Advent: Love

 How do you know someone loves you?
How do you love others?

The first candle of Advent is Hope and the second is Love.  Love is a fitting Advent candle because God is love and Jesus is God.

Love is too often ambiguous.  Many of us can feel it better than explain it.  So to understand love we must look at its definition.  Jesus and His actions give us the definition of love.  

Jesus in all of His life has shown and is showing pure love.  But what is so loving about Christmas that we spend one of the four weeks of Advent dwelling upon it?  

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
-John 3:16

We don't often think of this verse as a Christmas verse, but it most certainly is.  The very first gift given at Christmas, before even those the magi gave, was Jesus Himself.  God so loved the world, that... Christmas.

So, we've established that God the Father is loving, but what about Jesus?  Let's look at another lesser used Christmas passage:

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made Himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself

and became obedient to death...

even death on a cross!" 

-Philippians 2:3-8

Jesus, being God Himself and therefore equal to the Father, had to agree to this plan.  In fact, being God Himself, it was Jesus' plan.  At Christmas Jesus lowered Himself beyond our wildest imaginations.  The absolute value of His condescension is immeasurable.   From the apple of the eye of Heaven to the womb of a poor, teenaged girl to the cross!

True love must condescend. 

Advent is like a coin.  On one side we look back to the love that was shown; on the other side we look forward to the full experience of that love.  And today, we invest ourselves in living out what Advent teaches us.

When our hope is in Christ we can love like this.  When we're confident in how we are loved and abide in that love, then we can confidently, relentlessly and selflessly love like we're loved.  If we aren't confident in our hope we will have trouble condescending because we'll be afraid of losing more than we'll gain.

We are to love in this way because we know who love is.  We are to love like this because we are to mimic Jesus.  We are to love like this because the Holy Spirit grows us into mature, new creations of the perfect Creator.  As Sinclair B. Ferguson says in his book Maturity, "love... is Christian maturity in action."

We're also to love in the here and now because it pays dividends.  Notice the rest of Paul's poem about Christ in Philippians chapter 2:

"Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place

and gave Him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in Heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father."

- Philippians 2:9-11

Christ's awesome condescension rendered Him a reward.  Any condescending we do in love will also lead to reward.  Not the same reward as Christ, because our condescending is not worth comparing, but a reward nonetheless.

"'I tell you the truth,' Jesus replied, 'no one who has left home or brother or sisters or mothers or father or children or fields for me and the Gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields... and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
-Mark 10:29-31

True love, condescending love, is always worth it when done out of love for God and for neighbor.  At Advent we look back at our example of love and forward to our reward while living out ever-maturing lives of love.

"Stir one another up to love and good works" today.

Advent: Hope

What gives you hope in a normal Christmas season?

What gives you hope this Christmas season?

Christmas 2020 is Christmas in a pandemic.  Christmas 2020 will be many things, but normal isn't one of them.  As I last wrote, this Christmas we need Advent more than ever.  Advent draws us to the four candles of hope, love, joy and peace.  Today let's consider hope.

What gives you hope this Christmas and what is hope?

We often see the word 'hope' used in political campaigns and Christmas cards, but what is hope?  Simply writing 'hope' without a firm grasp of what is to be hoped in is the same as the often used word 'believe' by itself this time of year.  Believe in what?  Hope in what?  Hope for what?

If we're honest most of us place our hope this time of year in family.  We find hope, love, joy and peace in our holiday gatherings.  I often do, too.  There is something warm and hopeful about sitting near a Christmas tree with a hot drink in hand telling the same old stories with the people we love.  

"Christmas day is in our grasp

so long as we have hands to clasp." 

-Welcome Christmas

"Here we are as in olden days,

happy golden days of yore.

Faithful friends who are dear to us,

gather near to us once more.

Through the years,

we all will be together,

if the Fates allow." 

-Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

So, what if the "Fates" don't allow?  What if we don't have hands to clasp?  What then?  Is the hope gone?  Is the Christmas season pointless?

"My hope is built on nothing less,

than Jesus blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

but wholly lean on Jesus' name." 

-My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

Trusting in anything, even good things, outside of Jesus Himself will leave us hopeless at times.  The other sources of hope are wells that often work but that can't be guaranteed to work when we need them.  Only Jesus works all the time.  We must hope in the person and accomplishments of Jesus Christ this Advent and every day.

