God's Story: The God Who Meets Us [3]

Today is, officially, the last time you can greet someone with “Merry Christmas” until next December 25^th. If you are still greeting people with Merry Christmas, you have more than likely received more than one strange look. 

A funny thought occurred to me just now. What if Christians, who know the Church Calendar, would lovingly answer back, “Yes, and Merry Christmas to you,” when greeted by someone who simply says “Hello,” or “Good to see you” during the Christmas Season (especially as days seven and beyond come and go)? Would it be newsworthy? Would a “War on the Christmas Calendar” news thread begin on our news stations when people do not respond in kind? OK, facetious part of post now done; moving on...

On this last day of this Christmas Season, we will briefly reflect on a common story heard when people start to follow Jesus. The story, which is wonderful and I praise God for them, basically says someone’s life was “a mess,” and then they met Jesus...after this encounter their life got “straightened out,” and here we are. Again, I am thankful for stories like this. They show us how God meets people where they are.

Yet we need more (and more) of another type of story. The type of story we need to hear more of goes something like this... “my life was great and I ‘had it all’...and then I met Jesus and He turned my world upside down.”

I know there are stories like this, we just need more of them – especially in our culture where pursuing the American Dream is so prevalent. After all, Jesus is not merely Savior; He is also Lord.

What I mean is the “my life was a mess until I met Jesus” story has a Savior bent to it. Yet the, “my life looked like the epitome of success until I met Jesus...” story has a Lord bent to it.

This reality does not make one story better than another. Nor does this reality mean Jesus is more Savior than Lord or vice versa. Jesus is both, and we need a growing realization of both if we are going to truly follow Him – wherever He leads us.

Interestingly, while I said the “my life was a mess” type of story has a Savior bent to it, the aspect of Jesus is Lord/King is not absent from this story. E.g., there are ways citizens of a kingdom behave – because their King says so (and this is bigger than morals).

Likewise, the “my life was great until Jesus ‘messed it up’” type of story has a Lord/King bent to it. Yet it is not devoid of the reality of Jesus as Savior. E.g., the person who has been rescued by Jesus (saved) had been deceived by the cultural influences around them. While they need a King to submit to rather than their own wants and desires...they also need to be saved from the hole in which they live (perhaps after having dug it for themselves).

Yes, Jesus is Savior and Lord. If your picture of Jesus does not include both....then something is askew, and you are not following the Jesus of the Bible.

And let us not forget that on this Epiphany Day we remember how the magi came to see a toddler Jesus; the One who, as a baby, was born King of the Jews (Mt2:2) as He would also save people from their sins (Mt1:21) some two years earlier. A significant aspect of this is those magi were Gentiles – not ethnically Jewish. Praise God for revealing the mystery hidden for ages through Jesus at the visit of the magi (as non-Jews worship Him – cf. Mt2:11), as it became crystal clear that God was undoing the effects of sin on all of His creation – including those who are not ethnically Jewish. I, for one, am very glad for this truth.

Praise God for the Miracle of the Incarnation. May we be increasingly shaped by it as 2014 progresses. May we be able to look back on 2014 (and grow to realize in the moment as well) and see a combination of how Jesus both “straightened out” our lives and “messed them up” for God’s glory. And may we desire no other way.

Christmas Season [5]

Merry Christmas everyone! Yes, it still is X-mas...for a few more days that is. Here is a post from last year, just before the end of the Christmas Season. I hope to have a follow-up post in a few days with further reflections, clarifications, and possibly retractions.


A Post from last Christmas...
For the last time until next December, Merry Christmas!!  Oh I know it seems like Christmas was like a year ago now [hahaha ;) ].  Yet it truly is still Christmas!!! 

Again, I say this because Christmas is a season, not merely a day.  The Christmas Season, of which there are 12 days, ends today with Epiphany.  Therefore many churches will celebrate Epiphany this coming Sunday.  The distinction between the Christmas Season and the cultural way of celebrating Christmas is significant – even if someone in our culture seeks to keep a focus on Jesus.  The reality is a day can be quickly forgotten once it is gone, no matter how good it was.  Granted, a focus on a day can produce many great memories.  Yet a season – a celebration – can make more than great memories.  Indeed, it can lay a foundation for a longer lasting impact while setting the stage for godly memories to be made for generations to come. 

So what if we really worked at celebrating the Christmas Season?  Now I suppose a way many would be thrilled to do this is if we took 12 days off as opposed to one (well, all but the self-employed that is).  Yet I am not talking about 11 more days of vacation.  I am talking about continually pondering, and seeking to implement, implications of the Incarnation.  The truth that nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus came to earth and lived among us is life-altering.  The Anointed One of God, the savior, the Christ – the King, living among us…showing us how to live…bringing people into community…showing us how to love…showing us how to confront religious distortions and apathy…indeed showing us what it means to be truly human.  

