Bethlehem

The Cross, the Manger, and the Tomb

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“How proper it is that Christians should look toward the future…for the manger is situated on Golgotha and the Cross has already been raised in Bethlehem” (attributed to Dag Hammarskjold).

I heard a sermon once where the pastor drew a parallel between the stone manger that Mary and Joseph laid Jesus in as a baby and the stone tomb that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea laid Jesus’ body in after He was crucified. Note: the manger was more likely made of stone because the animals would have destroyed a wooden feeding trough.

When we see a sweet little Jesus baby in the manger of our nativity, we can forget that the purpose of Him being born into this world was to die for our sins. Simeon even prophesied to Mary that a sword would pierce her heart, pointing to the moment she would witness her own Son on the cross.

Really, Christmas and Easter aren’t two different events. They are the beginning and ending of one event. God planned before the foundation of the world that Jesus would die for us in our place. Before sin even existed, a remedy was already in place. Jesus slain from the foundation of the world is how the Bible puts it.

It’s just as important to remind people (including ourselves) of our need for the gospel just as much on Christmas as on Easter. While it might seem more appropriate to preach an evangelistic sermon after we celebrate the empty tomb, it works just as well when we bow before the manger with the child born to be a sacrifice.

I hope this Christmas we don’t just celebrate part of the story of the incarnation. While it’s more pleasant to focus only on Jesus as a tiny infant during this Advent season, we must remember that that infant became the man who perfectly obeyed God’s law at every point and fulfilled God’s righteous requirements in our place. He then took the punishment for our sin that we deserved and died in our place. That’s the whole Christmas story just as much as it is the whole Easter story.

Thank You, Jesus, that you were born to die so that we who have died in our sin might be born again and have eternal and abundant life forever. Amen.

Finding the Blessing

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Tonight as usual, I served at Room in the Inn at Brentwood Baptist Church. We hosted 24 homeless men, all of whom were thankful to be out of the cold and the rain on the first Monday night in December.

Later, as we were getting ready to start our Bible study, I overheard one of the men say that he had spent the better part of last week attempting to sleep in a port-a-potty. That broke my heart. It also made me realize how blessed I am to have a bed and a roof, two things that I have been known to take for granted.

The old adage goes that the man with worn out shoes might not feel blessed, but to the man with no shoes, he is. And the man with no shoes is blessed in comparison to the man with no feet.

Obviously, the point is not comparison. I’m no better than anyone else because I sleep in a bed. I suppose that the takeaway is that all of us are blessed. It’s only when we stop the competition and the entitlement mentality that we realize what we have that so many others don’t.

Above all, I recall how the King of heaven gave it all up to be born to two peasants in a backwater Bethlehem village. I remember how this Son of God lowered Himself to being a slave so that we who have been enslaved to sin might be set free. I see Him on the cross willingly giving up His own life that I might live and have that life abundant.

Then who am I to complain? Who am I to think that my life would only be better if I had more possessions or money or power or fame? Is not what I have enough? Didn’t God give to me and all believers eternal life and everything needed for godliness?

That man who slept in the port-a-potty could have been bitter. But he chose to see himself as blessed because of God’s love for him. I think we’d all do well to remember how blessed we are at every moment we draw in a breath because of God’s grace.

The Greater Light of the Ancient Flame

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“Give Santa Claus a place at Christmas, so long as it is not the highest place. Sing songs about flying reindeer, but let them fly lower than the angels. Set cookies and milk out on Christmas Eve, but remember that flour and sugar and cream are of lesser value than gold and frankincense and myrrh. String colored lights on every house, hang them from every tree, so long as they are lesser lights, and the greater light of the ancient flame burns brighter still” (Winter Fire: Christmas with G. K. Chesterton, Ryan Whitaker Smith).

As I’m learning, it doesn’t have to be either/or when it comes to Santa Clause or Jesus Christ, the North Pole or Bethlehem. Just as long as you keep the star of Bethlehem that shone over the place where Jesus lay in the manger over the star on your tree, you can celebrate both. At least, that’s my understanding.

