Before You Pack Up Christmas…

Christmas packers come in different speeds.  There is the “obsessive-compulsive” model: “Okay, we’ve opened all the presents, let’s take down the tree, pack all this stuff up, and get it in the attic before breakfast.”  Every decoration has a color-coded box.  I went into the barn of one of these people.  Four shelves were stacked with red and green Rubbermaid Tote boxes and were labeled in the order they were to be taken down and put up.  These folks also had their tree up the day after Thanksgiving and all their Christmas shopping done by the end of October.  God bless these people; they run on a schedule and do not understand why other people are so stressed in the days before Christmas.  If we put them in charge of distributing the COVID vaccine, we’d all be inoculated by now. 

The opposite extreme, of course, is the “We’ll get around to it” model.  These souls believe the neighborhood enjoys the Christmas lights, so they’ll leave them up until Valentines Day.  Or maybe St. Patrick’s Day.  The cue to take down the Christmas tree is when the last needle falls.  In fact, it is not uncommon for these folks to discover a Christmas gift that was never opened or delivered – from 2003.  You will often find these folk in Walmart at 5 PM, Christmas Eve, with a panicked look on their face.  Their procrastination is responsible for the odd presents you sometimes receive: the thoughtful gift of a Christmas Tree air freshener from the corner gas station, or that thoughtful bottle of Maalox from Walgreens. 

Great marital strife occurs when an “Obsessive-compulsive” person is joined with a “We’ll get around to it” person.  The result is usually the “Obsessive-compulsive” person takes charge during the holidays with the “We’ll get around to it” person grudgingly obeying orders.  The second most popular way of dealing with this tension is divorce.

The middle of the road model is the “We have to get this done” model.  The day after each Thanksgiving, there is the adventure of searching for Christmas decorations and the inevitable “Where are all the ornaments I bought last year?” question.  Multiple trips are required to buy new lights and string them up.  Once this task is completed, the box with the old lights is discovered.   Christmas is celebrated, but the tree and the décor remain up until after the interesting bowl games are over.  These folks open a cabinet and find it stuffed with the stuff they had moved out of the way to display the Christmas stuff.  So grudgingly, grumbling, they start in on the job, and eventually get Christmas put away until the next year. They have to go to the store to buy more storage boxes, but all the green and red ones are gone, so Christmas decorations go in garish orange totes (which is okay with Clemson fans).  The boxes are lugged to the attic.  Once placed there, they will migrate to the far corners, hiding out until next December. 

No matter which model you are – and you know who you are - before you pack up Christmas, remember to keep some things out:

• Keep out a generous spirit. It’s the best part of who you are. The more generous you are, the more you have a character like God.

• Keep out joy – the Good News and great joy of a Savior doesn’t go away. Think how different your life would be if the joy of our Savior stayed with you every day of the coming year.

• Keep out the part of your heart that sings. One reason we love Christmas is we know the songs. People who never sing will rumble along to a familiar carol. Keep rumbling along – sing praise to God; it will lighten your heart and give you perspective.

Most of all, keep out Jesus.  Too many of us treat Jesus like the porcelain figure in a dime-store manger scene.  It’s great to bring Jesus out for Christmas, but afterwards, we want to wrap Him in old newspaper and put Him back in the box until next Christmas.   

If you keep Jesus with you all year long, you might be surprised at how surprising He is.

Before you pack up Christmas, remember it is not just about keeping Christ in Christmas; it’s about Christ being in you and with you all year.

When does Your Story Begin?

Sooner or later, every child asks, “Where did I come from?”  Some adults may blush while others calmly explain that because Mommies and Daddies love each other they want to have babies. 

The question “Where did I come from” is really a question that asks, “When did my story begin?”  We want to hear stories about how Mom and Dad met, how they fell in love.  Sometimes we thirst to hear stories about why Mom or Dad isn’t in our lives anymore. 

If you read the Bible, somewhere along the way you make the connection that the Bible’s story is really your story.  Just like Adam and Eve, you’ve made poor choices.  God calls you to an adventure like He called Abraham and Sarah.  Just when you start to protest your unworthiness, like Moses, God tells you the job is yours.  You have been blessed and you still mess up – like David; God forgives you. 

Your story is like Peter’s:  flawed, but still chosen.  You are like Paul: called to change the world wherever you go.  You are John, beloved by Jesus, and given a message to share.  Your story is the Bible’s story. 

Learn a little church history.  You are Gregory the Great, called to responsibility in the church without losing your love for Jesus.  You are St. Francis of Assisi, opening your eyes to the amazing work of God in every moment of life.  You are John Calvin, Martin Luther, John Smyth, and Thomas Helwys, who saw a church that strayed from scripture and rallied to the idea that the Bible alone was enough. 

