Month: November 2018

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20 ESV)

Happy Advent! I know, you expected me to say, “Merry Christmas!” now that it’s December, didn’t you? Well, of course I do wish you a Merry Christmas, but it’s not Christmas yet . . . for as of this coming Sunday, December 2, we enter a new church year and a new church season, namely, the season of Advent. Advent means “coming” and refers to someone or something that is approaching us or arriving. It is applied to the four weeks leading up to Christmas as we anticipate the coming of only one very special person: Jesus Christ our Lord. The season of Advent is a time of preparation, prayer, and pondering about Jesus’ birth and why he came to earth to become one of us.

Advent is a season with its own special traditions: special songs and hymns like “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” the Advent wreath, special wall banners, Advent calendars, and even the Advent Buzzard (ask me about that one some time!). It’s a season to be enjoyed and experienced for itself, and not just four weeks to get through before the real celebration of Christmas.

Unfortunately, for our culture around us, Advent has totally disappeared and been replaced by the season of “Let’s shop and party and get stuff.” To our society, the Twelve Days of Christmas are the last twelve shopping days before Christmas, rather than the real twelve days that begin on Christmas and last until January 6, the Epiphany,  when we celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men. Even in many churches, Advent is squeezed out as they move straight from Thanksgiving to Christmas in decorations, song choices, and programs. (Okay, as pastor, I did some of that, too!)

Advent is an important time for Christians because we know that the true meaning of Christmas is more than parties, decorations, songs about grandmas and reindeer, and gifts. It is about more than even the sentimental “family-discovers-the-true-meaning-of-Christmas” TV specials this time of year (none of which actually gets around to mentioning the name of Jesus!). Advent reminds us each year of just who Jesus is and why we needed him to come to us, how we were lost in our sins and unable to save ourselves. We are reminded of the prophecies that foretold His birth and sacrifice for our forgiveness. It truly prepares us to celebrate His birth with our eyes and hearts and minds wide open to the wonderful life-giving miracle of God becoming man.

But Advent is about more than just pre-Christmas preparation, because during Advent we recognize that Christmas is only one of three ways that Jesus comes to us. There are actually three Advents:

3. Advent #1 – Christmas, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth when the eternal Son of God took on flesh and became one of us. This Incarnation was essential for Jesus to become our sacrifice on the Cross.
4. Advent #2 – the Parousia, a fancy church-word for the Return of Christ, when he comes in power and great glory to judge the living and the dead and to gather His people to be with him.
5. Advent #3 – our Conversion, when we are born again through water and the word, receiving Jesus Christ and His Spirit when we believe and are baptized. This is the individual Advent each of us needs.

In the weeks ahead, you will be challenged by the society around you to skip over Advent and move straight to a secular celebration of “The Holidays.” Now, it’s okay to enjoy a secular celebration such as New Years at this time of year. It’s even okay to enjoy the secular traditions which have become part of Christmas, accumulated like barnacles onto the core celebration of Christ’s birth. Just don’t let society rob you of the rich meaning of Advent, for Advent can prepare you to understand and await eagerly the coming of our Lord. And it can do so in ways that no special sale (in-store or online), holiday special (sentimental or funny), or holiday party (family or office) can do. So have a Happy Advent – and a joyous Christmas – too!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: John 3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 22:6-20

 

 

 

Yes, it’s true. I am rich.

Now, by rich, I don’t mean that I won the latest Super Mega-millions, Power Ball, half-billion (with a “b”) dollar lottery; I would have to buy a ticket first to be eligible. Nor am I saying that Publisher’s Clearing House arrived at my door with a (measly) million dollar check (if they did, I wasn’t home at the time). Neither am I saying that I drove my Maserati to the airport to board my private Gulfstream jet to fly to Monaco for the weekend (if I did, at least I was home in time for church today).

No, I’m not rich in those ways, though as many commentators have pointed out, today’s American middle class is rich by any historical measure of wealth: to have the abundance of food choices and quantities, homes with reliable heating, cooling, and electricity, motor vehicles, closets full of clothing, electronic gadgets, and money in the bank (not to mention the need for rented storage to hold all our stuff!), is beyond even the wildest dreams of the richest kings and queens through centuries past.

I am not even saying I am Rich because that is my name, for I am far too sophisticated and serious to ever use puns in my speech (though I must admit that I may have possibly told people in the past, “My parents named me Rich because they figured that was the only way I would be called that.”)

