Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
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Passing Ships
In his “Theologians Tales,” Henry W. Longfellow used darkness as a metaphor to highlight the difficulty we have connecting with each other and to emphasize the personal isolation prevalent in this vastly populated world:
“Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.
Although we live in families, neighborhoods, and communities and associate with one another in schools, workplaces, organizations, synagogues, and churches and are connected as citizens of this world to the larger community of nations, our relationships are predominately casual. And we are lonely! We have become Longfellow’s “Ships that pass in the night.”
There is a strange incongruity in being innately relational beings who long for connection but fear deep intimacy. We possess the ability to love deeply and sacrificially, to be understanding and compassionate and generous, to support and help each other, to know right and wrong, to expect justice but also practice forgiveness, to show mercy and grace, but we fall short! We try, but we fail. The reasons are multifactorial.
The realities of time and space bring fleeting relationships and incidental encounters. Social status, ethnicity, race, individuality, quirky personalities, lifestyles, opinions, values, politics and religions create distance. Dual incomes, busy lives, attention demanding iPhones, and social media complicate and distract from relationships. Experiences drive us to build protective emotional and physical boundaries. Distrust, “fear of man”, and insecurities keep us awkward and guarded. However, there is a deeper underlying challenge. Centuries ago, God revealed an undeniable truth about a real and basic problem. “Every intention of the thoughts of (man’s) heart is only evil continually” and “The intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 6:5;8:21).
We have a heart issue. We are incapable of perfection and achieving self redemption and are separated by our brokenness. Our spirits are willful and disordered, our minds filled with impure attitudes and motives. Self centeredness and lack of grace and humility bring disorder and darkness to our world. Unfortunately, performing rituals, attending church or synagogue, praying, being generous, helping our neighbors, and giving to the poor, or even taking religious practices to the point of radical actions do not cleanse our deceitful hearts or inspire a favorable standing in God’s sight. We may be unlike in many ways, but we all share the humbling need for redemption. Our souls need the touch of divine love.
Scripture’s great message is that the Creator loves His fallen creation, has done all that is necessary to redeem it through Christ, and at some point will restore it to its original glory. We cannot make God love us more than He already does! Salvation is not earned but is a divine provision. “It is not by works that we have done but by his mercy he saves us” (Titus 3:5). Christ’s redemptive work on our behalf proved the amazing perfection of God’s unimaginable love. The cross is where mercy and justice meet to provide salvation for all who seek him.
New England poet and Quaker, John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), wrote a poem from which some of the verses became the hymn “Dear Lord and Father of mankind.” The song addresses our common need for repentance, trusting belief in, submission to, and quiet waiting on the Lord, and the first verse speaks to those needs.
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind;
in purer lives Thy service find,
in deeper rev’rence, praise.
We share life together. Understanding and trusting what Christ has done should give new meaning, purpose, grace, and spirit to relationships. Hostilities, barriers, and divisions have been abolished by divine grace, mercy, and love. If Whittier’s prayerful song becomes ours and we walk as Jesus did, there will be fewer of Longfellow’s ships passing in the night.
A Good Book
The Good Book
If you enjoy reading, you undoubtedly prefer a “good” read, not necessarily a best seller but one engaging or informative enough to finish and to share with a friend or interesting enough to search for other books by the same author.
The Bible “fits that bill.” Even though it is a compilation of books and letters filled with history, poetry, stories, parables, and theology and was written by 40 different authors over many centuries, it follows an amazingly cohesive, central theme of God’s love, justice, and providential interaction with mankind. Its ancient yet astonishing contemporary message is applicable to all people and societies of all times because it addresses humanity’s triumphs, failures and spiritual needs. Adhering to its profound wisdom leads to healthy, productive living. It’s Good News is powerful enough to bring redemption and confidence in an eternal life to all who will receive it.
