Mother and Child Hooked rug by Margaret Forsey of Newfoundland
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you.
Mary did you know that your baby boy will make a blind man see? Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand? Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod? And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.
The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again. The lame will leap, the mute will speak, the praises of the lamb.
Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation? Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations? Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb? This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am.
Pilgrims waiting at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse,
free thine own
from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice!
Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee,
O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring,
come and cheer our spirits
by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
and death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice!
Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee,
O Israel.
(From the ancient hymn, Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel)
When we were in Israel the behaviour of some of the people in the crowds surprised me. I realize the concept of standing in line and waiting patiently is not one common to all cultures, but some folks seemed quite desperate to touch sacred sites. They pushed and shoved and cut ahead as if they feared there might not be enough to go around and they had to get there first. I watched some women hungrily rub the stone in this church of the Nativity upon which (it is said) the Virgin gave birth. I watched as they traced the cracks on worn pavement and then rubbed their hands over their own bodies as if there was power in the place.
Jesus said his followers would worship, not on this mountain nor on that mountain, but in spirit and truth. He said people searched the scriptures looking for salvation, but the scriptures point to him. Today some people still practise rituals and recite certain prayers and seek miracles and wonders and signs hoping for salvation, but signs point to something -or Someone. They are meant to draw our attention to a person -Jesus Christ. John wrote that this is the sign of a true Christian, that they believe, they love, and they obey God because Holy Spirit lives in them.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (1 John 3:23, 24)
Paul wrote: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)
The purpose of many festivals and holy days in Old Testament times was to help people remember the One who brought them out of slavery and tyranny. With Christ living in us, going to the sites of so many wonderful Bible stories can be a wonderful enriching experience. Without Christ, the trappings of religion become tyranny themselves.
Emmanuel means “God with us.” He came to set his people free.
My Daddy could sing. His voice was as warm and comforting as the man who sang this song on the record we played at Christmas time. Daddy never sang a solo anywhere that I recall. His concerts were just for the family.
Soft as the voice of an angel,
Breathing a lesson unheard,
Hope with a gentle persuasion
Whispers her comforting word:
Wait till the darkness is over,
Wait till the tempest is done,
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow,
After the shower is gone.
Whispering hope, oh, how welcome thy voice,
Making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.
The very quality of your life, whether you love it or hate it, is based upon how thankful you are toward God. It is one’s attitude that determines whether life unfolds into a place of blessedness or wretchedness. Indeed, looking at the same rose bush, some people complain that the roses have thorns while others rejoice that some thorns come with roses. It all depends on your perspective. -Francis Frangipane
I was surprised when I first dared to tell people about some of the answers to prayer I have seen. I expected a negative reaction from people whose worldview doesn’t give them a grid for things that don’t fit into an observable/measurable/repeatable frame. Frankly most people who demand evidence will usually dismiss or ignore it when you do go to the trouble of fetching documentation anyway. At best they may grudgingly offer a “not-yet-explained.” Fine. Not my job.
The people who surprised me were the church-type folk or nominal Christians who accepted the possibility of miracles, in theory, but became suddenly angry when told of something way beyond the norm that happened — to someone else. They brought up examples, either personal or involving poor children elsewhere, which ended tragically. One person said, “What kind of God would heal a sick, rich Canadian kid when thousands of poor kids die in third world countries every day?” Then the real issue, “Why did he answer your prayer and not mine? I guess God shows love -but not for me.”
The temptation at this point is to jump in and try to defend God’s reputation.
Not my job.
Who knew God’s love could be so offensive? Millions of words, written by thousands of people more credentialed than I, attempt to address this topic of disappointment with God. I have only three words: I don’t know.
We can say, “It doesn’t hurt to ask,” but yes, sometimes it does. Asking raises the possibility of risking hope and even the Bible says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. One of our greatest fears is the fear of disappointment.
For some reason this week I met several people whose hearts long for a soul mate. Some suffered enormous disappointment when the one who swore to love them abandoned them. Others are tired of being overlooked because they don’t fit society’s ideal standards of beauty, or status, or the mystery “it” factor. A lot of great people can relate to the classic Gershwin song, sung by Eileen Farrell, “They’re playing songs of love -but not for me.”
Now there are some obvious factors that could be blocking romantic love, but when lovely unmarried friends ask, “Why am I still alone when I have prayed and prayed?” I have to say — I don’t know.
