the most loved woman in Scripture

now that we've discussed joseph, it's time to get to the other member of the "holy couple".  throughout Scripture, few women are revered and loved to the extent that mary, the mother of CHRIST, was and is.  there are churches named for her, she is worshipped in some sects of CHRISTianity, and songs have been written about her.  she is considered the model of piety for women, and yet, very few truly understand this remarkable young woman. 

as i have stated in many of my previous posts, i believe that the romanticism of CHRISTmas has greatly diminished our understanding of the reality of the birth narratives of CHRIST that we celebrate each year on december 25th.  in my last post, i burst the bubble of misconception surround joseph, and i intend to pull back the curtain and show you the mary behind the curtain of romanticism that she is hidden by today.  when you go into churches, regardless of the denomination, any statues or pictures of mary usually portray her as a woman in her late 20's to early 30's, dressed in beautiful, long flowing robes.  when we see her in the nativity scenes, she is a beautiful, fair-skinned young woman, looking as if she just got back from the beautician, her make-up flawless, and her kneeling by the manger looking peacefully at her Son lying there, and sometimes having a glowing aura around her head.  so go ahead, take our your metaphorical mental eraser, and wipe that picture from your minds whilst i grab my metaphorical mental paint brushes and prepare to paint you a new picture of mary.  ready?

for starters, i want to correct any misconceptions that we have of mary's age.   mary, was not a woman in her 20's, or even late teens.  she was more than likely in her early teens when she found out that she was pregnant with Jesus.  how do we know this?  in biblical times, betrothal usually took place when a woman reached her 13th birthday.  even today, in the middle east, girls are still betrothed as young as 8 or 9 years old.  the betrothal period lasted for one year, and during that time, the bride to be lived in the house with her parents while her groom spent time preparing for their marriage by securing a house, furniture, and beginning work in his occupation to establish a business capable of supporting a family.  the couple was considered married, and a divorce had to be granted in order to break a betrothal, which was only allowed in the case of adultery.  during the betrothal, the couple would spend time together in the house of the husband's family, to allow for the bride to get to know her in-laws, because once the marriage was complete, she would  be a part of that family, no longer belonging to her old family.  the marriage was not complete until it was consummated, which took place after the marriage ceremony, which was when the groom finished establishing a home and gathered the wedding party and traveled in processional to claim his bride and take her into his tent to consummate the marriage and make it complete (with everyone outside waiting anxiously for him to come out with the tell-tale proof of his bride's virginity!  talk about pressure!).  so we know that mary would have been living with joseph's family during their betrothal, when she found out she was pregnant.   this means that she was a very young girl when the angel first came to her and told her that she had found favor with God and was to be pregnant.  when mary asked, very innocently, how that was possible, considering that she had not known a man (that is Bible speak for not having been sexually intimate with a man), the angel basically told her that God would make it happen, to not worry about it.  so while mary was young, in those days, she would have known enough about basic biology to know how things worked.  young people in those days were expected to much more mature at a younger age than young people are today. 

the second picture i would like to correct is how refreshed and well-kept mary looks in the nativity scenes.  keep in mind that she had just finished a three to four day journey either on foot, or on the back of some animal such as a donkey or a camel, across mountains and desert, being in her third trimester of pregnancy.  we like to think that she was probably in her ninth month, but it is possible that she was earlier along and the stress of the trip on her body caused her to go into labor prematurely.  as stated before, in those days there were no hospitals or neonatal care units to take care of newborns.  she was having to rely on an inexperienced, young, scared husband to help her through a very difficult delivery process.  she had just witnessed this process a few months back with her cousin elizabeth as elizabeth gave birth to john the baptist, so she knew a little about what to expect.  so now, she is having to coach her husband through assisting her with delivering the Baby, with the added stress of the baby possibly coming earlier than expected and having to give birth in such squalid conditions.  we know that mary appeared to be a strong young woman, despite her age, but this was physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing for her.  so after this ordeal, she was anything but the picture of beauty and energy that we see in the nativity scenes.  for anyone that has ever seen pictures of mothers in the hours after they gave birth, you know that one, most women are appalled for people to even see the pictures of them looking their worst, and two, the women are definitely not ready to be entered in the miss usa pageant!  so if you want an accurate picture of mary at the nativity, picture a young, middle eastern woman, hair frazzled, face dirty from sweat and the dust of traveling, facial features sunken in from dehydration, exhaustion, and sleep deprivation.  add to that the frustration of having to sleep on the hard, cold ground, navigating the difficulties of the first few times at breastfeeding, and a group of social outcasts being the only ones to welcome her newborn Child into the world, and you have the makings of a very irritable woman that you probably would not want to spend much time around!  the only buffer for her would have been the joy of having a newborn Baby, which any mother will tell you is a joy like no other!

imagine what must have been going through mary's head.  here she was, a young woman, having to endure the whispers and the shuns of those around her for something that only she understood and only God had control over.  now, for all of her faithfulness, she was rewarded by not having a decent place to have the Child that she had put up with so much for, and the welcoming party was not royalty or even the religious leaders, but rather a scraggly group of homeless shepherds.  she had a very uncertain future ahead, but would have been convinced that it was not going to be an easy future.

today, as we look around us, there are those that are like mary.  they have found favor with God and have been chosen to be used by God to accomplish His will.  they are the lottie moons, the corrie ten booms, the mother theresas of our generation.  there are those that God is using despite their age.  there are those that are suffering tremendous heartache and ridicule for their commitment to God's call on their life.

this CHRISTmas, are you a mary?  has God called you to do something that you know is going to be hard, you know is going to be rife with heartache and suffering?  when you wonder how you could possibly endure such hardship if you answer God's call, take a look at mary.  very few have had to risk more than she.  she knew what it could possibly mean for her when people found out about her pregnancy.  in her society, it meant that she would have been ushered by crowd into a corner, and large stones weighing anywhere from 5 to 15 pounds would have been thrown on top of her until she was dead.  when you try and rationalize and say, "well, she was chosen by God, so God was looking out for her," you have to remember that if God is calling you to do anything, He is going to give you the strength to accomplish it.  mary was human, and was no different than anyone else.  we see her flaws later in a few instances in Jesus' life, all earning His rebuke:  when she was upset about Him being at the temple at 12, and when she tried with His brothers to pull Him out of a house because of doubt.  we do know that in place of her difficulties, she had the greatest gift perhaps any person in the world has ever been blessed with:  she was able to spend more one on one physical time with the Creator of the universe.  while you may not get that level of blessing, rest assured that if you are following God's calling, you will experience a greater happiness and peace than any this world can ever offer.  in every case, the blessings outweigh the hardships. 

or perhaps you are young, as i know many that read these posts are.  remember that mary was a young woman herself when she was asked to take on an extraordinary calling.  remember that paul told timothy to not let anyone look down on him simply because he was young, and the same goes for the young people today.  having spent time as a youth pastor, i can honestly say that i have seen more spiritual maturity in some of my middle schoolers than in most adults i have met in the church.  when you are young, you have more freedom to serve God than you will when you become an adult and have the pressures of life demanding your time and attention.  remember, mary could have politely declined the angel's offer, but she didn't.  she actually responded by saying she was God's doulos, meaning His bondservant.  a bondservant was a freed slave that willingly bound themselves to a master as a voluntary servant, which is what God asks of us.  we should have the same attitude as mary.  when God calls us, we, like mary, should respond with a whole-hearted "yes!"  because of mary's obedience, she is one of the most remembered women in history, coming in a close second behind eve.  who knows, God may have a tremendous blessing waiting for you, if you will just become His doulos!