No, by saying, “I am rich,” I am expressing the thought that came to mind last Sunday during one of the songs we sang in church. The song was, “Give Thanks,” written by Don Moen. I have always liked that song, both for its music and for its lyrics, but this time the chorus struck me perhaps a bit more powerfully than usual. The words go like this:

And now let the weak say, “I am strong”
Let the poor say, “I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us”

As I sang it, I smiled when I got to the “I am rich” line, thinking at first, “Yes, that’s right: I am Rich!” (Okay, so maybe making a pun is not beneath me . . .). But the more I thought about it, the more I thought along the lines of how blessed materially my wife and I are, to have all the things I cited above as middle class wealth (except the storage unit), so that even as retirees, we are able to live comfortably. I even thought about the “I am strong” portion of the chorus, thankful to God that even though I am once again riding a wheelchair following recent foot surgery, I am strong enough to work the chair, use crutches, and handle numerous (seated) daily tasks. So in many ways, I can truly say that I am strong and rich.

But then as we continued to sing the song, the real message came through to me as it has over the years whenever hearing or singing, “Give Thanks.” The last line of the chorus says it all: “Because of what the Lord has done for us.” All the things I’ve already mentioned: material comfort, and strength in the middle of disability; plus those I haven’t, such as friends and family and a loving wife who helps me in my affliction while doing all the daily tasks I can’t do while seated; all these are blessings that the Lord has done for us (or in this case, for me).

I also thought of my blessings in contrast to the horrible losses so many others have sustained in the wildfires still raging in California. Homes, businesses, pets, belongings, and loved ones – all gone in minutes. The monumental tasks ahead of the survivors seem overwhelming. Add to their losses the stories of recent hurricane survivors, and we whose houses still stand must be grateful, and not take our present condition for granted. We must recognize that our continued “normalcy” is itself the Lord’s doing, and worthy of thankfulness.

But even that is not the extent of “what the Lord has done for us.” The greatest of earthly blessings is only temporary. As time passes, so do we, and all those things we use, enjoy, or rely on will go away – or be left to someone else. Solomon – the richest man of his day (though even he lacked a good smart phone) – lamented this in Ecclesiastes 2:18, “ I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,” and in 5:15, “As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.” Jesus pointed out much the same in his Parable of the Rich Fool, where God says to the rich farmer who worried about tearing down his barns to build bigger ones to hold all his wealth: “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20). Likewise, Jesus warned about our emphasis on earthly treasure, saying, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).

The greatest of earthly blessings from God (and he is the source of all good things) are by his decree only temporary. But the extent of “what the Lord has done for us” reaches far past this time on earth into and through all eternity to come. For God also provides us permanent, unending blessings in heaven, and in the new earth to come. We have forgiveness of sins, full reconciliation with God, and unbroken fellowship with each other. We will have resurrected, glorified bodies that will never again sicken or die. We will enjoy all the radiance and glory of God’s presence, and never have to worry about losing any of it. Jesus promised, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

All this is ours because of Jesus Christ, who for us poor (yes, poor) lost sinners gave his life as payment for our sins, and then rose again to defeat death and show the way to our own resurrections to come. When we consider all that God has done for us, if we don’t include the gift of his own Son for our sake, we are robbing him of his glory and the honor due him. For while we were still his enemies, he sent his Son to die for us, that we might be reconciled to him and have eternal life. The old favorite verse of all Scripture still says it best: “For God so loved the world^, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, the time for turkeys and touchdowns, for gravy and gridirons, and for sweet potatoes and couch potatoes. But most of all let it be a time when we can, in the words of the song,

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son

Give thanks for all that God has done for you – in this life and the next. And be grateful that you, indeed . . . like me . . . are rich!

Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious t you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Ecclesiastes 12 and Luke 12:13-21

 

Paradise Lost.

This was the title of an epic poem written in 1667 by the Englishman, John Milton, which recounts Satan’s rebellion and banishment from heaven and mankind’s fall and loss of their earthly paradise. In the title, as well as in the story, we lament the loss of what was and what could have been: a perfect world, full of beauty and joy and absent any suffering or death. Milton’s account is a classic of Christian literature, and even today resonates with us as we face the challenges of this world.

It especially resonates with us this week as the term, “Paradise Lost,” takes on new meaning, with the destruction of the California town of Paradise by the holocaust of a raging wildfire. Paradise – an apt name for a small town set in the idyllic setting of the Sierra foothills – until this week when in one day, the so-called Camp Fire overwhelmed the town of 26,000 people, forcing a frantic evacuation, destroying over 6,700 structures, and killing twenty-three people. Evacuees  clustered in the middle of large parking lots, hoping for a break in the walls of flame so they could flee.  Car windows melted, and some cars had to be abandoned in the evacuation gridlock. The entire business district is gone, save for one church, city hall, and the hospital’s main building. At the time of this writing, the fire has spread to over 100,000 acres and is still largely uncontrolled.

