Shock and Awe

 Consider for a moment what Jesus left behind in heaven and what he entered when he was born.

The opulent splendor of streets of gold were exchanged for roads and alleys of dirt and rock, littered with the refuse of society, both in terms of people and waste.

The radiant glory of sitting at the Father’s right hand was given up to be placed in a squalid, musty hay trough.

Instead of the breathtaking majesty of the halls of heaven, Jesus was pleased to be born in a stable with the dank, pungent, and acrid aromas of livestock.

The ceaseless praise of angels was replaced by the anguished screams and tears of a teenage mother giving birth in the humblest of places.

Whereas heaven offered beautiful holiness, birth as a human left him covered in blood and viscera.

The adulation and honor due to Him as Lord and Creator were set aside to take on a humble beginning of near-anonymity.

The sheer magnitude of the cosmic shift that Jesus chose with the incarnation is staggering. The gritty earthiness and inglorious humanity that we see at Christmas runs counter to everything that our modern, sterile, and Western minds would want in the birth of our children. Perhaps surprisingly, the same would probably have been said by nearly every expectant mother 2,000 years ago, especially Mary who had been promised by God to deliver the Savior of the world. 

The nativity of the gospels ought to shock us in its presentation of the God of the universe taking on flesh. The manner of His birth is near disgraceful according to nearly every human sensibility. Nothing about it says “King of kings” or “Lord of lords” and yet it is what God chose “in the fullness of time.” His birth would have passed in near anonymity had it not been for the extraordinary visitations from angels and a star.

This jaw dropping display of humility says an awful lot about the God that Christians celebrate at Christmas. While worthy of all honor and praise, He is willing to set it all aside to be with those He loves. God does not shy away from the lowly or the broken. If Christmas shows us anything, it is that He identifies with exactly those kind of people.

Jesus takes on humanity in the most humble of manners so that we too might reject the pride or fear that keeps us from coming to Him. There is no need or place for pretense with Jesus. Christ’s own birth bears testimony to the glorious fact that we can come to Him as naked and helpless as the day we were born. When we come to Him, with all of our own hidden and exposed brokenness, grittiness, guilt, and shame, we can expect nothing but a joyful welcome into His arms.

As you celebrate Christmas, do what Christ did in both His birth and His death: scorn the shame and leave guilt behind. Have no second thoughts on whether or not you are enough. The fact that we celebrate His lowly birth in a stable ought to give us great courage in bringing our own “lowliness” into the light. He did it all for love.

Immanuel, God with us.

In our mess.

With a full view of our brokenness.

Knowing the guilt, shame, fear, and pride that keep us from Him.

And still with us!

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us

 The Gospel of John reads quite a bit differently than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He has a bit more of a poetic and philosophical flair in his writing in comparison to his peers. What Luke presents with great historical detail, John weaves into sweeping, epic story lines. I like to imagine his friends ribbing him for his expressive manner:  “Can’t you just keep your head out of the clouds? There’s got to be an easier way to say that!”

John 1:14 describes the nativity scene with just a few quick words: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” With such a swift announcement of the coming of the Messiah it may seem that John is perhaps missing out on a key opportunity to play up one of the biggest moments in all of human history. There is no mention of shepherds and wisemen, mangers or stars. Even Mary fails to make an appearance in John’s account. 

So what was John getting at with such a sparsely detailed telling of the Christmas story?

There are a few loaded phrases in this verse that help us see far deeper meaning than appears at first glance. 

At this point in his gospel John has gone to lengths to highlight the eternal nature of the Word and His relationship with God as equal. He has also established the fact that the Word is responsible for all creation. Further, John reveals the Word’s unique relationship with humanity and with Israel in particular. The Word comes to His own and His own did not perceive him.

Now when John says that the Word became flesh, he is saying something unfathomably mysterious and profound. With the pretext of the Word's divine power already set, John states in a shockingly matter of fact way that God Himself became human. This reality is so mind-numbingly difficult to comprehend that it is the source of more than a few controversies through the history of the Church. Creeds and councils and heresies all have come from this fact.

