Questions About Christmas

     

     People have a lot of questions about Christmas. Is December 25th really the date of Jesus’ birth? How did Santa Claus, with his magical sled and flying reindeer become a part of our Christmas holiday? Why do some drop the name “Christ” out of Christmas and make it Xmas?  (hint, x is the Greek letter which stands as an abbreviation for the Greek spelling of his name). Were there only three wisemen, or is that just a guess? Was the star in Bethlehem a real star, or was it a special phenomenon? … 

     I'm sure that we could think of many more questions about this unique virgin born child and the unusual, — no, the unparalleled circumstances that attended his coming into the world. But I think two questions bring us to the nub of the matter: “Who is he?” and “Why is he here?”

     Joseph was Mary’s legal husband, but according to the custom of Jewish marriage, they were pledged to be married, but had not yet consummated the marriage. It was during this time that Joseph learns that Mary is pregnant, and he knows the baby is not his. Joseph has questions. And so Matthew’s Gospel tells us:

     “But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins”  

(Mt 1:20-21).

     The message of the angel confirms to Joseph that the conception of the child in Mary was a miracle of the Holy Spirit which cleared Mary of any unfaithfulness, and confirmed that her love for Joseph was true. But it also confirmed the fact that God’s love for us is true.

     Who is He? You shall call his name Jesus. He is the eternal Son of God conceived by the Holy Spirit who also becomes the son of David as Joseph and Mary’s son according to God’s covenant promise to the house of David.

     Why is He here? He will save his people from their sins. As John Stott says so succinctly, “The hour for which he had come into the world was the hour in which he left it.” His perfect life and obedience was all preliminary and necessary for his qualification as our perfect substitute and in fulfillment of God’s required righteousness.

     The angel adds a short commentary to show how the birth of Jesus as given in the Christmas story fulfills Scripture and accomplishes God’s redemptive purpose: 

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”(which means, God with us). Mt 1:22-23

     Christmas is about God removing our sins so that he might be “with us”.

     What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Rom 8:31-32

Election: Choosing & Being Chosen

     Every four years we have the privilege and responsibility to cast our vote for the presidency of the United States. We make this choice of a president based upon several conditions.

     First, in terms of prosperity, we want a president that we can trust to do what is best for the country as a whole, not just what is best for a select group of people, whether they are rich or poor, or somewhere in between.

     Secondly, in terms of security, we want a president that puts America first by doing what is necessary to provide needed protection for our citizens.

     Thirdly, in terms of philosophy, we want a president who will honor the ideals reflected in the constitution and values of our country as set forth in our history and documents insuring the freedoms, rights and responsibilities of the people.

     Fourthly, in terms of integrity, we want a president who we can trust to do the right thing when everything else is going wrong.

     I’m sure we could all add more to this list, but the point is that we will cast our vote to elect and choose a president based on these and many other conditions that we think will merit our choice.

     In contrast to this, God’s election of individuals to salvation is not based on any conditions that he finds in us, but upon his own sovereign love and mercy: 

     Even as he chose us in him (Christ), before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will to the praise of his glorious grace… (Eph 1:4-6)

     God’s choice of us is not based on any foreseen merit in us, but is according to his own love and purpose for  the praise of his glorious grace.

     But notice that each of us was chosen in Christ, and, we were predestined to be sons through Jesus Christ. Yes there is merit involved in God’s choice of us, but it is not our merit, but the merits of Jesus, the God/man as our substitute. He lived the life that God required of us and died for the punishment of our sins so that in him we could be holy and blameless before him.

      Let us remember that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus (Mt 28:18). His merits are sufficient to provide saving grace to all of God’s elect, and common grace for all of our presidential elections. God raises up kings and he deposes them. Our confidence is not in the government but in the God who governs all things according to his sovereign will.

      So we join Paul in praise as he finishes the clearest statement of God’s sovereign election and its profound effect upon the lives of individuals and nations in Romans 9-11 with these words: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom 11:36)

Christ Is Knocking

     Revelation 3:20 is one of the most well known and loved Scripture verses in the Bible: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

     Jesus pictures himself standing at the door outside of his church, knocking. That is, he is seeking entrance into his own home. It would seem that the church has taken on a life of its own, apart from him. It may be involved in doing good things for people and even teaching true doctrine (or maybe not). In any case, at some point in time, a separation occurred between Christ and the people in this picture of the local church, and they don’t seem to have noticed it.

     So Christ presents himself to our senses as visually standing, audibly, knocking and calling to us, touching us by his presence in us, and allowing us to taste and savor his nourishing and satisfying fellowship with him as if it were a meal.

