Opus 2024-410: The Recycling of Joy

I believe that today marks the official beginning of our anticipation of Christmas.  This is the first Sunday of Advent.  It tends to sneak up on us, but it is finally here.  I started with the Christmas music after dinner on Thanksgiving.  I will play it until midnight on Christmas day.

Do you need something to do over the next few weeks?  Drive to an area where a lot of shopping is going on.  Make sure you take a big dose of patience before you leave.  Park as far away from the stores as you can.  The exercise will do you good.  Walk slowly toward the crowds.  You don’t actually need to shop.  All you can expect to do is share the joy.  Look for opportunities to say, “Merry Christmas!” in response to half-hearted expressions of “Happy Holidays.”

You might prepare a few snappy, thought provoking comebacks.  You might ask, “What holiday is that?” or “What season is it?”  Always accompany your question with a big smile.  Hold doors open for people.  Pick up packages they drop.  Pray for the miserable heathen that you see swamping the marketplace.  Pray that the other bits of salt and light in the mix will have a chance to remind people of what we are celebrating.

(Gal 4:4 KJV)  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

(Joh 1:14 KJV)  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

I could go on but that will whet your appetite for all the glory that is involved in the incarnation.

Merry Christmas!  Inspiring Incarnation!

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-321: Dark Thoughts: Timing

We live in desperate times.  That desperation is a bit overblown in comparison with world history but very real when compared to the world I was raised in.  We never locked our house.  The police were our friends.  I was not worried about any other country in the world.  I never worried about going hungry or loss of electricity.  

That world is a thing of dreams.  Every day we see another place where the secret cabal that runs America comes a little more out of the closet as they rip our liberties away.  I fear that things will come to an explosion point.  I also fear that things will never come to an explosion point.  I fear that we will slowly dissolve into another failed culture.  

Psalm 21 speaks to David’s enemies, but for us it speaks to God’s enemies.

(Psa 21:8 KJV)  Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.

God’s enemies are not worried about us, for good reason.  They know about the other cheek.  They know about the extra mile.  In spite of that, God tells us to wait.  

Eventually, when He is ready, God will move.  How will we know?  I think when it comes we will know and be sure in the knowledge.  That will be the time for us to move.  In Matthew 10 Jesus sent out the disciples and told them to only go to Israel.  In Matthew 28 He sends them out to all nations.  Situations change.  What is always the same is the difficulty of waiting.

The Bible has numerous indications of waiting.  One that many are familiar with is,

(Psa 46:10 KJV)  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

The “be still” does not refer to noise but to motion.  It means to relax and allow God to do His work.

Then you have some of the last words Jesus gave to the gathered disciples,

(Act 1:4 KJV)  And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

They were to wait until God gave them the power and blessing of the Holy Spirit.  

And of course we have God waiting,

(Gal 4:4 KJV)  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

How appropriate for the Christmas season.  One of the questions David kept asking in the Psalms was “How long, O Lord?”  I am sure we ask the same question.  We are usually told to wait.  A large part of the waiting is to teach us to trust Providence.

We live in desperate times.  That does not mean we are desperate.  The early church knew the meaning of persecution.  They knew desperate times.  In spite of that they were known for their love of each other.  We would do well to remember that.  Much of the reason God seems to take so long is to give people a chance to repent.

He will eventually reach the end of His patience.  Wait for it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-248: A Day of Big Words

Years ago I was in a theology class and the professor introduced the theological terms imminence and transcendence.  One speaks about the omni nature of God.  The other term reminds us that God is with us.  For some reason I have remembered the terms for over forty years and I still don’t know which is which.  

They come together when we celebrate Christmas.  This is expressed many different ways in the Bible.  The Gospel of John has none of the birth narratives but deals with the theological undergirdings.  John starts with the eternal nature of Jesus.

(Joh 1:1 KJV)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And then he points out the incarnation,

(Joh 1:14 KJV)  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Matthew got down in the dust and put it in language even children can grasp.

