The Anticipation of Christmas

The days leading up to Christmas are pure torture for me.  The presents I have bought for my children are still in the shipping boxes that they came in (I do pretty much all my shopping online) sitting there ready to be wrapped and put under the tree.  My children usually each get one special present from us, and we think long and hard about what special gifts to get our children.  The problem is I hate waiting to give it to them.

In fact, I’m so bad that I’m tempted constantly to tell my children what I bought them.  It’s actually a joke with my kids because I will keep talking about their presents and how much they are going to like them.  And then I make up some silly toy (like a Dora bike for Ethan) that they know I didn’t really buy them, and we laugh about it. 

On Christmas Eve, I will painstakingly wrap and arrange the presents so that when my children come down the stairs on Christmas morning, they will see a plethora of presents where there used to be emptiness.

It occurred to me the other day that I bet God had this same excitement as He planned to give His best present to the world.  For hundreds of years, He gave us hints in His holy Word (the book of Matthew gives many of these OT prophecies for us).  You can almost imagine that He is just waiting to let it all out.  Not only that, but we see Him meticulously preparing the world for the arrival of this gift: heavenly messengers, John the Baptist’s birth, and a special star to lead the wise men.   Everything crescendos with the angelic announcement to the shepherds.  It’s like God could finally hold back no longer and shouts out, “Come and see what I’m giving you!!” 

And what a gift—a Savior like no other. 

But the crazy thing is there’s more because the anticipation of a great gift is still ongoing. 

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” Rev 21:1-7

In case you are imagining a future where we have wings and float around clouds playing harps, we have this text that informs us that God will create a new Earth.  An Earth without pain, loneliness, crying, suffering, or death.  Everything that is wonderful in this world is only a prelude to the perfection of our new Earth.  Just like the Old Covenant of Law was a shadow to the New Covenant offered in Christ (Hebrews 10:1), this Earth is only a shadow of what we will experience when everything will be redeemed.

In C.S. Lewis’s The Last Battle, after the Narnians have experienced the end of their world, they walk through a door into a world that was like the war-torn Narnia, but somehow more. 

“It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling.  He stamped his right hoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried: ‘I have come home at last!  This is my real country!  I belong here.  This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.  The reason why we loved Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.  Bree-hee-hee!  Come further up, come further in!” (213)

You see, the true Christmas, the real Christmas is still ahead.  We are still waiting, but we are waiting in hope with joyful anticipation.  And, one day, when all tears have been wiped away and all wrongs made right, we will have the biggest celebration we can imagine.  Don’t forget this precious gift that is being offered to you.  It is worth the wait!

Why I'm Not Afraid of ISIS

Recently, as I scrolled through social media, I saw a post where ISIS has revealed a list of cities they will target.  The person who posted this was shocked by the seemingly remote and insignificant cites that were mentioned on this city.  I don’t know if this list is true—it could be ISIS propaganda or even a sick joke.  However, I want to boldly say that I am not afraid of ISIS. 

Why am I choosing to not be afraid? 

It’s not because I think I am strong enough to fight them off.  I’m not. 

It’s not because I’m in denial about the real tragedies of life and don’t think this could possibly touch me.  Tragedy is no respecter of persons.

It’s not because I’m so confident God will stop them from getting me or my family.  He’s made no such promise. 

I am not afraid because I have hope in what comes after this life. 

All this life can truly promise is a cycle of suffering and redemption.  As privileged Americans, we sometimes think that we can live in perpetual safety and happiness.  That’s not the true nature of this fallen world.  We can insulate ourselves, but this insulation is not real protection.  The only true protection is a confidence in a redemption so big, we can only see a corner of it. 

My hopes are wrapped up in the following statements:

1)     We are more than bodies.  If you subscribe to the secular worldview that says that you are only a physical creature then, yes, you should be afraid. This is all you’ve got, apparently. If, however, you are a believer in the God of the Bible, we have promises that ensure that this is only the beginning.  In terms of my beloved punctuation, death is a comma, not a period.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV)

“For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." John 6:40 (NIV)

2)     True justice is on its way.  I think we have a great justice system here in America.  Having served on a jury, I was impressed by how each juror took seriously the implications of our judgment.  We were overwhelmed by the responsibility we had in removing the freedom of the defendant.  Even still, we all knew there was a weakness. We didn’t have all the information.  We could only make a judgment based on the information presented to us.  It is not so with God.  All men will stand before Him, and He will judge with true justice because He has all the information, even the intents of the heart.  This gives me confidence because that means that, while we should never stop looking for justice here on Earth, no one is getting away with anything in the long run (including myself).  This hope in true justice reminds me that all evil will be punished.  The evil that ISIS is doing now will be dealt with.

