Is you.
The magic of the Christmas story is that God loved you and I so much that He went to extravagant measures just to 'have' us. What could cause a God to lay aside all glory and power to become a baby? God makes it very clear that it was love.
Can you imagine God being limited by the brain of a child? It is an interesting thought. Physically He was limited. Mary had to tend to His every need. He cried for His food. His mother had to clean Him. He was a baby.
Christ didn't just become a baby for you. He lived an entire life for you. I said this Wednesday night but if I had to die for the sins of the world I would prefer to just show up fully grown, have a guy stick a spear in my side, expire and be done with it. In and out. Yet Christ endured an entire life and it was all to redeem us. Think about it. He knows what a stomach ache feels like. He had blisters on His feet for you. He experienced the sorrow of loved ones dying, the pain of rejection and even the shame of nakedness. All just so He could 'come near.'
O how much God must love you.
God's passion is you. Is yours God?
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
The Lamb of God
Wednesday night I had the opportunity to preach. Since it was close enough to Christmas and I probably wasn't going to get another opportunity I preached a mostly Christmas message. I started out by talking about Migdal Eder. If you are not familiar with that term it means "Tower of the Flock".
Last Christmas I was at my mother's church and a guest speaker preached about Migdal Eder. He talked about this for a whole hour. I must admit I enjoy stuff like this while keeping a grain of skepticism. I guess you could say they are a 'guilty pleasure.' Anyway as it was told (and I later looked up) Midgal Eder is the place where the temple sheep were kept. It was about a mile north of Bethlehem and about three miles south of Jerusalem. This preacher said that these shepherds were actually priests.
He maintained that Christ was actually born in the 'Tower of the Flock'. It being the place where all the ewe lambs gave birth. So when the angel mentioned that He would be found 'laying in a manger' they knew exactly where it was. The Lamb of God who was to be the sacrifice to end all sacrifices was born in the same place the temple lambs were born. It is a neat picture and I love neat pictures.
After the service Brother Troyer shared something with me that was so much a blessing that I thought I would share it here. He said he had always wondered about something in the Christmas story. God tells us that the shepherds were out watching their flock when the angel appeared. Then after the great revelation 'came with haste' and found the Lord as a baby.
They left the sheep behind.
Obviously these sheep were important and if the story of them being temple sheep is true then their importance is even magnified. But this new thing was far more important. This was not a mere symbol of sacrificial redemption. This was THE Lamb of God!
We are reminded of the "better than's" in Hebrews. This baby was the answer. The sheep were no longer needed. God would provide himself a sacrifice. As he lay helpless in that manger the world was a totally different place. Everything had changed with this one single event. God was no longer just a distant judge. We now had a God that had 'come near', a god who loved beyond anything we had ever even imagined.
We can do the same. We can leave behind whatever it is that we value and we can, just as the shepherds, come near and worship the Lord.
Last Christmas I was at my mother's church and a guest speaker preached about Migdal Eder. He talked about this for a whole hour. I must admit I enjoy stuff like this while keeping a grain of skepticism. I guess you could say they are a 'guilty pleasure.' Anyway as it was told (and I later looked up) Midgal Eder is the place where the temple sheep were kept. It was about a mile north of Bethlehem and about three miles south of Jerusalem. This preacher said that these shepherds were actually priests.
He maintained that Christ was actually born in the 'Tower of the Flock'. It being the place where all the ewe lambs gave birth. So when the angel mentioned that He would be found 'laying in a manger' they knew exactly where it was. The Lamb of God who was to be the sacrifice to end all sacrifices was born in the same place the temple lambs were born. It is a neat picture and I love neat pictures.
After the service Brother Troyer shared something with me that was so much a blessing that I thought I would share it here. He said he had always wondered about something in the Christmas story. God tells us that the shepherds were out watching their flock when the angel appeared. Then after the great revelation 'came with haste' and found the Lord as a baby.
They left the sheep behind.
Obviously these sheep were important and if the story of them being temple sheep is true then their importance is even magnified. But this new thing was far more important. This was not a mere symbol of sacrificial redemption. This was THE Lamb of God!
We are reminded of the "better than's" in Hebrews. This baby was the answer. The sheep were no longer needed. God would provide himself a sacrifice. As he lay helpless in that manger the world was a totally different place. Everything had changed with this one single event. God was no longer just a distant judge. We now had a God that had 'come near', a god who loved beyond anything we had ever even imagined.
We can do the same. We can leave behind whatever it is that we value and we can, just as the shepherds, come near and worship the Lord.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Christmas Hope
Merry Christmas!
