The Heart of Christmas

The streets were crowded last night with Christmas shoppers. As I inched along in the traffic, I smiled inwardly and wondered how many were remembering the heart of Christmas at the moment, or were they just irritated by the long lines?  Making my way home in the darkness, I took note of the decorations - some houses grandly lit by obvious effort of the occupants - and asked myself again - is this the real Christmas?

While I drove along happy music poured from my SiriusXM™ app mixing songs about a Baby in Bethelem with sentimental celebrations of White Christmases, which incidentally we will not enjoy here in Northern New Jersey. I anticipate gathering with friends in the sanctuary to sing the carols and light the candles, but it that the heart of the holy day?  I do love the decorations, the gatherings, and the songs. Even the greeting, “Merry Christmas,” which I exchanged dozens of times throughout the day, makes me happy!

The heart of Christmas is the Gift!  I know you know that, but it bears repeating. We need a reset, a renewal of our hope, lest we allow the fun stuff to hide the great truth that Christians celebrate this time of year. Well, I do anyway, and would guess that you do as well.

This is not generally a ‘Christmas’ text, but here we are told of Who makes the day one of meaning for us. "Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled by others and became slaves to many wicked desires and evil pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy. We hated others, and they hated us. But then God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal life." (Titus 3:3-7, NLT)

That sweet Baby Boy, born in Bethlehem, was God come to us, the Divine now Incarnate, that is, becoming fully human. He showed us the face of God and we learn that He does not terrorize, but rather loves. Jesus held out his hands and invited us to return to the Father Who made us, not in fearful trembling, but with an expectation of being received and accepted. He closed the gap that sin and evil had created, offering Himself as the Last Sacrifice, closing the blood-stained altars of the past forever.  

In a text that moves beyond sentiment and declares wonderful truth and mystery we are told that "Our High Priest offered himself to God as one sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down at the place of highest honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled as a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he perfected forever all those whom he is making holy. And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. First he says, “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts so they will understand them, and I will write them on their minds so they will obey them.” Then he adds, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” Now when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices." (Hebrews 10:12-18, NLT)

Love, the focus of this fourth week of Advent, is the heart of Christmas. Yes, the word is over-worked and over-used but true. God loves me!  God loves you!  Unimagineable change in us is possible when we accept the Gift, by faith. We are made alive eternally. We find hope and purpose. We are transformed by the Spirit, taught to live in the goodness of the Lord, and become agents of grace in the world.

So, with each gift,
let’s remember the Gift of Jesus.

With every light,
let’s remember the Light of the World.

With every card reminding us of the love of others,
let’s remember the  Love of the Savior.

Let me offer a familiar and beloved benediction to close this CoffeeBreak today.
"I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.
May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should,
how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.
Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us,
He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.
May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen."

(Ephesians 3:17-21, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Love Came Down At Christmas

 Love came down at Christmas

Love all lovely love divine

Love was born at Christmas

Star and angels gave the sign

 

Worship we the Godhead

Love incarnate love divine

Worship we our Jesus

But wherewith for sacred sign

 

Love shall be our token

Love be yours and love be mine

Love to God and all men

Love for plea and gift and sign

 

Love for plea and gift and sign

For plea for gift for sign

 

Christina Georgina Rossetti | Gilbert M. Martin

© Words: Public Domain

Grinchy? Bah Humbug!

Are you feeling a little ‘Grinchy’ these days? That green character attempted to steal Christmas from the residents of Whoville suffering from a lack of joy. “It could be, perhaps his shoes were too tight. But, I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.” (Dr. Suess)  Are feeling something like that? Or just maybe you are more like Ebenezer Scrooge who dismissed it all with a snarling “Bah Humbug!”  If this is you, I am sorry and I wish I could listen to your story and perhaps help you shift your point of view.

This third week of Advent we are choosing to remember the possibility of joy that was announced "for all the people!"  

"I bring you good news of great joy," the angel reassured a group of frightened men, shepherds who were seeing the strangest sight there in the field outside of Bethlehem! The sheep herders were probably illiterate, most likely not attuned to the prophetic texts that foretold the Messiah’s coming.  And still God chose to make the news of the start of a new era, coming to Earth in the Person of Jesus, known to them.  Did the angel get lost on the way to Jerusalem? Did he miss the Temple courts by a couple of miles?  Of course not!  This was the plan of God and it has great significance for us.

God's desire was to bring all people - shepherds from the field - and wise men from the East - to worship the Savior who had come to restore them to their Creator and Father.

Luke sums up it all up. The angels sang “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."(Luke 2:14-18, NIV) And in that worship, they found joy.

So that I do not slip into “Grinchiness,” so that I avoid the curses of Scrooge’s cynicism, I will choose joy and here are a couple of things I will do.

First, I will focus my celebration on Jesus, to seek Him, that I might worship Him and find joy. 

The lights, trees, gifts, and dinners can become a distraction from the real heart of Christmas, God’s gift of His Son.  We must choose to worship beginning with a decision to step over the secondary things to find Him! Those shepherds could have remained with their sheep but they chose to go to see the Baby. They became part of a strange and wonderful story of God’s entry into our world. Wherever you are today, whatever your situation – find time to look for the Savior, to thank Him, perhaps just to wait quietly before Him offering your worship.

