Lessons from Bethlehem

Can we get past the holly and lights and even the carols for a moment to find something of God’s part in our Christmas celebrations? Please understand, I enjoy, even revel in so much of the peripheral expressions of Christ’s Advent in our holiday traditions – the songs and music, the movies and TV specials, the decorations, the gifts, the foods. However, I am wondering this year what Heaven thinks of Christmas. Or better, what does the King of Heaven really intend for us to get about His Incarnation? What does Jesus want for Christmas?

Last week I suggested three things I want to remember this Christmas. I wrote about making a call to remember a priority this Christmas and listed a few things we should remember this year:

1. Remember why Jesus was born, what His Advent and Incarnation mean for us, indeed, for all peoples.

2. Remember to prepare, to be ready for Jesus’ Second Advent.

3. Remember to make the most of every opportunity this Christmas to help every person you meet know why He came and how to be ready when He returns.

REMEMBER – We may remember, for instance, as we celebrate Advent this morning with the lighting of the Hope candle, the prophecies fulfilled by Jesus’ birth. We may recall Micah’s prophecy that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem Ephrathah [“the fruitful”], you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity (Micah 5:2).

The religious leaders in Jerusalem remembered, when a troubled King Herod demanded of them, that God had revealed through Micah that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2). Frankly, their understanding of the significance of Messiah’s birthplace probably exceeded our appreciation today simply because of their ethno-religiosity (they were Jews). Hundreds of years of waiting, however, appears to have reduced even their remembrances of this prophecy little more than one of a litany of checkpoints on the list of messianic credentials. They knew where, but were not there themselves.

The average person in Israel also remembered that the prophet had identified the site of Messiah’s birth. We find the crowds wondering out loud about Jesus’ identity. Apparently, the people were not as familiar with the peculiarities of Jesus’ birth as Luke’s research made him. They thought Jesus was from Galilee, and they knew Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (John 7:40-43).

Religious leaders and common people both remembered the basic idea – Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. They seemed to miss, however, something rich and wondrous just below the facts of the prophecy. Precious gems lingered untouched in the soil they had not plowed.

In the same way, we should do more than remember the facts of our Savior’s birth. Merely reminiscing in a warm and fuzzy, holiday sort of way, all too easily lures us to a shallow understanding of why Jesus was born and why He is coming again and why people must be prepared. We should investigate.

INVESTIGATE – The general question is “Where? Where will Messiah be born?” Good question – as far as it goes. The better question is “Why? Why would Messiah be born, and of all places, why in Bethlehem?” This is a better question because it takes us deeper, nearer to the heart of God and His intentions. Isn’t that where we want Christmas to take us?

A little bit of investigation could unearth priceless treasures just below the surface. Consider these jewels, for example:

1. God did not choose Bethlehem because it was a great town, but precisely because this village was small. Bethlehem did nothing to impress Heaven’s selection committee. Father did not chose Bethlehem to highlight anything special about that geographical locale but to manifest His own glory and to illustrate a wonderful, hope-filled truth for us. God uses little things to show His bigness (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:27-31). His intent is that we declare with angelic hosts, “Glory to God in the highest!” Someone observed, “We get joy! He gets glory!” Amen!

2. God chose Bethlehem to demonstrate His commitment to keep His promise. He promised David that Messiah would come from his royal lineage and establish an eternal throne. Moreover, God reminded Israel of this promise through Micah when the nation was suffering and then brought it to pass when they were under the boot of Rome. God’s promises are reliable, even and especially in trying times, because God is Who He says He is, and He can do what He says He’ll do.

3. This reminds me that Messiah will come again – and I am persuaded Jesus will return soon. Investigate Micah 5 and we see that when Messiah returns He will protect His flock, including we sheep from foreign folds (John 10:16-17), secure our peace, and “extend His greatness to the ends of the earth!” (Micah 5:4).

O, joy! Joy to the world! He comes and calls to Himself unworthy worldlings through whom He displays His glory! How great our joy! He keeps His promises. Jesus Christ is the “Yes!” to each one (2 Corinthians 1:20). Joy! Joy to the world! Our Lord is come … and is coming again!