Psalm 19 is an inspiring segue into this amazing Book. In eleven verses, it espouses a worldview centered on God as humanity’s sovereign Creator and loving Redeemer and begins with recognition and praise for God’s greatness, His love, and His provision for our souls. It proclaims that God’s presence and power are gloriously evident everywhere in creation’s design, governing principles, and purpose. Every human community and heart language can see how wonderfully ordered and powerfully sustained life is and can be drawn to the awesomeness of God.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork…
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
The Psalmist notes that God governs the moral/spiritual world through divinely inspired principles which are pure, right, unchanging, and reliable and therefore innately good for us. This Psalm delights in the beauty and perfection of God’s powerful instructions. They are insightful, wholesome guides which “revive the soul,” “make wise the simple,” “bring joy to the heart” and “songs to the soul,” “enlighten the eyes,” and “endure forever.” These valued, convicting, encouraging, principles are to be desired above all else including “much fine gold.” They bring blessings to life and praise to one’s lips because they are “true” and “righteous.” Adhering to these principles keeps one from error, folly, and the domination of sinful living as the Psalmist expressed: “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!…Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression.”
Man’s word lacks omniscience and is tainted by bias, but God’s revealed Word is “like fire…and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29) The New Testament claims that it splits the hardest of hearts. It “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” and “is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16)
Just as God’s words created the world and the creatures in it, they create His image in us when heeded. Scripture’s revelations have proven to be incredibly powerful, authoritative, and transformative. That is an exciting possibility for all of us because we all need the joyful changes that forgiveness, redemption, and hope bring to our souls.
Is it any wonder that this book is the best seller of all time, selling 19 to 20 million copies annually?
For anybody reading the Bible for the first time, the New Testament books of Mark and John are a great starting point because they focus on the person and teachings of Christ, who is Scripture’s central figure and the prototype for who we are created to be.
Has Easter Dawned?
The miracle of creation’s first light emerges every morning in a blend of beauty and mystery. The lifting mists slowly unveil the day’s reality. So it was on Resurrection morning for Jesus’ disciples. Comprehension of the enigma and meaning of the man who had died nailed to a Roman cross between two scoundrels slowly began to emerge as his followers pondered an empty tomb at dawn’s light.
Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection climaxed three exhausting years of trudging around Israel while teaching profound truths and performing endless miracles which demonstrated his power over nature, the spirit world, disease, and human brokenness. Yet, he had been judged and rejected by many because of his place of origin, heritage, lack of formal religious education, his socioeconomic status, his friends and associates, his countercultural beliefs, and the assumed threat he was to the religious rulers. Nevertheless, he had lived resolutely with divine love and purpose. No fault could be found in him despite having been tried and opposed by his own humanity, by Israel’s political-religious hierarchy, and by dark forces using all manner of evil against him –temptations, racism, bias, intolerance, misunderstanding, unbelief, treason, and jealousy over his power with the masses.
His inevitable crucifixion seemed a joyful victory for the opposition but a disastrous blow to his followers. Even so, he was not defeated. His true identity and purposes continued to unfold. Resurrection’s enlightening was just hours away from the darkness enshrouding his death. Those dark hours before resurrection day’s dawn were disorienting. His followers had been severely traumatized by the unjustifiable mockery, brutalization, humiliation, and murder of their dear friend, beloved leader, and mentor, the one they had confidently believed would be the salvation of Israel. His death dashed their personal dreams, their hopes for Israel, and put them in jeopardy. Imagine their shock, deep sadness, and despair! Fear, anger, anxiety, guilt and shame swirled through their conversations while that horrific drama played over and over in their heads. They mourned their friend. There was no way forward. There was no replacement for Jesus. No one had his power and vision. There would be no recovery. Their world was foreboding, pointless…
As they huddled together in fear and disbelief, their grieving minds were too fogged to remember or understand or perhaps even believe what Jesus had told them when he said “…you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. …” (John 16:19-24)
On Resurrection morning, bewilderment cautiously gave way with the angelic assurance that Jesus had risen “as he said he would.” Then they actually saw Jesus! Some at once. Some later. Joy kicked in. He was alive! They were getting some clarity. The amazing implications of Christ’s emergence from death’s cold, dark grip unveiled astonishing realities. The mist was indeed lifting! Death had been defeated! God’s Kingdom was not temporal but eternal! Humanity had hope! What a reversal a few hours made! Resurrection morning had come! He had risen from the dead! Truth was fully revealed.