In the coming months, as the survivors struggle to start their lives all over again, to rebuild or relocate, and to bury family, friends, and neighbors, there will be no shortage of opinions about how such tragedies could be prevented. Alarm systems, fire prevention, and evacuation procedures will all be scrutinized with the hope of saving lives and property in the future. For my part, I’ll leave such speculations and opinions to the experts (actual or self-proclaimed), and just join my prayers with others for the comfort and care of those affected and for those who have died, that they all may indeed have passed from one Paradise to an even greater one.

When such disasters occur – whether they be wildfires, hurricanes, or mass shootings – we are reminded that we have indeed lost the Paradise which God intended for us on this earth. In the beginning, the world and its first occupants lived in peace and harmony. There were no wildfires in the Garden of Eden, no storms, and no shootings. There was no illness, injury, or death. There was an abundance of food and water, and close fellowship – even intimacy – between man and woman, and between mankind and God. There was order and perfection. It was Paradise.

But then, sin entered in. Not content to live in such a wonderful world, Adam and Eve doubted God’s word, rebelled against his authority, and broke his strict commandment. For that sin, they – and all of us, their descendants –  were expelled from the earthly Paradise and subjected to disease, injury, hunger, and death. Their very first child became the first murderer, killing his brother – and we haven’t stopped doing that ever since. Only we’ve gotten better at it. Now we fight and kill each other by the millions.

Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, or what used to be called, “The Great War” (but to quote the renowned philosopher, Yoda, “Wars do not make one great.”). At 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the fighting stopped, and the belligerents hoped it would be the end of all wars. I guess they forgot about the sin thing going on in us, for within 30 years they were all back at it again, causing even greater loss of life – at least 60 million people. After each World War, leaders of the major nations sought to usher in eras of peace by forming organizations in which international disputes could be peacefully resolved: first, the League of Nations, and then the United Nations. Though such actions were commendable – Jesus himself blessed the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) – our Lord also taught us that “there will be wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6 and Mark 13:7). Mankind’s sin was not solvable by human organizations; mankind’s sin problem will not end until Christ returns in judgment. We will not find true Paradise in this world before then.

But as great as our loss of an earthly paradise has been, the greater loss and tragedy has been our exclusion from the heavenly Paradise. Our sin has not only messed up this life, it has also kept mankind from heaven. As God placed the cherubim with flaming swords to keep mankind from returning to the Garden (and thereby have access to the Tree of Life in our sinful condition), so he has barred entry into heaven after death.

So, what hope do we have? I love the old hymn by Horatio G. Spafford, It is Well with My Soul (1873). The hymn, written by a man who had just lost his four daughters to an accident at sea, proclaimed the hope which gave him “peace like a river,” and that comforted him even as he sailed across the very spot where his daughters had died:

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Our “helpless estate” can certainly apply to overwhelming situations in this life, such a raging wildfire,  or when a category 5 storm hits our town, or when someone starts shooting, or when an illness or accident brings us close to death. But beyond this life, it also applies to our ability to erase our sins and sinfulness, and claim a place in heaven. We are indeed helpless and unable to save ourselves or open the way to eternal life. As horrible as are the flames of the Camp Fire, they are nothing compared to the unending fires which await those whose names are not written in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15, 21:27).

So how can we have hope in such times now and when we face our departure from this world? The answer is found in in the words, “That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.” By shedding his own blood for our sake, Christ opened the way to Paradise for all who trust in him. He paid the penalty for the sins which we committed, freeing us to be accepted by God. Now, fully forgiven, we are allowed into heaven  and the eternal joy it holds.

That this forgiveness is not something we earn by our actions, but is a gift from God, is shown by the promise Jesus made to a violent criminal who confessed his sin while dying on a cross beside him. Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

It is the same promise made to all who are in Christ, that one day we too shall live with Christ in Paradise. He says in Revelation 2:7, “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Our exile from the Garden and from access to life itself will end, and we will live forever without wildfires, storms, shootings, wars, disease, or death. Revelation 21:4 proclaims, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

When that happens, true Paradise will be restored, and we will enjoy a place far more beautiful than the one that perished this week. May you look forward to that day, even as we thank the One who made that day possible: Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Genesis 2, Revelation 21-22, Matthew 5