Reading scripture and reading church history, though, only starts the conversation.  The truth is your story begins much earlier, earlier even than the words of Genesis.  Your story begins when there was no time, no stars, no gravity – when there was nothing you and I recognize as “universe.”  

There was only God.  Your story begins and my story begins when God says, “I will make a universe.”  I can only imagine there was conversation between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit before God speaks.  That conversation had to acknowledge how this creation business would turn out.  For the universe to be more than a wind-up toy (and it surely is more than a wind-up toy), space for choice and freedom would also be necessary.  And God knew what we would do with choice and freedom. 

So, the plan, from the foundation of the world, would require redemption to be built in.  From the beginning, it was clear that a sacrifice would have to be made.  The Son would have to come into that which was created, exist in this world, and pay a price to buy back the wreck creation would become when our freedom went to our heads. 

Before the light shown, God knew you.  Before the light shown, God planned Christmas. 

When did your story begin?  The same time Christmas began.  Your story is the story of Christmas – a sinner who needed a Savior, the Savior who comes at Christmas.

What Ever Happened to the Wise Men’s Presents?

This time of year, you are bound to hear the Christmas carol, “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”  Every child, of course, knows the variation: “We three Kings of Orient Are, tried to smoke a big cigar.  It was loaded, it exploded, BANG!”  The real song, you remember, goes like this: “We three Kings of Orient are, bearing gifts, we traverse afar.  Field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.”

Matthew in his gospel tells us they were wise men, not kings.  The best modern equivalent would be to call them “professors.”  They probably were learned men who sought to interpret the stars to guide the government. The traditional number of wise men is three, all though Matthew doesn’t tell us how many there actually were.  Give these men credit.  They were spiritually curious.  Whether sent by their government or making a trip on their own, they want to find this new King and pay him homage.

Matthew wants us to know about the gifts.  The wise men brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the newborn king.  Gold, of course, was valuable as currency.  Frankincense is a valuable perfume.  Myrrh is a precious ointment often used in the burial process.

When the wise men came to Bethlehem, after a stop at Herod’s palace, they found the new King in the humblest of circumstances.  They did not scratch their heads and say, “Really? A king born to this poor family?  I think we must have made a mistake.”  Instead, they believed in the sign of the star and believed this child was the promised King.  They presented their gifts and we are told, they worshiped him.  That is faith.

To carpenter’s family, even if they came from royal blood, these gifts were beyond extravagance.  Joseph probably never before held gold in his hands.  He would have been paid with denarius, which would have been a silver or copper coin.  Mary only would have caught a whiff of frankincense if she brushed against a wealthy person passed through Nazareth.  Myrrh was for the burial of the rich and the powerful, not the poor. 

What happened to the presents?

Most of us are like Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s character in the movie Jerry Maguire: “Show me the money.”  Shouldn’t there be a few verses in the Bible about what happened to gifts?  The wise men went to great lengths to bring these gifts.  They were valuable.  No doubt they were received with awe and gratitude.  You would think Matthew would tell us what happened to these three amazing gifts.

No one knows what happened to them.  Matthew only tells us the wise men brought them.  There is not another word in scripture that tells us what happened after that.

There are legends, stories.  One legend says the thieves crucified with Jesus had stolen the gold given him at birth.  Another says that Judas was made custodian of the gifts and he sold them and pocketed the money.  There is a story that the myrrh given to Jesus as a child was used in his burial.  A more practical story is Joseph used the presents to finance the family’s flight to Egypt.  None of these stories are in the Bible. 

So, what happened to the presents?  Why doesn’t Matthew tell us what happened to the gifts?

Because Christmas is not about the gifts we bring; it is about the Gift God gives.

It is as if God is telling us, “Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are nice, but not all that important.  What matters is the gift I have for you.  My gift is the gift of my Son, myself.  My gift is the hope of the world.  My gift is the gift of grace.  While you were still a sinner, Jesus was born into this world, died for your sins, and was resurrected to give you power.”

I know how important it is to give the right gift.  Many of us are anxious and eager to say just the right thing with our gift.  In the midst of choosing and wrapping, pause.  Remember that our Heavenly Father has a gift for you.  His gift is worth more than all the gold, all the frankincense, and all the myrrh in the world.  It’s not a gift you can buy.  This gift can only be received.

This Christmas make sure you receive the Gift before you worry about giving a gift.

The Second Hardest Conversation…

Mary:  Mamma, Poppa, I need to talk to you.

