Cradle.Cross.Comfort.

You might remember John Donne from English Lit. Class. A passionate dude and we’re talking 17^th century England, here. If you don’t believe me, check out his poem The Ecstasy. Many forget this 17th c. man, having trusted his life to Jesus, spent his later years as a London Pastor at St. Paul's Cathedral. I ran across something he wrote about the birth of Christ in one of his Christmas day sermons.

The whole of Christ's life was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified, even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last. His birth and death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of one and the same day. From the cradle to the cross is an inseparable line.

I recall Christ being misunderstood in his adult ministry, insulted and mocked by his enemies, betrayed by his friends during Holy week, persecuted by religious leaders, beaten by strangers, and finally murdered by the powers-that-be in a most public & humiliating fashion. In other words, I’m continually struck by the fact that, from ages 27-30, Christ was never at home - except during these little moments like a retreat to be with his Father or a few minutes of fellowship with Moses & Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration (how sweet those moments must have been for Jesus).

John Donne

Discomfort at the Cradle. However as Donne correctly points out, the incarnation itself -- God taking on flesh & blood through this miraculous birth -- must've been remarkably discomforting and alienating for Jesus. If wasn't for taking on God's just punishment for our sin, the birth would’ve been as discomforting as cross. The physical aspect alone must've been sent a shock down the Trinitarian backbone – the God all of eternity not only becoming a man, but a tiny, 7 lbs., 4 oz baby (unless you think he was an XXL baby because he was God).

Discomfort at Childhood. That discomfort, that alienation must've then continued through his childhood. Consider Jesus' childhood as well as the teenage years. Imagine watching your friends, schoolmates, and fellow temple parishoners grow up to dream of marrying a woman, pursuing a career, having kids, seeing their g-kids. He could never relate. He knew his road would lead to an early death -- the road to Calvary. So the very persons he loved, indeed those he came to save, would grow increasingly distant as both they & he grew older.

Christmas can be a lonely time, even for people who will be with family but especially for those who will be without. We tend to seek comfort during the Holiday season more than any other time. Gifts, carols, well-wishes, Christmas Cookies, traditions with family like making Christmas cookies, then eating more Christmas Cookies. And praise God for these because they each have the potential to remind us of our true home in Christ.

Discomfort at the Cross. This is the Christ whose discomfort in Bethlehem culminated on a hill outside the walls of Jerusalem, where he was alienated not only from the world but from God the Father. The Father alienated His Son while the latter took the sins of the world upon Himself (Mark 15:34; cf. II Corinthians 5:21).

If you trust in Jesus and find yourself in a place of discomfort and alienation this holiday season, don't lose heart -- that's where Jesus is (Hebrews 13:12-13). You will find him there. You see, he lived his whole life there beginning at birth -- so that through seeking him by faith, you will find comfort and a home for Christmas.

Advent Help for Families and Adults

Advent comes from the Latin adventus and simply means, "coming." This liturgical season has served the church through the centuries as an intentional time for Christians to try to sense what it was like to anticipate the coming of the world's Savior - as predicted as far back as the Book of Genesis - and to anticipate the time when He will come again to restore all things. 

Advent began yesterday and culminates on Christmas Day. 

Here are a couple ways to intentionally celebrate the Savior with your kids during the Advent season and one way to go solo:

http://www.vergenetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/AdventBook2013.pdf. Advent 2013: The coming of the Rescuer is a FREE resource from the Austin Stone Community Church. It can be done alongside your regular Bible but also with The Jesus Storybook Bible, which we have available from the church. It also includes a coloring for each day which can be cut out and transformed into a Christmas Ornament to hang on the tree. It does say "2013" but don't let that worry you. It pretty much works the same and Christmas wasn't in beta all the way back in 2013. 

http://www.stewardship.org.uk/downloads/Studies%20and%20Sermons/advent-wonder/advent-wonder-family-15.pdf. The Gift: Family Bible time and activities for families. Two advantages to this one: 1) It's highly interactive - like break out the pencils and crayons, get your hands moving interactive. 2) There is a generosity focus - ie. Jesus is God's ultra-generous gift to us so the most natural response during Christmas is: How might we be generous to others?  Only disadvantage: One week at a time (but that might be an advantage as it makes it more "do-able" for many busy families).

Advent for adults: https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/advent-devotions/id737013885?mt=8

Danger of Christian Karma during the charitable Season of Christmas

Many of you - as we have recently done at SCC - have just recently completed filling bags for the hungry to receive a Christmas meal, purchased a Christmas gift for a child who has an incarcerated parent, or even assembled your family to collectively "give back" during this holiday season.

Speaking from a wealth of charitable experience, Peter Greer, President/CEO of Hope International gives us in this brief interview a prophetic warning and opens up about his own "buying-in" to Christian Karma (ie. if I do good, God has no choice but to bless me). These lines alone are well worth the read:

The only antidote that enables us to truly sustain our service is to constantly remember that our service is downstream from the gospel. We fight hopelessness and discouragement by constantly returning to the Cross and the empty tomb. Then we get to work loving our neighbors in response to the grace we've already experienced.

