A Christ-follower with a limp

Sunday, January 29, 2023

Groundhog Day Again?

“The eight laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation,

repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.” John Wooden

“That's right, woodchuck-chuckers — it’s…Groundhog Day!” Do you remember that line from the Bill Murray movie, Groundhog Day? Every February 2^nd is Groundhog Day, the day when the superstitious look to a small mammal to determine how soon spring will arrive.

The 1993 movie focused on a weatherman, Phil Connors, who was given the same assignment every year. For the fourth year in a row, he was sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the annual Groundhog Day events. Begrudgingly, he went and gave his report. However, upon awakening the next day, he found himself in a time loop. Once again it was Groundhog Day. Once again, he experienced the events as they had already occurred one day prior. The same thing happened the next day, the next day, the next day, and so on. It’s a silly (sometimes funny) movie.

Been there! Done that! Variety is the spice of life and gives it meaning. That’s the message of our culture but it feeds our need to constantly seek new foods, clothing styles, appliances, technological toys, and other objects of our desires. We’re programmed to look down upon the drudgery of repetition or routine. Repetition is the stuff of dullards, not the cool or hip.

Routines are caricatured as boring, yet the writer of Ecclesiastes famously reminds us, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (1:9).

Did you know that God has made all of creation to exist and flourish in a repetitive pattern (Genesis 1–2)? The heavens declare His glory, the sun runs its course with joy (Psalm 19:1–6), the rivers clap their hands, and mountains sing His praises (Psalm 98:8). Creation glorifies God through its constancy—including humans, God’s most treasured creatures. Our bodies require daily food and rest. We’re designed to find purpose in knowing and glorifying God again and again.

There’s deep joy, even fulfillment in the repetitious. Too many overlook the beauty of the ordinary and repeated. Attempting to avoid a life with repetition is foolish and futile. It’s a fundamental reality of being human. As someone said, “we are creatures of again; we are made for again.”

In his book, Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton chastises adults for a disconnected view of reality: “Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be an automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”

Too often we miss the joy of the repeated in God’s world. When was the last time that you were grateful for these consistent recurrences?

The repetitions of nature. Recently, I’ve been reading Exodus in my devotions. The 9^th plague that God inflicted on Egypt to convince Pharoah to set Israel free was darkness. It was pitch black for three days.

Even on overcast days, we enjoy the consistency of the rising sun, giving us some measure of daylight. Winter may seem long, yet we know spring is coming. Snow and cold are always followed by warmth, the blooming and regreening of our world. Repetition. It’s happened every year since the beginning and will continue to happen.

The repetition of relationships. No one is shocked when parents love their children. We’re shocked when they don’t. That repetition of relational love goes back to Creation when Adam looked into Eve’s eyes and then that first couple looked into the eyes of their firstborn son. We expect men and women to fall in love and commit to each other. Valentine’s Day is a few weeks off. 30,000 employees with profits of some $4 billion annually at Hallmark Cards are thankful they do. No one is surprised by love and romance. It’s part of our design. It always has been and always will be. The continuation of relationships is designed to be expected and anticipated. It’s a source of repeated joy and fulfillment.

The repetition of God’s mercy. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning…” What’s amazing about that verse is that the prophet Jeremiah penned those words after the nation of Israel’s continual rebellion against God. They’d now been captured by the Babylonians and the city of Jerusalem was left a smoking ruin. Jeremiah knew that God wasn’t done. He would forgive them and return them to the Promised Land.

You and I experience the same mercy. As believers, as those who know better, we find that we commit the same sin over and over again. We’re good at the repetition of sin; God is great at the repetition of mercy. He forgives us again and again…for the same sin. That doesn’t mean that sinning isn’t serious or it’s like free credit. God’s mercy means that a loving God knows the frailty of our humanity and paid all of our sin debt on His Son’s cross.

The repetition of God’s faithfulness. Jeremiah ends his praise in Lamentations with “great is Your faithfulness.” What does that mean? It simply means that if you’re a Christian, you’ve been adopted by a Father who will never ever change His mind in regard to you. He will never write you off, leave you or forsake you. If you’re a part of God’s family, you have a Friend who sticks closer than a brother. You can’t talk about the one true God without coming to this truth: Great is the faithfulness of our God!

