Praise the Lord for
this first day of December. We are all drawn, even propelled, to the
Bethlehem event, where the Word became flesh. May we all pause and
ponder on the beauty and mystery of it all, for our God specializes in
mystery. We are honored and privileged to have even a glimpse of it
through Jesus Christ.
It has been raining here in Central New York over the past few
days. Our town is all decked out in its Christmas lights and
finery. My wife told me this morning that she watched the tree-lighting
which was broadcast from Rockefeller Center last evening. Next week, on
December 6, some from our church family will be taking a charter to NY City,
where they will go to the Christmas Extravaganza. Let's all plan to
celebrate "big" this season . For we serve a wonderful ,an
awesome and an amazing Saviouir and Lord.
One
of the poignant and powerful passages I love to read during the season is found
in Titus 2:11-14: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation
to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly,
righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave
Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself
a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds."
The
Christmas event, the magnificent story, and the drama are all wrapped in the
Christmas blanket of Grace. It is all about the Savior and Lord landing
at the beach-head of Bethlehem with the divine mission of rescue and
restoration. Once we begin to realize and discover the magnitude of love
that propelled Jesus to descend to earth to save and rescue the "poor
on'ry people like you and like I". Once we grasp the beauty and
mystery of it all we are transported into the third heaven, hearts filled with
joy unspeakable and full of glory.
During
my childhood days growing up in Orissa, we did not have the Christmas tree
tradition. Neither did we have the tradition of Santa Claus. After
moving to America the Beautiful I came upon the Christmas
celebrations in American tradition. I love the Christmas carols,
Advent hymns, majestic Christmas music, and all the divergent ways we
celebrate the birth of our Lord Savior, but after moving to the USA I heard the
the song, "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer". At first I thought
this song is very secular, having nothing to do with Christmas. In a
closer and deeper look I discovered the the beautiful note of divine
grace. The real beauty
of the story focuses on grace. By grace, Santa chooses Rudolph despite
the fact he's clearly an outsider and a "reject". He has a
defect—his big, annoyingly shiny red nose—that has usually disqualified him
from getting chosen for other reindeer games. Then, when the fog rolled
in, who did Santa choose?Yes, he chose the reject with the physical deformity.
The "weakness" that was considered a liability by Rudolph and
his fellow reindeer became the "strength" that Santa used to
accomplish his mission.
Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in
them." You were specially created, hand crafted, uniquely made for the
purpose of bringing glory to God. Your purpose is to live a life that magnifies
the Lord, to use your gifts and talents in helping others, to tell those who
don't know Jesus that there's good news. Your purpose is to bring glory to God
in all you do and say, so that when all is said and done, you'll hear the
words: "Well done, good and faithful servant." God's gift of his Son
is useful. It gives us life. Despite our weaknesses, it gives us meaning and
value and purpose. Our purpose is to bring glory to God.
We
remember, especially at this season, that God has given us the inestimably
valuable gift of his Son. The value of that gift is seen in its
motive, its cost, and its usefulness. The motive was love that caused God
to send His very own to pay for the sin-debt of humankind. It cost Jesus
everything, both His self-emptying and His cross. Its usefulness is that
through this gift we get real life that lasts throughout eternity.
I
read recently that 39.2 percent of shoppers will purchase a department store
gift card for friends and family at Christmastime, followed by 33.4 percent of
shoppers opting for a restaurant gift card. Yet, according to
estimates reported in the Journal of State Taxation, the typical American home
has an average of $300 in unused or "unredeemed" gift cards.
These cards are often misplaced, accidentally thrown out, or only partially
redeemed. Between 2005 and 2011, $41 billion in gift cards went unused.
Will
God's gift to us be redeemed in full, or set aside and forgotten, like a
gift card that is just left in a drawer? God has given us the costliest
gift imaginable, but just like all the gifts we will be given on
Christmas day, we have to receive it, open it, and use it in order
to appreciate its full value. We receive Jesus Christ into our
lives and trust in him as our Savior, and then we begin to
learn what it means to follow Him, enjoy Him, and love Him. The words of
one Christmas card say it well, "The Word did not become a philosophy to
be discussed, a theory to be debated, or a concept to be pondered. The
Word became a Person to be followed, enjoyed, and loved."
In Christ,
Brown
