Brown's Daily Word 12-28-12

"Mary wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger". Mangers were not the beautiful, clean places we see in our Christmas pageants. They are found in lonely, dirty, smelly stables made for animals. If you are looking for Jesus, don’t start in the nursery. Go outside to the barn and find the oldest part where the boards need repair and the ground is covered with dirt and the air smells of manure. When you hear the baby’s cry, you’ll know you’ve found the Lord. He’s not in the nursery with the rest of the children; he’s out in the barn with the animals. No wonder the world missed him then and still misses him today. It is only by the eye of faith that the majesty of Christ is seen. God’s surprising sign is a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and resting in a feeding-trough in a cave behind a village inn. It’s not a very likely beginning for a movement that would change the world. What a rebuke to those who love pomp and outward glory, to those who despise the small things of the world. Jesus was once a “small thing” Himself. To borrow a phrase from Martin Luther, “He whom the worlds cannot enwrap yonder lies in Mary’s lap.” This is surely a strange way for a Savior to enter the world. Even the poorest child would not be found in a manger, but there he was, God’s appointed “sign” from heaven.



Charles Haddon Spurgeon of London preached a sermon on this text. The scene at Bethlehem is one of utter simplicity: a mother, a father, and a baby. Thus was “the Word made flesh” to dwell among us. What God does is both simple and clear. And the message to us is also simple and clear. Those who come in simple faith to the Lord Jesus Christ find great peace. We need once again to preach the plain man’s gospel, free of speculation and centered on Christ.

Spurgeon then urged his hearers to come in faith to the Babe of Bethlehem who would one day die for the sins of the world. Little children should come for He was once a little child himself. Young women should come for Mary was a young woman who was God’s instrument for bringing Christ into the world. Young men should come for Joseph was a young man who had great faith in God. Old women should come for Anna was an old woman who looked for the coming of the Lord. Old men should come for aged Simeon waited for the consolation of Israel. The working men and women should come to Christ because the shepherds represent all those who work with their hands for a living — and they too came to Bethlehem. Finally, the highly-educated of the world should come for the Wise Men came bearing gifts. They too bowed and worshiped the King.

This is Spurgeon’s closing appeal: “For my own part, the Incarnate God is all my hope and trust. I come back to preach, by God’s help, the gospel, the simple gospel of the Son of God. Jesus, Master, I take Thee to be mine forever! May all in this house be led to do the same, and may they all be thine, great Son of God, in the day of thine appearing, for thy love’s sake. Amen.”

May we all say"Jesus, Master, I take thee to be mine forever."

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtu.be/mnTQo3WS7rM

Brown's Daily Word 12-27-12

Merry Christmas, our Savior is born. I have posted some of my pictures from my recent trip to Australia on my Facebook page. It is almost mid-summer in Australia and New Zealand, so they celebrate Christmas in mid summer. When I spoke to the Australians and the New Zealanders about Christmas celebrations they shared with me that they prepare mega barbques for Christmas and go the beaches for surfing. Various summer flowers akin to those on the Indian sub-continent are in full bloom. They are also harvesting summer/tropical fruits. In quite a contrast to the balmy summer Christmas in Australia we are having a very snowy Christmas here in North East of the America the Beautiful. The Lord blanketed our region here in New York with almost a foot of snow. All is well. It is looking like a winter wonderland.

I am reflecting on the shepherds, who became the divine news channel for the announcement of the Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The simple and sleepy shepherds, stunned by the songs of the heavenly host, forgot about their sheep and came in haste to Bethlehem. They were the first to behold the newborn king. Their lives were changed, challenged, and filled. It is written in Luke 2: “The shepherds returned to the fields, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard "

I love to see Christmas come because it is during this time of year that we see the human race more as God intended us to be. That is, at Christmas time, most of us are a little kinder…to family and friends, and even strangers. Most of us are a little more thoughtful, a little more generous, a little more considerate to others. The world is a happier place because most everyone is a bit kinder. 'There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,' returned the nephew. 'Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round - apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that - as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!' Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol".

The Spirit of Christmas peace and generosity is not supposed to be confined to one, or at the most twelve, days a year. The Lord gave the gift of Christmas to last whole year and whole life span on earth and beyond this world.

There is a story about an old man who was sitting in his house one day in January and he thought he head the voice of a little boy singing. The old man heard a knock on his door and he slowly got up and shuffled over to open that door. There was a little boy singing, HARK THE HERDALD ANGELS SING and the little boy sang the chorus with real gusto, GLORIA. The old man was not amused and he spoke gruffly, “Sonny, don’t you know that Christmas was four weeks ago? Today is January 25th and Christmas has been over for a month?” The little boy replied in his excited voice, “Yes, but I had the measles at Christmastime and then I got the small pox, and I just got out of the house. I wasn’t able to do any Christmas caroling this year, so here I am. HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING.

"A man is at his finest
towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be
when the Christmas season is here;
Then he's thinking more of others
than he's thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children
is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than
at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him
he comes close to the sublime.

When it's Christmas man is bigger
and is better in his part;
He is keener for the service
that is prompted by the heart.
All the petty thoughts and narrow
seem to vanish for awhile
And the true reward he's seeking
is the glory of a smile.
Then for others he is toiling and
somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas he is almost
what God wanted him to be.

If I had to paint a picture of a man
I think I'd wait
Till he'd fought his selfish battles
and had put aside his hate.
I'd not catch him at his labors
when his thoughts are all of pelf,
On the long days and the dreary
when he's striving for himself.
I'd not take him when he's sneering,
when he's scornful or depressed,
But I'd look for him at Christmas
when he's shining at his best.