“There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.” James 4:12a (NIV)

3)     We have the word of hope.  Ours is truly the only message worth dying for.  We, as Christians, follow a long legacy of people willing to die for their enemies—to give rather than take.  We have something precious to give this world. 

“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 20:24 (NIV)

I say all this to remind my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, to not be afraid, but to be ready.  Be ready to share the Gospel, to live out the hope that you have, to stare evil in the face and offer it Christ.  In this way, we will demonstrate that we are true disciples.  

A Flourishing Faith

There are plenty of doomsday messages out there to make a believing person feel nervous: world-wide Christian persecution, a continued secularization of our society and its consequences, the drama of an unfolding presidential election.  How can we ensure the continued growth of the church when it seems under attack?

The early church knew the cost of following Christ—most often it was their lives.  Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, poured their blood out on sandy floors of the arena.  For four hundred years, the Christian believer was attacked, condemned, and murdered.  Yet the faith flourished. 

That is, until Constantine.  This Roman emperor supposedly has a vision where he sees a Cross and hears the words “in this sign you will conquer.”  It all pretty much goes downhill after this.  Christianity is finally recognized and now endorsed, and the died-for faith of generations now becomes a political tool.  After the Roman Empire falls, the word of God is kept from the lay people, trapped in the language of Latin (that the people no longer speak).  With no personal copy of Scripture with which they can test and check what they are being told, the people are left in ignorance and the church becomes a bastion of corruption and tradition based on man’s ideas instead of God’s.  For a thousand years (during which time the Crusades take place), man is estranged from God.  Yes, this time is considered a religious time period, but it is a religion of separation and distance, instead of relationship and personal accountability. 

The Reformation begins, not with Martin Luther’s 95 Theses of Contention in 1517, but almost 150 years earlier with John Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible into English.  Why is this so powerful?  For the first time in a thousand years, the idea that common man could read the Bible in his own vernacular is introduced.  For this, he is called the Morningstar of the Reformation.  His final vision doesn’t really become reality until Tyndale’s translation in 1525-26, but Wycliffe’s hope was the spark that started the fire that swept all of Europe. It is impossible to communicate the huge effect that this had on the people.  No longer were they dependent on others to tell them the truths of the Bible.  Now they could it read for themselves.  In fact, a historian remarked how elderly people learned to read just so they could read the Bible.  Groups of people pooled their money together in order to purchase a Bible and their lives were changed.  

Throughout the centuries informed Christians have fought against injustice and argued for the intrinsic value of man.  Looking to Scripture as their guide, they realized that all people are precious in God’s sight.  Their Bible study affected the way they saw every aspect of life, as it should. 

In many ways, we operate like the people who didn’t have access to God’s Word.  We rely upon pastors and teachers to expound to us what the Bible teaches without doing the hard work ourselves.  Now, more than ever, the people of God need to be a Biblically literate people.  With so many issues that need to be approached in a thoughtful way, we have a responsibility to study God’s Word to understand His perspective.

On our plate right now:  how to handle the Islamic threat, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, the effects of moral relativism, gun control, the balance of freedom, and many, many things.  How can we possibly know the way to handle these things and to ensure that the Christian faith flourishes instead of flounders?  We cannot rely on the teachings of others to navigate these tumultuous seas because, no matter how much you trust someone, no one person has all the answers. 

So what is the answer? 

1)     Don’t let emotions be your guide.  No matter how much a certain idea may “feel” right, do not trust it unless there is Scriptural backing.  If you look back over your life and think of decisions you’ve made based on emotion, chances are those weren’t your best decisions. 

2)     Know your Bible.  Don’t just reference a few token verses.  You need to see the whole teaching on a topic instead of just one narrow vision.   It’s dangerous to build a theology off of one or two verses.  You have to interpret verses in the light of the other Bible passages to have a more comprehensive perspective. 

3)     Be willing to be corrected. Being open to discussion with the idea that you might have something to learn is key.  If someone can use Scripture and a good hermeneutic to demonstrate where you might be lacking, be willing to change.  The truth is none of us have perfect theology.  We are all in the process of learning and adjusting our worldviews to line up with Scripture. 

We, as Americans, are so richly blessed with a plethora of Bible study tools and resources to aid us.  Please, let us use them!  We cannot be a voice of reason and truth in this world without a solid understanding of God’s total truth.  Before you make a decision on how to handle Islamic terror, read God’s Word to understand how He would have us react keeping in mind both His mercy and His righteous judgment.  Before we speak to a homosexual or transgender with words of condemnation or approbation, let us search God’s Word for His whole counsel. 

