The angels' joyful announcement was worthy of a Heavenly King. But how do we celebrate His majesty?
The
world’s preparation for Christmas usually shuts Him out. Christ, the long-awaited
Messiah, simply doesn’t fit today's politically correct views. Nor is He compatible
with holiday marketing schemes. Do you wonder what happened to holiday wrapping paper
with Biblical themes?
Never mind that
He created the universe and has each future day written in His book. Or that He alone can
fulfill our longing for genuine peace and lasting joy. The world doesn’t
welcome Him – He doesn't fit. Its people reject Him -- unless they can
re-imagine Him in a form more like themselves. His holiness violates their comfort
zone. So they hide from Him (like Adam and Eve), deny His existence, or fill their days
with distractions and alternatives. For example:
* Schools are trading
Christmas programs for solstice celebrations.
* Children are singing "Here comes Santa Claus" instead of
"Away in a manger."
* Last
year, the popular "Pokemon Christmas" video was quickly sold out at
Walmart.
* As in
Old Testament days, people who reject the only true source of peace, still proclaim
"Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace."1
Meanwhile, many
of us are too busy planning His party to grieve His absence.
The King whose
birth we celebrate may be sad, but He’s never surprised. Long ago, He stood in
Jerusalem watching a world too blinded by human wants and ambitions to see the Savior in
their midst. "If you had known," He said with unspeakable sorrow, "the
things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes." (Luke
19:42)
THE COMPROMISING CHURCH.
Today, almost
2000 years later, religious leaders still lead the anti-Christ crusade. Many have accepted
the new global consensus on religion: all religions are equally good, but Biblical
Christianity is too narrow to be tolerated in this new millennium. The envisioned
"Culture of Peace" won’t permit divisive Biblical values. Faith in His
unchanging truths is viewed as "mental dysfunction." And at the forefront of
this cultural transformation stand countless churches that teach a compromised, cross-less
and Christ-less Christianity.
No wonder
embarrassed theologians joined the public outcry last year when several presidential
candidates dared to name Jesus during the recent Iowa debate.2
In the eyes of offended "Christian" leaders, evasion and lies would be more
tolerable than the truth and light. But then, such was the religious climate that glorious
night when our King came to earth and angelic jubilation pierced the stillness of the
skies.
In other words,
Jesus was born into a culture ruled by the same spiritual mastermind that prods the masses
today. The apostle John, said it well: "The whole world lies under the sway of the
evil one." (1 John 5:19)
That’s why
the religious leaders during His time on earth had little tolerance for His call to purity
and separation. "Come unto Me…" meant leaving the acceptable ways of the
world, a dangerous notion that threatened the establishment. Unless the long-awaited
Messiah would conform to contemporary teachings, He was not welcome in their midst. John
summarized the tragedy as well as the triumph:
"He was
in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came
to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave
the right to become children of …." (John 1:10-12)
Human nature
doesn’t change with time, nor does the spiritual battle raging against the Christ,
His Word, and His followers. The church still wants to blend with the world, and
statistics indicate it does so quite consistently.
The world
doesn’t mind stars, angels, Christmas trees, or a sweet little baby sleeping in a
manger. But there’s still "no room at the inn" for a King who invites us to
walk His lowly path. And if we choose to let Him "be born in us" we must also
share His suffering and bear with Him "the offense of the cross" – the
world’s hostility toward the separated and crucified life Christ grants to those who
love Him. (Galatians 5:11)
THE COUNTERFEIT CHRISTMAS
But the main
problem with Christmas is not the way we trivialize angels and shepherds. Nor is it the
season of the year. I doubt that Jesus cares whether we celebrate His birth in December or
closer to the unknown date.
Nor is it the
religious competitors to Christmas. While Kwanza, Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice may have
replaced Christmas programs in public schools, they alone wouldn’t weaken the Church.
Just look at China. Where genuine believers face the greatest challenges to their faith
and families, they demonstrate a spiritual and numerical growth that puts the American
church to shame.
Nor is it the
pagan roots of most popular Christmas customs. Few are even aware of the history behind
Christmas trees, mistletoes or the ancient midwinter celebration of a mother-goddess with
the midwinter babe. While these roots may contribute to the problem, today's Christmas
would hardly be more Biblical if set in the summer.
No, the root
problem has to do with our view of God and our relationship to Jesus. We have been taught
to think of the King of the universe more like a super-Santa than a jealous God who holds
us accountable to His Word. We forget that His favors are designed to conform us to His
image, not meet all our wants.
He grieves when
His people turn worship into self-indulgence, pretending to please Him when, while serving
ourselves. His lowly birth in Bethlehem points to the hardships our Savior was willing to
bear for our sake. Without diminishing His glorious stature as eternal King, it prompts us
to walk with Him in the same love and humility with our hearts set on eternity.
