A Christmas Eve Devotion

An Advent devotion I wrote for Newberry College:

December 24, 2018
He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. -John 1:11-14

I lived in the same house from when I was born to when I moved out to go to Newberry College for my studies. With other kids on the block, we grew up doing so many things together such as having snowball fights, cycling around the cul de sac, and getting lost in the woods by my house. While I lived in the same city on the same street in that same house, I know that this isn’t the norm. Even in my neighborhood, throughout the years, many different people moved into the houses right next door and across the street. Each came with different backgrounds and different stories. All we met and welcomed them to be a part of our lives, then some we sadly said goodbye to them.

In the same way, we read this introduction written by John in his gospel that describes the Word that “became flesh and lived among us.” I love the Message paraphrase of this verse as it says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” John points to the Word as Jesus Christ, who comes in flesh and blood, invading our space, our neighborhoods, and even our cozy lives. In a striking and surprising move, the author of the gospel writes first about Jesus – holy and righteous – moving into the neighborhood of people like you and me – unholy and unrighteous. In some ways, Jesus moves into the bad part of town – the place you or I might not venture – and makes a home there, dwelling with people who love him but also people who hate him.

After much anticipation, we celebrate this cosmic move on Christmas Eve, when God demonstrates his love for us as Jesus moves into our neighborhoods filled with hurt, pain, and rejection. The truly surprising thing is that Jesus stays. He doesn’t talk with his real estate agent saying that he didn’t know what the neighborhood was like, or tries to either sell his property, or sublet it to another person on the market. Instead, in the midst of humanity, Jesus makes his dwelling there, with no intention of moving out, so that we might know God, who is full of grace, love, and truth. This is what we celebrate tonight (Christmas Eve): Our long-awaited Savior has come to deliver us and remain with us! He comes into this world, to make a dwelling among us so that we might be know God. So, prepare yourselves… because God is moving in.

Eugene

Very few writers have had the ability to capture my attention and inspire me in the way that Eugene Peterson did.  In his writing, I found a haven where I could dream of a community of believers that is rare today.  I discovered a passion deep within me that longed for fruitfulness beyond our world’s metrics and desire.  I discovered, or perhaps it was rekindled in me, a heart for being a pastor in the local church and its ministry.   On October 22, the church lost one of its great pastors and saints in Eugene Peterson.

In 2017, I listened to Eugene Peterson’s book, Pastor.  I had previously read other books describing the work of the pastor and its challenges and duties, but I had never read a book that was a memoir by a pastor.  It started slow; yet, it soon grabbed my heart as I heard stories of his upbringing, his stories of his church plant, his desire for real community, and various other musings.  From his stories of “God-talk” which birthed “The Message” bible to his reflections upon Sabbath as “pray and play,”  I was enamored by his writings and stories.  The more I listened, the more I grew to love Eugene Peterson the person and pastor.

I am indebted to his work – both his writings and ministry.  As Christians, we continually lean upon those who have gone before us and paved a road for us to continue in ministry to all the world.  Today, we remember the saint, Eugene Peterson, who has now gone before us and joined the great cloud of witnesses that continue to encourage us onward.  As we remember his work in Jesus Christ, let us also remember the words of 1 Corinthians 15:58 in The Message:

“With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.”

 

Can you hear it?

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 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.”  -Romans 5:6-8

Do you want to hear a snapshot of the gospel?  Read the passage above again but this time slowly.  Read it aloud and savor every word.   Let it soak in and really dive deep down into your soul!  This Scripture passage ought to change the way you look at God!

If you can’t tell, I love this Scripture passage!  Truthfully, I love Romans because it summarizes most of the Christian faith and provides us a foundation for our lives.  But this passage really does something to me, it describes the earth-shattering, ground-breaking, and mind-blowing good news of God! God demonstrates his love for us because He died for you and me while we were still sinners!

There is so much to this passage but I would encourage each of you to read this passage, over and over and over again.  In my denomination, the United Methodist Church, we take part in the Lord’s Supper and confess our sins at the beginning of the service.  We are left recognizing that we have not loved God with our whole hearts, and we have failed to be obedient to God, and we have failed to love our neighbors as ourselves.  We are reminded that we have sinned against God and neighbor.  Yet, we are not left there because the pastor then proclaims, “Hear the good news! Christ died for us while we were still sinners! This proves God’s love for us!”