There is an ecstasy of having our hearts set ablaze with the hope of the gospel—again and again. It’s a repetition that we’re impoverished without.

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.

Sunday, January 22, 2023

1 Samuel: More than just a great story!

“Every story deserves a great ending.” Christopher Nolan

Do you love a good story? A good storyteller can have you on the edge of your seat. There are no better stories than the stories found in the Bible, but they’re not just stories – they’re history. They’re not make-believe or “once upon a time.” They all happened. They’re as much history as anything written by popular American historian, David McCullough.

There’s an account about the great Reformer, Martin Luther, related to the stories in the Bible. The great turning point in Luther’s life came when he was assigned to teach the book of Romans at Wittenberg University. When he came to Romans 1:17, “The just shall live by faith,” God used it to transform his life. The Reformation was conceived from that encounter with Scripture. Yet, that wasn’t Luther’s first contact with Scripture.

When he attended seminary he studied books of canon law and church tradition but amazingly for someone studying for the ministry, he was never actually encouraged to read the Bible. In that dark period of Church History, the Bible wasn’t considered worthy of any real investigation. Church leaders were concerned with other things. Nevertheless, one day Luther found in the university library an old copy of the Latin Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible done 1100 years before by Jerome in the town of Bethlehem.

Luther blew the dust off of it and began reading in one of the early books. That book turned out to be 1 Samuel and what he found amazed him. He was reading a story, not heavy theology, as he expected Scripture to be, but the story of a boy named David, and he was fascinated. It didn’t change his life at that point, but it intrigued him. That experience became part of what God used to make him into the world-transforming figure that he became.

Today we’re returning to our study of 1 Samuel: God of Reversals. We’re in the latter half of this great book. And we’re jumping in this morning with the most famous story in 1 Samuel – David & Goliath.

David is the hero and a dominant character of both 1 and 2 Samuel. We first met this young man in our study before Christmas in chapter 16 when he was anointed king by the prophet Samuel. Yet, 1 Samuel is much more than a sling, a rock, and taking out a giant story. In it, we will often find a reflection of our own lives.

1 Samuel has highs and lows. It has motives that are maligned and unjustly questioned. Doing the right thing and what pleases the Lord often isn’t rewarded. Instead, it carries a high price.

It has one of the most wonderful friendship stories in Scripture. It’s unusual in that it touches an area that’s often overlooked yet desperately needed – healthy friendships between men. Jonathan and David are comrades in arms. They have a friendship stronger than many brothers. In today’s world, most men have difficulty even knowing how to have a friendship. A good friend is often considered someone who likes the same sports we do or that we play golf or go fishing with. Yet, God intended friendship to be so much more.

1 Samuel has messy families. A younger child is disdained by his older sibling. There is an angry, ongoing conflict between a father and son, or a daughter who is caught between loyalty to her spouse and her father. It bubbles over with plots, divisions, and conspiracies.

It’s a horrible version of the original “Bad Boss” story. Not only is there abuse of an employee, but he’s not just terminated, there’s an attempt to exterminate him.

1 Samuel is filled with political intrigue. Power plays and plots are normal. Jealousy and envy grow like dandelions in the Spring. Perceived usurpers and threats to current leadership are hunted down. The innocent or anyone who stands in the way of the political machine pays a high price.

The obnoxious, rude, and even foolish are here. Doing the right thing or living the right way doesn’t seem to add up. A love story peeks out from its covers. There is temptation in the midst of the terrible trials to stop trusting God and go spiritually AWOL. Even witches and the occult are dabbled in.

During the coming weeks, we’ll discover 1 Samuel is a page out of today’s world, our world, my world, and your world. The problems, struggles, and issues are ours, too. It’s not just theoretical stuff. It will resonate within our own lives and hearts. We’ll see our own lives reflected in these pages.

But most of all, it’s God’s story. When it seems that evil will win and wrong prevail, we see that all along God has been working. He’s using even trials, difficulties, and suffering to accomplish His will and purpose.

