Christmas

On Christmas we celebrate Christ's first coming. It was a humble and lowly advent, but joyous nonetheless.

Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ~Luke 2:10

In the end we will celebrate His second coming. It will be a loud and victorious advent unlike anything the world has ever witnessed. And the end result will be the reality of the great joy the angles promised to the shepherds nearly two thousand years ago.


No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. ~Revelation 22:3-5

Christmas is the celebration of Christ's first advent with the anticipation of Christ's second advent. And we can sum up our celebration and hope with John's words at the end of Revelation. It speaks to both advents and the wonderful reality of our living, present Savior.

Surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! ~Revelation 22:20

Merry Christmas!

coming to town

(Unrelated Note: The trailer for The Hobbit came out today. It is one of my favorite books of all time. I am excited about the movie (coming out in two parts), but am not excited about waiting until next December to see it. For the rest of you fans, feel free to torture yourself by dabbling one year away from release.)

Everyone knows who's coming to town early Sunday morning. Children will sleep very little as they anticipate the wonderful treasures they believe he is bringing them. But has anyone really thought about what his coming entails?

According to the song, crying, shouting, and pouting are all forbidden with Santa Claus. He is coming to either reward or punish me after observing all the things I have done over the past year. I've either been naughty or nice, and Santa Claus knows exactly which category I fall into. In fact, his arrival is the very motivation for my good behavior. Hopefully, the bad things I have done will be outweighed by the good things I managed to stumble upon.

Thinking through the lyrics of the song, the whole concept seems a bit extreme. And yet, often times my view of God mimics the song's presentation of Santa Claus.

With God I convince myself there is to be zero crying, shouting, or pouting. Basically all emotion is ruled out for the sake of piety or the appearance of piety. This leads to an extremely dry relationship between God and myself. I neglect the reality that God created emotions, and they are an important part (though not the foundation) of my relationship with Him, my heavenly Father.

Similarly, I view God sitting up in heaven with a giant tally chart. Every single word, thought, and deed is measure against His standard (which they are) only to be used for or against me depending on the examination (which they are not). Grace and mercy do not exist, because everything is based upon my performance. I press on in the spirit of good works, hoping they will balance the skills of my overall performance.

Furthermore, the motivation for doing good rests not in the pleasure of God, but in saving my own skin (or so I convince myself). God doesn't want my obedience because it balances any scales. He wants my obedience because it honors Him and brings glory to His name. It's also a wonderful expression of thanks for all the wonderful blessings God bestows upon me.

True, God is Judge. True, God does give and take away. True, God knows all things. However, He does not hold these over us to elicit compliance. God's judgment will come on the last day where everyone will give an account. His giving and taking away aren't based upon our merit, but His free grace. His knowledge is another reason to trust and give Him praise. Plus, Santa Claus has never given any gift anywhere near the magnitude of God sending Jesus Christ, the full revelation of the Father, full of grace and truth.

loss of an opponent

Yesterday's passing of Christopher Hitchens may be viewed in such a light. For those who weren't familiar with Hitchens, he was one of the leaders of the "new atheism" movement. This movement emphasizes resisting and countering religion wherever it exists. Hitchens devoted most of his career to doing just that. He was especially unkind toward Christianity, arguing against the presence of any positives flowing out of it. A few years ago, Hitchens was diagnosed with cancer, and his death was a result of complications of this disease.

When someone as staunchly opposed to Christianity passes, it's extremely easy to respond with callousness. However, Christians should not find joy in individuals leaving this earth in the same state they entered it: in rebellion against God. Our joy comes when the enemies of God turn to Him in repentance, placing their faith and hope in Jesus Christ. In addition, unbelievers are still image-bearers of God and leaving behind grieving loved ones. In Hitchens case, he has a wife and children as well as a brother who converted from atheism to Christianity. If anything our prayer should be for his strength to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with his family in their time of mourning.

A friend of mine sent an email to a group of us about Hitchens' passing. Two years ago we watched the film Collision which follows Hitchens and Rev. Doug Wilson as they travel the country together debating issues of God and faith (I would recommend it for a number of reasons, namely providing a glimpse into the various arguments against the faith Christians should be aware of). My friend challenged us that the lives of individuals such as Hitchens do remind us that opponents of Christ are vocal, ferocious, and intelligent. And our job is not to avoid or hide, but follow the counsel Peter gave the scattered church.

