It has been full evening, Christmas Eve services and dinner and gifts with Pat, Amy and Steve. It is hard to believe that I have been around for seventy-six of them. I can remember back in the day, way back, standing in the backyard at my grandmother’s house, looking up at the sky and wondering if Santa would be able to see the house with all these trees around it. I don’t remember when I first figured out about Santa and the connection between him and my parents, you just knew, nobody told you, it just suddenly happened. Just like girls and the fact that boys never got the connection with them, they just suddenly happened to be there and you never gave it a thought as to why you had always avoided them. Continuing in that vein of thinking I wonder why some of us suddenly become aware of Jesus Christ, after all he has always been there and unlike other things, he will always be there. I always believed Santa would come and my dad being a career military man, we weren’t always in the same place every Christmas. I never doubted for a minute that Santa would not find us wherever we were. I guess you might say that was my first exposure to faith. As young as I was I don’t know if I even understood what that meant. Even though we moved often it never kept my mother from keeping us in church. As the years went on I would gain a little more faith and that word began to insert itself into my life at a greater frequency . I don’t know why but as hard as it might be to believe I really did not hear it that much in church. My first real experience with faith left me with the knowledge that I was missing something and perhaps I needed to look that word up. My revelation came as I took my position at right tackle in the ninth grade, on a practice field in Texas. I believe a country band once had a song about “having a fiddle in the band if you want to play in Texas”. Well, if you’re not from Texas and you weigh 150 pounds, you have to have faith that the 185 pound tackle across from you, who has been playing football from the day he could walk will not get off the count before you make a pathetic attempt to block him. I had my faith tested many times but it was a while before I realized that it was my faith that made me stand in that gap, I always believed I could do it.Time after time my faith said I could do it but the result was not always to my liking. What brought me to think about this thing called faith on this Christmas Eve?  It is the perfect time to ponder the question of faith. Think about it. Mary is a virgin and yet she has conceived a child, her husband Joseph is confronted by an Angel and puts aside conventional customs, honoring the betrothal and they journey to Bethlehem which just happens to fill the prophecy of the scriptures. There in a manger, with a star to mark the place of birth the Son of God is born and the heavens are alive with the praises in song and word, honoring the birth of Christ. So begins God’s reconciliation to his people.

Faith can often be an elusive thing in the secular world. It is difficult when you realize that  having faith means understanding that you have no control, what will be, will be. Add to that the mistaken belief of some of your peers that there is a greater power, whether it be a God, the universe, or just karma that controls your destiny and you might start think you will need a bigger boat. Hebrews Chapter 11, what I call the faith and hero’s chapter states very plainly ….Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. You can’t get much plainer than that. Faith is also complete trust or confidence in someone or something, for the Christian that person is Jesus Christ. Christians are encouraged through scripture …Corinthians 16:13 ‘Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.’ To have a relationship with God and Jesus you must have faith. You have to transcend the things of this world and value the things promised, believe the Word even those things unseen and have the conviction that what we believe in faith will come to pass, then faith becomes something real and a part of our lives that we now possess in its entirety. It is the assurance that a God given faith will overcome the things of this world, an overcoming faith that only a believer can possess. 1 John 5:5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. It is taking God at His Word.

So as we celebrate the birth we might ask ourselves, does faith abide within our hearts or in the lights and presents and the seasonal celebrations we value so much. I hope you have had a wonderful time with family and the New Year brings you the Good News and may the FAITH of our fathers abide with you always.

Life is Good

jk

We have become so causal in our reception of this story of the birth of Christ that that the words have become just a marker or part of the seasons events as we make our way to the tree and the presents. The wonder of what happened that night so long ago is celebrated in song, candle light services for some of us and for some a Christmas Eve Mass and then the rush to gather round the tree and open presents. I wanted to move beyond the traditions and rote of the season to look a bit closer at the events leading up to the birth and the Angels in heaven as they celebrated “to you this day is born” and the humility of the Shepherds  as they stood watching over their sheep. I will turn to Luke’s account of this night of nights, Luke 2: 1-20.

First thing, over the years there has been some question as to the validity of the edict concerning the census. I use a reference from the DBS page 25 which is an actual government edict from that time and reads as follows:

Gaius Vibius Maximus, Prefect of Egypt orders: ‘Seeing that the time has come for the house-to-house census, it is necessary to compel all those who for any cause what- soever are residing outside their districts to return to their own homes, that they may both carry out the regular order of the census, and may also diligently attend to the cultivation of their allotments.’