YES! "Constantly returning to the cross" - something I have to tell myself about a dozen times a day for my love to last and with pure, God-ward intentions.

May God richly bless your blessing others this Christmas as you return & respond to the greatest blessing of all - the bottomless fuel of the grace of God expressed through the cross of Christ and the empty tomb. 

Advent Guides for Families & Adults

Advent comes from the Latin adventus and simply means, "coming." It has served the church through the centuries as an intentional way for Christians to try to sense what it was like to anticipate the coming of the world's Savior - as predicted as far back as the Book of Genesis - and to anticipate the time when He will come again to restore all things. 

Advent begins today and culminates on Christmas Day. 

Here are a couple ways to intentionally celebrate the Savior with your kids during the Advent season and one way to go solo:

http://www.vergenetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/AdventBook2013.pdf. Advent 2013: The coming of the Rescuer is a FREE resource from the Austin Stone Community Church. It can be done alongside your regular Bible but also with The Jesus Storybook Bible, which we have available from the church. It also includes a coloring for each day which can be cut out and transformed into a Christmas Ornament to hang on the tree.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-expected-one-advent-guide/id736051191?mt=8.  The Expected One Advent Guide will cost you 99 cents in the App Store or alternately you can purchase it for $1.99 at Lifeway publishing. While it may cost you a buck 


Advent for adults: https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/advent-devotions/id737013885?mt=8

Christmas Myths

I am a ridiculously nostalgic person in general but especially when it comes to Christmas. My Christmas Playlist remains defiantly entrenched on my iPod all year round - even though it takes up far too much space (but what do you take off? Elvis' "Blue Christmas"? or "Mele Kalikimaka - Hawaiian Christmas"?! I don't think so!!). But I do like my Christmas traditions truthful. With the help of a couple books & the interwebs (snopes.com in particular), I found out some interesting and, sadly, disturbing revelations about Christmas.

Claim: December 25th is Jesus' birthday
Conclusion: Doubtful.
Further info: The Biblical Account of Jesus' birth does not give an exact date for the event; however it likely occurs in the Spring rather than in the Winter. Luke informs us that shepherds were "out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" (Luke 2:8). Shepherds guarded their flocks day and night only during lambing time, in the spring. In the Winter, the animals were kept in corrals at night, unwatched. Celebrating the Nativity was first suggested in the 4th century A.D. During this time, the early church fathers were taking Roman ideas, symbols, and holidays and replacing them with Christian significance - it was another way to help people who had trusted Jesus as their Savior to move from their old ways of life to new ones. On December 25, the date of the Winter Solstices, Romans celebrated Natalis Solis Invicti, "Birthday of the Invincible Sun God," Mithras. This would be the date the church picked. One church father wrote: "We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it."  The apostle Paul would warn Christians not to make particular days holy lest we overemphasize a particular day rather than on the Lordship of Jesus (see Colossians  2:16-17). Nevertheless, celebrating the birth of Christ can serve as an opportunity to utilize a particular day in focusing on the wonderous mystery of the incarnation - God becoming flesh - though it doesn't matter on which day this occurs.

Claim: The modern image of Santa was created by the Coca-Cola Company
Conclusion: Myth

Further info: The idea here is that Santa's costume was changed to Red & White to reflect the corporate colors of Coke Brand. It's not true. Coca-Cola was looking for ways to boost sales during the Winter months as this was not a popular time for cold, soft drinks. And they did turn to illustrator Haddon Sundblom, who created a series of memorable drawings that made a direct correlation between a larger-than-life, red-and-white donned Santa Claus and Coca-Cola (as seen in adjacent picture). However, this modern version was not created by Coca-Cola. Sundblom's illustrations were based on what had already become the standard version of Santa as demonstrated in a New York Times article published in 1927, four years before the appearance of Sundbloms's first Coca-Cola Santa Ad. The article states:

A standardized Santa Claus appears to New York Children. Height, weight, and stature are almost exactly standardized, as are the red garments, the hood and the white whiskers. The pack full of toys, ruddy cheeks and nose, bushy eyebrows and a jolly, paunchy effect are also inevitable parts of the requisite make-up.

To further stress this point, below are some illustrations of Santa from 1906, 1908, and 1925 respectively: 

So while I love a good ole-fashioned corporate conspiracy as much the next bloke, we do not get one here.


Claim: "Xmas" is a disrespectful abbreviation of "Christmas."
Conclusion: Myth

Further info: The idea is that people, at the least, looked for a way to abbreviate the spelling of Christmas and, at worst, secular society pushed this abbreviation to "take the CHRIST out of CHRISTmas." In actuality, this usage of Xmas dates back quite far and involves the Greek language in which the New Testament is written. The first letter in the Greek word for Christ is "chi" and the Greek letter "chi" is represented by a symbol quite similar to the letter "X" in the Roman alphabet. So "Xmas" was really utilized as a way of shortening the name of Christ, not X-ing out His name. 

Claim: The Suicide rate increases significantly during the Holiday Season.