Second, I will work at being a person who brings joy to others.

My prayerful goal this Season is to bring people the joy of Jesus.  We are surrounded by people who are just surviving loneliness, illness, disappointment, the limits of aging, or the weight of guilt and regret.  Santa Claus cannot alleviate that kind of pain. The holiday décor cannot make sadness go away.  The holiday music that plays everywhere may only deepen the gloom of those whose hearts are broken.

So, I will pray to be a messenger of joy, a loving listener, a burden sharer!  My message will be that which Isaiah shared about God’s gift, Jesus, Who will  “comfort all who mourn, care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes, messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.”

I invite you to join me in this mission of JOY!  WE are people of the Spirit, “Christ’s ambassadors.” We have the awesome privilege of leading others to Him, sharing with them the joy which we have found.

Here is the Truth briefly stated.
Jesus is the Healer of broken hearts.
Jesus is our Savior, the Priest Who reconciles us to our Father.
In Him we are freely given eternal life, which we can own now, while we wait for the Second Advent of our King.

Want to know the joy of the Lord?  Tell Him your deepest need, yes, in your own words, your own way. Ask Him to help you. His answer may not come in the way you expect, but He will come to you. He promises!

Here is a word from the Word. "So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified. Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. And he came so the Gentiles might also give glory to God for his mercies to them. … They will place their hopes on him.” So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:7-13, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Go Tell It On The Mountain
(Zac Williams might make you want to get up and dance. Enjoy!)

The shepherds feared and trembled

When lo above the earth

Rang out the angel chorus

That hailed the Savior's birth

 

Go tell it on the mountain

Over the hills and ev'rywhere

Go tell it on the mountain

That Jesus Christ is born

 

Down in a lowly manger

The humble Christ was born

And God sent us salvation

That blessed Christmas morn

 

When I was a seeker

I sought both night and day

I asked the LORD to help me

He showed me the way

 

He made me a watchman

Upon the city wall

And if I am a Christian

I am the least of all

 

John W. Work Jr.

© Words: Public Domain

Lost and Found!

Last summer I lost a ring that is a treasure to me. It’s not of great value but it means much to me. My Mother gave it to my Dad in 1954 on the occasion of their engagement. 54 years later, on his deathbed, he gave it to me. I have worn it just about every day since then until that fateful June day … I tried to rationalize my sadness but the sense of loss was real, like a piece of my Dad was gone. 

About a month later, Laura texted me a picture of my ring!!  Her daughter had sat down on a chair on their porch and felt the ring trapped between the cushion and the frame.  How it got there I can only guess, but that is of little concern. My treasure was recovered. The lost was found and I was truly joyful. Ever had that kind of experience?

Christians are remembering the arrival of the Savior and the promise of His return in this Season of Advent. This week we focus on JOY.  

The mission of Jesus is the recovery of the lost! He came, the Word tells us, to restore people who had lost their way to the Father’s family, to give Life to those who were ‘dead’ to God, to bring Light to us who ‘walk in darkness.’ 

In Luke 15, there are three stories about lost things - a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son.  They were stories He told to teach us about the love of our God and the JOY of both Heaven and earth when a person accepts the invitation to be ‘found.’

Here is just one of those stories - “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:8-11, NIV) 

So many people do not understand the true desire of the Lord God. They fear Him, thinking He only waits to catch them in their failure, that He is waiting to drop the hammer of judgment on them. It is true that sin separates us from our Father, that we are lost. However, His desire is our rescue.

The people of ancient Israel had wandered from their God and found themselves in terrible situations. The Spirit moved the prophet not to say “You get what you deserve,” but to remind them of the loving Father. He said "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17, NIV)  A side note - the subtle metaphor there is the joy of a mother who holds her baby to her breast! As she quiets the infant with a soft lullaby, her love fills her with joy. Such is the love of our God for us!

The plan of restoration was made in heaven and carried out by Jesus. His mission is succinctly summed up in that oh so familiar passage - "“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17, NIV)  Believe that, my friend, and find the JOY promised to those who are children of God!

On this Monday morning, know the JOY of being found. Receive the love of God, in Christ, by faith. You cannot earn it. You will never be able to deserve it. It’s a GIFT that He delights to give. You are His treasure, once lost, now found. Rejoice!

Here is the word from the Word -a single line. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10, NIV)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Just for fun a little 80’s vibe with a Gospel song called

I’m Forgiven

From the start

You held a place in my heart

A place that no one else could fill

Sin kept Your Spirit from workin' in me

I couldn't look at life honestly

 

Now I'm forgiven

Now I have a reason

For livin' livin'

Jesus keeps givin' and givin'

And givin' givin'

'Til my heart overflows

 

Until the day my will gave way

To the truth that I found in You

I never knew how good it could be

To stand in Your presence totally free

 

Now I can see You

As a person who's free

Even when I slip and fall

He is a God who forgives and forgets

Now I wanna give Him my all

 

I know this love He's placed in my heart

Oh is a love that will never depart

Sin brought me to the end of my rope

Now You've given me a brand new hope

 

I'm forgiven forgiven

I'm forgiven I'm forgiven

 

Bruce Hibbard | Hadley Hockensmith | Michael Omartian

© 1980 Curb Word Music

 

CCLI License # 810055