Dec. 29 Sunday summaries

Isaiah 63:7–9 A short offering of praise, noting that the salvation of God’s people was only achieved through God, and that it came when they were at their most desperate. God pronounced them (the Israelites) as God’s beloved and was their source of strength when they were weak.

 Psalm 148 Another, more effusive offering of praise. The author goes through a long list of everything—animate and inanimate—that should shout out to God in praise. It reads almost like the second creation story in Genesis. The point is that all things, both material and spiritual, are of God and owe their existence to God. 

 Hebrews 2:10–18 The first big claim in this text is that the sanctifier (Jesus) and the sanctified (us) are born of the same spiritual father (God). This is why Jesus considers us all brothers and sisters. The second is about what is achieved by Jesus’s suffering and death: an atonement for human sin. 

 Matthew 2:13–23 An angel tells Joseph in a dream to get his new family out of the area because of the planned assassination by King Herod. They stay in Egypt until Herod dies, which, the author notes, fulfils the prophecy that the Messiah would be called out of Egypt. Herod is so mad about their escape that he punishes the Israelites by killing all of their male babies younger than two. After Herod’s death, Joseph and his family return but avoid their home territory because of a ruler they fear. They settle in Nazareth, which fulfils the prophecy that the Messiah would be a Nazarene.

Dec. 29- Jan 4 week as a whole

Isaiah 63:7–9 A short offering of praise, noting that the salvation of God’s people was only achieved through God, and that it came when they were at their most desperate. God pronounced them (the Israelites) as God’s beloved and was their source of strength when they were weak.

 Psalm 148 Another, more effusive offering of praise. The author goes through a long list of everything—animate and inanimate—that should shout out to God in praise. It reads almost like the second creation story in Genesis. The point is that all things, both material and spiritual, are of God and owe their existence to God. 

 Hebrews 2:10–18 The first big claim in this text is that the sanctifier (Jesus) and the sanctified (us) are born of the same spiritual father (God). This is why Jesus considers us all brothers and sisters. The second is about what is achieved by Jesus’s suffering and death: an atonement for human sin. 

 Matthew 2:13–23 An angel tells Joseph in a dream to get his new family out of the area because of the planned assassination by King Herod. They stay in Egypt until Herod dies, which, the author notes, fulfils the prophecy that the Messiah would be called out of Egypt. Herod is so mad about their escape that he punishes the Israelites by killing all of their male babies younger than two. After Herod’s death, Joseph and his family return but avoid their home territory because of a ruler they fear. They settle in Nazareth, which fulfils the prophecy that the Messiah would be a Nazarene.

 Horn—Ram or ox horns were symbols that represented power in ancient cultures like the one referred to in Psalm 148. It may suggest that all of this praise is spurred by a victory over an enemy or oppressor. 

Archelaus—This governor’s full name was actually Herod Archelaus but was probably listed as “Archelaus” to avoid confusion with Herod the Great, who was his father, or Herod Antipas, his brother. Antipas was the ruler over the territory where Bethlehem was at the time of Jesus’s death, and Archelaus presided over Judea, to the south. 

Ramah—A territory in ancient Israel occupied by the tribe descended from Abraham. It’s noted specifically in this Gospel because after King Herod orders the murder of babies throughout the region in an effort to kill this new Messiah, there is of course pervasive mourning over the devastating losses. This, the author notes, fulfils the prophecy stated by Jeremiah that there will be weeping from mothers in the land of Rachel, Benjamin’s mother. 

It may seem kind of weird to be talking about Jesus’s suffering and death so soon after his birth. It certainly feeds the notion that Christians are pretty fixated on a suffering Christ. More on that Friday. 

Why we’d be talking about Jesus’s death is explained a little bit more once we get to the Gospel, though, with Herod already trying to kill him before he’s hardly drawn a breath. 

The Psalms and Isaiah texts present a theologically interesting take on God, one that some Christians would label as heretical. So of course we’re going to talk about it! This idea that all things, living and not, are of God and contained within God has echoes of what some might call a “panentheist” view of God. Whereas a pantheist way of thinking would be that God is in all things, panentheism says that all things are within God. The beautiful thing about this is that it eliminates this perceived division between the physical and metaphysical. It’s all contained within God’s holy embrace or, if you prefer, God’s holy womb.

What Child Is This?

What child is this

Who laid to rest

On Mary’s lap is sleeping

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet

While shepherds watch are keeping

This, this is Christ the king

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing

Haste, haste to bring him praise

The babe, the son of Mary

He lies in such a lowly place

Where ox and ass are feeding

The end of fear for all who hear

The silent word is speaking

This, this is Christ the king

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing

Haste, haste to bring him praise

The babe, the son of Mary

So bring him incense

Gold and myrrh

Come peasant king to love him;

The king of kings salvation brings

Let loving hearts enthrone him

This, this is Christ the king

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing

Haste, haste to bring him praise

The babe, the son of Mary

Raise, raise the song on high

The virgin sings her lullaby:

Joy, joy for Christ is born

The babe, the son of Mary

In the Old Testament, we find the idea that God enters into the sufferings of his people. “in all their afflictions, He was afflicted.” (Isa 63.9) The relation of God to the woes of the world is not that of a mere spectator. The New Testament goes further, and says that God is love. But that is not love which, in the presence of acute suffering, can stand outside and aloof. The doctrine that Christ is the image of the unseen God means that God does not stand outside.    B. H. Streeter

Sorry no testimony this week but a counterpoint to tomorrow’s thought from J. Hudson Taylor.

Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to One who appointed him, and left us an example that we should follow. 

To save man he became Man – not merely like man, but very man. In language, in costume, in everything unsinful, he made himself one with those he sought to benefit.

Had he been born a noble Roman rather than a Jew, he would perhaps have commanded more of a certain kind of respect; and he would assuredly have been spared much indignity. This however, was not his aim; he emptied himself.

Surely no follower of the meek and lowly Jesus will be likely to conclude that it is beneath the dignity of a Christian to seek identification with poor people, in the hope that he may see them washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Let us be followers of him. 

If you struggle with the common Christian claim that Jesus suffered and died to make good for all of our sins, then here we are, faced with it in the Hebrews text. No sooner do we celebrate the fat, little, happy baby Jesus than we jump right to the bloody, horrible part. But it’s important to understand that all of Jesus’s life—birth included—is framed by death, or at least mortality. If we’re honest, all of our lives are framed by the same thing. Life is precious in large part because it is finite. While we do risk losing sight of the significance of Jesus’s life in focusing too much on his death, we can’t ignore its importance either. 

We also have a long-running and insatiable need to find an answer for suffering. From the first book in the Bible, we’re presented with the correlation between our sins and our suffering. Adam will labour and Eve will endure labour (the childbirth kind) because they sought to know the mind of God. David and the Israelites determine that their many misfortunes are because they’ve screwed up in God’s eyes. So why do we suffer? One time-tested explanation is that we deserve it. While I don’t contest the idea that much of our suffering is brought upon ourselves, I will push back against the notion that God places suffering on us as a price we have to pay for offending God. Also, this exposes the problem of why Jesus, supposedly without sin, also had to suffer, just like us. 

Kind of blows the whole “We suffer because God is punishing us” hypothesis out of the water, doesn’t it?

 So rather than reframing our entire understanding of the entirety of Scripture as a collection of texts gathered from imperfect people, recording glimpses of their imperfect efforts to understand and explain a perfect God, we try to make a suffering Messiah make sense. In this scenario, Jesus suffered and underwent death—entirely undeserved—in order to take on the weight of our collective sin and conquer death. Seems neat, straightforward, and consistent with all of the rest of the texts, right? 

But we need to look more closely at the words toward the end of the Hebrews text. Hebrews 2:17–18 specifically:

 Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. 

It doesn’t actually seem to say here that Jesus’s blood, suffering, or death particularly satisfied God in any way. In fact, the only mention of God is regarding Jesus’s merciful and faithful service to the world for God. Yes, it does say that a sacrifice atones for our sins, but in the next verse it explains why that suffering was atoning.

 Jesus was tested just like we are by both the prospect and the real experience of suffering. He would have been happy to take a pass on the whole agony-and-death thing; he said as much in the garden at Gethsemane. But although he was tempted to run away or fight back, he faced the threat head-on, refusing to waver in his commitment to living out his conviction that love was more important that even life itself. Jesus was tested and prevailed because he was unmoved in his commitment. Love would redeem him, and us, even in the face of the worst moments imaginable. Maybe then—just maybe—we’d get it. Yes, God/Jesus really meant all that stuff. It wasn’t just talk. It was actually enough to outweigh all of the pain of living and, even the prospect of death itself. The terrible beast was declawed, leaving something real but without power to be the Prime Mover in our existence.

 Jesus finally knew it was possible and that the thing in which he placed all of his faith pulled him through. And now, thanks to him forging that path, he can show us how to get there. In doing so, Jesus’s life is no longer framed by his death. His grasp of the true fullness of what existence is, and that’s liberating. 

Contact (movie 1997)

Thought I would end the year with an A to Z poem.