 

do i look like i have "stupid" written on my forehead?

one of my favorite characters in the CHRISTmas story is joseph.  i really am amused at how he is portrayed in the nativity scenes on everyone's coffee tables, mantles, church altars, etc.  the scene is set.  a nice, clean, stable.  animals surrounding the baby Jesus, resting peacefully.  well dressed shepherds, usually holding a lamb in their arms.  and the blessed couple, sitting by the caucasian, blonde haired, blue eyed baby Jesus, lying in a crib, er manger with clean, golden hay spilling over (that usually looks more like a crib than a feeding trough), and  making the peace sign with His holy little baby fingers!  but the most striking of them all is joseph.  standing slightly behind and to the right of mary, hands at his chest, gazing on the infant CHRIST, a picture of strength and confidence!  well, i'm here today with my big, sharp pin, ready to burst that bubble of a utopian nativity, especially when it comes to joseph!

okay, use your imagination with me for a second (that's the thing that used to make you believe you were superman when you were a kid with a towel around your neck about to jump off the back of the couch and fly!  dig deep, it's still in there somewhere!), and forget you are in the year 2011, with all of your creature comforts:  specifically the health department, the hospital, automobiles, serta posturpedic mattress,  central heat, and paternity tests (sorry maury povich, you wouldn't have had a good show back then!).  now, your fiance', whom you do not know that well, and more than likely is your fiance' because your parents made an arrangement with her family, (and is probably only 13 or 14 to boot!) comes to you and tells you that she is pregnant.  keep in mind that you know that you have not touched her, for fear of the repercussions if you did (which usually meant death by stoning, or at minimum shame for your family and loss of dowry for you and death for her).  you have been spending the last months getting your house ready for her to move into with you upon your marriage, as was required by jewish law, and are apprenticed to a carpenter making very little money, if any, to support a family.  your world goes into a tailspin.  as a very young man, you are now being forced to make decisions that not only affect your life, but the life of your fiance', your fiance's family, her unborn child, and your family as well.  then, to throw even more confusion into your life, your fiance' tells you that she has not had sex with anyone, and that the Baby was put there by God.  when you tell your family, they tell you that you are a fool if you believe such a story, and you should make sure that the little tramp is punished for her adultery and shaming of you.  when you finally get over your initial shock, you decide to show compassion and break up with her privately rather than make a public example of her.  you go to tell her the bad news, and she is gone!  you find out that she has left and traveled to her cousin's house in another town miles away, making her story look all the more suspect! 

while she's gone, you have plenty of time to portray scenarios in your mind.  you start picturing her with every guy you have ever seen her talk to.  you go to work each day and wonder who all knows.  during the midst of this confusion, you have a dream at night and an angel appears to you in that dream and tells you that your wife's story is true, and that her Child is of God.  you are to marry her and be a father to that Child.  what's more, this Child will be the Messiah, the CHRIST that all of israel has been hoping for, and you are to name him Immanuel, which means "God with us"! 

after your fiance' returns, you talk with her and take her as your wife, and everyone can now see the tell-tale bump of a pregnancy.  you know that they are doing the math in their heads and counting the number of months you have been married along with how far along she obviously is, and the whispers and accusing glances start.  your business as a carpenter suffers because of your reputation, so it makes it difficult to get by financially.  then, just as you are finally getting used to the idea, you get word that you now have to travel a three to four day journey with your wife, who is in her ninth month of pregnancy, because of a census that caesar has mandated.  you now have to deal with a pregnant, uncomfortable wife, having to stop every couple of hours for her to go to the bathroom.  you have to listen to a teenager, already going nuts hormonally, magnified by the pregnancy, complain about being hot, tired, ready to get "this Baby out of her", and you are only 20 years old at the oldest (more than likely he was probably around 16)! 

you finally get to bethlehem, and you know very few people there.  your family is from there, so there has to be some relatives that you can maybe stay with, but you honestly do not know most of them (kind of like going to a family reunion today!).  while you are looking for a place to stay, everyone notices the late stage of pregnancy that your wife is in, and they begin to do the math and ask the questions:  "now how long have you two been married?  ahh, i see."  you are shunned by your family, and your wife goes into labor.  you have never experienced a childbirth, and there is no midwife there to help you with her.  you are scared witless.  you have probably never seen your wife without her clothes on, and now, you are about to help deliver a Baby and see your wife in ways you are not prepared to!  to top it off, there is nowhere to deliver the Baby!  there are no hospitals, and bethlehem is a small farming community, unaccustomed to tourists, so there are no hotels, save maybe one or two, and they are full as well.  you find an out of the way place, because you do not want everyone to see all of "her business" as she has the Baby, which just happens to be a cave out on the outskirts of town.  it is smelly, damp, cool, and moldy, and there are possibly a few sweaty animals tied in there while their owners are in town.  you hold your wife's arms up while she squats over a hole that you managed to lay a camel-hair blanket in to catch the Baby.  after what is probably hours of labor (but you can rest assured the familiar "you did this to me!" was never directed at joseph, so that's one positive!) the Baby comes out, and is not the perfect newborn that you have been used to seeing.  He is gray, covered with blood and amniotic fluid, and still attached by an umbilical cord.  you know that people don't have those things hanging from their belly anymore, so you obviously have to cut it off.  you get your knife, and cut the cord, but it bleeds profusely.  you manage to get some twine and tie it off, and you have to lay your wife on the ground and tend to the Baby.  you get Him wrapped up in the only semi-clean thing you can find, which are long strips of cloth that were laying in the corner, the kind that were used to bind a corpse before burying it.  your wife is exhausted, you are exhausted, and you can't just lay the Child on the ground.  one of the animals could possibly step on Him, and it's very cold and drafty on the ground, so you lay Him in the hollowed out area in the wall that is used to hold feed for the animals.  you try to wife away the filth as best you can, and you grab some hay to make it a little more comfortable for Him and lay Him in it.  you help tend to your wife, and get her cleaned up as best you can, and you rest your back against the wall and your wife lays her head in your lap and falls asleep.  after a little while, the Baby is hungry and crying, so you give Him to His exhausted mother and she breastfeeds Him, which you are again being forced to witness firsthand for the first time.  just as you think everything is calm for the moment (maybe this is the "all is calm, all is bright" moment in the song, but i doubt it!), a group of smelly shepherds come into the cave being very loud rambling about an angel appearing to them and wanting to see the CHRIST-Child!  at this point, you have had enough, and most normal guys would have snapped by now and started throwing things, but you are too exhausted to put up a fight, so you say sure.  one of the shepherds wants to hold Him, but you manage to convince him that the Baby just finished feeding and needs to rest so you win that battle.  they leave, and you and your wife, and your newborn Son, are left in peace for the moment. 

okay, you can come back to reality!  i'm serious, breathe.  it was all just your imagination!  calm down!  still think joseph was the calm, picture of strength that we see in the nativity scenes?  if so, you are either in a severe state of denial, or you weren't paying attention!  but you know what?  i admire joseph.  and i think that he is a good example for us today as we go into this CHRISTmas season. 

there are two main things we can learn from joseph.  first, was his compassion.  how many of us, when we feel wronged, want revenge?  we want to somehow get our version of justice.  most of us can agree, that there is nothing more hurtful than unfaithfulness.  whether it's a girlfriend, boyfriend, fiance', or spouse, betrayal on that level hurts more than most things you can think of.  joseph would have been well within his rights if mary was indeed unfaithful to have her exposed as an adulteress (in those days, when you were betrothed, you were considered married, the marriage just was not consummated yet, so it would have been considered adultery).  he believed her to be one, so for him to show compassion and end the relationship privately and quietly says a lot for his character. 