Remember, beloved, the hope Christmas brings. Investigate and discover the wealth of His Word. Rejoice and worship!

To the ends of the earth until the end of time!

Pastor Rob

Remember

Ah … Black Friday, Blitz Friday, or, as I prefer to call it, the day after Thanksgiving Day. I sit in my study at home, safe from the hordes of savage shoppers who laid early-morning siege on Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Target, and other retailers. I smile and sigh a contented sigh with a deep sense of satisfaction and appreciation for all the Lord has done and continues to do in my life.

Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, was a splendid day with family. We laughed, we ate, we worked together, we watched parades and football games, and we remembered.

We remembered family. We remembered holidays past. We remembered to thank God for His grace and mercy and love. We remembered the sweet potato casserole!

Remembering is an important part of the human experience. Think of all the remembering we must do in a typical day. Here’s a short list of things to remember that I should routinely execute every weekday morning:

I need to remember to set the alarm the night before – and get to bed at a decent hour.

I need to remember to keep first things first and start the day with Bible study and prayer.

I need to remember to hug my wife and thank her for staying with me.

I need to remember to kiss the kids and pray with them before they leave for school.

I need to remember to help the kids remember to take their lunch and homework.

I need to remember to make sure the dogs have food and fresh water.

I need to remember to make coffee for my father-in-law.

I need to remember where I left the car keys.

I need to remember to grab my billfold.

I need to remember to make and take my lunch.

To be sure, there are many more tasks I should remember every day. This is only a list of things to remember to do before I leave my driveway! And they do not include various details peculiar to certain days of the week (such as take the trash out on Monday or call my mom at least once a week) or those assigned to me by Donna for any particular day (pay a certain bill, go by the grocery store, etc.).

I have discovered, however, that when I fail to remember any one of the items on my short list, my day invariably suffers varying degrees of chaos. We never appreciate fully the profound value of remembering until we forget a thing.

When I forget to set the alarm – and to get to bed early the night before – my failure to remember puts me behind for the entire day. When I do not remember to start with Bible study and prayer, I feel weak and disoriented and disheveled all day long. When I fail to hug my wife and kids, I feel regret. When I do not remember where I left the keys, I get impatient and frustrated. When I forget my billfold and my lunch, I feel … hungry!

The sad truth is, on any given morning I am likely to have forgotten, or intentionally failed to remember more than one of these simple keys to a successful launch of the new day. In fact, incredible as it may seem, some days I have missed every single one of these objectives. On such days, it is at least a minor miracle I make it past 10 in the morning without a total meltdown!

As I sit here and mull over the benefits of remembering well, or the consequences of remembering poorly, I think of other things to remember. I want to remember anniversaries and birthdays – before those days arrive. I want to remember the little things that make Donna grin or encourage our children to grow. I want to remember to notice God’s hand in my life and thank Him every day. I want to remember to smile and to share the joy of knowing Jesus Christ with every person I meet. I want to remember well and meaningfully this new Christmas season.

Did you know that some form of the word “remember” is found in over 220 verses in Scripture? At least 80 of those references use the verb as an imperative or command. I believe Father wants us to remember because what we remember has a powerful influence upon what we do. The Bible says what we think within ourselves is a reliable forecaster of what we do (Proverbs 23:7). Jesus declares, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). So, God calls us to remember – remember Who He is, remember what He has done and can do, remember who He says we are, remember what we can do in Christ, and remember what His Word can do in us.

For my part, as a husband, father, and pastor, I want to make this call to remember a priority this Christmas. Here are a few things we should remember this year:

1. Remember why Jesus was born, what His Advent and Incarnation mean for us, indeed, for all peoples.

2. Remember to prepare, to be ready for Jesus’ Second Advent.

3. Remember to make the most of every opportunity this Christmas to help every person you meet know why He came and how to be ready when He returns.

To the ends of the earth until the end of time!

