus came in order to lay down His life for anyone who would follow Him. He came to lay down His life and to give life.
When we get ready for Christmas we make our homes as fancy as they will be all year. We dress up the outside and inside and sometimes we even get dressed up - decked out. When God got ready for Christmas, He laid aside His scepter, took off His crown and came as a naked baby. There wasn't much gloriousness about His first advent. A baby was born - that is very impressive, but it also meant other stuff: meconium, squalling, a desperate need for mother's milk. God was naked and vulnerable.
This beginning is an interesting comparison to the end of His life where he hung on the cross, naked and vulnerable. God chose to live in the same flesh you and I live in, the same flesh we die in. His pain does not erase our pain, but it can redeem it and transform it.
Years ago a missionary was serving the Lord in Korea. A young Korean woman was expecting a baby, and on Christmas Eve she went into labor. There was a major storm in progress, but the woman knew if she could just get to the home of the missionary she would have the help she needed. She put on her winter wraps and started out alone, on foot. She was several miles from home when her labor pains grew in frequency and intensity, and she knew she could not make it to her destination.
She got beneath an old bridge that provided some shelter. There alone, in the middle of the night, she gave birth to a baby boy. She immediately removed her coat and then, piece by piece, the rest of her clothing. Carefully, she wound every item around her baby until he looked like a cumbersome little cocoon. Then she fell asleep, too exhausted to do anything else.
The next morning dawned, the missionary awoke with a song in her heart. It was Christmas day, and there were so many people she wanted to see. She packed the car and started on her way. A few miles down the road the engine sputtered and the car finally stopped on top of an old bridge. As the missionary opened the door to go for help, she thought she heard a baby crying. Following the sound, she went under the bridge where she found a tiny baby boy- very hungry, but very much alive. Next to the infant, lay his mother - frozen.
The missionary picked up the baby and took him to her home. In time, she was permitted to adopt the boy. As the years passed she told him how his biological mother had given her life that he might live. The son never tired of hearing the story and he asked her to repeat it often.
On his twelfth birthday he asked the missionary to take him to the burial place of his mother. When they arrived, there was snow on the ground, and he asked his missionary mother to wait while he went to the grave alone. She watched her son as he trudged through the snow, tears streaming down his cheeks. In amazement, she saw him slowly unbutton his coat, remove it, and gently lay it on the snowy grave. Next he removed his shirt, pants, shoes, and socks and carefully placed each item on the grave of the mother who had given her all for him.
The missionary could take it no longer and went to her son, placing her coat around his bare, shivering shoulders. Through his tears, she heard him as he asked, "Were you colder than this for me, mother? Were you colder than this?" And he knew that she was.
When people doubt or even mock Jesus' promise of abundant life, by pointing to the evidence of pain and suffering still with us, they fail to see Jesus Himself, coming into that same suffering voluntarily. They also have not tried living with Jesus to discover the abundance of that life. Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life, abundant life."
If you have felt touched by The Spirit or His Word I invite you to come forward for prayer. (Editor's note: If you are a blogger we invite you contact us thru the comment section or Facebook and we will talk to you about the life change that is available to you thru Jesus.)
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Baby on a Mission
1st Sunday of Advent, 1998
A Christening was planned several years ago by a very wealthy European family. Many guests were invited to their home for the occasion. They came in their finest and most fashionable dress. Each guest was met at the door by a servant. After the usual socializing they were ready for the ceremony and the Priest called the parents, family, and friends together to get started. The nurse was sent upstairs to bring the baby. A moment later she returned in a panic. The baby was nowhere to be found! Several minutes later, someone remembered that the child had last been seen lying on one of the beds. After a frantic search the little baby was found smothered under the coats of the guests. Their primary reason for coming had been overlooked and destroyed.
Read: Matthew 1:18-23
The Christmas story is the story of a baby. That is a part of it's delightful pull on the mind and the heart. But it is also a liability, for a great many people become so focused with the beautiful story of a baby in a manger, that they miss the chief point of the story. They miss the challenge of Jesus the Man. We can become so enchanted with the story of a baby that we grow sentimental about it; the baby does not ask that we do anything except take care of Him. A baby does not demand any vital change in our way of thinking and living - unless you are his parents.
On the other hand the story can be lost altogether in the celebration of "The Season". But the story is beautiful and the drama is overpowering:
It takes the sizzle out of Miracle on 34th Street for me. It makes you wonder how a show about Rudolph or Frosty could hold interest, when the real story is so compelling. It's amazing that people would tune in to those stories when the Christmas story has so much to offer.
