Good News: A Savior Was Born

I was thinking about some of those people who were caught in the recent tornado in Kentucky. I heard one man from his hospital bed telling of his harrowing experience. He described how the roof lifted off the building and the walls collapsed on him and his co-workers. He said he was at the very bottom of the pile, pinned under all the rubble. As tremendous pressure was weighing down on his body, he could only slightly move one arm, just enough to raise himself up so that he could continue to breathe. He and others with him were stuck. They couldn’t get out to save themselves. All they could do was wait for someone to come and rescue them. When help came, they were finally able to get enough of the debris off these victims in order to free them from their storm-created prison.

The Jews in Jesus’ day were also looking for a rescuer. They were stuck under the oppression of the powerful Roman Empire with no way to free themselves. They were expecting a savior who would establish his earthly kingdom and return control of their homeland back to the Jewish people. However, when Jesus came, it wasn’t to be a political savior for the Jews. Jesus came to be the Savior of the whole world. He saw more than the Jews stuck under Roman rule. He saw a world that was pinned under the weight of sin. He knew that the greatest need people had, including the Jewish people, was to be delivered from their spiritual bondage.

That’s a predicament we’re all helpless to free ourselves from. Until we experience salvation through Christ, we’re trapped and can’t do anything about our spiritual plight. We can’t fight against sin in our own strength and win. We can’t be good enough to crawl out of our lost condition. We will inevitably fall prey to bad actions, ungodly attitudes, or impure motives, causing us to sink deeper and deeper into the rubble. There is no way out on our own. We need a rescuer. And that’s where Jesus came in. He was born to be our Savior. He came to deliver us from the awful weight of sin, shame, and guilt that has kept us down. He came to set us free to live life the way God intended – in a right relationship with Him, enjoying His fellowship, and becoming a holy people.

This is why the angel in his famous announcement referred to this as good news: “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). The fact that a Savior was born is what made it such good news. If God had come in the flesh as our Judge, we would’ve been in big trouble. Or if the one true Light of the world had shone in the darkness simply to show us the reality of our sinful condition, that wouldn’t have been enough. It would just expose our need to be saved. Thankfully, Jesus came to do more than that. He came not only to reveal our sin, but also to save us from it.

The fact that a Savior was born is what makes everything else we remember about Jesus’ birth so meaningful and such an occasion for joy. It’s what makes it good news. So as we celebrate Christmas, let’s rejoice in Him as our Savior. Or if you’re still stuck under sin’s bondage, reach out to Him and let Him rescue you today.

 

Like Jesus, We Should Be Misfits in This World

Recently I watched a few minutes of the holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. If you’re familiar with the story, you know part of the theme has to do with being different. Rudolph didn’t fit in due to his shiny red nose. Herbie the elf was likewise snubbed because of his desire to be a dentist rather than a toymaker. There was even an island of misfit toys filled with playthings which were flawed or unusual in some way. One of the lessons of the tale is that it’s acceptable to be different. One’s uniqueness can even be a positive quality, as Rudolph’s nose illustrated when it “saved the day” by allowing Santa to drive his sleigh in spite of the bad weather.

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, we’re reminded that He was also a misfit in this world. He was definitely different – the unique combination of being fully God and fully human. He stood out as different, sometimes in ways that people didn’t like and ridiculed. And the very qualities that made Jesus different are what led to His bringing the salvation we all needed. The fact that He didn’t fit in with this world was one of the reasons He was rejected and put to death. Jesus being a misfit wasn’t due to His being flawed in any way. On the contrary, it was the result of the world being flawed in the presence of His purity and goodness. The Apostle John describes Him as being the light shining in the darkness (John 1:5). Jesus didn’t come to blend in with the darkness. No, He came to be a light to penetrate the darkness. As the light, Jesus illuminated and enlightened. He revealed the way things really were. He showed more clearly what God is like, as well as revealing what people are like, including exposing any sin in their lives. The holy God-man was quite a contrast to a spiritually-corrupt world.

 All of us have probably felt like we didn’t fit in at some point in our lives. That’s just part of our common experience as humans in this world. However, as followers of Jesus, we should be misfits in some ways, similar to Jesus’ experience. Unlike Him, we have our flaws, and even our shortcomings and sins. However, God’s Word stresses that we’re not “of the world” (John 17:14) and we are not to allow ourselves to be fitted into the mold of this world (Romans 12:2). As Jesus was the light, He said that we also are to be lights in this world (Matthew 5:14). Likewise, we are to be making progress in becoming more holy and more like Jesus, which will make us stand out as different from an ungodly world. So not only should we expect to be misfits if we are faithfully following Jesus, but we should be concerned if we find ourselves failing to live up to that description. If we’re letting the light of Christ shine through us, we’re going to stand out as being different – in ways that some people will like and in ways that some people will despise.

