Urgent or Important

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.” —Luke 2:6

Many parents vow never to say the word “No” to their child, because we’ve all heard children saying that dreaded word, “No!” I have never seen “no” on a vocabulary or spelling list, but every child seems to learn it quite quickly and easily. No, I don’t want to go. No, I don’t have to share. No, you’re not my mom; I don’t have to listen to you. No, I won’t wear those pants. No…

I wonder what words our children wish we, parents and grandparents, had never learned. I wonder if it might be, “Hurry up.” Have you ever stopped to watch yourself or other adults try to get children packed for school, off to practice, or dressed for church (really any event that has a starting time)? Hurry up and eat your lunch. Hurry up and get dressed. Hurry up and wash your hands. Hurry up; we’re going to be late. If you don’t hurry up, then you won’t get any snacks when we get home. The repetition of urgent words and accompanying threats never seem to end.

We often mistake urgent for important. As 21^st Century Americans, we seem to think getting to multiple activities on time in the same day is important. When, in fact, urgency plays the biggest part in our schedules, but importance has very little to do with much of what we attempt. Urgency does not mean important, but importance demands urgency.

The birth of Jesus Christ is one of the most important events since the creation of the universe. Yet, it appears, God took His good and deliberate time in bringing it to pass. Through many different prophets thousands of years earlier, God announced that the Messiah was coming. The angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would give birth to God’s Son began a nine-month waiting period. The star announced the birth of the King of the Jews, but the Magi took two entire years to arrive in Bethlehem. Sounds much like a military slogan I once heard, “Hurry up and wait.”

The Gospel of Luke beautifully captures the timely importance of Christ’s birth. “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son” (2:6-7a). To any expectant parent, the phrase, “The time came for the baby to be born,” brought feelings of both relief and urgency to the new parents and the entire universe. Now is the time for God’s salvation plan to be revealed to human beings. The Savior has come!

The announcement of something this important requires a decisive response. The angels declared to the shepherds, “Today, in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The shepherds responded as we would expect, “They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger” (2:16). Hurrying is typical for adults but how appropriate considering the importance of this event. How have you responded to the great news of Christ’s birth? Scripture tells us, “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Today is the time to believe. Now is the time to pray. Today is the time to allow God’s love and power to work in and through your life. Merry Christmas! May the importance of God’s gift not be lost in the urgency of your activities.

Urgent or Important

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.”   — Luke 2:6

Many parents vow never to say the word “No” to their child, because we’ve all heard children saying that dreaded word, “No!” I have never seen “no” on a vocabulary or spelling list, but every child seems to learn it quite quickly and easily. No, I don’t want to go. No, I don’t have to share. No, you’re not my mom; I don’t have to listen to you. No, I won’t wear those pants. No…

I wonder what words our children wish we, parents and grandparents, had never learned. I wonder if it might be, “Hurry up.” Have you ever stopped to watch yourself or other adults try to get children packed for school, off to practice, or dressed for church (really any event that has a starting time)? Hurry up and eat your lunch. Hurry up and get dressed. Hurry up and wash your hands. Hurry up; we’re going to be late. If you don’t hurry up, then you won’t get any snacks when we get home. The repetition of urgent words and accompanying threats never seem to end.

We often mistake urgent for important. As 21^st Century Americans, we seem to think getting to multiple activities on time in the same day is important. When, in fact, urgency plays the biggest part in our schedules, but importance has very little to do with much of what we attempt. Urgency does not mean important, but importance demands urgency.

The birth of Jesus Christ is one of the most important events since the creation of the universe. Yet, it appears, God took His good and deliberate time in bringing it to pass. Through many different prophets thousands of years earlier, God announced that the Messiah was coming. The angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would give birth to God’s Son began a nine-month waiting period. The star announced the birth of the King of the Jews, but the Magi took two entire years to arrive in Bethlehem. Sounds much like a military slogan I once heard, “Hurry up and wait.”