the second character trait we can learn from joseph is his obedience.  he could have given up and walked away and gave mary a bill of divorce at any time.  but he didn't, no matter how hard it got.  he obeyed God's command and took her as his wife, despite the impact it had on his reputation (Jesus was later referred to as the Son of mary, indicating that everyone considered Him a bastard child, which would have started at Jesus' birth).  we know that he was poor by the animals he brought to the temple.  two turtle doves was the minimum sacrifice for the poor who couldn't afford a lamb.  carpenters typically made a decent living, so for joseph to be poor as a carpenter, it was an indication that his business suffered either from lack of time to establish it, or his reputation, or both.  either way, he took on the awesome responsibility of raising the Messiah as his own, providing for Him and mary as best he could.

we do not hear any more of joseph except when Jesus was 12 at the temple.  after that, Joseph is never referenced again in Scripture.  Jesus' brothers and His mother were mentioned again, but not joseph.  most scholars believe that this was because joseph died shortly after the time at the temple.  this would have been an historical reason for Jesus' having never been married.  it was the father's responsibility to find a wife for his son, which usually occurred in the mid-teen years.  we do not know how he died, but we do know that he lived long enough to instill the trade of carpentry to his Son.

this year, are you being a joseph?  are you extending mercy to those whom you feel do not warrant it?  this is the time when God sent His Son to earth to extend that same mercy to us, so we should be especially astute to it this time of year.  and are you being obedient, even in the midst of adversity?  have you been tempted to throw in the towel?  there are times i have looked around at the difficulties i have went through as a CHRISTian, and notice all of those out there who are anything but and are prospering, and i was tempted to say, "forget it.  i'm done with the ministry.  i'm going to use my biology degree and forget this whole ministry thing!"  living the CHRISTian life is tough.  CHRIST never promised us a bed of roses.  in fact, He promised us the exact opposite.  He said that we will be hated for His name's sake.  so when you feel you are going through a difficult time or dealing with a difficult person, remember joseph, know that you are not the first to experience it, and you definitely won't be the last, and model joseph's mercy and obedience!

i just wanna be a sheep!

whenever i watch a CHRISTmas pageant at a church, i am always amused by the characters that are portrayed by the children.  there's always the marys and the josephs, the magi, the shepherds and angels.  sometimes there is usually a live baby to portray Jesus if the child's parents are particularly brave and trusting.  although, the child playing Jesus, in my experience, does not have to be a boy (i have seen girls, even ones in little CHRISTmas dresses), and does not necessarily have to be a newborn (i have seen toddlers in the manger!  i never knew hebrew women gave birth to 20 lb babies!).  however, one of the most memorable characters i have seen was a child at a church in the town where i attended in seminary who was playing a sheep.  the usual practice is to give the more talkative ones (like i used to be) the parts with the most speaking such as an angel, a shepherd, etc., and the more shy ones were given the parts that required no speaking.  well this particular year, in an effort to include everyone, the children's director felt the need to even give children the roles of farm animals.  maybe the director misjudged this young boy's shyness, or perhaps acting was his way of expressing himself, but for whatever reason this particular sheep must have missed the memo that he was a sheep for a reason, and was less than content to stay in the background unnoticed.  throughout the production, about every minute or so, you would hear a loud "baaaaaaaaa" coming from this sheep.  the crowd would snicker, the actors would look over at the over-amorous sheep in annoyment at first, and eventually would end up giggling with the crowd as the production waxed on.  this only further encouraged the sheep-who-would-not-be-ignored.  by the time it was over, very few people remembered much about the play, save that little 3 year old boy and his heralding sheep!

as mentioned in my last post, there were two characters in the CHRISTmas story that always get looked over, but deserve their own chance in the spotlight of CHRISTmas.  the first was simeon.  simeon was of the tribe and house of judah, being a representative of CHRIST's hope for the jews located in israel.  the second person in the story is anna, the prophetess.  she is mentioned in luke's gospel right after simeon's story is told, and her portion of the story is smaller than simeon's, yet contains just as much relevance then, as it does now.  like that little sheep, her story is crying out from the background, refusing to be ignored (which is why luke included her). 

as we get into her story, we always need to remember that every story, every person, and every event from the Bible is included for a reason (even the genealogies of the old testament).  God clearly wants to communicate some truth to us, and we simply need to dig a little bit (after all, treasure is not always left in the open!) to find that truth!

the first thing that we see in anna's story is that she was a prophetess.  in those days, women were considered lower than men, and held to tighter scrutiny, so for her to be recognized as a prophetess, she would have needed to have an impeccable reputation (a prophet during that day would have been stoned if even one of their prophecies proved wrong), especially if she was to be respected by the men. 

the second thing that we see is that she was of the tribe of asher.  now, at face value, this does not seem like much, but when you do some research, you will find that there is a whole book's worth of information in that small statement.  in a short summary, the tribe of asher was one of the northern tribes of israel, and were dispelled to the country of media (modern day iran) during the babylonian diaspora referenced in 2 Kings.  we can tell this from the name of her father, phanuel (meaning "face of God"), and her name anna (another form of hannah).  these were two names that were not popular in judea at the time of CHRIST's birth, but were popular among the diaspora because of their fondness of the book of tobit, which frequently referred to the "face of God", thus increasing the use of the name phanuel.  this was a book that called for the hope of the return of the jews in the diaspora to jerusalem.  subsequently, tobit's wife was named hannah, which led to the name's popularity among the eastern diaspora.

a third important fact was that she was an aged widow.  there were two expressions of loyalty to jerusalem among the diaspora.  the first was paying the annual half shekel temple tax, that was collected among the diaspora and then taken to the temple in jerusalem by a representative.  the second way of showing loyalty was a pilgrimage to jerusalem during the key festivals associated with the temple such as passover, pentecost, or the feast of tabernacles.  it is quite possible, and actually very likely, that anna made that pilgrimage when her husband died, and out of her love for jerusalem and the temple that was instilled by her father, committed herself to serving in the temple.  she would have known about the prophecy of the Messiah that would reclaim the glory of israel, and would have, like many others of the period, been anxiously awaiting the Messiah's coming. 

the fourth thing we see about her is that when she saw mary and joseph come in with the infant CHRIST, she immediately recognized Him as the promised Messiah through the revelation of God and began to thank God and to spread the good news of His birth to all of those who, like her, were anxiously anticipating the redemption of jerusalem.  luke intended for his readers to see that just as God chose simeon to represent the hope of the Messiah to the jews settled in israel, He also chose anna to represent that same hope to those who were still dispelled throughout the world.

today, we can see the annas among the faithful in His church, if we will just look.  there are many, like anna, that society views as lower class citizens.  even churches today tend to look down in pity on those who are maybe from a lower socioeconomic group, and some churches in sin even look down on those who are of what they consider an inferior race.  however, we see from anna's story that no matter what their standing in society is, they can be, and are, used by God.  we can also see her faithfulness despite her circumstances.  there are many that find it a hassle to drive 15 minutes to church each week, yet she was willing to make the long pilgrimage to jerusalem, braving scorching heat, wild animals, and thieves along the way.  i can remember my dad telling me how he used to walk to church every sunday morning, which was a considerable distance from his house, and unless he caught a ride with someone, it would take him a couple of hours to get there.  he would leave early in the morning, get to church and stay there all day until after the evening service, and then walk back.  very few of us have that level of commitment today.  but still, there are those in parts of the world, that brave arrest, death, and all sorts of other dangers, just to go to church each week.