At one point Rudolph’s parents tried to hide his uniqueness with a fake nose so that he wouldn’t be shunned by others. Maybe we’re tempted to hide our lights in order to try to fit in better or to avoid the fallout from others. However, we need to fulfill our calling to be a holy people, a Christlike example, and a truth-telling witness for the Lord. Be willing to be a misfit in this world in order for the darkness to experience the life-giving light.

 

Expect the Unexpected at Christmas

The holiday season is often a busy time for many of us. With all the planned activities on our schedules, any unexpected events can be especially challenging and unwelcome. Take last weekend for example. I was eating dinner on Saturday when a crown came off one of my teeth. I immediately thought of the possible repercussions since the next day I was scheduled to preach, eat “Christmas dinner” with others from our church, and attend my granddaughter’s ballet performance in “The Nutcracker.” Thankfully, it didn’t keep me from participating in any of those activities, although I did have to make some adjustments. However, speaking of the ballet – on our way to enjoy that event, the low-tire-pressure warning light on our car suddenly appeared. As I watched the indicator informing me that one tire was quickly losing air, I felt the temptation for my own spirit to deflate. However, in spite of the flat tire, we were still able to make it to the performance, and I had help afterwards getting it changed. So while these occurrences were certainly unexpected and I would have preferred not to deal with them, I could also think of worse times when they could have happened. Even in the midst of those inconvenient surprises, everything worked out.

    That first Christmas wasn’t without its unexpected and inconvenient moments too. The one that we most often think about was when Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem. As Joseph went into the local inn to secure accommodations for the night, he was greeted with the unwelcome news that there were no vacancies. With his very pregnant companion ready to give birth at any time, that wasn’t the information they were hoping for. Instead, they were relegated to having to bed down in an area used as a stable. The Bible is silent about their reaction to this unexpected predicament. Did Joseph get into a heated argument with the innkeeper? Did Mary deride Joseph for his lack of foresight in securing a room? We can imagine how some of us might have acted based on how we tend to respond to our own unexpected inconveniences. However, I like to think better of Joseph and Mary. I believe their godly character is one reason God chose them to be the earthly parents of this unique child. Maybe they felt initial irritation and concern at this development, but I like to think that their faith quickly kicked in and they put their situation in God’s hands. They trusted Him in spite of the less-than-ideal circumstances.

Can we do that when unexpected events throw a wrench into our busy holiday schedules? Can we whisper a prayer of faith in God and trust that He’s going to work everything out? Can we let Him calm those initial reactions of fear, anger, and frustration, and bless us with peace in the midst of the storm?

God has used Joseph’s and Mary’s unexpected situation to illustrate the humble beginnings of Jesus. And what a great picture it has become of the truth about people needing to make room in their lives for the Savior. God brought good out of a seemingly negative event. Let’s trust Him to do that in our case too. We’re going to face some unexpected moments. We’re going to be inconvenienced by some bumps in our road this holiday season. But let’s face them with a firm assurance that God is in control. Nothing is unexpected to Him. Let’s trust Him to use those occasions for some good purpose in our lives or in fulfilling His plans. He did it with a “no vacancy” sign. And He can do it with a flat tire or whatever else may come our way.

 

This Is a Great Time to Get Reconnected

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is past, my wife and I have started watching a few Christmas movies, especially the newer ones offered up on the Hallmark Channel. There is often a common scenario in many of those rather predictable storylines, whether it’s in their Christmas movies or in their other romantic flicks shown throughout the year. It usually involves two people who were once in a relationship but had gone different ways, coming back together years later. They may have to work through some issues related to their previous break-up – there may need to be some confession, forgiveness, and change of heart – but eventually they end up reconnecting and their relationship being restored, maybe even stronger and on a more permanent basis than it had been before.

 The holiday season is a wonderful time to reconnect with people. We may have opportunities to spend time with distant relatives we only see once a year. Or we might send a Christmas card to folks we haven’t heard from in a while or haven’t seen face-to-face in decades. Maybe we’ll even include a little note updating others on what has been going on in our family over the past year. In some cases, the holidays are our main opportunity to reconnect with folks from whom we’ve been separated by distance, busyness, or issues which have strained our relationship.

This is also a great time to reconnect with the Lord. If we’ve allowed issues to get between us and our relationship with God, there’s no better time than the present to deal with them. Maybe something happened in our lives that made us question God’s love for us, His ability to answer prayer, or even His existence. We walked away from Him and our faith. However, we recognize that something important is missing in our lives. Nothing else has been able to fill that void or satisfy the deepest yearnings in our hearts. It’s time to humbly seek God again, to honestly look to Him and His Word for the truth about those issues, and to put our trust in Him.

