“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14) 

Bah!  Humbug!

Of course, you recognize those “grump lines” … and their famous author, Ebenezer Scrooge.  Old Scrooge couldn’t stand the merriment.  For his sour old nature, the bottom line was profit, money, dollar$!

I’ve been called “Scrooge,” too.  Oh, not to my face and not in so many words.  Let me explain.

I, too, enjoy the Christmas “season.”  I’m a grandpa and I delight in the simple expectancy of little children, their joys, their delights.  And I enjoy silent, still nights, ground covered in snow at minus 40 degrees when the silence is extra silent and the snow crunches beneath your feet.

But I tire of the schizophrenic season of Christmas currently celebrated by too many Christians.  On the one hand, we celebrate Jesus, born of a virgin, laid in a feeding trough in a small village in Israel.  We celebrate, along with the angels, the shepherds, and the magi the announcement of a King.  We rejoice with Isaiah at the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace … now tiny and wrapped in swaddling clothes.

But we also tend to preach a kind of peace not intended that first Christmas.  We “believe in” a quiet, snow-filled, silent night with kids in their pajamas and hot cocoa in hand.  We want to believe, if even for one brief night, that all the world is at rest and peace.

Not so.  Friends of mine just buried their twenty-two year old daughter last Sunday.  A dear family within our care will lay to rest their beloved husband, father and grandfather before they celebrate Christmas.  Do the homeless enjoy the “warmth” of Christmas?  How about the millions of orphans around the world?  December 25 brings no change, no warmth, no one to want them.

Do nations stop threatening one another?  Do thieves stop stealing toys from children?  Will Congress … no, I’m not going there.  Have you even heard of the over 600 dead and thousands homeless in the Philippines from a tropical storm a few days ago?

Now, do you see the “Scrooge” nature in me?  I read in the Gospel that Jesus stepped into this world because it was broken, because it needed a Savior, because sin has its powerful grip on humankind, and because the prince of this world is desperately at work.

You see, if the world is that chocolate-filled, snow-covered, happy-happy place we pretend at Christmas, we wouldn’t need a Savior.  But we need him more than ever.  And he offers himself again to us, to this world.

Okay, so what can I / we do?  First, just take a simple attitude check.  Do I have any compassion for the broken that Jesus cares about?  He sees them as lost sheep without a shepherd.  Do I?

Second, is my treasure where my heart is … or is my heart where my treasure is?  Do I invest throughout the year in opportunities to care for those in need … sponsoring a child, giving during times of disaster, helping those in need?

Finally, perhaps I could just take some time by myself or with my family at Christmas to at least acknowledge those who are broken or broken-hearted.  We could pray for them, recognizing Jesus’ attention to them and foster compassion.

So enjoy the fire, cocoa in hand, and (hopefully) the falling snow outside.  Thank God for his wonderful gifts and Gift.  And thank him for his compassion on us all, at Christmas and always.

“ … you shall call his name Jesus, …” (Matthew 1:21)

“ … they shall call his name Immanuel.” (Matthew 1:23) 

Matthew’s birth narrative assigns two names to Bethlehem’s latest new-born, “Jesus” and “Immanuel”.  A first name and a middle name?  A given name and a ‘nick-name’?  A proper name and a name added for parental use when the little fellow was in trouble?

“Jesus” was a Hebrew name meaning “salvation”, the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament Joshua or Yeshua.  In Jesus’ case, it described his earthly mission for he came not to liberate Israel from Rome but to liberate every human being from slavery and imprisonment to sin, a far worse taskmaster than Rome.

“Immanuel” was also a Hebrew term meaning “God with us.”  “Immanuel” is found in only three places in the Scriptures, first in Isaiah 7:14 in which the virgin conception of Jesus is forecast.  In Isaiah 8:8, God promises punishment upon his people Israel for their lack of faith.  The dreaded Assyrians would sweep down upon Israel like a flood “and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”  The third occurrence is in Matthew 1:23, the historic fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14.

The flood-punishment scene in Isaiah 8, however, takes a significant turn.  Though foreigners would invade Israel, neither their words (threats) nor their actions would stand “because God is with us,” because the land is God’s land and the people are God’s people.  Verses 8 and 10 end the same way: “immanu-El”.

I cherish the name “Jesus” for I have personally received God’s gracious gift of forgiveness of my sins through Jesus.  He is my sin-bearer, my savior, my Yeshua.

I cherish the name “Immanuel” for God is with me, with his people.  David described that presence differently.  “Where can I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, YOU!  If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, YOU!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:7-10)

To those who do not know God through Jesus, this every-where, always-there presence of God is frightening, as in the ancient verses of “The Hound of Heaven.”  To the child of God, there is no better feeling or place to be but in his VERY PRESENCE!