Is Easter just a story? Has Easter dawned for us? Has it impacted us?
As an atheist, C. S. Lewis experienced what he called “willful blindness.” He had made no robust attempt to discover the truth about Christ. Often, this callous disregard or conscious avoidance of Christ occurs because Christianity is misunderstood. Christianity is all about God’s justice and Christ’s love and is not about people, institutions, or restrictions. Christ paid the price for our sins and offers to free us from the condemnation that we deserve because of our sinful natures. There is only one condition for that freedom! Belief. (Acts 16:31) (Romans 10:9-10)
Easter makes a mindboggling statement. It confirms the Gospel. Christ’s redemptive act at the cross is truly the necessary, gracious, merciful, remedy for mankind’s sinful nature, and his trumphant ressurection verifies his divinity and the eternal existence of man’s soul. Trusting Christ is not only God’s plan for spiritual renewal and purpose during this earthly journey but is our assurance that we will live with Him even when we die.
Could there be any more perfect or more hope-filled plan for when we exchange mortality for immortality?
A Safe Place
“Quietly Waiting for Spring“
When weariness or overwhelming urgencies chip away at joy, we need a “go to” plan, somewhere to pause the struggle, a temporary escape from busyness, stress, turbulent times, difficult relationships, or family chaos. Retreating to a good book, resting in a favorite chair, listening to special music, or just a finding a quiet space may help ease one’s mind and inner turmoil.
My “place” is a childhood memory of summer evenings when my four siblings were in bed drowsing off to sleep after an exhausting day of fun and play. While the house was quiet, I would sit by my small, open bedroom window listening to the the sounds of a waning summer day: leaves rustling in the silver oak tree as a light breeze whispered by, a hermit thrush’s sweet song interspersed with the twilight call of a whip-o-will in the pine grove, and a Bob-o-link bob-o-linking in the field between the house and the grove. The world was calm and ordered. I was at peace. Responsibility and worries were my parents’ problems and rarely touched me then. In those moments, a beautiful awareness of belonging stirred within me. Those remembrances of innocent moments still calm me to sleep many years later.
Some of us are plagued by stress filled or traumatizing experiences and have difficulty finding cherished moments to rest our minds, bodies, and souls. Moving beyond loss, abuse, victimization, anger, guilt, and shame takes time and hard soul searching work. The proper place for negative memories and hurts is where they no longer have control over emotions and behaviors. Sorting them out may require professional help, but scripture encourages us to look to the love and strength of Jesus, who invites us, “Come to me… learn from me…and you will find rest for your souls…” (Matt 11:28-29).
That is a credible offer. In spite of his stress filled life, Jesus humbly, willingly, and without complaint embraced loss, poverty, grief, temptation, hardship, betrayal, and injustice as he showed us how to live by the power and grace of God. The author of Hebrews exhorted his readers to “Consider (Jesus) who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted (Hebrews 12:2-3).” His unmitigated love for his Father and for humanity enabled him to overcome, persevere, and fulfill his redemptive work at the cross as the only blameless sacrifice and perfect payment for our sins.
One Old Testament name for God was Deliverer. The Psalmist sang, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust” (Psalm 18:2). Jesus carried that divine role into New Testament times. He declared, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). He changed the lives of the troubled and diseased, the disenfranchised, sinners, and even the dead. His ultimate show of power was a glorious resurrection by which he guaranteed eternal hope for those who would accept his redemptive gift with genuine repentance and trust.
