Dec. 17th. Scene two: Heavenly Host

Suddenly, I love that idea. I have been trying to visualize this activity today. What would it have been like to be present when the magnitude of the heavenly host suddenly appeared? I like how God gave a very unique confirmation to the one angel's words. It was like, BAM there it is. TODAY JESUS IS BORN! God excels in the surprise arena.

If you look with a keen eye concerning the events where God showed up in scripture, you would find that it is in the most surprising ways and in the most unexpected places—once again here in this birth announcement to a group of shepherds, God shows up and then really shows up to give to these simple herdsmen the message of the ages.

There are two ideas we can take away with us from this passage. The first is simple. God cares so much for us that He chose to redeem us through His Son Jesus. Surprise, we did not deserve His grace or gift; yet in His plan for us He gave everything to us in the least expected places and in the most unusual circumstances so that we might have hope in our life through Him.

The second is that all of heaven is excited about what God has done. There is no surprise here. Creation was broken at the fall of Adam, and God has been preparing for this exact moment to spring upon us the greatest news ever recorded. In fact, the news was so big that one angel could not contain it all. God sent a multitude of the Heavenly Host to remove any doubt that this event was real and that God was about to emerge in the form of a little baby, the Savior of the world.

Now here is the challenge: put yourself in the scene. Which part of the performance do you want to behold? Grab hold of it and play this story out with gusto.

See you tomorrow for scene three!

Dec. 16th. Scene one: Shepherds

Scene one: Shepherds

It is in the Gospel of Luke that we find the account telling the experience of the Shepherds. The appearance of angels, lights, music and the Glory of the Lord must have caused quite a startling experience for what would have been considered some of the "least of these. " Doing the work of a shepherd was not glamorous; in fact, the dangers far outweighed the advantages and the lonely nights spent on the hillside drove these wandering groups of men together where they could share the warmth of fire, some food and conversation.

This part of the story is like a three part play. Scene one: Shepherds down right, angels enter with lights and music…It makes for a wondrous introduction. The words that follow are filled with great and interesting news.

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

I noticed something today that I have not realized before. This is the fact that this announcement was personal. This was not a broadly-cast, everyone come, headlines-in-the-paper announcement. This was given directly to this group of ordinary people--shepherds. Notice how gently the announcement came. “Do not be afraid” were the first words spoken. Think of how many times in these birth narratives the people involved are comforted with these words. Mary, Joseph, now shepherds.

However, the most important part of this are these words: “A Savior has been born to you.” It is as if the only people that mattered at that moment was this band of shepherds. All creation was looking on as this announcement was given, and it was directed to them-"born to you." The beauty of this is that Jesus still works that way. Individually, He comes to each of us with the gift of salvation on a one-on-one encounter to offer to us eternal life. That is the purpose of His coming, and that message is still calling us today.

Join with me tomorrow for scene two.

Dec. 15th. Bethlehem

Bethlehem

A city in the “hill country” of Judah

It was originally called Ephrath. It is first noticed in Scripture as the place where Rachel died and was buried “by the wayside,” directly to the north of the city. The valley to the east was the scene of the story of Ruth the Moabitess. There are the fields in which she gleaned, and the path by which she and Naomi returned to the town. Here was David's birthplace, and here also, the birthplace of Jesus.

The gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:6) gives us a unique blending of Old and New Testament history through the prophetic announcement of the birthplace of Jesus. The history is rich with Biblical figures who have shaped culture, but not-so powerful as the birth of Jesus. Our very foundation of Christian faith and witness come from this city on a hill. So it is no wonder that at one point in the teaching of Jesus He makes reference to our lives being like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.

I believe that our passage of scripture today points to the people who received the first message and gift of the birth of Jesus. But more importantly it points to each of us as receivers of this truth.

I am convicted by the words of a song by Third Day, of the importance of this reality. I pray that we also will be like Bethlehem that out of us will come the truth of the power of Christ to redeem all people. Here are the lyrics from the song “City on a Hill,” by Third Day.

You are the light of the world

A city on a hill cannot be hidden

Shine your light before all men

That they might see your works and then

Praise your Father up in Heaven

A city on a hill cannot be hidden

Standing tall before all men

To show the things that it's been given

And everything that it can give

Just like that city on a hillside

We got a light that's deep within us

No, don't keep it to yourself

Just remember how you felt

When you first gave your life to Jesus

And I know that our salvation isn't based on the things we do

But it's only given by the grace of God

By the sacrifice of Jesus, and if we really did believe

We were born to share this message with someone

Dec. 14th. Disturbed

Disturbed

I find it somewhat fitting that at the pivotal point of the birth narrative in Matthew the story jumps to how this birth is disturbing. It starts with King Herod and spreads throughout Jerusalem. It is pivotal because at this point all of us are faced with the same question: Does Jesus disturb you?

I am not referring to the presence of fear or dread, but in the sense of how His presence is causing you to rethink life and some of the stuff we do so easily? I think this is precisely why and how Jesus came into our world. His life and ministry and even His very presence should cause us to become disturbed. In actuality, if Jesus is not making a difference in our lives for the good or even the bad, then why did He come? What was His purpose other than to bring us to a new relationship with God and to draw us toward Himself through faith?

