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Advent Sneaking Up

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Every year, I say that I will experience all the fullness of Advent and Christmas and not one little moment slip by, yet increasingly each year I find that the days in December slip by so quickly that I hardly have a chance to catch my breath before it’s all over.

I don’t feel ready or prepared, yet Christmas Eve is only 9 days away. Back when I was a kid, 9 days would last forever, but these days when I sneeze, 2 days go by.

The first Advent and Christmas snuck up on people. Those living in Israel were expecting a Messiah, but almost none of them were looking in the right place at the right moment when He arrived.

Few would have ever suspected tiny Bethlehem to be the birthplace of the King of the Universe. Fewer would have expected Him to be born in such a lowly place — whether it was a stable or a room for the animals attached to a house– and had His first crib be a feeding trough.

It seems we’re still missing Him today. He gets crowded out by lights, gift wrapping, tinsel, and all the hustle and bustle that comes with the season. These are all good and well, but not when we’ve forgotten the reason why.

It’s good to make time to be still and meditate on the true meaning of Christmas, remembering that the Child we celebrate lives in the hearts of people not just one day a year but in all the days of all the years (to semi-borrow a line from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)

“Lord, sometimes You come quietly and with no disturbance. Babies threaten no one, and no memorials are raised to mark their significance. May my life bring Christ quietly into the circle of human need so that those who need You will not be frightened by Your presence but enveloped in it” (Calvin Miller, The Christ of Christmas).

Stepping Inside a Movie

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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the 1954 Christmas classic White Christmas. It remains my absolute all-time favorite holiday movie ever.

Each time I watch the part where they get to the Vermont Inn run by the General, I wish for a moment that I could step into the TV screen and live there.

I know it’s not real. It’s most likely a set built on a sound stage at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Still, it looks and feels warm and inviting.

It’d be amazing if there were actual places like this. They’d almost have to be in the New England area or it would spoil the illusion.

Anyway, now you know my little secret. I want to live inside the movie White Christmas. With or without the floor show.

Thankful for Being Well

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“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver” (Mahatma Gandhi).

“Health is the thing that makes you feel that now is the best time of the year” (Franklin Pierce Adams).

I’m slowly but surely on the mend. The fever’s gone, the energy’s returning, and the cough . . . well, as the great philosopher Meat Loaf once said, two out of three ain’t bad.

I never fully appreciate my good health until after I’ve been sick. It’s a lesson I have to re-learn over and over. The pattern goes like: 1) me taking my health for granted, 2) me coming down with a nasty fever, 3) me feeling like death warmed over and wanting to hibernate until spring, 4) me finally mending and getting well, 5) me being grateful for my heath– for a little while.

Then I read about someone who’s way more sick than I ever was. Or someone who’s been fighting chronic illness for years. Or someone who’s life expectancy went from years to months or weeks or even days.

In a culture where we have some of the most advanced medical technology and knowledge, it’s the norm to not give a second thought to your health. It almost feels like a given for most of us that we will live out our 80 years in relative comfort.

But lately, it seems like death has touched so many of my friends’ families. Even some of my friends and family. Sure, some lived to a ripe old age, but too many departed this life much too soon.

So, thank you God for my health. I’m grateful for each day, knowing that tomorrow is neither guaranteed nor promised. I will do my best to appreciate and enjoy and savor this one life as much as I possibly can and never take anyone in my life for granted.

 

At the Right Time

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“But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance” (Galatians 4:4-7, The Message).

In this Advent time, it’s good to remember that for thousands of years people were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. Many trusted in faith and died without seeing what they hoped for fulfilled, yet they still believed.

We are on the other side of history, looking back toward that blessed event. How much more should our faith increase at this time of year, knowing that the promised Messiah has come and the Kingdom He spoke of is here?

Still, for many of us, this is a difficult season. For some, it’s a reminder of lost loved ones. For others, it’s a season where life goes from busy to insanity.

Still, this is the season where we are reminded of Emmanuel– God with us. Advent means that God is still here with us and won’t ever leave us. Ever.

