Merry Christmas everyone! This is my third year doing my Christmas Eve post, so please enjoy reading!
My thought actually came a few weeks ago. It's simply this: Do we recognize Jesus? "Well sure we do...He's that little porcelain baby on my coffee table." We recognize Christmas as a celebration not of commercialism but of Christ's birth. Even non-believers get annoyed at the crazy commercialism of Christmas and recognize that there is something more to this holiday (Why are churches packed on Christmas Eve?). But do we really see Jesus for who He is and was? Do we decorate Him in lights? Do we act like Him? We have some work to do...
Last night in church, 4 people came up to the podium and gave their life testimonies, people from different stages of life. Our senior pastor also gave a quick testimony, saying "I've always thought myself as...average. I'm not incredibly athletic, not incredibly smart or good-looking, I'm just, average." But he used this to say that the angels that came to announce Jesus did not come to kings. They didn't come to high-ranking members of society. They came to shepherds. They came to these outcast, dirty, average, shepherds. Why is this important?
Imagine the scene where Jesus was. Here is Joseph and his 14-year old wife in labor with a child not of his blood. The two of them are likely staying with Joseph's family in Bethlehem, since they had to go back for Caesar's decreed census (Luke 2:1). Now multiple translations in verse 7 use the word "inn". I really have no idea why inn was used, but it paints a different picture in our American minds. The greek here is "kataluma" which is more accurate to mean "guest quarters". Most Jewish houses had guest quarters that were separate from the main rooms of the house, and with everyone returning to Bethlehem for census, it's easy to see why the house would be packed initially. So Mary goes out to the guest area where all the animals also sleep (hence the animals at nativity) and gives birth there. And of course Mary needs a crib of some kind or somewhere to lay Jesus...oh look, a feeding trough! And there lay Jesus. Eventually the shepherds came and the magi came to present their gifts. But even though the magi, these men of high position, came with gift of gold and myrrh and incense, my point is this: Jesus' birth was HUMBLE.
The point of this post is highlighted in the following verse. Matthew 11:29 - "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." I asked earlier if we truly recognize Jesus. When the true picture of Jesus' birth is painted, Brandon Heath's song Jesus In Disguise comes to mind: "Jesus in disguise, a scar across the sky. You were looking for a king you would never recognize." When we read the Christmas story, we as Americans tend to "Americanize" and "Hollywood" the real Christmas story. Why? Why can't we accept the birth of Christ as is? Well, because we're looking for a king we wouldn't recognize. We prefer the Revelation version of Jesus...the one who comes with an iron fist and pounds Satan to a pulp before sending him to the lake of fire. We don't recognize the one who came humbly, lived humbly, and used love as his main weapon. Take away the Bible from our minds just for a second, and imagine that we don't know Jesus. What is our first thought when we see this man have dinner with prostitutes? What do we think when we see him visiting disease-ridden lepers, the outcasts of society, the men that no one wants to be bothered with? My first thought would probably be "Ew." Think if we were members of our middle-class society, which we mostly are, and saw a 14-year old girl get pregnant to a respected elder in our church, unmarried. Christians AND non-Christians, isn't our snap reaction to judge them first? Mary, you whore. Way to knock her up, Joseph. News flash...through all of the jeers of society, that's how our king was born. Not in a royal palace, but in a feeding trough. He didn't dine with kings, he dined with the hated members of society. I'm not exempt from all of this...I've visited a homeless shelter all of once in my entire life, on a required field trip at school to sing Christmas carols and give gifts. I'm sitting comfortably in my apartment, I've shelled out about $500 on Christmas gifts this season, and not a dime of it went to feed someone hungry or homeless. Do I recognize Jesus?
Christmas is one day per year, and we have 364 days until the next one. The "Christmas spirit" will certainly fade as it always does, but we need to have the hearts to love others, because we're no better than the "outcasts". There was one other testimony in our Christmas eve service that was especially driving but I didn't get a chance to share it here. The man who gave his testimony spoke with a very business-like tone, was somewhere around 30-35, was in a full business suit, and opened with a very driving statement which is what I close with:
"Hey you. Yeah, you with the smart phone. Put down your game of solitaire for a second and listen to what I have to say. I didn't want to be up here, but I'm here. And certainly you can take a break for just a few minutes to listen to me. And I say this to you, because I AM you. Whatever list of sins you have, mine are worse."
Everyone, let's lead the example of Jesus. Whether it's family, friends, or complete strangers, love others and love God. Merry Christmas everyone...this day our Savior is born!
