The King of Heaven came down to us.
He came to a sinful world full of sinners who sinned-
Sinned against Him.
But He didn't sin.
Instead, He loved them.
He loved us.
He came in the humblest of ways,
As the humblest of beings:
A Baby.
Helpless.
Born of girl who was a nobody
From a nothing town.
He was hated, despised
His life was threatened from infancy
To adulthood
Until finally, the threat became reality.
He was wounded for our transgressions
He was bruised for our iniquities
The chastisement for our sins was upon Him
And by His stripes, we are healed.
The death He died for us,
Was invented for its cruelty.
The suffering it caused is staggering.
And yet,
He suffered that for us, and that was only the beginning.
The Son endured the wrath of the Father;
Wrath He didn't deserve for sins He didn't commit.
And yet, He took our place.
Because we couldn't save ourselves,
He saved us.
The miracle is not that Jesus came to save the lost:
That was simple obedience.
The miracle is that He loved those
He came to save.
The miracle is that Jesus came down at Christmas
To a broken, hopeless world.
And He lived a perfect life.
And when He went to the cross,
He saw a very desperate you and a really pathetic me in the distance
And He died anyways.
If that doesn't amaze you
Why not?
Passages adapted with poetic license taken from "Living Whole Without a Better Half", "Lover of My Soul" and Isaiah 53:5
Friday, December 24, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
The Other Side of Christmas
There are so many words associated with Christmas: joy, peace, love and goodwill, just to name a few. Feelings associated with Christmas are usually what can be called warm and fuzzy. For many people, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, and rightly so. For Christians, Christmas is the season we celebrate God becoming one of us, a baby born to save us from our sin. I could use this whole blog just to wax eloquently about God becoming on of us, because out of all the things the Bible talks about, that is one of the things that never ceases to amaze me. But, I am not going to do that, because this blog is about something else. Even for non-Christians, Christmas is usually a season of happiness and goodwill. But was it always like that? Or, is there a different side of Christmas than what we usually think about?
Think about times in your life that you grew the most, specifically spiritually. Those are usually good memories because you remember the outcome and how beneficial it was. But I am guessing that those were hard times, too. From my experience, the best times of growth are when life's the hardest. They seem to go hand in hand. But, by the grace of God, we usually remember the good better than we remember the bad. It's like how a mother forgets the labor when she sees her baby for the first time. Why do I mention this? Because I am speculating that with the Christmas story (i.e. the birth of Jesus) the hard part has faded and we are left with the happy, joyful story we are familiar with.
Let me take you to the possible other side of the Christmas story. I don't know if this is accurate, because I wasn't there, but roll with me on this one and see what you think. My goal is to look at a familiar story a different way. Mary was a young teenage girl who was pregnant. Besides from all of the normal uncertainties and fears that come with being pregnant, especially for the first time, along with morning sickness and everything else, Mary was unwed. Unwed girls that were pregnant in that day could have been stoned. Do you think Mary might have been a little fearful about that? Even her own fiance didn't believe her at the beginning, so probably there were some other people who didn't either. We know she wasn't stoned, but she might have been shunned, outcast, or any of the other ways people can show disapproval. I always thought that she went to go see Elizabeth for as long as she did because it was getting uncomfortable for her to stay in her own village, but I don't know for sure. There was some fear for Joseph, too. The angel said, "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife." His fear might have been about a soiled reputation. He was a just man, the Bible says, and so it wouldn't look good for him to have a pregnant betrothed. It would hurt his reputation. So here we have two people who are doing the right thing, but who are maybe uncertain and fearful about how this is going to turn out.
Next scene: Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary have traveled for days. She is nine months pregnant. It doesn't matter how you travel at nine months pregnant, it is going to be uncomfortable. Tired and dirty, they make it to Bethlehem right as the first contractions start. There's no room in any inn, so they get sent to the stable. Imagine driving across the United States from Virginia to California and camping all the way. When you get to California smelly and tired, instead of a hotel with a hot shower and soft bed, you have to sleep on the floor in a smelly barn. In nativity scenes it's cute. In real life, maybe not so much. Mary gives birth in a strange town with strange people. She knows her child is the Messiah, but is it possible that in the moment that fact is overwhelmed by the uncomfortableness and uncertainty? You've been there; I've been there. In my head I know God is in control and that everything is happening for His glory. But sometimes my head doesn't connect to my heart real well, and life can seem out of control, painful, uncertain, and I forget the bigger picture. Did Mary ever forget the bigger picture?
Next scene: It's been maybe a year or two. Things have settled down for the young family. They are still in Bethlehem, and they now have a house. Did they not go back to their home village because of the hostility they faced the last time they were there? Is there nothing and no one to go back to? Out of nowhere, wise men appear the east. They bear expensive gifts and they come to worship the King. The words of the angel are confirmed, and yet on the heels of this wonderful moment comes a new fear: Herod now knows of the Messiah, and he wants him dead. Imagine you're Mary. The most powerful man in the region wants to kill your son. How does that feel? A little terrifying, maybe? Joseph is told in a dream to take his family to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. Matthew 2:14 says, "When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt." Just like that. He has a dream, BOOM! He gets up, gets Mary and Jesus and leaves. The life they had established in Bethlehem is wiped out in an instance. They probably didn't get to say goodbye to friends. They literally run for their lives to Egypt. A new town, again. They probably don't know anyone, again. They have to start all over, again. This time they don't even know the language.
