Will 2021 be a better year? That all depends. What do you think a “better year” means? Is that a year where things get back to “normal”? Where restaurants and movie theaters are fully opened for business and Sunday services remind you of a prior time? Does it mean a year of less stress and more comfortable circumstances?
Instead of directly answering the questions I just posed, I have three questions I’m asking myself that I’d like to share with you:
How has experiencing 2020 helped me to know and love God more deeply?
How has experiencing 2020 helped me to know the truth about myself more clearly?
How has experiencing 2020 made me a more compassionate and grace-filled person toward others?
What would it look like to focus our eyes and our hearts primarily upon Jesus and His priorities? How would we evaluate the year 2020, and what would we hope for in 2021?
This week’s Last Word is best appreciated through its video, where you’ll find Jason reading the text along with a peek at Elim’s Christmas decorations.Click here to watch.
One of the most enduring memories of my childhood is staring at Christmas lights in the dark: lit-up trees, colorful houses, twinkling landscapes seen from the hills of Whittier. There’s always been something captivating and magical, not merely about Christmas lights, but about lights seen in the dark.
Light in the midst of darkness is one of the Bible’s many metaphors for God, or more specifically, for Jesus. In one of his many Messianic prophesies, Isaiah says, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isaiah 9:2). You can even see it in the words of Jesus Himself, when he says, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). The biblical tradition is rich with these kinds of illustrations.
Much can be gleaned from those phrases and the contexts in which they’re used, but my hope today is to get you to see something a bit simpler.
How easy is it to just gloss over these phrases? In our modern western culture, we’re very big on systematic approaches to theology. We unwrap metaphors and euphemisms for the meaning inside and toss them away as useless wrappers. We tend not to stop, appreciate, and feel the implications of the illustrative and vivid symbols that Scripture works with.
There’s a reason that Scripture isn’t really written as a theological dissertation. God wants us to gain something more from His word than just simple summary statements.
When we read that our God is the Light of the World, that His coming to us is a great light dawning in the dark, we’re meant to feel something visceral.
Consider this Christmas season sitting in the dark and looking at some lights. Find some beautiful tree or one of the area’s many beautiful lighting displays and sit and look. Sit in the dark and feel the warmth of the lights and look at how they radiate in a world that’s utterly dark around them. Sit quiet and still, and watch.
Scripture is rife with examples of how creation is designed to proclaim the glory of God, to pour forth speech and tell us about Him (Psalm 19). Know then that these lovely displays, ultimately, are shining not for their own sake, but that we may know just a little bit better the God of our rescue, the Light of the World Himself.
I don’t remember much about Christmases as a kid. I know we had a tree and lots of things wrapped under it. We didn’t have a lot in those days, but my mom and my dad, who was expressionless in words, loved us in giving what they could. I think we would open presents in the morning but got to open one on Christmas Eve. But the first Christmas I really remember something specific was probably in the month of April. I may be combining years, but only my mom and sisters could say differently. My dad had been away on an exceptionally long cruise aboard the USS Oriskany operating near Vietnam. He returned in the spring, and we waited to celebrate until he returned home. That “Christmas” morning I found a train set with a five-dollar bill wound up tightly and sticking out of a window of the caboose. The five is gone, but I still have the train set.
When I think of Christmas, I want it to be more than presents and things. Santa has never been anything more than a cartoon for me, but even the nativity is only part of the story. The first two chapters of Matthew and Luke are pretty much all we have telling us the account of Jesus’s birth, but they are packed with world-changing events.
Zechariah, Elizabeth, and John were relatives of Jesus, and John’s birth about six months ahead of Jesus’s birth puts a whole different light on Luke chapter 3 and the ministry of Jesus’s cousin John. This is the John who preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It is the John who would baptize Jesus and kick off his ministry, and John who would be martyred for his faithfulness.
Luke chapter 1 also tells of Mary, the young woman who was visited by an angel and told of her favor with God. She conceived Jesus because “the Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” A virgin, pledged to be married, but never having been intimate with a man, was pregnant. She lived in a small town in a time when it was unacceptable to be pregnant out of wedlock.
In Matthew chapter 1, we are told of Joseph learning of Mary’s pregnancy and his intent to break ties with her. The angel of the Lord visited Joseph, and he heard of the child Mary would bear. Matthew doesn’t name the angel, but Gabriel was the messenger to Zechariah and to Mary.
Luke chapter 2 tells of the journey to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, and the celebration in heaven where the worship spilled over to the Earth. Matthew 2 picks up the story a time later, when the Magi came looking for the king. They had seen a star rise and interpreted it as the sign of a king’s birth. Once in Jerusalem, the star led them to Bethlehem, where it no longer moved.
Herod knew the prophecy of the birth of a king, and when he heard the Magi were looking for him, Herod was scared for his own future. He schemed to get the Magi to lead him to the infant king and sent them to find Him. They did find Jesus and presented Him with the expensive gifts that we all know—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod.
Joseph was then warned to take his family to safety in Egypt. When Herod realized the Magi wouldn’t be telling him where to find the infant king, he ordered his men to kill all the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and under. But Jesus and His family were kept safe in Egypt until Joseph was again told to return home because Herod was dead.
So, Christmas is more than elves and reindeer, presents, family and parties. Christmas is a miraculous working of the Holy Spirit, foretold in Scripture, revealed in events, and it reveals the worst of mankind, politics, trickery, and murder. But in the end, the intricate weaving of events is the stage from which Jesus would be revealed decades later when the other baby of the Christmas story declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
It’s a huge story of intimate local events to global politics and stellar movements. It would be impossible to put together unless you were writing about it from a perspective of knowing the end from the beginning. Matthew and Luke were inspired to write by the Holy Spirit. That’s our God. At the time of our first sin, he already knew the plan of redemption, of how he would fix the mess we made. Jesus, the Lord saves. Merry Christmas!
Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I like the music, the lights, and—when you can find it—the goodwill. Fran and I normally wait until after Thanksgiving before we do any decorating, and we get a tree while others are shopping. But this year, we both wanted some cheer early, so we got decorations out the first week of November. I put up lights outside. I haven’t done that in a while, but I just wanted some color and Fran put up an artificial tree and decorated it (followed by a cut tree after Thanksgiving). You know, “Christmas starts with a tree.”
I have a radio in my office playing Christmas music, but it’s mostly weather—because, Baby, it’s cold outside—or traffic reports about Grandma’s unfortunate encounter with a reindeer. Those songs are fun, and I enjoy them, but I really like the traditional songs we sing when we gather. One of my favorites is “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”:
God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan’s pow’r
When we were gone astray
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
(verse 1)
That’s Christmas right there. Our Savior was born because we needed Him, we needed rescue. “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)
In Bethlehem, in Israel
This blessed Babe was born
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn
The which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
(verse 2)
Why Bethlehem? Micah prophesized, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
But Joseph and Mary, who was great with child, lived in Nazareth, 100 miles away. Why should they be in Bethlehem? They went to Bethlehem at great discomfort for her to obey the directive of the government with which they probably didn’t agree.
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” (Luke 2:1-5)
God used taxes and the Roman occupiers to fulfill prophecy. And that gives me great hope. In times when God’s people were under oppression, when things seemed lost, God sent his Son and He made the seemingly impossible, possible. This Christmas caps a distressing year, but God remains in control. Looking at our tree or the bushes in the yard or the trees on Elim’s stage, I am reminded of that hope, the promise of Christ.
Hark, the herald angels sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!”
When I packed up my belongings in the church study and went to work out of my home office back in March, I thought it would be a few weeks or a few months before I would return. Now it’s been over nine months!
The year 2020 will go down as a year of infamy, to use President Roosevelt’s term.
Thanksgiving was a bust. Well, no, the giving thanks part was fine, but it was not the normal way we have traditionally enjoyed this holiday season throughout the years.
Now we are in December cruising toward Christmas. It simply will not be the same. You might be experiencing a similar grief.
What am I going to do about it?
First, I plan to refresh my spirit each Sunday as I listen to the carols of the season. (Perhaps not singing this year will make singing all the more valuable in the future. Perhaps I will never, ever take singing for granted again!)
Second, I want to renew my mind with the precious truths of the coming of Jesus. I will be preaching on how to start Christmas from Matthew 1:1–2:16.
Third, I want to gaze on the seasonal decorations that grace our worship center. They warm my spirit with their beauty, wonder, and delight.
Fourth, I want to reflect once again on the key words of Christmas as highlighted through the advent candles: hope, peace, joy, and love. Jesus’s first advent came after seemingly endless years of waiting. We now await his second return. (How many times have I muttered under my breath this year, “This is a great time to return, Jesus!” So far, He has not complied with my wishful prayer to escape current discomfort! Instead, He is waiting for the time to fully come [Galatians 4:4], just as He waited for the right time to send the baby Jesus.)
Perhaps my Christmas this year will be less frivolous and more untraditional, but I anticipate it being deeper and more reflective. Meanwhile, I long for Him all the more!
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:15-17, NIV)
Thankfulness begins in our heart. What our mind, mouth and actions speak our heart says first: A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:45). When life goes well it can be easy to respond out of thankfulness and in agreement with others, but what happens when life does not go well? When there are challenging circumstances or disagreements that rise up within us, how do you respond? Do you respond with a thankful heart full of grace and love; a heart full of unforgiveness, judgment and condemnation; or a heart full of anxiety and fear? When faced with a wound or hurt do you easily forgive, or do you hold onto that hurt like a child’s security blanket that has been weathered to the point of disrepair? It is not what happens to us that matters, it is how we respond in our hearts, because our words and actions are an expression of our heart. The heart is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23), and the Lord sees the heart.
The Lord is clear in His word on how we are to respond: Love! Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). But what if it is hard to love others when we are faced with those challenges and conflicts? First, we have a mighty Father who wants to do this in us. He wants to be a part of our brokenness, for us to be willing to look deep into our hearts with Him for the unforgiveness and judgments we may have in our hearts from childhood to today. Why?
Because if we do not forgive, we are not forgiven. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15). Forgiveness is not excusing the offense, forgetting, denying the hurt or anger, or trusting the offender. Forgiveness is remitting the punishment or canceling the debt – a work of God’s grace in our lives.
We should also bring past and present judgments to an end, because we are judged in the same way if we don’t. Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:1-2). Have you ever wondered why you might be just like your mother or father, in a negative way? Could it be judgment? Just in case you were not sure what judgment is, it’s a sinful reaction to hurt – condemning those who hurt us about what they have done and about who they are.
The good news? We have a big God who wants to partner with us and heal us from the inside out. He wants to heal our hearts so our mourning can turn into joy (Jeremiah 31:13), so we can embrace the life He has given us and be thankful for our lives even in the midst of pain. Our Father cannot violate free will, but He is there weeping with you, angry for you. His heart breaks over you. What was intended for evil He wants to use for good, but we must be willing to go into the deep places of our hearts, invite Him in and address those wounds.
We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior who died on the Cross and was resurrected after three days for all humanity. Let’s take our unforgiveness, judgments and hurts to the Cross, reckoning them dead so that we can have new life. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood (Hebrews 12: 4). All suffering is meaningful when it is met with love and the resisting of sin.
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