My thought actually came a few weeks ago. It's simply this: Do we recognize Jesus? "Well sure we do...He's that little porcelain baby on my coffee table." We recognize Christmas as a celebration not of commercialism but of Christ's birth. Even non-believers get annoyed at the crazy commercialism of Christmas and recognize that there is something more to this holiday (Why are churches packed on Christmas Eve?). But do we really see Jesus for who He is and was? Do we decorate Him in lights? Do we act like Him? We have some work to do...
Last night in church, 4 people came up to the podium and gave their life testimonies, people from different stages of life. Our senior pastor also gave a quick testimony, saying "I've always thought myself as...average. I'm not incredibly athletic, not incredibly smart or good-looking, I'm just, average." But he used this to say that the angels that came to announce Jesus did not come to kings. They didn't come to high-ranking members of society. They came to shepherds. They came to these outcast, dirty, average, shepherds. Why is this important?
Imagine the scene where Jesus was. Here is Joseph and his 14-year old wife in labor with a child not of his blood. The two of them are likely staying with Joseph's family in Bethlehem, since they had to go back for Caesar's decreed census (Luke 2:1). Now multiple translations in verse 7 use the word "inn". I really have no idea why inn was used, but it paints a different picture in our American minds. The greek here is "kataluma" which is more accurate to mean "guest quarters". Most Jewish houses had guest quarters that were separate from the main rooms of the house, and with everyone returning to Bethlehem for census, it's easy to see why the house would be packed initially. So Mary goes out to the guest area where all the animals also sleep (hence the animals at nativity) and gives birth there. And of course Mary needs a crib of some kind or somewhere to lay Jesus...oh look, a feeding trough! And there lay Jesus. Eventually the shepherds came and the magi came to present their gifts. But even though the magi, these men of high position, came with gift of gold and myrrh and incense, my point is this: Jesus' birth was HUMBLE.
The point of this post is highlighted in the following verse. Matthew 11:29 - "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." I asked earlier if we truly recognize Jesus. When the true picture of Jesus' birth is painted, Brandon Heath's song Jesus In Disguise comes to mind: "Jesus in disguise, a scar across the sky. You were looking for a king you would never recognize." When we read the Christmas story, we as Americans tend to "Americanize" and "Hollywood" the real Christmas story. Why? Why can't we accept the birth of Christ as is? Well, because we're looking for a king we wouldn't recognize. We prefer the Revelation version of Jesus...the one who comes with an iron fist and pounds Satan to a pulp before sending him to the lake of fire. We don't recognize the one who came humbly, lived humbly, and used love as his main weapon. Take away the Bible from our minds just for a second, and imagine that we don't know Jesus. What is our first thought when we see this man have dinner with prostitutes? What do we think when we see him visiting disease-ridden lepers, the outcasts of society, the men that no one wants to be bothered with? My first thought would probably be "Ew." Think if we were members of our middle-class society, which we mostly are, and saw a 14-year old girl get pregnant to a respected elder in our church, unmarried. Christians AND non-Christians, isn't our snap reaction to judge them first? Mary, you whore. Way to knock her up, Joseph. News flash...through all of the jeers of society, that's how our king was born. Not in a royal palace, but in a feeding trough. He didn't dine with kings, he dined with the hated members of society. I'm not exempt from all of this...I've visited a homeless shelter all of once in my entire life, on a required field trip at school to sing Christmas carols and give gifts. I'm sitting comfortably in my apartment, I've shelled out about $500 on Christmas gifts this season, and not a dime of it went to feed someone hungry or homeless. Do I recognize Jesus?
Christmas is one day per year, and we have 364 days until the next one. The "Christmas spirit" will certainly fade as it always does, but we need to have the hearts to love others, because we're no better than the "outcasts". There was one other testimony in our Christmas eve service that was especially driving but I didn't get a chance to share it here. The man who gave his testimony spoke with a very business-like tone, was somewhere around 30-35, was in a full business suit, and opened with a very driving statement which is what I close with:
"Hey you. Yeah, you with the smart phone. Put down your game of solitaire for a second and listen to what I have to say. I didn't want to be up here, but I'm here. And certainly you can take a break for just a few minutes to listen to me. And I say this to you, because I AM you. Whatever list of sins you have, mine are worse."
Everyone, let's lead the example of Jesus. Whether it's family, friends, or complete strangers, love others and love God. Merry Christmas everyone...this day our Savior is born!
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