It seems that in recent years we have tried to de-celestialize the Christmas story. We see the setting of our Lord's birth in a real way. Instead of halos we see a teen mother in a barn with animals and resulting smells. I think it is essential to see this because God designed it this way. It loses none of the magic but intensifies the message.
God came into a dark world. Not only was the area under Roman rule, but spiritually it was very dark. Bound to a law they could not keep, God's people had resorted to form and hypocrisy. Oppression in the form of religious leaders is a refrain of every age but the one that Christ was birthed into was particularly dark. The law offered no comfort only condemnation. The only comfort to be found was in the rationalization that the law condemned me less than someone else.
Even though the angels never said the word, hope can be found in every word of their message. The central message of the story is love. God loved us this much? God allowing Himself to be made helpless. Angels had been aggressively doing His bidding for millenia. Now a teen girl was cleaning His mess. What great mission was this sacrifice made for? Ultimately is was for you. What a great person you must be!
Yet I am so unworthy! I wish I could do great and amazing things but yet the reality is that I can't even be an especially good Christian. This only intensifies the message of His love. He doesn't require great things from me. He only hopes that I might appreciate His sacrifice of love enough that I love in return.
I have always lived in this world. A world of a loving and gracious God. Maybe I haven't felt His love at every juncture of life, but I knew He loved me. Imagine a world without it. The Jews had a glimpse of God's plan but didn't know even a percentage of the story. They imagined a conquering hero. When God came He would be a true King, a righteous ruler. They couldn't even conceive of a Lord willing to be a baby. Of a God that would allow them to torture and kill Him.
What God gave us that Christmas Day was hope. Hope in a God that loves us beyond reason. Hope in a God that would go to every extreme to secure us. Hope in a God that sees us in our sin and helplessness and responds with empathy. So much love that it causes me to rest in His plan for me.
As you imagine that darkness, enjoy the Light this Christmas.
It seems that in recent years we have tried to de-celestialize the Christmas story. We see the setting of our Lord's birth in a real way. Instead of halos we see a teen mother in a barn with animals and resulting smells. I think it is essential to see this because God designed it this way. It loses none of the magic but intensifies the message.
God came into a dark world. Not only was the area under Roman rule, but spiritually it was very dark. Bound to a law they could not keep, God's people had resorted to form and hypocrisy. Oppression in the form of religious leaders is a refrain of every age but the one that Christ was birthed into was particularly dark. The law offered no comfort only condemnation. The only comfort to be found was in the rationalization that the law condemned me less than someone else.
Even though the angels never said the word, hope can be found in every word of their message. The central message of the story is love. God loved us this much? God allowing Himself to be made helpless. Angels had been aggressively doing His bidding for millenia. Now a teen girl was cleaning His mess. What great mission was this sacrifice made for? Ultimately is was for you. What a great person you must be!
Yet I am so unworthy! I wish I could do great and amazing things but yet the reality is that I can't even be an especially good Christian. This only intensifies the message of His love. He doesn't require great things from me. He only hopes that I might appreciate His sacrifice of love enough that I love in return.
I have always lived in this world. A world of a loving and gracious God. Maybe I haven't felt His love at every juncture of life, but I knew He loved me. Imagine a world without it. The Jews had a glimpse of God's plan but didn't know even a percentage of the story. They imagined a conquering hero. When God came He would be a true King, a righteous ruler. They couldn't even conceive of a Lord willing to be a baby. Of a God that would allow them to torture and kill Him.
What God gave us that Christmas Day was hope. Hope in a God that loves us beyond reason. Hope in a God that would go to every extreme to secure us. Hope in a God that sees us in our sin and helplessness and responds with empathy. So much love that it causes me to rest in His plan for me.
As you imagine that darkness, enjoy the Light this Christmas.
Monday, March 24, 2008
An Empty Tomb
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Mat 28:6
Nothing evokes sadness like something that is empty. An empty house, once a place of refuge and comfort now is a desolation. Someone somewhere recalls this place with fondness. Someone's childhood is wrapped up in what is now a barren empty place.
It seems as if the previous good accentuates the present desolation. Lively dinners, sleeping children, Christmas mornings are all things of the past. Think of the sounds of a happy house. Children playing, music, first words spoken, prayers offered, now just barren silence. What was once is now no more.
But think of something empty that is glorious! Something that has become the very emblem of life and joy. An empty tomb. Filled it produced such sadness. Despair of the worst kind. So many hopes were placed in Him who now occupies the tomb. All dashed. But empty it not only revives those hopes but firmly establishes hopes greater than ever imagined previously.
