Christmas is a major event in the western world.  Some of it is big business. Shopping, eating, trees, lights, inflatable Santas, parties, family gatherings, concert tours, T.V.  specials, football, and so on.  If you asked a hundred people what their favorite part of Christmas is, they might name one of those things we just listed. 

If you asked them the meaning of Christmas they might say “peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”  But they would probably mean good will toward one another.  It’s the season to be kind to others and maybe drop some cash in the Salvation Army kettle.  They would probably know that Christmas was originally a celebration of the birth of Jesus by religious people and they might know about him being born in a stable and three wise men coming from the east.  They might speak of the Christmas story as just that…a story, a myth, or some fiction. It would carry with it nice sentiments and a feeling of family and a season of kindness, but the true message would be lost to them.  And, in the cacophony of Christmas activities, even those of us who follow Jesus might forget the true message as well.

Before Jesus the world was lost.  Judgment was postponed by adherence to the Law of Moses.  Sin was not forgiven, but simply “rolled forward,” as some theologians might put it.  The writer of Hebrews argued that if the blood of bulls and goats had been sufficient to deal with our sin before a righteous God, they would not have had to offer more sacrifices daily without end. Paul simply said, before Jesus, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1).

Of course, we see that truth more clearly at the cross than at the manger, but the sacrifice of his Son began before the cross.  Isaiah talked about seeing “the Lord high and exalted, seated on a throne, and the train of his robe filled the temple” (Isa. 6:1). In his gospel, John quoted that passage from Isaiah and said that Isaiah was actually beholding the glory of Jesus (Jn. 12:41). 

So, on the night we celebrate as Christmas, the Son of God stepped down from a throne of glory, surrounded by adoring angels. He submitted to the human process of being born as a biological child to a virgin under suspicion of being unfaithful to her betrothed.  The suspicion in their little village was probably what prompted Joseph to take her with him on an arduous journey to Bethlehem, very late in her pregnancy.  It was probably why they did not return but stayed in Bethlehem until Jesus was nearly two.  As Herod tried to kill this “king of the Jews,” this Son of God became a political refugee fleeing to Egypt for his life.

The King of Glory gave up a throne in heaven to be dependent on two impoverished young Jews whose names we would never have known if they had not parented Jesus.  He was born in a stable, probably a cave where animals were kept out of the weather, in an environment that was anything but sanitary.  Some fresh hay and some clean cloth was probably the best they could do. As far as we know, there were no friends or relatives on the scene.  Perhaps, a midwife was found in the village, but there is no mention of that in the gospels.  To see his beloved Son in poverty, isolation, and danger was part of the sacrifice. The only real witnesses to the event were shepherds who were tending sheep nearby. Some scholars believe they were watching the temple flocks from which daily sacrifices were chosen. Shepherds were at the bottom of the social strata in Israel because they could not keep the mandates of the Law while living in the fields. 

So… Jesus is born to poor, unknown parents on the run, unjustly disgraced in their hometown, and was welcomed into the world by a handful of  ragtag, “unclean” shepherds from the fields around Bethlehem.    Yes, some kings showed up from the East, but only after many months had passed.  The shepherds were initially terrified by angels announcing the birth of Messiah and only later gathered their wits about them to go see what the hosts of heaven had announced.  As far as we know, Mary and Joseph never saw the angels or heard their singing,  but only heard about them from the keepers of sheep.

All this is to say that the Son of God did not come into the world in a warm palace with soft sheets and servants to care for him.  He faced life as many have faced it in the Middle East.  As he grew, he knew the sting of both poverty, insults, and harsh discrimination from the Romans who ruled his land. And here is the thing…both God and Jesus knew what was waiting, including a cross, and yet counted us worth pursuing.  God is love and nothing else could have motivated him to send his son into this world to be abused, accused and misunderstood.  Peace on earth, goodwill towards men was God’s good will expressed in a manger.

He came in search of us.  He made the first moved He provided what we could never provide for our salvation. Christmas reveals the heart and the sacrificial love of God.  In Romans 12, Paul calls on us to be living sacrifices.  Jesus fulfilled that call first. 

In the Old Testament, Job stood before God in his suffering and asked, “Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as a mortal sees” (Job 10:4)?  In other words, how can you really understand what I am going through because you have never had to face the trials and pain of a mortal man. After Jesus was born in a stable, that accusation was silenced. God put on flesh and lived among us.  Not only did he live but he died on our behalf.