 

 

The Stocking for the Child Born in a Manger

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“All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. Its his birthday we’re celebrating. Don’t let us ever forget that.

Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share–loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth” (from The Bishop’s Wife).

With all the commercialization of Christmas, it’s easy to forget the real reason for the season. I was reminded of that as I watched The Bishop’s Wife, one of the movies that falls under the required holiday viewing category for me.

I’d say that we could all use more loving kindness, warm hearts, and that stretched out hand of tolerance. I see so much hostility whenever I read comments on Facebook posts. No one is allowed to voice a dissenting opinion, or disagree, or sometimes even state their own preference.

But Christmas is about peace on earth, good will to men. It’s about how a Savior has been given to us, and one of the names He will forever be known by is Prince of Peace.

My prayer is that you can receive this gift that came so long ago in that manger in Bethlehem. That you know that Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

Hopefully, in all the crazy insanity of the Christmas shopping season, we can all be a little kinder, a little more patient, a little more grace-full.

Oh, and it doesn’t bother me whether you say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” nearly as much as it used to. What good is a “Merry Christmas” if it’s followed by greedy impatient selfish consumerism? Again, words are cheap, but what really matters is how you live out your faith.

So, let’s be mindful of that empty stocking and be intentional about what that Child in the Manger, now Savior of the World, would want from us this Christmas season.

 

Scrooge and Elf

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I did a Christmas movie two-fer, also known in some circles as a marathon or a movie binge. I watched the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol and Elf.

I own 9 versions of the Dickens classic. I can’t exactly say why I’m drawn to the movies and the book other than the character of Ebenezer Scrooge.

I can think of no other character outside the Bible who transforms so dramatically from beginning to end. Scrooge goes from the most unfeeling, miserly, cold-hearted man to ever live into the patron saint of Christmas.

The 1951 movie especially captures the meanness of the pre-spirits Scrooge and the giddiness after. Alastair Sims captures all of the range of this character better than any other actor that I’ve ever seen.

And Elf. It’s such a goofy movie that I love so much. You have a grown-up kid who thinks he’s an elf because he grew up among elves. However, it’s not all candy canes and twirly swirly gum drops.

There’s actually a dramatic part of the story where Buddy the Elf doesn’t feel like he fits in anywhere– neither the world of elves or the world of humans. I think that resonates with just about every one of us at some point.

The key is when Buddy finally finds his purpose, what he’s good at, and quits trying to please everyone else and fit their ideas of what he should be.

So that’s my Christmas two-fer. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside now. So Merry Early Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Only 17 more days!

Both Just and a Sinner

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“Simul justus, et peccator, totus, totus” (Martin Luther).

In case you were wondering, this quote is Latin and can be translated as “Simultaneously both just and a sinner.”

I find out how very true that is in my own life on a daily basis. I can echo the words of Paul when he said that the good he wanted to do, he didn’t do, and the bad he didn’t want to do, he did.

I don’t think this expression is a license to indulge in sinful habits and choices. I do think that the reality is that as long as we live in the flesh in this life, we will battle the fleshly desires that still dwell within us.

The part I love is where God declares those of us who have put our faith in Christ to be just. It’s not a righteousness that comes from any part of who we are or what we do but is entirely from God and is completely the righteousness of Jesus given to us.

I see it as good reason not to get puffed up in thinking how spiritual I am simply because I’ve come to faith in Christ. I may be just in the eyes of God, but I also know that that sin nature that still dwells in me can rear its ugly head from time to time and at very inopportune moments.

The good news is that it won’t always be this way. God in Jesus has promised that He will finish the good work He started in me (and you). That’s not a wishful thinking kind of hope or a pie-in-the-sky fantasy kind of dream. Because God has said it, it’s already as good as done, as true as the God who has spoken it.

Lord Jesus, let it be done.

 

 

 

Feeling a Little Feverish

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I’ll keep this short because I’m feeling a tad feverish tonight. Not in any way sick or bad, just a case of the mild chills.