What Santa represents is the spirit of giving and generosity which finds its ultimate fulfillment in the gift of Emmanuel, God with us. What the lights and decorations represent is joy, which stands on the final victory of Jesus at the cross. Every Christmas tradition points to the original Christmas story, which always points to Jesus.

And I still think the best way to celebrate Christmas is over 12 days instead of just one. But I won’t hold my breath. I won’t get upset when everybody takes down all the reminders of Christmas by the first of the new year, because I know that the real Christmas is what lives in my heart, and nothing can ever take that away.

My Christmas Miracle

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“Hey Soul? Slow down and breathe. Let the goodness and mercy that follows you every. single. day. of. your. life. — no. matter. what. — why not slow down and see how the goodness catches up to you? Let’s remember this gentle hope today:

“I don’t have to work
for the coming of the Lord –
I don’t have to work for Christmas.
The miracle is always that
God is gracious.
I always get my Christmas miracle.
I get God with me.
That’s really all I have to get for Christmas –
my heart.
So I will just come to Him just as I am.
God gives Himself as the greatest Gift this Christmas,
and He doesn’t keep any truly good thing from me.
Because the greatest things aren’t things!
Jesus is all good, and He is all mine,
and this is always my miracle –
my greatest Gift!”
*God longs to be with you today* —

~ excerpt from #TheGreatestGift -> bit.ly/GreatestGiftforyou
#Day20www.TheGreatestChristmas.com” (Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift).

I’m thankful that even while the world is rushing about during this season, I can be still and know that God is God. I can be still and know that when we couldn’t get to God, God in Jesus has come to us in the form of a baby. I can rest in the fact that the shadow of the cross that looms over the manger because the work that started in Bethlehem wouldn’t stop until Golgotha.

I can rest.

One Final CAFO Takeaway

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I was able to attend the final session of the CAFO (Christian Alliance for Orphans) 2024 conference for which I was a volunteer. It was an incredible experience hearing from MaryBeth Chapman about the journey of adoption through grief and healing and beyond. Then I heard an amazing sermon that I’m still processing. I don’t remember the name of the preacher, but the message hit home.

Basically, Caesar issued a dirty decree that made all the inhabitants of the Roman world go back to their ancestral hometown to be registered (so that he could later raise their taxes significantly). It was a hardship for many, especially Joseph and Mary, who was with child at the time.

But God used that dirty decree to accomplish His own divine decree, born before the foundation of the world and prophesied 700 years before Caesar made his decree. Caesar was the instrument God used to accomplish the purpose of bringing Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem to fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah would arise from that little town.

I know that in the world of adoption and fostering and raising children, there are so many trials and tribulations of adoptions falling through and tragic losses and raising children that have come out of horrific abuse situations that so many must navigate with heavy hearts. But I see more and more that God is working behind it all to accomplish something bigger than any of us can yet comprehend that would blow our mind if we could see the way God sees.

I look back and see that me being out of a job enabled me to participate in this conference as a volunteer where I would normally have not been able. I could not have foreseen this back in February, but God already knew. God’s plan means there is a purpose for my pain and a special joy for me if I will step out in faith and join Him in the journey He has for me.

God is not surprised by my setbacks or my (occasional) stupidity. He’s factored those into His plan. In fact, Romans 8:28-30 says, “We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are chosen to be a part of His plan. God knew from the beginning who would put their trust in Him. So He chose them and made them to be like His Son. Christ was first and all those who belong to God are His brothers. He called to Himself also those He chose. Those He called, He made right with Himself. Then He shared His shining-greatness with those He made right with Himself” (Romans 8:28-30, NLV).

Ultimately, the goal is to be like Jesus and to know that He is coming back. We will see the grand purpose in God’s plan, knowing that behind every dirty decree is a divine decree of God directing us toward His perfect will for us.

A Good Place to Start

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It was another good night at Kairos, a young(ish) adult worship event that takes place at 7pm every Tuesday night at Brentwood Baptist Church (shameless plug). It’s located off I-65 exit 71 if you’re ever in the area (another shameless plug).