I do think God cares more about our character than our comfort, but he is not opposed to giving his children good gifts like health and loving embraces by someone with skin on. To say someone is not receiving an answer because they haven’t cooked up enough faith, or because they have some character flaw he can only fix by throwing something nasty at them, is just cruel, in my opinion. On the other hand, it doesn’t take much faith or hope, or perseverance to look around and see pain or suffering or loneliness or poverty. When I talk about the good things I have seen I am not oblivious to pain and suffering. It does require effort to look at God’s marvelous actions and not be offended by them. It would be easy to sing, “They’re playing songs of miracles –but not for me,” but those kind of thoughts focus only on our pain. They keep us from raising our hopes.
All I can say is that I know God is good and that I have noticed that people who doggedly pursue a relationship with him, believing he is good, who are not offended when he answers someone’s pleas and not their own -but rather who genuinely thank God for his goodness to them, see more of his active intervention in their worlds than those who don’t pick up the broken bits of hope and push through the pain of disappointment to find the treasure beyond the valley of trouble. I realize that talking about things I have seen and experienced may cause some people pain, but I have to give glory to God for what he has done. My intent is to offer hope.
I was struck by Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 this week.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (vs. 17-19 NLT)
Jesus admitted he was a stone of offense to some people. It takes strength and power to be able to perceive and receive his love and not be offended by it. He doesn’t play by our rules. He wants relationship. He wants us to ask him the hard questions. We can pound on his chest in our pain and frustration and he won’t love us any less -or any more.
Distractions come in many costumes. Some appeal to our desire for pleasure and some appeal to our desire to see ourselves as good people. One thing they all have in common is that they suck up time.
Some friends and I noticed how many of the folks we care about find themselves in debt -not just financial debt, but overwhelming time debt. So many people (especially women) feel they do not have enough time for their families, for their jobs, for their friends, for their church families, for the community, for healthy recreation, for their own spiritual growth –for sleep. They run from early in the morning until late at night, eating the bread of painful labours, with hardly a moment to sit quietly, enjoy creation and just be.
We know about the problem here in North America of the acceptance of living in debt as a “normal” lifestyle. Some folks are meeting all their financial obligations, but living in overwhelming time debt. They simply have none to spare – and you can’t borrow time from any institution after filling out a few applications. When children are grown, they are grown; you can’t get those years back. When friends and family pass on, the time for being with them is gone, no extensions available. So many older folks who say they wish they had spent their time more wisely are watching their own children’s and grandchildren’s calendars fill up to an even greater degree than their own did.
When I returned from living in a small space with minimal furnishings for several months I was surprised by how much stuff was stashed in my house that I never missed. I began to mentally calculate how much rent I ought to charge these things for taking up room in limited storage spaces. Then I quit. It was ridiculous how much the clothes and sports equipment I hadn’t used in five years cost to store. It was time to give some stuff away.
I wonder, when we are distracted by things we are tempted to buy, including houses and “conveniences”, if we stop to calculate how much time their price, and the accrued interest, will suck out our lives. Is this toy worth the eight hours I will be away from my child to earn the money to pay for it, plus the three additional hours to pay the interest charges? Are these up-graded fashionable appliances and countertops worth missing two years worth of reading time to pay for it? Is this ten-day winter vacation on the beach with my wife worth the 43 meals I will miss with the family? Will time spent in servitude to stockholders ever be recovered, or does part of their profit margin include the time I could not spend at the bedside of a sick friend?
Many of us have been distracted by projects that looked like a good idea at the time – like trying to help suffering people caught mid-consequence. How much valuable time would have been freed up if I had learned the lesson earlier that some people’s dysfunction is a secretly prized possession they don’t actually want to give up?
How much time could have been spent on worshiping God and enjoying Him and His creation that went instead to some unfruitful guilt-provoked church program -and another evening away from the kids? How much more time would I have had to learn at His feet, and to love His children, if I hadn’t bought the lie that busy-ness is next to Godliness?
Then there’s the time wasted on covering up stupidity. Sigh. Note to self: Admit, apologize, change course, and move on.
The prayer in the Psalms, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom,” seldom gains our attention before we are of an age to notice the assets in our time account receding rapidly.
I wish I had listened to Mom more, “Ve are too soon old, und too late shmart.”
Charis: Subject to Change 