Although things are not perfect 

Because of trial and pain

Continue in thanksgiving 

Do not begin to blame

Even when the times are hard 

Fierce winds are bound to blow 

God is forever able

Hold on to what you know

Imagine life without His love

Joy would cease to be

Keep thanking Him for all the things

Love imparts to thee 

Move out of “Camp Complaining"

No weapon that is known 

On earth can yield the power

Praise can do alone

Quit looking at the future

Redeem the time at hand

Start every day with worship

To “thank" is a command

Until we see Him coming 

Victorious in the sky

We'll run the race with gratitude

X-alting God most high

Yes, there'll be good times and yes, some will be bad,

But...

Zion waits in glory...where none are ever sad

God, help me look deeper, past the hurt and tragedy. I don't need to ignore the reality of pain, but help me recognise that there are paths through it, with your help. Amen

Dec 30 Monday meanings

Horn—Ram or ox horns were symbols that represented power in ancient cultures like the one referred to in Psalm 148. It may suggest that all of this praise is spurred by a victory over an enemy or oppressor. 

Archelaus—This governor’s full name was actually Herod Archelaus but was probably listed as “Archelaus” to avoid confusion with Herod the Great, who was his father, or Herod Antipas, his brother. Antipas was the ruler over the territory where Bethlehem was at the time of Jesus’s death, and Archelaus presided over Judea, to the south. 

Ramah—A territory in ancient Israel occupied by the tribe descended from Abraham. It’s noted specifically in this Gospel because after King Herod orders the murder of babies throughout the region in an effort to kill this new Messiah, there is of course pervasive mourning over the devastating losses. This, the author notes, fulfils the prophecy stated by Jeremiah that there will be weeping from mothers in the land of Rachel, Benjamin’s mother. 

Dec 31 Tuesday thoughts

It may seem kind of weird to be talking about Jesus’s suffering and death so soon after his birth. It certainly feeds the notion that Christians are pretty fixated on a suffering Christ. More on that Friday. 

Why we’d be talking about Jesus’s death is explained a little bit more once we get to the Gospel, though, with Herod already trying to kill him before he’s hardly drawn a breath. 

The Psalms and Isaiah texts present a theologically interesting take on God, one that some Christians would label as heretical. So of course we’re going to talk about it! This idea that all things, living and not, are of God and contained within God has echoes of what some might call a “panentheist” view of God. Whereas a pantheist way of thinking would be that God is in all things, panentheism says that all things are within God. The beautiful thing about this is that it eliminates this perceived division between the physical and metaphysical. It’s all contained within God’s holy embrace or, if you prefer, God’s holy womb.

Jan 1 Wednesday Wisdom and Worship

What Child Is This?

What child is this

Who laid to rest

On Mary’s lap is sleeping

Whom angels greet with anthems sweet

While shepherds watch are keeping

This, this is Christ the king

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing

Haste, haste to bring him praise

The babe, the son of Mary

He lies in such a lowly place

Where ox and ass are feeding

The end of fear for all who hear

The silent word is speaking

This, this is Christ the king

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing

Haste, haste to bring him praise

The babe, the son of Mary

So bring him incense

Gold and myrrh

Come peasant king to love him;

The king of kings salvation brings

Let loving hearts enthrone him

This, this is Christ the king

Whom shepherds guard and angels sing

Haste, haste to bring him praise

The babe, the son of Mary

Raise, raise the song on high

The virgin sings her lullaby:

Joy, joy for Christ is born

The babe, the son of Mary

In the Old Testament, we find the idea that God enters into the sufferings of his people. “in all their afflictions, He was afflicted.” (Isa 63.9) The relation of God to the woes of the world is not that of a mere spectator. The New Testament goes further, and says that God is love. But that is not love which, in the presence of acute suffering, can stand outside and aloof. The doctrine that Christ is the image of the unseen God means that God does not stand outside.    B. H. Streeter

Jan 2 Thursday 'thought'

Sorry no testimony this week but a counterpoint to tomorrow’s thought from J. Hudson Taylor.

Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to One who appointed him, and left us an example that we should follow. 

To save man he became Man – not merely like man, but very man. In language, in costume, in everything unsinful, he made himself one with those he sought to benefit.

Had he been born a noble Roman rather than a Jew, he would perhaps have commanded more of a certain kind of respect; and he would assuredly have been spared much indignity. This however, was not his aim; he emptied himself.

Surely no follower of the meek and lowly Jesus will be likely to conclude that it is beneath the dignity of a Christian to seek identification with poor people, in the hope that he may see them washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Let us be followers of him. 

Jan 3 Friday focus

If you struggle with the common Christian claim that Jesus suffered and died to make good for all of our sins, then here we are, faced with it in the Hebrews text. No sooner do we celebrate the fat, little, happy baby Jesus than we jump right to the bloody, horrible part. But it’s important to understand that all of Jesus’s life—birth included—is framed by death, or at least mortality. If we’re honest, all of our lives are framed by the same thing. Life is precious in large part because it is finite. While we do risk losing sight of the significance of Jesus’s life in focusing too much on his death, we can’t ignore its importance either. 

We also have a long-running and insatiable need to find an answer for suffering. From the first book in the Bible, we’re presented with the correlation between our sins and our suffering. Adam will labour and Eve will endure labour (the childbirth kind) because they sought to know the mind of God. David and the Israelites determine that their many misfortunes are because they’ve screwed up in God’s eyes. So why do we suffer? One time-tested explanation is that we deserve it. While I don’t contest the idea that much of our suffering is brought upon ourselves, I will push back against the notion that God places suffering on us as a price we have to pay for offending God. Also, this exposes the problem of why Jesus, supposedly without sin, also had to suffer, just like us. 

Kind of blows the whole “We suffer because God is punishing us” hypothesis out of the water, doesn’t it?

 So rather than reframing our entire understanding of the entirety of Scripture as a collection of texts gathered from imperfect people, recording glimpses of their imperfect efforts to understand and explain a perfect God, we try to make a suffering Messiah make sense. In this scenario, Jesus suffered and underwent death—entirely undeserved—in order to take on the weight of our collective sin and conquer death. Seems neat, straightforward, and consistent with all of the rest of the texts, right? 

But we need to look more closely at the words toward the end of the Hebrews text. Hebrews 2:17–18 specifically:

 Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. 

It doesn’t actually seem to say here that Jesus’s blood, suffering, or death particularly satisfied God in any way. In fact, the only mention of God is regarding Jesus’s merciful and faithful service to the world for God. Yes, it does say that a sacrifice atones for our sins, but in the next verse it explains why that suffering was atoning.

 Jesus was tested just like we are by both the prospect and the real experience of suffering. He would have been happy to take a pass on the whole agony-and-death thing; he said as much in the garden at Gethsemane. But although he was tempted to run away or fight back, he faced the threat head-on, refusing to waver in his commitment to living out his conviction that love was more important that even life itself. Jesus was tested and prevailed because he was unmoved in his commitment. Love would redeem him, and us, even in the face of the worst moments imaginable. Maybe then—just maybe—we’d get it. Yes, God/Jesus really meant all that stuff. It wasn’t just talk. It was actually enough to outweigh all of the pain of living and, even the prospect of death itself. The terrible beast was declawed, leaving something real but without power to be the Prime Mover in our existence.

 Jesus finally knew it was possible and that the thing in which he placed all of his faith pulled him through. And now, thanks to him forging that path, he can show us how to get there. In doing so, Jesus’s life is no longer framed by his death. His grasp of the true fullness of what existence is, and that’s liberating. 

Jan 4 Saturday sundries

Contact (movie 1997)

Thought I would end the year with an A to Z poem.

Although things are not perfect 

Because of trial and pain

Continue in thanksgiving 

Do not begin to blame

Even when the times are hard 

Fierce winds are bound to blow 

God is forever able

Hold on to what you know

Imagine life without His love

Joy would cease to be

Keep thanking Him for all the things

Love imparts to thee 

Move out of “Camp Complaining"

No weapon that is known 

On earth can yield the power

Praise can do alone

Quit looking at the future

Redeem the time at hand

Start every day with worship

To “thank" is a command

Until we see Him coming 

Victorious in the sky

We'll run the race with gratitude

X-alting God most high

Yes, there'll be good times and yes, some will be bad,

But...

Zion waits in glory...where none are ever sad

Dec 29- Jan 4 prayer for the week

God, help me look deeper, past the hurt and tragedy. I don't need to ignore the reality of pain, but help me recognise that there are paths through it, with your help. Amen

Christmas prayer

Be enough love for both of us, God, when I can’t seem to hold up my end. I’ll keep working at it, but don’t give up on me. Amen

Christmas sundries

Miracles

I wish we could see life as an ordinary miracle

I wish that we realize that we are a miracle

I want to feel like I give my own life to show everyone that their life is a miracle

Our hearts yearn for love

Our hearts yearn for comfort

Miracles surround us

But we are too blind to see

How many miracles we face every day

Life is a miracle 

Friends are a miracle 

I am a miracle

YOU are a miracle

Through God ordinary miracles happen every day

We just need to take the time to look for them.

Look for miracles

Look in the mirror to find the first one

Trust me

It’s worth it                   Kim Burton (18)

Christmas testimony

Believing the church in China needed educated women to be Christian wives and mothers, as well as Bible women and evangelists, Mildred Cable and Eva French opened a girls' school in Huozhou, China in 1904. They began with twenty four students, but before the year was out they had seventy women and girls in attendance. In 1908 Eva's sister Francesca joined the work, and the three women worked together for the rest of their lives, becoming known as ‘The Trio'.

