Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Unlikely Women of Christmas

We all know about Joseph and Mary, the Inn of Bethlehem, the shepherds, the star, and the wise men. They’re all part of the wonderful story we remember and tell this time of year. There’s more to the story, though. Obscure and often overlooked, buried in Matthew’s genealogy (Matthew 1:1-17) and leading up to the birth of Christ are four women-Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Uriah's wife (Bathsheba).


Without elaborating with too many details, let me introduce you to these ancestresses of our Lord. Tamar posed as a prostitute and had sexual relations with her father-in-law resulting in the birth of a son. Rahab was the prostitute who hid the Israeli spies in her house before they conquered the city of Jericho. She was the ancestress to eight of Israel's prophets, including Jeremiah. Ruth was a woman from Moab, a despised and outcast people. The Moabites and Ammonites had their origin through the incestual relationship between Lot and his daughters. The daughters plotted together to get their father drunk, so they could sleep with him and produce heirs. The wife of Uriah is Bathsheba, with whom David had an affair. In order to cover his sin, David had Uriah put to death. Bathsheba was the mother of King Solomon.


No only did Christ come to seek and to save the lost, but was also the product of a less than honorable family heritage. In Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Charles Wesley succinctly penned, "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate Deity. Pleased as man with man to dwell. Jesus, our Emmanuel." Christ identifies with all of the human condition, sinner, saint and those in between.


These four unlikely women in Christ's lineage remind us that it does not matter from where you have com. It does not matter what you have done, or left undone. God sought after you and me. When we were at our worst, God gave his best. The true beauty of Christmas is found in the eternal fact that, "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."


The outsiders have become insiders.
Rejected ones have been accepted.
People who were put down have been lifted up.
Those that were cast out have been brought in.
The forsaken have been embraced.


The fifth unlikely woman of Christ's lineage is Mary, his mother. We no almost nothing about Mary, except that she quite ordinary. She hailed from an ordinary, out-of-the-way place. There seems nothing outstanding about her, other than willingness, obedience and faith. Yet, we know that these qualities are, in fact, extraordinary. In The Magnificat, Mary declared, "for he looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. For he has done great things for me, and holy is his name."


When God does something on earth, he does so through a person, usually an unlikely person such a you or me. No matter how small you think you are, no matter what terrible things you have done, no matter what horrible things have been done to you, Christ desires to be in your life. He wants you in his family. Christ came for sinners, outcasts, abused and forgotten people.


Merry Christmas,
Stan

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Lessons From Mary

A Sunday school class wrote letters to God. On little boy wrote, "Dear God, We had a real good time at church today. Wish you could have been there." During Advent we are doing our utmost to make sure God is here in the midst of our celebration and anticipation. Reader, I invite you to take a few moments to sit at the feet of a young bride-to-be, who became the mother of God-Mary.

In the Magnificat, Mary proclaims, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed." What lessons may we learn from Mary? What might she say to us?

First, I believe she would tell us, "Life is hard." Consider this teenage girl, who is betrothed to be married soon. The anxiety of becoming a bride must have been overwhelming. Then, an angel visited her with an unbelievable announcement, "God has chosen you to bring His Son into the world through your body." She risked her body, marriage, reputataion and her own life in agreeing to this. Her delivery was very difficult. After a long and grueling trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem she gave birth out in a barn.

The difficulties continued in Mary's life. After the wise men came worshipping and bearing gifts, they were warned in a dream to scram. King Herod ordered all of the male children under two years to be killed in Bethlehem. Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus took out across the wilderness to Egypt, where they lived as refugees in a foreign land. Somewhere between Jesus' twelth birthday and the beginning of his public ministry, Joseph must have died. We never hear about Joseph again. Mary's life is hard. The final blow was watching her son die on the cross.

Mary would tell us that life is hard, but that God is good. Mary continues in the Magnificat, "for he has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation."

Life is hard. The effects of sin are severe. God is good. He sent his Son to be our Savior and Lord. God expresses his goodness through us, his church. The church is the expression of the goodness of God. We proclaim to the world the gospel-good news.

On Christmas Eve of 1985 CNN reported on two emaciated young men who had just been released from prison. They both suffered from the affects of AIDS. They were placed in a home established by Mother Teresa's order. Holding the two men in her arms, Mother Teresa was challenged by the reporter, "Why should we care about criminals with AIDS?" She explained that these young men had been created in the image of God and derserved to know God's love.

Life is hard, but God is good.

Peace,

Stan

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Christmas Is

Christmas is fun and special. It is for buying gifts. Christmas is noisy and sometimes stressful. Certainly, Christmas is beautiful. Mostly, Christmas is necessary. Humanity, especially me, needs a Savior and Lord.

Throughout human history, we have proven that our ability to run the show has been a dismal failure. If given power and authority, we oppress. If we help people in the wrong way or too much, they stop trying and expect others to be responsible. We lie, cheat, steal, kill, abuse, etc. No government works very well for very long. The whole world system is a mess.

Christ came to earth declaring himself as supreme ruler. His kingdom is foreign to us. We want him to blow away our enemies; he tells us to love them, pray for them and do good toward them. We want him to promote us because we are his faithful followers; he tells us to die to our self-interests and to live for others.

The best human effort is a dismal failure. Perhaps, Christ's way is a better way. Perhaps his kingdom is superior to our ways. We looked for a conquering ruler; he came as a shepherd caring for his human sheep. Isaiah 40:10-11, "Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules from him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young."

In Ezekiel 34, God promised to send us a shepherd who will search for the lost sheep. He will rescue them from the places where they have been scattered. This good shepherd will feed them with good pasture. He will strengthen the weak and heal the sick. He binds up wounds. This shepherd brings justice to the oppressed. When God came to the earth, he came as a shepherd.

In this season of Advent, as we celebrate what the Lord has done in coming to us, we also look for his coming again. Peter exhorts us in 2 Peter 3:11-12, "...what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God..." As we reflect on Advent and look forward to Christmas, let us hasten the coming of Christ by taking up his mission of tending to the human sheep. In Matthew's gospel, Christ looked with compassion upon the crowds coming to hear him and to be healed by him, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. They were harassed and helpless in this state. Christ made a statement in this moment, "The harvest is great but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

We, the body of Christ on the earth, are the answer to Christ's plea. Christmas is necessary, because we need a shepherd. Let us observe this season by seeking the lost, healing the sick, binding up wounds and feeding his sheep.

Peace,
Stan