     It is not just forgiveness we need, but fellowship with the forgiver. It is not just love we need, but a love experience with the one who loves us and gave himself for us. It is not just  a promise we need, but the presence of the one who made and guarantees every promise.

     In other words, we need, not the benefits of Christ, but we need Christ himself who is the benefactor. And when we have Christ, we have all of his benefits.  

Healthy Eyes

     In Jesus’ well known, “Sermon on the Mount”, he proclaimed to his disciples: “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). He then pictures how this is to work by illustrating how we put the light on a lamp stand and it gives light to all who are in the house, not under a basket so it is hidden. Now, in Mt 6:22, Jesus uses the metaphor of light again. But this time he is talking, not about the light that is to shine from us, but the light that should be shining in us:

      “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" (Mt 6:22-23)

     What is it that attracts your eye? What is it that captures your attention? What is it that you have set your heart upon? This metaphor of the eye being the light of  the soul is not unrelated to the verse that proceeds it which says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21).

     What we set our eyes upon furnishes the soul with the light of reason and the passions of our soul. A person with a healthy eye will have clear vision and will be able to see Christ’s as the essence of the light which the soul longs for as its treasure.

On the other hand, if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. But here is the surprising thing, it is a darkness that you are comfortable with, a kind of “black light”. It is a darkness that you prefer, as a moth, a bat or a spider prefers the darkness. A person with a bad eye actually avoids the light because they enjoy the cover of darkness, because their deeds are evil (see John 3:19-21).

     The Apostle John applies this to our lives as a test of authenticity: If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn 1:6-7).

     One of my favorite quotes from C S Lewis touches on how this light which comes into our soul informs everything else:, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” This is the true “enlightenment”, and it is a miracle of sight that God works in us by the regenerating power of his Spirit by the Gospel.

     This new way of seeing doesn’t end with our new birth, but it begins there and continues on as the Apostle Paul says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Cor 3:18. 

Prayer

George Herbert (1593– 1633), is one of my favorite English Christian Poets. His poem describing prayer is a fascinating definition of prayer which can stretch our minds to grasp prayer in a way that leads to meditation, reflection and application. Herbert pens this definition of prayer by using short word phrases, but without using any verbs to show action. I suppose he intended us to supply the action by praying. 

Prayer the church's banquet, angel's age, 

God's breath in man returning to his birth, 

The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage, 

The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth 

Engine against th' Almighty, sinner's tow'r, 

Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear, 

The six-days world transposing in an hour, 

A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear; 

Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss, 

Exalted manna, gladness of the best, 

Heaven in ordinary, man well drest, 

The milky way, the bird of Paradise, 

Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul's blood, 

The land of spices; something understood. 

Select one of the phrases and ask your friends what they think of it as a description of prayer. Be ready with some thoughts of your own on each phrase. Most importantly, allow this definition of prayer to lead you to pray. Jesus described prayer to us in a parable after first giving his reason for doing so: And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart (Mt 18:1).  Prayer with God is his prescription for our fainting heart.

New Affections

      Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), has been called Scotland's greatest nineteenth-century churchman.  He preached a famous sermon entitled: “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection”, beginning with his text from 1 John 2:15.

           Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

      The opening sentence of the sermon summarizes the point that he wants to make:

“There are two ways in which a practical moralist may attempt to displace from the human heart its love of the world — either by a demonstration of the world’s vanity, so as that the heart shall be prevailed upon simply to withdraw its regard from an object that is not worthy of it; or, by setting forth another object, even God, as more worthy of its attachment, so as that the heart shall be prevailed upon not to resign an old affection, which shall have nothing to succeed it, but to exchange an old affection for a new one.”

      This is how the Gospel works. The Gospel does not tell us to stop doing wrong things that have captured our attention and desires, without replacing them with something far more wonderful and glorious. Consider Colossians 3:1-5a.

            If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you…

       Discipleship is an immersion into the life, love and fellowship of Christ and his church. It expresses itself in a joyful desire to know Christ and to make Christ known to others. This is what constitutes the  “expulsive power”, which displaces and replaces our natural desires and affections that are centered on our selves.

       May God fill our hearts with this “Expulsive Power” that comes from the “New Affections” created in our heart by the Gospel. May we carefully and intentionally cultivate these affections by trusting and loving Christ as we grow in the knowledge of his person and work for us, and in us.