This is important to the story because it another instance where increased knowledge shows the accuracy of the New Testament. It is understood that even in this time the old tribal ancestries still required men to go the headquarters of their tribe for all such things as well as religious duties. This important detail adds creditability to why Joseph and Mary undertook such an arduous journey at this time in her pregnancy. The journey would not be an easy one and the path of their route would expose them to temperatures as low as thirty degrees at night. The distance they traveled was about eighty miles and accommodations for travelers was primitive at best. I don’t want to burden this blog down with too much information but it is necessary to paint a picture in our minds other than Joseph, the donkey and Mary on a dirt road. The accommodations would be an ordinary eastern Khan which was a series of stalls opening off a common courtyard. So here in this common courtyard Mary’s child was born amid the chaos and usual sights and sounds of a manger. Manger translated means a place where animals feed.  Travelers provided their own food and there would be fodder for the animals and a communal  cooking fire, we need not burden ourselves with the numerous details that over the years have become associated with this moment. Again from the DBS is this little gem. That there was no room at the inn is perhaps symbolic of the fact that even now in this world today there is no room for his entry into the hearts of people around him. It is sad to admit that his rejection goes on even today. The child would have been placed on a square piece of cloth and then a long bandage like strip running diagonally off one corner would be wound around him. There were no special arrangements made and the Son of God, he who would reconcile the people to the Father, the bringer of salvation for all came among the people in a most ordinary way, subject to the elements of the day, fulfilling the prophecies as written and the world would never be the same.

As we read on the sounds of familiar hymns play out their stories in our minds and visions of Angels are seen before us as the heavens rejoice. The shepherds in the field have a story to tell also. They were despised by the good orthodox people because they were not able to keep the details of the ceremonial law. There job required their complete attention to the care and safe guarding of the sheep. They could not always observe all the rules like the hand washings, prayer before bed or when first rising in the morning, they had no regular schedules as the flocks made constant demands on them. To these simple men the message came first as they labored in the fields. There is a possibility or in all likelihood, that these were very special shepherds, most likely these were the flocks which were pastured close to Bethlehem. Because it was required to offer an unblemished lamb in the morning and evening it would be necessary to have the flocks close by and they were the private property of the Temple authorities. It was also a custom that when a boy was born musicians would gather at the home to greet the birth with simple music. Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem, there was no way for this custom to take place…but the angels sang the songs, all of the heavens rejoiced as the Son of God came among us. We today have the privilege of raising our voices in praise of he who came among us seeking no special privileges, to live as we live and to offer the gift of salvation, forgiveness of our sins and a fuller life for all God’s people.

May you raise your voice in praise, fall on your knees and know the wonder of this night, beyond the tree, lights and presents.

God Bless, Life is Good

jk

There is the fact that society’s values are in an ever-changing mode. Because of the many means of communication available to us today that change happens much quicker. The haste to comply, accept, or find ways around these changing values is proving to be a difficult task for the church. We, society and our changing culture tend to bring this issue of values down to one or two, focus on them, not seeing an overall vision for society, in short we focus on those issues we hold personally acceptable. We tend to believe that values are a personal thing and are restricted to a specific group, which in turn leads us to the acceptance that there is a natural gap between community life and life within the community of faith, the church. We lose sight of the fact that it is our responsibility as Christians to bridge that gap and take to society what the church has to offer. When we speak of values exactly what does that word mean. The dictionary gives this answer to the meaning of personal values as a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life.

The gap we are looking at is the one between the church community and society. Like all things in this era of digital enlightenment nothing is ever simple. Just a side thought to this is that perhaps we have become so dependent on this world of digital enlightenment we forgot how to think things through, just put it in and press enter. I did just that to get a definition of the word values. Wasn’t all that bad and I settled on this one.

‘Basic human values refer to those values which are at the core of being human. The values which are considered basic inherent values in humans include truth, honesty, loyalty, love, peace, etc. because they bring out the fundamental goodness of human beings and society at large.’There is that word toward the end of the paragraph that is what I refer to as an influencer. The word society makes the task of the church difficult because the concept of society is so viable as to content it is hard to access it as anything other than confusingly inclusive.

Here is a definition of society: ‘A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations.*

 Let me add to the paragraph above this little caveat. Social values are a set of moral principles defined by society dynamics, institutions, traditions and can be influenced often by cultural beliefs. Consider this…  ‘Social values form an important part of the culture of the society. … They provide the general guidelines for social conduct. Values such as fundamental rights, patriotism, respect for human dignity, rationality, sacrifice, individuality, equality, democracy etc. guide our behavior in many ways’**

