December 22, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY: Faith, Peace, Joy, LOVE

“Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.” (Isaiah 43.4)

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, wise men came to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose^[and have come to worship Him.‘” (Matthew 2.1-2)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD during the Fourth Week of Advent 2024:

The only real answer to the question “WHY CHRISTMAS?” is this: For God so loved the world [the people on earth] that He sent His only begotten Son to dwell among them promising that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.” If we stop to think about this time of the year the need for “faith, peace, joy and love” exceeds all other seasons of life. Perhaps it is that way because of the, in the words of Isaiah, “the people dwelling in darkness will see a great light and the darkness has no ability to overcome it, overshadow it, consume it or put it away.” As the sun fades more quickly beyond the horizon to the west and south and rises more slowly over the horizon to the north and east, the “day” gets shorter and the “night” gets longer. Our bodies, our minds and our spirits are more vibrant and alert in the light than in the dark. While we can be afraid in the daylight, we become fearful in the night. A lack of knowledge and wisdom is characterized as “being in the dark.” An abundance of knowledge and wisdom is characterized as being “enlightened.” When we get a new idea, the image is often portrayed as a “light bulb” glowing where once it was dormant. In the middle of the Nativity is the baby Jesus lying in some form of a manger on earth while in the heavens a star or an angel or both hover over Him. It was that same star which announced to the Magi from distant lands that a mighty king was born or coronated. They did not know which for sure, but their studies and encounters with the prophecies given to the world of the Hebrews left no doubt that such an event had taken place. It was a life-changing event. Speaking to other magi and then to their ruling authorities there was no doubt as to the need for an appropriate response. Their quest was to authenticate and once authenticating the event, they were to honor that king with gifts worthy of His sovereignty. No one in those distant lands wanted to be in disfavor with the King of kings and Lord of lords. That dishonor was left to the current king of Israel/Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth. His name was Herod the Great; a legend in his own mind and evil heart. He was consumed by darkness and in him there was no light.

Herod’s story is tragic. It is filled with death, envy and strife against the people he ruled and even against his own family. There was no love lost on any of those and many felt the power of his “shadow of death.” I have heard others include tragic stories as the central focus on the “nativity” characters. They then include themselves by association so that their tragic identities and circumstances influence the gospel message of love, God’s love. It is true that we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Our own shadows of death left to their own devise become harbingers of doom and gloom. Maybe it is for that reason, the way the world celebrates “Christmas” stands in contrast to the gospels’ birth narratives. The world uses lights, glitz, glamour, excess giving to physical needs and wants and fiction to stave off the darkness for a time until the days lengthen and the nights shorten. The world embraces a sense of worth based on a benevolent fictional character who spreads the “magic” of conditional love. It actually creates deficits and does little to transform in significant ways the lives of those who are ashamed, embarrassed, conflicted, challenged, lost, confused and self-absorbed. If it were not for the gospel narratives, the world would fall under the “shadow of death” and struggle for existence beyond an ability to escape. Why we allow ourselves to believe that our lives are improved by temporal things is a tragedy in itself. What we need is some wisdom. The magi, or wisemen, provide that for us by reminding us of God’s promise of love. Those other tragic stories are an unwed pregnant teenage girl; a man who is her fiancé but is willing to cast her aside when he discovers she is pregnant before marriage with a child not his own; shepherds cast into the descriptors of dirty, smelly, untouchables; magi who appear to be lost (they show up in Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem) and confused; an innkeeper who is probably a relative of Joseph who refuses to accept him in his own home and sends Joseph and Mary to a stall in a stable with a feeding trough for a cradle; and finally Herod whose bloodthirsty spirit is so threatened that he orders the murder of all baby boys two years of age and younger in the region of Bethlehem.

And then we want “good news”? Tragedy is a reality in all our lives. But the story of Christmas is not one of tragedy but transformation. There is no greater transformation and transformative power than “love.” Christmas is a love story. It is a story of God’s love for us. A people’s love for God. It is also about a world that wants to be loved and is willing to risk it all to find it. Hear how love is evident in the story. God entrusts His plans to human beings who will be faithful even when they do not fully understand. Specifically we can identify Zechariah and Elizabeth (the parents of John who is the cousin of Jesus and will be “the voice of one crying in the wilderness ‘Repent, prepare the way of the Lord.’” We know also of Joseph and Mary (the mother and step-father of Jesus, God’s only begotten Son.) The shepherds were not ordinary shepherds but committed to tending the Temple flocks as did the great King of Israel, David, who himself was a shepherd from Bethlehem. Their lambs were the sacrifices for the people of Israel who would go to the Temple to repent and seek God’s promised forgiveness. There are the magi who measured love of country for the love of God. They stood for the truth of the prophetic gospel which foretold of a universal messiah, a Christ for all people everywhere.

God not only declares His love for the world but manifests it in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. His angelic name is “Immanuel,” God with us. It is not a promise of love from a distance as if the exiles are in a far country or another world. It is a promise that God’s presence is real in our everyday lives. This is an affirming in real-time love which gives us the opportunity to become new creations where our past is no longer a negative influence on our future. The negatives put upon our lives are cast in a light of opportunity and change for God’s glory and the welfare of others. “God can work all things together for good in those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8.28) How can that happen if there is no love and no wisdom? It can’t. Love and wisdom are the essential elements of forgiveness, mercy and grace. While the shepherds represent the call from within the kingdom of Israel, God’s kingdom on earth, the wisemen, magi, represent that call which is issued to the rest of the world. It is, as the angels declared “Good news for all people.” The celebration of Christ’s birth, which is what Christmas Day is intended to represent, is a day of transformation which the whole world is given as a tremendous opportunity. It cannot be bought or sold, it must be lived out and told. “Why Christmas?” Because we are to share the good news of God’s love which is for all eternity and not such of our love which is for a day or two and then things turn back to the way they were.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.