The Gospel of Luke beautifully captures the timely importance of Christ’s birth. “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son” (2:6-7a). To any expectant parent, the phrase, “The time came for the baby to be born,” brought feelings of both relief and urgency to the new parents and the entire universe. Now is the time for God’s salvation plan to be revealed to human beings. The Savior has come!

The announcement of something this important requires a decisive response. The angels declared to the shepherds, “Today, in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The shepherds responded as we would expect, “They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger” (2:16). Hurrying is typical for adults but how appropriate considering the importance of this event. How have you responded to the great news of Christ’s birth? Scripture tells us, “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Today is the time to believe. Now is the time to pray. Today is the time to allow God’s love and power to work in and through your life. Merry Christmas! May the importance of God’s gift not be lost in the urgency of your activities.

Moving into Joy

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”—Hebrews 12:1-2

In a recent article in our United Methodist newspaper, Bishop Bickerton tells the story of Nigerian Bishop Arthur Kulah. When Bishop Kulah graduated into adulthood, the tribal chief took him for a long walk in the bush. He led Arthur up and down winding paths to intentionally get him lost. The chief then slipped away leaving Arthur to find his own way home. This was to be his final test.

At first Arthur tried this path and another. He prayed to God for help. He cried and despaired. Finally as night fell, Arthur saw the distant lights of the campfires burning in his village.

As he began to walk in that direction, he found a path. The path eventually led to a road he recognized, the way home.

The chief greeted Arthur at the village’s edge and congratulated him for passing the test. Before entering the village, the chief had Arthur look back at the path he had just traveled. When he turned around, he was amazed to see there lining the road were 20 to 30 tribal elders. When the chief took Arthur into the bush, the elders hid at various points along the way to make sure Arthur was safe and free from danger. The book of Hebrews calls us to consider the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us and to throw off everything that hinders us from following the Lord in hope and faith (Hebrews 12:1).

For some, Christmas time becomes a time to grieve rather than to rejoice. Christmas reminds them of tragedies from Decembers past. Many remember loved ones who are no longer with us. Yes, many have gone on ahead, but they are still with us. They may be separated by the distance from heaven to earth, but their presence and impact are still here. They urge us to continue the race with joy and fix our eyes on Jesus.

Let the words of Hebrews 12 encourage us as we enter the Christmas season. “Let us run with perseverance...” It sure seems like we are running—running to church, to parties, to the mall, and just plain running. Let us to run by fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. How many times have you heard someone say, “Jesus is the reason for the season?” The phrase, although possibly overused, reflects the truth of Christmas and the Christian life. Jesus is the beginning and end of our life and Christmas celebration.

Hebrews 12 goes on to say that Jesus “for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame” (12:2). Humanly speaking, it seems Jesus had plenty to be sorrowful about. He was born like a refugee rather than a King. He and His parents had to flee for their lives to Egypt. Jesus was betrayed and rejected by His own people and His own disciples. Yet, Jesus looked past the sorrow to the joy of the resurrection. By looking to the joy ahead, Jesus was able to endure the pain and grief of the present. Even though Jesus probably had many thoughtful and solemn days, He lived a joy-filled life.

This Christmas, let us follow Jesus’ example. Let us look beyond the pain to the joy to come. As we look back and see the great cloud of witnesses, let us move forward into the joy and faith of Christmas. Let us rejoice in the Lord, this Christmas.

Confession

“The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”  —Mark 1:5

Remember the Dry Idea antiperspirant commercials? In the mid 1980s and 90s, the Gillette Company launched an ad campaign with the slogan, “Never let them see you sweat.” The commercials used experts in different fields listing three things you must never do in their business. They always ended with, “And … never let them see you sweat.”

We might rewrite a Dry Idea commercial today using American figures caught in sin (sports stars, coaches, politicians, and any of us really) by saying, “Never share your insecurities publically, never admit you were wrong, and no matter how much evidence piles up against you, never let them see you sweat.” It appears most defense strategies today include deny, deny, and deny some more.