there are also those, like anna, that have chosen to take their tragedies and use them to minister to others.  steven curtis chapman's family lost a child due to a tragic automobile accident in their driveway a few years back.  statisticians will tell you that a marriage that loses a child has a very high probability of ending in divorce.  yet, the chapmans have turned their tragedy into a ministry to others who have gone through the loss of a child.  and finally, God chose anna to reveal His promise to a group that was for all practical purposes an afterthought.  we know from josephus, the jewish historian of that time, that jews in jerusalem still held the jews of the diaspora in high regard, but for the most part, the diaspora was disconnected.  had it not been for a few faithful like anna, they might have been totally absorbed into the pagan cultures of the babylonians.  there are those out there today that feel disconnected for whatever reason or another.  they are the neighborhoods that are avoided.  they are the countries that are closed to the gospel.  they are the CHRISTians that feel abandoned by the church (many rightfully so).  but among those, there are the faithful, staying hopeful, and telling everyone who needs hope, like them, about the Messiah and the hope He brings.

are there any of you out there that feel like you are disconnected?  or maybe that God can't use you because of your particular circumstances?  perhaps a tragedy has struck you and you have lost hope.  take heart, and learn from anna.  God can still use you, and wants to use you, if you just make yourself available to Him.  if you are out there and you are an anna, keeping the faith, always hoping and telling others about Him, stay strong.  finish the race.  you may be the only representative of the one Hope that those around you will ever see!  be that sheep, never settling for a lesser part, but doing all that you can to be the best sheep, the best anna, that you possibly can!

why is that weird old guy following us around the temple?

in the song "rudolph the red-nosed reindeer", it starts "you know dasher and dancer and prancer and vixen, comet and cupid and donder and blitzen".  in the true CHRISTmas story, we can begin it the same way, "you know mary and joseph and caesar and herod, the wise men, elizabeth, the angels and shepherds."  however, just like in "rudolph", there are two commonly overlooked characters in the CHRISTmas story.  some will say that they came into the story a month after Jesus was born, so technically they aren't part of the CHRISTmas story, but yet they feel it acceptable to include the magi, arriving some two years after CHRIST's birth, in their nativity scenes.  by comparison, these two belong more in the CHRISTmas story than the magi or herod.  so the person that i will focus on first is a man named simeon. 

simeon, according to ancient history, was one of the 70 elders commissioned by the Egyption pharoah ptolemy II philadelphus to translate the holy scriptures into greek to be included in the great library of alexandria.  according to tradition, during this task that simeon was assigned the book of isaiah to translate, and when he came to the passage, "behold, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a Son", he felt that it should be translated "young woman" instead of "virgin".  it was at that point that an angel intervened and revealed to him that a pure and spotless virgin would indeed conceive and give birth to the Lord's CHRIST, and furthermore, it was revealed that simeon would not see death until he had seen the Lord's CHRIST with his own eyes.  now granted, this is what tradition says, and did not make it into the Bible, so we cannot place much authority on the accuracy of what transpired (after all, according to tradition, simeon was 376 years old when he died).  however, we can learn a very valuable lesson from this seemingly minor character of the CHRISTmas story. 

what we do have in the Bible, is that simeon was a devout and righteous man, and that it was indeed revealed to him that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord's CHRIST.  we also know that the Holy Spirit was upon him, and that he was led by the Spirit into the temple on the very day that mary and joseph brought the infant Jesus in to be presented to the Lord, along with a sacrifice of two turtle doves (this is where the gift of the second day of CHRISTmas comes from), as was required by jewish law.  while there, we can imagine the young mary and joseph, already frazzled from the journey to jerusalem from bethlehem with an infant, wondering about this old man that was following them around the temple.  you can also imagine their surprise and apprehension when the old man came over and was probably overcome with joy and emotion as he took the infant CHRIST from His mother's arms and began praising God and saying, "Lord, let your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word, for my eyes have seen Your Salvation, which you have prepared before all people; a light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of my people israel!"  the Bible wraps it up nice and neat and says that mary and joseph "marvelled" at what he said, which is probably better translated, "either this guy is a few shekels short of a denari or God keeps making this weirder and weirder for us!"  we know that he also spoke to mary, telling her that Jesus was to bring about the fall and rising again of many in israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against, and that a sword would pierce through her soul as well.  keep in mind that mary and joseph knew that Jesus was special, and that He was sent from God, but even they did not know what fate awaited him in 33 years, nor the extent of His impact on the world.

so how, knowing what we know about simeon, does that translate to us today?  what does one promise made to a very old man 2000 years ago mean for us? 

first, we can see that God keeps His promises.  there are different levels of promises for us.  there are general promises, that apply to all people.  there are specific promises, that apply to certain groups of people. and there are personal promises that God makes to us individually either through His Word, or through His speaking to our hearts.  if you ever want to be encouraged, start studying the promises in Scripture that we can hold on to for hope.  just as God kept His promise to simeon (perhaps he did live to be 376, making that promise all the more true), He keeps His promises to us.  perhaps God has promised something to you, and right now, it just doesn't seem probable that God is coming through on His end.  we need to remember that God's timing is not ours, and in our microwave-fast food society of getting what we want when we want it, that can be difficult.  remember that it took over 400 years for the prophecy of isaiah to come to pass, so God will hold true to His Word, just on His time, not ours. 

finally, we see simeon's faithfulness.  if he had not been faithful to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, he would have missed seeing the Lord's CHRIST.  had he not been righteous and devout, he might not have heard the Spirit's prompting.  the Bible tells us that God speaks to us through His Holy Spirit, and that we can muffle the Spirit's voice by allowing sin in our lives.  this year, perhaps the Spirit is telling you to do something in particular.  i spoke with a fellow chaplain earlier that is serving meals this year at a soup kitchen on CHRISTmas because he felt that was what the Holy Spirit was leading him and his wife to do.  if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, can you hear Him?  or are your spiritual ears deafened by the loudness of life or clogged by unrepentant sin?  maybe you do hear Him, but are choosing to either ignore Him or blatantly disobey Him?  have you decided that something else in your life is more important than what He is calling you to do?  if so, you may just miss the blessing of a lifetime.  don't believe me?  if you could ask simeon, i'm sure he would tell you the same! 

and you thought the grinch was bad!

whenever people try and romanticize CHRISTmas and make it seem like a story that you might see on the lifetime or hallmark channel, it would behoove them to read "the rest of the story".  most people stop at the leaving of the magi, and they miss the portion of the story that sets the pace for the rest of Jesus's life here on earth.  the story briefly touches on this next character up until this point, but we do not see the true depth of who he was until we read on.  the person is herod the great. 

herod the great, though not to be confused with his son herod antipas, whom Jesus would interact with during His trial before crucifixion, was the ruling tetrarch of galilee.  herod was put in place during the reign of mark antony, and caused much dischord among the jews, being that he was not a pure blood, his mother being arabian.  herod also knew who his source of authority was, and catered to the romans.  once he took the throne, herod stripped power from the jewish aristocracy, although claiming to follow the jewish faith.  he was repeatedly accused of being "too greek", in his architecture choices and behaviour, which further irritated the jews.  he was very ambitious, building whole cities, including caesarea, which was a play to the new roman emperor caesar augustus.  one of his crowning achievements was rebuilding the temple in jerusalem as well as the amphitheatre where the sanhedrin would meet, but he also built many temples to the pantheon of gods, including the temple to the roman emperor. 

herod's thirst for power and continual challenges to his authority resulted in his becoming paranoid, eventually having two of his sons executed.  even caesar rhetorted, "it is better to be a pig in herod's house, than to be one of his sons!"  this thirst for power caused him to become very intrigued when a group of foreigners with a large procession asking about the birth place of the new king of the jews caused a stir in jerusalem.  we know from matthew's gospel that herod immediately had the magi brought before him and asked about this new king they were seeking.  he sought the help of the scribes who informed him that the Messiah was to be born in bethlehem, and then shrewdly ascertained from the magi's story that it was approximately two years earlier that the star first appeared signifying the Messiah's birth. 