John’s simple pronouncement does something important for us and any other readers of his gospel. Yes there are fruitful conversations that can be had regarding the nature of Jesus Christ as both God and man. Yes, it is important to establish what can and can’t be true of Jesus. However, at the end of the day, John’s statement here is to be understood as an article of faith. 

There are ways that “the Word became flesh” simply won’t compute in our finite minds. There is glory and mystery hidden in Christ’s being that, try as we might, just can’t be articulated. John’s terse treatment of this is a great reminder that the deepest mysteries of the faith will always remain so.

So we fall in line with John and accept that God indeed became human in the person of Jesus. We are meant to swallow it whole, with mystery and glory and infinitude all wrapped up together.

John’s gospel takes us from this first leap of faith and asks us to take another one. In saying that this “Word became flesh” and then “dwelt among us” John forces his readers to dig deep into their Old Testament theology. It is easy for us to miss things, sitting 2,000 years from Jewish life and worship as John’s original readers knew it.

Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous places where the idea of God dwelling with His people comes up. Perhaps most obvious to a modern reader is the Garden of Eden where God is found walking in the cool of the day looking for Adam and Eve. However, for John’s contemporary readers, the temple and tabernacle and ark of the covenant would have been the most obvious places to see God’s promise to dwell with His people. 

You see, for a Jewish reader, the idea of “dwelling” would be directly tied to the tabernacle. The word tabernacle quite literally means “dwelling” or “tent of meeting”. In Jewish life, worship of God revolved around the tabernacle and later the temple, where within the “Holy of Holies” God’s presence was found.

In John 1:14 John confronts his readers with a new and shocking reality. No longer would God’s people only meet Him in a holy place. No longer would the infinite chasm between God’s holiness and ours be demonstrated through required symbolic separation of physical spaces in the tabernacle and temple. No longer would repeated sacrifices and ceremonies be the defining feature of the once-a-year meeting of a priest with God before the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies.

The new reality that John hits us over the head with is that God has left the Holy of Holies to come and dwell with His people in all of their profound hurt and grief and brokenness. The Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us flips Jewish worship on its head and points us towards the once-for-all perfect sacrifice of Christ and the one day dwelling with God that will happen in heaven. 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He dwells with us still and one day we will dwell with Him face to face in a land where there will be no more sorrows or tears or strife. 

We love our manger and shepherds and wisemen at Christmas and for good reason. They reveal the humble, upside down kingdom of God established by a humble, upside down King who rules by service and sacrifice. However, we would be wise to consider the depth and beauty of John’s  eight word Christmas announcement. 

God Himself chose to step out of the perfect majesty, glory, and holiness of heaven to enter into a world that is marred by everything He isn’t. He flips the script on worship built on sacrifice and ceremony and pretenses of righteousness. In dwelling with us, in the mess of the world, Jesus Christ makes a way for us to dwell with Him in the world to come.

John’s short and sweet nativity scene (if you can call it that) reveals as much about God as any of the lengthier gospel accounts. I hope that this Christmas you will spend time in wonder over the Word become flesh who dwells among us.

Who is God with at Christmas?

 I was a bit of an awkward kid. Not shocking to those who know me. Granted, most adults look back and can point to a year or two where they could say the same about themselves. In my case that phase spanned nearly half of my school years. There are some who would argue (and not without reason) that I have remained perpetually awkward.

Entering middle school, I was quite unaware of my being a bit of a social outcast. I was happy to have my books and Legos to come home to. By the time I hit high school I had made some inroads with some good friends, but to anyone with eyes, was clearly still a bit of an outsider. I can remember some coming of age moments in 8th and 9th grade where my social awareness came online and I realized that it might be nice to belong, perhaps even be popular.

The truth is I never made it into the “in” crowd. It bothered me a bit at the time, but looking back I can see how my social unawareness was a blessing in disguise as I never got too caught up in the trappings of popularity. A nerd I shall always be!

