That’s just it. That’s the real reason and hope for the season we’re in.
That’s the hope of all the days of the year that the Christ born in a manger may yet be born in us and save us from us.
Emmanuel. God with us. He has not left us and He never will.
“While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: ‘Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.’ This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term: Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for ‘God is with us’)” (Matthew 1:20-21 MSG).
Not everybody gets to be in the spotlight. Not everybody wants to be.
Some of us will be thrust into the spotlight where our faith will shine brightly, as Mary’s did through her faithful obedience to God’s command– though at times it must have seemed overwhelming and impossible.
Some of us will play the part of Joseph, who was just as faithful and obedient in the shadows and behind the scenes. His part was no less important though he has fewer verses dedicated to his story.
No matter how great or small your part seems in the story of God, your faithfulness and obedience matter. You may feel unimportant- and sometimes ignored– but you never know who is watching you to see if this God of yours is real or not.
You may never know the far-reaching impact caused by the ripples of casting your small stone into that great ocean. And it may not be you but the child you raise or the spouse you support who makes the greatest impact. Even then your own steps of faith still count.
At the end of the day, it’s God who sees your good deeds and rewards your long-suffering faith. That’s the audience that really matters.
“But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move” (Labor of Love, Andrew Peterson).
Christmas is the season when we celebrate the Glorious Impossible, remembering that for God, truly nothing is impossible.
This holds true not just in December but 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (even on that weird day that comes around every four years).
That faith that can make the mountain move can move that mountain inside of you if needs be, whatever that mountain might be.
That’s all. The end.
“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’ God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” (Romans 8:15-17, The Message).
It was a very unassuming moment. There I was, standing in line for hot chocolate during the After Hours celebration of the last Kairos of 2016, uttering a small prayer.
“God, I’m ready for whatever’s next from You.”
It’s a loose paraphrase of the prayer Jesus prayed in the garden in the hours leading up to the awaiting agony of the cruxifixction. His words were, “Your will be done.”
One of the scariest moments is when you relinquish control. One of the most freeing moments is when you finally realize that you were never in control to begin with. It was and has always been God on the throne of the universe, working all things together for your good.
One of the biggest fears that many of us have isn’t that God’s not able to accomplish His plans in and for us. We’re just afraid of how painful those plans might be. And yes, I completely stole that from C. S. Lewis, though he probably said it better.
The truth as I am learning it is that my joy and God’s glory aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, my joy is greatest when God is most glorified in the world– and in my own life.
So God, whatever you have for me, whenever you have it for me, wherever you have it for me, I’m ready. I know more now than ever that the safest and best place to be is smack dab in the middle of Your will.
Amen.
“When the right time arrived, God sent His Son into this world (born of a woman, subject to the law) to free those who, just like Him, were subject to the law. Ultimately He wanted us all to be adopted as sons and daughters” (Galatians 4:4-5 VOICE).
For some reason, the image that immediately popped into my mind upon reading this verse was that line from The Lord of the Rings when Gandalf announces, “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.”
I don’t by any means intend to suggest that God is Gandalf, but I do think that Gandalf is many ways is a picture of the Christ. More importantly, this speak a very important truth about God.
God is never early. God is never late. God’s timing is always perfect. Always.
Often in my own life, I’ve found that what seemed like delays weren’t because God wasn’t ready to give but because I wasn’t ready to receive. I had some growing up and maturing to do before I could fully appreciate what God had in store for me.
I do think that often when God doesn’t work according to my timetable, it isn’t because God is thwarting my plans but because God is seeing a much bigger picture and His vision for my life is so much grander than mine.
I heard a very good definition of anxiety as a state of feeling like everything has to happen immediately. The fear sets in when delays begin to seem like denials.
Fear, as I heard it put once, is False Evidence Appearing Real. In this case, faith calls me to trust the heart of God for me in the face of overwhelming yet ultimately false evidence that He will not work out all things together for my good.
Tonight I trust God’s heart as true and God’s timing as perfect. This season of Advent proves to me yet again that God always fulfills His promises to His people.
That’s good enough for me.
So far, I’ve had my share of good Christmas music to help me cope with all my commutes to and from work, church, and other places.
I’ve made it through The Nutcracker and Handel’s Messiah, as well as Christmas compilations by Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley.
I took a small break from all the holiday tunes with some Waylon & Willie. In case you are uninformed about all things classic country music, that’s Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, both whose body of work is astounding and legendary. They collaborated on a 1978 album that is the epitome of everything country music should be. At least in my humble opinion.
If you think that country music doesn’t go any further back than the 2000’s or if you think that bro-country is real country, try this album. It might change your mind.
I could just about listen to it on repeat for days. I actually did play it through twice today on my various trips. It’s that good.