Christian counselor and author, Paul Tripp writes: What is the biblical story? It’s the story of a God of love invading the world in the person of His Son of love to establish His kingdom of love by a radical sacrifice of love, to forgive us in love and draw us into His family of love, and to send us out as ambassadors of the very same love.”

1 Samuel is first and foremost God’s story. As God works throughout this book, He is also working in our lives, even when it doesn’t look like it. He’s not surprised by anything that we face or struggle with. God takes what from our side of eternity is a hot mess and transforms it into a masterpiece of His grace. It’s not just back then, it’s today. It’s not just for great heroes of the faith, like David. It’s for you and me.

1 Samuel isn’t just some well-written story. It’s a picture of our own lives and our own relationship with a loving God. It reminds us anew that even when all seems dark, He’s still there and we can trust Him.

Sunday, January 15, 2023

True Hope

“Hope is the only tie which keeps the heart from breaking.” Thomas Fuller

When was the last time that you had the experience of getting into a new show highly recommended by a friend, but just a few episodes into it you’re bored to tears and are like, “Am I missing something? Am I dumb? Does everyone else have a much more sophisticated entertainment palate than me?” Or you wonder how the storyline of a movie can possibly end well? Things are a mess now, but you hold out hope…“I know they’ll pull it back around at the end; it will all make sense.” But then it doesn’t.

Sociologists tell us that the primary American emotion is disappointment. Disappointment is the cause of much of the hidden trauma in American life. Another word for it is “hopelessness.

Did you know that the Bible mentions the word hope over 120 times? Hope is one of the most important foundations for the Christian. Biblical hope has as its foundation, faith in God and His Word. So while the word hope in English often conveys doubt, for instance, “I hope it won’t rain tomorrow,” that’s not the meaning of hope in God’s Word. Biblical hope is a reality, not a feeling. It carries no doubt. It’s a sure foundation upon which we base our lives, believing and knowing we can trust God no matter what.

There are many reasons why people become hopeless, but God and His Word answer every one of them with His sustaining hope. These are some of the more common sources of hopelessness.

You feel alone or abandoned. On October 4, 1970, famed rock star Janis Joplin, at the age of 27 was found dead in her hotel room. Questions arose as to whether the cause of her tragic death was suicide or an accident. Just before the incident, Janis had confided to a friend, “When I am not on the theatre stage I just lie around and watch television and feel very lonely.”

You can be in a crowd and feel overwhelmed by loneliness. One can be married or have a family, and struggle with loneliness. Amazingly, in a culture with so many ways to stay connected, loneliness is an epidemic.

The Lord Jesus understands our feelings of loneliness. He faced them, too. His closest friends – the disciples – didn’t help Him when He needed them most. In the darkest hour of His life, He was all by Himself, crying out to God. His friends weren’t praying with Him, instead, they fell asleep. When He needed them most, they abandoned Him. Yet, to those of us who have trusted Him as our Lord and Savior, He’s promised: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

You feel like life is out of control. We typically experience this in one or more of five different areas of life: time, money, family, relationships, aging/health. Many are experiencing a growing sense of being out of control in some area of life. While days are twenty-four hours in length, we constantly feel hurried. We seem to have more to do and less time to do it in. Though our world is very affluent, many struggle with intense worry that there won’t be enough. There is often a growing sense of despair.

Jesus told us that He came to give “abundant life” to those who follow Him. The abundant life is one that’s free of hurry, worry, loneliness, anger or despair. Jesus put it this way in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” A very real part of being a Christ-follower is the experience of a qualitatively different way of life, a fulfilled one. While our lives may at times feel out of control, our Heavenly Father has the smallest detail under His complete control and we can trust Him.

You’ve done something terribly wrong. With the Lord Jesus, nothing is beyond being made right. On the cross, He died for our worst mistakes – all of our sins – past, present and future. Yet, what could be more hopeless than to have murdered someone and then be sentenced to death?