Anne (her mother): Joachim, come here.  Your daughter wants to talk.

Joachim (her father): What does she want to talk about?

Anne:  She didn’t say.  Probably something about the wedding. (To Mary) It is about the wedding, isn’t it dear?

Mary:  Sort of.

(Joachim comes into the room).

Joachim: Alright, Alright, what is it?

Mary:  There’s no easy way to tell you this and it won’t be easy for you to understand.  I’m pregnant.

(Anne looks shocked.  Joachim arches his eyebrows).

Joachim: Well, well.  You and Joseph got a little ahead of yourselves, did you?  Well, it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last.  The rabbis allow for it if you are betrothed.  We’ll just move the wedding day up a bit and…  (Joachim stops as he sees the troubled look on Mary’s face).  What is it child? (he hesitates) Joseph is the father, isn’t he?

Mary: No, Poppa, the father isn’t Joseph…

Joachim (interrupting): Who then?  Who did this to you?  Did someone take advantage of you?  Was it a Roman solider?  Did they violate you?  Why didn’t you scream?  Oh, the #@&! scum!

Mary: No, Poppa, calm down.  It wasn’t like that at all.  No one took advantage of me.  I… I was willing.

Joachim (shocked, as Anne softly weeps): You mean you willingly… You betrayed Joseph?  How could you?  Don’t you know he could have you put to death!  What’s gotten into you girl?  Are you possessed of an unclean spirit?  We tried to raise you right, took you to synagogue every Sabbath…  How could you do this to your mother?  (Joachim starts to rip his sleeves as a sign of grief).

Mary: Poppa, no, no!  I haven’t betrayed Joseph at all.  I… I saw an angel. He said his name was Gabriel and he told me to rejoice, that I was covered with the grace of God.  He said I would have a son, who would be the Messiah.  I asked him how this could happen, since I was still … you know, a virgin.  He told me the Holy Spirit would overshadow me and I would be pregnant in a way no one ever became pregnant before.  Then he said, “The child to be born is the Son of God.”  Then he looked at me, to see my response.  Poppa, I told him I was the Lord’s servant.  Whatever God said, I would do.  Poppa, don’t you see?  God choose me!  Isn’t that what you tried to teach me all these years?  Say “yes” to God?

Joachim (sputters): You?  How could he choose you?  We are poor people.  We are not elite.  We have no status except for our family connections to King David and to the priestly line.  We do not even live in Bethlehem where the Messiah is to be born.  Are you sure it wasn’t a nightmare?

Mary:  Yes, I am sure Poppa.  Then the angel told me Cousin Elizabeth was pregnant, six months along!  He said it was a sign.

Anne (shocked): But, but… how could you know that Mary?  I just heard it this morning and I haven’t had time to tell you yet.  (To Joachim) I haven’t even told you yet!

(pause)

Joachim: Could it be?  Could God choose our family for the Messiah?  Could it be my little girl is going to be the Mother of the one who will deliver us?

Mary: Mamma, Poppa, it is true. I’m going to have a baby who will save us all. Now, will you pray for me?I need to go see Joseph.It will be the hardest conversation I’ll ever have

Famous Town, Forgotten Town…

Ever heard of Sepphoris?  No, it’s not a disease, it’s a town.  In its day, it was a pretty important place.  Just off the main road between two important cities, it was full of government offices.  There was a military base there, which made everyone feel a little more secure.  Plus, it helped that more money flowed into Sepphoris than out. 

Sepphoris had a boom time.  Builders were busy trying to build enough housing to accommodate all the newcomers.  The houses were upscale, with extra features you wouldn’t expect in a typical home.  Naturally, there was some competition between the neighbors, a sort of comparison of your hot tub to my pool.

There was enough bustle in the town to make you feel like something was going on.  One of the finest theater companies in the region was located there.  The art scene was vibrant.  Everyone wanted to have an original work in their home.

Oddly for such a prosperous town, Sepphoris had a strong religious vibe.  There was strong attendance at religious gatherings to hear very educated people explain the ways of God to the crowd.

The city fathers of Sepphoris wanted to have an impressive main street, so they paved the road with material that would hold up over time and lined the street with an impressive colonnade.  One guide book called Sepphoris “the gem of the region.”  It was the kind of town that made all the “Best Places to Live” lists.

Ever noticed how every nice place to live has dumpy place to live nearby?  Sepphoris had a neighboring village, about four miles away, that was that dumpy place.  It wasn’t on the main road.  Directions to this town included, “when the pavement runs out, go on two more miles…” 

Nothing much ever happened in the dumpy town.  There was no art community, no theater, no steady flow of travelers through town.  Whoever founded the town forgot to investigate the water supply.  There was only one well.  Cisterns all over town had to catch every drop of rain and every trickle of dew.  Water was always in short supply.