Many of us struggle with our sense of worth or value.  We wonder if we matter.  We wonder if even God could love us.   The Christmas story declares an emphatic “Yes” to our doubts.  That is the true message of Christmas.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (Jn. 3:16). This Christmas, don’t marvel at the lights or the concerts or the amazing food.  Go ahead and celebrate because God loves a good party, but marvel at his infinite love for you, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and lying in a manger.

I was speaking to a father of a teenage girl today.  He was expressing an ample amount of frustration…which isn’t unusual for the parent of a teen. His issue with the daughter was that she didn’t take care of or seem to care about the things she had been given.  Those things included a car, tuition for private schooling, sports gear for all her sporting interests, etc.

The money wasn’t the issue.  The issue was that she did not appreciate the hard work, the sacrifice, it took for him to provide those things. Those were his expressions of love and when she didn’t take care of the car or put maximum effort into her schooling, he felt totally unappreciated and felt as if his best gifts had no value.  He felt unloved by his daughter.

Later, I was thinking about how our Heavenly Father must feel when we ignore, reject, or take for granted his greatest gift to us…his Son. Thanksgiving is this week.  How many of us may go through the day focused on food and football without taking a moment to express thanks for all that we have in Jesus? Christmas is waiting in the wings and we are already desperately or frustratingly looking for gifts that are just what our loved ones would want or need.  How many of us will invest hours and maybe significant cost into the “perfect gift, ” as an expression of  our love and appreciation for that person?  How many of us would be hurt or even angry if the friend or family member we had spent hours and energy shopping for, simply tossed the gift aside as something of little value or interest?

Jesus is the greatest gift and it is important to remember he was a gift.  God was not obligated to give us Jesus.  He was given as a gift. Isaiah put it this way,  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end (Isa. 9:6-7, emphasis added).

John spoke of that same gift when he said, “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” (Jn.3:16-17, emphasis).

This gift was an astounding expression of God’s love for each of us.  It was purchased at the ultimate cost, but it met our ultimate need…reconnection with our Father and eternal life with Him.  Amazingly, he picked out the gift before the creation of the world and gave it to us while we were still estranged from him. The apostle Paul wrote, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:7-8).

Here is my point.  God has given us the ultimate expression of his love and the ultimate cost of his own Son.  If we treat that gift casually or toss it aside, how will we face the Father, the giver of our gift?  We feel hurt or angry if someone doesn’t value the car we gave them or the education we have sacrificed to pay for.  How much more should the Father feel that way when we treat his son with contempt or indifference or simply casually?

So…as you shop feverishly for the perfect gift over the next few weeks or as you stand in long lines on Black Friday, think of the perfect gift given to you at extreme cost and take a moment to cherish the gift and then take great care with what has been given to you.

[I apologize for the length of this blog, but, perhaps, it will make a good devotional read Christmas morning]

Christmas has arrived once again. As a pastor, I see many responses to the season. For some it raises treasured memories of traditional church plays filled with squirming children, bright trees surrounded by carefully selected presents, the warm aroma of favorite foods, and a familiar house filled with love. For others, it registers disappointment and memories of “not-so-good Christmases” stained by alcohol or emotionally toxic family members. For others, grief surfaces once again in a memory of making funeral plans for a loved one that pushed out the joy of Christmas that year and for several years to come. Others face sheer loneliness as they anticipate sitting in an empty house with no one present to share the day that should be about giving and receiving, loving and comforting, laughing and belonging.

As multilayered as Christmas can be, there is always the heart of the story that should encourage us and realign our perspectives, no matter what our situation might be.  Each year as I think about Christmas, the Lord simply reminds me of how costly the coming of Messiah was for him and those who were nearest to the incident. 

We tend to compartmentalize Christ’s sacrifice and suffering and attach it only to Easter – his arrest, his abuse, his crucifixion. We also tend to forget the pain of those who loved him most as they watched their son, their Rabbi, and their Messiah breathe what they thought was his last breath on a Roman cross. Passover and Easter certainly highlight the incredible cost of our salvation, but our salvation story not only ended that way, but actually began that way as well.

Christmas cards sanitize the story so that it might be almost unrecognizable to Mary and Joseph. Susan and I have already received a few with Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus serenely surrounded by peaceful, adoring animals in a pristine manger along with appropriately awed shepherds and joyous angels. Typically, the scene may also present three royally adorned visitors from the east bearing precious gifts (although they did not actually arrive until months later). 