The Psalmist also saw God’s deliverance as cause for celebration: “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance “ (Psalm 32:7). Christ is our divine Protector. If he loved us enough to enter humanity to deliver us from evil influences and spiritual oppressions by meeting our redemptive need, lifting our spiritual burdens, and showing us a better way, we can confidently cast our fears, inadequacies, guilt, shame, past indiscretions, and failures into a relationship with him. He seeks, loves and forgives without judgment or condemnation and has promised that his spirit would be with those who trust him. He is a refuge for all who heed and is worthy of “shouts of deliverance.”
His invitation to “rest” is really an invitation to “abide” in him, to reflect upon him, to center life around him, to draw strength from him, and to move forward with confidence in God’s goodness and protective love. He is a safe place.
Waiting Confidently
Sitting alone on a beautiful beach in the fog might seem disheartening, particularly if one is on vacation hoping for winter warmth on a sunny, southern beach. Yet, there is hope! The weather forecast is confidently predicting that the fog will clear. It is a matter of patiently waiting. The sun will shine!
The dictionary defines hope as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Hope energizes and motivates! Even if it is fragile and wishful, life would lose meaning without it. However, “wishful hope” is conditional upon unreliable outcomes. Although it may lead to happiness and gratitude, it may also result in disappointment, lonliness, despair, despondency, being overwhelmed, giving up, and suicide. In the words of Scottish poet Robert Burns, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men / Gang aft agley (often go awry).”
In contrast, biblical hope is different and substantive. It is a confidence, an assurance, a certainty based on God’s character, His promises, and His principles for living. This hope gives meaning to the present and a confident anticipation for an eternal future. The Apostle Paul addressed waiting expectantly and patiently when he wrote about the promises of redemption and the future restoration of creation: “For in this hope we were saved…we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24-25)
Faith empowers believers to deal optimistically, courageously, and with assurance that all life’s circumstances are purposeful regardless of how murky or mysterious or baffling they may be. For the Christian believer, there is a confident expectation of an eternal future. Thankfully, this hope rests in the person and work of Christ not in one’s personal goodness or good deeds which are inconsistent at best. His sacrificial death paid the price for humanity’s sinfulness and restores any person to God through their trust in his atoning mercy and grace. He promises his presence with us always, and his resurrection guarantees a future beyond the grave.
Those of faith may wait in difficult circumstances, but they can do so with the certainty that God is present and that the sun is already shining on their future.
Beneath the Threatening Clouds
The gathering clouds.overtaking this lone barn are reminders that we are vulnerable to unexpected physical, emotional, and spiritual storms which sweep through our lives overwhelming bright moments, tearing at our spirits, and darkening our souls. However, God has given us Jesus as an example to show the way through these troubles and to redeem them. “The Message, ” a Bible paraphrase, encourages us to
“Keep (our) eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it.”
The rest of that paraphrase explains how he did it. Jesus never lost sight of his Father’s purposes in spite of great opposition and hostility towards him; he moved beyond temptations and rejections and past the shameful humiliation and suffering of the cross to a glorious resurrection and exhilarating finish with God. He was able to tolerate everything along this journey because he trusted his Father. (Hebrews 12:2)
We experience many blessings but also significant, unwanted afflictions. Severe challenges may be brought to us through no fault of our own, but they are frequently caused by our indiscretions, weaknesses, imprudence, miscalculations, or lack of insight and foresight. Even so, believers in God are confident that He has a hand in all of life, that He can and will bring good from devastation, that He will provide peace and comfort and hope in moments of difficulties, that He has promised not to forsake His own and will not allow the fires and deep waters of life to consume or to drown them, that adversity will mature minds and spirits where there is willingness to learn, and that He gives purpose to life’s experiences
Jesus showed us the truth of that reality. He prayerfully sought His Father’s will and walked purposefully with determination and unwavering trust through exhausting emotional, physical, and spiritual trials. Since believers share similar life experiences as Jesus did, they are reminded that they are “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for (them) to do ( Ephesians 2:10). Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection give the confidences of faith: that God unquestionably loves all peoples, that life is more about God’s purposes for us than about ours, that Jesus’ sacrifice on humanity’s behalf paid our sin debt, that he is present, and that trusting in his redemptive power and provision restores us to God and eternal life with Him (John 3:16).