I don't like the idea of my other streams of hope being taken away.  The hope-filled streams of my extended family and my gathered local church are God-given streams.  Yet, in a pandemic we're being tested to see where our hope truly is.  Will we lean wholly on these other sweet frames or on Jesus' name?

In this time of semi-isolation I have been drawn to Psalm 42.  The psalmist is, for some reason, not allowed to be with others he loves.  The psalmist feels isolated and is tempted to feel hopeless; yet he preaches to his own soul a reason to have hope.

"As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
'Where is your God?'
These things I remember 
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go with the multitude,
leading the procession to the house of God,
with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
among the festive throng.

Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise Him,
my Savior and my God."-Psalm 42:1-5

There is nothing wrong with deeply missing going out among the multitude for Christmas Eve service.  Desiring to be with family to celebrate Jesus' birth is not a sin at all.  Wanting to press the warm blanket of traditions against your face to be comforted is not wrong.  But none of that can be your source of hope.

"Put your hope in God" for you will yet praise Him.  This week sing or listen to songs that preach to your soul to not be downcast but instead to put its hope in God.  Read wonderful promises that God is certain to keep.  Find your hope in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness today.

Fight the Viral Grinch

 That old Grinch had taken every decoration.  He'd pilfered every present.  He'd stolen all the food.  He'd stopped Christmas from coming.

"They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming! 

They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do! 

Their mouths will hang open a minute or two

Then the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry BOO-HOO!

That's a noise," grinned the Grinch,

"That I simply MUST hear!"

So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.

And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.

It started in low.  Then is started to grow...

But the sound wasn't sad!

Why, this sound sounded merry!

It couldn't be so!

But it WAS merry! VERY!

He stared down at Who-ville!

The Grinch popped his eyes!

Then he shook!

What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,

Was singing! Without any presents at all!

He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming!

IT CAME!

Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?

It came without ribbons! It came without tags!

It came without packages, boxes or bags!

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzller was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"

COVID-19 threatens to be a real grinch this Christmas.  Many of us spent Thanksgiving alone or with fewer people.  Unfortunately, it looks that Christmas could be much the same.

What can we do to keep COVID-19 from stealing our joy?  Of course, we could ignore wise counsel.  We could go ahead and do what we always do.  I'm sure some of you will.

Or we could find out that "Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"

I hope we don't have to celebrate Christmas exactly like we celebrated Thanksgiving (though we still managed to have a wonderful Thanksgiving).  I hope we can do all of our traditional gatherings, but I fear that won't be the case.

Every movie, from Home Alone to It's a Wonderful Life to every one on Hallmark, tells us the true meaning of Christmas is loving togetherness.  But I know that is not the meaning, but a wonderful side effect most of us get each year.  The true meaning of Christmas is the birth of our Savior.  It is the story of God Himself giving up the bliss of Heaven for the poverty of a lowly family on earth.  It is about a Son born away from the very community that should have welcomed Him in.  It is about Emmanuel. 

I don't know what this Christmas will be like exactly, but I do know Christmas tells us that God is with us by His own sovereign choice.

To be able to experience the best Christmas has for us, we need Advent.  This year, more than ever, my family needs Advent to prepare a place in our hearts to experience the full joy of Christmas.  We may not be able to go in-person to Advent services so we are going to focus on Advent at home.  We are going to do daily Advent readings as a family.  I encourage you to do that.  You could use a book like we are or listen online or read a chapter of Luke a day... whatever you do, I say, just do it.

Don't let COVID-19 steal your Christmas.  Commit to fight the viral grinch with the ancient tool of Advent today.

The Fear of Death

COVID-19 and the 246,000 deaths in the United States from it have awakened a fear of death in many of us.  You can see this fear of death in our reaction to the news of coronavirus and our reactions to the various restrictions imposed to combat sars-cov-2.  

Those around me express the fear of death in two main ways: YOLO and YODO.

YOLO is an expression popularized by the Canadian rapper Drake in 2011.  It means "you only live once".  YODO is my acronym for "you only die once".  Both of these stem from a fear of death.

