Category: Joy

Six Little Words

Background Passages: Galatians 4:3-4 and John 3:16

We stitch together the wonderful tapestry of the Christmas story through the beautiful narratives in Luke and Matthew. We see the story played out by children in cute Nativity scenes in the foyers of our churches. The lyrics and melodies of O Holy Night or Mary, Did You Know place us amid the Christmas story, tugging at our hearts.

During this season we hear a series of sermons drawing us into the marvelous works of God unfolded his redemptive plan in the obscure village of Bethlehem.

What verses from the gospel capture your heart as you hear again the Christmas story revealed?

Do you listen in amazement at the faith of a young girl who sees through the frightening appearance of an angel to embrace the role she will play in bringing God’s child into the world? Do you sing with Mary her song of rejoicing as she catches a glimpse of the deeds her son will do? Do you marvel at the strength of Joseph as he defies cultural convention to take as his wife a woman carrying a child that is not his based on little more than an ethereal dream and a trusting heart?

Do you find a tender moment to sit in the depths of a dank and dirty stable as a young mother sings a lullaby to the baby snuggled in her arms? Do you sing with the angels on high as they declare glory to God on high for offering a peace that surpasses our understanding? Do you search the streets of Bethlehem with the shepherds hoping to just catch a glimpse of the promised one? Do you long to offer gifts as precious as gold, frankincense and myrrh to the king lying in a humble manger?

Do you, like Simeon, rest in the assurances of God because you know you’ve seen the savior you’ve waited on all your life? Do you stand with confused parents as another devout servant of the Lord tells you of the hardship that will befall the child? Do you fear for the life of God’s son as the family flees from a bitter despot, intent upon killing him?

What verse captures your heart at Christmas?

I love the story of Christmas as it speaks to the all-encompassing love of a Father in heaven who planned from the beginning to redeem a world that he knew would push him aside. Paul reminds us of God’s intent.

“So, also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his son…” (Gal 4:3-4)

God kept his promises to an unfaithful creation. Continued to love his people. Found ways to temporarily recapture their attention. Welcomed their return time and time again only to see them lose interest and drift away. Despite the constant heartbreak, God never gave up on his cherished creation.

Then, when the time was right…when they were ready…when we were ready…to hear his words of redemption, God offered a new covenant through the life, death and resurrection of his son.

So, as much as I love hearing the familiar Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke, I find the greatest words of Christmas in the gospel of John.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

The verse starts by noting the actor in this great work of salvation.

“For God…” God, the Almighty One, the Creator of all things, stirred with his finger each moment of history to ensure that which he created did not stray too far from the fold. He played the role of Good Shepherd keeping the wolves at bay until the time was right for him to act in an everlasting way. Man could do nothing to force God to act. Man could do nothing to make it happen on his own. Man invented the holiday, but God originated Christmas as an intentional act.

“…so loved…” It is hard to fathom the depth of that phrase. “For God so loved…” Discover in it a love beyond comprehension. God is the essence of unconditional love. His love will never be dependent on our actions. His love is sacrificial, freely given no matter how much it hurts him. No matter how many times his love is rejected. His love is offered as a grace gift.

“…the world…” Who, then, is the object of such all-encompassing love? The world. Not just a select few. Not just those who are obedient and good. He pours out his love for the just and unjust. The good, the bad and the ugly. We often restrict our love to those who look like us. Believe like us. Act like us. God’s love does not allow him to withhold his love from anyone. The world belongs to him and he loves all of it. That love compelled him to act on behalf of the world he created, the world he loved.

“…that he gave…” Love compelled him to give of himself without condition. A free gift available to all. He required nothing from us. Did not expect us to earn what he offered. No hoops to jump through. Nothing for us to prove. It was simply his present to you, to me and to the world around us.

“…his one and only son…” God’s gift was a part of himself. Wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. His son grew up in a disconnected world, finding himself tempted in every way like you and I are tempted to abandon the will of his father. Yet, Jesus found the strength to reject every temptation at every turn. God gave us his beloved son. In his spirit-led humanity, Jesus lived a life of complete devotion to the Father, the perfect role model for when we struggle to live up to God’s standard. Jesus taught us what it means to live in the image of God.

“…that whoever believes in him…” Jesus lived as an example for us to follow. He died as a sacrifice. He died for a purpose. God’s greatest gift was to give a part of himself as a substitute for the sin of the world, an unmerited gift of life that required us to simply open it. To accept it. To trust and believe in the one who gave his life for us.