That's A Good Question

   Isn’t it interesting that the first recorded words of God to man in the Bible after Adam had sinned in Genesis 3 is in the form of a question: “But the Lord God called to the man and said to him ‘Where are you?’” (Gen 3:9). Of course God knew where Adam was, so the question was not really about location, but self-disclosure. He was asking Adam to think deeply about the reason that he was hiding from him. God wanted Adam to think about what was going on in his heart.

    On previous occasions when God appeared in the garden, we assume that Adam and Eve would have come forth joyfully to engage in a most satisfying encounter with their God. But now they are hiding from him, avoiding him, afraid of him, unwilling to meet him in their sinful condition. And so God seeks to draw them out with a searching question: “Where are you?”.

    Questions can have a searching quality to them that examines our knowledge, motives and understanding. How we answer a particular question can reveal not only what we know, but how we think and feel. Questions are therefore an extremely useful technique in exploring our own hearts and in helping others think more deeply about life and the Gospel. Just think of how many times Jesus used questions to open the minds and hearts of people.

    Os Guinness in his book Fools Talk, suggests the importance of asking questions that raise questions, in order to break through the walls of indifference in a way that engages a person’s thinking about his own beliefs and views.

Guiness makes the point that, “in our age most people are untroubled rather than unreached, unconcerned rather than unconvinced, and they need questions as much as answers — or questions that raise questions that require answers that prompt people to become genuine seekers”.

    Whether we look at the questions posed in Scripture by the Prophets, the Poets or by Paul, we will find that there is an unraveling of the soul, an exploration of the heart, and a quest for answers contained in these well asked questions. Would we not be helped by this indirect and more subversive approach in our attempts to have Gospel conversations with people?

    Blaise Pascal (1623-62), the Christian Philosopher said, “I should therefore like to arouse in man the desire to find the truth”. Could it be that in our zeal for giving people answers, we have missed the important step of asking good questions that create interest or expose the great need for such answers? That’s a good question.

Approving What is Excellent

     I think that those of us who are in leadership often find ourselves occupied with what needs to be corrected in the church. Our default line of thinking tends to be “Thou shalt not”. The fact that most of the 10 commandments are put in this negative mode is an indicator of the sinful direction of our hearts that God wisely addresses in this way. But, as Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, there is a lot more going on in the commandments than providing a list of do’s and don’ts.

     We would do well to hear the spirit and appeal that is often found in many of Paul’s letters to the churches which are full of encouragement and commendation along with the needed correction. It is not a matter of doing one or the other, but a matter of helpful balance.

     For example, in Philippians Paul introduces the letter that will deal with what he calls “dogs” and “evildoers”, “enemies of the cross”, as well as Christians like Euodia and Syntyche who need to learn to agree in the Lord (Philip 3:2,18; 4:2). And he does so with this very positive exhortation:

     And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-10)

     Notice that Paul is praying for these people, which shapes his own heart for their spiritual progress, and lays hold of the grace of God to work in ways in their lives that he cannot do from the limitations of his prison cell.

     He also acknowledges their progress, and commends them for their love, knowledge and discernment, even as he encourages them to pursue these things more and more.

     Paul is no mere moralist or motivator. He grounds his appeal in the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. Our hope is not in trying harder to be better, but in trusting Christ more deeply so that the fruit of his Spirit may be reproduced in our life.

     For Paul, as for all of us, life's challenges must be faced with a clear eye to the glory and praise of God. When God’s glory is our focus, and his praise is the song of our heart, then we can face life in a fallen world with the joy and expectation in Christ.

Reflections on 35 Years of Ministry in One Church

     On the first Sunday of February in 1981, I began my ministry as the Pastor of Northside Baptist Mission. I was  26 years old. Exactly one year later, we were constituted as Northside Baptist Church. In a few weeks I will be turning 62 years old on March 1, having served this church for 35 years. People often ask me, “What is it like to serve one church for so long?” It’s a fair question in light of the fact that when I began my ministry at this church, the average stay of a pastor in Florida was 18 months. In the limited space that I have in this article I will mention four things that have been key factors.

     In the first place, I think that a long term ministry contributes to the stability that is necessary for a church to be the progressive and dynamic body that God has called it to be. When I came to this church 35 years ago, I made it clear that I was willing to make this a life work. As people realize my commitment to the church, it has helped them to adopt a longer and deeper vision of ministry.  This avoids some of the pitfalls of quick-fix solutions to ministry.