This dumpy town was located on the side of a hill, so farming was tough.  Nobody made it big in agriculture.  A significant number of workers left town every day, commuting to Sepphoris.  They would do the jobs the Sepphorians didn’t want to do, and then would take their meager wages home. 

If you grew up in the dumpy town you knew everyone.  There were only about 500 people there.  It was the kind of place people got stuck in.  Some people were stuck there because it was their family home.  As their parents aged, they had to stick around to make sure they were cared for.  Other people came to work in Sepphoris and couldn’t afford the housing there.  They had to move to the dumpy town and commute.  Trapped in low wage jobs, they were stuck on the side of a mountain, dreaming of a better life.

It was tough to be young in the dumpy town.  There was nothing to do.  If you looked around and dreamed about marrying someone in town, there wasn’t much of a selection.  There might be ten people in your age range.  Five of those were off the table because they were first cousins.  Second cousins were fair game.  You chose a marriage partner less out of love and more out of availability.

There was one religious gathering place, but it was the kind of place you went to because you had to go, not because it all that interesting.

So, if you are God, and you need to do something, which place do you choose to work?  Sepphoris, right?  Best place to live, good religious environment, good economy, good roads for travel. 

So why have you never heard of Sepphoris?  God didn’t not show up there.  Instead, God showed up in the dumpy town.  You’ve heard of it – Nazareth.  God appears to a young woman in a dumpy forgotten town, and says “You will give birth to a son.  Call him Jesus, and he will be called the Son of the Most High.”  Nazareth is where Jesus grows up, where he learns to do the work of a carpenter.  He may have even worked in Sepphoris.

Interesting, Sepphoris is never mentioned in the New Testament.  It had everything going for it, except God didn’t work there. 

Maybe people who say “yes” to God are from the forgotten towns.  Maybe it’s because God is all they have. 

Before the Big Bang, There Was Christmas…

Before the Big Bang, there was Christmas.

Confused?  Hang with me.  This will be soul yoga, a stretching of your mind.

A kindergartener once asked me, “Who made God?”  Her simple question betrays our limitations: on this earth, we only know created things.  We assume everything that exists must have a creator.  But simple logic also dictates that there must one being who begins the chain of creation.  There must be one being who creates, who was not created.

We call that non-created being “God.”  He is a different order of being.  He is not like us.  He was never created, because he is the creator. His existence, his knowledge, his power, is different than ours, because we are created and he is not.

Are you with me so far?

Time exists because of gravity.  We measure years by our rotation around the sun.  We measure days by spin of earth on its axis.  All are results of gravitation forces (I’d explain further, but there is a lot of math involved).  If you believe God created the universe, it means God created time.  Because God created time, he governs time, it does not govern him.  Because God is a different order of being, he can exist simultaneously in the past, present, and future.  The verse in Revelation that declares God is “the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,” tells us God is able to move through time, unlike human beings, who are bound by time.  He is not a time traveler, but he is present in all times.

What’s all this have to do with Christmas?  Hang on, I’m coming to that.  

As a result of God being present in all time, he is aware of what is happening in our past, present and future. The theological word for this is God’s foreknowledge.  God knows what is going to happen because he is already present as it happens.  God is simultaneously present at the building of the pyramids, the battle of Gettysburg, and the election of the President of the United States in 2032. 

This, by the way, is why you should really do what God says.  He knows outcomes you don’t.

Before God created the world, he knew what would happen.  He knew what he made would be good.  He knew Adam and Eve would defy him.  He knew their descendants would keep making the same poor choices.  He knew the best way to fix what he didn’t break would be for his son, Jesus Christ, to enter the world, become flesh, die on a cross, and be resurrected.  He knew a movement, a church, would be the best imperfect vessel to spread the message of redemption.  And he knew that one day, you would have to make a decision: to receive his gift of redemption so your own broken life could be repaired, or to fix your life on your own.

Does this sound like a lot of trouble?

This is what amazes me: knowing what it would cost him, knowing how much trouble it would it be, knowing that dealing with human beings would be the most frustrating thing in his existence, God went ahead.  He created the universe.  He created us.  Then, when we broke his creation, he sent Jesus to save us, to bring it all back to its original design.  Now, he offers you a gift, a Savior, so you can be restored to his original design.

Wow.

Before the first matter was ever created by God’s will, he knew there would have to be a Christmas.  And he went ahead anyway.

Thanks be to God.