If we really seek to experience joy and true happiness, not just during the Christmas season but lifelong, we will find it through confession and forgiveness. Hiding sins and failures only adds burden and stress to our lives. I am not saying we should publicly confess every hidden weakness. No one desires to hear about every skeleton in our closet, but living a lie is never easy.

God prepared the world for the ministry of Jesus Christ by calling persons to repentance. Instead of never letting people see you sweat, John the Baptist challenged people to admit they were sinners. He called people to confess their sins and then humble themselves to a ritual bath in the Jordan River called baptism. John called people to be authentic and vulnerable instead of being dishonest and self-sufficient.

One of the unique strengths of the Christian faith is forgiveness. In the early days of Tiger Woods’ struggles, I remember hearing a golf commentator saying Tiger should embrace the Christian faith, confess his sin, find forgiveness, and start over. Marghanita Laski, a noted humanist, made an amazing confession as she debated a Christian on national television, Laski said, “What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness.” She then added rather patheti­cally, “I have no one to forgive me.”

Forgiveness does not result from human effort. Forgiveness is not a mathematical equation or scientific formula. The uniqueness of the Christian faith is forgiveness because God sent His Son to be sin for us that we might become sons and daughters of God. We do not receive forgiveness because we follow a three step plan but because we have a Savior who died for us. Because of Jesus Christ, we can confess our sins in confidence that we will receive forgiveness and our sins will be washed away.

Are you prepared for Christmas? Usually when someone asks that question, they expect to get an answer about decorations, shopping, or musical productions. In asking are you prepared for Christmas, I mean are you ready to receive God’s gift of salvation, Jesus Christ? Are you ready and willing to receive the forgiveness and new life only Jesus can bring?  Confess your sins. Turn to Jesus Christ and find the true joy of life. Happy Christmas preparations.

Peace

 “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You,”  —Isaiah 26:3

‘Tis the season to be jolly…or at least so goes the Christmas tune. After we have barely paused to give thanks, we plunge headlong into making lists of gifts we need. Maybe we don’t really need them, like two front teeth, but things we want for Christmas.

As we enter this season of wonder, joy, and faith, why do so many people feel frustrated and defeated? In part, it may be due to roadblocks that our culture has placed in the way to true peace and contentment. One of those barriers is worldliness. For me, worldliness is not so much about riches and affluence as it is about the cares and pressures of this life.

I have never shopped on Black Friday. I usually hide in family rituals like shooting-in the deer rifles or playing (usually watching now days) a game of football. My wife tells me that Black Friday actually begins on Thursday this year, and there is a new shopping day called Black Monday or Cyber Monday, the biggest internet shopping day of the year. I can barely tolerate shopping on Thanksgiving Day, but moving an online shopping day to the first day of buck season is going too far.

I am amazed by the juxtaposition of Thanksgiving Thursday and Black Friday for they represent opposing concepts. Thanksgiving represents gratitude, peace and contentment, while Black Friday summons us to get all we can. A day to give thanks is replaced by the urge to aggressively shop and spend. Contentment is replaced by desire and peace by worldliness.

In the Parable of the Sower, worldliness might be seen as the seed sown among the thorns. Persons hear the word of the Kingdom, “but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). The worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things seem to describe an American preparation for Christmas. Sounds very much like Black Friday.

Don’t get me wrong. The world economy needs a successful Black Friday. I hope sales go through the roof. Many of us need some good economic news, but more than that, we need the Good News. We need the perfect peace that only a relationship with Jesus Christ, the God of Christmas past, present, and future, can bring.

Neither a successful shopping day nor a booming economy can bring peace. Only Jesus Christ can satisfy the hungry soul. Isaiah 26:3 offers us words of hope, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.” We cannot find peace in gadgets or gifts, but only in the Savior who made Christmas possible. Jesus taught that if we seek first the kingdom of God, we will find all the other things we need. Psalm 37 teaches us to “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart” (4).

The world around us may be a beautiful place, at times, but without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the world can only offer stress, pressure, and dissatisfaction. Jesus offers Himself and peace that passes all understanding. Where will you look for peace and joy this Christmas? The mall or God?