Empty it proclaims a MIGHTY Lord! A Lord who can inhabit man's worst abode. We are either dead or crazy if we live in a tomb. Once the Lord leaves it, it becomes the symbol for LIFE! Before Christ, a tomb meant death. It meant sorrow and sadness. Christ transforms it into something wonderful! The very antithesis of death.
Yesterday I taught the 1st and 2grade class. Of course, it being Easter, I taught on the Resurrection. I was telling the boys (no girls yesterday) that as Christians we don't have a temple or a 'holy place' or even a shrine, but what we DO have is an empty tomb. Our faith involves not a place but a person. One young man, Tristan, was incredulous. "You mean there is a real empty tomb?" Then he asked where it was. I showed my great knowledge of the Bible lands and said "Israel". He wanted to know how to get there (plane I said), how much money it would cost (lots) and could he go tomorrow (not likely). I told him that either his parents could take him there or when he became an adult he could go himself. That was all he needed to know. He proclaimed that he was going to save his money and as soon as he could he was going to go see this empty tomb. It was like it finally became real to him.
Christian, we have an empty tomb! It's not really a place but an idea. An empty thing that proclaims great power and might. As a teen it seemed a lot of people always wanted to proclaim their presence with the familiar "Greg was here". Usually in the form of vandalism or graffiti. It was as if God left us a "Christ was here". It is marvelous to see the effects of Christ and how He transforms death into life, barrenness into bounty and weakness into power.
Yet the tragedy today is not an empty house, it is an empty heart. O how my Lord wants to inhabit my heart. To sit on His rightful throne. To bring life and peace. He even deigns to knock. Surely we would be looking out the window just waiting to throw the door open at first sight of Him. And just like the tomb, He will come in and transform your heart into a beautiful garden of life. Where once was bitterness and fear will now spring forth with love and peace.
Become HIS tomb. Let him live in you by dieing to yourself.
Nothing evokes sadness like something that is empty. An empty house, once a place of refuge and comfort now is a desolation. Someone somewhere recalls this place with fondness. Someone's childhood is wrapped up in what is now a barren empty place.
It seems as if the previous good accentuates the present desolation. Lively dinners, sleeping children, Christmas mornings are all things of the past. Think of the sounds of a happy house. Children playing, music, first words spoken, prayers offered, now just barren silence. What was once is now no more.
But think of something empty that is glorious! Something that has become the very emblem of life and joy. An empty tomb. Filled it produced such sadness. Despair of the worst kind. So many hopes were placed in Him who now occupies the tomb. All dashed. But empty it not only revives those hopes but firmly establishes hopes greater than ever imagined previously.
Empty it proclaims a MIGHTY Lord! A Lord who can inhabit man's worst abode. We are either dead or crazy if we live in a tomb. Once the Lord leaves it, it becomes the symbol for LIFE! Before Christ, a tomb meant death. It meant sorrow and sadness. Christ transforms it into something wonderful! The very antithesis of death.
Yesterday I taught the 1st and 2grade class. Of course, it being Easter, I taught on the Resurrection. I was telling the boys (no girls yesterday) that as Christians we don't have a temple or a 'holy place' or even a shrine, but what we DO have is an empty tomb. Our faith involves not a place but a person. One young man, Tristan, was incredulous. "You mean there is a real empty tomb?" Then he asked where it was. I showed my great knowledge of the Bible lands and said "Israel". He wanted to know how to get there (plane I said), how much money it would cost (lots) and could he go tomorrow (not likely). I told him that either his parents could take him there or when he became an adult he could go himself. That was all he needed to know. He proclaimed that he was going to save his money and as soon as he could he was going to go see this empty tomb. It was like it finally became real to him.
Christian, we have an empty tomb! It's not really a place but an idea. An empty thing that proclaims great power and might. As a teen it seemed a lot of people always wanted to proclaim their presence with the familiar "Greg was here". Usually in the form of vandalism or graffiti. It was as if God left us a "Christ was here". It is marvelous to see the effects of Christ and how He transforms death into life, barrenness into bounty and weakness into power.
Yet the tragedy today is not an empty house, it is an empty heart. O how my Lord wants to inhabit my heart. To sit on His rightful throne. To bring life and peace. He even deigns to knock. Surely we would be looking out the window just waiting to throw the door open at first sight of Him. And just like the tomb, He will come in and transform your heart into a beautiful garden of life. Where once was bitterness and fear will now spring forth with love and peace.
Become HIS tomb. Let him live in you by dieing to yourself.
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