Christmas Time

At Christmas time we celebrate the incarnation of Christ - the entrance of the Lord of glory into our common humanity in order to represent us and die in our place, rescuing us to ultimately take us home for all eternity. This is by far the greatest news this tired old world has ever heard. But I think at times people (that would be all of us) can struggle to appreciate how something that happened more than 2000 years ago can be considered exciting? That’s one of the reasons Santa is so exciting, because he comes every year!!! And while we talk about Jesus coming again, we tend to think about that in the same way we talk about our own departure from this world – we say it can happen at any time, but we live as if we have forever. When was the last time you had a conversation with someone where you spoke as if it could be your last words to them?

Time is a problem for us. It isn’t a problem for God.

1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”… 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2Pet 3:1-4, 8,9

Time is a problem for us. It isn’t a problem for God. It isn’t easy for us to understand exactly why one day is like a thousand years for God or how a thousand years is like a day. Some of the speculations about this statement have been fanciful. But I am very thankful for Peter’s words here in this passage because it gains us some insight into what the Bible means when it presents us with a God who is infinite and eternal. He exists outside of space and time as He created both. There are at least 4 different times in the New Testament where we are told that God existed before the beginning of time. (1Cor 2:7 ; 2Tim 1:9 ; Tit 1:2 and Jude 1:25) This provides us with at least a partial explanation as to how God knows the future. He’s already there!

If trying to wrap your mind around this gives you a brain cramp you’re in good company. It is not actually possible that our finite minds comprehend God in His fullness. But what these truths should do for us is leave us with a great sense of wonder. And perhaps that is how the passage of time becomes rather insignificant, whether Christ came two thousand years ago or as if He had come yesterday. Whether He comes again tomorrow or a thousand years from now, the sheer wonder of the greatness of God and the grandeur of His costly love for us should inspire us beyond any fanciful story that men could ever write.

Less Tolerance Needed

There is a great emphasis this time of year on the need for peace in the world. Amazingly, there are still those who cling to hope that we will actually achieve global peace and that somehow we will put aside all of the many differences that divide us along political, ethic, philosophical and religious lines. Who wouldn’t want to see that happen?! Whether it’s totalitarian dictatorships on the other side of the planet that perpetrate great atrocities against their own citizens, or whether it is the bully at school who makes your child’s life miserable and threatens their well-being, the thought of a world of peace causes any sane heart to sigh with longing.

There are, of course, many obstacles to seeing that actually happen and I do not share the optimism that we will see it happen of our own accord. It will take nothing short of the return of the Prince of Peace to make it a reality. That truth is overwhelmingly obvious and I am amazed that anyone could think anything else to be possible considering the consistent decline in civility we have witnessed in our own lifetimes. The world is not becoming a more peaceful place. It just isn’t.

There is also a serious flaw in the way people go about trying to create peace on earth. Not only do we lack the capacity to make it happen, we don’t even understand what it really consists of. This is a big part of the problem because there is a desperate push for peace in the world today that is being built on a completely faulty foundation. It is the idea that living at peace with others means being in agreement with them, sanctioning their choices even when we believe them to be wrong. This method is embraced with great moral zeal in our present culture and it is being pushed down the throats of all who would hold sincere convictions otherwise. But it is doomed to fail utterly. It is the mantra of tolerance. Tolerance has been elected to the status of supreme virtue by today’s ethical elite, a place of prominence that it is woefully unworthy of. What we actually need in the world today is not more tolerance. What we need in the world today is less tolerance. And lest that leave you scratching your head, I’ll let this quote from Josh McDowell finish these thoughts here. He says it well:



Tolerance vs. Love

Tolerance says, "You must approve of what I do." Love responds, "I must do something harder: I will love you, even when your behavior offends me."

Tolerance says, "You must agree with me." Love responds, "I must do something harder: I will tell you the truth, because I am convinced 'the truth will set you free.'"

Tolerance says, "You must allow me to have my way." Love responds, "I must do something harder: I will plead with you to follow the right way, because I believe you are worth the risk."

Tolerance seeks to be inoffensive; love takes risks. Tolerance glorifies division; love seeks unity. Tolerance costs nothing; love costs everything.

Josh McDowell, in Focus on the Family Magazine (August 1999)

Hustle & Bustle

No, they aren’t a set of animal twins from some animated children's story. These guys are for real and they are everywhere. Consumerism defines our present culture. We have been told that the economy trumps all other issues and the answer to our economic situation is simply to get more and spend more. And we believe it. The crowds prove it. Consumerism is a gigantic plague on our contemporary society. It is like a fatal sickness that we choose because of the unquenchable thirst for more fed by the giant marketing industry upon its unsuspecting victims. And where does it lead? It leads to disillusion, debt and despair.

