What do you see in the Manger?
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Who do you see in the manger?
Advent Thoughts for December 22nd (2011)
Category Archives: Advent 2011
Advent Thoughts for December 21 (2011)
And then there were all the nameless and faceless people who heard the shepherd’s story and probably were even more interested in this Galilean baby
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that had been born in their town when three elegantly dressed men and their entourage showed up asking about some king of the Jews. They knew something about the Messiah, especially if they had grown up in the faith.
Some were expecting the Messiah to show up any minute. Others were hopeful. And others? Well they were just trying to get through the day.
They had seen and heard much over the years. They knew a bit about their heritage and history but now they looked around and saw Roman soldiers milling about and causing more problems and tension than they wanted to deal with. So they kept a low profile. And low expectations.
But Jesus came into their midst. And He would challenge their assumptions and views of and about the Messiah and God and life and death and faith.
Some of them would believe and stay true to this Jesus until the end of their lives.
Some of them would believe, falter, and give up on this Jesus.
Some of them would not believe at.all and they would turn on Jesus.
These nameless and faceless people mattered to God. So did the shepherds and the Magi. So did Mary and Joseph. So do we.
excerpt from December 25, 2011 sermon “Where You There When Jesus Christ Was Born?”Advent Thoughts for December 20th (2011)
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning, Matthew 2:18 (NIV)
Late last night I received a phone call from a dear friend of many years who is a seminary classmate and pastoral colleague. He informed me that when he received our Christmas letter earlier in the day that we had not been notified of his wife’s death, one month earlier, from cancer.
A month ago, I had tried to find where he was currently assigned and found only a passing reference from one church’s Facebook page about her relapse and precarious health situation. He filled in the details.
As we wept over the phone, I was reminded in a very painfully fresh way that death comes during advent and that death (and death threats) were part of Jesus’ early years here on earth and there was “weeping in Ramah.”
We rejoiced as she had been a follower of Jesus since childhood. But the grief and mourning were still there.
Let us lift, even now, those who are grieving and mourning, during this Advent season in prayer and asking for God to grace their hearts and spirits.
Amen.
Advent Thoughts for December 16th (2011)
In junior high there was a kid who lived down the street from me and who bullied me for a period of time. He found great pleasure in giving me what he called “A Daily Kick.” This did not go on for a long period of time though it seemed like it did.
One day he smarted off to the biggest kid on the bus who got off at our bus stop and proceeded to give my ‘friend’ a licking. As he, and the others walked away, it was just the bully and I. He was on the ground crying and I was standing over him with his glasses at my feet. As he stood up, I bent down and picked up his glasses and he snatched them out of my hand and walked away.
He never bothered me again.
An weekly e-mail from Peacemaker Ministries (http://www.peacemaker.net) this week made a very important point regarding responding to one’s enemies. Here is a portion:
‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Here is the ultimate weapon: deliberate, focused love…Instead of reacting spitefully to those who mistreat you, Jesus wants you to discern their deepest needs and do all you can to meet those needs.
So I began to ask myself, “What is my enemy’s greatest need?” I could only conclude it is to be loved.
In the midst of all the holiday business and drama these five simple and profound phrases from a woman who lives in Cairo, Egypt should give us pause, or maybe even better a jolt, to our souls.
“Silence your body to listen to words.
“Silence your tongue to listen to thoughts.
“Silence your thoughts to listen to your heart beating.
“Silence your heart to listen to your spirit.
“Silence your spirit to listen to His Spirit.”
Mama Maggie Gobran in an interview with Marshall Shelley and Drew Dyck available here http://goo.gl/dFAIi.
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:1-5 (NLT)
Advent Thoughts for December 13th (2011)
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From the pen of Dan Hotchkiss comes this gem of a story:
Once I helped a small church that had a hard time making a decision—any decision—and then carrying it out. I suggested that the governing board choose one modest, non-controversial goal. They did: the entrance to the church was almost invisible because a large tree had grown right in the doorway. The board approved the project, assigned it to a trusted leader, and approved the funds and the authority to remove the tree.
A few weeks later, I returned to lead a gathering on another subject and I asked how the tree project was coming. Apparently a small group in the congregation protested the removal on the grounds that,
1.) Trees are good, and
2.) This tree was a memorial.
My gathering turned into a forum on this issue. Eventually I was inspired to ask, “Who is the tree a memorial to?” After a brief pause, the protesters with a single voice said, “We can’t remember.”
We can’t remember…
It was George Santayana who said: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”
What can’t we remember this advent season:
The name of the latest top 40 songs?
The name of latest You Tube craze?
The three gifts given by the Magi to the infant Christ?
Traditions are a great thing but what is it that they are helping us to remember? Are they the right things?
