Christmas Love

I had lunch today with three good friends of mine – all in vocational ministry.

One them is preaching regularly at a smaller membership church in rural South Carolina. Yesterday, he said, he preached on the topic of Christmas.

He said, “I told them that Jesus is not the reason for the season,” telling us that as he said those words the sanctuary got extremely quiet. What? You mean you don’t believe all those little stickers, signs and posters we Christians champion this time of year? Certainly, Jesus is the reason for the season!
My friend continued, “I told them that Jesus is not the reason for the season. You and I are the reason for the season; Jesus came for us.”

I like that.

You and I are the reasons for the season. Jesus came for us. He was and is the greatest Christmas gift there will ever be.

It’s like this:
Every man, woman and child is born separated from God and ticketed to a life and eternity apart from Him.

But, the Apostle John reminds us (directly quoting Jesus) in John 3:16-17 that “For God loved the world so much that He gave his one and only son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.” (NLT)

I like to call this Christmas Love.

God loved us so much that He . . . gave his son. He loved and He gave out of that love.

Doesn’t that just drip with what we long for at Christmas – to love someone so deeply that we just give to them sacrificially?
We always ask our boys for their Christmas wish list, but the gifts that provide Vicki and me with the most blessing are those not on the list. Those are the ones given out of love rather than want.

God’s gift to us – his son Jesus – was indeed a gift.

We don’t earn it.

We don’t deserve it.

We can’t steal it.

All that we do is believe in the gift – Jesus - and that guarantees a peaceful journey on this Earth and an eternity with our God.

But, it’s that believing that often gets us in trouble.

You see many will say they “believe” in Jesus, but what they are saying is that they believe He existed. That level of belief is not what John 3:16-17 is asking of us.

No, many will believe Jesus existed, but will not spend eternity with Him.

Believing goes deeper than acknowledging existence. Believing means that we trust Him, love Him, serve Him, seek Him, cry out to Him, talk to Him, and have relationship with Him.

Here’s a way to look at it. I believe that my son Richard exists. I see Him. He exists. But, this past weekend I believed in Him. I gave him a list of errands to run, and trusted him to be on task and not waste time, to manage my money responsibly, to drive responsibly, and make good decisions. I believed in Richard’s character and I believed in my relationship with him. I didn’t just believe he actually existed.

God’s gift us to requires that we don’t just believe – we believe.

Make the most of this Christmas week.

Begin or renew your relationship with our Lord, Jesus.

Live out faith by loving and serving others without condition. Be kind. Be encouraging. Be supportive. Be forgiving.

Be prepared to tell someone, anyone and everyone about your faith.

Experience Christmas Love.

Hope is not a cliche

The three of us were actually talking football when she approached us with the dew of tears in her eyes.

On cue, we paused our trivial conversation and turned to her with concern.

She asked for prayer, especially for her family and most importantly for the redemption of her marriage.

Right there we prayed over her, asking the Lord to bring His will to her marriage and to fill her with peace, surrounding her with friends to lift her up.

And, then one of my friends offered this innocent cliché : “It will all work out.”

All who know me, and have known me, know that I have a problem with cliché. It drives me crazy – empty expressions we toss around without even thinking about the meaning the words might have.

While it is true, for believers, things do work out . . . ultimately, we get to heaven and live eternally with our Lord . . . things don’t always work out the way we want them to here on Earth, but they always work out according to God’s will for our lives and to bring glory and worship to Him. After all, at the point of salvation, we step from living for self to living for Jesus – we are born again to a new way of living and thinking. And, in that, we can know and expect that all things, according to His will for us, are possible for God. And, that lifting our prayers to Him, expectantly, and wholly trusting His plan for our lives will bring immeasurable peace and joy to our lives.

For me, that is Hope: The wiggling of my life deep into the palms of God to a place that I just know and expect Him to take complete care of my present and future while I put my life’s compass on loving and serving Him and others.

Hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, the Jewish people expected a Savior. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 9:6-7: For a child is born to us, a son is given. The government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace . . . the passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” Do you see the confidence and the expectancy in those words? Think about it. The people who wrote and prayed that never saw Jesus, but they remained expectant and hopeful that God would hear them and answer them in His own good time and way.

Look what Jesus’ disciple, Matthew, later wrote in Matthew 11:3:  “John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah (Savior) was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “’Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting or should we keep looking for someone else.” You see, the Jewish people were hopeful – a Messiah had been promised, they expected it to come true, and it did.

Hope for believers is not simply that, ho-hum, “everything will work out” cliché but that as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “Three things will last forever – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.” In describing spiritual growth, Paul builds it around faith, hope and love. Hope is an attitude of faith and focus. Things don’t just “work out for me” – no – I KNOW they will work out for me. I KNOW that if I stay the course of faithfulness to the life God has planned for me – everything WILL work out. But, how I do know? Well, it’s about trust and faith, and I have that through my relationship with Jesus.