Listen to the music that makes your heart happy. Listen to what makes you come alive — even if it’s Florida Georgia Line. Branch out from what you’re familiar with and try different types of music, even stuff that’s off the top 40 radar. I promise you won’t regret it.
And now I will go back to my regularly scheduled Christmas music.
Today was Serving Saturday for The Church at Avenue South. It also happened to be the day that members of Kairos served the community at the Lexington Garden apartments in Madison, Tennessee.
Serving is good for me because it’s a good way for me to get out of my little world and go where people are way more thankful for a whole lot less than I have. I get reminded that I have much, and as the verse says, “To whom much is given, much is required.”
Perhaps the best gift you can give yourself during this season of Advent and Christmas is to volunteer and serve. I can think of no better way to break out of the narcissistic consumeristic version of Christmas as portrayed on just about every commercial.
It’s a lot easier to be content when you realize just how blessed you are, materially and otherwise. It’s also much harder to complain when you understand that so many people where you live are fighting a daily battle to feed and shelter their families.
When God became Incarnate in Jesus, He chose the poor as the first messengers of His arrival. He chose to be born through a peasant couple. His first missionaries were those raggedy shepherds tending their flocks nearby.
I still believe that God is with the poor and God is with us if we are with them. God’s heart has a special place for the poor in spirit who have no other advocates than those of us who claim to be His followers.
I wonder if instead of buying gifts for those who already have too much stuff, it might be better to give to those in need who can never hope to repay you or even properly thank you for what you’ve done. After all, isn’t that what God in Jesus did for each and every one of us?
No, this has nothing to do with the book by Pete Wilson. Hence, the title.
My plan for the better part of the day was to leave work and go to Uncle Julio’s, a new Mexican restaurant in the Brentwood area. I had it all worked out in my mind how the evening was going to go.
I forgot to factor in Nashville traffic. Oops.
What should have taken 45 minutes or less took an hour and a half. While I don’t necessarily mind sitting in interstate traffic when I have Bing Crosby Christmas music playing, it put a bit of a crimp in my plans.
By the time I arrived at said restaurant, the wait was an hour and 15 minutes. Hence the need for a plan B.
Plan B ended up being a tasty burrito at Chipotle with chips and guacamole.
I came away from this Friday night with a few takeaways.
One thing I know is that with God, there are no plan Bs, especially when it comes to you and me. He is working out His perfect design in each of our lives and knows exactly what He’s doing. Everything– and I do mean everything– that happens happens for a reason. God still works all things together for our good.
You are not a Plan B. You are God’s original design, fearfully and wonderfully made. There will never be another you and there will be another who can play the part God wrote for you in the grand play of life better than you.
In case you were wondering, the chips and guacamole were perfection.
I got my 10,000 steps in (and then some).
Actually, I tallied in the neighborhood of 23,000 steps, which equates to 10.3 miles. That’s a lot of walking.
I did what is coming to be known as my Annual Christmastime Visit to Opryland Hotel. It’s easy to log in a lot of steps because there’s so much to see and so much ground to cover. Literally.
If you haven’t been, I can’t recommend this place highly enough. It’s like a massive version of the Enchanted Forest with an insane amount of Christmas lights strung up and enough decorations to satisfy the festive hearts of even the most fanatical devotees to all things Christmasy.
It helps if you wear comfortable shoes that can handle walking long distances. It also helps if you’re in at least moderately good shape.
You may or may not want to take a massive quantity of photos while you’re there to capture the moments. That all depends on your skills as a photographer (and possibly how good your camera is).
If I’m not mistaken, the good folks at Opryland Hotel start decorating in July. Once you see the final result, you’ll understand why. It’s a spectacle with few equals.
Give yourself plenty of time to take in all the sights and sounds (and maybe bring some cash for a souvenir or two).
I think I should add staying at the Opryland Hotel to my bucket list, preferably in one of the rooms that overlook one of the conservatories. I’m not sure of the exact price, but I imagine it would involve 1) selling an organ, 2) the sale of any possible future offspring, 3) sacrificing a small woodland animal, and/or 4) a huge wad of cash.
So for right now, I’ll settle for visiting and putting in all those steps. Maybe one day I’ll see some of you there.
Remember as your head hits the pillow tonight that there is someone out there wishing and praying for all the things that you have and take for granted.
You might not have everything you want, but you still have way more than a lot of people around the world.
The next time you start to complain or to fall into the envy trap, remember that there are people who don’t have nearly as much as you who are way more content.
The old saying remains true– when you give thanks and practice gratitude, it makes what you have enough. You won’t get caught up in the futile race to find peace through the accumulation of stuff.
So give thanks for what you have and be generous to those who don’t have as much as you. Be one of the radical few who don’t feel the need to keep up with those proverbial Joneses but are satisfied with what they have.
I think that covers it for this Thursday, December 7, 2016.
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