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks your for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)

I pray that Christopher Hitchens experienced the "bedside conversion" he boldly said would never happen. Regardless, God is the holy, just, and righteous Judge. I pray as well for Christians to have a heart of compassion and grace for people like Hitchens. I pray they engage with these unbelievers knowing that as they honor Christ and give reasons for the hope they have, the only hope that exists, the Holy Spirit will bring about the fruit. 

need a little faith

If we are faithless, he remains faithful-for he cannot deny himself. ~2 Timothy 2:13

Faithless would be a suitable word to describe my overall state in recent weeks. I read, but doubt what I am reading holds true in all areas of my life. I pray without expecting anything to happen. I worship, but hold back over what I feel I'm missing. I serve, while selfishly hoping it will better my circumstances. The level of my faith in my heavenly Father rests upon how "blessed" I feel at any given moment. Simply put, my faith has been nothing more than a show for God, myself, and others.

But thankfully by God's amazing grace, He remains faithful! On Sunday, I was reminded that God's grace was extended to me, a hopeless sinner. Now I am resting on the opposite side of the pendulum. I hold, through Christ, the only lasting and fulfilling hope man can ever know. Regardless of how my circumstances may appear, I have a hope unparalleled. And nothing can take this hope from me because it does not rest upon me, but on my heavenly Father who gifts it to me. We sang quite possibly my favorite hymn, It Is Well, at the closing of our worship service yesterday morning. Whereas I usually struggle singing hymns targeted at my current wrestling, the Spirit moved  me to sing the song as a desperate plea for God to make those words the very cry of my soul. I wasn't singing because I believed the words are true, but because I desperately needed the faith to believe.

Today I received another taste of God being faithful in the midst of lacking faith. An unexpected gift was given to me this afternoon through the mail. Mail typically doesn't move me, but this particular item brought tears as I read the contents. The tears were both grief- and joy-filled. I grieved over my continual lack of faith in my Creator and Father being able to meet all of my needs. I rejoiced over the wonderful taste of His faithfulness through the people He has placed around me.

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ~1 Corinthians 1:9

I tend to overlook the deep, theological content contained in many of the favorite Christmas tunes. Every year, however, it seems as though a familiar Christmas song gets me thinking. It can be a particular line in the song or simply the overall message being made. Both serve as a wonderful reminder of exactly what is being celebrated over the Christmas season.

This year my brain began swirling as I sang O Come O Come Emmanuel at chapel. I used to think it was a slow song with dark images. Now I know its a slow song with dark images. However, the images a meant to stress the need for Emmanuel to come. To do this each of the five verses follows a similar structure.

First, there is a plea for the Lord's promised one to come. Interesting is how the name of the promised one changes with each verse. The names proceed in the following way: Emmanuel, Rod of Jesse, Day Spring, Key of David, Lord of might. I would love to do a Scriptural study on the meaning behind each of these names. On the surface, it is clear the promised one was from the line of David further depicting the servant's role as Messiah and King. God was coming to His people in flesh.

After the plea, the purposes for the coming of God's servant are laid out. Again a further look into Scripture will probably show a connection between the name and function requested. But here are a few of the reasons why the promised one had to come: ransom captives, free...from Satan's tyranny, victory over the grace, cheer our spirits, death's dark shadows put to flight, open wide our heavenly home. These various reasons all show the dark reality of Christ's coming. He came to confront sin, Satan, and death head on. He was coming to wrestle His people away from their spiritual exile. He was going to open up to them the promise land through His victory over the enemies of God.

With the plea and purposes (the coming alliteration was not intentional, but it does fit) set, the chorus heaps on the praise. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, shall come to thee O Israel! Knowing God's promised one was coming provided all the reason to exalt the name of God. Christ's arrival on the scene brought with it the greatest news men would and will ever hear. It inaugurated the beginning of the end for Satan and his allies. No longer would God's people be left in exile, but received with open-arms in the presence of the King. Christ was going to do what no else could do to the praise of God's glorious grace!

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, shall come to thee O Israel!