I believe that Jesus has the answers for living life to the fullest, for finding purpose and ministry, and for discovering the hidden areas of our existence that need to be rooted out. Jesus' entire ministry was about challenging the status quo and calling ordinary people just like you and I to come and follow Him with reckless abandonment. So the question again is posed: Does Jesus disturb you?

In our reading, King Herod was disturbed; he saw his world in danger and was willing to do anything to keep things in order. Continue to read chapter 2:13 – 18 and see to what extent he reached because of how greatly disturbed he was.

The same might be said of us. See how greatly he or she acts in order to escape the feelings Jesus brings when He challenges our ordinary with His extraordinary. Might I suggest that the next time you are confronted with the person of Jesus allow Him to get deep into your life and to bring about the change His transformational life can bring.

See you on the journey…

Dec. 11th,. Searching

Searching…

We’re on a quest. We seek knowledge; riches, the best job, a perfect spouse, a good friend and…the list could go on and on. The reality is that this is the way that God has created us. He created us to be seekers and our greatest quest is the search for Him. This is evidenced in the journey of the Wise Men.

In each of us there is the desire to discover God and to enter into relationship with Him. There is nothing strange about this or unusual. It is, in fact, a natural course to follow. It is natural to follow the creator of our purpose so that we might be fully developed and we might discover in us His purpose. Let me be clear here. I believe that God has created us to bring Him glory and praise. I/we are not created for ourselves (there is nothing unique in that). We are created with divine purpose to reflect the glory of Him who created us.

It was natural then that the Maji were seeking someone they could worship. In fact, the reason for their quest was this central theme. Matthew 2:2 asks, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

Here are some qualities of seekers:

1. They were looking. If you and I are to be seekers, we need to look beyond ourselves and seek God where we can find Him. The reality of this is, that when we seek God, He reveals Himself. It’s His promise: those who seek me will find me.
2. They were willing to take a risk. They decided to journey to a place which they had not been before. How true that is for us. If we are going to discover God perhaps we need to look in other places than where we have been looking.
3. They noticed the sign. Road maps are not good unless we rightly read where they lead us. The star went before them as a marker to where they should go. If we are not looking for the sign, well guess what, we will more than not miss it.
4. When they did find Jesus, they knew it. Seekers can know when they have found the answer they seek. It brings about a sense of purpose and direction like never before experienced. It will change life.

Who are you seeking today? Where are you looking? May I suggest looking toward Jesus and seeking Him. You might just find what you are looking for.

Dec. 10th. Righteous People

I have decided to change the focus of my BLOG's over the next week until Christmas. What I hope to accomplish is insight into the Birth narratives in the Gospels and the truths held for us in this season. Join with me each weekday to walk the Jesus walk.

Righteous people.

I think it is amazing how much we read into the story of Christmas and therefore lose the central message. I must admit that there is not much about Christmas that I don't like, but one thing is perhaps the crowds of people. However, that is not just a Christmas thing. I am just not that much into crowds. I love, however, the pageantry, the Nativity settings, the stories of Christmas, and yes even the movies both secular and sacred. They have become for me a part of the celebration and mystery of the season.

However, when you consider the Biblical text in Matthew, we find something completely different. What we have here is the story of family and struggle and even death. Yes, there are some amazing external events with the Maji, but beyond that we have a family in crisis. The beauty of this passage for me is how and why they survived. What made the difference? I know families that break up over less and so do you. In the midst of this beautiful story lies some deep truth for us as well.

The first truth is righteousness. Joseph had this. His struggle was about doing the "right" thing. Legally, he could just say the marriage to Mary was off, and he would have been justified to do so. But righteousness most often does not work that way. Righteousness makes decisions not based upon just the law, but upon what is the right thing to do—the compassionate thing to meet another’s need.

I like the fact that Joseph was already considered a righteous man. I can imagine that the pressure Joseph felt at this point was huge. Public opinion is hard to live down. Family expectations and long-range goals needed to be considered. His head told him to divorce Mary, but his heart was another matter. Righteousness is also about relationship. Broken trust and promise are not the marks of a righteous person. Belief, in times like these, is hard to come by. Who can I trust? Who can I turn too?

Joseph did the right thing because he was righteous. Righteous people have God experiences. They have ears that can hear what God is saying, and God speaks to them in astonishing ways. In a dream, Joseph came to a point in his life where he could trust that what was happening was from God. That was the difference maker. Sometimes the answers to our most difficult struggles come to us in the most unusual ways. I think righteous people are the ones who can discern the difference and make decisions that make a difference.

Day 30: Jesus Always Provides

Jesus Always Provides

I am touched by the fact that in these closing chapters of John we find Jesus ministering to the needs of specific people--people with heartfelt needs who were wondering if all that they had been involved in with Jesus these past three years was over, and if there was anything worth moving forward for.

That is a typical question in times of distress--a question I often ask myself when faced with an uncertain future and difficult decisions. I have often wondered why John put so much emphasis on these closing stories: the woman at the tomb, the appearing to the disciples in hiding, the presentation of Himself to Thomas, and this beautiful interaction between Peter and Jesus with those searching questions. I am convinced that these stories are told to show us again that Jesus always provides what we need.

The last sentence of chapter 20:30-31puts it into perspective, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Did you catch that? “By believing you may have life.” Jesus always provides. He provides hope for our fear, truth for our doubt, touch for our unbelief and forgiveness for our sin. Jesus always provides.

What is it that Jesus is providing for you today?