I think we all have impulses to belong and to fit in no matter how awkward or socially unaware we may be. Being created in God’s image, we all have an innate desire to be identified as a part of certain circles. This longing for relational acceptance runs so deep that people do some crazy things to fit in, often against their better judgement. One only needs to look at fashion trends to realize how true this is.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I have come to see the vanity and foolishness of seeking acceptance according to the world. The world has many different crowds with whom I could try to gain favor, but none of them can really offer the kind of free acceptance that is offered in Christ. Of course I can say I see the foolishness of this while simultaneously struggling against my desire to fit in with others.

When we read “God with us” in scripture it is worth our time to reflect on who the “us” actually is. The “us” that God is "with" is the only crowd that we should long to find acceptance with. 

Thankfully, to be in that crowd we don’t need to figure out what others in the group like. There is a temptation to work for their  acceptance. God, however, has something different for “us”. Rather than trying to curry favor with the group, we need to look at what God says about that group. The “us” that God is with is only defined by God and not by those who are included in the group. Try as we and others may to put boundaries and contingencies on who is in and who is out of God's family, only God has the final word.

Scripture has a lot to say about who God sees as being in the “God with us” crowd. Scripture also shows over and over that we humans get it wrong with shocking regularity. Throughout Israel’s history and in Jesus’ ministry, we see people who don’t quite understand what is required to be a part of the “in” crowd. Whether Cain, whose sacrifice was rejected, wayward kings who relied on power, or Pharisees who hoped in religious, rule-following fervor, we see that it is far too easy to come up with our own standards for being with God.

Isaiah 57:15 gives a really simple explanation of who really belongs to the “God with us” crowd:

"For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite."

It turns out that there isn’t much required for one to gain admittance into the “in” crowd. If you have got a lowly and contrite heart, God will dwell with you. Pretty simple. No trappings of fame, striving for acceptance, or posturing for favor with others. No rules to follow, ceremonies to observe, or sacrifices to offer. 

A simple state of the heart and mind, a certain posture of the soul are the only things required for admittance into the “with God” crowd.

I say simple, but recognize that humility and contrition are actually quite difficult for most of us. In fact, it may be the hardest thing ever asked of us. It requires us to lay down our lives and give up all that we or others might think to be worthy about us. To be humble and contrite is to recognize that we ultimately have nothing worthy of earning acceptance. It acknowledges that only God can give us what we need in order to be a part of His crowd.

The apostle Paul points us towards this reality in Philippians when he says: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Paul was the coolest of the cool, as he points out in the verses just before these. He had everything and did everything that would lead others to grant him approval and favor. In coming to know Christ he lays it all down in favor of a humble and contrite heart. Being “with God” was so much more valuable than anything else Paul might have had or any other group he might have found acceptance with.

Christmas gives us a great opportunity to reflect on what group we are in. Chances are you will have half a dozen or so gatherings this holiday season. Each gathering represents a group with its own requirements for admittance. As you weave in and out of these groups, take time to consider what each one asks of you. 

• Is it job performance? 

• Falling back into a certainly family dynamic (even if you know it is unhealthy)? 

• Adhering to certain social and moral norms?

Navigating these complex relationships is tricky. Take time to cultivate the humble and contrite heart that gains you admittance to the “God with us” crowd. Others might not see or appreciate it as you enter your various gatherings, but trust that God sees it and is truly with you.

A Quirky Christmas

 Quirky is the polite, more socially acceptable word for eccentric. The first is seen as cute or endearing while the second borders on the off-putting and aberrant. Most people tend to be predictable and palatable enough to not earn either of these labels. Personally, I have been called quirky with great regularity throughout my life, so I have had plenty of time to consider its implication for how others view me.

To those who have called me quirky through the years, have no fear, I do not begrudge your word choice. If the shoe fits right? One reason I have yet to take offense at the occasional quirky/eccentric label is that I am in good company. 

Scripture is full of the good kind of crazy that leaves people scratching their heads and a little bemused. John the Baptist certainly fits the bill since odd wardrobe and dietary choices are amongst the easiest ways to earn the quirky moniker. I guess that’s one way to build a reputation. He was neither predictable nor palatable to many.

God Himself seems at times to delight in the quirky and odd. A burning bush? Or how about a speaking donkey? A speech-impaired servant like Moses as His emissary to the most powerful ruler of the day? The list of unpredictable movements of God goes on and on. 