Peter
didn’t understand. So when Jesus described His coming death, Peter reassured Him,
"Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" He meant well, but he
was wrong. Jesus had to correct him – for our sake as much as for Peter. Turning to
His friend and follower, he said something that would hardly fit today’s politically
correct consensus process:
"Get
behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God,
but the things of men. . . .If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow Me." (Matthew
16:22-24)
CELEBRATING THE KING
Peter had set
His mind on "the things of men." How can we set our minds on "the things of
God" this Christmas?
Two millennia
ago, God touched the hearts of three men who would have treasured the truths we have
available today. With joy, they received the little information He gave, then set out on a
long, risky pilgrimage to worship the newborn King:
"…behold,
wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King
of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." (Matthew
2:1-2)
The gifts they
brought were chosen with love. These pilgrims were willing to risk their own lives to make
the long, dangerous journey. And they gave Him their very best – offerings worthy of
the King of heaven and earth. God must have been pleased. He didn’t need their gifts
but He saw their loving hearts.
Other gifts
have pleased Him less. When Ananias and Sapphira pretended to give their all but secretly
withheld some of their wealth, they were struck dead -- a frightening consequence for what
today seemed to be good intentions. But God chose to show us something about Himself. He
longs for whole-hearted devotion, not a pretentious show of piety.
Back in Old
Testament days, God’s chosen nation pretended to follow His guidelines. They offered
the prescribed sacrifices out of cultural obedience. They had to; people were watching
each other. But they cheated their all-knowing God by giving as little as possible –
blemished gifts, worth little to man and less than nothing to God – keeping the best
for themselves. So God warned them:
"Cursed be the deceiver
Who has in his flock a male …
But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished --
For I am a great King,"
Says the LORD of hosts,
"And My name is to be feared among the nations.
(Malachi 1:14 )
Then as now, a
lukewarm show of obedience to Biblical guidelines is hypocrisy – a pretense of
loyalty to the Christ whose name we bear. But the opposite, the genuine devotion God seeks
from His followers, was demonstrated by Mary. Listen to her response to the angel’s
awesome message – one that called her to endure out-of-wedlock pregnancy in a culture
where sexual promiscuity called for death:
"The angel said to her, 'Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed
are you among women!'
"But when she saw him, she was
troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel
said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you
will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS….'
"Then Mary said to the angel, 'How
can this be, since I do not know a man?' And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore,
also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God….For with God
nothing will be impossible.'
"Then Mary said, 'Behold the
maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.'" (Luke 1:28-38)
Mary was
willing to obey – to do what God asked. Her gift to Him was her faith, love, life and
future. Understanding that the Old Testament "bondservant" meant willing
surrender of everything to His service, she offered herself as a "a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God…." (Romans 12:1) The next verse describes our part in
God’s lifelong process conforming us to the life of Jesus – making us a living
testimony of His goodness to the world:
"And do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you
may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
In other words,
the gift God desires from us is our own lives fully dedicated to Him. Only then can He
fully use us to fulfill His purpose here on earth. This means a deep lifelong commitment
to feed on His Word, follow His way, and demonstrate His life. It’s an old command,
taught through Moses, and emphasized by Jesus:
"You
shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall
teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit…
walk… lie down, and… rise up." (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)
That means all
we think, feed our minds, share in our families, and show the world will be to and from
our King. His life is our message – and our lives are His message. It’s a big
calling, but when we consecrate ourselves to Him and rest in His arms, He will accomplish
it. That’s His promise to all who give their lives to Him.
"My
King and my God….
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage." (Psalm 84:3, 5)
God’s path
for His own beloved Son led through a lowly stable. His only worshippers were the poor
shepherds who, in the secluded stillness of the night, could hear the angels sing. On our
pilgrimage, how can we best worship Jesus this day? Please show and enable us, precious
Shepherd and King.
'Twas a humble birthplace, but O how much
God gave to us that day,
From the manger bed what a path has led,
What a perfect, holy way.
Refrain
Alleluia! O how the angels sang.
Alleluia! How it rang!
And the sky was bright with a holy light
'Twas the birthday of a King.
Endnotes:
1. Jeremiah
6:14-15
2. These
candidates – George Bush, Gary Bauer, and Orrin Hatch – had been asked to name
their favorite philosopher-thinkers. Reported by Richard L. Berke, "Religion Center
Stage in Presidential Race," The New York Times, 15 December 1999.
Special Thanks to Berit Kjos for this excellent article from Worthy News.
Be sure to visit http://www.crossroad.to for
great information.