The following poem/ prayer expresses the need to keep Jesus at the center of our thinking and of doing life with God.
“When distant clouds threaten the lingering sun, what will the day have been when done? Bright with gladness? Or sad with brokenness and madness? If the storm descends, I will profess what You have deemed is best. Though my path be difficult and steep with unexpected waters dark and deep, Your hand reaches beyond what I can see while in loving goodness You teach what I should be. When rains and winds block the sun and Your sovereign brush paints colors from which I want to run, my hope is always Jesus, who brings your mercy, grace and love, Almighty, all- knowing God above.” (Anonymous)
Whether we are living beneath sunshine or clouds, God providentially works to redeem, heal, comfort, guide, transform, and draw us to Himself if we trust Him to do so.
Water, Water Everywhere but Still Thirsty!
For reasons now lost to me, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel T. Coleridge was required reading when I was in school. It is a hauntingly weird poem about an old mariner and his crew who are becalmed, parched, and dying while surrounded by sea water. They bemoan: “Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.”
This beautiful sphere’s surface with its huge oceans, major rivers, and innumerable lakes is 71percent water, and the human body is approximately 61percent water. In spite of those amazing statistics, water essential for maintaining human life is not always available. Arid lands exist with insufficient drinking water to support their populations, and weather patterns produce periodic droughts that are deadly. Furthermore, water is often contaminated and unsafe to drink.
Even if living where there is an adequate water supply, we can still have a different but fatal, unquenched thirst. We need to be valued, loved, and accepted. Without those we suffer some degree of emotional and spiritual death. So, we struggle to satisfy this thirst through relationships, professional and intellectual endeavors, talents, material things, substances, and certain behaviors. But there is a nagging emptiness; any relief we may experience is unsustained.
The Psalmist expressed this human need in a beautiful song: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Psalm 42:1). Christ addressed a solution for this soul-craving by claiming to be the source of “living water.” He said that drinking well water would only temporarily quench thirst, but whoever drinks the water that he gives will never be thirsty but have eternal life. (John 4: 10-14)
By believing in Christ’s sacrificial, redemptive act on our behalf, we are promised an unending supply of living water to meet the needs and nurture the life we are meant to possess: forgiveness for moral failures, redemption with no condemnation, restoration to God and rest for our weary souls, the presence and empowering of his Spirit, comfort within trials, peace beyond understanding, security in God’s saving power, and eternal life.
Furthermore, Jesus said, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink!” (John 7:37-38) “Anyone” is everyone; his is an all inclusive offer for redemption and restoration to God, who is the One who satisfies the deep longings of the soul. Saint Augustine understood this to be the case when he prayed, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you”(Confessions).
The View From Above…
Recently while flying at 30 thousand feet and viewing the vast, changing landscape below, the question crossed my mind as to whether I was closer to God at that altitude. After all, a number of Bible accounts tell about God’s mountain top revelations. However, the descriptives of being “closer to” or “further from” God speak to relationship rather than to physical proximity or awareness. A better question might be is God close, or can I be close to God?
Most, if not all of us, have been, or perhaps are now in a situation where God didn’t or doesn’t seem to show up. Grief? Loss? Addiction? Relationship chaos? Abandonment or betrayal? Financial stress? Errant children? Suffering some injustice? Illness? Or some difficult, lonely situation in which there was no sense of God’s presence? Consider Jacob, who exclaimed as he awoke to the fact that God was dealing with him in his struggling, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it” (Genesis 28:16). King David realized that he could never be free from God’s presence when he questioned, “Where can I go from your Spirit?” (Psalm 139)
Not everyone believes in God. However, reality is not dependent upon feelings or belief. Reality is what is true. Scripture clearly declares that God is present whether or not we believe or seek Him. Even though we may be unaware of Him, He is aware of us. ” God looks at the heart” (1Samuel 16:7). Nothing could be more personal than that!