Pastor Rob

A Severe Grace: Of Football, Fractures, & Fleas

I have heard it said by a number of people whom I respect and admire that they regard Thanksgiving Day to be the most Christian of holidays. Certainly, the virtuous practice of giving thanks is a fundamental feature of authentic faith. Even a hasty inventory of Bible verses convinces me that a hallmark of holy living is an attitude of gratitude. Consider these few:

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4).

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever (Psalm 107:1; 118:1).

Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).

First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, (1 Timothy 2:1).

In anticipation of these November messages on Sundays and Wednesdays, I have been meditating on a particular verse of Scripture for several weeks now. With reference to his own call to ministry and the consequences that ministry brought upon him and delivered to the nations, Paul writes:

For all this is because of you, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to overflow to God's glory (2 Corinthians 4:15).

I am drawn by a flow, a direction, a process God seems to have prescribed for our lives. Paul observes this course. He declares that the treasure of the Gospel has captured him and is transmitted to others in the form of grace. That grace then produces gratitude, which culminates in glory to God. So, the pattern is grace – gratitude – glory.

Gratitude is perhaps the most fitting response to grace. When believers are properly grateful to God, our thanksgiving, or as I have come to prefer, our thanks-living, becomes a witness to other people by which they become receptive to God’s grace in their lives. This transference of grace and gratitude abounds and redounds to the glory of God! Our thanks-living exalts and magnifies the Lord (Psalm 69:30).

Surely, we believers and followers of Jesus Christ should be of all people most thankful, and continuously so. We should be grateful because we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies (Ephesians 1:3 ff – O, please make time to read and meditate upon verses 3-14 as often as possible the next several days!). I want us to be careful today, however, to catch the implications the little word “every” suggests for our gratitude. Here is cause for us to distinguish between nostalgic commemorations of an American holiday and daily celebrations of God’s grace-gifts in our lives. God’s Word – “Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) – mandates this distinction and might be characterized in these two quirky lines from an anonymous poem I found recently:

I’m thankful for peas and pies.
I’m not thankful for fleas and flies.

Can I be thankful even if my football team loses the big game? I know the biggest issues in life do not revolve around the Ohio State – Michigan rivalry. I also know, though, how unwelcome final scores tend to hinder my readiness to magnify God with my thanks-living.

Can I be thankful when I find myself limited by physical liabilities? In 1967, Joni Erickson broke her neck when she dove headfirst into shallow water. The accident left her paralyzed. It also paved the way for a remarkable ministry launched in 1979, and an extraordinary testimony. I read an eyewitness report that on at least one occasion she raised her arms as high as she can in her braces and exclaimed, “This is the prison where God set me free!”

Can I even imagine ever being thankful for fleas?! As recorded in her autobiographical book, The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom related how she learned to give thanks in all things. She and her sister, Betsy, were imprisoned during WWII at the Ravensbrook Camp. Their barracks were seriously overcrowded and flea-infested. One morning, after they had read together 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Betsy said, “Corrie, we’ve got to give thanks for this barracks and even for these fleas."

"No way am I going to thank God for fleas!" Corrie retorted. Betsy insisted, however, and they did indeed begin to thank God for the fleas.

The sisters began to notice that the guards seemed not frequent their barracks. The girls took courage, then, and began to lead the women in prayer and Bible study. Their barracks became a sanctuary. How had God graced them with this favor, even in a Nazi death camp? Simply put, the guards avoided their barracks because of the severe infestation of fleas!

What grace might the Lord desire to bring to bear in our lives so that we will be grateful and He will be glorified? Can we learn to give and live thanks even in the midst of cancer, unemployment, internment, war, or family pain? Can we learn to be thankful for peas and pies as well as fleas and flies? May we be a people who make God known by living and “giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

To the ends of the earth until the end of time!

Pastor Rob

Thanks-living Telescopes

The psalmist wrote this praise song:

²⁹ But I am afflicted and in pain; may Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.
³⁰ I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving.
³¹ And it will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.
³² The humble have seen it and are glad; you who seek God, let your heart revive!
³³ For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise His who are prisoners (Psalm 69:29–33, NASB).