Perhaps the biggest oddity of all is the Word made flesh in Christ Jesus.

Seriously.

Who could come up with this stuff?

Many in Israel, who had a long history of promises and prophecies from God Himself, were unable to anticipate the strange turn of events at Christ’s birth. They had clear and specific expectations for a Savior but still couldn’t quite grasp the promise of Immanuel, God with us. 

A virgin birth to a girl of no special lineage in a stable was unexpected even though scripture pretty clearly spelled it out for people. That God Himself would take on flesh and come to dwell with His people was something they just couldn’t comprehend. 

A cursory look at typical religious life in Jesus’ day shows that people generally liked a predictable and palatable God. Predictable was profitable and powerful for those in the know. Palatable would have struck a chord with people's desire for political or social clout.

Not much has changed in that regard during the past 2,000 years. People, ourselves included, love the safety and comfort that comes from predictable and palatable. The problem is, just because something is predictable due to regular occurrence that doesn't mean it should actually be desirable in our lives. Take the Minnesota Vikings and their ability to dash the hopes of their fans in inglorious ways. The same goes of palatable things. Just because we have acquired the taste for something (cheering for the Vikings) doesn't mean it is actually good for us.

When we look at Christmas, we get a heavy does of the unexpected. God showed up in a manger. Unpredictable and unpalatable for any king, let alone the King of Kings. It was a quirky, odd, and God-ordained way for God to show that His rule and reign are not quite what we would expect. 

This Christmas I challenge you to let the quirky ways of God surprise you once again. He is predictable in fulfilling all His promises but the way he does so should fill us with wonder and delight. Part of the magic of Christmas are the quirky, mysterious, and unexpected things that we see in the nativity. 

Take time to reflect on the unexpected and endearing quirkiness of a God who continues to surprise us. Even today He shows up in ways we don’t anticipate. When plans don’t go as you hoped, when stress seems to be running high, slow down and look for a quirky gift from God that only He could deliver.

Do you see what I see?

Sometimes we can miss the obvious. I have a bit of a reputation amongst family and friends for doing this. It isn't that I don't pay attention, but rather that I pay attention to the wrong things.

For a full semester in middle school, a locker partner and I thought our books had been stolen. Our frustrations turned to laughter after a few months when we opened the empty locker next to ours to find that at some point in time we had put our lock onto the wrong locker. We were checking the wrong locker, which had our lock, while our books sat right next door, unguarded and untouched. Which one of us put the lock on the wrong locker was never discovered but simply reading the numbers on the lockers would have straightened us right out.

Matthew 8 provides an interesting parallel where one group of people can’t see what should be obvious. We read how the remarkable faith of the centurion stands out in comparison to that of many in Israel, including Jesus' own followers. The disciples had front row seats to the power of God in Christ and they still didn’t understand what they were seeing. 

As a refresher, a Roman centurion (commander) comes to Jesus to ask for healing on the behalf of an ailing servant. The Roman recognizes Jesus’ authority and makes it known that Christ can work miracles even when not physically present. Jesus does as the man requests and immediately heals the servant who is not even present. It is a remarkable story of the power and authority that Jesus had.

The centurion, being an extension and representation of Rome, knows about power and knows that it can be extended far beyond an immediate location. Just as Caesar did not need to be in Judea to order life there as he saw fit, so too could Jesus bring things about in the lives of those who trusted in him.

The extension of power beyond his physical presence that is seen in this miraculous healing should have opened the eyes of Jesus’ disciples. This Roman centurion recognized things in Christ that they failed to grasp. This is driven home in a scene just a few verses later.

Jesus and disciples head across the sea only to be caught up in a storm. The disciples, who have just seen the power of Jesus on display in numerous miracles, including the healing from a distance of the Roman’s servant, are suddenly panicked for their lives. 

As we all know, Jesus is woken and then proceeds to scold the disciples and quiet the storm. The contrast between the faith of the Roman centurion and the disciples is striking and purposeful. 

Whereas the Roman recognized the power and authority of Jesus to work miracles even when not present with a person, the disciples who had Jesus in the boat with them, failed to see His power and they feared for their lives.