Our unfamiliarity with God may be because our opportunities, resources, and physical and intellectual abilities enable us to meet our goals and material needs. The failure to recognize that God gives us “our daily bread,” results in the misunderstanding that we are not dependent upon His grace. Conversely, we are not invincible. We may have unfulfilled expectations and needs in which we believe a good and just God would intervene but hasn’t. Or we may fail to seek Him in a world which distracts from and even denies our fundamental reasons to live. Instead of enjoying life and God as part of His glorious creation, we follow appealing trends, fads, “enlightened” but misguided ideas, confusing theories, and distorted pleasures which exclude God. Therefore, we miss the point. We think life is all about us, but Scripture reminds us that we are created in God’s image and that the whole of God’s creation declares His glory (Psalm 19; Roman’s 1:18). We are meant to display God’s glory until the day all creation is restored and justice and goodness prevail. For now, God is working everywhere to redeem us and our circumstances.
Our poorly conceived ideas result from a disordered human spirit. We suffer from brokenness and generational failures to live and convey moral truth and godly principles. For proof of spiritual darkness, we need only to turn on the news or look at ourselves! But more important than our sin is God’s grace. We enter this world imperfect, self-absorbed, and struggling for individual identity which will never be complete apart from a relationship with our Creator who loves us enough to show Himself in the mysteries and majesty of His creation, speak to us through His Word, and reveal Himself in the moral Law and in the person and death of Christ. Entering humanity as Emmanuel, “God with us,” Christ has shown us our spiritual need while mercifully and lovingly paying the penalty for our sins so we could be healed and restored to a relationship with God. He has promised that his Spirit will never leave or forsake believers. (1Corinthians 3:16; John 14:.16-17).
God meets us wherever we are. When we look for him, He is there. King David knew that as he cried out in his brokenness, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crused in spirit (Psalm34:18).” Happily, being close to God doesn’t require flying high or climbing to great heights or doing great things to earn His favor. He will be found and will dwell with those who believe Him, seek Him, and welcome Christ. And as the old hymn proclaims, regardless of our spiritual state “He is Only a Prayer Away.”
A New Year’s Thought from Arlington
Beginning a new year is a great time to consider how we view the world, what is central and meaningful to a purposeful life, and how we can live significantly in that dash between our birth date and death.
Here in Arlington lie ordinary women and men, many only boys. They honorably served their country, and many tragically sacrificed their lives so that others might enjoy freedom. Deserving of our respect and gratitude, they are remembered in this special way at Christmas. Unlike their simple, stark, generic tomb stones, their personal stories are varied, colorful, and mostly unknown to us. Even though they gave up dreams and loves when they died, they remind us that we the living are privileged to be still writing our stories. They demand we think about meaning and purpose of our lives.
Sometimes we fail to recoginize the commonality of our humanity. Birth and death are great reminders! Regardless of our self-perceptions, we enter the world and will leave it in the same way we arrived, a fact lamented by Job, Kings David and Solomon (Job 1:21) (Psalm 49:17) (Ecclesiastes 5:15), and the Apostle Paul, who wrote to Timothy: “For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of it.” (1 Timothy 6:7) Death is a leveling influence. The uniformity of these simple grave markers at Arlington testify to the fact that ultimately all that matters is the state of our souls. Power, status, wealth and fame are left behind; we take no treasure with us.