 At this point it is clear that the gap is more than just a small divide or reasonable disagreement as to how we bridge this gap. Faith and good intentions requires works and that requires going outside the walls and being among people. Matthew, Mark and Luke gave us some direction. The charge has been given, the command has been received and it has been written…. We are to go out into all the world, share and teach what Jesus has taught us. Luke writes that we also must  preach repentance and remission of sins to the world in Jesus’ name, the same beginning at Jerusalem, in other words it starts at home. The values that create the gap are a reflection of what we teach at home to our families, within our church community and are the foundation of our faith. We have the power to influence the cultural influences that shape society by showing people a better way to live. If I were to list the first thing we must do to bridge the gap, it would be to restore the family. The destruction of family values and moral teachings has weaken the impact of faith based values in our country and allowed the impact and acceptance of cultural changes to set societies values and norms. Last week I focused on those Advent candles, Peace, Hope, Joy and Love, which were part of a paper written by Brian Edgar about the ‘Eight Core Christian Values’. The other four are grace, faith, service and justice. I am going to bring this weeks blog to a close looking at two of these last four, service and justice. A Christian perspective of justice puts many of us in a state of uncomfortableness. We all accept the fact that slavery in any form is wrong and justice would demand we not enable it in any way or accept it as having ever being right. The fact that so many people are hungry and without shelter in a nation of such wealth is an injustice. Christian justice demands that the weak and disadvantaged are cared for wether they deserve it or not. Simply put, we cannot apply the concepts or agreed values of society to do justice for those less fortunate among us. The grace, mercy and love of all people is God’s way and he calls on us to do the same. I encourage you to go to the scriptures and seek justice as defined by God. Closing out with service, and the thought that we should be able to do what suits me, my family or my group best is really opposite a biblical perspective. We as Christians are called to lay that notion aside and embrace the fact that service is giving of ones self that others might be saved. The laying aside of our needs to meet the needs of others. The putting aside a self-centered attitude and serving all humanity as Christ did when he died on that cross for all God’s people.

We can bridge that gap by showing the community what we have to offer in the way of improving our social and cultural community by sharing the values of our Christian community and going beyond the word and doing those things that matter to those in need. Knowing and doing God’s will is a wonderful thing but love without a hug is just a word. Thanks for being in the pew this week, come back, there is always room.

Life is Good

jk. 

* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society‘ 

**http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/the-meaning-and-functions-of-social-values-sociology/8522

It is that time of year, “Tis The Season” a time of the year that family, friends and oddly enough people we don’t have a close relationship with can and do affect our lives. It is a time more than any other that cruelly empathizes the haves from the have nots. For many it is a time of great joy and families coming together but for others it is a time of stress brought about by family discord, financial worries and the memories of those who will not be around the table this year, just to name a few. This is also a time that the cultural pressures of the season overwhelm the “reason for the season”. This brings me to those candles, the ones that speak to Peace, Hope, Joy and Love. I am always looking for those little gems that can enrich our lives and I am not bashful to share them and the remarkable people who give them to us. Such is the case of  an article I found in the publication Evangelical Alliance Faith and Politics, Eight Core Christian Values, written by Brian Edgar, Director of Theology and Public policy for the Evangelical Alliance. I share with you some points he makes in the article, always remembering the Christian celebration of Advent prepares us for the birth of Jesus Christ and the beginning of the reconciliation of the creator to his people. It brings to us four core values of the season which are presented in the four candles that are part of the advent wreath.

Here then are some remarkable observations and expanded thoughts behind those candles from Brian Edgar.

PEACE

For many of us peace means an absence of war but taken in a biblical sense, there is a much broader concept to the word. Peace is the state of being at peace with our God, having positive interactions with other people, both secular and spiritual. There is for lack of a better word a material security and the understanding that also includes the realizations that this is a peace given of God through the gift of Jesus Christ to the world. There was at one time a Roman Peace known as paxromana which was established and maintained by force. We can mistake stability as peace but the truth is that no Christian should be complacent as long as injustice, greed and dissension are present.

HOPE

Contrary to popular thinking there is no guarantee that bad things won’t happen and sometimes positive thinking or looking on the bright side of life will not always work. Hope is knowing that Jesus Christ has gone on into the future for us and will always be there for us. Hope encourages us to not overlook the good of this life and it gives us the strength to take risks with an attitude of humility and a prayer of thanksgiving, knowing that God is still at work. There are so many situations that we will encounter in this life that will test our hope but we must always remember this. ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.’ (Rom. 15:13)

JOY

Here are some thoughts about joy.

-Joy is a quality of being and much more than just an emotion.

-It comes from being a part of God’s ministry in the world and from seeing lives being positively changed and relationships enhanced.

-Relationships are an important part of our experience in church society. We should celebrate with great joy the successes of our church family effort. 

-Joyfulness should mark the life of the Christian community and all relationships between Christians as they live and work together for the Lord. (‘Evangelical Alliance Faith and Politics, Eight Core Christian Values’ )

LOVE

The meaning of love is found in Jesus Christ. Our Lord’s unconditional love is the most powerful of all things and is extended to all of creation. There are many things in this life that bring fear and uncertainty to all people. They are fueled by destructive relationships and damaging situations that in turn make us defensive, distrusting and fearful thus keeping us from experiencing a God who is loving, giving and a source of strength. Love conquers all fears and enables us to extend God’s invitation to all to be transformed and saved.

I alluded to it a bit in the opening paragraph but just as a reminder it is also the season for compassion, a state of being that makes us conscious of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. Join us again next week here in the pew.

Life is Good

jk