     In the second place, my ongoing education has been an important factor for me over the years. The inestimable privilege of studying God’s Word every week and learning at the feet of some of the most gifted instructors that God has given to his church over the last 2000 years has fed my own soul and drawn me to Christ and given me a love for his church and the Great Commission. Along with my personal Biblical studies has been my formal studies at local colleges, Universities and seminaries over the years. I have been enriched by the blend of liberal arts and theological studies which has better prepared me to think about applying the unchanging Gospel to all of life in today’s changing world.

     In the third place, a better understanding of the church has emerged in my mind over the years. I have always believed that the church is at the center of what God is doing in the world today. From the very beginning I have encouraged an Ephesians 4:12 ministry which calls pastors, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”.  I have realized recently that my emphasis has been more on “equipping the saints,” in a way that has not always resulted in their being involved “for the work of ministry.” I suppose I thought that if you did the “equipping” part, “the work of ministry” would follow. But I have come to realize that the “work of ministry” for every member is in fact a vital part of the “equipping” process and not just a result of it. We’ll get that better over these next 20 years :-)

     In the fourth place, an intentional plan for being a good steward of my time, gifts and energies has been a priority for me over the years. Keeping watch over my personal life spiritually and physically has helped me to stay on task and persevere through the challenges and triumphs of ministry and life. Developing my interests in music and various hobbies alongside the rigors of ministry have helped me maintain balance and to enjoy the journey with the people that God has brought across my path to minister to and minister with.

     My prayer is that God will continue to use my life to encourage others to follow Christ and to find in him the life, joy and purpose that God has called us to share together as a church.

Identity & Influence

     “ You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Mt 5:14)

     Jesus uses the metaphors of salt, light, and a city on a hill to emphasize the identity and influence of the church. And he makes the very important point that when the church loses its identity, it also loses its influence in the world.

     In the very beginning of the Gospel of Matthew Jesus presents his followers as a group of people who are radically different from the world around them. The beatitudes describe this ethical and spiritual quality of life that marks those who have entered into the forgiveness and life of Christ. This is the church that Christ came into the world to build. 

Indeed, it is surprising after reviewing the characteristics that would mark his followers such as, poor in spirit, mourning, meek, righteous, pure, peacemakers, and persecuted, that they

    would be identified as the salt and light of the world. Note the all encompassing scope of their influence. It’s not just a Jewish thing, but the influence of the church is for all people, everywhere, in all times. 

     This radical and beautiful life and light of the church is not to be sequestered or hidden from the world, but rather rubbed into the world like salt, and shining brightly upon the world like a lamp on a lamp stand or a city on a hill.

But what if the salt has lost its property of  being salty? What if the light has been covered so that it does not shine? In other words, what happens when the church loses its clear ethical and Gospel identify? The answer is that instead of connecting, confronting, and conforming the world by means of its Gospel light and message, it is conformed and reduced by the world and finds itself ineffective and meaningless.

     John Stott is right to point out that the church and the world are “related to each other, but their relatedness depends on their distinctness.” Our effectiveness in terms of our influence in the world is not only a matter of clear strategies and structures to mobilize the church (as important as these strategies and structures are), but upon understanding and accepting our identity as being separate from the world and yet sent into it. 

    May God grant the church a clear vision of her identity in Christ so that we may influence the world around us to look to Christ and his life changing Gospel.

Focus For A New Year

      The Gaia Satellite Telescope, which was launched by the European Space Agency in 2013, is in the process of measuring the positions and velocity of approximately one billion stars in our Galaxy within a range of 30,000 light years. This is approximately the distance from our Sun to the center of the Milky way Galaxy. The purpose is to determine the brightness, temperature, composition and motion of these stars as they move through space in order to create a three-dimensional map of the Galaxy. According to ESA, The Gaia telescope will  observe one billion stars about 70 times each over five years. That’s an average of 40 million observations a day! This requires extremely accurate and powerful equipment. This telescope includes a large digital camera with almost one billion pixels, and a telescope that can detect celestial objects that are a million times fainter than the naked  eye can see.

     As we come to a new year, I want to challenge you to be focused. Realize that there is a universe of things that will vie for your attention, time and affections in this new year. I don’t know of a better verse to start the new year than Matthew 5:8 which says: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. In terms of our focus, there is nothing more vital than to know and enjoy God in this coming year as we focus on the mission that he has called us to.
     The key to avoiding all of the doubt, dirt and distraction in life is cultivating this purity of heart. The word purity means clear, clean, and focused. Let Christ be your focus and join his mission of reaching and discipling others. And remember the Gospel in all of this —because Jesus was pure in heart, focused and determined to live and die in our place, we will see God.