A Quiet Christmas

Into a Spiritual Winter

Like Narnia, the nation of Israel was
experiencing a spiritual winter.

The first prophecy that Jesus would come to save mankind was given way back in Genesis, right after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. God did not wait long to tell them that a rescue would be coming. Right after He dealt with Adam and Eve about their sin, He told the serpent:

"And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." (Genesis 3:15)

Jesus was the promised offspring of the woman, who would "strike the head" of the serpent.

Although there had been many prophecies about the coming Messiah, it had been 400 years since a prophet had spoken in Israel. God had been silent.  It was a spiritual winter. Almost like the Narnia of C.S. Lewis, where it was always winter but never Christmas.

Into this silence, a messenger arrived with a startling announcement for a young, Jewish girl.

Mary

Mary was probably between 12 and 14 years old.

Mary was young, probably between 12 and 14 years old. The day Gabriel came, she was probably working, quietly going about her daily duties. It was a regular day—a day of weaving, cleaning, and helping to take care of her younger brothers and sisters.

Mary’s future was a lot like that of most other young Jewish girls. She looked forward to getting married to her fiancé, Joseph, and starting her life as a wife and mother.

Life was very ordinary. Nothing ever seemed to happen in Nazareth. But one day, something startling did happen. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her,

“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 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.” (Luke 1:30-33)

The future that Mary had imagined for herself was instantly shattered. She was a virgin, and had been keeping herself pure for marriage to Joseph. What would he say if she were to become pregnant? Besides that, how was it even possible?

The angel told her, “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.” (Luke 1:35) The angel left and the room was once again quiet. In the silence, Mary breathed a prayer to God.

What would her parents think? What would Joseph think?

Joseph

It was quiet that night in Bethlehem. Crisp. Cold. Clear. Joseph leaned against the stable wall and looked out. The stars looked especially bright in the black ink of the night sky.

There, on the edge of town, the wind blew down from the hills, whooshing through the trees and whistling around the edge of the stable. Joseph remembered the words the Angel of the Lord had spoken to him in a dream:

“Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because 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.”

Joseph wondered, could it be his own Mary was fulfilling the words of the prophecy: “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” which means ‘God with us?’”

Jesus was born in a stable while the animals looked on.

A Lowly Manger

The stable was mostly quiet. The cows, donkeys, and sheep gave off a friendly warmth that almost made the stable feel cozy.

Mary and Joseph could hear the shuffling of hooves as the animals moved in their stalls, and the fluttering wings of the doves overhead.

One small child, who would forever change the world.

Somehow, the animals had been more welcoming than the people of Bethlehem! Truly, Bethlehem was sleeping that night, physically sleeping and spiritually sleeping, completely unaware that the King of the Universe had just made His appearance.

The town was quiet now—everyone gone to bed—and the only other sounds were the low sound of the wind coming down from the hills and the occasional small cries of the newborn baby.

Who would have thought that this one, small child would forever change the world? He came so quietly, in the darkness of night, to such a common, ordinary family, and in such an unexpected way.

The people of Bethlehem had no idea who had been born in their town that night. They slept right through one of the greatest events of history.

A Bunch of Lowly Shepherds

A fire crackled in the darkness of the Judean hillside. A ragtag bunch of humble shepherds pulled their blankets tighter against the wind.

The angels announced the good news first to lowly shepherds.

The sheep were noisy as usual, the ewes and lambs baaing and bleating to each other. Suddenly, another sound exploded in the sky—it sounded like a rushing wind—and with it a bright light. An angel appeared in the sky, saying:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12)

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)

The shepherds wanted to see with their own eyes the baby that the angel had spoken of. Could this really be the promised one? The one lamb who would take away the sin of the world?

"So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them." (Luke 2:16-18)

All For Love

He humbled himself as a little baby, coming into this fallen world to redeem us.

God incarnate, Emmanuel, entered a sinful world through a lowly stable. He left the glory and majesty of heaven and humbled himself, becoming a little baby, and ultimately giving his life for us on a cruel cross.

He was the one spoken of by the apostle John—“in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh.” (John 1:1,14)

Why did he do it? Why did he cross the great divide between heaven and earth? Between God and man? He did it because He is love. Love crossed over with a purpose—the redemption of man, a gift from God to reconcile all mankind.

The Four Gardens

There are four gardens of great significance in the Bible.

When we think about a garden, we think about a place of beauty, refreshment, and rest – a place where delicious scents and bright colors delight the senses. 

The Garden of Eden

Of course, God was the first gardener. He planted the first garden in Eden – a place of utter perfection. That first garden was created before sin, before weeds, before blight – it was indescribably perfect.

God could have kept it as a place of pristine beauty for all eternity. But he had another plan. God formed man out of the dust of the earth, giving him shape with his own hands and crafting him in his very own image. The Lord gave him dominion over every created thing.

Genesis tells us that Adam walked in the garden with God in the cool of the day. It is hard to imagine what that would have been like. Adam and Eve were the only humans who ever had that privilege. 

