A Rustic Symphony

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee…”—Phillips Brooks

Every night on my way home from work at this time of year, I used to pass a festive lawn display in Goffstown that was the ultimate in diversity and inclusion. One year, at the center of it all was the traditional Nativity scene of Jesus in the manger with Mary and Joseph. But then they were surrounded by Santa and his sleigh, Rudolph, angels, The Grinch, the wise men, elves, old-fashioned carolers, sheep, Frosty, the obligatory pink flamingo lawn ornament, and Kevin from Home Alone.

Invariably, at the end of the day, I needed that smile or good laugh as I drove by. It reminded me to leave the workday behind and not to take everything so seriously. “Lighten up, exhale, and be grateful for life and breath.”

That lawn display is in stark contrast to the simplicity of the one at home under the tree, where all of the pieces are fixed in place, with the exception of the removable angel over the manger who the kids named “Gloria.” I like that Gloria is removable. It reminds me that angels and God’s presence go wherever I go.

I also like how the scene is either before or after the visit of the shepherds. Silent night. I like how unlike many Nativity scenes, there are no wise men with their camels and unusual gifts; as it should be, since they apparently didn’t arrive on the scene until several months (or years?) later.

I like how there is only one animal — the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world — resting at Jesus’ feet.

I like the sense of the thunderous silence and a million thoughts that must have been running through Mary’s and Joseph’s heads in this rustic atmosphere that fueled a gigantic, symphonic celebration in Heaven.

I like that Mary is on her knees with hands outstretched, maybe pondering in her heart the hopeful words of the angel: “You will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High.” (Luke 1:31-32). And Joseph with his hand over his heart, perhaps remembering the fear of hearing Mary’s pregnancy news and pondering divorce so she wouldn’t have to face public disgrace (Matthew 1:19), and yet grateful beyond words that he got the same message from the angel as Mary: “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21-22)

"What child IS this?!"

And even Jesus, with tiny hands upraised. A baby’s cry? No doubt... the Word became flesh, after all. But maybe also this promise of comfort and joy: ”Here I am. I have come to do Your will.” (Hebrews 10:9)

Most of all, I like this different nativity that brings a different kind of smile, realizing that each character in it is worshiping, and remembering that worship and trust in the everlasting God means it’s not contingent upon being in a good mood or when you have everything figured out, but just as needed and appropriate and powerful in the midst of life’s questions and uncertainties. Maybe more so.

I still enjoy a belly laugh from things like that crazy holiday display. But just like Mary and Joseph with their hopes and fears, the old Nativity under my tree is a reminder that it’s OK to admit that some things are beyond figuring out, that Christmas means it’s good and healthy to be real before God, to embrace the mystery of all mysteries, to believe once more, to sing “Glory in the highest!” with Gloria the goes-everywhere angel...and to live to worship in every season, long after the tree comes down and the decorations get boxed up for another year.

"We live in a world full of sin and hurt and sadness and confusion; the gospel answers all of it, but it doesn't twinkle it away like pixie dust...The hope of the gospel is not clarity in our confusion, but the knowledge that God is at work in spite of the fact that we don't understand what He is up to."  

Jonathan Rogers, review of Andrew Peterson's 'Light For the Lost Boy’

Updated from original, 12-22-19

Taking it Personally

 

“Host of Angels,” Mike Moyers @fineartamerica.com

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."—Luke 2:11

Variety may be the spice of life, but we humans also tend to like the comfort of predictability and routine. The holidays can be like that. You can get into the usual roll and flow of the season and find yourself doing the usual things out of the usual habits because it’s what you usually do this time of year. Even reading or hearing the Christmas story. I can’t tell you how many times I have passively observed those familiar words from Luke in the usual way, almost like watching TV, and thinking the angel is talking to shepherds from long, long ago—definitely someone else, but certainly not to me. It’s like watching a nice, nostalgic story unfold about somebody else, even though I know deep down inside it is still true and somehow relevant beyond what my eyes and ears are telling me.

But put down the remote for a second and jump into the story.