And as we consider these important issues, let us always approach every topic and every person with respect, remembering the overwhelming value God has placed on every person (even the ones who reject Him).  Let us be characterized as those who understand the Bible and speak the truth in a way that demonstrates love.  It is in this context, and no other, that our faith will flourish.

“…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”1 Peter 3:15

Thirsting for More

"O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where where is no water.  So I have looked for You in in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory."  Psalm 63:1-2
   This verse introduces a common experience for mankind.  We all feel this desire or longing for something more.  In the darkness of the night, our soul cries out for a reality that can quench the deepest longings of our heart.  We long to be known.  To have purpose.  Many in light of that the insatiable desire have turned to God to meet that need.  As the psalmist, we have gone to His sanctuary to see His power and His glory. C.S. Lewis describes his own longing in his autobiography Surprised by Joy.
   “The first is itself the memory of a memory. As I stood beside a flowering currant bush on a summer day there suddenly arose in me without warning, and as if from a depth not of years but of centuries, the memory of that earlier morning at the Old House when my brother had brought his toy garden into the nursery. It is difficult to find words strong enough for the sensation which came over me; Milton's 'enormous bliss' of Eden (giving the full, ancient meaning to 'enormous') comes somewhere near it. It was a sensation, of course, of desire; but desire for what?...Before I knew what I desired, the desire itself was gone, the whole glimpse... withdrawn, the world turned commonplace again, or only stirred by a longing for the longing that had just ceased... In a sense the central story of my life is about nothing else... The quality common to the three experiences... is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again... I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and Pleasure often is.” 
  He saw in those moments a hint of something far greater than just instant gratification.  It was a whiff of a heavenly scent.  A desire for something bigger and grander than himself.  It was what the Bible calls the hope of eternity set in each person's heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  I think many of us can relate to those moments in life--perhaps it was a beautiful scene in nature that took your breath away, a book that was written with almost perfect clarity and brilliant expression, or a moment with a loved one that warmed you.  Those moments are brief, but always memorable.
   I believe these moments help prepare us for truth.  They lift up the eyes that are firmly fixed on earthly soil and help us look up to the heavens in wonder.  Where before we were distracted with the daily details of living, those divine moments make us stop and think of what's really important.
   Unfortunately, for many, that is the end of the experience.  That one moment gets our attention, but, because of its brevity, it cannot sustain it.  Soon enough, we are immersed in the basics of everyday life again.  We remember that wonderful, intense moment, but it soon becomes a fond memory and nothing else. 
   That's because that moment was an invitation--the beginning and not the end.  The goal isn't to recreate that moment, but to find the why behind the moment.  For those who make that connection, that moment doesn't need to end.  It can be the entrance to a whole new life.  
   Many of us don't know how to go from the desire to the fulfillment of that desire. That's something that isn't easily explained.  Many much wiser than I am have written books upon books on the subject.  I do think, however, that it can be very simple.  Ask. 
   If you want more of God--ask Him.  Matthew 7: 8 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." The promise is offered repeatedly throughout scripture for those who will demonstrate the persistence to keep on asking.  In Matthew Henry's commentary on this passage, he states, " Prayer is the appointed means for obtaining what we need. Pray; pray often; make a business of prayer, and be serious and earnest in it. Ask, as a beggar asks alms. Ask, as a traveller asks the way. Seek, as for a thing of value that we have lost; or as the merchantman that seeks goodly pearls. Knock, as he that desires to enter into the house knocks at the door."
Don't be satisfied with the momentary glimpses.  Keep asking for more of Him that you might truly live!
   But after asking there yet remains another step--believe He will answer you.  Hebrews 11:6 states, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."  This is where the important step of faith comes in (please note that the faith step is more to do with God's character than His existence).  We must believe that He wants to and can answer our prayer.  When we believe this, we realize that the weight of action has actually moved from us to Him.  We wait in hopeful anticipation.  He does everything else.
   So if we ask Him to reveal Himself to us, and we believe He will reveal Himself, we also need to open our eyes to see when He does reveal Himself.   In many books I've read, including Eldridge's Sacred Romance, it is believed that God is revealing Himself daily.  In fact He is actively romancing us--through things of beauty, through meaningful connections, through dappled rays of light.  He romances us with love.  Are we watching?  Are we responding? We don't have to wait for those big, life-changing moments to experience His presence.  We can walk every day with eyes open to see Him actively at work around us.