“…shall not perish but have everlasting life…” Jesus’ resurrection from the dead symbolized the new life available in him. Our belief in Jesus Christ as savior frees us from a spiritual death and an endless separation from the God who loves us so. Our trust in Jesus Christ as savior is an offer of new life eternal. To be wrapped in the arms of God’s love in the now and the forever.

Without a doubt, there is sweetness and wonder in the gospel stories of Jesus’ birth found in Matthew and Luke. The Christmas stories in these gospels lift my spirit, filling my heart with joy and hope. But John shows me how God directed his hand through time to orchestrate one of life’s greatest Christmas carols.

When it comes to explaining the joy and peace of Christmas, the entire Nativity narrative boils down to six little words…

“For God so loved the world…”

Merry Christmas and may God bless us…everyone!

Peace, Love & Joy

Background Passages: John 14:20-27; John 15:9-17

They sit in our utility room unopened. Last Christmas, we were asked to hold onto two gifts for my niece. One is a heart-shaped stool that belonged to her grandmother. The other a present for my niece’s daughter. My niece knows they are here. Life circumstances keep getting in the way. Like most of us, when she thinks about it, the time is not convenient to pick up the gifts. Then, it’s out of sight, out of mind.

So, here we are eight months later, the gifts still sit in our house, unclaimed. Hold that thought for a bit. We’ll pick this up again later.

*****

What a strong sense of melancholy Jesus must have felt as he stood in the corner of the upper room listening to the light-hearted banter, a carry-over from the excitement of his triumphant entry into the city that morning. His disciples, buoyed by the throng that met them outside the gates and the welcoming shouts of praise they heard that morning, gathered for the evening meal, exuberant and enthusiastic.

The savior knew his inevitable fate. Knew the echoes of praise now in their ears would ring hollow in the days to come. Scripture tells us the disciples, caught up in the moment, seemed clueless to the end game soon to play out on a hill outside the city. Jesus stood prayerfully in that upper room. So much to say. Would they hear? Would they understand?

Over the course of the evening, the mood grew progressively more serious. More somber.

Washing of feet.

Pronouncing betrayal.

Breaking of bread.

Sharing of wine.

This do in remembrance of me.

Gone was the fervor of the morning. In its place, confusion and concern. It was an evening filled with questions.

Peter. “Where are you going?”

Peter again. “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?”

Thomas. “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Philip. “Lord, show us the father and that will be enough for us. “

Jesus spent these last moments available to him to teach again the truth of who he was. Offering comfort that only he could give to those who would, in a matter of hours, find their world flipped upside down. These questions are familiar to us…as are Jesus’ answers.

To Peter. “Where I go you cannot follow…”

To Peter again, “…I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

To Thomas. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life…”

To Philip: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the father…I am in the father and the father is in me…”

In response to their growing fears, he promised they would never be alone. That he would send a comforter and counselor. In the middle of that expansive narrative, he offered words we often forget.

“On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me and I am in you.”

Much of my personal Bible study over the past year explored what it means to live in the image of God. How are we to live the Christ-like life we are called to live? Given our sinful nature, it feels almost impossible. Yet, verse after verse of scripture shows us how…revealed in the life of Christ. This verse offers as great a hope that I can live in God’s image as any I’ve discovered. “…I am in my Father, and you are in me and I am in you.”

Living in the image of God is as simple as allowing Jesus, who is in us, to be the boss of our lives. To take control of every aspect of it. Of course, that’s easier said than done. I know. I fail miserably at it each day, it seems. Yet, the greater possibility exists that I can respond to the challenges of this world as God would like for me to respond because his presence in my life is a constant.

Give that some thought. He is in me. He is in you.

As the narrative in John 14 and 15 continued, Jesus touched upon three attributes of his life that he gifts to us when we place our trust in him. These teachings stemmed from yet another question asked by a disciple we don’t hear from often…Judas, not Iscariot, sometimes called Thaddaeus.

“Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us, but not to the world?”

Thaddaeus missed the point. Jesus tried explaining to him and the other disciples that he reveals himself completely to those who call upon him. Those who place their faith in him. Those who love him. People who live by the world will never understand Jesus until they open their hearts to him.