If Jesus could heal from a distance, how much more so should the disciples have known him to be able to protect them when He was present. The Roman centurion recognized God’s power and authority to make things happen, even remotely. I imagine the centurion would have provided a remarkable contrast of calm in that boat with the disciples. 

Before you look down on the disciples, let's consider our own hearts. At Christmas we celebrate Immanuel, God with us. We do so with the full assurance of salvation from the cross and the fulfilled promise of the presence of His Spirit within us. The very power of God to raise Jesus from the dead resides in us!

And yet…

We have God with us and fear and anxiety still rule our hearts and minds. We see the waves and hear the thunder of storms that surround us and think ourselves lost. We live and plan and save, creating life preservers for ourselves as if Jesus is not in the boat with us ready to carry us through the storm.

Immanuel, God with us. In the boat. In the storm. And better yet, he is not asleep! He is wide awake and more fully aware of everything in our lives than we can ever hope to be. 

Christmas is a time for us to be reminded of the fact that Jesus chose to jump in the boat with us. Our appeals to our Father in heaven are to be paired with the acknowledgement that we already have God with us. 

Sometimes we need the obvious pointed out to us. The Roman could see things about Jesus that the disciples couldn’t see. Perhaps you too have missed seeing these things about Him. If so, use this advent season to be reminded of the obvious: God is with us and for us.

Kids are bad roommates

Kids make terrible roommates. They are messy, noisy, rude, unhygienic, and smelly. They are highly needy and have all sorts of crazy expectations of others in the house. They can disrupt and destroy almost anything physical, mental, or emotional that you hold dear. Apart from that, they are alright.

With 4 such miscreants under my roof (I really do love them!) I sometimes find myself daydreaming about silence and solitude. It is a lot of work to raise kids to be the kind of people you would want to live with. It also takes some serious self-reflection to ensure that you are the kind of person that others would want to live with. Parents can be worse than the children at times.

Christmas has a lot to say about dwelling with people. One major thrust of scripture, seen from Genesis to Revelations is that God will dwell with his people. When Jesus came to earth as a baby he was taking up residency with us. He was choosing to become a roommate to people who would one day crucify him.

Many days, my kids are messy, whiny, and disobedient, but generally to a degree that can be managed. On the average day in my walk with God, I am messy, whiny and disobedient too. Even with my own kids and spouse I have moments where I am just not a pleasant “roommate.” With God I can harbor even deeper resentments, anger, or frustration when I don’t get my way or don’t want to do what I know God desires.

Here is the funny thing about God choosing to dwell with us. He knew he was getting bad roommates. He knew we would steal his food out of the fridge, leave messes all over the house, and put a big scratch in his car in the driveway when we ran our bike into it. If we read scriptures correctly we realize that Jesus actually wanted to be our roommates precisely because of those things. He came to the sick, the broken, and the sinners because he loves us.

A manger isn’t such a bad place to lay one’s head when compared to some of the places Jesus would later lay his head. The earthiness of the nativity is such a powerful image of God’s love because it reveals that He is willing to enter the dirt and grime of our world. If He is willing to spend his first nights with livestock on hand, he is more than willing to live with us, His sheep, for eternity.

Jesus, in choosing to dwell with us, took us on as roommates. We’re not often the best of roommates but He loves us still. Christmas is a great time to take inventory of how we are doing as roommates. With Christ as a roommate we don’t have a huge list of do’s and don’ts. While he doesn’t love our messes, he actually has already done the work of cleaning up after us. More important to our dwelling with Jesus is our longing to be with Him, enjoying His presence. 

Whether you are a clean or messy roommate is not of first importance to God. Jesus is now in heaven preparing a house for us where we will dwell eternally. Admittance to the house has nothing to do with how well we have done as “roommates” on earth and everything to do with what Christ has done. We can rest in Him as the perfect “roommate” and learn to enjoy him knowing that he won’t kick us out or call a house meeting because we left some dishes in the sink.

As we celebrate God dwelling with us, remind yourself that our messy, earthly dwelling (where Christ came to us) is not our eternal dwelling. Jesus came to dwell with us and has promised to bring us home to dwell with him forever in a place where there will be no more tears or grief.

