The Hens--the Gifts

Okay, pretend like this is yesterday--for the 3rd day of Christmas! "On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me, 3 French hens." This is the kind of gift that would get some good use at our house, since we eat a LOT of chicken! At least they would not then add to the considerable clutter!

In the 16th century, French hens were very expensive food items that only the wealthiest homes could afford. Whenever French hens were served at a banquet, then it truly was a feast fit for a king. (Let's hear it for Chik-fil-a!) So in this song, the 3 French hens symbolized the costly gifts brought to the Baby Jesus by the Wise Men: the gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

We all know about gift giving at Christmas.... in fact, most of us are overwhelmed by the enormity of buying or making, wrapping, and delivering gift upon gift. We lose all perspective of the joy of THE Gift in our quest to be gift-givers. Forgive us Lord! Aren't you thankful that He knows our hearts and loves and cherishes us even in our frenzy and frustration as we try to give gifts to everyone we know and love except Him? I somehow think He looks and smiles upon us not with irruption but with delight despite our failings this time of year. He just wishes we could treasure His Gift with the joy and wonder and peace He longs to give us. But our failures do not diminish His love.

For some reason, as I was listening to Christmas carols this morning, the phrase "the wonder of His love" from the wonderful carol, "Joy to the World," really struck me. Wow, do we consider, truly contemplate the wonder of His love? His love, so wide and deep and high. His love that stretched out across the world with nail pierced hands to offer forgiveness and salvation to all who would believe. His love that came one silent night as God wrapped Himself in the flesh of a helpless infant. His love that never quits, never gives up or gives in, never leaves or forsakes, never diminishes, never weakens. His love that lavishes gift after gift after gift upon His children. Think of the gifts He has lovingly bestowed upon you today: the air you could breathe into your lungs, the sun that rose and warmed the earth, the birds that sang you a chorus, the family that surrounds you, the sweet memories of past blessings, the bliss of hot coffee or hot tea on a cool day, the comfort of friends, the laughter shared over something silly, the wagging tail of your dog, the deliciousness of food when you are hungry, the sound of joyous Christmas music, the wonder of Christmas lights that illuminate the darkness, the smell of pine needles.

One of our favorite Christmas books is a children's book by Eugene Peterson called The Christmas Troll. It's about a little boy and girl, named Andrew and Lindsay, who fuss with their parents, because they want to open their presents early. Their father tells them that "gifts are for giving and receiving, not for grabbing and getting. Waiting until morning will be good for you." In their anger, Andrew and Lindsay run away and encounter an ugly, frightening troll. After their initial fear, however, they discover that the troll is actually really sweet--"The troll is ugly--but nice." They laugh and bounce and have a big time with troll, and then it suddenly dawns on Andrew: "...the troll was a gift! Andrew hadn't expected a gift, he hadn't deserved it, yet he'd gotten it all the same--and it felt great!...He wanted to show everybody a gift, a real gift, a gift you can't wrap with paper and ribbons and put under a tree." His father had always told him that "Christmas is our time to remember that God gives gifts. That's what He does, give gifts--gifts everywhere, gifts here, gifts there, gifts from above, gifts from below, gifts seen, gifts unseen, and lots and lots and lots of gifts that don't look like gifts but turn out to be the best gifts of all."

Isn't that truly the essence of Christmas: God the Gift-Giver gives the ultimate Gift in the Lord Jesus? And our response should be overflowing joy and gratitude. We can't out-give Him. We can't pay Him back. We can't earn it or deserve it. We simply must receive it with grateful, obedient hearts. Hearts receptive and open at the continuous gifts of His grace and mercy and abundance.

"Their father told them again that the best gifts weren't the wrapped up ones under the tree and so it's wise to live life expectantly, alert to the surprises of God." O Father, help us to be alert to the joyous surprise gifts of our extravagant Lord! Thank You for Your myriad daily gifts that bless us and bring us such joy. And thank You most of all for the greatest Gift ever given throughout the ages: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." (Is. 9:6)

Wondrous, Counselor, Mighty, Everlasting, Prince, Peace--our Gift, our Emmanuel. Might we never cease to wonder at His love--His extravagant gifts of love and His perfect, ultimate Gift of Love. Like the Wise men with their gifts, let us come and adore Him. To our Gift-Giver and Gift be all the glory.