Maybe others of us haven’t made such a drastic break in our relationship with the Lord, yet we’ve definitely put some distance between us and Him. We’ve delved into activities that we knew He wouldn’t approve of. We’ve given our love to the things of this world rather than to Him and what He considers important. We’ve fallen into old ways of living and sinful habits that we once left behind. It’s time for us prodigals to go back home to our Father, confess our wrongdoings, and trust that He will lovingly welcome us back home.

Then there are others of us who have simply grown complacent in our relationship with the Lord. We haven’t lost our faith or fallen into some sinful lifestyle, but we aren’t actively pursuing a closer walk with Him. We’ve allowed our love for Him to wain and grow cold. We haven’t turned away from the Lord, but we just aren’t seeking to know Him and fellowship with Him as earnestly as we’ve done in the past. We, too, need to reconnect with our God and Savior.  

So as we go through this season of the year, let’s use it as an opportunity to reach out to the God who is always lovingly reaching out to us. He is ready and wants to reconnect with us, if we’ll just take a step toward Him. James 4:18 promises that if we will draw near to God, He will draw near to us. Give it a try. Make this a special season for reconnecting not only with other people, but also with the Lord.    

 

Don’t Become Careless in Guarding Your Soul

Recently several of us in our congregation met out in the church yard to cut down and remove a half-dead tree that had become something of an eye-sore in the landscape. In spite of chainsaws malfunctioning at times, we finally managed to accomplish our goal. However, a day or two later I noticed an itchy rash on my arm. I called up a couple of the others who had worked on that project and discovered they had it too, but even worse than I did. Apparently some of the leafless vines wrapped around the trunk of that tree had been poison oak. It was more difficult to identify since the leaves had fallen off, but I’ve since been informed of certain characteristics to watch out for even in a leafless vine that signal it might be poisonous. I guess we weren’t as careful as we should have been or didn’t take as many precautions as were warranted. I have no doubt that after suffering the irritating and uncomfortable consequences of our actions, we’ll all be more vigilant the next time we deal with any plant which even remotely looks suspicious.

 How much more should we be watchful and cautious when it comes to our having contact with things which can adversely affect our souls. Sometimes it’s not a matter of intentionally grabbing hold of something we know is sinful or spiritually harmful. It may just be that we get a little careless. We don’t take the time to pray, seek God’s guidance, or use wise discernment in identifying that this action or attitude could pose a threat. We don’t hold it up to the light of God’s Word to see what it has to say about the subject. We just jump right in without thinking. Then we have to face the consequences – guilt, a loss of fellowship with the Lord, or other uncomfortable outcroppings from that initial act. They may hit us immediately or they might not come into our lives until days or months later. But eventually we pay the price for our rash and unwise actions.

    The Bible commands us to “abstain from every form of evil” (I Thessalonians 5:22). Some of us are more familiar with the old King James version – “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” While I understand that translation may not be the best, the concept is still a good one. If you have any inkling that something may be spiritually harmful, keep away from it, at least until you can get further enlightenment or confirmation about it. Elsewhere the Bible tells us not to “give place to the devil”. Again, the King James version warns about not giving the devil a “foothold” in our lives. Don’t entertain anything in your heart, mind, or life that might crack open a door for sin or Satan. If you have doubts, don’t do it.

 The good news for us poison oak sufferers is that there are remedies which help relieve the itching and eventually the rash will run its course and go away. And the good news for us when we carelessly put ourselves in harm’s way spiritually is that God forgives and can help us move on from where we are. Sometimes He may deliver us from the consequences. Other times we might have to continue to “itch” for a while. If left untreated, it can become a serious matter. But when we confess our error and turn back to Him, the Lord is gracious to enable us to carry on from wherever we find ourselves now.

Let’s remember that there are many things around us today which can get inside us and poison our souls. So let’s be watchful and refuse to let down our guard.

 

Seek to Have a Contagious Spirit

Part of our family recently had to deal with the eye infection known as “pink eye.” One of our grandchildren initially contracted the condition. Within a week, it had been passed along to his sibling and eventually to both parents. This infection is described as being very contagious. It certainly lived up to that reputation as it spread rapidly throughout the family.

Being contagious should also be an apt description for a follower of Jesus. I remember a popular book from years past that touted such a concept. While many people, including the author from what I’ve heard, have disavowed certain principles and practices promoted in that writing, the idea of our being contagious is still a valid one. We should have a significant impact on the people and world around us. What we possess in Christ should be passed along to others. They don’t automatically catch it by being in close contact with us. And we need to do more than merely rub shoulders with people and let them see our character and conduct. We do need to verbally share our faith and point others to the truth of God’s Word. Nevertheless, the spirit and faith of a believer should be noticeable and impactful on those who come in contact with such a person.