"Daddy Can't Hear You"

 For years I was given a subscription to Sport Illustrated for Christmas. It’s arrival each month was something that my wife Erica was well aware of. She noted how I would “disappear” into its pages as I read through its content. On one occasion I was pulled out of my reading when I heard her telling our daughters: “You’ll probably have to wait. Daddy can’t really hear you when he’s reading.” 

Over time, I came to acknowledge I had a bit of a problem in terms of my capacity to remain present in the real world when I was reading the magazine. As often as I could remember, I tried to open the magazine only when I was assured of having sufficient time to read it without having to worry about “disappearing” from something or someone important.

It is a strange phenomenon that I am sure that many people can relate to. We get so engrossed in a task or activity that we become quite blinded to the world immediately around us. While my example was relatively innocuous, it can take on much greater significance. 

There are far too many stories of parents who are so engrossed with work or other things that they are never present in their children’s lives. It is actually possible to be physically present with people while remaining emotionally or spiritually disconnected. Just think of the last time you had a conversation with someone whose phone seemed to hold greater attraction than your presence. They can be seated inches away from you but never really be “with” you.

I think we are all so conditioned by this experience with people, even those who we know love us, that we can carry it over into our relationship with God. We acknowledge that God is omnipresent and “with us” wherever we go, but we still carry a vague sense that he might be distracted or bored or otherwise occupied in a way that prevents him giving us his full attention. 

Or we know our own hearts and the subtle ways we wander and hide, and think that God must get tired of our antics. In this scenario, our hearts imagine His begrudging presence where he keeps checking his watch, wondering how much longer he’ll have to put up with our wayward and wandering ways.

The good news of Christmas is that God is with us heart and soul. In becoming flesh, Jesus became everything we are and everything God meant us to be. He is acquainted with grief, acutely aware of the power of temptation, and knows what it is to be abandoned and betrayed. He knows us because he became like us, and in doing so he is more aware of what is going on in our lives than even we are.

God is not subscribed to Sports Illustrated, doesn’t have social media accounts to check, and certainly is not so overwhelmed by work that he ever “checks out”. He doesn’t have better things to do and isn’t planning his next vacation when we go to Him with the same old struggles again. God with us means that he is fully present with us and for us, intimately and deeply connected to the goings on of our hearts and minds and bodies.

Consider this Christmas that Emmanuel, God with us, is the best gift we could ever have been given. He is ever mindful of us and His love for us is such that He sent His son to die for us. Something so personally costly will certainly hold his attention. 

Also consider the following questions as you spend that days and weeks ahead bustling to all manner of gatherings and celebrations:

If God’s presence with us is the best gift we could be given, might it also be true that the best gift we can give others is our full and undivided attention? 

What beauty might arise this Christmas from being fully with and present to those we love? 

What tasks and to-dos tend to make you “disappear” from others, even when physically present? 

What self care might you need to undertake in order to be “with” people this season?

Celebrate Emmanuel, God with us by being “with” people this year. A season full of gatherings is rich and beautiful because of those moments. Let’s not let them pass by with our noses buried in “Sports Illustrated.”

I'm with Jesus!

 Certain names have ways of opening doors. Many movies have used the ploy of “I’m with so and so” to get a hero or villain into someplace fancy or exclusive that would otherwise be off limits to that person. Of course, in many of these situations that person is not actually “with” whoever it is they name drop.

I once had the privilege of being the liaison for Tim Keller, a very well known pastor and author, at a large Christian conference. My job, apart from driving him around and getting coffee with him, was to keep would-be autograph seekers and other fans from bothering him too much so that he could focus on his speaking and teaching commitments. I performed admirably apart from one lady who pushed my wife out of the way and reached over me to reach him in his seat as he was studying his notes before going on stage.

It was fun to spend time with him. As the unrecognizable half of our pairing, I had to explain multiple times that I was “with” Pastor Keller and not just some starstruck stranger. At one point I needed to get Tim backstage for a program check-in and mic-check but with zero clearance or credibility myself I repeatedly watched Pastor Keller walk through unchecked while I had to stop to explain who I was.