Tasting the forbidden fruit changed things forever. The world, as Adam and Eve had known it, was gone. The Lord had to banish them from the Garden he had created for them.

Sin had come, and with it, a world of woes.

With the first bite of that forbidden fruit, sin entered the world, and with it, a penalty.  Adam and Eve needed redemption. A price had to be paid. God, himself, sacrificed animals and dressed Adam and Eve in the animal skins. For thousands of years, animal sacrifices continued – so much sin, so much blood.

Until the perfect sacrifice came. Jesus was the lamb sent from the very hand of God. One without blemish. One that would atone for the sin of mankind once and for all. Upon seeing Jesus, John the Baptist told his followers, “behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”

The Garden of Gethsemene

The shadow of the cross had loomed over Jesus from birth, but that shadow became unbearably heavy in another garden – the Garden of Gethsemane. In that garden of despair, when he took our sin upon himself, the agony and travail of spirit was so heavy that he sweat great drops of blood. “Father, let this cup pass from me,” Jesus pleaded. “Yet, not my will, but yours,” he said, submitting to the will of his father.

Why did Jesus, the Son of God, allow himself to experience the humiliation and agony that came with this kind of death? Why did the Father sacrifice his one and only son? 

The answer is simple.  One word - love. He did it for love.

The Garden of Golgotha 

John 19:41 tells us that “in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.” Loving hands carried the lifeless body of the Son of Man from the cross to a tomb in the Garden of Golgotha, leaving him cold and alone, his battered body sealed away behind a stone.

Sin came in the Garden of Eden. Jesus took our sin upon his shoulders in the Garden of Gethsemane. And praise be to God - victory came in the Garden of Golgotha! Three days after his death on the cross, after what looked like the worst defeat of all time, the incomparably great power of God filled that cold and lonely tomb, and began coursing through the body of Jesus. He rose in glorious power, claiming victory over sin and death - forever.

Jesus conquered death and the grave, and we are more than conquerors with him. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus said “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you might be also.” He is preparing a place for all the redeemed. And one day, perhaps very soon, he will come again to take us to the wedding feast of the lamb and to live with him forever.

He has given us a wonderful promise, but with it a warning – for it is only for those who have ears to hear.

The Garden of Eternity

 “To the one who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Once again, we will be in a garden – a garden of eternal delight, ever and always with the one who loved us all the way to the cross and on into eternity.

Perspective is Everything

My Dad, the man with the HUGE shoulders.

Perspective is everything. Those of you reading this blog who know my family know that my father would never be described as a physically large or imposing man. At only five feet, four inches tall, he would easily be described as a short man by most any standards.

But even a short man may be perceived as large in stature, depending on the perspective of the person considering him. When I was in first grade, I idolized my father. (I still do.) I vividly remember describing him to my classmates.

"My dad is really strong," I said. Reaching my arms out as far as I could, I exclaimed, "his shoulders are HUGE." I tended to be rather dramatic in those days, and my words created quite an impression within my circle of friends. I had given them the idea that my dad was some sort of Super Hero, beyond the bounds of the average mortal man.

Imagine my surprise when one of my friends saw me with my dad in town. "Your dad isn't big!" she said. "He's short. I thought you said he had HUGE shoulders!"

Of course, I was only about three feet high myself at the time, and when I looked at my dad, I had to look up to see his impressive five foot, four inch frame. My perspective had a lot to do with my perception.

There is an old cliche that says, "You can't see the forest for the trees." When we are in the middle of the woods, all we can see is one tree after another. It is hard to grasp the breadth and depth of the entire forest. It is only when we place some distance between ourselves and the trees that we can actually see the forest. We are missing perspective.

As the current of life sweeps us along, lack of perspective can lead us to questions and uncertainty, but the simple truth is that we are not seeing the big picture. All we see are the many small events and the multitude of pieces that comprise the whole.

God does not have that problem. In speaking of Himself, he says; "For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9 NLT)

His ways are higher. His thoughts are higher. To say that His perspective is higher is not really accurate, because He does not see things from a singular angle or vantage point; what He sees is nothing less than the absolute truth.

Paul said "we see through a glass, darkly." (1 Corinthians 13:12) The New Living Translation reads like this:  "Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."

Hold on for a minute. God knows me completely?

Do you ever think about the fact that God sees through all the extraneous stuff of your life? He sees through the facade, the pretense, and the attitudes, to the very heart of you -- what makes you tick, what drives you, what makes you cringe, what you want to hide. He sees the burden you are carrying, the hurt that is ravaging your heart.

He also knows the ending. We do not.

Do you trust Him? I mean REALLY trust Him, even in the middle of life's challenges?

It is only by looking up that you will see His HUGE shoulders -- the only way you will see His arms reaching down in love.

Open our eyes, Lord. Help us to see -- to see You, and to see the things of life as You see them.

He's More Than Enough

How can one define enough? In some instances, enough might be a whole lot of something.  At other times, enough might be just a little.

Most of the time more than enough sounds like an impossibility; we can't even get enough, let alone more than enough.