Christmas is the story of God breaking through to the visible world in the person of Jesus to rescue us from our sins and moral failures.
American Demographics says, the average US county resident will spend $365 per child on toys, games, hobbies, tricycles, etc.. However in Provo, Utah, where median income is very close to the national average, those county residents will spend $153 less per child. The magazine says it is because this is a Mormon county and Christmas is more about religion and less about toys. Interesting.
But the main point of the Christmas story is that the baby grew up! He grew up to become a challenge to a world of hard-headed power. Jesus was no sentimentalist; He was a terrible realist! Everything opposed to love and unity in our world, He declared flatly, is damned - reasoning that the center of the universe is a God of holy love.
The important question for you and me is this: Is Christmas still only a story about a baby, or a time to celebrate greed -- or is it the story of a baby who grew into the person who would redeem the world from it's sins, the story of the person who calls you into apprenticeship and partnership with His great and mighty purposes?
You and I must respond to Jesus both as our rescuer and our Master. He is not a helpless infant but the ruler of all creation. You must decide if you are on His side or against Him.
Don't let the baby be smothered by the allure of a romantic story or by the orgy of consumption that takes over our world this time of year. See the baby's full mission.
If you have felt touched by The Spirit or His Word I invite you to come forward for prayer. (Editor's note: If you are a blogger we invite you contact us thru the comment section or Facebook and we will talk to you about the life change that is available to you thru Jesus.)
A Christening was planned several years ago by a very wealthy European family. Many guests were invited to their home for the occasion. They came in their finest and most fashionable dress. Each guest was met at the door by a servant. After the usual socializing they were ready for the ceremony and the Priest called the parents, family, and friends together to get started. The nurse was sent upstairs to bring the baby. A moment later she returned in a panic. The baby was nowhere to be found! Several minutes later, someone remembered that the child had last been seen lying on one of the beds. After a frantic search the little baby was found smothered under the coats of the guests. Their primary reason for coming had been overlooked and destroyed.
Read: Matthew 1:18-23
The Christmas story is the story of a baby. That is a part of it's delightful pull on the mind and the heart. But it is also a liability, for a great many people become so focused with the beautiful story of a baby in a manger, that they miss the chief point of the story. They miss the challenge of Jesus the Man. We can become so enchanted with the story of a baby that we grow sentimental about it; the baby does not ask that we do anything except take care of Him. A baby does not demand any vital change in our way of thinking and living - unless you are his parents.
On the other hand the story can be lost altogether in the celebration of "The Season". But the story is beautiful and the drama is overpowering:
- a young, unmarried girl is about to give birth to a child who is prophesied to rule His people
- a man so in love with his betrothed and so confident in God's faithfulness that he defies
- social customs and marries her anyway
- a band of mystics spend years following a star that they believe will lead them to a new king
- a greedy, insecure ruler commits murderous atrocities in a village in order to protect his throne
- a gang of teenage boys working the night shift witness an extra terrestrial worship service
- and a little baby, born in a stable, changes the course of history.
It takes the sizzle out of Miracle on 34th Street for me. It makes you wonder how a show about Rudolph or Frosty could hold interest, when the real story is so compelling. It's amazing that people would tune in to those stories when the Christmas story has so much to offer.
Christmas is the story of God breaking through to the visible world in the person of Jesus to rescue us from our sins and moral failures.
American Demographics says, the average US county resident will spend $365 per child on toys, games, hobbies, tricycles, etc.. However in Provo, Utah, where median income is very close to the national average, those county residents will spend $153 less per child. The magazine says it is because this is a Mormon county and Christmas is more about religion and less about toys. Interesting.
But the main point of the Christmas story is that the baby grew up! He grew up to become a challenge to a world of hard-headed power. Jesus was no sentimentalist; He was a terrible realist! Everything opposed to love and unity in our world, He declared flatly, is damned - reasoning that the center of the universe is a God of holy love.
The important question for you and me is this: Is Christmas still only a story about a baby, or a time to celebrate greed -- or is it the story of a baby who grew into the person who would redeem the world from it's sins, the story of the person who calls you into apprenticeship and partnership with His great and mighty purposes?
You and I must respond to Jesus both as our rescuer and our Master. He is not a helpless infant but the ruler of all creation. You must decide if you are on His side or against Him.
Don't let the baby be smothered by the allure of a romantic story or by the orgy of consumption that takes over our world this time of year. See the baby's full mission.
If you have felt touched by The Spirit or His Word I invite you to come forward for prayer. (Editor's note: If you are a blogger we invite you contact us thru the comment section or Facebook and we will talk to you about the life change that is available to you thru Jesus.)
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