Surely, a tell-tale trait of any true born-again believer is a passion to "praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving!"

I have spent the better part of the day – indeed, the best part of this week has most assuredly been the past six hours – reading sermons about thanksgiving. My meager little cup is running over right now with joy and worship. I am indebted to Spurgeon, Piper, Pritchard, and others for the spotlights they have shone on God’s Word and God’s works in my life. Their cues have prompted me to raise my voice in jubilant song to the Author of my salvation, the King of glory and grace! Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord Jesus!

As I write this article, I wish it were Sunday already so that we might together remember and rejoice and reckon our lives to have been best lived when we are immersed in thanksgiving. Of course, you are most likely reading this on Sunday as we prepare to celebrate in worship together. So, my prayer as I write and as you read is that these few paragraphs may serve to inspire us to "praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving." Take a moment right now to reflect with me on three thoughts about thanksgiving from Psalm 69:29-33.

1. Notice that the songwriter confesses a condition we do not naturally acquaint with thankfulness or gratitude.

In verse 29, the psalmist declares, "I am afflicted and in pain." In fact, much of this psalm is actually a prayer, a near frantic plea for rescue. His own foolishness and guilty acts (verse 5) have made him vulnerable to the attack of his enemies and accusers. The potential impact his failures could have on other believers burdens him (verse 6). Moreover, he yearns to worship the Lord, to honor Him, and to defend God’s honor (verse 9). Yet even from the pit in which he finds himself, he sings.

Why? How? Though he is needy and a prisoner, he is still Yahweh’s Own possession (verse 33)! He knows it is not who we are or what we are or what we’ve done that matters most, but Whose we are. Our identity in Christ – not as perfect people but as undeserving sinners purchased by His blood – should be our focus. As God’s possession, we are not defined by our circumstances but by our relationship to God and the glorious consequences of His purposes and power in the lives of the people who put their hope in Him! Actually, this shifts our concentration from off ourselves onto the One Who deserves our attention and allegiance – the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. When with our lips and our lives we "praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving," other people can find hope and gladness and even recovery.

Verse 32 describes the impression and influence the Lord intends to make with our lives lived in this twisted world upon the lives of every other person who comes to the end of themselves and realizes they are in prison and in need. Perhaps this is why our crowns are not distributed to us until we get home (even then, we cast them at the feet of the Lamb!). Our medals and badges and awards for successfully passing through this world as if we were untouched and unsullied by its mud and muck, these do not impress people, nor do they attract them to our Savior. On the other hand, when we "magnify Him with thanksgiving" even as we grieve the death of loved ones or struggle to keep our families together; if we labor in the same trenches as our neighbors do, only with joy and confidence of our ultimate rescue; then we are more likely to encourage the people watching our lives to look to Someone bigger than themselves and find life.

3. Therefore, our singing – more than our successes or our sacrifices – pleases Father.

God, our Creator and Redeemer, is more pleased when we sing His praises and "magnify Him with thanksgiving" than when we perform religious rituals (verse 31). Consider that word, "magnify." John Piper suggests two different ways we might "magnify" something. A microscope or magnifying glass makes something appear greater than it is. But a telescope takes something that may seem small or insignificant and helps us see it as great as it really is.

So, here the psalmist does not mean: "I will make a small God look bigger than He is." That’s ridiculous! No, he means to say: "I will make a big God begin to look as big as He really is." Beloved, we are not called to be microscopes. We are made to be telescopes! – to reveal what an awesome God is our God, the Creator-King of the universe and our Redeemer!

"O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3). Let’s raise the rafters with our songs of praise this morning! Let’s raise the dead hopes of our FRANs (Friends, Relatives, Associates, and Neighbors) as we "magnify Him with thanksgiving." Let’s make this a season of thanksgiving a springboard to get about the glorious task of thanks-living!

To the ends of the earth until the end of time!

Pastor Rob

To Arms!