God is transcendent … out there, supreme, sovereign, independent, holy, infinite, immutable.  At Bethlehem, God became immanent … near, personal, human, sympathetic, here.  But God is both, out there and right here, transcendent and immanent, holy and wholly without sin, yet the sin-bearer of many.

Only one response is adequate, worthy, or necessary: “We/I have come to worship him!”

President Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Day proclamation (in part): 

 It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

God’s Thanksgiving proclamation (in part): 

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!

Psalm 107:1

Paul’s Thanksgiving proclamation (in part): 

Give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

The End (in part):

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

who is and who was,

for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.”

Revelation 11:17

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.

Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. (Heb 13:7 ESV) 

A couple of weeks ago, we ran into an old friend and his wife while visiting my mother at the Care Centre where both his parents and my mother are residents.

Our hugs then turned to conversation as we reminisced about influential people who had changed our lives.  Many of them were now gone; some were residents, along with our parents, in this very Care Centre.

Most were from our small Bible church in that same town.  Their influence ranged from pastors to teachers to family friends to employers to those who simply prayed for us (and we took up a lot of prayer time, I’m sure!)

The writer of Hebrews urged us to remember our leaders.  “Leaders” in this verse may refer specifically to someone in a specific capacity of leadership as an Elder, pastor, shepherd, etc.  But it may also refer to someone of significant spiritual influence.  So a proper rendering of this verse may be, “Remember those who influenced you in your faith.”

By inviting us to consider the outcome of their way of life, the writer recommends a life-long process.  In other words, we don’t just become enamored with the latest Christian speaker that “wows” us.  We observe a life, a whole life, the outcome of their chosen path of life.  And, when that outcome is considered worthy, we imitate their faith and not their life.

Next week is Thanksgiving.  I can think of no better time than this to list those influencers of our life of faith.  Go ahead.  Do it.  Pick up your pen.  Start a file.  Begin now.  Let the tears flow if necessary.  What a tribute!

Being thankful for all the “stuff” that surrounds us … can wait.  Begin with the people without which you would not be able to begin at all.

“Thank you, Father, for Dad, for Mom, for Pastor Jim, for Lowell, for Rosi, for Dr. Burkholder, for Dr. Grounds, for Bryan, for …”

“I have stored up your Word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)

If you’ve read your Bible recently, you’re probably biblical … right?  If I memorize a Bible verse, chapter or book, isn’t that being biblical?  Are you, am I, biblical?  Just what does it mean to be biblical?

First of all, you might have wondered why I capitalized Bible above, but not biblical.  Well, Bible is a noun, a proper name referring to the Word of God.  It should always be capitalized.  Biblical, on the other hand, is an adjective and does not require capitalization (unless at the beginning of this sentence!).

Or you might speak of biblical names, discuss the topic of biblical theology, or enroll in a course entitled Biblical Theology.

But I’m really more interested in whether you are or I am genuinely biblical.  Does reading the Bible make me biblical?  Not necessarily.  Does obedience to the commands of the Bible make me biblical?  Well, yes and no.  I may be doing biblical things, obeying biblical commands, or even following the Bible in necessary steps of action.

For instance, I may read the Scriptures every morning.  Am I being biblical?  Perhaps.  Reading the Scriptures every morning certainly follows a biblical pattern.

Here’s what I’m getting at.  I may be getting into the Bible, but am I allowing the Bible to get into me?  That’s being biblical.

I may read the Bible every morning, whole chapters, whole books!  I may “hide God’s Word in my heart”, i.e. memorize.  But I am not biblical in the truest sense unless what God says in his Word invades my thought life and my actions.

I may follow the biblical instruction to feed the hungry or care for the orphan but go away filled with pride at my own station in life.  Then I’m not being biblical.

I may follow the biblical instruction to worship with fellow believers (“don’t forsake getting together as some do” – Hebr. 10:25), but deliberately shun a fellow believer.  Then I’m not being biblical.

I may follow biblical instructions to the letter of the law in resolving a dispute, but still harbor hatred (alright, dislike) towards that person.  Then I’m not being biblical.

I may attend church with my slaves, singing the old gospel hymns right there beside them, but beat them and abuse them back home, demonstrated again and again in American (church) history.  Then I’m not being biblical.

In fact, I may even preach the Word, Sunday after Sunday, faithfully expositing and expounding that Word.  But if I’m not obeying that Word or letting it guide my attitudes and actions, I am not being biblical.

The Bible is more than a book full of instructions.  As the revealed will of God, it contains more than instruction on what to do in this or that situation.  It addresses the attitudes we demonstrate and the motives we harbor deep down inside where no one sees (see Colossians 3:5, 12-13).