There is some truth in that scene, but it misses a salient point. The Christmas story begins with Gabriel appearing to Mary, a very young engaged Jewish girl, in the backwater town of Nazareth. Luke tells us that at his appearance, Mary was greatly troubled. The original Greek would amplify this word to mean confused, disoriented, and deeply disturbed or distressed. The angel greeted her first, but then added quickly, “Do not be afraid.” You don’t need to say that unless someone is visibly shaken and beginning to move towards the door.

Gabriel then tells her the Holy Spirit is about to fall on her, impregnate her, and she will have a son whom she is to name Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Most High and he will reign on David’s throne forever. That’s a lot to take in for a 13-year-old Jewish girl brought up simply, humbly, and traditionally. 

The true implications of what the angel had just said were probably not comprehensible…except the part where she would be pregnant without her marriage being consummated with Joseph, her fiancé. Surely her first thoughts were about the impossibility of telling Joseph and her family and the almost certain unlikelihood that anyone would believe her. Years later, a rumor would still persist that she had been impregnated by a Roman soldier…willingly or unwillingly.

The liability of being seen as an adulteress must also have loomed somewhere in the back of her mind. Adultery, in those days was, taken very seriously and was still punishable by stoning. In Jewish culture, her engagement was considered marriage, although the sexual union could not occur until after the ceremony. To break the engagement required a divorce. Apparently, her worst fears were realized because, when Joseph discovered she was pregnant, he decided to divorce her quietly to minimize everyone’s shame and for her safety.

Undoubtedly his heart was shattered by her perceived unfaithfulness and he carried as much shame in the tiny village of Nazareth as she did. Her story was unbelievable even to him…until an angel confirmed what she had been telling everyone.  Still, he had to wrestle with the possibility that he dreamed what he wanted to be true rather than having a genuine experience with an angel. These were real people. Trust would be an issue for a while

The story does not describe the family’s reaction to Mary’s pregnancy and her unbelievable story, but Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem may give us some insight. According to Luke, Caesar issued a decree for taxation that required the head of each household to register in certain cities. Joseph was a descendent of David whose lineage came from Bethlehem, so off they went on a ninety-mile trek with Mary late in her pregnancy. She was not required to go to Bethlehem. Joseph could have gone alone, but she went along anyway on a trip that may have put her at risk as well as the child.

To me, the only explanation is that she did not feel welcome in Nazareth, even by her own family, and the birth of her son would not be the joyous occasion she had always envisioned. She had also lost her dreams for a wedding feast with her proud family and friends and a wedding night in which she and Joseph would consummate their holy union. Joseph had given up any dreams he had been harboring as well. So…this teenage mother went with her husband to a place in which they were apparently unknown, only to discover, on top of everything else, that no lodging was available. Undoubtedly, this occurred in April or May, not December because the only times shepherds would have been in the fields at night with their sheep was during lambing season – the spring. But nights would still drop into the forty degree range.

Only a small barn or cave was available where she would have to make do with some fresh hay while being surrounded by the smell of animal urine, feces, and barn rats. No family members travelled with them to help with the birth. Apparently, no midwife was available in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary must have felt somewhat abandoned by God and their families and must have felt very alone. They must have been wondering where the blessings were for their obedience because, day by day, things had not gotten better but worse.

Outside of Bethlehem, another disturbing scene was unfolding. In the middle of the night, shepherds, who were minding their own business, were suddenly confronted by extraterrestrial visitors…angels filling the sky. Luke simply says they were terrified. Of course, the angel said, “Do not be afraid” and eventually calmed their nerves with news that Messiah was being born to them and could be found in a stable in Bethlehem. Eventually that night, they found the stable and shared what they had seen and heard with Mary, who must have been exhausted.

Another hint about the atmosphere of shame, gossip, and suspicion back in Nazareth was that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus did not return to Nazareth after the birth. As far as we know, two sets of Jewish grandparents had yet to see their grandson. Matthew tells us of the Magi, wise men or astrologers from the east, who had followed the Star of Bethlehem to find this newborn King of the Jews. This was apparently 18-24 months after the birth of Jesus and they were still in Bethlehem. It looks as though Mary and Joseph had simply settled in there. 

These unexpected visitors from the east showed up unannounced and brought gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense to Jesus. Mary and Joseph must have been relieved to receive such a nest egg for the family and began to believe that, perhaps, peace and blessings were finally coming their way. Maybe he could expand his business or they could build a little house. But they immediately discovered that these were to be traveling expenses.