I was recently reading an article that pointed out something that I don’t remember taking notice of before. In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, in one of the two main biblical passages that describe Satan’s fall (the other being Isa 14) and subsequent activities, there are an amazing number of references to commerce. Take a look. I’ll put them in bold for you.

4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. 5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud…
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. Ezek 28:4,5,16-18

Of course, Genesis chapter three introduces us to the serpent who is more cunning than any of the beasts of the field. I find it very interesting (to say the least) how a description of the ways of our enemy also describes our present economic system so well.

All of this is a big enough problem of itself, but it has some spin offs too. Riding on the coat tails of consumerism is acute impatience. That might not sound like a big deal but it is worse than it sounds. We have pretty much lost the value of delayed gratification. Whether it is simply the result of easy credit, or a combination of things, we not only want it all but we want it all now. I thought of this when I saw this sign recently:

We offer 3 kinds of service: Good – Cheap – Fast
You can pick any two
- Good service cheap won’t be fast
- Good service fast wont be cheap
- Fast service cheap won’t be good

The thing is, as this sign makes clear, we can’t have it both ways. In our headlong pursuit for more, we would do well to consider what we are in fact forfeiting for it. Because there is a price to be paid for everything, and regardless of what the advertising industry might suggest, the cost is way too high for this.

A Place At The Table

There is a scene in the movie version of Charles Dicken’s ‘A Christmas Carol’, the one starring Alastair Sim, where the 3rd spirit has transported Ebenezer Scrooge into the future and they are listening to a couple of fellow merchants discuss his death the previous night. He hasn’t yet clued in that it is his own passing that they are talking about, but then he looks over to a particular spot and says something like… “That’s strange! At this time of the day I should be right over there. See there is my place right beside the clock?”

I thought of this scene last week. We had traveled to a monthly pastor’s gathering in Sackville NB. Where we meet, we gather around a large table with about 20 chairs. The classic scene came to my mind as I made my way to my seat upon arrival, the same chair I gravitate to each time we get together. It is admittedly strange behaviour but for some strange reason I find myself feeling attached to that particular spot. It’s almost as if it belongs to me. Now, I know that, on the one hand, we should not get possessive of a particular chair (or pew) like that, but on the other hand, it kind of feels right to have my own place. In a way that I don’t really understand, it speaks to a deep sense of belonging, a sense of identity and self-worth somehow; that we have a place in the world; a place at the table so to speak.

The experience got me thinking about how God meets this need for us. The Bible teaches that we who hope in Christ (and only those who have accepted the invitation to come to Him in this way) have the assurance that our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and that God is preparing a great feast and that we have a place waiting for us at that table! Think about that! A place at the table – His table!!!

When Jesus met with His disciples for the Last Supper, in Luke’s account the actual drinking from the cup and eating of the bread is preceded by these words… “When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 22:14-16)

When He was preparing to leave this world, Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a place for you.” (Jn 14:2) And He wasn’t just talking about the 12 either because on another occasion He had said, “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:29)

Now, it’s one thing to have a place in this world. It’s quite something else to be assured of a place in Christ’s kingdom! In fact, quite often our place in this world seems pretty insecure. It can disappear in an instant through the result of our own sin or someone else’s. We can easily be neglected, even be it unintentionally. Or we can be marginalized. Mistakes are made. And how often do we find ourselves, in one way or another, in this world, standing outside looking in. And of course, some day our place in this world will be no more, just like Ebenezer Scrooge.

But have you ever looked at an artist’s conception of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb and thought how one of those spaces has your name on it?!!! Think of it; a place reserved specifically for you personally at that Table!!! Is that not just the greatest thing you can imagine! I know it blows my mind!!!

Christmas Lights

Maya Angelou is credited with saying that, “You can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things - a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.”

Her words came to mind for me again this week as I was observing Florence while she attempted to put some Christmas lights up. I don’t do Christmas lights normally. I love them up, but lack the patience to work with them. My sweet wife on the other hand amazes me with her patience. I only observed a short while, then I had to walk away. It was just too painful to watch.

I agree that these types of things have a lot to say about us, but what is it that they are in fact saying? I think all of these types of minor frustrations (for they are far too insignificant to be referred to as trials!) are a general indication of a lacking in our faith. When you consider that Jesus admonished the disciples for worrying about things like food and clothing (see Matthew 6), what does that say about my attitude when it comes to the little inconveniences in my life? It isn’t good.