And that ultimately defines whether I am being genuinely biblical in the truest sense of the Word.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)

Terrorism on the increase.  Fear.  Panic.  What if …

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.”

Financial ruin, chaos.  National, if not international, financial meltdown.  Retirement down the tubes.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.”

Political infighting … again.  Empty promises.  Accusations.  Blind partisanship.  Lack of leadership.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.”

Jobless.  Bankbook near empty.  Medical bills.  Auto bills.  Education bills.  Bills.  Bills.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.”

Personal attacks.  Accusations.  The sting.  The pain.  The tears.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.”

Failing health.  Constant pain.  Doctor visits, medications, little relief.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.”

A friend, perhaps an author, directed my attention to this passage the other day, an incredible promise in an age of almost unparalleled, nearly universal fear.

But God’s Word and his promises are also universal, reaching across all time and every culture.  The mind that is stayed – focused – on God will be kept in perfect peace.  “Because he trusts in you” merely rephrases “whose mind is stayed on you.”

Perfect peace (Hebrew – wholeness, soundness) is ours when we trust.  We can trust because God is wholly trustworthy … “for the Lord God is an everlasting rock!” (26:4)

“To experience the security of God’s city one thing is required: a fixed disposition of trust” (Oswalt, NICOT Isaiah [1986], p. 472).

Everlasting rock vs. terrorism.  Everlasting rock vs. financial meltdown.  Everlasting rock vs. vain politics.  Everlasting rock vs. joblessness.  Everlasting rock vs. personal attack.  Everlasting rock vs. failing health.  You be the judge.

And trust him … forever!

There’s a string of passages in God’s Word that I find heartwarming, comforting, satisfying.

• 2 Samuel 22:7 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry came to his ears.
• Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
• Psalm 118:5 Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free.
• Psalm 120:1 A Song of Ascents. In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.
• Psalm 138:3 On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.
• Lamentations 3:55-57 I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit; you heard my plea, “Do not close your ear to my cry for help!” You came near when I called on you; you said, “Do not fear!”
• Jonah 2:2 saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.”

I called; He answered!  I cried out; He heard!

Did you ever call upon a friend who, for whatever reason, did not call back, did not hear, did not come to your aid?  How important, how comforting, how reassuring the answer of a friend in time of crisis, in time of need, in time of desperation.

The biblical writers reassure us that God hears, that his ears are directed toward us, that he listen for our voice.  Though we may not get the precise answer we think we need, he always hears, always listens, always comes near.

Fatigued beyond your ability to care?  God knows.  Despondent because of life’s setbacks?  God hears.  Rejected by a friend?  God hasn’t rejected you.  Mourning loss?  God is there beside you.  Growing old and feeling forgotten?  God hasn’t forgotten you.

Apart from this string of “I called … He answered” passages, there’s another, a parallel string.  And the table is turned.

• Isaiah 66:4 I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight.
• Jeremiah 7:13 “And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the LORD, “and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer.” 
• Zechariah 7:13 “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts.

Isn’t that a sad string?  “He called them; they did not listen.  He spoke to me; I did not hear.”  I can hear the pathos in God’s voice.  We expect him to answer our every whim, to be available at our every crisis … and He is!  But when He calls, when his still small voice reaches out to us, we’re too busy, we’re enjoying that sin too much to turn away, we’re too angry to acknowledge, we’re too tied up in the self of this moment to care about the cares of his heart.

Try this prayer: “Lord, thank you for listening, for hearing my voice … and for knowing that it is my voice calling.  Now, forgive me for neglecting your voice.  Help me to hear you, to respond, to care.”

Green, red, silver, orange, yellow … no, not the colors of the rainbow, but colors of the combines.  On the road over the last several days, we’ve observed the harvest throughout northeast and eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and western Missouri, eighteen combines in just one afternoon.

These modern marvels were air conditioned from the massive amounts of dust that engulfed them and computer controlled for cab comfort and accuracy and ease of harvest.  Their massive heads floated over fields of beans and corn, cutting the stalks from the ground, stripping them of their rich harvest of tiny round beans or golden corn, emitting shredded stalks back to the ground behind them.

Someone once planted these tiny seeds with a vision of a harvest. 

As a little boy, I went into Dad’s garden and, when no one was looking, pulled a tiny seedling from the ground, a corn plant, just to see what was going on.  To my disappointment, the tiny seed was nothing but mush, rotten, dead.  So why was this green shoot still attached?

Someone once gambled big time by putting seeds into the ground to rot and die … and produce from that death a living stalk upon which many seeds would grow.

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels -- a plentiful harvest of new lives.” (John 12:24 NLT)

Someone once decided it was time to fertilize, to cultivate, to water. 

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Mat 28:19 NLT)

Then someone decided it was time to harvest.

