Final Christmas Thoughts

A Final Christmas Requies  

19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke 2:19

In our house, Christmas recedes like a slow tide. It slowly falls back, leaving behind various oddments; some are treasures and others poignant reminders of what might have been. I cherish Christmas, starting early and ending late. Like Mary, I store things up in my heart and ruminate; pondering, how will I fit this into this new piece into my daily walk. I think about the incarnation and what it means to me.

God became flesh and dwelt among men. The creator becomes the created. All the vast universe generating power set aside to reside in an itty-bitty living space. The hands that crafted time now moved constrained by its rhythms. The being that conceived gravity now fell victim to its whims and vicissitudes. The common cold, His. The ebbs, flows, and floods of emotions, all part of His experience. The incarnation stuns with its implications, but wait, there’s more.

The son, Jesus, took up residence in a rather run-of-the-mill family in unostentatious circumstances. While probably not impoverished, life for Jesus would have been unremarkable. The son of a carpenter in an unimportant village would have lived simply. The son of God embraced a humble lifestyle that did not come with the comforts I take for granted. He would identify more with the mass of humanity that dwells in what we call, “the developing world.” When God came down to experience our walk, He chose to rub shoulders with the masses. All of this speaks to me and what I consider important.

Advent makes me take the time to reevaluate my priorities, especially the American penchant for acquisition. How do I use the resources God has placed within my scope? God graciously shared His bounty with me. My embrace of Western culture leads me to think of things as my own, when, all that surrounds me is a gift from His hands into mine. What I do with His largess reflects my priorities. Fortunately for me, I was high on His priority list. Perhaps in this coming year, I can bump the “least of these” up a bit higher on my priority list. 

The richness of the reality of Advent makes me reconsider many things. Perhaps that’s why I find it so important to my yearly spiritual journey. God becoming flesh and walking among us carries such import that I need to reexamine my life in its stringent light yearly. So this annual exploration of and reacquaintance with Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, Jesus, and other participants in the incarnation helps to ground me in the spiritual reality of God reaching out to His creation in love and adoration. 

Day 31 Refugee Status

Day 31 Refugee Status. 

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt. Matthew 2:13-14

In general, the world despises refugees. We may feel a twinge of pity when we see them massed on the border or living in squalor in a camp someplace; but we would rather not have to deal with them in our country. Let someone else deal with them. Refugees represent human failure, particularly failure of government. We despise refugees as those who consume resources without a return on the investment. We sequester them in shabby camps in often inhumane circumstances. If we do give them food, it’s rather unappetizing. I know, I’ve eaten standard U.N. refugee rations, and they make MREs delectable. We apply the NIMBY principle to refugees, not in my back yard. We would just as soon forget them.

Advent pushes refugees and our attitudes toward them into the limelight. No discussion of the events surrounding the incarnation is complete without considering the “flight into Egypt.” Jesus accepted refugee status to understand the plight of humanity. While we do not know the exact timeline, we do know that Joseph, warned in a dream took Mary and Jesus by night and fled; the implication being that Herod represented an existential threat to Joseph and his little family. Scripture offers no details regarding life in Egypt. I think we can safely assume that it would have been difficult, living in a foreign land among the Jewish diaspora. Jesus might very well feel more akin with the huddled masses seeking entry into the U.S. than with me and my comfortable life here in Lubbock. After all, like many of them, He fled to secure a better future.

Day 30 Pondering and Worshiping

19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2:19-20 English Standard Version

We’ve nearly reached the end of this advent journey. Along the way we’ve encountered a wandering childless Aramean, a man and woman evicted from paradise, a few old prophets, magi from the East on a quest, an old childless couple from Judea, a craftsman and his fiancé with a problematic pregnancy, and some wild-eyed excited shepherds. All these players in God’s great drama, helping in some way to bring in Immanuel…God with us. Heaven opened and Jesus was born, and nothing has been the same since.

Like all the actors in this morality play, we get to make a choice. Do we make room for Jesus and let Him have His way with us? Or do we merely take Him out of the box once a year to sit on the shelf while we play Christmas music and eat too much? The shepherds glorified and praised God. The magi sought out and worshiped. The prophets looked from afar and yearned. The wandering Aramean offered his son. They all were changed by their encounter with God. Do we only confront this Jesus once a year as an infant, or do we let Him change us, alter the trajectory of our lives, transforming us? The prospect is breathtakingly sublime. The process may be painful. Mary treasured all of these things in her heart, wondering what it all might mean. Ask any parent, having children always changes the dynamic. This child changed the world. Will we let Him change us?

 Day 29 The Big Reveal

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:8-11 English Standard Version

Quiet reigns in my house right now. A few minutes ago, chaos reigned. Each year my family enjoys a Christmas Eve dinner of tamales, guacamole, refried beans, and various sweets. We gather ‘round the table with all the leaves put in and the food, happiness, and laughter flow. Then we watch one of our “standard” Christmas movies, while supper settles. Then everyone heads home. We will gather again tomorrow for more food and a small gift exchange. Over the years the gifts have become smaller and fewer in number, but the joy grows. We will eat and laugh some more. Bur for right now, Kimmy (our cat) and I enjoy solitude, peace, and quiet.  

