December 23, 2014

And Heaven and Nature Sing!

Christmas music stirs the soul. Since it’s been playing in all the stores,  classrooms, our cars , homes, and work since, oh, around November 1st or earlier, I admit that I am guilty of passing over some of my favorite, heart-stirring, theologically-sound Christmas carols as background noise.  Not this Christmas, though. Or at least I want to make a conscious effort to let the words soak in.

Take, for example, “Silent Night, Holy Night.” All my life, we have sung that sweet carol in church and on the radio, even out Christmas caroling with neighbors. It wasn’t until a recent church service that I truly listened. I let the words marinate. Then I wept.

“Silent night, holy night!
Son of God, Love’s Pure Light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace—
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.”

How beautiful to think of Jesus as “Love’s Pure Light.” He is. He is. He is the Light of the World! (John 8:12)!

Also beautiful to think of His sweet, redeeming grace that is a true Gift to each of us who want to receive it.

Even “What Child is This?” I passed over for years. Then it hit me.

“Good Christian, fear—
For sinners here
The silent Word is pleading…
This, This is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring Him laud—The Babe, the Son of Mary.”
 
Can’t you almost hear the urgency in the message: “Listen, everybody—This.  THIS! is Christ the King, don’t you see? Hurry up and bring Him the praises He deserves.”

My favorite Christmas Carol is “O Holy Night.” When I was nine years old, my parents asked, more or less MADE me start taking piano lessons. I took until tenth grade, when basketball and volleyball took priority. I quit piano. I regret that now.

Anyway…my favorite songs to play were, and still are, Christmas carols. All those years I played “O Holy Night,” and sang.

It wasn’t until recently that a phrase in the carol moved me to tears.

 “Long lay the world
In sin and error pining,
‘Til He appeared
And the soul felt its worth.”

That’s it! That’s it! That’s the message. When Jesus came to this earth and into our hearts, our souls, our souls, my soul finally felt its worth…

My simple prayer for you on this Christmas Eve Eve, and I vow to you that I will do the same, is to attend a Christmas Eve church service tomorrow and listen, to hush our hearts. To breathe the words into our souls as we sing. It doesn’t matter how well you sing. We are called to make a “joyful noise.”

If you enjoy a candlelit service (I love candle light), please hold your candle high when you belt out “Joy to the World.”  What Truth in that carol, spoken so simply, so passionately.

“He rules the world with Truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of His love.”

Amen. Merry Christmas, Herald Friend! Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Reflect:

  • What is your favorite Christmas Carol? Why? Please comment.

Renew:

  • “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” –Ephesians 5:19, 20 (NIV 1984).
  • “My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul.” –Psalm 108:1 (NIV 1984).

Recharge:

  • Today is the perfect day to know Jesus better, as we celebrate His birthday. He wants you to choose Him. After all, love is not love if not chosen. Simply repeat this prayer aloud:

“Dear Lord Jesus,

 I am so sorry I have chosen to live apart from You. I have tried to run my own life for too long. I want You in my life. I accept the payment of love You gave for me by Your birth, Your death on the cross, and Your resurrection. 

Please come into my heart and life. Thank you for being my Savior, Redeemer and Best Friend.” Amen.

  • If you prayed that prayer, Congratulations! “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” –Romans 10:13
  • Please tell others of your eternal decision, the most important decision of your life! Please find a Christ-centered church home where you worship, fellowship and serve with other Christians. Please demonstrate your new life by your love and concern for others.
  • For more information, check out Proverbs 31 Ministries “Do You Know Jesus?” portion of our website at  http://proverbs31.org/do-you-know-jesus
  • Please comment and let me know also. I’m so proud of you! You just gave Jesus the best birthday gift ever–your heart! Let’s PARTY!
December 16, 2014

The IN-Keeper: Have I Made Room?

The Inn-keeper in the Bible Story of Jesus’ birth intrigues me. Not much is written about him. Leaves much to our imagination. With the census going on for the entire Roman World, you know his inn must have stayed jam-packed at 100 percent occupancy. He was truthful to Mary and Joseph. He certainly wasn’t a mean man. In fact, I can sympathize with him. Guests checked out, then more guests with reservations checked in.  He was trying his best to be hospitable by offering a stable and manger out back.

Little did he know he was too busy and lacked room in his life for the Savior of the World’s birth. Ouch. Doesn’t that hit close to home?

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” –Luke 2:7 NIV

Anything of value in our lives requires us to make room.

We make room in our time schedules, our budgets, our hearts for a new relationship we value. Even for Christmas we make room, don’t we?

To bring in my new wonderfully-smelling fraser fir tree, I moved over my upholstered comfy chair and reading lamp. Box after box of Christmas decorations require me to move my year-round décor and replace it with my valued Christmas festive decor.

In the Bible Story of Jesus’ birth, the Inn-Keeper had no room for Jesus. Mary and Joseph resorted to a hay-filled stable, along with the animals. Our Savior of the World Jesus was born in a tiny manger. The tiny manger was plenty of room for the King of Kings and was truly the first King-Size Bed. 

The big question is: Do I make room for Jesus? So often I don’t with my hurried schedule, my shortened quiet time, quick prayers.