Kairos was fantastic as usual. My takeaway is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes us secret keepers who turn into secret tellers when we pass on the hope that we have because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

No matter how I’m feeling, good or bad or indifferent, that secret still rings true. It’s still the hope that all the world has been looking for from the very beginning until now.

All I need tonight is a couple of Ibuprofen, lots of vitamin C, a good night’s sleep, and Jesus.

 

Jonah’s Dilemma

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As a volunteer for Room in the Inn, one of my favorite parts is sitting in on the Bible study with the homeless men. Not only do they get a warm place to stay, a soft bed, and a hearty meal, they also get to dive deep into the Word of God.

Tonight, the speaker talked about Jonah. The part that struck me was how Jonah’s reluctance to go when God called him to go was over how much he disliked the people of Ninevah. He knew what kind of people they had been, how merciless and cruel to their enemies– including the Israelites– and felt that they didn’t deserve the grace of God.

As I follow the social and political rhetoric on social media, it seems to me that most of us have a category of persons or people groups that we feel don’t deserve the grace of God. It could be those dastardly Republicans (or Democrats). It could be the LGBTQ community. It might very well be the Muslim peoples. Maybe it’s that Trump guy who currently holds the title of President.

I still believe that when you limit the grace of God, when you pick and choose who’s worthy of it, then you nullify the grace of God (if that were possible). It becomes about merit and earning God’s favor.

Grace by its very definition is the unmerited favor of God. No one deserves it, otherwise it would no longer be grace. Yet God still chooses to extend it to us in the person of Jesus.

Jonah actually got angry when those Ninevites repented and turned to God. The book ends with God asking Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Maybe we need to repent of our self-righteous judgmentalism and arrogant condemnation towards certain people and people groups and instead pray God’s mercy for them.

I’m not saying don’t call sin for what it is or speak out against evil in any form, but do so out of a spirit of love and gentleness, always extending the same grace that God extended you when you were His enemies.

One of my very favorite quotes is from C. S. Lewis and says that we forgive the inexcusable in others because we know that God has already forgiven the inexcusable in us.

That’s something to remember when you get ready to engage in the social media discussion on any topic.

Always choose mercy over judgment, grace over condemnation, and love over hate.

 

Advent Prayers for Monday Eve

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Lately, I have difficulty keeping everything straight in mind. I guess that makes me a cotton-headed ninny muggins. Like, is this the first or second week of Advent? Or have I posted what I’m about to post already?

As to the first question, my church lit the first Advent candle today. I supposed it really doesn’t matter if you get the order exactly right as long as you are able to prepare your heart to receive the coming Christ-child and center your mind on what Christmas is truly about– God breaking into this world to redeem His people from their sins.

As to the second, who cares? This Advent prayer is worth a repeat, if that’s what it really is. It’s still a beautiful prayer that echoes the feelings and thoughts of many who will read it.

“O Lord, how hard it is to accept your way. You come to me as a small, powerless child born away from home. You live for me as a stranger in your own land. You die for me as a criminal outside the walls of the city, rejected by your own people, misunderstood by your friends, and feeling abandoned by your God.

As I prepare to celebrate your birth, I am trying to feel loved, accepted, and at home in this world, and I am trying to overcome the feelings of alienation and separation which continue to assail me. But I wonder now if my deep sense of homelessness does not bring me closer to you than my occasional feelings of belonging. Where do I truly celebrate your birth: in a cozy home or in an unfamiliar house, among welcoming friends or among unknown strangers, with feelings of well-being or with feelings of loneliness?

I do not have to run away from those experiences that are closest to yours. Just as you do not belong to this world, so I do not belong to this world. Every time I feel this way I have an occasion to be grateful and to embrace you better and taste more fully your joy and peace.
Come, Lord Jesus, and be with me where I feel poorest. I trust that this is the place where you will find your manger and bring your light. Come, Lord Jesus, come.Amen” (Henri Nouwen).