Although we may be courageous, generous and kind, we all share the vulnerabilities and self-centeredness which lead to flawed lives and to a world that needs redemption. We are on a very short road to eternity. That raises questions. Is life just about me, my body, my choices? Scripture indicates that life is not just about us and that God in His sovereignty and authority has persistently and lovingly given humanity guidelines for health, peace, contentment and joy. He has eternal purposes and desires for us. That is why Christ came to be “God with us” and to be “the Way” back to God by not only showing and teaching us how to live but, more importantly, by dying on the cross, shedding his blood to mend our rebellion and brokenness, and making possible forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God when we repent and believe.
While the solemn scenes of Arlington are replete with stories of courage and valor, they also speak of war, death, and the sadness of man’s depravity. Above all, they remind us that one day God will right all wrongs. He will restore creation to its original innocence, but until then, Christ has come to solve our moral and mortal dilemmas. God’s perfect redemptive plan promises that those who have faith, those who believe and trust will discover forgiveness and everlasting life (John3:16). No longer condemned, believers are free to be who they are intended to be and live their best possible stories in relationship with God forever.
That “good news” is worth pondering as we begin another trip around the sun.
Is Christmas Really the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?
What makes Christmas Eve beautiful and wonder-filled? Perhaps it’s large, soft snow flakes gently brushing faces and whitening eyebrows while twinkling tree lights interrupt the darkness and church carillons chime Silent Night. Maybe it’s Andy Williams singing Christmas is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” where “ those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings when friends come back to call” become“ the hap-happiest season of all.”
But is Christmas really the happiest season?
Not everyone believes in the Christmas “story.” Not everyone tunes into the season’s carol singing, good will, and “tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago” with enthusiasm. And for some, holiday gaiety and happy faces are unsettling. Loss, loneliness, disappointment, guilt, humiliating or difficult times, and memories of dysfunctional and broken relationships are ghosts haunting Christmas. They rob or deflate a celebratory spirit for many.
That first Christmas Eve in Bethlehem didn’t start out so great either. It was a difficult, lonely time riddled with tension. There was no room or concern for Joseph’s and Mary’s predicament as they struggled to find a place to give birth to their baby boy. (They knew he was a boy centuries before ultrasound diagnosing!) They were alone and unsupported. The night was not silent, calm, peaceful, and bright. The lowing of cattle was mixed with the cries of birth pains. A sense of urgency, fear, desperation, and confusion emanated from a dark, smelly stable where God’s unrecognized grace and the glorious reason for the season lay humbly swaddled on a musty mound of hay.
Desperation suddenly turned to wonder when excited, inquisitive, awe struck shepherds arrived to see this child because an angel had suddenly appeared to them with “good news of great joy.” It was a monumental God-surprise! Israel had waited centuries to hear it!. That very day their long awaited Savior had been born! Even more surprisingly, this baby was the Savior for “all people” not just Israel. The immensity, beauty, and profound mystery of that announcement had been magnified and verified by God’s indescribable glory surrounding a heavenly choir singing and praising God that His peace would be upon those with whom he was pleased (Luke 2).
However, Jesus had not come to defeat Roman tyranny with sword and rebellion or political power. He would perfectly fulfill the Law and defeat sin on a Roman cross and death with an empty tomb as the once and only sin sacrifice for all mankind. His peace would be on those who believed because trusting faith is what pleases God (Hebrews 11:6, John 3:16).
We may have lost the wonder and joy of that promise and those moments. This may not have been the best year or this Christmas the most wonderful holiday. Yet, the miracle and meaning of Christ’s birth is as crucial and marvelous now as the night he was born. This special season brings us the best news ever heard! God came to us! Jesus is humanity’s hope for redemption and eternal life.
Maybe soft, flaky snow falling upon lighted Christmas trees and a church steeple chiming “Silent Night” will remind us of the reality that God loves us so much he came to dwell with us. He lights our way through the darkness to a place of peace if we trust His gift to be our Savior.
“Joy to the world, the Lord has come.” Let’s receive him.
Sweet Words from Maine 