The school continued to grow and graduated its first class of teachers in 1913. Over a period of twenty years, approximately 1,000 girls we’re educated at the school. Many of the girls went on to become teachers themselves, impacting Chinese education throughout the region. In 1923, when the Governor of Shanxi decided to open seventy new provincial schools for girls, he called on the Trio’s students and teachers to staff the schools.

At that time Dr Kao, a Christian Chinese doctor, invited the Trio to come and help in reaching out to Muslims, Tibetan and Mongolian people in the interior. When the women heard of the Silk Road, stretching a thousand miles from Gansu province to Xinjiang province, and the need for evangelism among the people in remote areas, they answered the call. The three travelled by mule cart. Eight hundred miles and nine months from Huozhou, they arrived at their first stop, Zhangye. The pastor at the small church there said they were an answer to prayer. In the coming months The Trio conducted a Bible school for men and women, taught reading classes, and travelled into the surrounding villages to preach the gospel. They set up a tent at the village fairs, and people gathered to listen to the Christian message. The size of the church congregation doubled, and many natives were trained in the work of evangelism.

The Trio then moved on to Jiuquan and Dunhuang, which was a crossroads for people from India, China and Tibet and had a heavy Muslim population. They later followed the Silk Road to the Russian border, crossing portions of the Gobi Desert. After a furlough in England, The Trio returned to China in 1928, in the midst of a civil war. They retraced their steps along the Silk Road, encouraging the Christians in their faith, visiting 2,700 homes, conducting 665 meetings and selling 40,000 copies of Scripture. 

During the war Muslim forces gained control of 600 miles of the Silk Road and the city of Dunhuang. The Muslim general, noted for his cruelty, summoned The Trio to the army headquarters eighty miles away and asked them to bring their medical supplies. They treated the general’s wounds. Once they had healed, Mildred asked permission for them to leave. She also asked him to consider the life he led, and he accepted from her a New Testament. 

In 1936, the communists required The Trio, along with other foreigners, to leave China, Mildred and Francesca later wrote of their travels in The Gobi Desert, which continues to be an excellent guide into that remote region today. 

Christmas worship and wisdom

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the new-born King! 

Peace on earth, and mercy mild, 

God and sinners reconciled." 

Joyful, all ye nations, rise, 

Join the triumph of the skies; 

With th' angelic host proclaim, 

"Christ is born in Bethlehem." 

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the new-born King!

Christ, by highest heaven adored: 

Christ, the everlasting Lord; 

Late in time behold him come, 

Offspring of the favoured one. 

Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; 

Hail, th'incarnate Deity: 

Pleased, as man, with men to dwell, 

Jesus, our Emmanuel! 

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the new-born King!

Hail! the heaven-born 

Prince of peace! 

Hail! the Son of Righteousness! 

Light and life to all he brings, 

Risen with healing in his wings 

Mild he lays his glory by, 

Born that man no more may die: 

Born to raise the son of earth, 

Born to give them second birth. 

Hark! the herald angels sing,

"Glory to the new-born King !"

The Church has no mission of its own. All we can have by ourselves is a club or a debating society; and our only hope, left to ourselves, is to win as many members for our own club and away from other clubs as we can. And whatever this is, it is not Mission. Mission belongs to God. The Mission was His from the beginning; it is His; it will always be His. He has His purposes from the foundation of the world, and the means to fulfil them; and the only part the Church has in this is obedience—a share in the eternal and life-giving obedience of the Son of God... And the most terrible judgment on the Church comes when God leaves us to our own devices because He is tired of waiting for our obedience—leaves us to be the domestic chaplains to a comfortable secular world—and goes Himself into the wilderness of human need and injustice and pain. This judgment does come on churches and nations, when they forget that God is in command, that He does the choosing.          Stephen Bayne

Christmas thoughts

Note that in this nativity story, there’s no mention of kings. That’s because they don’t come along in the story until Epiphany, which comes after Christmas. Epiphany lasts for twelve days after Jesus’s birth, which is where the twelve days of Christmas come from. 

It’s also interesting that the story in Luke makes no mention of how many shepherds are involved. We usually have three in the nativity scenes, likely because it lends some aesthetic balance to the setting. But it’s not biblically based. 

Finally, if you see a nativity set—especially at a church—with Jesus in the manger before Christmas, think about how weird that is. 

If the point of Christmas is to celebrate the arrival, and if Advent is about the anticipation leading up to that birth, shouldn’t the manger be empty until Christmas day, much like we depict an empty cross on Easter? Sometimes it’s worth getting a new perspective on our traditions in order to help bring us more into the present moment so we really see what’s in front of us, engaging it with our whole selves rather than letting ourselves get half-numb to the familiarity of it all. 

Bonus Christmas readings

Isaiah 9:2–7 This is one of the most common non-Gospel texts read at a Christmas worship service. It is a key text that authors of the Gospel, Paul in the Epistles, and even Jesus himself refer back to in order to emphasize that Jesus is the one described here as coming. This “great light” breaks the bonds of oppression and ends hunger and violence. In particular, the text notes that David’s kingdom will endure and will do so in peace. 

 Psalm 96 A call for praise to the God of Israel, who is to be seen as superior to all other god-figures over anything else we might worship instead. It also calls us to spread the word about this God and that God will judge the world righteously. 

Titus 2:11–14 This brief and often overlooked text packs a lot into a couple of sentences. It speaks of Jesus’s time on earth as the embodiment of God’s grace, reminds the audience that he came to reconcile us once and for all with God, and speaks to the anticipation of his coming again after his death and resurrection.

 Luke 2:1–14 Similarly densely packed, this text covers Mary and Joseph’s travels to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, and the annunciation by the angel to the shepherds about the birth of the Messiah.

Day of Midian—Midian is a son of Abraham, so Midianites are considered descendants who are supposed to be a part of God’s chosen people. Though they have established their autonomy from Israel (establishing the territory also called Midian), Israel later conquers them, bringing them back into the greater nation of Israel. 

Bethlehem—It is necessary in the Gospels for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah will be born there, as stated in the book of Micah.

Quirinius—Quirinius is the governor of the territory where Bethlehem is at the time of Jesus’s birth. For the sake of grouping territory for the census—which the Israelites really hate having to do—the regions of Syria and Judah are combined into one under his oversight

Note that in this nativity story, there’s no mention of kings. That’s because they don’t come along in the story until Epiphany, which comes after Christmas. Epiphany lasts for twelve days after Jesus’s birth, which is where the twelve days of Christmas come from. 

It’s also interesting that the story in Luke makes no mention of how many shepherds are involved. We usually have three in the nativity scenes, likely because it lends some aesthetic balance to the setting. But it’s not biblically based. 

Finally, if you see a nativity set—especially at a church—with Jesus in the manger before Christmas, think about how weird that is. 

If the point of Christmas is to celebrate the arrival, and if Advent is about the anticipation leading up to that birth, shouldn’t the manger be empty until Christmas day, much like we depict an empty cross on Easter? Sometimes it’s worth getting a new perspective on our traditions in order to help bring us more into the present moment so we really see what’s in front of us, engaging it with our whole selves rather than letting ourselves get half-numb to the familiarity of it all. 

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the new-born King! 

Peace on earth, and mercy mild, 

God and sinners reconciled." 

Joyful, all ye nations, rise, 

Join the triumph of the skies; 

With th' angelic host proclaim, 

"Christ is born in Bethlehem." 

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the new-born King!

Christ, by highest heaven adored: 

Christ, the everlasting Lord; 

Late in time behold him come, 

Offspring of the favoured one. 

Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; 

Hail, th'incarnate Deity: 

Pleased, as man, with men to dwell, 

Jesus, our Emmanuel! 

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the new-born King!

Hail! the heaven-born 

Prince of peace! 

Hail! the Son of Righteousness! 

Light and life to all he brings, 

Risen with healing in his wings 

Mild he lays his glory by, 

Born that man no more may die: 

Born to raise the son of earth, 

Born to give them second birth. 

Hark! the herald angels sing,

"Glory to the new-born King !"

The Church has no mission of its own. All we can have by ourselves is a club or a debating society; and our only hope, left to ourselves, is to win as many members for our own club and away from other clubs as we can. And whatever this is, it is not Mission. Mission belongs to God. The Mission was His from the beginning; it is His; it will always be His. He has His purposes from the foundation of the world, and the means to fulfil them; and the only part the Church has in this is obedience—a share in the eternal and life-giving obedience of the Son of God... And the most terrible judgment on the Church comes when God leaves us to our own devices because He is tired of waiting for our obedience—leaves us to be the domestic chaplains to a comfortable secular world—and goes Himself into the wilderness of human need and injustice and pain. This judgment does come on churches and nations, when they forget that God is in command, that He does the choosing.          Stephen Bayne

Believing the church in China needed educated women to be Christian wives and mothers, as well as Bible women and evangelists, Mildred Cable and Eva French opened a girls' school in Huozhou, China in 1904. They began with twenty four students, but before the year was out they had seventy women and girls in attendance. In 1908 Eva's sister Francesca joined the work, and the three women worked together for the rest of their lives, becoming known as ‘The Trio'.