The Bible says that the trial of our faith creates patience in us (see James 1). All I can say at this time is that I am a slow learner for sure. I feel like I’m still in preschool!

For Whom The Bell Tolls

A couple of weeks ago on a Sunday morning I made reference to one of my favourite pieces of literature - John Donne’s Meditation XVII, ‘No Man Is An Island’.

The passage begins with that classic statement that ‘no man is an island’ and ends with another classic line that almost everyone has heard but few have made it their task to understand – ‘Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee’.

John Donne lived in 17th century England and the bells he was writing about were the church bells which marked various events and were a common feature of daily life in that day. More specifically though, he was writing about funeral bells. This is made clear by the preceding line of the poem - “Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind”. It is said that Donne wrote those words from his sick bed which makes it even more poignant.

Here is the piece:

'No Man is an Island'

No man is an island entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were;
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.

MEDITATION XVII
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
John Donne


I have a personal affinity for this line of thought. It draws me in, as with all good poetry. But I also have a very specific practice that I engage in that ties me to it; a habit if you will.

Church bells are not such a common thing anymore, but I’ll tell you what is – ambulance sirens! I’ll share just a little secret with you. Whenever I hear an ambulance siren, I pray for the person for whom that siren is calling out. And I always pray with the recognition that it could be me and one day it will be.

We are bound together by our common humanity. The Christian faith (yes, Donne was a Christian) elevates man to the dignity afforded to those made by God in His image. It also endows every single individual with great personal worth for the same reason. I love that about Christianity. It makes us all equals and informs us that every life matters; every person is to be valued; every death is to be mourned; everyone is connected somehow in this great story of life. To really come to the place where ‘any man’s death diminishes me’ is to come to a place of understanding of the value of human life, made in God’s image. It becomes the grounds for real compassion and genuine care for others.

In a day and age when life has for many become so apparently cheap, it is encouraging to remember that God doesn’t think so. And it is His opinion that matters after all.

More Love

I often think about the people that got to engage directly with Jesus during His lifetime on earth. A couple of weeks back I drew attention to one such individual during the Sunday morning message when we were considering some of the Bible’s important teaching about gratitude.

Jesus was invited by a man named Simon, who we are told was a Pharisee, to his home for dinner. And while they were there together at the dinner table, a woman comes into the house, positions herself behind Jesus as He is reclined at the table and begins to weep and to wet his feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Then she proceeds to kiss his feet and pour expensive perfume on them.

There is a lot that could be said about the significance of this act itself but what follows is most likely Luke’s purpose for including the story. Simon is indignant and is sitting there thinking how this Jesus can’t be much of a prophet or else He would have known about this woman, for we are told that she ‘had lived a sinful life’ (Luke 7:37). Not only did Jesus know about the woman and her life, but He also knew exactly what Simon was thinking. Simon may well have rethought Jesus’ credentials when Jesus answered his unspoken question. In classic form, Jesus tells a very simple and pointed story, a parable if you will, about two men who owed another man money. One owed him a large amount and the other a smaller amount but the man forgave them both. As is so often the case with the Master Teacher, Jesus pries the life truth of the story from Simon’s own lips with the simple question – “Which of them will love him more?” When Simon answered, “I suppose (note the hesitancy), the one who had the bigger debt canceled”, Jesus affirmed that he was in fact correct.

Let’s pick up the story right at that spot in the text…

“Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” (Lk 7:44-47)

Again, this passage is so rich with implications for our lives but one thing seems to stand out to me. I often hear people talk about how as Christians we allow our passion for Christ to wane and really struggle to know how to get it back when it does. It would seem from this passage that one thing we can definitely do is become more fully aware of our spiritual poverty. We really need to be in touch with just how needy we are so that we can have a fuller appreciation for the mercy of Christ.

The passage doesn’t teach that this woman was forgiven because she loved much. It teaches that she loved much because she was forgiven much. She was aware of just how incredibly awesome Christ’s love and forgiveness for her really was.

The apostle John said it simply like this- “We love because He first loved us.” (Jn 4:19) The truth is that we have no capacity in and of ourselves to love. It is only as we experience love that we are able to love in return. He who is forgiven much loves much. In other words, the one who knows what it is to be greatly loved will have a great love. The secret, if you want to call it that, for loving God is to know the wonderful, matchless, abounding love of God in Christ to us.

If you haven’t been listening to the latest song by the band The Sidewalk Prophets, then you may well want to check it out. Even if you have, you might want to have a listen to it again right now as it is very helpful in this regard.