Tim Keller has the name and recognition to pass through doors at large Christian conferences without question. I imagine that he could simply show up at such conferences unannounced and be allowed in. I, on the other hand, wouldn’t make it through the front door as a general attender without a name tag, pass, or some other sort of credential. It was only because I was with Pastor Keller and because he vouched for me that I ever got to go backstage.

It is the same way with us and Christ. When Jesus came to earth he came to be with us, not just in a physical sense, but more significantly, in a way where he would vouch for us. He gifts us His credibility and uses the power of His name to grant us access to heaven. In fact, scripture tells us that even now he is beside the Father interceding on our behalf saying “They’re with me”.

When God himself goes around saying “they’re with me” you get instant eternal street cred. Emmanuel, coming to be with us at Christmas, does more than grant present comfort found in His presence with us. Christmas stretches into eternity where we will forever be saying “I’m with Jesus”.

If you are still walking around, trying to build your own credentials in order to get into right relationship with God, I want to beg you to reconsider. This Christmas season should serve as a powerful reminder that we can claim the credentials of Christ. We can ride into the most exclusive and eternal party on his coattails. Use these days to consider how much better His name is than yours and then join in the throng of saints singing “I’m with Jesus”.

Family Drama

 Several years ago, when the latest round of Star Wars was returning to the big screen with “The Force Awakens” I was surprised at how giddy I was to see the movie. I am by no means crazy for Star Wars, studying all the characters, critiquing storylines, or reading fan fiction. I go and watch simply to be entertained.

My giddiness surprised me because it brought on such a powerful sense of nostalgia. I remember thinking “I wonder how many hours of my childhood were spent making lightsaber noises or imitating Darth Vader’s breathing and voice?” The answer of course, is too many. I recall many bloodied knuckles from lightsaber fights using sticks found in the woods.

Perhaps the most famous line in the Star Wars franchise is Darth Vader’s “No, I am your Father!”

Whoa!!! That single acknowledgement changed everything in the movies. This family storyline is so significant in fact that the 9 movies are together often referred to as “The Skywalker Saga”.

Adding a family storyline as broken and redemptive as we see in those movies was a pretty solid recipe for box office success. Humans are wired to rejoice in seeing families reunited. We are inexorably drawn into stories where people are once again brought into right relationship with one another. 

Christmas movies are pumped out at a surprising rate using this exact same formula. My dad, who is a secret purveyor of these movies (at least until people read this!), can vouch for this. I think there is a very profound reason that Star Wars, rom coms, and Hallmark movies connect so well with people. We all carry with us a foundational need to be known and loved by others. 

These movies capture this yearning well because they know we get our bearings on life and the world from those around us who have helped shape us. In many ways, we are defined by those that we are most often with. The family discord that plays out in so many of these movies resonates with our own longings to have redeemed and restored relationships with those who have played the biggest roles in our lives.

Buried in the deepest recesses of our souls and tied into everything we are and hope to be is our relationship with God. Our souls ache with a melancholic nostalgia for the way things were meant to be, the way things were in the Garden of Eden.

We were made to me with God. Whether we realize it or not, being “with” God remains our greatest need and deepest longing. When God announces the birth of Christ, we see the first movement of God to once again be “with” his people.

As we celebrate Christmas and as the name “Emmanuel” once again becomes familiar, I pray that we would take time to consider how deeply within our souls this family reunion resonates. In coming to us and being “with” us we are reconnecting with God in a way that echoes through eternity. It is what we were made for.

In the busyness of the weeks ahead let's not be so busy as to forget to be “with” God. The deepest parts of our souls long to rest with him so let's take full advantage of the opportunity.

Either for us or against us

 “You're either with us or against us” is a common sentiment that shows up in everything from in pop culture to presidential campaigns. The idea is that if you are not fully supportive of “us”, however you define it, then you are supporting “them”, usually defined as the opposition. It is typically used to try to draw people into greater commitment to a cause by having them think that their greater commitment is the only way to avoid being a part of the opposition.