The school continued to grow and graduated its first class of teachers in 1913. Over a period of twenty years, approximately 1,000 girls we’re educated at the school. Many of the girls went on to become teachers themselves, impacting Chinese education throughout the region. In 1923, when the Governor of Shanxi decided to open seventy new provincial schools for girls, he called on the Trio’s students and teachers to staff the schools.

At that time Dr Kao, a Christian Chinese doctor, invited the Trio to come and help in reaching out to Muslims, Tibetan and Mongolian people in the interior. When the women heard of the Silk Road, stretching a thousand miles from Gansu province to Xinjiang province, and the need for evangelism among the people in remote areas, they answered the call. The three travelled by mule cart. Eight hundred miles and nine months from Huozhou, they arrived at their first stop, Zhangye. The pastor at the small church there said they were an answer to prayer. In the coming months The Trio conducted a Bible school for men and women, taught reading classes, and travelled into the surrounding villages to preach the gospel. They set up a tent at the village fairs, and people gathered to listen to the Christian message. The size of the church congregation doubled, and many natives were trained in the work of evangelism.

The Trio then moved on to Jiuquan and Dunhuang, which was a crossroads for people from India, China and Tibet and had a heavy Muslim population. They later followed the Silk Road to the Russian border, crossing portions of the Gobi Desert. After a furlough in England, The Trio returned to China in 1928, in the midst of a civil war. They retraced their steps along the Silk Road, encouraging the Christians in their faith, visiting 2,700 homes, conducting 665 meetings and selling 40,000 copies of Scripture. 

During the war Muslim forces gained control of 600 miles of the Silk Road and the city of Dunhuang. The Muslim general, noted for his cruelty, summoned The Trio to the army headquarters eighty miles away and asked them to bring their medical supplies. They treated the general’s wounds. Once they had healed, Mildred asked permission for them to leave. She also asked him to consider the life he led, and he accepted from her a New Testament. 

In 1936, the communists required The Trio, along with other foreigners, to leave China, Mildred and Francesca later wrote of their travels in The Gobi Desert, which continues to be an excellent guide into that remote region today. 

 If we take the story of Jesus being born in Bethlehem literally, the Holy Family has no choice but to go there because of the census being taken. In this case, it’s interesting to think that the Roman Empire—the very force that Jesus ends up standing up to, costing him his life—is an integral agent in the fulfilment of this biblical prophecy. 

If we fast-forward to the end of Jesus’s ministry (yes, I know it’s not Easter), given that the Roman Empire also is the collective agent of his crucifixion, we could say that the “enemy” helped hasten the fullness of his becoming the Christ he comes to be. 

It is not just the innkeeper who allows the Holy Family to stay in his stables who helps solidify the understanding of Jesus as a humble servant of the poor; the very opportunity would never have presented itself had they not been rejected repeatedly by the first innkeepers with whom they sought shelter. 

It’s a curious thing, this Jesus story. At every turn, there seems to be something pressing against the direction God desires for Jesus, and yet he emerges on the other side, not unmarked by the experience, but transformed in a way that seems like an even more complete picture of the Jesus who was prophesied. 

This could reveal some uncomfortable things about God, depending on how we look at it. If God willed all of these things to happen, it’s a pretty twisted way to show love to an only son. Or maybe Jesus is collateral damage in a larger story, with all of the means justifying the greater end of human salvation. 

On the other hand, maybe people just do horrible things to each other sometimes. Maybe God doesn’t intercede because if God did, these constant lifelines would ultimately prohibit us from growing. Or maybe suffering is more of an inevitability rather than a necessity. Maybe God knows that though we have the capacity to know and do better, we won’t all the time. And maybe God can work in the midst of those worst moments of humanity too. 

In the midst of a foreign occupation, faced with scandal, likely marital tension, potential poverty, far from home and absent a true resting place in a moment of greatest need, love, grace, peace, and hope still push their way through into the world. Yes, it’s messy, painful, and not exactly what we expected, but it’s beautiful regardless. It’s irrepressible in its aim to transform, despite the fear and violence with which that transformation is met. 

We may be able to change how it looks or the places where it’s found, but love is insistent. It’s inevitable. It simply is.

Miracles

I wish we could see life as an ordinary miracle

I wish that we realize that we are a miracle

I want to feel like I give my own life to show everyone that their life is a miracle

Our hearts yearn for love

Our hearts yearn for comfort

Miracles surround us

But we are too blind to see

How many miracles we face every day

Life is a miracle 

Friends are a miracle 

I am a miracle

YOU are a miracle

Through God ordinary miracles happen every day

We just need to take the time to look for them.

Look for miracles

Look in the mirror to find the first one

Trust me

It’s worth it                   Kim Burton (18)

Be enough love for both of us, God, when I can’t seem to hold up my end. I’ll keep working at it, but don’t give up on me. Amen

Christmas summaries

Isaiah 9:2–7 This is one of the most common non-Gospel texts read at a Christmas worship service. It is a key text that authors of the Gospel, Paul in the Epistles, and even Jesus himself refer back to in order to emphasize that Jesus is the one described here as coming. This “great light” breaks the bonds of oppression and ends hunger and violence. In particular, the text notes that David’s kingdom will endure and will do so in peace. 

 Psalm 96 A call for praise to the God of Israel, who is to be seen as superior to all other god-figures over anything else we might worship instead. It also calls us to spread the word about this God and that God will judge the world righteously. 

Titus 2:11–14 This brief and often overlooked text packs a lot into a couple of sentences. It speaks of Jesus’s time on earth as the embodiment of God’s grace, reminds the audience that he came to reconcile us once and for all with God, and speaks to the anticipation of his coming again after his death and resurrection.

 Luke 2:1–14 Similarly densely packed, this text covers Mary and Joseph’s travels to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, and the annunciation by the angel to the shepherds about the birth of the Messiah

Christmas meanings

Day of Midian—Midian is a son of Abraham, so Midianites are considered descendants who are supposed to be a part of God’s chosen people. Though they have established their autonomy from Israel (establishing the territory also called Midian), Israel later conquers them, bringing them back into the greater nation of Israel. 

Bethlehem—It is necessary in the Gospels for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem in order to fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah will be born there, as stated in the book of Micah.

Quirinius—Quirinius is the governor of the territory where Bethlehem is at the time of Jesus’s birth. For the sake of grouping territory for the census—which the Israelites really hate having to do—the regions of Syria and Judah are combined into one under his oversight

Christmas focus

 If we take the story of Jesus being born in Bethlehem literally, the Holy Family has no choice but to go there because of the census being taken. In this case, it’s interesting to think that the Roman Empire—the very force that Jesus ends up standing up to, costing him his life—is an integral agent in the fulfilment of this biblical prophecy. 

If we fast-forward to the end of Jesus’s ministry (yes, I know it’s not Easter), given that the Roman Empire also is the collective agent of his crucifixion, we could say that the “enemy” helped hasten the fullness of his becoming the Christ he comes to be. 

It is not just the innkeeper who allows the Holy Family to stay in his stables who helps solidify the understanding of Jesus as a humble servant of the poor; the very opportunity would never have presented itself had they not been rejected repeatedly by the first innkeepers with whom they sought shelter. 

It’s a curious thing, this Jesus story. At every turn, there seems to be something pressing against the direction God desires for Jesus, and yet he emerges on the other side, not unmarked by the experience, but transformed in a way that seems like an even more complete picture of the Jesus who was prophesied. 

This could reveal some uncomfortable things about God, depending on how we look at it. If God willed all of these things to happen, it’s a pretty twisted way to show love to an only son. Or maybe Jesus is collateral damage in a larger story, with all of the means justifying the greater end of human salvation. 

On the other hand, maybe people just do horrible things to each other sometimes. Maybe God doesn’t intercede because if God did, these constant lifelines would ultimately prohibit us from growing. Or maybe suffering is more of an inevitability rather than a necessity. Maybe God knows that though we have the capacity to know and do better, we won’t all the time. And maybe God can work in the midst of those worst moments of humanity too. 

In the midst of a foreign occupation, faced with scandal, likely marital tension, potential poverty, far from home and absent a true resting place in a moment of greatest need, love, grace, peace, and hope still push their way through into the world. Yes, it’s messy, painful, and not exactly what we expected, but it’s beautiful regardless. It’s irrepressible in its aim to transform, despite the fear and violence with which that transformation is met. 

We may be able to change how it looks or the places where it’s found, but love is insistent. It’s inevitable. It simply is.

Dec 22 Sunday Summaries

Isaiah 7:10–16 Unsolicited, God offers to fulfil any request Ahaz wants, but Ahaz raises doubts. This annoys God, who was attempting to provide evidence of God’s presence with Ahaz and his people. God pronounces that a baby will soon be born from a young woman, who will name her baby Immanuel. This baby will save Ahaz’s kingdom from his enemies before he is even old enough to walk. 

Psalm 80:1–7, 17–19 This psalm starts by acknowledging the sovereignty of God over the Israelites and basically pointing to the history they have together. Then it begs plaintively for the end of the people’s suffering, asking that God would restore things back to the way they were. Finally, there’s a kind of reminder toward the end that the Israelites had been God’s chosen people, and it asks for such favour again. 