The teachable moment continued. Jesus gave us more insight into his character, offering that which he possessed to his disciples, and by extension, to us. It comes as a gift, one we will need to accept if we are to live like Christ.

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. “

The world’s idea of peace is the absence of conflict. We know from Jesus’ life that living as he lived will not end struggle, but may in fact, add to it. Jesus said, “My peace I give you.” What is the peace he gives? William Barclay says it conveys the idea that we have all we need for our “highest good.” He wrote, “The peace the world offers is the peace of escape, peace that comes from the avoidance of trouble.” The peace Jesus offers, Barclay says, is the peace which “no experience of life can take from us.” A peace that is not dependent on life’s circumstance.

Jesus lived his whole life under the shelter of this peace, woven into his spiritual DNA. It was an essential part of who he was. Despite all he was sent to do and all he had to endure, Jesus’ spirit was never threatened.

His peace is part and parcel of the gift of salvation. As he lives in us, his peace is gifted to us. Not just any peace, but his peace. The same spirit of peace that carried him through every temptation, every trial, every test exists within us as his gift to those who know him. We just have to claim it and remove it from its box, allowing it to pervade every corner of our being. Living in the image of God, in the image of Christ, means abiding in his peace.

A few verses later in Chapter 15, Jesus continued his teaching to the troubled disciples. He asked them to picture a grapevine, declaring himself the vine and urged them to see themselves as the branches who can and must bear fruit.

Buried in that familiar passage is another verse that speaks to the very nature of Jesus Christ. Jesus personified love. It motivated everything he said and everything he did. He felt the all-encompassing love of his father and passed that love on to those he encountered. Love filled his heart and soul.

“As the father has loved me so I have loved you. Now, remain in my love…love each other as I have loved you.”

He revealed the depth of his love for those who believe in him…“as the father has loved me so I have loved you.” He loved his disciples, he loves us, with all the love the Creator holds for his created. It is not that way in a world without Christ. The world loves until it is disappointed. The world’s love turns quickly to ambivalence or hate, again, based on outside circumstances.

Jesus told his disciples to remain in his love. What is Jesus’ love? He provided the illustration.

“Greater love has no man than this, but to lay down his life for a friend.”

We are called to love one another. That’s not just a call to love other Christians. We are called to extend God’s love to our fellow man. Few of us may be called to mortally sacrifice our lives for another as Jesus did. Each of us, however, is called to personally sacrifice in service to those in need. Such selfless sacrifice provides evidence of our love.

The great news is that because he abides in us, we don’t need to rely on our human capacity to love. We get to draw from the deep well of God’s all-encompassing love within us. What a gift!

We see in the scripture that God has given us his peace and his love. He didn’t stop there. He urged his disciples to remain obedient to all he had taught them; to all God called them to do. Obedience to God’s will opens his gift of joy.

“I have told you this so my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

Living as the world lives is easy. It requires little stamina. One just floats with the flow regardless of where it leads. Jesus told his disciples that his way was hard. Living in the image of God, standing firm in faith, demands we swim against the prevailing current. Yet, despite the difficulty surrounding the Christian journey, the path we follow ought to be joyous.

There is always joy in doing the right thing. Joy in living a purposeful life. Joy in letting Christ control your day to day living. In knowing you have been true to the commands of Christ.

Jesus lived his life on earth as the personification of peace, love and joy. These fruits of the spirit were embedded within his nature. They are part of the image we hold of him. A part of who he was as a man. Despite the rigors of his mission and ministry, no outward circumstance would ever strip from him that essential part of his spirit and personality.

Peace.

Love.

Joy.

Those life-sustaining characteristics he embraced are now embedded in all who believe in his name. He promised it! “You are in me and I am in you.” He gifted his peace, his love and his joy to each of us.

Here’s the thing. It’s not just that he put the capacity to experience these things into our hearts for us to develop and grow. His peace, love and joy in its fullnes reside within us already fully developed and available through the presence of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling presence of Christ in the form of the Holy Spirit gives us access to the heart of Jesus…to the all-to-often untapped potential and power of Christ in us.

To his peace.

To his love.

To his joy.

These great gifts sit in the utility room of our hearts waiting to be claimed. They will never be enjoyed and experienced until we pick them up. Take them home. Put them to good use. Our unclaimed gifts of the God’s Spirit keep us from living as the image of God.

Jesus said, “My peace, my love and my joy I give to you.”

Maybe, just maybe, it’s time we opened the package.