(Mat 1:23 KJV)  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

If you want to get distracted by the date, have a good time.  If you want to complain about the materialism that dominates Christmas gift giving, I can understand.  It we think that traditions like the Christmas tree spring from pagan roots, I won’t argue with you.  All I ask is that you then take a deep breath and remind yourself,

(Gal 4:4-5 KJV)  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

You have had almost 2,000 years to get over it.  So Merry Christmas, Festive Fullness of Time Day, Emmanuel, or whatever you need to hear to get in the spirit of celebrating the Incarnation.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2021-312: Two Pronged Focus for Prayer

I said earlier that I don’t understand prayer.  I find much prayer monotonous repetition.  I like to refer to the Lord’s Prayer for examples of how I should pray.  I find it helps to use it as a template for my prayer adventures.  But there are other indicators on how we should pray.  Read the context of Paul’s admonition to pray which I quoted last time,

(1Th 5:16-18 KJV)  Rejoice evermore.  Pray without ceasing.  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I take this seriously.  When I have my morning day-starter of worship I try to begin and focus with those two ingredients:  Rejoicing and thanks.  Not only does it help my attitude but it reminds me of all the things that God is doing.

We live in a blessed bubble of history.  Compare what you have to do to get a sandwich.  After driving in an air-conditioned car to an air-conditioned grocery store, you walk into your air-conditioned house and put it all together.  Go back a few centuries.  You would need to start by plowing the ground to plant the wheat.  You can use your imagination to take it from there.  If you focus a little bit you can come up with a few material things yourself.

If you know what it is to trust in Jesus you also have the added assurance of God’s presence in your life and a blessed eternity.  As we anticipate Thanksgiving and approach Christmas you can focus on the forgotten message,

(Gal 4:4 KJV)  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Be thankful that you know to whom we are thankful.  Be excited because you have heard about the events that Christmas celebrates.  Rejoice in the knowledge that if there are no toys to buy this year you still know about the greatest Gift.

Blessings.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-333: Words Matter

As I was listening to Christmas music on my I-Pod I was singing along with Joy to the World and got the words to the third verse wrong.  Actually I got them right.  The singers got them wrong.  They left out the third verse.  I have noticed this trend all my life.  If a song has four verses the director will skip the third.  I don’t think it is a plot but we miss a lot of solid teaching that way.  Actually Christmas carols do a lot of teaching about who Jesus is and why He came.  That is why they are being sifted out of the playlists on radio. 

Consider the opening words to “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”:

Come, Thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free.
From our fears and sins release us;
Let us find our rest in Thee.

This is a message that the world rejects.  We are sinners.  We need deliverance.  It can only be found in Jesus.  That certainly puts rain on the self-esteem parade.

So, let it rain and let Him reign.  Stop and consider the words to the music you might know how to hum but have trouble singing.  Music has a message.  At Christmas it is the message that

(Galatians 4:4-6 KJV)  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

And let the pagans grumble.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-353, Should-a-Beens: And a Frolicking FOT Day to you

Yesterday I read a post at Georges Grouse about the roots and rituals of the Christmas season.  Most people who read what I write have already read Georges but if you haven’t you might want to take a look.  Good stuff.  Consistently.  In my response I suggested different names for the day.  One of my suggestions was Fullness of Time Day, or we could call it FOT Day.  It is based on a Bible verse,

(Galatians 4:4 KJV)  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Certain facts are agreed on by reasonable men (and reasonable women).  One is that Jesus was born.  Another is that He was born of a woman.  Another is that she was a virgin.  And as it says here, the birth took place in “the fulness of time.” 

“Christmas” is a term from the Roman Catholic liturgy.  It is the mass of Christ.  All it really means is that in their attempt to cover all the theology of the church, on that particular day they taught about the Birth.  The date picked was arbitrary.  So let’s pick another one for those who have trouble with December 25 and the proximity of the Winter Solstice.  We could pick my birthday but I am sure someone would claim I was having delusions of grandeur.  So let’s pick your birthday.  It works for me.  Actually it might be more appropriate to pick April 15 since Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be taxed.  It would make the IRS a church and get the government out of the withholding business.  Or we could celebrate once every 10 years because it was a Roman Census.  I sense another split in the Christians church here.  We could have 10th Year Adventists emerging. 

But let’s pick a Biblical name.  Georges points out that we should talk about “resurrection day” instead of “Easter.”  Good point.  So let’s celebrate FOT Day instead of Christmas.  Instead of an evergreen we could use a grape vine with branches grafted on and in the fireplace we could have a few symbolic branches that had been cut off for lack of faith.  We could still work in angels, the wise men and shepherds though because they are in the Bible. 

The possibilities are endless.  Maybe I will revisit this.

homo unius libri