Karla Faye Tucker was an accomplice to a brutal ax murder of two people and sentenced to death. Soon after being imprisoned, she took a Bible from the prison ministry program and read it in her cell. She later recalled, “I didn’t know what I was reading. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of my cell floor on my knees. I was just asking God to forgive me.” Karla Faye became a Christian in October 1983. Though in 1998 she was executed for her crimes, in one of her last interviews she gave glory to Christ for transforming her life. Some of her last words were: “...I would like to say to all of [the family of the victims] — that I am so sorry. I hope God will give you peace with this…Everybody has been so good to me. I love all of you very much. I am going to be face to face with Jesus now…I will see you all when you get there. I will wait for you.” As the lethal chemicals were administered, she was praising the Lord. It’s the same hope our Savior gave to the dying thief. We too can have that hope.

You’ve been deeply wounded by someone. Family members are frequently those we trust the most. Our mate is the one we expect to be closest to—until death do us part. We have a deep love for our children, but they can often turn on us. We expect even the closest person in our lives to die eventually, but as painful as that is, it’s not betrayal.

Betrayal by a spouse, child, family member, or close friend is devastating. It produces a feeling of worthlessness for having trusted an untrustworthy person. It breeds anger and depression. It causes us to second-guess ourselves and raises questions about our judgment. Because of this person’s knowledge of our heart, it’s a devastating wound.

Many Bible heroes experienced this hurt during their lives: Joseph, Moses, David, Paul, and Jesus. They show us that we’re not alone. They also show how to handle betrayal and not succumb to bitterness. Jesus’ words from the cross must become our words, “Father, forgive them.”

One of the wonderful traits of our Heavenly Father is that He will never turn on us or break a promise. Sin cuts us off from God, but He provided a Savior for us. And though God may step back for a little while when we need to learn lessons about the cost of sin, He still loves us and will never forget us or abandon us. We’re His children and He loves us no matter what, even when we’re a hot mess. So while this world may be hopeless, our heavenly Father is the God of hope – our hope! Always remember that!

Sunday, January 8, 2023

What's YOUR word for the year?

“Don't gobblefunk around with words.” Roald Dahl

Do you like words? Do you enjoy playing with words? I do. One of my favorite podcasts is Presbyterian pastor, George Grant’s Word Play.

If you Google it, you’ll find that as many famous people took their last breath, they had one last word. For example, as he lay dying, Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, uttered his final word, “miserable.” It’s not a surprise that Romantic poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s last word was “beautiful.” Civil War General and later president, Ulysses S. Grant, whispered “water” as he died. On his deathbed, Martin Luther was asked if he continued to stand by his doctrine that helped launch the Reformation, to which Luther gave an emphatic reply, “Yes!”

It’s amazing how often we describe something with one word. Any restaurant would love to be described as “fantastic,” but “mediocre” isn’t going to encourage customers. We often describe people with a singular word. “Cool” is cool. Yet, most wouldn’t find “cold” a compliment.

Listen to friends talk and you’ll find that they often have one word that they consistently use (hopefully it’s not an obscenity.) Some people’s lives could be described with one word. A neighbor that’s thoughtful might be described as “kind, whereas a cruel boss is a “jerk.”

At the beginning of the new year, most of us come up with resolutions. But 9 out of 10 people will fail with their resolutions. 50% of those resolution makers will fail by the end of January.

Three friends grew weary of making and failing at their resolutions (Jon Gordon, Dan Britton and Jimmy Page) and determined to focus on one word each year. Ultimately, they wrote a book, One Word That Will Change Your Life. No resolutions, no goals…just one word that gives meaning, mission, passion, and purpose. One word to help them be their best for the coming year.

Every New Year’s Eve they gathered with their children and each came up with a word. Then they made paintings of their words that hung in their houses to remind them to focus and live out their word for the year.

Do I believe that “one word” is the secret to having a fulfilled and meaningful life? Not necessarily. I do know that the great Greek philosopher, Socrates, was on to something when he said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Too many of us drift through life void of a sense of purpose or meaning. Read the obituaries and you’ll see how trivial too many lives are. God wants us to live with meaning and purpose.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. illustrates this. On August 23^rd, 1963 a quarter of a million people came to Washington DC to hear Dr. King speak at the Lincoln Memorial. That’s astounding, particularly for that day. Think about it. How did he get so many people to come? He didn’t have a newsletter or a Twitter account. He wasn’t making YouTube videos or using Google ads. He didn’t have a website, Instagram or Facebook.