Herod, hearing from the Magi that a king was being born just seven miles from Bethlehem, determined to eliminate any threat to his own throne. Joseph and Mary were warned in a dream to flee the region and so suddenly became political refugees trying to find safety in Egypt. Herod, in order to secure his throne, simply had every male child under two years old in the vicinity killed that night – a night that became known in Jewish history as the Slaughter of the Innocents. That’s not something we see on Christmas cards. So, the Christmas story is not just a story of angelic visitations and good news, but also a story of fear, shame, rejection, loneliness, lost dreams, and a poor refugee family fleeing their homeland for several years to live once again among strangers where Hebrews had once been slaves.

If you read Isaiah 6, you will also perceive another cost that was incurred, even before the birth of the child.  In that text, Isaiah sees the Lord, high and lifted up, surrounded by his glory and angels that declared his holiness day after day.  John tells us that Isaiah was actually given a vision of Jesus (Jn.12:41) in his glory before surrendering the privileges of deity. At some point he stepped down from his throne, shed his glory and power, and shrunk down to the size of an ovum, only to grow helplessly in the womb of an impoverished teenager.  From there he would be born into a scandal and later deemed illegitimate by many – part of the reason those in Nazareth could never accept him as Messiah.  What cost did Jesus pay even before the cross and what cost did those pay who were near him…even in the beginning of God’s odyssey on earth?  

The ultimate price for our salvation was, of course, the cross. But there were significant payments all along the way that we should not forget.  This thought should not produce guilt in us, but wonder and rejoicing at the value God has placed on each of us.  

Salvation is a gift because we are saved by grace and by no works of our own.  But there is also the gift of knowing how much we are loved, how much we are valued by the Creator of heaven and earth, and how much we can value ourselves as well as all the others Jesus died for.  Be blessed this Christmas knowing that your greatest gift cannot be placed under a tree and that you were purchased at such a price.  Merry Christmas.

I’m reading through 1 Samuel again and the accounts of Saul and David.  As you recall, Saul was the first king of Israel.  He was anointed to be king by Samuel and in the beginning seemed promising.  He appeared to be humble but the humility turned out to be massive insecurity and fear.  His reign was marked by moments of disobedience to God’s clear commands while always rationalizing why he had no options but to violate the commands.

In 1 Samuel 15, a revealing incident takes place. The Lord commands Saul to attack the Amalekites and totally destroy them for what they had done to Israel as they came from Egypt.  We are told that Saul attacked the Amalekites and killed most of them.  However, he took their king Agag prisoner and saved the best of their sheep and cattle. After the battle he encountered Samuel and said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’sinstructions.” But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.” “Stop!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.  Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?” “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” (1 Sam. 15:13-21)

Saul’s character is revealed here and, to some degree, his view of God.  Saul seemed to think that if he generally did the will of God, he had done all that God had commanded.  He took the commands of God and then modified them to fit his situation, but then insisted that he had been fully obedient.  How many times do we obey God in some areas, but then find reasons to justify the part where we disobey while convincing ourselves that we are fully surrendered to God?

Over the years, I have known believers who were involved in immoral relationships but somehow decided that since they “loved one another” and were “faithful” to their lover that God was okay with what they were doing.   Others have embezzled money from their  company to “meet the needs of their family” and because the company owed them that money for all the years and hours they had put in without a raise or promotion.  Somehow, they were able to justify themselves because they “had to provide for their family” and because they were correcting their company’s injustice. I know others who have forgiven some, but have assigned others a special status where unforgiveness was justified because of how great the betrayal had been.  I have also known church leaders who excused their porn addictions because their wife wasn’t meeting their sexual needs and they were not having an actual affair. In all these instances, like Saul, they believed that because they were obedient in some things, they were obedient in all things.  Satan can blind us to the realities of our life and our disobedience to God.  If you had asked these individuals if they were submitted Christians who walked in obedience to God, they would have assured you that they were. 

Before we feel smug, I am pretty certain that we all have blind spots like these that we do not count as disobedience because we are obedient in many other areas and we find “reasons” why our disobedience should be acceptable due to “extenuating circumstances.”  Perhaps, we don’t give to the Lord or give to the poor as we should because we have other financial obligations – our boat payment, the big house we just purchased, the top-of-the-line pickup we really needed, the European vacation we had promised our spouse, etc.   Perhaps, we don’t serve at church because we are too busy with career, kid’s sports, our favorite recreational activities, etc.  Often, when we are financially blessed, we give money but not our time and so feel our money makes up for our time we don’t give the Lord because we are busy enjoying all the things money can provide.  None of these things are wrong in themselves except when they keep us from obedience.  Then, when we ignore or rationalize our disobedience, we have become like Saul. We fall into the view that God is pleased with “close enough.