“These were his [Jesus’] instructions to them: ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.’” (Luke 10:2 NLT)

SomeOne has also decided that his harvest is now ready. 

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Hebrews 9:27

The road to my childhood home, about three hours northwest of Omaha, is etched in my mind. Having first driven it forty years ago to attend college, I could almost drive it blindfolded.  In recent years, I’ve traversed that road to visit my parents and in more recent months, to attend to their increasing health needs.

All along that road (highways 275, 81, 13, 20, and 14!) lie fields, brown with patches of white and barren through the cold winter months.  As the ground warms with the coming of spring, green rows begin to push up through the barren ground.  Soon the fields are lush green with fresh stalks of sprouting beans or corn.  As summer wears on, the green grows higher from fresh rains or sprinkler heads mounted on aluminum pipes suspended above the plants.

Fall approaches and the green turns, in time, to brown again as the stalks grow old and die.  Soon the combines crisscross each field, disgorging tiny brown beans or golden kernels of corn into waiting trucks and wagons.  Soon the plows or discs converge on the fields, scatter the gathered, feasting deer, and the fields wait for their new coating of fresh white snow.

Repeat.  I’ve observed this cycle over and over and over and …

Plant, disc, harvest, plow.  Spring, summer, fall, winter.  Day – night, day – night.  Seven days - one week.  Thirty days (or thirty-one, or twenty-eight, or twenty-nine) – one month.  Fifty-two weeks - one year.

If by observing nature, I were to determine my destiny, I could quickly become a Buddhist, Hindu, or Sikh, for life appears, on the surface, to be cyclical.  Reincarnation.

Seasons … days and nights … weeks … months … years.  The earth rotates on its “axis”.  The planets orbit around the sun, with striking regularity.  Our universe in our galaxy … timely rotation with few planets crashing into each other.  Regularity.  Wonderful monotony.

In spite of what we see on the surface with predictable regularity, life is not cyclical.  Life is linear.  The writer of Hebrews affirmed that each of us will face our appointment with death … once!  After that, judgment.  We will not return in another form on another planet in another galaxy.  We will die – once.  We will meet our Maker – once.  We will face judgment – once.  Once-for-all our destiny will be determined based on what we do with God’s Son, Jesus, here, now, in this life.  And once-for-all this earth, this universe will experience a great melt-down (2 Peter 3:12).

Could I ever be convinced of reincarnation, of an infinitely cyclical existence?  Not on your life.  And not on mine.  If I am wrong, having formed my worldview in light of the Scriptures, then I suppose I could happily return as a Beagle … often.  If the reincarnationists are wrong … how terrible that judgment.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

The screen saver in front of me displays a breathtaking, peaceful picture (and from my own camera!) of tiny Sylvan Lake in South Dakota’s Black Hills, just east of Custer.  The water and sky are separated by a wall of rock, perfect for climbing.

I’ve paddled around most of that little lake, I’ve climbed most of the rock.  I’ve hiked down, down deep behind this scene, beside the hundred waterfalls, between giant columns of granite, alongside the trickling stream on the forest path smelling of Scotch pine.

In my picture, the granite rocks and evergreens growing up out of them are perfectly distinct.  But the reflection of those rocks and trees in the water are shimmering, dreamlike, a bit less clear because they are … a reflection.

To me, this picture is a portrait of peace.  I relax a bit more just staring at my screen.  But I’d rather, much rather be in this picture, hiking, paddling, interacting with God’s handiwork.

My highest theological thought is at best a shimmering reflection.  My knowledge of God’s handiwork falls far short of the mind of the Creator.  My understanding of the complexity of human nature is but a glistening imitation.

So, was this preceding paragraph an admission of my inferiority as a student of Scripture, of nature, or of the human predicament?  I hope not.  I mean, I’ve always been a pretty good student of theology and of theological anthropology, as measured by grades.

So, how could my understanding of these things be made clearer, more accurate reflections of reality?  By studying harder?  No.  By dying!

The Apostle Paul had just addressed the wonder of Christian love, higher and more profitable than our selfish ways.  He had just waxed eloquent on our childishness vs. that perfect knowledge and understanding and the way of love.

Then he humbly acknowledged that our very best understanding of the ways of God and man here compare with looking through a darkened, muddied glass.

Someday, that glass will be removed.  There, in the very presence of God – face to face – we’ll understand everything perfectly, we’ll see everything clearly, we’ll enjoy knowledge as flawless and seamless as is possible in the divine presence.

Like I said, I don’t mind the picture on my computer.  It’s the best I can do for now.  But I long, rather, to be in that spot, enjoying firsthand the beauty of God’s creation.  Now, I’m in no hurry to die, but I’m satisfied knowing that my imperfect understanding will be immediately and finally swept away in his presence and I shall then know fully, even as he has fully known me.