It is a bit of a false dilemma as situations are often far more complex than we care to acknowledge. In fact, it is most often used a bit unfairly to put someone in a spot where they have to declare allegiance in order to save face, perhaps against their better instincts.

We all like to have people in our corner and to know that we have support in life, arguments, or as sports fans! Having God in our corner is certainly a big deal. When we consider Emmanuel, God with us, there is a shocking element to it all that can be easy to miss.

The real shocker in saying that God is with us and for us is that it happens even as we are against him!

Let’s consider this for a moment. 

In our sin we have marked ourselves as rebels and traitors to the things and causes of God. Our sinfulness stands in direct opposition to God’s good designs for humans. Unlike in many situations where “you’re either for us or against us” is used, there are no neutral parties in God’s righteous battle against unrighteousness! In our sinfulness we clearly stand in opposition to God.

Even when we were most certainly against God, he chose to come and be with us. His love for us was such that he wept over our sin and brokenness rather than drawing up battle lines. His hope for redemption was so unshakeable that he stepped out of heaven in order to be with enemies whom he knew would return to him.

God knew what it would cost to be with us. Jesus Christ entered the world with the Father’s full knowledge that being “with us” would cost Jesus his very life. God was with us, even when we were against him!

The beautiful Christmas declaration that Emmanuel has come to be with us is made all the more unfathomably beautiful when considered alongside the realities of who he was choosing to be “with”.

Jesus came to be with a rebellious and stiff-necked people. He came to be with broken and hurting people. He came to be with people hell-bent on pursuing their own agendas, pleasures, and idols that they defiantly and brazenly turn from Him over and over and over.

I’m not just talking about historic Israel here. I am talking about myself. I have fit into every single one of those categories in the previous paragraph. I was a spiritual corpse, spreading death through my sin…

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…”

Jesus Christ was Emmanuel, God with us, even in our death so that we might be made alive together with Christ.

When we say “God with us” it is important to remember that he is with us to the utmost. He is with us to the end, to the grave. 

This Christmas, remember that God didn’t come to us because we were special or because we had cleaned ourselves up pretty well. He didn’t decide to be with us because we would be a good influence on him or could help him be better. 

We don’t need to polish ourselves up to be with him. He wants to be with us precisely because without him we’ve got nothing. He wants to delight in giving us everything. His greatest gift to us is himself. Take heart in the days ahead by looking at the immense and incomprehensible love of God that cause him to be with us, and to give himself over to us, even when we were still sinners.

Emmanuel, God with us!

 “Emmanuel, God with us” reads a bit like a dictionary entry. It is pretty straightforward: a word followed by its definition. 

Scripture is rarely so concise and direct in telling us what is meant by a particular word. That being said, things are not as simple as they seem in this case. The significance of the word “Emmanuel” goes far beyond the three word explanation we are given. 

These words are merely the entry point into a world of far deeper meaning. It is as if one were to discover a well of untold depths, filled with the best, cleanest, and perhaps “living” water. The cover to that well would be inscribed “Emmanuel, God with us”. It is only when one takes off the lid and draws water from the well within, that one can truly understand the significance of the well’s cover.

In 1868 Phillip Brooks wrote the Christmas hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. In it he comes at the moment of Christ’s birth from a number of angles. One phrase that stands out that really highlights the depth of meaning found in “Emmanuel” is “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

Indeed, Emmanuel, God with us, carries all the world’s hopes and fears as all creation has been groaning under the weight of sin and the curse. “God with us” is the point in history at which the tides turn for God’s people as fears are struck down and hope is birthed in Jesus Christ.

A simple little dictionary entry carrying the weight of history. God with us. 

God!

God with us!

Emmanuel is indeed the Good News that our souls long for.

 As you enter this advent season, consider that you’ve only just begun to plumb the depths of God’s love for you. You’ve hardly touched or tasted the sweetness of fellowship with Him. You’ve only just now removed the “Emmanuel, God with us” cover to a well that will never run dry.

I leave you today with the words of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” which fittingly ends with the phrase: “O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.”

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see they lie;

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by,

Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;

The hope and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary; and gathered all above,

While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.

O morning stars together proclaim the holy birth;

And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven.

No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray;

Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.