Romans 1:1–7 This text is effectively a long introduction to the message coming after it, but it’s still important. It’s referring to Paul in the third person, aiming to lend credence to his calling as a messenger of the gospel. It’s also laying out the most important specifics of what the gospel is about, and since it’s written to non-Jews, or gentiles, it’s explicit in stating that Jesus and his message were for them, and that he loved them and not just the people of Israel. 

Matthew 1:18–25 When Joseph discovered his fiancée, Mary, was pregnant, he wasn’t so sure he bought the “I was impregnated by the Holy Spirit” thing, so he was going to break it off quietly. But then an angel spoke to him, confirming that this was what was going on and that this was part of the fulfilment of prophecy, which meant this baby was kind of a big deal. 

Dec 22-28 Week 4 as a whole

Isaiah 7:10–16 Unsolicited, God offers to fulfil any request Ahaz wants, but Ahaz raises doubts. This annoys God, who was attempting to provide evidence of God’s presence with Ahaz and his people. God pronounces that a baby will soon be born from a young woman, who will name her baby Immanuel. This baby will save Ahaz’s kingdom from his enemies before he is even old enough to walk. 

Psalm 80:1–7, 17–19 This psalm starts by acknowledging the sovereignty of God over the Israelites and basically pointing to the history they have together. Then it begs plaintively for the end of the people’s suffering, asking that God would restore things back to the way they were. Finally, there’s a kind of reminder toward the end that the Israelites had been God’s chosen people, and it asks for such favour again. 

Romans 1:1–7 This text is effectively a long introduction to the message coming after it, but it’s still important. It’s referring to Paul in the third person, aiming to lend credence to his calling as a messenger of the gospel. It’s also laying out the most important specifics of what the gospel is about, and since it’s written to non-Jews, or gentiles, it’s explicit in stating that Jesus and his message were for them, and that he loved them and not just the people of Israel. 

Matthew 1:18–25 When Joseph discovered his fiancée, Mary, was pregnant, he wasn’t so sure he bought the “I was impregnated by the Holy Spirit” thing, so he was going to break it off quietly. But then an angel spoke to him, confirming that this was what was going on and that this was part of the fulfilment of prophecy, which meant this baby was kind of a big deal. 

Ahaz—The king of Judah who is under threat from the kingdoms of Syria and Israel to the north, who are plotting to join forces to crush him and his people. 

Immanuel—This name means “God is with us,” which is one of the names used in reference to Jesus as well.

 Cherubim—Of course we think of fat little winged babies when we hear the word cherub (singular of cherubim), but they actually have a job aside from being cute. They are believed to be attendants of God, serving at God’s pleasure, and they are some of the most revered angels, second only to archangels. 

Ephraim/Benjamin/Manasseh—The tribes headed by Ephraim and Manasseh are two of the original tribes of the Israelites who stand in resistance against the siege by Judah and Syria on David’s kingdom. The Benjamin reference is a little hazier, since he isn’t a descendant of Joseph like the other two, but it likely refers to a faction within Syria that also opposes the invasion.

 “Immanuel,” the name God uses to refer to the coming baby, directs attention to the real point of the miracle God announces in Isaiah. Though the birth of the baby may, indeed, be miraculous, the miracle to which God is pointing is that God is with Ahaz and the people of Judah, even when they feel alone and are wracked with worry about their own demise. 

The proclamation of the miracle to come in the child’s birth is an imminent event, while also referring indirectly to the miracle of Jesus’s birth to come, as stated nearly word for word in the Gospel according to Matthew. Remember which Gospel we have this week? Got to love those biblical Easter eggs. 

 In the psalm, it’s not uncommon for us to see these sorts of “transactional” prayers, where the psalmist (in this case, David) is trying to strike a deal with God. Basically, he wants all of the conflict and related suffering that is besieging his kingdom to stop, and in exchange, the Israelites will stay faithful. 

1 God rest you merry, gentlemen,

let nothing you dismay,

remember Christ our Saviour

was born on Christmas day,

to save us all from Satan's pow'r

when we were gone astray;

Refrain:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

2 From God our heav'nly Father,

a blessed angel came;

and unto certain shepherds

brought tidings of the same:

how that in Bethlehem was born

the son of God by name, [Refrain]

3 "Fear not, then," said the angel,

"let nothing you affright;

this day is born a Savior

of a pure virgin bright,

to free all those who trust in him

from Satan's pow'r and might." [Refrain]

4 The shepherds at those tidings

rejoiced much in mind,

and left their flocks a-feeding,

in tempest, storm, and wind,

and went to Bethlehem straightway,

the Son of God to find. [Refrain]

[The entire Old Testament] ground-plan is the whole scheme of Messianic prophecy, from the germinal revelation in Genesis concerning the suffering, yet triumphant Seed of the Woman to the coming to His Temple of the long-absent “Angel of the Covenant” in Malachi. That hope alone explains the Book, giving meaning and consistency to its story. Was it a chimera, an hallucination? According to the prophecy of Micah, the messianic Shepherd of Israel had to be born in Bethlehem. It is unthinkable that an heir to the throne of David could be born in Bethlehem now, and be also able to prove his legitimacy by documentary evidence. The event must clearly have taken place already, or Micah is a false prophet, a raiser of false hopes, along with the other writers in the Old Testament. 

… Max I. Reich (1867-1945) 

The day before Christmas, I found myself frantically searching through our small North African town for wrapping paper to wrap Christmas gifts for my workers, friends, and neighbours. I had failed to bring Christmas paper with me from the States. After a fruitless search through five local stationery shops, I felt my frustration level rising. There was no Christmas paper to be found—only birthday, congratulations, and a wide assortment of floral patterns. 

How could this be true? Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas here. There were plenty of shops with miniature Christmas trees and Christmas cards. I continued my search through another five shops and finally had to settle for “happy birthday” gift paper. As I sat behind the steering wheel of my car, I tossed my purchase into the seat beside me. How could this town not have one shop with Christmas gift wrap? Just at that moment, I felt the Lord say, This is my Son’s birthday. Why don’t you celebrate Him? 

That day as I wrapped gifts, I hoped someone would ask me, “Why the birthday paper?” Then I could share the joyous occasion of Jesus Christ’s birth. I challenged myself to use birthday gift wrap for future Christmas gifts as a means of telling the Christmas story. —L. LEE, NORTHERN AFRICAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN PEOPLES

If you haven’t seen the movie The Usual Suspects but plan to at some point, you might not want to read the rest of this section (SPOILER ALERT). 

One of my favourite films of all times is The Usual Suspects, which is a twisting, turning psychological crime thriller that surprised nearly everyone with the final reveal. But if we had really been paying closer attention—that and brushed up on our Turkish before watching it—we might have seen it all coming. Kevin Spacey plays Verbal Kint, a meek, mobility-limited associate of some suspects the police have rounded up for possible involvement in a recent crime. When they get to Verbal, they get a story that seems airtight as an alibi, and just based on the richness of details and his explanation for every single question and accusation they hurl at him, they finally let him go. 

Little do they know at the time that he masterminded the whole thing. 

Verbal spins a tale about a crime boss named Keyser Söze behind the whole scheme, peppering in details he pulls from words and images around the very office in which they interrogate him. What the cops don’t know is that the name he gives them is a sort of puzzle. It turns out that the name “Söze” comes from the Turkish slang söze boğmak, it refers to casting a blizzard of words so copious and confounding that they leave the audience scratching their heads. 

And Keyser, as you can probably guess, is remarkably similar to qaysar, the title for an Ottoman ruler, pronounced much like Kaiser in German, which means king. So in giving up his supposed associate, Verbal is basically confessing that he is the king of obfuscation. It is right there in front of the cops, and yet it is invisible. It isn’t until it’s too late that they realize Verbal (another connection to the root meaning of “Söze”) is, in fact, Keyser Söze. By then he is gone, never to be seen again. 

If you’re like me, sometimes you have these moments when something is so obvious and so palpably close, and yet you miss it. It’s enough to make us smack our foreheads flat on a nearby table. Fortunately God knows this about us. It’s not like it hasn’t played out before throughout history.

 It’s enough to make me wonder how many of those moments, just today, I’ve missed. Maybe someday I’ll start paying closer attention.

Just because I don’t see or feel you nearby doesn’t mean you’re not there. Help me remember the message of Immanuel, God with us, as Christmas draws close. Amen

The Usual  Suspects  (film, 1995)

A Scottish farmer did not believe in the Christmas story. The idea that God would become a man was absurd to him.

His wife however was a devout Christian and had raised their children as Christians.

The farmer would sometimes mock her and give her a hard time about her faith.

In particular he could not believe that God would want to come into this world as the little Baby born in Bethlehem 2000 or more years ago.

“It’s nonsense” he said: “Why should God lower himself to become a man like us?”

One Sunday just before Christmas his wife took the children to church, while the farmer relaxed at home in front of a blazing fire.

Suddenly the weather took a turn for the worse, deteriorating into a blinding snow storm, driven by a freezing north wind.

Suddenly he heard a thump on the window, followed by another.

When he went to investigate he found a flock of grey geese disorientated by the storm in his farmyard.