I don't think the first Christmas was easy for Mary and Joseph, and I don't think that the following years were easy, either. They had to endure faith-trying difficulties and uncertainties, but they were people of faith, so they were able to. They had a promise from God, and they held onto that promise whenever things were uncertain or frightening. I wanted to write about this because I think so often we forget that the people in the Bible were people, just like us. So often we forget that they didn't know the ending to their story when they made tough decisions, just like we don't know how things will turn out when we have to make tough decisions. When David said he would face Goliath, he didn't know that he would kill him, or the string of events that would follow from that. When Daniel defied the king and prayed to God, he didn't know his life would be spared in the lion's den. They were people, just like Mary and Joseph were people. The Bible is so much more enriching and encouraging when we think of it like that. So I encourage you this Christmas to put yourself in the story that you have heard so often. See it through new eyes. Look at it a different way, and see something new.
Think about times in your life that you grew the most, specifically spiritually. Those are usually good memories because you remember the outcome and how beneficial it was. But I am guessing that those were hard times, too. From my experience, the best times of growth are when life's the hardest. They seem to go hand in hand. But, by the grace of God, we usually remember the good better than we remember the bad. It's like how a mother forgets the labor when she sees her baby for the first time. Why do I mention this? Because I am speculating that with the Christmas story (i.e. the birth of Jesus) the hard part has faded and we are left with the happy, joyful story we are familiar with.
Let me take you to the possible other side of the Christmas story. I don't know if this is accurate, because I wasn't there, but roll with me on this one and see what you think. My goal is to look at a familiar story a different way. Mary was a young teenage girl who was pregnant. Besides from all of the normal uncertainties and fears that come with being pregnant, especially for the first time, along with morning sickness and everything else, Mary was unwed. Unwed girls that were pregnant in that day could have been stoned. Do you think Mary might have been a little fearful about that? Even her own fiance didn't believe her at the beginning, so probably there were some other people who didn't either. We know she wasn't stoned, but she might have been shunned, outcast, or any of the other ways people can show disapproval. I always thought that she went to go see Elizabeth for as long as she did because it was getting uncomfortable for her to stay in her own village, but I don't know for sure. There was some fear for Joseph, too. The angel said, "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife." His fear might have been about a soiled reputation. He was a just man, the Bible says, and so it wouldn't look good for him to have a pregnant betrothed. It would hurt his reputation. So here we have two people who are doing the right thing, but who are maybe uncertain and fearful about how this is going to turn out.
Next scene: Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary have traveled for days. She is nine months pregnant. It doesn't matter how you travel at nine months pregnant, it is going to be uncomfortable. Tired and dirty, they make it to Bethlehem right as the first contractions start. There's no room in any inn, so they get sent to the stable. Imagine driving across the United States from Virginia to California and camping all the way. When you get to California smelly and tired, instead of a hotel with a hot shower and soft bed, you have to sleep on the floor in a smelly barn. In nativity scenes it's cute. In real life, maybe not so much. Mary gives birth in a strange town with strange people. She knows her child is the Messiah, but is it possible that in the moment that fact is overwhelmed by the uncomfortableness and uncertainty? You've been there; I've been there. In my head I know God is in control and that everything is happening for His glory. But sometimes my head doesn't connect to my heart real well, and life can seem out of control, painful, uncertain, and I forget the bigger picture. Did Mary ever forget the bigger picture?
Next scene: It's been maybe a year or two. Things have settled down for the young family. They are still in Bethlehem, and they now have a house. Did they not go back to their home village because of the hostility they faced the last time they were there? Is there nothing and no one to go back to? Out of nowhere, wise men appear the east. They bear expensive gifts and they come to worship the King. The words of the angel are confirmed, and yet on the heels of this wonderful moment comes a new fear: Herod now knows of the Messiah, and he wants him dead. Imagine you're Mary. The most powerful man in the region wants to kill your son. How does that feel? A little terrifying, maybe? Joseph is told in a dream to take his family to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. Matthew 2:14 says, "When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt." Just like that. He has a dream, BOOM! He gets up, gets Mary and Jesus and leaves. The life they had established in Bethlehem is wiped out in an instance. They probably didn't get to say goodbye to friends. They literally run for their lives to Egypt. A new town, again. They probably don't know anyone, again. They have to start all over, again. This time they don't even know the language.
I don't think the first Christmas was easy for Mary and Joseph, and I don't think that the following years were easy, either. They had to endure faith-trying difficulties and uncertainties, but they were people of faith, so they were able to. They had a promise from God, and they held onto that promise whenever things were uncertain or frightening. I wanted to write about this because I think so often we forget that the people in the Bible were people, just like us. So often we forget that they didn't know the ending to their story when they made tough decisions, just like we don't know how things will turn out when we have to make tough decisions. When David said he would face Goliath, he didn't know that he would kill him, or the string of events that would follow from that. When Daniel defied the king and prayed to God, he didn't know his life would be spared in the lion's den. They were people, just like Mary and Joseph were people. The Bible is so much more enriching and encouraging when we think of it like that. So I encourage you this Christmas to put yourself in the story that you have heard so often. See it through new eyes. Look at it a different way, and see something new.
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