here's where it gets interesting.  this is where we see the shift from a lifetime movie to something that you would find on cinemax.  herod, in an effort to protect his throne from anyone that could usurp him, had his soldiers go to bethlehem and slaughter every male child two years old and younger.  this has been referred to by ancient historians as the slaughter of the innocents.  imagine you are sitting in your home, watching your 11 month old son crawl around on the floor, as my wife and i do on a daily basis, and a soldier opens your door, walks in, draws his sword, and beheads your son right in front of you, then walks out.  this is the atrocity that herod ordered.  there was no room in his life for any king but him. 

many are like that today.  sure, there are those that are like caesar:  oblivious to the birth of the CHRIST, and happy to stay that way.  but there are others that are adamant on destroying the influence of CHRIST in theirs or anyone else's lives.  they are the ones that are fighting today to scrub the season of any reference to the birth of CHRIST.  they are the ones that file lawsuits against towns to remove their nativity scenes.  they are the minority, yet they act like everyone else should bow to them as supreme ruler.  so how do we as CHRISTians handle those people?

there are those that will tell you that we must stand up and fight them.  but history has shown that this is usually futile.  while you might win a battle, by yourself you will lose the war with them.  the answer lies in Scripture (novel idea, huh?)  the Bible says that vengeance is the Lord's, not ours.  the Bible even tells us that when we are persecuted for our faith, we are to turn the other cheek.  this is not a popular answer among CHRISTians today, but never the less, it is the Biblical answer.  does this mean that we are not to take a stand for CHRIST?  absolutely not!  we are commanded to stand for CHRIST, and we are to share that faith with the world.  but it does mean that we should not be surprised when we face adversity for it.  Jesus even said that He came not to bring peace, but to bring a sword.  the peace that the angels spoke of was not the world peace that all the pageant models long for, but rather peace between God and man through His Son's sacrifice. 

the jewish historian josephus tells us that in his last days, herod grew increasingly paranoid due to an illness (many believe it to be syphillis based on the description given) and in the end, went completely mad.  he would scream and cover his ears, saying that he could not get the screams of children out of his head.  he died a howling, tortured madman.  today, it is probably not much different for him.  he is probably still in torment, never finding the peace that we can know if we take ourselves off the throne of our lives and yield the seat to the CHRIST of CHRISTmas!

ummm, excuse me, but who are you and why are you giving my baby embalming fluid?

there are a few pet peeves i have when it comes to CHRISTmas:  martha stewart "themed" CHRISTmas trees, stores that put up their decorations right afer labor day, 80 degree weather in december (you know you hate that one, too!), and nativity scenes with the "wise men" at the stable in bethlehem.  i'll tell you why later.  but the "wise men", or "magi", seem to intrigue us more than any other part of the CHRISTmas story.  songs have been written about them, they are in every CHRISTmas pageant, and their giving of gifts to the CHRIST-child is celebrated every year as we give gifts to each other.  last year, i received a book for CHRISTmas entitled, "the revelation of the magi", which is the translation of an ancient manuscript that lied tucked away in the vatican library for centuries until a doctoral student dug it up and did his thesis on it.  the manuscript was written in the early days of CHRISTianity and claimed to be written by the magi that came to visit the CHRIST-child.  while i do not hold this manuscript on the same level of authority as the Bible, it is a very interesting read.  it states that the magi were actually a sect of silent ascetic worshippers, descended from seth, the son of adam, who were handed down a prophecy from adam through seth partaining to the birth of the CHRIST.  the prophecy contained who the CHRIST was, the star that would announce His coming, and the purpose of His coming.  the magi (according to "the revelation of the magi" from the ancient word magoi, meaning silent) were from the land in the east by the great sea, meaning china.  the star that they saw was actually an angelic being, appearing to them in the cave where they lived, and announced the birth of the CHRIST, and they rejoiced and set out to worship Him following the angelic "star-child" as it went before them.  we all know the rest of the story from Matthew: they followed the star until it led them to the house where He was, and they presented Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

now, as said before, i have a big problem with the magi being in nativity scenes.  not so much with the number, even though nowhere does the Bible say that there were only three, just three types of gifts.  it must have been more than three for a significant portion of jerusalem and even the king to notice their arrival.  but my hang-up comes with them being there when CHRIST was a baby.  if the star appeared when He was born, it would have taken them years to reach Him, not hours.  when herod asked them about when the star appeared, he had every baby 2 years old and under in bethlehem slaughtered.  we also see the magi visiting Him in "the house", meaning that He was no longer at the stable.  it is yet another one of the aspects of the CHRISTmas story that has been romanticized into a falsehood.

however, what is most intriguing about the magi was not when they got there, or where they were from, but the gifts that they brought.  the gifts were (say them with me) gold, frankincense, and myrhh.  gold was a gift given to a king, thus they recognized CHRIST as king (they even asked herod where the king of the jews was born).  frankincense was a gift given to a priest or a deity, thus they recognized CHRIST as not just a priest, but as God.  and the final gift mentioned is myrrh.  this one is prophetic in nature.  myrrh was used as an analgesic, or pain reliever, and also as a spice used in burial for preserving corpses.  so they recognized CHRIST's purpose for being born.  an interesting side note is that out of all the gifts, CHRIST would only be offered one again while He was on earth:  myrrh.  He was offered myrrh mixed with vinegar to dull His pain while on the cross, which He refused.  the women coming to His tomb to prepare His body also would no doubt have had myrrh with them.

whether you call them magi, kings, wise men, or astrologers, one thing is certain:  we can see their parallels in society as well as in our own lives this CHRISTmas.  there are people today who are anxiously watching the signs and waiting for CHRIST to return.  no one knows when that will be, but there are CHRISTians who are like the magi, watching and waiting.  they are faithful, no matter the cost.  there are those that, like the magi, have left their homes and their comfort zones to worship CHRIST in another land as missionaries.  in "the revelation of the magi", we know that many generations lived and died, all the while remaining faithful to the promise and prophecy of CHRIST's coming.  there are those that will die anxiously awaiting His return, and even as year after year passed, they never gave up hope, never stopped watching and preparing themselves. 

another parallel is in how we see CHRIST.  many of us are like ricky bobby, and like the CHRISTmas Jesus.  we pray to the "dear baby Jesus in the golden diaper".  it's far more peaceful to think about that than it is to think about the reason He came.  there was a man in a CHRISTmas parade about 10 or 15 years ago, i forget where, but entered himself as "the reason for the season".  when it came parade day, most figured that he would show up as something relating to the nativity, but he shocked them all when he showed up in very elaborate theatre make-up as CHRIST during His walk up the via de la rosa.  he had a crown of thorns on his head, blood everywhere, and was carrying a large wooden cross.  according to the news article, the people from the town were very upset at the violence portrayed in his entry, and that it was a CHRISTmas parade, and not a haunted house.  they lambasted the man for ruining their parade.  but you know, he got it right!  that's why Jesus came.  He came to die on that cross. 

so this year, let us all keep the spirit of CHRISTmas as displayed in the magi.  let us always be prepared for His coming, after all, the Bible says that no one knows the hour of His return.  and most importantly, let us always remember the real reason for the season.  the apostle paul said, "we preach CHRIST, and Him crucified."  nothing in there that says, "we preach CHRIST, and His being born in a stable."  every day of the year should be focused on remembering His death, burial, and resurrection.  the birth is important, for it fulfilled a plethora of prophecies, adding validity to His claim to be who He said He was.  but it is the milk. the meat is the reason He came!

here's to the rejects!

perhaps of all the characters of the original CHRISTmas story i identify with most, the shepherds are the ones that seem to fit the bill on a consistent basis.  in order to fully appreciate the role of the shepherds in the birth of CHRIST, you have to know a little about shepherds during that day. 