The farmer had compassion on them.

He wanted to help and realised they needed to get out of the storm into the shelter of his barn.

He opened the barn doors and hung up a lamp. BUT THEY WOULD NOT GO IN.

He laid out a trail of bread into the barn

BUT THEY STILL WOULDN’T GO IN.

He tried to shoo them in but to no avail.

Nothing he could do would get them out of the storm into his nice warm barn.

Utterly frustrated, he cried out loud: “Why can’t you fools just follow me in. Can’t you see that I am trying to help you and give you shelter?”

Then he thought: “I wish I could communicate with them. If only I could become like one of them, I could show them the way to go and then I could save them”

He suddenly stopped.

He remembered where his family was and what he had learned in Sunday school

AND AT LAST he understood why God had to become a man.

And he fell down on his knees and thanked God for becoming a man.

And as he looked up – to his amazement he saw the grey geese going into his barn and a white goose was leading them.

Dec 23 Monday meanings

Ahaz—The king of Judah who is under threat from the kingdoms of Syria and Israel to the north, who are plotting to join forces to crush him and his people. 

Immanuel—This name means “God is with us,” which is one of the names used in reference to Jesus as well.

 Cherubim—Of course we think of fat little winged babies when we hear the word cherub (singular of cherubim), but they actually have a job aside from being cute. They are believed to be attendants of God, serving at God’s pleasure, and they are some of the most revered angels, second only to archangels. 

Ephraim/Benjamin/Manasseh—The tribes headed by Ephraim and Manasseh are two of the original tribes of the Israelites who stand in resistance against the siege by Judah and Syria on David’s kingdom. The Benjamin reference is a little hazier, since he isn’t a descendant of Joseph like the other two, but it likely refers to a faction within Syria that also opposes the invasion.

Dec 24 Tuesday thoughts

 “Immanuel,” the name God uses to refer to the coming baby, directs attention to the real point of the miracle God announces in Isaiah. Though the birth of the baby may, indeed, be miraculous, the miracle to which God is pointing is that God is with Ahaz and the people of Judah, even when they feel alone and are wracked with worry about their own demise. 

The proclamation of the miracle to come in the child’s birth is an imminent event, while also referring indirectly to the miracle of Jesus’s birth to come, as stated nearly word for word in the Gospel according to Matthew. Remember which Gospel we have this week? Got to love those biblical Easter eggs. 

 In the psalm, it’s not uncommon for us to see these sorts of “transactional” prayers, where the psalmist (in this case, David) is trying to strike a deal with God. Basically, he wants all of the conflict and related suffering that is besieging his kingdom to stop, and in exchange, the Israelites will stay faithful. 

Dec 25 Wednesday wisdom and worship

1 God rest you merry, gentlemen,

let nothing you dismay,

remember Christ our Saviour

was born on Christmas day,

to save us all from Satan's pow'r

when we were gone astray;

Refrain:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

2 From God our heav'nly Father,

a blessed angel came;

and unto certain shepherds

brought tidings of the same:

how that in Bethlehem was born

the son of God by name, [Refrain]

3 "Fear not, then," said the angel,

"let nothing you affright;

this day is born a Savior

of a pure virgin bright,

to free all those who trust in him

from Satan's pow'r and might." [Refrain]

4 The shepherds at those tidings

rejoiced much in mind,

and left their flocks a-feeding,

in tempest, storm, and wind,

and went to Bethlehem straightway,

the Son of God to find. [Refrain]

[The entire Old Testament] ground-plan is the whole scheme of Messianic prophecy, from the germinal revelation in Genesis concerning the suffering, yet triumphant Seed of the Woman to the coming to His Temple of the long-absent “Angel of the Covenant” in Malachi. That hope alone explains the Book, giving meaning and consistency to its story. Was it a chimera, an hallucination? According to the prophecy of Micah, the messianic Shepherd of Israel had to be born in Bethlehem. It is unthinkable that an heir to the throne of David could be born in Bethlehem now, and be also able to prove his legitimacy by documentary evidence. The event must clearly have taken place already, or Micah is a false prophet, a raiser of false hopes, along with the other writers in the Old Testament. 

… Max I. Reich (1867-1945)

Dec 28 Saturday sundries

The Usual  Suspects  (film, 1995)

A Scottish farmer did not believe in the Christmas story. The idea that God would become a man was absurd to him.

His wife however was a devout Christian and had raised their children as Christians.

The farmer would sometimes mock her and give her a hard time about her faith.

In particular he could not believe that God would want to come into this world as the little Baby born in Bethlehem 2000 or more years ago.

“It’s nonsense” he said: “Why should God lower himself to become a man like us?”

One Sunday just before Christmas his wife took the children to church, while the farmer relaxed at home in front of a blazing fire.

Suddenly the weather took a turn for the worse, deteriorating into a blinding snow storm, driven by a freezing north wind.

Suddenly he heard a thump on the window, followed by another.

When he went to investigate he found a flock of grey geese disorientated by the storm in his farmyard.

The farmer had compassion on them.

He wanted to help and realised they needed to get out of the storm into the shelter of his barn.

He opened the barn doors and hung up a lamp. BUT THEY WOULD NOT GO IN.

He laid out a trail of bread into the barn

BUT THEY STILL WOULDN’T GO IN.

He tried to shoo them in but to no avail.

Nothing he could do would get them out of the storm into his nice warm barn.

Utterly frustrated, he cried out loud: “Why can’t you fools just follow me in. Can’t you see that I am trying to help you and give you shelter?”

Then he thought: “I wish I could communicate with them. If only I could become like one of them, I could show them the way to go and then I could save them”

He suddenly stopped.

He remembered where his family was and what he had learned in Sunday school

AND AT LAST he understood why God had to become a man.

And he fell down on his knees and thanked God for becoming a man.

And as he looked up – to his amazement he saw the grey geese going into his barn and a white goose was leading them.

Dec 27 Friday focus

If you haven’t seen the movie The Usual Suspects but plan to at some point, you might not want to read the rest of this section (SPOILER ALERT). 

One of my favourite films of all times is The Usual Suspects, which is a twisting, turning psychological crime thriller that surprised nearly everyone with the final reveal. But if we had really been paying closer attention—that and brushed up on our Turkish before watching it—we might have seen it all coming. Kevin Spacey plays Verbal Kint, a meek, mobility-limited associate of some suspects the police have rounded up for possible involvement in a recent crime. When they get to Verbal, they get a story that seems airtight as an alibi, and just based on the richness of details and his explanation for every single question and accusation they hurl at him, they finally let him go. 

Little do they know at the time that he masterminded the whole thing. 

Verbal spins a tale about a crime boss named Keyser Söze behind the whole scheme, peppering in details he pulls from words and images around the very office in which they interrogate him. What the cops don’t know is that the name he gives them is a sort of puzzle. It turns out that the name “Söze” comes from the Turkish slang söze boğmak, it refers to casting a blizzard of words so copious and confounding that they leave the audience scratching their heads. 

And Keyser, as you can probably guess, is remarkably similar to qaysar, the title for an Ottoman ruler, pronounced much like Kaiser in German, which means king. So in giving up his supposed associate, Verbal is basically confessing that he is the king of obfuscation. It is right there in front of the cops, and yet it is invisible. It isn’t until it’s too late that they realize Verbal (another connection to the root meaning of “Söze”) is, in fact, Keyser Söze. By then he is gone, never to be seen again. 

If you’re like me, sometimes you have these moments when something is so obvious and so palpably close, and yet you miss it. It’s enough to make us smack our foreheads flat on a nearby table. Fortunately God knows this about us. It’s not like it hasn’t played out before throughout history.

 It’s enough to make me wonder how many of those moments, just today, I’ve missed. Maybe someday I’ll start paying closer attention.

Dec 26 Thursday testimony

The day before Christmas, I found myself frantically searching through our small North African town for wrapping paper to wrap Christmas gifts for my workers, friends, and neighbours. I had failed to bring Christmas paper with me from the States. After a fruitless search through five local stationery shops, I felt my frustration level rising. There was no Christmas paper to be found—only birthday, congratulations, and a wide assortment of floral patterns. 

How could this be true? Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas here. There were plenty of shops with miniature Christmas trees and Christmas cards. I continued my search through another five shops and finally had to settle for “happy birthday” gift paper. As I sat behind the steering wheel of my car, I tossed my purchase into the seat beside me. How could this town not have one shop with Christmas gift wrap? Just at that moment, I felt the Lord say, This is my Son’s birthday. Why don’t you celebrate Him? 

That day as I wrapped gifts, I hoped someone would ask me, “Why the birthday paper?” Then I could share the joyous occasion of Jesus Christ’s birth. I challenged myself to use birthday gift wrap for future Christmas gifts as a means of telling the Christmas story. —L. LEE, NORTHERN AFRICAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN PEOPLES

Dec 22-28 Prayer for the week

Just because I don’t see or feel you nearby doesn’t mean you’re not there. Help me remember the message of Immanuel, God with us, as Christmas draws close. Amen

dec 16 Monday meanings

 Lebanon—A territory that stretches along the Mediterranean coast, known especially for its mountains. In particular, Mount Lebanon was considered to be a particularly holy place. It was also a region known for its cedar trees, which were perfect material for ship building and other construction. 