Jesus is our only “In” to eternal life. We who believe are all “IN-Keepers.” How much room am I making in my schedule, my budget, my heart for Jesus, the Savior of the World, my Savior?

Forgive me, Lord, for being too busy. For not making room for you. Take my whole heart, Lord. Lord Jesus, move everything else out to make all the room You want and need in my heart. You are the only way IN to eternal life. I desire to be a true “IN-Keeper.”

 Reflect:

–“Make room for us in your hearts.” –2 Corinthians 7:2a NIV

–“ ‘Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’” –Mark 14:14-15 NIV

–“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” –John 21:25

Renew:

–How can I make more room in my life for Jesus?

–Who else may I be pushing out because “there’s no room in the IN?”

Resource:

-“But this I do know. My own true love. All your life long, you wait for your own true love to come–we all of us do–our destiny, our joy, our heart’s desire. So how am I to say it, gentlemen? When He came, I missed Him. Pray for me, brothers and sisters. Pray for the Inn-Keeper. Pray for me, and for us all, my own true love.” –from the Inn-Keeper’s perspective, taken from Frederick Buechner’s  “The Birth.” Magnificent Defeat.

December 9, 2014

Do My Gifts Have Meaning?

Gift giving is a natural part of Christmas. It seems most of us, though, if you’re like me, get our checklist, and just go to town buying and checking off the list as quickly as possible. Then we’re onto the next Christmas party or task.

More than 15 years ago my pastor, Rev. Dr. Danny Massie, told a story about his childhood, and it transformed the way my heart desires to give gifts and the meaning behind them.

Danny grew up in Canton, Mississippi. His Daddy ran the Madison County Feed and Store. When he was a little boy, his Dad proudly built their family’s two-bedroom home, and they finally moved from their little rental home. His family was so proud, especially of the cedar mantel, the symbolic center of the home. Danny’s Dad had taken a cedar tree, and had cut, hewn, and beautifully carved that mantel. Danny remembers the hours and hours his Dad put into sawing, shaving, sanding, and polishing the prized mantel.

A year later, because Danny’s Dad had extended so much generous credit to customers who couldn’t pay, he lost his business. Danny’s Mom suffered a serious bout with depression. They sadly had to sell their home and move into a rodent-infested tenement apartment. Leaving that home was like ripping out the warmth and security from his soul. Danny begged his Dad to take the mantel with them, but his Dad, quiet and reflective, said it needed to stay with the house and that the apartment couldn’t hold it. Danny and his brother graduated from high school and went on to college and seminary.

Years later, Danny and his wife Tita had four children and were living and pastoring the First Presbyterian Church in Kingsport, TN. Their church was raising funds for a Habitat for Humanity house. Danny recalled the painful, emotional memory of his father’s mantel in a sermon to illustrate the importance of having decent, affordable housing.

Unbeknownst to Danny, some of his church members were so moved by the story that they contacted his old home church in Canton. They reviewed the tax records and found Danny’s old homeplace in Mississippi.  They drove from Tennessee to Mississippi on a mission. They contacted the owners. As it turned out, nearly 40 years later, the mantel had been taken down from the fireplace but was still on the property.  The owner said he had thought of disposing it so many times. There must have been a purpose behind the preservation of that mantel.

A few weeks after the trip, on June 28, 1992, during what Danny thought would be the closing Benediction to his sermon, triumphant music played as Danny’s son and one of the church elders processed the beautifully restored, 100-pound mantel down the aisle to Danny.  Tears flowed. Hearts overflowed. What a gift…what a meaningful gift.

Danny has been the Senior Pastor at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church since 1997. Danny brought His Father’s Mantel from Tennessee, and it hangs on the wall in his office in Charleston, SC.  That meaningful mantel has warmed hearts in three states. What gift could I give, could you give to warm hearts for years and over such distances?

Others who knew how to give meaningful gifts were the wise men as they welcomed the new Baby Jesus. Gold is the gift for a king. Frankincense is appropriate for a diety, a god. Myrrh is embalming fluid, used in preparing a burial. It makes me teary-eyed just writing those words. When you sing the Christmas Carol “We Three Kings,” you see the gifts’ symbolism explained. What gifts…what meaningful gifts.

Ah, and the sweet, baby Jesus—He is the Ultimate Gift to the whole world.

What a Gift…What a Meaningful Gift.

This Christmas, really for any holiday and special occasion, go deep, my friend. Get to know your family and friends’ hearts, their stories, their passions, their history. Meaningful gifts don’t have to cost much, except perhaps your time, your effort, and your heart.

Reflect:

–As you consider the loved ones you will see over this Christmas, how can you present them with a meaningful gift? Please comment.

–How much of yourself are you sharing with loved ones, both sweet and painful  memories and dreams, so that they may give you meaningful gifts?

Renew:

–“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! ” –2 Corinthians 9:15 NIV

–“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” –James 1:17 NIV

Recharge:

–We have 15 days before Christmas. If all your gift checklists are complete, please consider writing a meaningful letter to each loved one. Tell each loved one at least one way your life has been impacted by him/her. Or tell a fun/sweet memory. Tell your dreams.

–Please comment and let me know how this “meaningful gift” idea resonates.

Resource:

—http://www.songonlyrics.com/kem-we-three-kings-lyrics

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