Two Turtledoves

"On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love sent to me... 2 turtle doves." I was tempted to make a wisecrack about what a sorry gift giver this guy was, but actually, these two turtledoves symbolized the Old and New Testaments. God's gift to mankind was the Word--both the Word of the Lord Jesus but also His written Word, the Bible. And the more I have studied His Word, the more I have been struck that every verse whispers His name, from Genesis to Revelation. How thankful I am for His Word. We literally have God's words written down for us, and we can study them any time, day or night. How often we take this completely for granted. We can know the heart of the Lord of the universe. He is not some mysterious being that we can never comprehend. He is revealed in His Word, and He wants us to know Him and love Him in His Word.

I know it's a terribly busy time of the year (in fact, I'm writing this late at night because it has just been one of those days), but we need to take time to thank God for the gift of His Word. And the fact that at Christmas, we rejoice in the Word coming down and moving into our neighborhood. Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus. Thank You for coming... and for staying to live in our lives and in our hearts. To God be the glory.

The 12 Days of Christmas

In some old Christmas traditions, today is the first of the 12 days of Christmas. We all know this song and have probably sung it countless times--always forgetting around about the 7th day or so what the words are! But I love the fact that this song was written to tell the story of the Gospel and of God's faithfulness through the ages. Beginning in the 18th century, British Catholics were unable to practice their faith, for the Church of England was considered the only true and legal church. Catholics who practiced their faith would be prosecuted and severely punished, most often with execution.

Rather than abandon their faith, these 18th century Catholics went underground and studied their doctrine and held masses in secret. In order to secretly teach and pass down their faith to their children, the carol, "The 12 days of Christmas," was written and taught and became enormously popular. Few outside the Catholic faith had any idea that each stanza had a very specific theological meaning. How many of us have sung these verses thinking only of what strange gifts this clueless man was giving his "true love!" But instead, each verse should remind us of all God has done for us in Christ and in His Word.

Today, I will just touch on the first day--a partridge in a pear tree. The partridge is the Lord Jesus whom the Father sent us on Christmas day. The mother partridge was used to symbolize Jesus, because the partridge was the only English bird that would die to protect it's young. As Ace Collins explained, "The single partridge in a pear tree represented courage and devotion above what man ever showed on earth. A mother partridge lures enemies away from her defenseless chicks in order to protect them... Add to that image a pear that symbolized the cross, and, together, this first gift represented the ultimate gift given by the Babe born on Christmas Day."

Once again, I just have to ask, aren't you glad He came?! He was our perfect sacrifice, born on Christmas Day to one day die for all of our sins. How I thank Him for coming as the lowest of the low, growing and living from a baby to a man as the most perfect of all perfection, dying as the most wretched of the wretched, and rising to the newest, most glorious, most abundant eternal life. Might we ever keep in mind the image of the cross as we gaze in wonder at the cradle. Both are so miraculous and wonderful and glorious--it's the cross that saves, but it's the cradle that makes the cross possible. Thank You Lord for our perfect Partridge in a pear tree! Help us to live this day full of gratitude and joy as sinners who are forgiven and cleansed from sin by our Sacrificed Savior born on Christmas Day. To the One and Only Savior and Lord be all the glory.

The forgotten Elf

Christmas can be stressful on so many different levels! Right now, I am wondering why on earth I ever allowed myself to get sucked into the "Elf on the Shelf" mania. If you have children under the age of 13 you probably know what I'm talking about. If not, be thankful. Okay, okay, I know I am a major scrooge here, but that blasted little red elf just adds a new layer of stress in our home. In case you are ignorant of the elf, here's a crash course: the Elf on the Shelf comes with a little book (which we have, of course, lost). Each night the elf moves around to a different part of the house. This is because he travels back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa on your child's behavior. And then he returns to a different part of the house--again, creepily, to watch your behavior and report back. If I didn't know better, I'd say this sounds very big brotherish. Yeah, I know, that's not a word, but how about Orwellian?