YODO:

You only die once is the feeling of the one that protects life at all cost.  One life to die means, unlike a cat, you have to be super careful.  Stay safe.  Be careful.  Don't get crazy.  Safety first and foremost.

Extreme expressions of YODO are evidence that one has no security in the here after.  One has no assurance that to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).  These people can't imagine a life more precious than the life they are currently living and will guard it at all cost.

YOLO:

You only live once is the feeling of one that pursues current pleasure at all cost.  Jump off the bridge? Sure, YOLO!  These people can't imagine living a life of pure safety because that means living a life of regrets.  These people try to squeeze the marrow out of each moment because you only live once.  These people can't imagine pleasures more precious than the ones here and now and will pursue them at all cost.  These people don't trust that "in your presence there is fulness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).  They lack an eternal mindset.  They don't believe that whatever pleasures are missed now will more than be made up for in the next life.

YOLO and YODO have one chief concern: But what if I die?  FOMO (fear of missing out) is their big fear.  One fears death for love of life and one fears coming to death having missed out on earthly pleasures.

Neither YOLO or YODO can be the posture of the Christian.
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

So, how am I navigating the season of COVID while fighting to walk by faith and not in fear?  I'm trying to have the presence of mind to ask myself these three questions:

1) Am I loving God?

Does my decision or action demonstrate my love for God?  Do I express trust in His sovereignty, love, providence and provision?  Am I being selfish or am I trying to do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)?

2) Am I loving my neighbor?

Would I want people to do what I am about to do if I was my business owning neighbor, my cancer patient neighbor, my democrat neighbor, my republican neighbor, my Christian neighbor, my atheist neighbor?  Am I seeking my own safety or theirs, too?  Am I seeking my own pleasure or theirs, too?

3) Am I advancing the Kingdom?

Do my actions make the rule and reign of Jesus seem appealing or appalling? When this is all said and done will my community think Christians were sincerely loving because of my actions?  Do my actions make earth a little more like Heaven (Matthew 6:10)?

I don't have all the answers and I am bummed at the thought of spending Thanksgiving at home instead of surrounded by extended family.  I'm sad but unafraid.  I'm trying to fear God more than death in any of its expressions.

Fight the fear of death whether it looks like YODO or YOLO.  Fight to love God, love people and advance the Kingdom today. 

Now What?

 A few hours ago Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were projected as the winners of the 2020 Presidential Election.  Barring a miracle or nightmare (pending your perspective), Joe Biden will be inaugurated President of the United State of America on January 20, 2021.  

(If things change after this post is published you are more than welcome to repost it and make fun of me for being wrong)

What now?  What do we do now?  

First, we continue to pray for President Trump.  He is now a lame duck with some major fires on his agenda.  COVID-19 is raging here and advancements in the fight against it are needed in the next few months.  Our neighbors are still dealing with unemployment and underemployment.  Our enemies abroad and at home still want to do us harm.  Lame duck or not, Donald Trump needs to succeed in doing his job.

Second, pray for a peaceful transition.  Pray that a gracious victory and a gracious defeat occur.  Pray that the three men and one woman in this race lead by example.  Let us not continue the anger and fear filled election style interactions.  Let us be gracious people who either accept our preferred candidate's defeat or victory with the dignity those who had a different preferred candidate may or not deserve.

Thirdly, we pray for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.  The job of President and Vice President is large.  The job is one I would never want.  Those who hold the office usually age at an accelerated rate from the stress of the job.  Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris need wisdom, courage, restraint and energy to do a good job for this nation.  Pray they surround themselves with people that will challenge and enable them to be what we need them to be.  They have just acquired jobs for which no one is fully qualified to have.

Lastly, let us pray that we can be less political and more neighborly over the next four years.  It seems one side never stopped celebrating the last outcome and running for the next election and the other side never stopped rueing the last outcome and running for the next one.  It is my belief that we need to take a deep breath as a people.  We need to become more interested in our neighborhood and our town than in the occupant of the White House.  Pray we can have a stretch of time in which we can unplug from the temporal politics and plug more fully into the eternal Kingdom by simply "loving the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength and loving our neighbor as ourself."

Some of you are thrilled today and others of you are frustrated.  To the excited, congratulations.  To the frustrated, sorry.  