Dr. King didn’t have any of the tools that make it so easy today for us to reach people and start movements and yet 250,000 people still came. Why? Because he stood for something important. The cause he believed in moved hearts and led them to action. It was so important that people willingly spread the word and promoted his cause because it was their cause too. If you were going to sum up Dr. King’s life in one word – it would be cause. He lived and tragically died for a cause.

God is not in the mass production business. He has a special purpose for your life and my life. The Bible is very clear as to what our purpose in life should be. We are to bring glory to our Creator. It is only as we live for Him that our lives have meaning, after all, He designed and created us.

A life without the right purpose is a miserable one. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, discovered the futility of a life that’s lived only for passing pleasure and this temporal world. Ecclesiastes is a summary of his attempt to find meaning elsewhere. He summarizes his failure at the end: “Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Ultimately, he realizes that life is all about honoring God with our thoughts and lives and obeying His commandments.

One day we will each stand before God in judgment. Part of our purpose in life is to fear and obey Him. And God generously rewards those who surrender their lives to Him and live for Him. What a wonderful blessing if each of us would hear Jesus say to us as we stand before His throne: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23).

Maybe you’re wondering what’s my one word? To be honest, I’ve never done this before. Yet if I were going to sum up my goal for 2023 into one word it would be “closer.” At the end of this year, I want to be closer to Jesus than I am now. I don’t want to have to tell anyone that I’m a Christian. I want it be so obvious that they can nearly smell the aroma of the Savior on me.

One of my favorite accounts from the Gospels is in John 12. A group came looking for the Lord Jesus and they said to one of His disciples, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” As I begin my day I pray that I’ll grow more Christlike. I want to be closer to Jesus and I want others to see Him in me.

And then I want to be closer to my wife and family. Jane and I are celebrating 40 years this coming July 2^nd. I am so much more in love with her than I was when I said, “I do.”

I’m also praying that our church family will be closer to the Lord and to each other. It’s only as we’re passionate about the Lord and love each other that we can truly offer hope to a hurting world.

Do you have one word? If it will help you move closer to Jesus. Maybe it’s time to paint out your word?

Sunday, January 1, 2023

How are your 2023 investments?

“That only is worth my having which I can have forever.

That only is worth my grasping which death cannot tear out of my hand.” Charles Spurgeon

It wasn’t until I was in my teen years that I met someone who drank Pepsi. Atlanta has been the home of Coca-Cola since the late 1800s. For a mere $2300.00, Asa Candler bought the recipe for the carbonated soft drink from John Pemberton in 1888. Today Coca-Cola is worth nearly $100 billion.

As 2023 rolls around, all of us are looking for good investments. Some will invest in getting more healthy by losing weight, exercising more, and a healthier diet. Others will invest in positive change by pursuing a new career, spending more time with their spouse or family, spending less time on social media or even quitting smoking. While all of those are worthy goals, they only make a difference in this short life. As believers, we want to be wise and invest in eternity. We’re going to live forever, so let’s make investments in the real world. If you’re not already, determine to…

Read your Bible daily. Can you imagine going on a trip where you have never gone without consulting your GPS? Each day you and I start a new journey into life that we’ve never experienced. We have no idea what to expect, what we will face, or what interruptions or emergencies await us.

It’s estimated that a little over 30% of Christians read their Bible daily. Is it any wonder many Christians flounder through life and live essentially like unbelievers? We’ll go the wrong way if we’re not checking the map.

When you use GPS, you use it turn by turn. That’s the way that we need to read the Bible. It’s better to read a little and truly contemplate it, than to do a reading marathon and blow by the details. God gave us His Word for it to transform us to be more like Jesus. It’s not so that we have the “right answers.” We read it so that we become the right kind of people.