Tonight, Mike Glenn spoke about how Jesus, who defined how we measure history, came into the world in an inauspicious way. He didn’t come with pomp and circumstance to Jerusalem or Rome. He was born to peasant parents in backwater Bethlehem and the first eyewitnesses to the event were some smelly shepherds keeping their flocks in a nearby field.

The takeaway from tonight? Jesus is looking for a good place to start.

If I can offer up even the most hesitant agreements and the most tentative yes to God, He can completely transform my world and then use me to transform the world around me. I still believe that because I’ve seen it too many times not to believe.

That’s why I love the Christmas story. Jesus didn’t ask us to get our acts together and get cleaned up so we could make our way to Him. While we was still mired in sin, Jesus came down to where we were and became one of us. Not as a high and mighty ruler or a holier-than-thou mystic, but as the son of a carpenter. A regular joe.

By the way, if you come to Kairos, they have free coffee and Cheez-Its. For me, that’s an irresistible draw, but I understand that not everyone has come to truly experience the awesomeness of the little snack crackers known as Cheez-Its. I pray they one day will.

And if you’re stuck in a rut or don’t like where you are, remember that God is always looking for a good place to start. Maybe that next place is in you?

 

Wise Men Still Seek Him

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Wise Men Still Seek Him_1

 

Ahh, those wise men. I’ve talked about them a bit, haven’t I? I mentioned how they probably weren’t at the birth scene, despite their inclusion in so many nativity scenes. I’ve mentioned that there may or may not have been three of them (and the names ascribed to them– Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar– may or may not actually belong to them).

But I thought about them in a new way today.

When they saw the star the first time, they didn’t just hop in a taxi and yell, “Take us to Bethlehem, pronto!”

Most likely, they spent weeks and months and possibly years following this star. They didn’t know where it would lead. They only knew that at the end of the journey was the hope of all their dreams and the answer to all their questions and the object of all their hopes.

I’m sure they grew weary from endless days and nights wandering through deserts and probably at some point one or more of them entertained thoughts of giving up and going home. But they didn’t.

They persevered because of a promise. They kept going because of a dream in their hearts that refused to die.

I wonder sometimes if I would have been so persistent in pursuing this Christ child. Would I be that tenacious now? Would I really be willing to leave everything and everyone I know and go (alone if necessary) to follow after this Jesus?

I hope so. I pray so.

I love their initial response to finding Jesus. Matthew says “and as soon as the wise men arrived, they saw Him with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him.”

They didn’t unpack their suitcases. They didn’t sit down to a meal or request something to drink after a long journey. They worshipped. They fell to their faces in astonished awe at seeing the result of their long and arduous journey.

May you and I do the same. May you and I remember that the best worship is always that which costs us something to offer.

 

All Those Christmas Lights

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blue lights

I confess that I am not the biggest fan of all-white Christmas lights on a tree or on a house. To me, it’s like the person is saying, “Happy Generic Winter Holiday!” They are so bland.

I prefer the multi-color lights. But I’m old-school like that. I also really like the blue LED lights. A lot.

A few years ago, I went with the family on a tour of several homes decorated for Christmas. One of those homes on the tour was the late George Jones’ vast estate. That was one of the best and from what I’ve heard was always one of the most consistently festive houses around Christmastime.

Yet it all started with a single light. That one star shining in the night sky that drew those wise men all the way from the East to where the Christ child lay. That’s what started it all.

It was almost like a neon sign pointing the way and saying in essence, “Your hope lies here.”

Few saw it. Even fewer found what it pointed to. Just three wise men and some shepherds. So many who eagerly longed for Messiah missed it because it didn’t come in the way they expected.

I hope you and I don’t miss it this time. I hope you and I don’t get so caught up in the parties and tinsel and wrapping paper that we miss the child in the manger, born to be a sacrifice.

Truthfully, I like all Christmas lights. I prefer the colored ones because they catch my eye but I like all of them. I like how creative people get when decorating and  how they still manage to come up with new ideas after all these years. Plus, it’s so much easier to admire others’ ingenuity than to actually attempt to put up Christmas lights myself.