Millenia ago, peace and quiet reigned on a rocky Judean hillside. Shepherds and sheep rested in the dark of the night. Suddenly everything changed. The veil between heaven and earth split open and light spilled out driving back the darkness. An angel brought good news of a savior, bringing peace and joy. Then a host of heavenly beings broke out in song. God announced the birth of His son.

He announced the birth of His son to a bunch of scruffy sheep herders, men considered among the lowliest of the low. I find it instructive that God revealed the birth of Jesus to this group of people. When He came into this physical reality, He rubbed shoulders with the lower ranks of Jewish society. Shepherds, carpenters, an old childless couple, a young girl probably a teenager, and some strange star-gazing foreigners made up the cast of characters in His great reveal. I probably wouldn’t have made the list. My zip-code is too toney. God reaches out to those of the lowliest estate, and they respond with adoration and worship. Perhaps that’s why He went to the shepherds; nothing stood between them and hearing the good news. 

Day 28 The Wise-Guys

2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “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.” Matthew 2:1-2 ESV

“Wise men from the east…” I enjoy the mystery surrounding the mages from the East. Something about them appeals to my sense of wonder. They appear looking for Jesus. Asking Herod merely alerts him to a supposed threat. Their knowledge incomplete, the scribes narrow their search to Bethlehem and off they go to find this new king. They find Joseph, Mary, and most importantly Jesus, worship him giving gifts, and then depart, taking a different route after a dreamy encounter. We do not know much else. How did they know to look for Jesus? What alerted them to the importance of the star? I suppose that somehow during the Jewish exile, information about the coming Messiah leaked out; but that is pure speculation on my part. We just do not know. It is one of those things that God kept to Himself.

And that is what I like. The arrival of the Magi reminds me that God is up to things. He’s busy working His will in ways that I do not know. In my buttoned-down, well-ordered world, I think I know. But God periodically batters down my prideful assertion that I have things figured out. He reaches out to all His children in a myriad of ways. Somehow, He reached out to the Wise Men, and they responded in worship. We do not know what happened to them or what they did after they returned to their homes…someplace in the nebulous East. But they were changed. They had seen the newborn king, the Messiah, Immanuel, God with us.

Day 27 Comfort for the Weary

Day 27 Comfort for the Weary

1Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned… Isaiah 40:1-2a English Standard Version

Life can be tough. Anyone who’s lived through a few years knows this. Sometimes life throws unexpected challenges our way. Sickness, financial failure, familial fracture, betrayal, and the list goes on. When I was in Iraq my work area was next to the office of the General Officer that exercised field-grade courts-martial authority for the entire corps. One evening a week he held court. On that day the waiting area would fill up with senior officers and senior non-commissioned officers awaiting their fate. They all sat there looking extremely dejected. They all knew that their careers were over. Oh, they might escape discharge, but they would not escape the disgrace that accompanied their misdeeds. Their lives were in a shambles, a shambles of their own making. So, there they sat alone and hurting with no one to help. After their appearance before the General, they left his office, shoulders slumped and shuffled off into an ignominious oblivion. They needed comfort and there was none to give. Their iniquities had born fruit.

We think of the Isaiah passage as providing comfort for a people beset by enemies around them. But look again. Their pain is for their own iniquities, things they did wrong. When we fail, we feel the weight of our indiscretion. Jesus came to set us free from that crushing burden. The old prophet cries out, “Comfort, comfort my people. Jesus endured the incarnation to bring comfort and freedom from the guilt of our own intransigence. Yes, in Him I find surcease from pain others inflict upon me; however, I also find the greater gift of release from the guilt inflicted pain of my own creation. Jesus came so that we might enjoy a life free from the burden of our own mistakes. The babe in the manger extends comfort, comfort for His people. 

Day 26 He Grew Up

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52 English Standard Version 

I had a pleasant childhood. Oh, there were trying moments. I could have passed on zits. Skipping those awkward times learning how to tell a joke or story would have been nice. I wouldn’t have missed avoiding all of the seventh grade. But the reality of my growing up was quite good. As an officer and now teacher, I deal with children that suffer greatly. Their childhood is unfolding in very dark directions. They often suffer because of what others, frequently their parents, choose. Most of my memories center around good times. Growing up in Abilene was fairly benign. 

We do not know much about Jesus’ youth…very little. Scripture provides a handful of details. Even though we’d love to know more, God chose to keep most of that to Himself. One of the things that we do know is that Jesus learned. The creator truly emptied Himself. He set aside the vast knowledge required to create and operate the universe and learned. Luke records that Jesus “grew in wisdom.” The inventor of gravity had to learn how to manage to navigate with two chubby uncoordinated feet. Imagine Jesus, Immanuel, learning to use a fork and spoon, how to use a privy. Sometime around the age of five or six, Mary would deliver him to the synagogue school in Nazareth where He would learn to read and write. All those experiences common to school were common to Him. He “grew in wisdom.” Luke records the temple experience, which indicates that Jesus was an exceptional student; but He was still a student. The incarnation was complete. When we celebrate Christmas, advent, we celebrate God becoming an infant, toddler, boy, teenager, youth, and then a young man. But it all starts with Him giving up, setting aside, all that power and expertise. He limited Himself to draw near, to be with us, to be one of us. Immanuel…God with us.