Now let us heal, let us pray and let us react to the news in a God-honoring way today.

New Life, Nausea and Answered Prayer

 Tuesday, April 14th, just after supper, my wife had a miscarriage.  

The pain of a miscarriage was deep for the two of us and such a strange thing.  Strange is an odd adjective but somehow for me it fits.  We spent quite a while not knowing how to feel.  We didn't know if we should feel as bad as we did at times and at other times we felt ashamed at our feeling normal.  

One of the worst parts of the miscarriage was that my poor wife had to be reminded of it every time she used the bathroom.  I only saw that red, lifeless, blood a few times and it turned my soul inside out.  My wife had a gruesome reminder of loss for days.

For the last ten and a half weeks Christine has been pregnant again.

The discovery of new life within my wife excited me and terrified me.  This Spring I had learned intimately the reality of my utter helplessness is sustaining new life.  The lines on the stick brought a commingling of immense joy and fathoms of deep paranoia. 

When Christine had the miscarriage I wrote out a prayer to keep.  And when my joy and fear collided with this new pregnancy I wrote another prayer.

"Dad,
I'm not afraid that you won't do the right thing or the best thing; I'm afraid that the best thing might hurt.  God, please don't hurt me.  Love my kids."

God has answered my prayer in the way I would want, so far.  I'm happy about that.  God also gave us a cruel blessing: nausea.

Christine has not had nausea with our other kids.  She's had "easy" pregnancies (I type "easy" nervously as a man).  But this time she has been nauseous most times of the day.  This nausea is hard on Christine, but it also is a blessing.  Nausea means the baby lives.  Until she can feel the baby move, nausea is our sign from God that our child's life is being sustained.  I know that my wife wants to stop being nauseous and we know that if she does stop that the worry will restart.

So, we thank God now for nausea.  We thank Him for answered prayer.  We thank God for trusting us with another life.  We thank Him for being the Creator and Sustainer of all life.  

Thank Him with us today.

The Discipline of Wonder

 What do you do in your small group?  What do you in your personal quiet time?  What do you do in your worship service?

I'm guessing in your small group you spend lots of time chatting, lots of time catching up, lots of time answering each others' questions about the passage.  I'm guessing your personal quiet time is filled with brisk reading while your phone lights up next to you and you struggle to ignore it.  I bet your worship service is filled with music, preaching and praying.  

I'm guessing you're a lot like me and your church is a lot like mine.  The things listed above are not bad, but the list is incomplete.

"It seems to me that some of us value information over wonder, and noise over silence.  And I feel that we need a lot more wonder and a lot more silence in our lives." -Fred Rogers

This quote hit me last night as I found myself in a labyrinth of old Mr. Rogers interviews, and yes that happens more than it should.  I'd heard this quote before but it hit me between the eyes last night and I had to write it down and let it sit in my notebook a night.

Do I care more about getting the right answers when I read my Bible or about being in wonder at the God that the Bible reveals to me?  Do I come to small group to stand in shared awe like I did when I went with my family to the Grand Canyon?  Do I expect to spend any time in wonder at a WORSHIP service or do I just plan on getting more answers to the next theological debate I enter?

When my family and I went to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, I was in wonder, but I didn't stay that way long.  We stopped first at Mather Point and it was breathtaking, but it was so crowded.  I was in awe of the Grand Canyon but something was missing.  Silence.  So, I helped convince my entire family to get on a bus and go to the furthest stop called Yaki Point.  Yaki Point wasn't any more grand than Mather Point, but it was silent.  That silence so enhanced my wonder and appreciation of the Grand Canyon.

Do I plan enough quiet space in which to truly wonder?  Do I surround myself with people that allow wonder to happen at all?  Or do I simply feel the need to fill the space with noise?  

Do I view my faith journey as a quest for the right answers to a test or as a wondrous pursuit of a wonderful, saving God?  

We need more wonder.  So, how can we do this?  How can we pursue wonder and not simply correct answers?  How can we use silence in our worship and small groups?  What quiet can we build into our quiet time?  What physical space can we go to in order to achieve this?

I'm not going to answer these questions because your answer may differ from mine, but I simply ask you to ask these questions to yourself today.

"Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus..." Hebrews 3:1