in biblical times, few people were despised as much as shepherds.  the shepherds were the outcasts of society.  they spent most of their days out in the fields, and reeked of the outdoors, sweat, and animal musk.  they were viewed as outlaws and thieves, and whenever they came into town, items would conveniently come up missing and fingers would easily point to the shepherds.  we see shepherds getting into fights with other farmers in the Bible, mainly because of the destruction shepherds would leave in their wake.  shepherds cared for sheep, hence the name "shepherd", short for "sheep herder".  shepherds were nomadic, always having to move their sheep from one location to another.  this was because of the grazing method that sheep use.  most grazing animals only bite off the visible portion of the grass, and in contrast, sheep pull the entire plant up by the roots.  by the time a heard of sheep had finished grazing an area, the field would have been reduced to a large dirt plot, making it unusable for anyone else.  this was why other farmers hated shepherds.  this was also the reason for the shepherd having to take the sheep through the "valley of the shadow of death", as the grass grew in the higher locations and as one was cleared, the sheep would have to be led to another one.  a shepherd's only friends were the sheep that he cared for, and sometimes other shepherds that worked the herd with him.  kind of paints a different picture than the fair-skinned, clean and pressed boyish shepherds we see in the paintings, huh? 

now, imagine for a moment that you are a shepherd.  or let's compare it to a modern day example.  say for a moment that you are a paroled convict working out of a halfway house as a member of a road crew clearing overpasses.  everywhere you go, people know that you are a thief, and you reek of the outdoors, sweat, and a mixture of grass, onion, and 2 stroke engine exhaust.  you are unkempt, and have no home to officially speak of.  your family barely speaks to you, and the only friends you have are of like backgrounds.  even then, they are not what you would call "real" friends, more just temporary alliances.  you can't go anywhere without suspicion, and one day while working on a ditchbank somewhere an angel appears to you and tells you that the Messiah is born in the small town down the road.  this is no booming metropolis, just a little community with two working traffic lights, a post office, and a small downtown area.  you were just there working and even then the townspeople all but ran you off with their accusing looks and general avoidance.  do you go back and see this Child for yourself and then go and tell everyone about it?  they will think even worse of you, and probably have you run out of town by the local barney fife.  moreover, you probably will not be allowed back, limiting where you can go for supplies even further. 

well, this is exactly what the shepherds did.  they went in the middle of the night into a town that did not welcome them to witness the Messiah firsthand, and then went out after they had seen Him, rejoicing and telling everyone they saw about it!  these shepherds were outcasts, considered unclean and unworthy.  they were not royalty.  they had little money or possessions to speak of.  they were dirty.  they were sinners.  yet, they were exactly the type of people that CHRIST came for! 

as i said before, this group is the one i identify with more than any other, and on a regular basis.  the Bible is full of unworthy people that God chose to use, but these guys would make the top ten list.  all of us were like that in God's eyes.  we were unclean and unworthy, sinners, and as revelation 3 says:  "poor, wretched, and blind".  yet God saw fit to announce to us on a personal level the revelation of CHRIST.  if God can use a group of outcasts such as the shepherds, and have them immortalized throughout time (many of you have already seen them portrayed in CHRISTmas programs across the globe!), then imagine how He can use you!  remember, CHRIST chose to compare Himself to a shepherd as well.  He was an outcast from the beginning, so it is only fitting that He would announce His birth to outcasts, and use outcasts like us to spread His gospel! 

this year, what will you do with the gospel of CHRIST?  will you make excuses about how you aren't good at speaking, or you don't have time, money, status, ___________ (fill in your own excuse here)?  the shepherds left their whole livelihood to go, see, and tell of the Messiah's birth.  or will you go out and let the Holy Spirit who lives within you guide you as you go and tell other outcasts that CHRIST was born on CHRISTmas to die and rise again to save rejects such as us?

sorry, all we have are no birthing rooms left

we've all seen the CHRISTmas pageants at churches and schools.  we see the little girl playing mary and the little boy reluctantly playing joseph knock on the door of the inn and the boy with the fake beard playing the innkeeper tells them to go away, that there are no rooms left.  the innkeeper then offers them the stable out back and the young duo says ok without an argument and they go to the other side of the stage where a quaint little stable with a wooden feeding troth is waiting on them.  by this point, mary has already had her baby boy, usually a baby doll, because nobody wants to see a 5 or 6 year old girl pretending to give birth on stage!  it's all cute, and we love them, but if you go back and read the story, you will find something interesting.  there is no innkeeper in the story!  one can infer that there must have been an innkeeper, being that there was an inn, but the elusive innkeeper is not explicitly mentioned in any part of the story.  you ask the average person, though, and they will tell you that there is one in the Bible.  it becomes like the little kid who shows up at his CHRISTmas pageant with a pillow under his shirt and when his teacher asks him who he is supposed to be, he matter-of-factly tells her that he is "round john virgin"!  we end up adding more to the story than is there, much of our misinformation coming from things like children's plays and CHRISTmas carols.

while the innkeeper is not specifically mentioned by name, we can see a lot of what an innkeeper's characteristics would have been like in society today, especially at CHRISTmas time.  the town of bethlehem was a small town geographically isolated from much of the surrounding area, and the census implemented by caesar augustus would have brought a tremendous amount of commerce to the local merchants for the weeks and months during the census.  this was primarily an agricultural town, so business was limited to goods bought and sold by the local community and the occasional traveler stopping through on the way to other larger cities within palestine.  with this booming influx of business, the inns would have been full, and the last thing that an innkeeper would want was a screaming early teenage girl giving birth in one of his rooms, and making the room unclean as well as scaring off all of his guests.  so it would have been convenient for all of the rooms to be taken.  there is no validity to the misconstrued notion of mary and joseph going from inn to inn trying to find a room, since her delivery would have occurred just as they got to bethlehem (probably from either walking or riding on the back of an animal during the journey there).  so if we acknowledge that little fact, then we can reasonably assume that there was no time to go door to door. 

let me throw another proverbial monkey wrench into the story here and point out that the word used for "inn" is kataluma, which could also be translated "guestroom".  it is quite possible, and actually more probable, that mary and joseph sought lodging at a relative's house, since that was the town of joseph's family.  however, being that everyone else from his lineage would have been there, and being that mary was late in pregnancy, their journey would have been slow and they would have been the last ones to arrive, only to find all of the guest rooms with family occupied.  however, most families had a stable behind the house where they kept their most prized livestock, which mainly would have been oxen.  the family probably would have considered that to be a more suitable place for giving birth, due to the tremendous mess it caused, and allowed joseph and mary to use it for that purpose.  also, it is quite possible that the reputation of mary's unwed pregnancy would have preceded them there, so there may have been an element of keeping them out of sight, out of mind. 

regardless, the overwhelming attitudes we see in either the innkeeper or the family are quite prevalent today.  the innkeeper would have had the birth of the Messiah right at their back door, and he missed it.  he was so busy with business that he had no time for someone who interfered with his making money.  we see that today beginning at halloween and even earlier.  many businesses fall prey to seeing CHRISTmas through money colored glasses and are too busy with the commerce of the season to actually recognize what truly is being celebrated.  we see workers being forced to work long hours, and now even working on thanksgiving, to stay ahead of the competition and bring in the most capital.  especially in the united states, where CHRISTianity is the predominant religion, people are so busy with the rush of CHRISTmas that they miss the CHRIST of CHRISTmas.  so they are in effect, just like the assumed innkeeper, having CHRIST right outside their door, and they miss Him.