We are all going to fall short in our obedience to God.  But our proper response is confession and repentance rather than rationalization and our insistence that we are submitted followers of Jesus in every area of our life. As we continue to read 1 and 2 Samuel, we see David fall into disobedience as well – the Bathsheba incident.  In many ways, what he did seems to far out rank Saul’s failures as sin.  The difference was that David acknowledged his sin, made no excuses, and threw himself on the mercy of God. Saul consistently denied his disobedience, insisted that circumstances had left him no choice, or blamed others for “forcing” him into his bad decisions.

As a result, God removed the kingdom from Saul and gave it to David.  Samuel declared, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices in as much as obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice.”  May we be aware of our failures to obey, but repent rather than rationalize.  And may our prayer be the same as David’s: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

When I first became a believer way back in the 70’s, I attended a church that preached grace but practiced works more than they knew. Grace was their aspirational theology, but whether you were counted as part of the faithful in that church was a matter of works. If you were to be counted faithful or a “real Christian” you attended Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. If there was a blizzard raging outside, you braved the streets to demonstrate your commitment. You were there everynight of a “gospel meeting” (revival) and you were front and center to help staff VBS in the summer. There was lots of pressure to do it all and be at everything. If you missed due to weather or if you were just tired and stayed home, you weren’t excommunicated, but you did feel a palpable disappointment in the air from those who had braved the weather and come even thought they were tired. There was definitely a legalism at work…which was unhealthy and unbiblical.

Dial the clock forward to 2020. In America the pendulum has swung from legalism to almost a hyper-grace where if you have prayed the prayer of salvation, show up at church occasionally and serve only when it is ultra-convenient, you are good to go. In fact, church growth experts count a person who only darkens the door of the church once a month as a regular attender. There was a time when Christians came home from vacations on Saturday night so that they could be in church on Sunday. No sports on Wednesday night, because church came first. If you actually were traveling on Sunday, you still found a church to attend where you were visiting. That might lean toward legalism, but a healthy dose of that commitment to meeting with spiritual family and keeping “church nights” open might not be a bad thing because it does indicate priorities. There is certainly more to our faith than church attendance, but our devotion to our spiritual family is a very big thing to God.

I think if we are honest, many American believers attend church only if they have a date open after they have filled in their calendar with hundreds of other things the world offers. Church attendance and involvement seem to have become very optional in the hearts of “the saved.” We have come to a place where it seems we have defined Christianity as taking our best shot at moral living rather than being devoted to Christ and those he died for.

There is a consistent theme throughout the Bible that God must come first and that he is worthy of our sacrifices since he sacrificed his only begotten Son for us. Under the Old Covenant, the best of the flock had to be offered rather than the defective sheep and goats The first fruits of harvest were to be offered as a reminder that God was the source of those crops. God was angry when Israel only offered their leftovers rather than the best they had. David, when needing to offer a sacrifice to end a plague that was killing thousands in Israel, was offered everything he needed for the sacrifice as a gift. David refused the gift but insisted on paying top dollar. He declared, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:26). In other words, if it costs us nothing or very little, it is not a sacrifice.

In the New Testament, the church was marked by devotion to spiritual family. When someone had a need, members of the church gave what they had to meet the need and often sold property to do so (Acts 2:42-47.) That was an expression of love for each other that set them apart from the world. Remember, Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”(Jn. 13:35). When the church had that kind of devotion to one another, it thrived.

Many American believers think they can love God while having little thought for his church. John tells us, “For whoever does not love his brother or sister (in Christ) whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen (1 Jn. 4:19). Jesus is very clear that love must be demonstrated not just proclaimed. If I say I love my family, but spend no time with them and meet none of their needs, I am proclaiming love but not truly loving. The same is true for spiritual family. Devotion costs us something. It is sacrificial. Sacrificing time, resources, service, emotional reserves, etc. for the church when it is extremely inconvenient is a sacrifice acceptable to God.

I know there are many believers who are truly devoted to Christ and his bride. They live sacrificial lives for God every day. But I also know there are many who claim to love God but only give and serve when it is very convenient. Truthfully, there is no sacrifice in that. My hope is that each of us will evaluate our service to the Lord and his church and decide to offer sacrifices to him that actually cost us something because one thing love does for sure…it sacrifices. And love is the measure of everything in the Kingdom.

Blessings in Him.