Epiphany is the climax of the Christmas Season.  It recalls the coming of the Wisemen, or Magi, to see Jesus the toddler.  Ah yes, the King of the world…quite unassuming with skinned knees and more than a few bruises on his little body no doubt.  While we do not know for certain, it is believed these Magi came from the area of Babylon.  The significance of this blossoms when we begin to see what Matthew is showing us in his gospel in conjunction with some things in the book of Daniel.  Succinctly, Matthew is showing Jesus as King.  These Magi show up and worship the toddling Jesus as a King.  These Magi were Gentiles – i.e., not of Jewish ethnicity.  This foreshadows the inclusive nature of God’s Kingdom which Jesus came to establish.  Now let us turn to Daniel.

Daniel clearly shows the sovereignty of God despite current circumstances.  On the surface it seems the gods of Babylon have proven to be more powerful than the God of Israel, YHWH.  After all, Israel is now in exile.  Yet in chapter one verse two we read, “And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand…”  The “his hand” is Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from verse one.  In other words, while it may appear “old Nebby-K” is ruling and calling the shots, YHWH is truly in charge.  The reason why Israel/Judah was in exile was their lack of worship, and all it entails, of YHWH.  This makes certain scenes in Daniel beautifully ironic as God works in such ways that pagan people praise His greatness when His own covenant people did not.  One example of this is toward the end of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s encounter with a blazing hot fire (or Rack, Shack and Benny if you are a Veggie Tales fan).  After God saves these three, Nebuchadnezzar blesses their God (Dan3:28) and then says, “Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue (save) in this way.” – High praise indeed for the one true God. 

Now consider this.  Daniel and his three friends (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) had other encounters with the people of Babylon.  These encounters included the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and Chaldeans (cf. Dan2:2) – all of whom were confronted with a God more powerful than anything they could imagine.  More than likely some of these people began to worship this “God of gods and Lord of kings” (cf. Dan2:47).  Daniel tells of “one like a Son of Man” in chapter seven coming to the earth to receive a kingdom.  This “one like a Son of Man” is also the rock of chapter two which breaks the grand statue (representing kingdoms of the earth – including Babylon) in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to pieces.  And in Matthew’s gospel (written primarily for a Jewish audience) he shows Magi (from the area of Babylon) showing up to worship this foretold King.  This is beyond cool – this is revolutionary. 

Epiphany celebrates the “revealing” of the Christ to the Gentiles (i.e., all not ethnically Jewish).  As such it looks ahead to the reason why The Church exists – to advance the Kingdom of God everywhere for everyone.  What a fitting climax to the significance of the Christmas Season!!! 

I am certain you have heard there were three Wisemen (Magi) – e.g., “We Three Kings of Orient Are”.  Yet you will not find that number in the second chapter of Matthew.  You will find three gifts, but more than likely Matthew highlighted those three because of their significance.  At any rate, let us go along with this tradition and say the “three kings” were Caspar, Balthasar and Melchior.  A symbol for Epiphany, which is often painted above the entry door to a house in some cultures, is +C+B+M+  

The symbols are as follows: the cross (+) represents Christ, the letters (C,B,M) represent the supposed names of the (supposed) three Magi.  Added to this symbol is the year – so for us it would be 20+C+B+M+12.  Since in this symbol the letters represent the three Magi (Gentiles) who came to worship the true King let us add an accurate twist to the symbol.  [Also, I am not saying to put this over the entry door to your house – a piece of paper you carry with you, display somewhere visible to you, perhaps put in your Bible (i.e., multiple copies) will suffice.]  

Try this: write out the symbol but put in the first letter of the names of three people you know who need to submit themselves to Jesus and truly worship the King (e.g., 20+__+__+__+12).  Pray for these people regularly; ask God to continue to work in their lives, to open their eyes to His love and majesty, to work in you to speak when the time is right and show the love of Jesus at all times to them.  After all, all who are Gentiles now are those who are not a part of the people of God.  I.e., it is no longer ethnicity that makes one a child of God (thank you Jesus). 

This is an accurate focus on the implications of the Incarnation.  There are people, we all know, who need to come and truly worship the King.  Oh what a way to live out the Lordship of Jesus in this New Year. 

Merry Christmas and Holy Epiphany to you!!  May God grant us the strength to follow through with the things to which He will call us.