Zion—Zion is considered to be a sort of geographic and spiritual centre for the tribes of Israel. Specifically, the city of David was located on Mount Zion. 

Carmel—This can usually be translated as “the park.” It was a hilly (some might say mountainous) region in what we now call central Palestine. Mount Carmel was the highest peak in this region, which stretched to the sea. 

Sharon—Contrasted with the other elevated regions described above, Sharon was a valley lush with vegetation, often prized as valuable grazing area for livestock. 

dec 17 Tuesday thoughts

It’s frequent that the visions and promises of hope described in the Bible are cast out sometime in the indefinite future. In particular, these usually are intended for those currently suffering or marginalized. Most of the warnings are more immediate and are reserved largely for people of comfort and privilege.

 In the James text, there is something strangely comforting in knowing that, even way back then, people were getting snappy with each other because they hated to wait. And in a time when immediacy is the currency of the culture, our snappiness tends to border on a nervous breakdown. Imagine how we would respond now to such vague, indefinite timelines!

 It’s particularly notable, given all of these words of comfort and assurance, that John the Baptist—who is in prison and likely facing his death—isn’t focused at all on his own situation. Rather, his sole focus is knowing whether the things he has been talking about are coming to be for everyone else. He knows his fate will likely be execution, but like a true prophet, his heart is with his people, rough as he may be around the edges.

dec 18 Wednesday wisdom and worship

We implore the mercy of God, not that He may leave us at peace in our vices, but that He may deliver us from them.     Blaise Pascal

1 O for a thousand tongues to sing

my great Redeemer's praise,

the glories of my God and King,

the triumphs of his grace!

2 My gracious Master and my God,

assist me to proclaim,

to spread thro' all the earth abroad

the honors of your name.

3 Jesus! the name that charms our fears,

that bids our sorrows cease,

'tis music in the sinner's ears,

'tis life and health and peace.

4 He breaks the power of cancelled sin,

he sets the prisoner free;

his blood can make the foulest clean;

his blood availed for me.

5 To God all glory, praise, and love

be now and ever given

by saints below and saints above,

the Church in earth and heaven.

Charles Wesley

You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation, a rock rising above the storm. 

Robert Murray M'Cheyne

dec 19 Thursday testimony

1608: Born on this date, the English poet John Milton was a bookworm—the best kind, the kind who uses his intellect and knowledge to serve God. Milton’s poetic career got side-tracked by England’s Civil War in which Milton sided with Oliver Cromwell and his Puritans against King Charles and the Royalists. Cromwell tried to establish England as a Christian commonwealth, and Milton held a post in Cromwell’s government. After Cromwell’s death England reverted to a monarchy, and Milton lost faith in all human governments. In his youth he had thought of writing an epic poem about the great King Arthur, but he became so disillusioned with human rulers—and humans in general—that he decided to write an epic about the universal problem: human sin. In the King James Version of the Bible in Genesis 3 the story of the fall of man is told in 695 words. Milton took that small amount of material and created the greatest epic poem in English, Paradise Lost, more than 10,000 lines of poetry. Milton did not confine himself to Genesis 3 but told of the fall of the rebel angels led by the angel Lucifer who takes the new name Satan and resolves to corrupt God’s creation, man. The cast of characters includes not only Adam, Eve, and Satan but also the angels Michael and Gabriel, as well as the devils Beelzebub, Belial, and Mammon. With scenes in heaven, hell, and on earth, Paradise Lost is truly a cosmic poem. Technically, Milton did not “write” Paradise Lost because by this time he was completely blind and had to dictate to secretaries. Blind to the external world, Milton had keen sight into spiritual matters. Though his poems are, by our twenty-first-century standards, difficult to read, they repay the effort. In our secular world, English-speaking people should be proud that the greatest English poem deals with God, man, sin, and salvation.

dec 20 Friday focus

If this text seems at all familiar, it might be because some of it appears in Handel’s Messiah. That familiarity aside, there are lots of words and phrases that are straight-up confusing if you’re not a Bible history nerd. Honestly, I don’t think you have to get too deep in the weeds in order to get what the author is trying to convey.

 One of the best things about many of the prophets, as well as a lot of the psalms, is that they’re written in lyrical or poetic form. This means that we’re not just supposed to focus on what the words help us know; we should also take time to reflect on what they help us see.

 A more contemporary approach in postmodern theological thought calls this nonliteral, nondidactic approach to the Bible theopoetics. When we engage things theopoetically, we’re supposed to get out of our “right-brained” thinking and allow the images and other senses the text evokes wash over us. 

One benefit of this sort of engagement is that it is more inductive rather than deductive. By this I mean that we’re not taking big ideas and distilling them down to one or two straightforward points. On the contrary, it’s an opening up of the text, allowing each person to connect with it on their own terms. 

Some contemporary preachers and teachers hedge at this approach because it requires them to let go of a lot of control of what people walk away with. 

But if the authors are comfortable with conveying their messages in this nonliteral, nonlinear way, it stands to reason that we should consider teaching this way too. Even in the Gospel, when John’s messengers ask him if he’s the Messiah, he doesn’t answer directly, but rather in this more inductive way. If it’s good enough for Jesus . . . 

Usually I spend time in this section teasing out what the texts means for us, but this week, I suggest that we put more emphasis on how we read and experience them. And if you preach or lead a class, see if you can resist the urge to tell people what to think. You might be amazed by what you all find together.

dec 15-21 prayer for the week

I want it all fixed; help me sit with the brokenness. I want to feel better; help me make peace with the pain. I want to know; help me find hope in the dimness of ignorance. Amen

dec 21 Saturday sundries

Ten little Christians standing in a line,

One disliked the pastor, then there were nine.

Nine little Christians stayed up very late,

One slept in on Sunday, then there were eight.

Eight little Christians on their way to heaven,

One took the low road, then there were seven.

Seven little Christians chirping like chicks,

One disliked the music, then there were six.

Six little Christians seemed very much alive,

But one lost his interest, then there were five.

Five little Christians pulling for Heaven’s shore,

But one stopped to rest, then there were four.

Four little Christians, each busy as a bee,

One got her feelings hurt, then there were three.

Three little Christians knew what to do,

One joined the sports crowd, then there were two.

Two little Christians, our rhyme is nearly done,

Differed with each other, then there was one.

One little Christian can’t do much ’tis true;

Brought his friend to Bible study, then there were two.

Two earnest Christians, each won one more,

That doubled their number, then there were four.

Four sincere Christians worked early and late,

Each won another, then there were eight.

Eight little Christians, if they doubled as before,

In just a few short weeks, we’d have 1,024.

In this little jingle, there’s a lesson true,

You belong to the building, or the wrecking crew

Author unknown

dec 15-21 week as a whole

Isaiah 35:1–10 Isaiah offers a beautifully poetic picture of hope for the future for the exiled people of Judea. They’ve lost everything and, while wandering without a sense of place or future, he assures them that, looking ahead, God will come to their rescue and no more harm will come to them. They will have everything they need and won’t know want anymore. 

Psalm 146:5–10 This is another poem of hope for the Israelites (also plenty familiar with exile and suffering), assuring them that they worship a God of provision and protection, particularly for the marginalized. Their future is secure. 

 James 5:7–10 James calls on Jesus’s adherents to be patient, like a farmer is patient with his crops, trusting that they will come again. He offers them the example of the prophets, who spoke of amazing things not yet realized, but who waited in faithful steadfastness for these visions to be fulfilled. Finally, he offers them a gentle warning not to get cranky as they wait, taking out their impatience on each other. 

Matthew 11:2–11 John the Baptist hears about Jesus and his ministry from prison. He sends word to ask if Jesus is the Messiah John has been speaking of who was coming. Jesus questions people who come to see him to determine if he is who they hear he is. He says that the evidence of his works should be all they need. Then he tells those around him that John is not just a prophet but is himself a fulfilment of the ancient prophecy about the coming of a “way-maker” for the Anointed One.

 Lebanon—A territory that stretches along the Mediterranean coast, known especially for its mountains. In particular, Mount Lebanon was considered to be a particularly holy place. It was also a region known for its cedar trees, which were perfect material for ship building and other construction. 

Zion—Zion is considered to be a sort of geographic and spiritual centre for the tribes of Israel. Specifically, the city of David was located on Mount Zion. 

Carmel—This can usually be translated as “the park.” It was a hilly (some might say mountainous) region in what we now call central Palestine. Mount Carmel was the highest peak in this region, which stretched to the sea. 

Sharon—Contrasted with the other elevated regions described above, Sharon was a valley lush with vegetation, often prized as valuable grazing area for livestock. 

It’s frequent that the visions and promises of hope described in the Bible are cast out sometime in the indefinite future. In particular, these usually are intended for those currently suffering or marginalized. Most of the warnings are more immediate and are reserved largely for people of comfort and privilege.

 In the James text, there is something strangely comforting in knowing that, even way back then, people were getting snappy with each other because they hated to wait. And in a time when immediacy is the currency of the culture, our snappiness tends to border on a nervous breakdown. Imagine how we would respond now to such vague, indefinite timelines!