By any standard of measure, our first ever “Trunk or Treat” was a tremendous success this week. Kudos to our KidzTown Council and all our volunteers! I estimate we gave candy to 125-150 children from our neighborhood. Many of their parents thanked us and inquired about our church. In the long run, this simple ministry has provided us additional prospects, helped us break through the perception of churchiness that sometimes hinders our witness, and helped us dream outside the box about new ways to love our neighbors. That said, however, I must remind you: “We are at war!”

Were you to read those words apart from actually knowing me, or with no conversational context for such a statement, you might begin to form an incorrect and incomplete idea about me. You might think me to be some sort of alarmist, for instance, or warmonger. Perhaps you would assume I simply exaggerate for emphasis. Maybe, you theorize, I have some cultural or social axe to grind. You could even imagine me to be upset or pouting because some election did not go my way. And your presumptions about me, the messenger, would most assuredly influence your receptivity and response to my message: “We are at war!”

So, for those of you who are reading this and do not actually know me all that well, allow me to describe myself very briefly and to provide some context for my assertion. I love to laugh and sing and eat and play and be around other people who share a contagious “joie de vivre” – literally, a joy of living. I am a reader, an information junkie, and a student on a perpetual quest for conversation that informs, inspires, and incites me to become a better person, a better partner, a better parent, and a better pastor.

I am 46 years old – old enough to have been around the block a time or two and also to know I have much, much more to learn, old enough to begin to appreciate all that I have been given and to own my obligation to give back. I am very happily married – a happiness in no small part directly related to my growing awareness of how rare and precious a lady is my wife and how common and unworthy a steward am I to have wed so far over my head. I am the father of five wonderful children – each one a treasure and an assignment from heaven, each one for whom I would quickly lay down my life, and for whom I am learning I must just as readily purpose to live my life to the fullest. I am a pastor, a shepherd, a brother among family whom I love and I am charged to protect and feed and lead. Most importantly, I am born again, a child of God, a joint-heir with Jesus Christ, an image-bearer redeemed by His blood and filled with His Spirit to manifest the Truth about Him!

What does this have to do with war? Much, but simply this for now: I do not want war. I want peace and gentleness. My hopes are for safety, security, prosperity, and quiet living for myself, my family, my church, and my community. So, when I say: “We are at war,” it is not because I wish it so, but rather because by wishing, I am not able to make it not so. Moreover, peace is not achieved by appeasement but by resolute engagement against the threats to peace. Ask our Lord Jesus Christ Who found no other way to set men free that does not lead through a cross and a grave to a promise and a triumphant return.

“We are indeed at war!” This war, however is more than a clash of cultures or worldviews or generations. This war is cosmic and pervasive. It is the epic confrontation between Heaven and Hell over the souls of men and the integrity of God Himself.

By now you may be completely lost as to my meaning and wonder: “Where is he going with this, anyway?” In order to help you understand the war of which I speak and our role in this struggle, let me introduce the occasion that prompted this call to arms. The incident speaks to the vile nature and subtlety of our enemy, the precious and vulnerable souls at stake, and the response we, the people of God, must consider and implement. The following warning shot flew across my bow this week.

On December 7, a new movie will be released entitled “The Golden Compass,” based on the first book in a trilogy by author Philip Pulman. I remember seeing a trailer for this movie and thinking I might like to take my kids to see it. That is not my opinion now. My chief concern with what I am learning about “The Golden Compass” is two-fold:

1. The author is cited numerous times as being a self-avowed atheist (no problem yet – a man can believe what he wants … until the judgment) intent upon discrediting Christianity and countering the impact of the likes of CS Lewis (okay – now my cackles are going up).

2. My most serious concern is the shameful way these lies are being marketed to children! If the books are even remotely similar to the descriptions I have read from reliable, mature, credible sources, then the marketing of their content to children is nothing less than heartless targeting of the innocents! Unlike movies like “The DaVinci Code” or “The Last Temptation of Christ,” which targeted the faith of adults, this movie sets up an assault on children.

I have much more to learn and to say on this. For now, I want to enlist you to pray with me for the children, for wisdom, and for courage. Also, arm yourselves with information this week.

To the ends of the earth until the end of time!

Pastor Rob