“Wait, what?!” It’s OK. Jesus said it is good: “The Father is sending a great Helper, the Holy Spirit, in My name to teach you everything and to remind you of all I have said to you.” (John 14:25, Voice). And when you put down that passive-observing remote and choose to jump into His-story, everything changes...

“For unto you is born…”

Take it personally, and remember that despite our TV, video, phone-scrolling world, we were never meant to be spectators who merely observe and “Like” something told to shepherds we don’t know, but to be active participants in the greatest Story ever—right in our own little corner of the world.

“For unto you is born…”

Take it personally, and remember that the Christmas story of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, wise men and angels isn’t just a seasonal feel-good story or just an amazing moment in history to simply nod our head at every December. Instead, it’s an astounding invitation to (re)open the extraordinary gift of life God has given:

“For unto you is born…"

• To receive…unfailing Love, amazing grace and forgiveness, a Hope that does not disappoint because His Love has been poured into our hearts, and mercies that are new every single morning.
• To believe…because unlike any other person in this world, His promises never fail and His tongue never lies.
• To serve and give with heaven’s Love…Yes, serve Him of course, but especially others—including something our self-centered flesh constantly kicks and screams about: “When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3, New Century)
• To follow in the footsteps of the One born in a manger, Who did amazing things while walking the earth, Who was crucified on a cruel cross for every sin we could ever do or imagine, Who rose triumphantly from the dead and lives to intercede for us today and forever…

…”He died for all so that all who live—having received eternal life from Him—might live no longer for themselves, to please themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them.”

—2 Corinthians 5:15, Living Bible

That’s world-changing stuff right there. Even if it’s just our little corner of the world.

And it is never too late to start.

All it takes is to “stop watching TV” and take it personally...and jump into the Story.

“What more do you need if indeed you know Christ, if you walk by faith in God, and by love to your neighbor doing to him as Christ has done to you? This is, indeed, the whole Scripture in its briefest form: That no more words or books are necessary, but only life and action.”—Martin Luther

Uncommon Sense

“Common sense is not always common practice.”—Stephen Covey

Mary looked at her humble teenage self and wondered how in Heaven and on earth what the angel of the Lord said to her about being the mom of the Messiah was going to come to pass. But against all common sense, she trusted and obeyed. (Luke 1:38)

Joseph looked at his awkward, potentially scandalous situation as an unwed father-to-be and figured he had to do the right thing and break it off with Mary quietly. But against all common sense, when an angel of the Lord in a dream told him to do otherwise, he trusted and obeyed. (Matthew 1:24)

The shepherds looked at their low standing in society and wondered how and why an angel of the Lord and a bunch of His holy companions would bother speaking to them in the first place, and especially about the birth of the Savior of the world in a town nearby. But against all common sense, they trusted and obeyed—they went, they investigated, and they testified while praising God for it all. (Luke 2:15)

This is why I love the Christmas story. It’s not quaint and cute. It’s regular people facing incredibly stressful or unbelievable situations that pit their common sense against the unshakable Word of God. It screams, “Are you kidding me?!” There is a familiar Christian slogan that says “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” It sounds like the right thing to say, but it’s not honest. Truth be told, we can relate more to Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, who might say it should read: “God said it, I’m not sure if I get it, but I’m swallowing hard and going for it because God said it is so.”

Sometimes, we want God’s Word to say something that it is not saying or meaning. The trigger is often when there is mystery in God’s Word, or when God is or seems silent on a specific matter or situation in our lives. We want answers and an explanation for everything. The paradox of this Walk is that it is not to be done foolishly or blindly and that God wants us to search the scriptures to see for ourselves what He is saying, to seek Him beyond the words in print. But at the same time, even if and when we still can’t see clearly, He calls us to do so with this in mind:

“And God said…and it was so.” 

It’s no coincidence that, depending on what version of the Bible you read, those words are mentioned seven times in Genesis 1—almost as if God put them there for us as a One-a-Day vitamin reminder. The response by Mary, Joseph and the shepherds to what the Lord said versus what they could see in front of their eyes, is great encouragement to keep trusting and obeying with all wisdom in a world that is screaming at great volume to do otherwise.