 It’s particularly notable, given all of these words of comfort and assurance, that John the Baptist—who is in prison and likely facing his death—isn’t focused at all on his own situation. Rather, his sole focus is knowing whether the things he has been talking about are coming to be for everyone else. He knows his fate will likely be execution, but like a true prophet, his heart is with his people, rough as he may be around the edges.

We implore the mercy of God, not that He may leave us at peace in our vices, but that He may deliver us from them.     Blaise Pascal

1 O for a thousand tongues to sing

my great Redeemer's praise,

the glories of my God and King,

the triumphs of his grace!

2 My gracious Master and my God,

assist me to proclaim,

to spread thro' all the earth abroad

the honors of your name.

3 Jesus! the name that charms our fears,

that bids our sorrows cease,

'tis music in the sinner's ears,

'tis life and health and peace.

4 He breaks the power of cancelled sin,

he sets the prisoner free;

his blood can make the foulest clean;

his blood availed for me.

5 To God all glory, praise, and love

be now and ever given

by saints below and saints above,

the Church in earth and heaven.

Charles Wesley

You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation, a rock rising above the storm. 

Robert Murray M'Cheyne 

1608: Born on this date, the English poet John Milton was a bookworm—the best kind, the kind who uses his intellect and knowledge to serve God. Milton’s poetic career got side-tracked by England’s Civil War in which Milton sided with Oliver Cromwell and his Puritans against King Charles and the Royalists. Cromwell tried to establish England as a Christian commonwealth, and Milton held a post in Cromwell’s government. After Cromwell’s death England reverted to a monarchy, and Milton lost faith in all human governments. In his youth he had thought of writing an epic poem about the great King Arthur, but he became so disillusioned with human rulers—and humans in general—that he decided to write an epic about the universal problem: human sin. In the King James Version of the Bible in Genesis 3 the story of the fall of man is told in 695 words. Milton took that small amount of material and created the greatest epic poem in English, Paradise Lost, more than 10,000 lines of poetry. Milton did not confine himself to Genesis 3 but told of the fall of the rebel angels led by the angel Lucifer who takes the new name Satan and resolves to corrupt God’s creation, man. The cast of characters includes not only Adam, Eve, and Satan but also the angels Michael and Gabriel, as well as the devils Beelzebub, Belial, and Mammon. With scenes in heaven, hell, and on earth, Paradise Lost is truly a cosmic poem. Technically, Milton did not “write” Paradise Lost because by this time he was completely blind and had to dictate to secretaries. Blind to the external world, Milton had keen sight into spiritual matters. Though his poems are, by our twenty-first-century standards, difficult to read, they repay the effort. In our secular world, English-speaking people should be proud that the greatest English poem deals with God, man, sin, and salvation.

If this text seems at all familiar, it might be because some of it appears in Handel’s Messiah. That familiarity aside, there are lots of words and phrases that are straight-up confusing if you’re not a Bible history nerd. Honestly, I don’t think you have to get too deep in the weeds in order to get what the author is trying to convey.

 One of the best things about many of the prophets, as well as a lot of the psalms, is that they’re written in lyrical or poetic form. This means that we’re not just supposed to focus on what the words help us know; we should also take time to reflect on what they help us see.

 A more contemporary approach in postmodern theological thought calls this nonliteral, nondidactic approach to the Bible theopoetics. When we engage things theopoetically, we’re supposed to get out of our “right-brained” thinking and allow the images and other senses the text evokes wash over us. 

One benefit of this sort of engagement is that it is more inductive rather than deductive. By this I mean that we’re not taking big ideas and distilling them down to one or two straightforward points. On the contrary, it’s an opening up of the text, allowing each person to connect with it on their own terms. 

Some contemporary preachers and teachers hedge at this approach because it requires them to let go of a lot of control of what people walk away with. 

But if the authors are comfortable with conveying their messages in this nonliteral, nonlinear way, it stands to reason that we should consider teaching this way too. Even in the Gospel, when John’s messengers ask him if he’s the Messiah, he doesn’t answer directly, but rather in this more inductive way. If it’s good enough for Jesus . . . 

Usually I spend time in this section teasing out what the texts means for us, but this week, I suggest that we put more emphasis on how we read and experience them. And if you preach or lead a class, see if you can resist the urge to tell people what to think. You might be amazed by what you all find together.

I want it all fixed; help me sit with the brokenness. I want to feel better; help me make peace with the pain. I want to know; help me find hope in the dimness of ignorance. Amen

Ten little Christians standing in a line,

One disliked the pastor, then there were nine.

Nine little Christians stayed up very late,

One slept in on Sunday, then there were eight.

Eight little Christians on their way to heaven,

One took the low road, then there were seven.

Seven little Christians chirping like chicks,

One disliked the music, then there were six.

Six little Christians seemed very much alive,

But one lost his interest, then there were five.

Five little Christians pulling for Heaven’s shore,

But one stopped to rest, then there were four.

Four little Christians, each busy as a bee,

One got her feelings hurt, then there were three.

Three little Christians knew what to do,

One joined the sports crowd, then there were two.

Two little Christians, our rhyme is nearly done,

Differed with each other, then there was one.

One little Christian can’t do much ’tis true;

Brought his friend to Bible study, then there were two.

Two earnest Christians, each won one more,

That doubled their number, then there were four.

Four sincere Christians worked early and late,

Each won another, then there were eight.

Eight little Christians, if they doubled as before,

In just a few short weeks, we’d have 1,024.

In this little jingle, there’s a lesson true,

You belong to the building, or the wrecking crew

Author unknown

dec 15 Sunday summary

Isaiah 35:1–10 Isaiah offers a beautifully poetic picture of hope for the future for the exiled people of Judea. They’ve lost everything and, while wandering without a sense of place or future, he assures them that, looking ahead, God will come to their rescue and no more harm will come to them. They will have everything they need and won’t know want anymore. 

Psalm 146:5–10 This is another poem of hope for the Israelites (also plenty familiar with exile and suffering), assuring them that they worship a God of provision and protection, particularly for the marginalized. Their future is secure. 

 James 5:7–10 James calls on Jesus’s adherents to be patient, like a farmer is patient with his crops, trusting that they will come again. He offers them the example of the prophets, who spoke of amazing things not yet realized, but who waited in faithful steadfastness for these visions to be fulfilled. Finally, he offers them a gentle warning not to get cranky as they wait, taking out their impatience on each other. 

Matthew 11:2–11 John the Baptist hears about Jesus and his ministry from prison. He sends word to ask if Jesus is the Messiah John has been speaking of who was coming. Jesus questions people who come to see him to determine if he is who they hear he is. He says that the evidence of his works should be all they need. Then he tells those around him that John is not just a prophet but is himself a fulfilment of the ancient prophecy about the coming of a “way-maker” for the Anointed One.

dec 14 Saturday sundries

Queen Prophet's Song

“Forgive Me When I Whine”

Today upon a bus I saw a lovely maiden with golden hair;

I envied her—so beautiful, and how, I wished I were so fair;

When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle;

She had one foot and wore a crutch,

but as she passed, she wore a smile

Oh God, forgive me when I whine,

I have two feet –the world is mine

 

And when I stopped to buy some sweets,

the lad who served me had such charm;

he seemed to radiate good cheer, his manner was so kind and warm;

I said, “it’s nice to deal with you, such courtesy I seldom find;”

He turned and said, “Oh, thank you sir.”

And then I saw that he was blind.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine,

I have two eyes, the world is mine.

 

Then when walking down the street,

I saw a child with eyes of blue;

He stood and watched the others play,

it seemed he knew not what to do;

I stopped a moment, then I said,

“Why don’t you join the others, dear?

He looked ahead without a word,

I realized –he could not hear.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine,

I have two ears, the world is mine

 

With feet to take me where I’d go,

with eyes to see the sunsets glow,

with ears to hear what I would know,

I am blessed indeed.

The world is mine Oh God, forgive me when I whine.

dec 13 Friday focus

The end of 2018 witnessed the largest fire in the history of the state of California. Hundreds were missing and scores died as a result of the so-called Camp Fire. 

Millions, if not billions, of dollars in property were lost, and the landscape of what had been considered by many to be one of the most desirable places in the nation to live has been altered for generations to come.

 In general when we look at something like this, we consider it to be a tragedy by all accounts. Everywhere we look is loss and destruction. But while the destruction certainly is heart-breaking, there’s also life and hope hidden at the heart of it all if we look closely.

 There are some families of trees that produce cones or fruit in which the seeds for new saplings are entirely sealed within a casing of tree resin. This means that the trees can’t reproduce unless they are subjected to extreme conditions—like a fire—that will melt the resin, releasing the seeds into the soil. 

So for those trees, their long-term survival depends on occasional fires to sweep through and free their full potential to propagate. Sometimes prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah have messages that are hard for people to hear. 

Even Paul and Jesus hit people between the eyes sometimes with their prophetic teaching. They call for a cutting back or a clearing out of the old ways and values we have gotten used to clinging to. Letting go of those things can feel like a small death, if not at least an unbearable loss. 

But it can take a hard truth to help us release our grip on old ways that have kept us in death-spirals so that we can embrace something new that allows for an entirely different kind of living we couldn’t even see from our old perspective. 

Like the gospel according to the Rolling Stones says, you can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you might find you get what you need.