Are we remembering a ‘what’ or a ‘who?’
for Dan’s complete thoughts go here http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=9829
Advent Thoughts for December 10th (2011)
“All’s I wantfor Christmas is……”
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“It is better to give than to receive…’
I will readily confess that I am one who often has said (and still says) “I want for Christmas…”
(This year I want a Keurig Machine because I drink a lot of coffee and would like to try a variety of coffee…
but I doubt that I will get one…)
I know that my family likes to give me, and I them, a gift or two, so they ask me what do you ‘want’ for Christmas?
My wife is the one who takes care of the gift information, both ways, to our family but we both hear from our boys their gift thoughts
and we struggle with what to get some of our family members.
It’s a conversation that I often do not relish (much to the frustrated of my wife from time to time).
I am a ‘hunter’ when it comes to buying gifts. I know what I want to get for someone, so I ‘go in,’ I ‘get,’ and I ‘get out!’
Others are not.
But the ‘wantness’ of Christmas is of concern to me.
I have helped to take it far beyond it’s intended meaning. I have helped to commercialize it.
But I need to return to the giving part because I give as a way of saying ‘I love you and appreciate you.’
And giving not for the mere materialistic reasons but because in giving a gift, even a simple/handmade one,
it is a way of saying “I love you.’
For a wonderful reflection on this issue go here and read Christina Rossetti’s thoughts
http://erb.kingdomnow.org/poem-the-shepherds-had-an-angel-christina-rossetti-vol-4-25-5/
Advent Thoughts for December 8th (2011)
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Is it okay to give gifts…still?
One of the increasingly prominent stream of thought during Christmas seasons has to do with what some are calling its strident commercialism. This line of argument is that Christmas has gotten so commercialized that we have forgotten the true meaning for the season – Jesus Christ.
Another line of argument that has gotten larger during the season has to do with the issue of saying ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas.’ This line of argument is such that some are calling on consumers to boycott stores that say ‘Happy Holiday’ instead of ’Merry Christmas.’
So, is gift giving become a catch-22?
“What can I give him, Poor as I am?/If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;/If I were a wise man, I would do my part;/Yet what I can I give him— Give my heart.” Christina G. RossettiAdvent Thoughts for December 7th (2011)
What is the baby’s name?
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Being an only child, I remember saying to my wife that I wanted more than one child. Having the first was one of those truly life-changing and spiritual experiences. We had names picked out, one boy and one girl. When we knew what sex the baby was, we relaxed. We already knew his name.
But when number two came along, we panicked. Well, not too much but just enough because we had to come up with a boy’s name. It took some time but not enough to cause panic.
And when we knew it was a ‘he’ we again relaxed. We already knew his name.
Naming a child is a difficult task for some parents. There is peer pressure. We did not feel any pressure (or we really did not care what others thought) when it came to naming. I know that some parents spend hours and hours looking at names, “trying them on for size.”
We did not.
Neither did Joseph and Mary. They already knew their boy’s name. They was told was it was to be.
In some cultures names mean little other than to acknowledge family members (which is important). But in other culture, to name a child is an important task.
Names meant something in Joseph and Mary’s day (and just read the Old Testament, especially the book of Hosea, to find out just how important (and interesting) naming your children was to God! Would you call your child “Lo-ruhamah” which means Not loved’? Didn’t think so..)
“you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 (NLT)
But I also think about, when it comes to names, Jacob…
yes the “Old Testament, pull-a-fast-one-over-on-me-will-ya,” Jacob.
He had a night of wrestling with an angel (some say God and I think he also wrestled with his conscience) before he faced his estranged brother.
In that night, he was changed and he was given a new name, a new identity…
“What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” Genesis 32:27-28
What is your name? What does God say that it is?
Advent Thoughts for December 4th (2011)
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
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People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
Paul Simon
Silence and holidays are two words that do not go together, do they?
Holidays, we think, are a time for family and friends to gather together in noisy celebration and fun.
But, there is a level; a kind of silence in our day and age that penetrates our hearts and souls.
It is a silence that is deafening at times because it keeps us from speaking from our hearts.
I think that the Bethlehem of that day was noisy because it was cramped with people who had come from other places
to register for the Roman census. But that was also a source of silence, an ‘elephant in the room” kind of silence, because of the feelings toward the
Roman government.
There were other sources of silence that day when Joseph and Mary showed up – domestic, financial, and the like.
But God spoke that day, the angels sang and proclaim.
And the long silence of history without the Messiah was broken!
What are the sounds of silence in your life this advent season? Are you listening for God in that silence?
Yet in they dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
Philips Brookes
Related articles
- Advent Quote (frstephensmuts.wordpress.com)