Jesus provided a perfect picture of more than enough when he fed the multitudes (Luke 9). One small boy in the crowd had five loaves and two fish. Jesus took that small meal (which was enough for the boy) and blessing it, He made it more than enough for five thousand. In fact, there were twelve baskets of left overs once everyone had eaten.

The story of the loaves and fishes is such a perfect example of the way God so often works. I have found, over and over, that He wants us to give Him the little we have; in exchange, we get all that He has. 

When I was a young woman, my siblings and I had a Christian rock group. Our goal was to lift up Christ and draw people to Him. We were pretty devoted and gave up all other ambitions in pursuit of ministry. 

One of our biggest hurdles was that we did not have our own sound system.This placed some serious restrictions on our ministry. We prayed and prayed that God would give us a sound system.  One day, after chores, I was walking across the yard, asking God (once again) for a sound system. God reminded me of David and his five, smooth stones - the same stones David took to meet Goliath. 

"What do you have in your hand," God said to me that morning. All of a sudden, I realized that I could sell my horse and the money could be used to buy a sound system. My sister and my father also sold their horses and we had enough money to purchase the sound system.

I won't lie to you; it was a sacrifice. I loved my horse. 

Did I ever regret giving up my horse for the Lord?  Absolutely not. God took the little that I had and poured out blessing on me, a thousand times more than what I had given Him. He took enough and gave back more than enough.

Let's take this even deeper.

Sometimes we hold ourselves, or pieces of ourselves, back from God. We love the self we have come to be and do not want to give all of ourselves over to God. We hold a little something back.

What we fail to see is that God has something so much greater, so much better, even so much more us, than the thing we are hanging on to. 

It's a little bit like a trapeze artist. Unless he lets go of the bar he is swinging on, he can't grasp the next bar that takes him even higher.

When we  stop hanging on so tightly to what we have, we can embrace the abundance - the more than enough - that God has for us.

Good, Good Father

Recently I've been listening to a song my brother, Evan, told me about called Good, Good Father. I've basically had it on repeat at work for about three weeks, actually. It's a simple declaration of who God is, and who we are in relation to him. He is our good father; we are loved by him. The song also has me thinking about James 1:17, which says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (NIV) No gift was ever, or could ever, be greater than Jesus, who descended into the wreckage of humanity at the appointed time to destroy the "Eat, drink and be merry" myth of the Roman empire, as well as the "Do more and God will love you more" myth of the Pharisees. Into this spiritual and cultural bedlam - which was complete hedonism on one end and complete legalism on the other - Jesus steps with his one/two punch of truth and grace that demolishes the cultural foundations of two societies. He, the light of the world, looked into the inky blackness and said, "I will take my light there." And he did take his light there and, in just three years of public ministry, upended the world forever.

But it isn't in the shock and awe campaign of the ministry years that we first meet Jesus. We first meet him as a baby born of a virgin in a cattle stall. And, I'm sorry, but for all the singings of Away in a Manger I hear, I can never quite get on board with the line, "The little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes." I doubt that very much. My guess is that his birth was every bit as agonizing, messy and harrowing as any other. My guess is that the little Lord Jesus made plenty of crying. My gut tells me that Mary was as terrified and exhausted as any other woman who goes through a birth experience. My assumption is that Joseph was an emotional basket case, just like any other would-be father standing by his wife's side: part frantic, part trying to act tough, part expecting the worst. I very much doubt that Jesus just slid into the world without a peep, in the easiest delivery in history, and here's why: that version cheapens the whole story. We are talking about the God of the universe, the author of the cosmos, coming to earth to save all people from all sin for all time. One sacrifice that would restore a relationship between God and man that had been broken for thousands of years. Jesus wasn't spared a single iota of suffering in his death, so why would he and Mary and Joseph be spared suffering in his birth? Paul tells us Jesus "gave up his privilege and was made in human likeness, taking the role of a slave and being born as a human being (Phil. 2:7)." To me, that means that he was, in every way, like us (which is reiterated in Hebrews 4:15). It's the ultimate act of humility for the author of life to subject himself to the limitations and frustrations and temptations of humanity so that he could say to us, in our anger or grief or pain, "I understand what you're going through, and, even though I might not deliver you from it, I'm walking it with you." After all, God didn't take the cup from Jesus; he didn't magically whisk John the Baptist out of prison; he didn't take Paul's thorn away; he didn't prevent the disciples from gruesome deaths; he didn't save and deliver everyone from everything every chance he got. What he DID do, though, is save us from our sin once and for all time, and to fully understand that is impossible, but to begin to understand what kind of love it is that we're talking about, we have to understand how immeasurably vast God is, and how far he came to save us. That's the Christmas story.

I'm sorry if I ruined Away in a Manger for you. That wasn't the point. But maybe instead of that song, you can listen to Good, Good Father today (link is below) and think about just how good God is, and how much he suffered in sending his son to die for us. And don't forget to dwell on one more thing today: that this same God - the Father of Heavenly Lights himself - knows everything you are going through, and he's walking it with you.

Merry Christmas!


Good, Good Father
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djrY_eFDOwE