And when in the presence of the Promise—the Messiah, the Child in the manger on a cold winter’s night that was so deep—Mary, Joseph and the shepherds did one more thing of great encouragement: even though they did not have all the answers to their questions, they worshiped. “And God said…and it was so.” Sometimes, worship is giving praise and all our heart while being moved to respond in a church service. But sometimes in the day-to-day grind of life, real and deeper worship is simply walking and trusting and resting in the acknowledgement that “God is God and I am not,” and that is all I need to know. It’s…

“…the attitude of being content not to pry into what God has chosen to keep secret but to live by what one has heard Him say. Reverence includes unwillingness to go a single step beyond what scripture says. When we reach the outer limits of what scripture tells us, it is time to stop arguing and start worshiping.”—J.I. Packer

Down in My Heart

“The Lord Jesus is a deep sea of joy; my soul shall dive therein…”—Charles Haddon Spurgeon

What do we do with the word "joy"? There must be something important and good about it in God’s eyes because joy is mentioned more than 200 times in some translations of the Bible.

But well-meaning Sunday School teachers and authors down through the years have made it sound like joyful Christians are to be serious-faced about God’s joy, and have said not to confuse natural happiness with joy because happiness is a fleeting emotion—it comes and goes. Only joy lasts. On that last point, there is Truth. But on the whole, this handed-down teaching needs revisiting because the root words for joy in both the Hebrew and Greek do not imply serious-faced expressions and lifestyles at all, but instead speak of an inner happiness or gladness that cannot be contained or deterred. 

And if you’ve experienced that kind of joy, you can’t really explain it, but you know it's true.

It’s better than the fleeting joyful feeling of getting a new car or going on vacation because God’s joy (or, joy in God), is rooted in knowing that no matter the ups and downs of life, if you have Jesus, you have everything, and He will never abandon you and He loves you through the ecstasies as well as the hells of life. And most of all, because unlike any other god, our God is not dead but fully alive and reigning still and forever over this crazy world in ways that are totally beyond our imagination or understanding. And not only that, He is interceding—praying—for us all…the… time. (Hebrews 7:25).

And oh yes, His joy is unspeakable because unlike that new car, He never rusts or breaks down, and unlike that vakay, you never need a reservation to be with Him.

And that’s only a glimmer of what joy in the Lord looks like. Or, it’s about all our (my) feeble brains can handle at one time. But somehow you know and believe that there is so much more depth, width and height to the kind of happy joy God is talking about. I’m thinking of that campfire song right about now: “I’ve got that joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where?…” Deep down. Just as Spurgeon says.

I was thinking about that when putting up the tree yesterday, and of all the lights and shiny objects, one three-letter word (pictured) was magnified….

Remember, the Word shouts: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again, I say rejoice!”

But look at our world—there isn’t much to rejoice about. Joy to the world? Really?

And what about all the hurts and pains that have somehow concentrated in Decembers past? Joy to the world? Really?

The Word shouts louder: Remember to live each day not through your lens but through Heaven’s lens. Remember…

“Be full of joy always

Because you belong to the Lord!

Again I say, be full of joy!

And let all people see how considerate, compassionate, unselfish you are.

The Lord is coming again soon!

Do not worry.

Learn to pray about everything.

Give thanks to God as you ask Him for what you need.

The peace of God is much greater than the human mind can understand. This peace will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 4:4-7, New Life Version

Our problems and painful memories may be real, in December and the other 11 months as well, and many are no laughing matter. But that little three-letter decoration is a loud reminder that the Word of God has never failed and won’t stop now: the joy of the Lord is indeed our strength still, and very deep and very wide, no matter what. It's all about choosing to look through the right and heavenly lens…

…“Begin to rejoice in the Lord, and your bones will flourish like an herb, and your cheeks will glow with the bloom of health and freshness. Worry, fear, distrust, care — all are poisonous! Joy is balm and healing, and if you will but rejoice, God will give power.” 

— A. B. Simpson