Pray daily. For most believers, prayer is like a spare tire. It’s something you only use when you face an emergency. Yet, prayer is meant to be an ongoing conversation with our best Friend. Most of us have those that we talk to every day, whether our spouse or a good friend. The Bible tells us the Lord Jesus is a friend that’s “closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

In the early chapters of Genesis God met with our first parents every day. God’s desire from the beginning hasn’t changed. He wants us to meet with Him. He wants us to share our joys and burdens with Him.

One reason so many Christians struggle with emotional problems and lack peace is that they’ve not learned the habit of prayer. Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Attend church regularly. Avid sports fans will nearly stop heaven and earth to watch their team play. If their team wins, they’re elated. If their team plays poorly, they’re frustrated and even angry. If their team loses, they’re disappointed. Many believers are more devoted to their favorite team than they are to the God who gave His Son for them.

The shutdowns of Covid gave us a false message – that watching worship is the same as being in worship. It’s not. While it’s true that there are times because of work or health, we need to miss worshiping with our church family. Yet, most of us need to be honest about our priorities. We wouldn’t miss work or let the kids miss school for the reasons that we rationalize missing attending church.

The first thing that God said was not good was for human beings to be alone (Genesis 2:18). God designed us for community. While we can watch church online, we miss personal interaction. While we may receive a blessing, we miss the opportunity to be one.

We grow spiritually by giving of ourselves not just getting for ourselves. God designed us for each other. We need each other. Faithfully attending the weekly worship gathering helps grow and become more like Jesus.

Share your faith. Jane and I will have been married 40 years this coming July. There’s no question that she’s the love of my life and my best friend.

Wouldn’t it be weird if I had friends or neighbors that never knew I was married because I never talked about Jane? It would be hard for others to believe Jane was important to me if I never acknowledged her to others.

We talk with others about what’s important to us. If you spend half an hour with most people, you’ll know what they value. Our values and priorities quickly bubble to the surface.

If we really love Jesus, don’t we want to share Him with others? If we really care about others, don’t we want to share the One who can make a difference in their lives, both in this world and the next?

Think about how easily we talk with complete strangers about the weather, politics, our favorite sports team, and a hundred other trivial subjects. Yet, somehow we can’t seem to get around to talking about the One who changes lives and destinies, and who can change this world.

The best place to start with sharing your faith with a friend or neighbor is to begin praying for that friend or neighbor. As you pray for them and their spiritual condition, you’ll be amazed at the opportunities that the Lord will give you to share your faith.

2023 is a new opportunity to invest in what really matters. Let’s commit to investing well this year. Then, when the curtain falls on 2023, we can look back with a sense of fulfillment that we were wise and invested well.

Sunday, December 25, 2022

The Star or R-A-T-S

“If spiritual things become a drag and the message of Christmas is dull you can be sure the problem is not in the message but in your loss of awe and wonder at the message.” Dag Hammerskjold

One pastor of a small church was directing the children’s program on the Sunday night before Christmas. He was especially excited about the final scene of the production in which four children would give recitations using letters that they held up: S-T-A-R which stood for Shepherds, Trees, Angels, and Redeemer. The scene opened with “Silent Night” playing softly in the background as the children filed onstage holding the posters. The narrator solemnly spoke into the microphone, saying, “And now, four of our children are going to tell you how they feel about Christmas.” On that cue, the youngsters turned over their cards, which should have spelled the word STAR. Unfortunately, they had lined up backward, and instead, the letters said…RATS!

Sadly, isn’t that the way that many people feel about Christmas? High prices, snarled traffic, rushed trips, long check-out lines, extra chores, more debt, blown diets, countless Christmas parties, and cold weather. Many just want to get it all over with. Yet, if we fall into that thinking we lose the power of that first Christmas – we lose wonder!

It’s said that “familiarity breeds contempt. More often “familiarity breeds indifference.” The more familiar we become with something the less fascination we have. The newness fades and we lose the wonder.

That happens with us at Christmas. We’ve heard the nativity account so many times that the wonder of what happened 2,000 years ago begins to dim. We no longer marvel. We’re no longer amazed. The old story has become just an old story. Yet if we stop and truly contemplate that first Christmas, we’ll find that we’re once again filled with awe and wonder.