Jesus described this contagious element of His followers as being light in the darkness and as being the salt of the earth. In one of His many parables about the kingdom of heaven, He describes it as being like leaven or yeast “which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened” (Matthew 13:33). That comparison shows how the faith of a Christian should spread and how it should influence its world. One study Bible suggests that this verse describes how God’s kingdom “does its work of permeating human society, penetrating evil, and transforming lives”. The Spirit of Christ, whether in His Church as a whole or in us as individual believers, should be contagious, spreading, and impactful.

How contagious is our faith? Do others see the kind of spirit in us that causes them to want to know our Savior? Are we having a positive, godly influence on the people we encounter every day? Is our faith like yeast permeating this world in which we live while making it a better place?

There are various qualities in connection with our faith that can be contagious. Having a loving spirit in the midst of a hate-filled world. Having hope when others are in despair. Having courage when others are giving in to fear. I believe another of those contagious characteristics can be thankfulness. As a number of us gather with others for times of fellowship and feasting this next week, no doubt there will be many conversations about higher prices, emptier shelves, and shipping challenges. As we share our mutual experiences, it will be easy to allow our holiday gathering to become a gripe session about the economic, political, and moral condition of our world today. However, let’s also make sure to remind one another of our blessings. May we possess a spirit of gratitude to God that will be contagious.

Yes, there is much to be concerned about today, but there is even more to be thankful for. Be the light in the midst of the darkness. Be the purifying salt around your Thanksgiving table. While others complain, let’s remind ourselves and our companions of how blessed we are. In spite of the condition of our society today, God is still good and faithful. May we go through this week and the days beyond with a contagious spirit of thanksgiving to God.

 

Followers of Jesus Have a Tough Race to Run

While searching for something to watch on TV, my wife and I discovered a ten-episode series documenting what was billed as “The World’s Toughest Race.” It involved teams of “adventure racers” from various countries trekking over hundreds of miles through the rugged terrain of Fiji by means of hiking, biking, climbing, swimming, and paddling. Success was measured not just by finishing in first place, but by surviving and completing the course within the required timeframe. It was definitely a challenging and grueling competition.

We’re probably all familiar with the fact that the Bible sometimes compares the journey through life of a follower of Jesus as being like a race. However, I’m afraid we sometimes picture it as more like a leisurely walk in the park rather than a difficult endurance race. John Bunyan pictured the life of a believer so well in his classic tale of “The Pilgrim’s Progress”. He shows that if we’re truly serious about following Jesus and faithfully completing our course, it will involve having to deal with all kinds of challenges. Along our path we’ll face attractive temptations, deceptive distractions, various traps designed to ensnare us, and even full-blown attacks from our enemy. There will be rugged hills to climb and dangerous waters to traverse. And it’s a long journey that continues throughout the course of our lives.

Granted, it’s possible to avoid many of the hardships by settling for merely being religious, a churchgoer, a Christian in name only, or being half-hearted in one’s allegiance to Jesus. Yet those type of runners either aren’t really in the race or tend to stall out far short of the finish line. If we’re intent on fully following Jesus and living our lives to please Him, it’s going to be a tough journey at times. It will be worth it. And there will be many joys and blessings along the way in the midst of the hardships. Many of the participants in that “World’s Toughest Race”, even as they were bruised, bleeding, and suffering, talked about how much they loved doing it and that it was the best experience of their lives. As believers, we’ll face severe challenges, but we’ll also experience the best kind of life a person could possibly live, as well as have a glorious future with our Lord for eternity.

I don’t know that the Christian life is the world’s toughest race. I believe Jesus can take the credit for enduring that challenge. He faced not only the rigors of being crucified but also the burden of carrying the sins of the world on His shoulders as He did so. Our suffering doesn’t compare to His. Yet as His followers we are called upon to take up our crosses, to deny ourselves, to be willing to follow in His footsteps of being hated, rejected, and persecuted. If we’re running as we should be, our journey will not be a bed of roses. It will be tough at times.

If you’re committed to following Jesus in a world that continues to reject Him, it’s going to be challenging. If you’re determined to stand up for His Word in a society that has turned its back on what God says, you’re going to have enemies. If you’re seeking to live a holy life in the midst of an ungodly world, you’re going to encounter all kinds of obstacles.

If you’re dedicated to running this race, you’re going to have a tough journey. However, Jesus, the One who has already run and won this race, is right there with you to help you through it. Trust Him. Lean on Him. He’ll help you run well and finish the course.