Now, the normal, got-it-all-together family actually remembers to move the elf each night. But memory and consistency has never been our strong suit around here. We have the same problem with the Tooth Fairy. I wonder how many times we discovered the Tooth Fairy had actually left the money in the mail box--imagine that!--or we found it (with mama or daddy's help) under a pillow in the top bunk. That Tooth Fairy is a tricky one! At any rate, our elf seems to like to stay in one place for several days at a time. We have come up with a number of uninspired explanations for this, but I think he can still see everything that is going on--he better not report back on how many pieces of chocolate cake I eat each week.

We also forgot our Elf's name. I know that is terrible. But what can I say. I once heard my wonderful Daddy quote Bonhoeffer when he forgot a name at a function he was attending: "The ability to forget is an act of grace." Amen! Our youngest child wrote the elf a sweet little note, and, among other things, asked the elf what his name was since he had forgotten. O my stars! Fortunately, since everyone had apparently forgotten, we "remembered" that his name was "Elfie." I figured that was a name I could remember.

So, I'll try to remember his name... and remember to move Elfie around the house (though, let's face it, I'll forget). But all this remembering and forgetting and keeping up, well, it makes me so thankful for the Lord Jesus. He never forgets. Never grows irritated. Never misses, never misplaces. His power is made perfect in my weakness. And boy, I have plenty of weakness, so there's a lot of room for His strength! Most of all, I thank Him for coming. I guess I will just never get over the wonder of God becoming man. Maybe it would be a little bit like man becoming an "elf on a shelf." That big of a leap--well, bigger actually. He came down and became man that we might one day go up and be with Him in heaven forever. He gave up the glories of heaven that we might gain the glories of abundant eternal life. And He would have done it all just for you. And He will never ever forget Your name.

Thank You Lord Jesus for coming. Happy Birthday! Help us never to forget You in the midst of all the hoopla associated with Your birthday celebration--because it truly is all about You. Might we be all about You as well. To our Savior be all the glory.

The defeat of Fear and Sorrow at Christmas

I have been so challenged the last few days thinking about the similarities between the state of the world at the time of Jesus' birth and our own today. As I contemplated this, I was trying to write our annual Christmas letter and wrote about this. But (after much prodding by my husband!) I ultimately rewrote the letter and didn't include any of this. So, I just figured I'd put it in here! Here it is:

What a year this has been. Record unemployment, seemingly impregnable businesses collapsing, safe investments evaporating. Political discourse full of vitriol and divisiveness and nations across the world experiencing turmoil and revolution. Add to all that the personal tragedies and challenges many of us have faced of illness, accident, loss. Uncertainty, confusion, fear, sorrow threaten us individually and nationally, and many wonder, where is God in all this?

A little over 2000 years ago, the Israelites, oppressed and occupied by the mighty Roman empire, might have wondered the same thing. 50% of the population were slaves. The other half of the population paid over half of their meager income in taxes to the hated Roman government. The frequent rebellions and uprisings were ruthlessly squashed by the Romans with mass public executions. And surely, most painful and perplexing of all, God had not spoken to His chosen people through a prophet in over 400 years. 400 years of silence and wondering whether perhaps God had abandoned and rejected His beleaguered people. Fear and sorrow. Are those not our enemies as well?

Yet in the midst of so much fearful uncertainty and sorrow, in a time much like our own, God came. On that silent night so many centuries ago, an angel’s glorious announcement split the star-strewn skies over the hills of Bethlehem. The stunned and frightened shepherds cowered as the angel declared, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Lk 2:10-11) Did you catch it? The first words from the angel--”Fear not” and “good news of great joy”--were words addressing and conquering their greatest foes, and ours, of fear and sorrow.