Conclusion: Myth

Further info: Sorry, I don't mean to end on a downer. But can you tell me you've never heard this one before?! And the claim is all the more persuasive when one considers its logic. Christmas and New Years are occasions in which many experience profound joy with family & friends can only serve to accentuate, in others, pain and isolation associated with loneliness. And, yet, this too appears to be a myth as pointed out by the Mayo Clinic in an article originally printed in The Des Moines Register (1995):

Suicide is not linked to the holidays, at least not in Minnesota's Olmstead County, where the Mayo Clinic is located, according to Mayo Clini researchers. A study of all reported suicides in Olmstead County during a 35-year period did not find an excess number of suicides just before, during, or after Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's...holidays. Nor did researchers find a higher suicide rate on birthdays or three days before or after birthddays. However, their work, concluded in 1985, did affirm other studies showing that suicides are most numerous early in the week and least common on weekends.

I should note that there are other studies arriving at remarkably similar conclusions but I'm too lazy right now to quote them. Look it up - heck, you might discover yet another Christmas myth! (If so, please post below).

A Christmas Prayer (in response to violence)

Author Max Lucado penned a brilliant and, in my humble opinion, inspired little prayer in response to what seems like escalating violence all around the world. I hope and pray it provides the encouragement needed to run to a Savior who is intimately acquainted with suffering and alienation (but also triumph!).



A Christmas Prayer

Dear Jesus,

It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord.  These children, Lord.  Innocence violated.  Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas.  But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty.  Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,
Your Children

Jesus' birth: Discomforting Sign of things to come

You might remember John Donne from English Lit. Class. Passionate dude. Many forget that this 17th century man, having trusted his life to Christ, spent his later years as a London Pastor at St. Paul's Cathedral. I ran across something he wrote about the birth of Christ in The Book of Uncommon Prayers:

The whole of Christ's life was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified, even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last. His birth and death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of one and the same day. From the creche to the cross is an inseparable line.

I recall Christ being misunderstood in his adult ministry, insulted and mocked by his enemies, betrayed by his friends during Holy week, persecuted by religious leaders, beaten by strangers, and finally murdered by the powers-that-be in a most public & humiliating fashion. In other words, from ages 27-30, I am continually struck by the fact that Christ was never at home (except during these little moments like a retreat to be with his father or a few minutes of fellowship with Moses & Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration -- how sweet those moments must have been for Jesus).

But as Donne correctly points out, the incarnation -- God taking on flesh & blood through this miraculous birth -- itself must've been so darn discomforting and alienating for Jesus. If it wasn't for his taking on God's just wrath for our sin at the cross, I'd say Jesus' birth would be as discomforting as the cross. The physical aspect of it must've been -- God all of eternity, then not only becoming a man, but a tiny, 7 lbs., 4 oz baby (unless you think he was an extra huge baby because he was God). This is why C.S. Lewis said of the incarnation, "If you wish to get the hang of it, imagine what it would be like to inhabit the body of a slug, or a lobster, or a crab."

That discomfort, that alienation must've then continued through his childhood. I think about Jesus' childhood a lot as well as the teenage years. Imagine, and I am speaking with regard to the human side of Jesus, seeing your friends, schoolmates, temple parishoners grow up to dream of marrying a woman, pursuing a career, having kids, seeing their grandkids. He could never relate as he knew his road would lead to an early death -- the road to Calvary.

Christmas can be a lonely time, even for people who will with family but especially those who will be without. I think we tend to seek comfort during the Holiday season more than any other time. Although we seek it a lot.

Somewhat recently, myself and the elders of our church were discussing ways to reach people for Jesus through Servant Evangelism. We spoke of giving away bottles of water with "no strings attached" but simply communicating to people that God loves them. But we immediately voiced the desire that we shouldn't do this by just going up to "strangers," as that would be unnatural, but we should have a picnic or barbeque at a local park with the whole church and then walk up to people who are also at the park and offer them a beverage or plate of food. In and of itself, not a bad idea -- but if I'm honest with myself, the motive was comfort. Let's maneuver or even wait for circumstances that allow the least possible discomfort and feeling of alienation from the world.

Yet this was Jesus' whole life -- and for our sake. So, through the Apostle Peter, his Word commands:

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles (unbelievers) honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation (I Peter 2:11-12).

Just as Christ was a sojourner, so are we. Just as he was never at home here (an exile), neither are we. When looking for peace and comfort during the Holiday Season, recall that you and I are not destined to find it in carols, Christmas Cookies, traditions with family -- these are all hints of the home and praise God for them because they just may possibly remind us of our true home -- in Christ. Christ whose discomfort in Bethlehem culminated on a hill outside the walls of Jerusalem, where he was alienated not only from the world but from God the Father. The Father alienated Christ while His Son took on the sins of the world.

If you trust in Jesus and find yourself in a place of discomfort and alienation this holiday season, don't worry -- that's where Jesus is. You will find him there. You see, he lived his whole life there beginning at birth -- so that through seeking him by faith, you will find comfort and a home for Christmas.