still others are like joseph's family.  this attitude is the most prevalent in churches.  CHRIST is just outside, but nobody bothers to make room for Him.  He is an inconvenience.  i'm sure the family went out to check on them, and possibly even went out to see the baby Jesus, but she had to lay him in a feeding troth filled with hay and ox saliva because the family did not make room for Him in the house.  Jesus even referenced this attitude in revelation 3, when He said that He stands at the door and knocks.  the sad thing is, the door He is knocking on is the door of the church!  His own church, His own family if you will, has no room for Him!  they have been doing things their own way, and for Him to come in would be a huge inconvenience because they might have to change how they are doing things. 

this year, is CHRIST in your CHRISTmas?  or are you so busy with the rush that you miss Him?  or maybe you no longer have room for Him because of all of the "tradition" and "religion" that has taken His place.  it's never too late to repent and to make room for Him.  after all, He also promises in revelation 3 that if anyone opens the door to Him, He will come in and restore the relationship.      

but i'm the emperor! i can name a salad after me if i want to!

whenever i read about julius caesar or caesar augustus, the line from "bill and ted's excellent adventure" comes to mind:  "so what you're telling me, is that caesar was the 'salad dressing dude'".  by now, you've probably figured out who the next character is.  most already know this part of the story.  this is how the most commonly known portion of the CHRISTmas story begins:  "in those days, a decree went out from caesar augustus that all the world should be taxed (registered), each to his own city."  this is the census that the caesar implemented that forced mary and joseph to make the journey to bethlehem, with mary being in her last months of pregnancy.  so who was this "caesar augustus" guy? 

history tells us that he was born gaius octavius thurinus, the great nephew of julius caesar.  he was part of the ruling party of rome, along with mark antony and marcus lepidus.  however, unlike his great uncle, octavius was far more ambitious, and a conflict grew with the other members of the triumverate over who held power, and octavius self-assumed the name "caesar" from his great uncle and like the rock star "sting" changed his name to augustus, thereby becoming known as caesar augustus, the first emperor of rome.  augustus seized power from mark antony, which led to cleopatra's and subsequently mark antony's suicides that have now become infamous.  augustus was a very ambitious emperor, choosing to focus heavily on religion and reestabilshed the pantheon of gods that had been all but forgotten in the empire and also declared himself a god in the process.  he expanded the roman empire to include much of europe and the near east, which leads us up to the passage in the CHRISTmas story.  augustus grew increasingly frustrated with the decline in numbers in his empire, so he enacted laws to benefit the married and specifically the married with children.  he lambasted the single men for the "murder" of the empire for their refusal to marry and have children.  some years after the laws were in place, he ordered a census be taken of the entire roman world.  there were three done under his rule, each around 20 years apart.  the first one was around 28 b.c., the second around 8 b.c., and the final one around 14 a.d.  the census involving mary and joseph would have been the one around 8 b.c., but it would have taken a couple of years for news of the census to reach palestine, so that is where we get our approximate birth date of 6 b.c. for CHRIST. 

so how does this translate to today?  what parallels can we see of caesar augustus in today's society?  well, first, we know that augustus saw himself as god, and was completely oblivious to the birth of the CHRIST in bethlehem.  many today are what i call "functioning atheists", choosing to see themselves as god of their own lives and destinies.  they are religious relativists, saying that it is ok for you to believe in whatever god you want to believe in, as long as it is personal and not forced on others.  many professing CHRISTians (notice i said "professing") actually fall under this category as well.  the ones who only choose to acknowledge the lordship of CHRIST on two days a year, are in essence acting as their own gods.  many people today are actually oblivious to the true meaning of CHRISTmas.  sure, most know the story, but the actual implications of the story are unknown to them.  you may doubt me on that, considering that we live in a nation where churches are very much in abundance, but i can assure you, this sadly is the case.  it is because churches today have become so stagnant and internal, that there is very little new growth or evangelism, and the church has become sick with inbreeding.  most new members are transfers from another church, and very few new converts.  this has led to an ignorance of the gospel in society as a whole.  it is because of this disobedience that society has shunned CHRISTianity as just another of many world religions.

this leads us to the second parallel.  augustus was in a sense a pluralist.  he chose not to force one particular god on the people, but instead, set up a whole pantheon of gods for them to choose from.  with america being already an extremely diverse society, most today that have the attitude of caesar choose to stay neutral on the topic of religious belief, stating that you can believe whatever you want as long as it works for you.  there are even professing CHRISTians who have fallen into this mindset.  there are those in our churches today, of every denomination and background, that say that CHRIST is not the only way to heaven.  they have fallen prey to the "false prophets" who "tickle their ears" and have adopted a moralistic gospel and a form of deism rather than biblical CHRISTianity.  they have stopped seeing God as the supreme, righteous, holy, and jealous Deity that He is, and have instead taken the view of "grandfather God", who loves everyone and won't send anyone to hell, because that's not politically correct and causes division and hurt feelings.  so when it comes to CHRISTmas, they choose to focus on everything but CHRIST.  they have their pantheon of gods in the form of material goods, nostalgia, santa claus, trees, etc.  these are not bad things in and of themselves, but when they become the focus, they in essence become gods. 

finally, you can see a parallel in caesar's ambition.  he was a narcissist, who wanted absolute control of his life and everyone around him, regardless of how much it inconvenienced them.  there are people just like that everywhere at CHRISTmas!  they are the ones who stress out every year at CHRISTmas and become the CHRISTmas nazis.  everything around them has to be perfect, from the tree (they usually have the designer tree with a set theme every year), to the dinner, to the family coming over, etc.  they are the clark w. griswolds trying have that "good old fashioned family CHRISTmas", much to the chagrin of those around them.  i had a friend in seminary that used to tell me that he hated CHRISTmas because of the memories he had associated with it.  his memories consisted of stressed out parents, arguments, and general high tension around the house.  for him, he echoed the sentiment of clark's wife in CHRISTmas vacation when she said, "it's CHRISTmas, and we are all in misery!" 

so this year, don't be a caesar.  keep your name.  realize that you are not God.  there are no vacancies in the trinity.  no need for you to apply.  and keep CHRIST the focus, and if you can do that, then peace on earth and good will can be yours.  "seek first the kingdom of God, and all these other things will be given to you!"

but she's so old...she's just so....old!

in college, when i first started getting into martial arts, i participated in a regional competition.  at the time, i was only a green belt in traditional shotokan, which basically means i would have gotten my tail handed to me against pretty much anyone i went up against.  at this particular competition, there were different competitions one could enter, such as kata, hand to hand, and breaking.  since i was put out fairly early in the hand to hand, i decided to go over and observe the breaking competition.  one particular participant caught my eye, and i remember thinking that he would be put out fairly early.  the reason was, the participant was an 8 year old boy, maybe 80 lbs worth, and that was a liberal estimate.  here he was, against full grown men that had 100 lbs on him, about to break boards and cinder blocks.  but this kid never wavered in his determination, and was fairly impressive in his ability to break boards.  perhaps it was the black belt around his waist, or the fact that he had broken everything they had put in front of him so far, but whatever the reason, he was not detracted at all when they placed a stack of 7 1x8 pine boards in front of him.  they actually had to bring a stool for him to stand on because he was not tall enough to reach the top board with enough force to break the stack.  needless to say, he went through the stack like it was made of toilet paper, and ended up winning the competition. 

i imagine that was how people looked at elizabeth, zechariah's wife when they first saw her with the tell-tale bump of her baby boy growing inside of her.  in contrast with her husband, elizabeth actually believed God when she was told that she would have a baby, even in her post-menopausal state.  however, to take away fodder from her possible detractors, she went into seclusion upon learning that she was pregnant.  while in seclusion, she received a visitor, her cousin mary.  mary's story is one we will get to later, but mary was there from her home town to possibly avoid a stoning sentence for the child also growing inside of her.  we know that mary stayed for about three months, probably until the delivery of the baby was accomplished.  in that time, women would give birth to a baby by hollowing out a hole in the ground, placing bricks on each side of the hole and then squatting on the bricks over the hole with women helping to hold them up by the arms during the process.  so it would have been normal for mary to help with the delivery. 