God became one of us. Joan Osborne had a hit song, “One of us.” It asked what if God was one of us.

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make His way home.

That’s one of the wonders of Christmas, the Incarnation. God did become one of us. The Creator of the universe stepped into space and time and became one of us. The eternal Son of God didn’t merely add flesh to His deity, He is not just God in a body. God became flesh, human flesh. He became a creature. He didn’t give up anything, He added humanity. It’s why His disciples saw His glory. They saw grace and truth incarnate.

What does God look like? Since God is invisible He can’t be seen. In Jesus, though the invisible God became visible.

What does grace look like? What does truth look like? Because they’re abstract concepts, they’re unseeable. But in Jesus, grace and truth became visible, in His person, His words, and His works.

At His birth, the shepherds and Magi desired to see Him. Throughout His life, the poor, the vile, the rejected, the disenfranchised, and the oppressed were attracted to Him. Sinners flocked to Him. And today, frightened, ashamed, hurting and guilty people still long to see Him. God’s Son is our hope. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

Christmas is the commemoration of the moment when Jesus, the eternal Son of God, was born into this world to be our Savior. He didn’t come for a visit. He made His dwelling on this earth. This world is now His home. After the cross, when the work of redemption was complete, according to the Apostle John, “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God’” (Revelation 21:3). That’s wonder!

That first Christmas was filled with wonder. Zacharias wondered how he and his elderly wife could give birth to the forerunner of the Messiah (Luke 1:18). Mary wondered how it would be possible for a virgin to give birth to a baby (Luke 1:34). Joseph wondered why he and Mary were chosen to be the parents of the Messiah (Matthew 1:18–25). The shepherds wondered about the angels that appeared to them and what their message meant (Luke 2:13–15). Those in Bethlehem wondered about the story that the shepherds were spreading through the village (Luke 2:17–18). Mary wondered about everything that was happening at the birth of her son (Luke 2:19). Simeon wondered at the blessing of being able, before he died, to see the child-Messiah (Luke 2:25-32). Mary and Joseph “marveled” at the words prophesied by Simeon about their baby (Luke 2:33–35). Those in the temple wondered about the words of Anna, who spoke of the redemption to come through this child (Luke 2:36–38). The Magi wondered about the newborn King for whom they brought gifts (Matthew 2:1–12). Joseph wondered about his dream warning him to take his young family and flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13–15).

Those are the moments of wonder recorded in Scripture. Think of how many more moments of wonder there must have been among those who were witnesses to the first Christmas. It was overwhelming wonder!

Wonder was the message of one of the great hymns of the 20^th century called “The Wonder of It All.”

There’s the wonder of sunset at evening,

the wonder as sunrise I see;

But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul

is the wonder that God loves me.

That’s the greatest wonder of Christmas – God loves us! It’s why He gave the first Christmas gift. Have you accepted God’s gift? “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” A wonderful God, His wonderful love, and a wonderful gift! Wonder!

Sunday, December 18, 2022

Where's the Manger?

“Jesus took His place in a manger

so that we might have a Home in heaven.” Greg Laurie

Can you imagine New Year’s Eve without horns, party hats, champagne or clocks counting down to midnight? What if for the 4^th of July you couldn’t find anything red, white and blue and there were no American flags anywhere, plus no parades, cookouts, picnics or fireworks?

Yet if you venture into most stores around Christmas, you’ll have difficulty finding a nativity scene. Mangers are as hard to find as a snowball in July. Christmas decorations might include Santa, elves, snowmen, lights, gnomes…even baby Yoda, but it’s rare to find a nativity scene or manger. While they’re rare in stores, they’ve often been banned from public places like parks, malls, schools or government buildings only to be replaced by images of snowmen, candy canes, and reindeer.

The irony of all of this is lost on a pluralistic culture where Christmas is just another holiday. It’s like celebrating someone’s birthday and completely ignoring the one whose birthday is actually being celebrated.