Lord, you know how easily we are distracted by the world around us.  There's always something to do, and when we are finally done we fall exhausted on our beds.  And then we wonder "Is this all there is?"  I pray Lord that we will first yearn for something more.  Awaken in us a desire to desire--and not just petty, small desires for immediate fulfillment.  Put in us a hope for eternity,a desire for the true reality of the world, and don't let us be satisfied with anything less.  And then we ask, God, that you would show us Your Heart.  Let us fall in love with you.  Let us wait with breathless anticipation to see how You will show up today.  We cannot do this on our own.  We need you, and we believe you want us know You.  Give us eyes to see and hears to hear You!
Amen

Law vs Freedom

   Recently I’ve been watching a TV show that grapples with the issue of law and liberty in an interesting way.  The show is called The 100 and follows a community of humans living in space after a nuclear battle has made the Earth uninhabitable.  They have made it the 100 of the 200 years needed to make the earth habitable again; however, the place they are living (called the ark) is failing, and they only have a matter of months.  So they send 100 of their under -18 convicts (crimes committed by those over 18 are punishable immediately by death) to Earth to see if they can live there when the ark fails. 

   These 100 teenagers are sent to earth and a thought-provoking contrast of government is played out.  On the ark, the law is rigid and harsh.  People hate the law and the leadership, though they mostly submit because they understand the law’s purpose is to protect the human race.  On earth, the teenagers, finding themselves with no communication with the ark, decide they want a society where they can do whatever they want (which they chant at various times).  However, they find that this kind of anarchy is unsustainable.  When a murder is committed, the teens demand “justice” but a justice that isn’t backed up with evidence.  After a tumultuous and intense series of events (and the death and banishment of two characters), the two main leaders of the group basically say they need to have laws.  There have to be consequences for actions.  They feel inept at being the ones to administer law and justice, but they see it is necessary. 

   We’ve seen this same scenario played out in real history as well.  What ends up coming to the head is the basic question:  what defines law?  Or better yet:  who defines law?  Just as they concluded in the TV show, life cannot work without law and without consequences.  But the idea of arbitrary rules given by just anyone is naturally repugnant to us.  Who really has the authority to determine what is right or wrong? 

   For many, the only solution can be the rule by majority.  Let’s have a democratic vote on it.  What is dangerous about this was discussed in my last blog and even highlighted in the TV show when the mob demanded their vigilante justice—what if what the group wants is wrong?  There must be something bigger and greater than the group to decide morality, or we will forever be in the grips of every passing emotion or idea.

   However, we learn on the show that even this isn’t enough; they do have a codified law on the ark, but its enforcement is fierce and tyrannical even.  On the ship, there seems to be no freedom.  On Earth, there seems to be too much. 

   If the law isn’t the complete answer, what is?

   This is demonstrated in the TV show in a unique way.  The fact that the ark is dying is being withheld from the community for fear of the people rioting.  However, one character finally reveals the truth to them and calls on the people to use this as an opportunity to bring out the best in humanity.  Furthermore, the character who reveals the message also explains that oxygen is running out.  For them to buy time to save all the inhabitants on the ark, about three hundred people need to die.  Leadership had planned to do this deceptively, and had picked out a group of people to die in their sleep.

   Obviously, leadership expected the people to respond to this news with anger and rioting.  What happens is surprising.  A delegate from the people steps forth.  He turns in his tags and says he volunteers to be one of the three hundred to die so that his daughter might live.  He walks out, and another person comes in and does the same.  And so on until there are even more than three hundred needed. 

   The leadership is flabbergasted.  They never expected this overwhelming response of self-sacrifice.  They are humbled and ashamed even.  We see in this one act something that transcends the rigid law they were enforcing.  Love.  Sacrifice. 

   It is in this intersection of law and love that true morality is fleshed out.  It’s not just about meeting the requirements of a relentless code of law.  It’s about giving of ourselves.  It’s about loving others. 

   It’s about living out in plain view the balance of God’s own perfect nature. 

   True freedom then becomes not the ability to do “whatever the hell we want” (as broadcasted by the rebellious teens).  It isn’t escape from the law as demonstrated on the ship.   

   Freedom instead becomes the ability and right to choose to do the right thing.  The moral thing.  And so we learn that morality isn’t the restriction that many fear it is.  It is the freedom to become better people.  It is the freedom to learn what love really means. 

   Although we live in a culture that simultaneously believes that we need more laws and less moral constraints, we can look to Scripture to understand the true nature of things.   “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”  (Galatians 5:13)