Man is ever in a struggle
and he's oft misunderstood;
There are days the worst that's in him
is the master of the good,
But at Christmas kindness rules him
and he puts himself aside
And his petty hates are vanquished
and his heart is opened wide.
Oh, I don't know how to say it,
but somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas man is almost
what God sent him here to be." Edgar Guest from" At Christmas"

Merry Christmas,

Brown

http://youtu.be/76RrdwElnTU

Brown's Daily Word 12-26-12

Merry Christmas. Joy to the world; the Savior is come. The Lord blessed us with a brilliant Christmas Eve. He blessed us during our Christmas Eve Services. Indeed it was holy and silent yet vibrant, triumphant, and joyful. Our second Christmas Eve service that began at 7:30 PM, concluding with the singing of Silent Night and lighting of the candles exactly at 9 PM. When the worshippers were about to walk out of the sanctuary it began to snow gently and beautifully. My wife had been praying longingly for snow for Christmas, and the Christ of Christmas granted the desire of her heart by blanketing the area with fresh and friendly snow. He makes all things glorious and beautiful in His time.

Sunita and Andy have come from Washington for the week. Tom and Jessica came yesterday as we were walking after Christmas dinner. They will be here for the whole week. Laureen has taken this week off to have time with her sisters and us. We are blessed beyond belief. Micah, Simeon and Ada stayed with their parents in Boston. They had an old Boston style Christmas, attending Christmas Eve services in Cambridge. We spoke to them twice yesterday via Skype. It was a great thrill and a treat. I preached on Christmas Eve from from Luke 2, “The angel said to them, I bring you good news of great joy which is for all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Liberator, who is Christ the Lord.”

One of the most exciting and most dramatic rescue missions of modern times happened in Entebbe, Uganda, located in Central Africa on July 4^th, 1976, on the 200^th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. That rescue mission captivated the whole world. An Israeli airplane has been hijacked by a group of Palestinian guerillas after it left Paris, France. These Palestinians had made arrangements with Idi Amin of Uganda to land their plane at Entebbe, a remote city in Uganda. The hijacked plane landed at Entebbe, and "Big Daddy" Amin, one of the cruelest dictators of all time, who had brutalized his own country into submission and who had murdered his own people by the tens of thousands, came out to meet the hijacked airplane. He fumed and railed at the 150 prisoners on the plane. They expected death at the hands of this violent, cruel man. The hostages were kept isolated, captive for several days and then…it happened. . .so suddenly, so secretly. No one had an inkling that it was going to happen. Suddenly and silently in the middle of the night, at 1:00 AM on July 4, 1976, on the 200^th anniversary of our own national liberation, a plane quietly glided into Entebbe and out jumped a squadron of forty commandos. There was a blast of gunfire. Two Israeli soldiers were killed, but the Ugandans immediately surrendered. Quickly there were two airplanes in the dark sky, the first plane which had been hijacked and the second, a rescue plane. Both planes flew to freedom. The next day, Amin fumed and railed that his airspace had been violated.

Liberation is a good word. Liberation is good news. Liberation implies positive change, being set free from an awful situation. Liberation happens to us. We don’t liberate ourselves. We can not liberate ourselves. Many try to liberate themselves by their self help methods or by their own ingenuity. They become frustruated , disappointed because they can not liberate themselves. Outside intervention is needed. Liberation is exciting, life giving, and thrilling to see when it happens.

The angels said to them: “I bring you good news of great joy which is for ALL people, for onto you is born this day in the city of David, A LIBERATOR, who is Christ the Lord.” The word liberator is a good, strong word, a real word for a real world in need of liberation. Usually, when we hear the song of the angels on Christmas Eve, we hear the words like this: “For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a savior, who is Christ the Lord.” We hear the word, savior, rather than the word, liberator. The words, liberator and savior, come from the same Greek word, but the words have different meanings and connotations in English. The word, savior, implies the forgiveness of sins. God cancels our sin. God covers up our sin. We need God’s forgiveness for all of our lives. We cannot escape this sinful disposition that we all have, so we need to experience forgiveness throughout our whole lives. But the word liberator has a different feel to it than the word, savior. "Liberator" implies more than forgiveness; it implies transformation, actual change in us and to us.

Jesus comes to liberate us from our selfishness,. that enslaves us to our own whims and appetites and egos. Jesus comes to liberate us from our painful pasts, to set us free from all the mistakes we have made years and years ago - mistakes with the kids, with the spouse, on the job, as a neighbor. Jesus comes to actually set us free from our uncountable mistakes. Jesus comes to actually liberate us from our fears - the fear of disease, the fear of death, failure, and growing old, as well as the fear that there is no God, and that your kids won’t turn out right. Jesus comes to liberate us, to bring about a wonderful transformation within us and around us.

Jesus comes to actually liberate us from our addictions, from our rage, our anger, our sharp tongues and sharp comments, our sarcasm, our putting others down, our need for revenge and the dreams of inflicting revenge on someone who has hurt us and needs to hurt by us. Christ the liberator comes to free us from all of that. He comes not only to forgive us, but to liberate us. Whenever God in Christ comes into our lives and frees us from all this stuff that stifles us, cripples us, corrupts us, it is good news and great joy. It is Christmas. two thoutand years later, we still hear the angel’s choir singing their song: I bring you good news of great joy which is for all people, for onto you is born this night, a liberator, who is Christ the Lord. Amen.

Joy to the world; the Savior reigns.

In Him,

Brown

http://youtu.be/X-LEVmxL5Y8