I know God does not want me to be lonely the rest of my life.
I know God will protect my children and point them back to the Godly home in which they were raised.
I know, if I am unemployed, that God has a plan to care for my family, to surround me with life preservers, and to call me closer to Him.
I know God has the power to restore relationships.
I know God has the power to restore and redeem my marriage.
I know God will bring me a peace as I minister to my aging parents, and protect relationships with my siblings.
I know God will get me through these painful holidays, which remind me of my loss column rather than my gain column.
I know God will point me to the best friend that I’ve ever had.
I know God can bind back Satan as He works to destroy my life through addictions.
I know God has the power to bring peace and relief to my physical problems, and to teach me about patience and kindness through them.
I know God has the power to mend my broken heart.
I know God has the power to bring a white, hot light to the darkness of my life, and cleanse me through a faith in Jesus.
I know God hears all of my prayers, and I know He will answer them in the way that is best for me.
I know God wants my lost family and friends to know Jesus, and I know that He is in the life-changing and life-saving business, and I know that He has the power to break and mend even the most lost heart.

Hope, for the believer, regardless of age or circumstance, race or pocket book, white collar or blue collar, GED or doctorate – Hope for the believer has, does and will always come down to this: An expectation that according to God’s will specific events can and will happen in my life. And, I can put my head on my pillow at night and put my feet on the floor in the morning, and KNOW, that God has control of my day – my relationships, my health, my finances, my spouse, my children, my parents and my siblings – every cell and fiber of my existence. God is in control. I can walk boldly and upright in this day with the Scriptural HOPE that God is in control of me.

In Mark 9:14-24, a man brings Jesus his demon-possessed son.

The boy’s father says, If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”
Jesus exclaims, “If you are able! – All things can be done for the one who believes.” (Jesus is saying that for those who believe in Him, they will have everything they need to serve Christ. God can do anything, and will do all things according to His will for us. But, even when He can’t or won’t magically give us what we desire, we will have peace over his response.”

When it's not a very Merry Christmas

I love Christmas. I really do.

You will never hear me beat on Santa Claus, Christmas presents, Christmas parties, Christmas trees and lights, Christmas cards, and even the wild shopping. I love every bit of it. I’m a player and a participant in all of it. But, I can distinguish between secular Christmas and the Christmas of my Savior. While the distinction blurs at times, they really are different approaches. And, it all becomes a suffocating blanket for many people (most people, really, at some point in their lives).

Many people use Christmas as a “me” holiday – drawing attention to self, wanting and wanting, and crying out for attention. You know that feeling you get when you’ve had too much sugar? You feel anxious. You feel empty even though you’ve eaten? You feel restless? Many people so over-indulge in the “me” of Christmas that they soon realize a desperate, hollowness around it all.

Many people are just weighed down by Christmas. Financial problems, strained relationships, the first Christmas without him or her, and isolation and loneliness engulf them. Some use Christmas as an ointment, believing the little song that goes, “Have yourself a merry Little Christmas, Let your heart be light, From now on our troubles will be out of sight.”

Many people have moved on to a darker place, realizing a little Christmas cheer isn’t going to make their problems disappear. Depression engulfs them.

The honest fact is that millions of people won’t experience “peace on Earth” this Christmas season. And, no matter how soon we start the celebration – October in big box retailers and playing radio Christmas music before Thanksgiving – Christmas as a secular holiday is not enough and will never be enough.

Only Jesus can bring peace to our lives, and that’s why His birthday is so wonderfully valuable to us.

As today, the world was a dark place on the night Jesus was born. People needed a Savior from the oppression of the Roman government and from their own leaders, who were “selling out” to the Roman government. And, at just the right time, God poured Himself into the darkness. God flipped a light switch through a beautiful star, and our Savior was born, and the opportunity for peace to one and all came into existence.

I know many, many people hurt at Christmas. I’ve been there. I know.

People don’t have the money they need to bless the people they love.

People are at odds with family, and they feel guilty over it.

People miss their loved ones; people miss Christmas “past.”

People are lonely. A single friend of mine said last week, “Being single is over-rated.” Everyone wants to love someone at Christmas. Romance blooms at Christmas.

People are sick and physically hurting.

People are realizing their grown children are moving on. They just don’t come around like they once did.

And, we cry out to Jesus, offering up our Christmas pain and problems made especially suffocating by all the lights, music, “pretty people” and excited rush around us.
And, Jesus hears our cries, but He has a different message for us than we might expect. In Luke 18:29-30, Jesus says this, “I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life and will have eternal life in the world to come.” (NLT)

Jesus, I believe, is saying to me, “Scott, don’t just bring me your pain and problems at Christmas. I want you – 12 months each year for the rest of your days. I want every cell and fiber of your being. I want you to unhinge from this world and hinge to me. I want you to reshuffle the deck of all your relationships so that I am at the top of the list. And, when I have you, completely, surrendered to my will for you, I will also have your problems and pains . . . and I will bring peace to your life. Your problems and pains won’t disappear, but your perspective of them will. And, I will surround you with people who can walk the journey with you and me, and as you live for me – loving and serving me and others – you will learn that the peace of today will be magnified through the eternity yet to come.”

Surrender your entire life to Jesus. He wants you before He wants your problems even though your problems may well open the door for you to embrace Him fully.
Instead of a “woe is me” Christmas, use Christmas to pour your life into the lives of others. The Christmas spirit is only caught by giving away self to others in the name of our Lord.

“All to Jesus, I surrender, All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.

I surrender all, I surrender all;

All to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”
 ~ “I Surrender All,” music my Judson Van DeVenter and words by Winfield Weeden.