Luis Palau tells of a wealthy European family that decided to have their newborn baby baptized in their enormous mansion. Many people were invited. It was an elegant and elaborate affair. They took off their coats and laid them on the bed in a designated room. Soon the time came for the main purpose of their gathering but then no one could find the baby! To the horror of all they finally found the baby who was now buried under the pile of coats, jackets and furs, nearly smothered to death.

In essence, in western civilization, we’ve buried Baby Jesus under our other trappings of a Christmas celebration. Why has that happened? The manger represents what we humans are not and what we don’t want to be. The manger represents…

God in His helplessness. We don’t like to be helpless and we avoid those who we consider helpless. The nativity account in Luke 2 says that His mother “wrapped him in swaddling cloths” (vs. 7). Back then newborns were wrapped in strips of cloth to protect them from the harsh elements. Mothers would wrap the arms and legs separately and then wrap the torso until the baby looked a bit like an Egyptian mummy. It severely restricted the child’s movements. But in a world with little medical care where babies routinely died before their first birthday, it was a way to provide a crude kind of protection. At His birth, Jesus was as helpless as any other baby.

Decades later an adult Jesus stood before the Jewish authorities, bound and guarded like a common criminal. When falsely accused, He didn’t respond. When reviled, He refused to answer. He stood before His accusers with his hands bound, awaiting a verdict that would end His life. It’s not a coincidence that He entered the world as He left it, bound and helpless.

God in His humility. How would you respond if someone served your dinner in a dog’s food bowl? The word manger means a feeding trough. Even in that feeding trough, our Savior was already bearing the only cross a baby can bear—extreme poverty along with the contempt and indifference of mankind. In the words of Francis of Assisi, “For our sakes He was born a stranger in an open stable; He lived without a place of His own wherein to lay His head, subsisting by the charity of good people; and He died naked on a cross in the close embrace of holy poverty.”

This newborn lying forgotten in an exposed stable, resting in a feeding trough is God’s appointed “sign” to us. It’s the Incarnation. God came into this world in the most unlikely way. It’s what Philippians 2:7 means when it says Jesus “made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Nothing about Baby Jesus appeared supernatural. There were no halos, visible angels or choirs singing.

If we’d been there and had no other information, we’d have concluded that this was just another baby born to a poor young couple down on their luck. Nothing about His outward circumstances pointed to God. Looking at the baby this way, no one would think that He only came for the rich or powerful. No one would suggest that He used His heavenly power to make an easy or grand entry into the world. Jesus came not for an elite few. He came to be the Savior of all the world.

God in His humanity. “A baby.” That’s all the original Greek says. The word means “an infant” or “newborn.” It’s an ordinary word used to describe the birth of a child. It reminds us that Christ came into the world just as we all do. Even though we often speak of the virgin birth, it should be remembered that the real miracle occurred at the moment of His conception nine months earlier. Jesus’ physical birth was completely normal—or as normal as it could be given the unique circumstances.

To say that Christ was born as a baby brings us face-to-face with the truth of the Incarnation. Although Jesus was fully and truly God from all eternity, the Second Person of the Godhead took on humanity when He was conceived in Mary’s womb. He wasn’t half-God and half-man, He was fully God and fully man. He never ceased to be God, though He temporarily laid aside the glory of His deity. In some way mysterious to us, Jesus was the God-Man, two natures joining together in His one Person.

That’s the central truth of Christianity. God entered human history in order to provide for our salvation. What we could not do, He did for us through His Son. Everything else flows from this truth. If Jesus had not been born, He could never have died for our sins and would not have risen from the dead. He had to become like us in order to be able to save us. There was no other way.

Yet, it’s because Jesus was helpless, humble, and human that this world doesn’t want to be reminded of mangers. The necessity of His manger means that we couldn’t fix it. We couldn’t save ourselves. We must be rescued.

Our world’s greatest need isn’t a new government program or more education or better housing. It’s not even affordable healthcare.

2,000 years ago the angels announced our greatest need, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

What we desperately need is a Savior! Thankfully, Jesus came to be our Savior. And while you may not find a nativity scene, you can’t hide Jesus. He’s already come to earth. My friend, have you let Him into your life?