The Lord has not abandoned us! His silences, even in the midst of our fears and sorrows, do not mean He is not on the move: preparing, redeeming, transforming. That first Christmas, in the darkness and despair, He did not send advice or reinforcements or positive affirmation. No, He came Himself: the Sovereign Lord enclosed in the tiny body of a helpless infant. An infant-Lord born to one die and redeem the world He had created.

Because He is God, there is absolutely nothing He cannot see or know or do. He can heal the most damaged relationships, redeem the most hopeless circumstances, save the most hardened hearts. But because He is man, there is nothing He cannot fully understand and sympathize with, and, thereby encourage and strengthen. He knows what it is to suffer loss, to bear insults, to feel pain, to feel exhaustion and deep sorrow. The Omnipotent One also fully knows and bears with us and for us.

As the words to one of our favorite Christmas carols put it: “O come, Thou Dayspring, come, and cheer our spirits by Thine Advent here; dispense the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!” Just as Emmanuel came to Israel in the fear and sorrow of her oppression and darkness, so, too He comes to us, dispensing “death’s dark shadows.” How can we not rejoice if He has come and is right here with us, even in the uncertain and challenging times in which we live. Don’t be afraid--the Savior has come! Rejoice--Emmanuel is with you. Might we all rejoice this Christmas that He is with us and for us, no matter what we may be facing.

The Savior with a Skin-face

Happy december 5th! What on earth happened to the last 4 days?! I had planned to write on here every day but fell off the wagon into the quagmire of Christmas frenetic busyness! Thank goodness we serve a God of grace and He stills loves me even when I get so preoccupied with decorating and preparing for His birthday celebration that I forget to celebrate the birthday Savior Himself! Forgive me Lord.

We've just finished studying Heb. 10 in my Bible study--what a wonderful chapter! You know, though, I've discovered any chapter you really delve into and study and think about becomes a wonderful chapter that can change your life. I've shared with some friends one of the things that really blessed me from this chapter, and I thought I would include it here since it relates to Christ's coming. It's funny, but God sneaks in His incarnation in all sorts of unexpected places! Every verse of His Word truly does whisper Jesus' name.

But this was from a little phrase in Heb. 10:13. Here's what I wrote: After Jesus offered His perfect sacrifice [Himself--for our sins] for all time and sat down at God’s right hand, v.13 tells us that Jesus is now “waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet.” I love that on so many levels! Did you know that in the OT, David referred to the Ark of the Covenant as “the footstool of God?” He declared that “I wanted to build a resting place for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our Lord.” In ancient times, monarchs sitting on thrones always had footstools. When I got curious and starting researching “footstools” I found an article by a Rabbi that raised the rhetorical question: if David referred to God’s throne room and His footstool in the temple, where is His throne? The Rabbi concluded that there is no throne because God is invisible.

But when I read that I nearly jumped out of my seat! Yes, God is invisible, but Jesus isn’t! He has a body, I shouted, to my computer! Our Savior is omnipotent God but He also has a body--just like us! He has feet that walked and bled and rest on footstools. He has arms that hug and comfort. He has eyes that see everything and weep with compassion and light up with joy when He looks at you. He has a mouth that laughs and eats and speaks words of conviction and judgment but also of encouragement and blessing.

A young child woke late one night crying, frightened of the darkness. Her mother came in and hugged her and gently reminded her, “Sweetheart, there’s nothing to be afraid of--Jesus is right here with you every single second.” The little girl tearfully answered, “yes, Mommy, but I need somebody with a skin-face.”

Our Savior has a SKIN FACE and He fully understands and feels and sees and knows all that we are going through. Yet He is also Almighty Sovereign God and saves to the uttermost and there is absolutely nothing that He cannot do.

With His infinite power, He will one day place all His enemies under His feet. Think of all those kings and dictators; think of satan and all his minions. Every single one of them will be footstools under the pierced feet of our Savior. And did you know that your enemies are His enemies? Our enemies of sin and doubt and discouragement and death will all be defeated and subjected to Him. I’ve read the end of the Book, and HE WINS, and if He wins, we know we will win in the end, too!