So, I ask you, “Can you hear it?”

 

Has Christ been divided?

As I was reading my devotion in 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 a few weeks ago, I was seized by a single phrase in the text (1 Cor 1:13): “Has Christ been divided?”  Then couple that with this statement from Ambrosiaster (an early church writer), “By believing different things about Christ, the people have divided him.”  I was convicted by this passage because we still divide Christ today by believing different things about Him.

Perhaps, another reason why this Scripture text stood out to me was a quote from Beth Moore I heard that same week:

“You will watch a generation of Christians — OF CHRISTIANS — set the Bible aside in an attempt to become more like Jesus. And stunningly it will sound completely plausible. This will be perhaps the cleverest of all the devil’s schemes in your generation. Sacrifice TRUTH for LOVE’s sake. And you will rise or fall based upon whether you will sacrifice one for the other. Will you have the courage to live in the tension of both TRUTH and LOVE?”

And I think she spoke of something that is slowly becoming a reality in my generation.  It is always “Truth vs Love.”  And when we do that, we divide God by creating an incomplete picture of who God is.

From my vantage point, we divide Christ when we favor His love over the truth; or, we divide Christ when we favor His truth over the love.  Some people are determined to define God as somebody that is a loving, tolerant God who just wants us to be happy.  We say things like, “No need for repentance! No need to talk about sin!  No need to talk about change!  God loves you just the way you are.”  That kind of thinking is seeping into the minds of Christians.  So in the end, we sacrifice truth on the altar of love in order to become more “tolerant.”

The other temptation is to see God as a truth-dispenser without any love.  We see God as a correction to society, or even other to Christians! We continually speak the truth to others through Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter without a conversation – it’s all one way.  Things are said like, “What matters is that the truth gets out – at all costs!  If you hold that view, then you aren’t Christian! It’s a black and white world – why can’t people just see that?”  However, with that kind of thinking, we sacrifice love on the altar of truth in order to make our point.

Each of these views shows us a terribly incomplete picture of the Triune God.  And to be clear, both Christians and non-Christians are guilty of this.  Christians, especially, are guilty of this – both liberals and conservatives, orthodox or progressives, young or old, seminary-trained or not.

Christians have a very different kind of calling from God which is not the comfortable option; rather, it is the harder option.  Christians are responsible for living in the tension between truth and love.  Christians profess in a God who is both prophetic and loving to all people – not just a select few!  We profess in a very particular God who came as Jesus Christ proclaiming both truth AND love.  The Christian life is to live in that tension between truth and love – a most uncomfortable reality.  If we don’t live in the tension between truth and love, then we live a life that divides Christ because we believe different things about him.  God exists as both truth and love! God requires both repentance and grace!  God shows both forgiveness and change!

A Child is Born: A Christmas Devotion

It’s five days before Christmas and I’ll be honest:  I haven’t started my Christmas shopping (but at least I have lists ready to go).  In addition to that, working at a church makes it a very busy time of year.  But I wanted to offer you a brief word during this time of year, hoping that it reminds us of the importance of Christmas.  I think that Christmas can be summed up in the passage that follows:

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. – Isaiah 9:6, NIV

When this prophecy was uttered the first time, the Jewish people were facing an attack from a large foreign nation.  Yet, the prophet Isaiah, who earlier spoke of a virgin bearing a son, now speaks of a child who will be born and called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Clearly, God has some sort of new and different plan.

Isaiah speaks of God’s plan to break into the world of the Jewish people to redeem them, deliver them from the powers of sin and death, and offer them new life.  And God is planning to do all of this through a child who will be called Jesus.  This same God continually breaks into our world in order to redeem us, to deliver us from the powers of sin and death, and offer us new life.   In this process called salvation, God is now taking back what belongs to Him: His people.  And all of this begins, with the birth of a child.  This Christmas, I hope you are reminded of a God who loves you so much that he came as a child to save you from the powers of sin and death.

To close, I offer this prayer from one of the early church fathers:

“Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice.  Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life.  The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness.  No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing.  Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no one free from sin, came to free us all.” -Leo the Great