what is striking about elizabeth is her tremendous amount of faith.  we never see her questioning in the way that her ancestor sarah did.  perhaps it was because of her husband's plight with muteness that convinced her, but for whatever reason we know that elizabeth kept faith.  she also removed herself from temptations to doubt her cridibility, validating her pregnancy as being from the Lord, and setting the stage not only for herself, but for her cousin mary as well.  we know that she firmly believed mary's story when she came to visit, and provided a safe place for her to stay.  having witnessed her own pregnancy, perhaps it was not hard for her to believe mary's story about the immaculate conception.  but regardless, she took a risk to her own reputation and welcomed mary into her home.

there are people like that today.  we all know them.  they are the ones that have the faith that the Bible says could move mountains.  they are also the ones who reach out to others, choosing to share that faith with everyone they come in contact with.  granted, there are those that believe something blindly and without merit to their belief, which is very dangerous.  that is how we end up with cult leaders like david koresh and jim jones.  but when a belief comes from spending time with a living Saviour, and studying His Word, then it is a belief that has merit and can be counted on. 

as we look around at this time of year, we see those like elizabeth.  we see the champions of the faith in our churches and in our lives.  they are the ones who are not detracted by the naysayers around them.  they are the ones who guard their faith, and choose not to get into pointless debates with others about their belief, but rather stand firm as an example and a testament to those around them.  they help others when the world around them writes the afflicted off.  they are obedient to God despite their circumstances.  but most importantly, they don't make excuses as to why they can't do something.  when God commands, they obey.  they walk up to the stack of boards that God has placed in front of them, they look at the black belt God has placed around their spiritual waist, and they proceed to accomplish the task for no other reason than because God has told them to.  they are the missionaries going to the closed countries, despite the objections from family members.  they are the ones who are obedient to God with their money, even when their own pocketbooks are light.  they are the ones that listen to the Holy Spirit's leading and take the time to share Christ with someone they meet in the store, even though they may not be very good at communicating.  the ladies that defy gender barriers to share Christ to a culture that looks down on them, the youth that defy age boundaries to minister to an elderly nursing home patient, the churches that defy color boundaries and open their doors to all races, the suburbanite that defies their fear to minister in the inner cities, and the CHRISTians that defy death on a daily basis to hold secret church meetings in a home in a foreign country that outlaws CHRISTianity; all of these are in the spirit of elizabeth. 

so this year, will you be a person of faith?  or will you be the voice of "reason", detracting from what God has called someone to do in obedience?  will you be a safe haven for someone, whether it means being someone that is willing to listen, or taking a needy family under your care for the CHRISTmas season, or even welcoming a single mother into your home who has nowhere else to go?  today, more than ever, we need people of faith.  the question is, if not us, then who will fill that role?

characters of CHRISTmas: zechariah

as promised, so begins my journey into the exploration of the characters of CHRISTmas, and going one step further and drawing parallels to character types we see today.

have you ever just sat and read the whole CHRISTmas story?  if not, then i encourage you to sit down and read it this year.  most people know the luke 2 story, and even the matthew 1-2 portion, but the story actually begins back in luke 1.  it begins when the angel gabriel appears to zechariah, who was an elderly priest serving in the temple of the Lord.  the angel informs him that his elderly wife elizabeth (we'll get to her later), is going to have a son who will pave the way for CHRIST, and that zechariah is to name him john.

now, i don't know about you, but if an angel ever just appeared to me, and then told me something, i think i might be inclined to believe him.  but what does zechariah do?  he questions gabriel, and says something along the lines of him and his wife being old (sound familiar?  read the story of abraham in case you have forgotten).  as his punishment, gabriel renders zechariah mute until the baby is born.

have you ever been asked to believe the unbelievable?  what was your response?  caedmon's call has a song called "there you go", and there is an excellent rephrasing of john 3:16 within the lyrics:  "for You so loved the unlovable, that You gave the ineffable, that who so believes the unbelievable, will attain the unattainable."  every year at CHRISTmas, we are called by God to believe and outrageous story of a young girl who miraculously becomes pregnant, yet claims to never have had sex, and that baby is born into poverty to become Immanuel, God with us on earth.  some religions deny this, and say that mary was a liar and a fornicator.  yet we are called to believe it based on some words that were written over 1900 years ago.  you say you believe that, but what do you do when God calls you to believe a promise He has made to you?

i can remember a time in my own life, when i, like zechariah, had my faith tested.  God has promised in His Word, that He will supply all my needs, yet when i was without a job, i began to do like zechariah and look around me at my circumstances and say, "but God. . ."  the Bible is filled with those who doubted God's promises.  so why should it be any easier for us today?  i mean, if zechariah actually saw an angel, and still didn't believe, then how much harder is it for us to believe without a personal visit from an angelic being?  it becomes that much harder when God actually asks something of us in the midst of our crisis of faith.  i can remember when God told me to move back to mississippi (even after i said i would never go back there).  i had no place to live there, no job, and a pregnant wife and son to move with me.  i remember praying, "God, if you want us to move there, you have to tell my wife that, too, because she is going to flip when i tell her that You want us to move to mississippi!"  the very next day, while talking to my wife on the phone, she asked me had i been praying about where we were to move, and i told her that i had, but that she was not going to believe me when i told her.  she said, "it's tupelo, mississippi, isn't it?"  keep in mind, i had not talked to her at all about this.  i was in rhode island at training and she was in texas at her mom's house at the time.  she said that God had told her that as well.  long story short, we obeyed God, took a huge leap of faith, and God was faithful to provide jobs for both of us while there.  now, before you start saying, "wow, chris, i wish i had that kind of faith!", let me confess.  after about a year and a half, God began telling us it was time to move on from tupelo to my ultimate calling as a navy chaplain.  however, i used my own logic again, like zechariah, and saw the super nice salary i was bringing in, no offers of active duty, and refused God's offer.  since i ignored God's gentle prodding, He decided to give me a violent shove in the right direction, which was not a fun time for my family or me.  i, like zechariah, was rendered powerless. 

but if you read the rest of the story of zechariah, you will find out that he was faithful in spite of his unbelief and silent punishment, and when the baby was born, he wrote that he was to be named john as gabriel had instructed.  after that, his voice returned, and he began to praise God and to prophecy about his son.  the prophecy came true, and his son john, would become the man known to the world as john the baptist, the forerunner of CHRIST.

perhaps this CHRISTmas, you find yourself like zechariah.  maybe God has called you to do something out of the ordinary such as provide a meal or CHRISTmas gifts for a needy family, serve in a soup kitchen on CHRISTmas day, step out of your comfort zone and do something that otherwise would seem outlandish.  or maybe it's the commands already revealed to you through Scripture:  attend church on sunday even if it is CHRISTmas (i know, novel idea, right?), actually spend this CHRISTmas focusing on CHRIST instead of presents and the rush, or be the voice of the angels proclaiming the good news of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of CHRIST to someone who desperately needs to hear it this year.  it could be that you have not believed God on something He has told you, and you are suffering in silence as a result.  as in the case of zechariah, God can still use you despite your unbelief, provided you obey Him despite your lack of faith.  and i know that there are some, that have found this whole CHRISTmas business nothing more than a fairy tale, a children's story in the same vein as santa claus.  my prayer for you this year is that God sends someone to reveal the truth to you.  who knows, somebody's obedience and belief may give the world its next billy graham or martin luther.