Hope this makes sense if you aren't in our Hebrews Bible study! But aren't you thankful we have a Savior who is the infinite, omnipotent Lord and yet also has a skin face and body just like ours so He fully understands and sympathizes and knows exactly what we most need? Just another reason to praise the One who came. May we never tire of finding reasons to rejoice in Him. To the Savior with a skin-face, be all the glory.

Our Christmas Crosses

Happy December 1st! Happy birthday, Lord Jesus! What a joy, what a privilege it is to celebrate His birth every year. How I need it-- how we all need it! We tend to get so preoccupied and overwhelmed with all we have to do that we (okay, I) forget the incredible wonder, the sheer joyousness, the pure excitement of rejoicing in His Coming... and coming as a baby! Who would have thought of such a plan? Only God!

I woke this morning to discover that my wreaths from Young Life had been delivered to my front doorstep. Now, these are special wreaths--first of all, they were made somewhere in the mountains and have a wonderful wild, overflowing lushness to them. Sort of hard to explain, but take my word for it. Secondly, they are BIG--way bigger than I had anticipated! And third, they are crosses.

Christmas crosses. How I need that reminder every time I drive up to my house after rushing about picking up carpools or buying groceries: it's all about Jesus, His joyous birth at Bethlehem and His saving sacrifice at Calvary. It's about Christmas and the Almighty, all Sovereign, all powerful, all knowing, all holy Lord of the universe entering time and space to come down to this little planet spinning in His far flung heavens. Christmas, when the glorious, ineffable Creator and Sustainer of every living person and creature on this earth, determined to lay aside His infinite glory and honor to become a helpless infant in a obscure nation, in a dirty stable, surrounded by smelly animals. What an inscrutable wonder!

But it's not just about Christmas... it's all about the Cross. The baby born to die. I have always loved the words from Bejamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols: "This little babe, so few days old, has come to rifle satan's fold. All hell doth at, His presence quake, though He Himself for cold do shake. For in this weak unarmed wise, the gates of hell He will surprise." For satan and sin and death and hell, this little baby's entrance into the world marked the beginning of the end. Their doom was sealed, for one day, this Lord surrounded by infant's flesh would go to a cross to die for our sins. All sin--past, present, and future--crucified on His cross, our cross. O thank You Lord Jesus for every drop of blood that flowed that should have been mine. That blood that washed away the power of sin and death.

O what a joyful beginning that we celebrate at Christmas. But what a miraculous, perfect, glorious ending--the Cross and the resurrection--that saved us... and so we worship. The Christmas Cross--celebrate and worship with a heart overflowing with gratitude and joy.

But I have to add one more thing: when I went to look at my crosses this morning, I immediately worried that while their size would be great for the front door, it would be far too large for our back kitchen door (the one we always use, frankly). I carried it back and put it on the small kitchen door, and it literally covered the whole window in the top half of the door. In fact, I had a hard time even shutting the door because of the cross' size. I pondered this a while, wondering how I was going to make this work.

And then it hit me--does that reflect me as a believer? Do I simply reflect all the outward trappings and profession of a believer--got that nice big cross on the front door of my life. He is a big part of my life. But is He all? What about the back door of my life? What about my thoughts of selfishness or pride? My lack of love, my refusal to obey Him in all things, my tendency to seek my will and not His, my desire for glory or comfort? All those things that others may not see, but God does. How about even at Christmas--my desire to purchase all the presents, send out the cards, take care of me and mine, but failing to truly love those He died to save or failing to daily keep Him and His Christmas cross at the center of my thoughts and heart every single day during Christmas? How am I diminishing the greatness of the cross?

Forgive me Lord Jesus. Your Christmas cross needs to be just as large and great and glorious at the back door of my life as at the front. Just as prominent in my thoughts and attitudes as in my words and activities.

It truly is all about the cross. So this Christmas, if you come by my house and can barely get the back door open, rejoice with me at the BIG beautiful Christmas cross! At the front door and the back... the beginning and the end... the start of our days till our very last breath. Happy birthday Lord Jesus. And thank You thank You thank You for the cross. Might it always be gigantic, great, and glorious in our lives. To our Savior be all the glory.