December 2010: Mary's Joy and Pain

Mary sat holding her newly born baby near to her breast and heart. To be with child and to give birth for the first time is a wondrous thing for any woman – but this child was indeed a miracle. The angel had called him the Son of the Most High and told her that he would reign over the throne of David forever. ‘How can this be?’ she was still asking herself – that she, a virgin had just given birth to her firstborn – even God in human flesh.  She looked at him in awe – Miracle of miracles – yet he looked and felt like any newborn child. There was nothing about his appearance that marked him as different. She prayed for wisdom and guidance for the nurturing of this future king. She would leave the future to God and love this blessed bundle of life with all her strength and ability (Luke 1:26-35 & 67-79).

After the days of purification, Mary and Joseph took the baby to Jerusalem to present him to God as their law required and to offer the appropriate sacrifice – a pair of turtle doves. Such a small offering for such a priceless treasure to their hearts and lives! While there, they were approached by an elderly man named Simeon, who begged to take the child into his arms. Overcome with joy he looked up to the heavens and declared that he could now leave this life in peace, having seen God’s promised salvation, so long awaited. Borrowing the words of the prophet, he then announced that the child would be a light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. Mary and Joseph were amazed in silence. Simeon announced blessing upon them and went on to say that their Child would be the rise and fall of many and a sign to be opposed.  Opposition to her child – how – from whom? Her present joy was suddenly mixed with dread.  Simeon also said that a sword would pierce even her very soul in days to come. She wanted only to take her child into her arms and cherish the comfort of holding him near. What she did not understand must be committed trustingly to the loving God she knew. (Luke 2:21-35).

Thirty-three years later Mary stood distantly from the cross of crucifixion where she had been watching her son slowly die for hours. He was not recognizable from the torture he had been through, the blood loss and dehydration. The Roman soldiers had mounted a sign on the cross that read “Jesus the Nazarene-The King of the Jews” – was this his coronation? Her thoughts were muddled, despairing, emotionally overwhelming and mostly of disbelief – full of the unspeakable pain of a mother watching her son – the promised king – die. When He spoke of thirst someone responded with a wine-soaked sponge reached up to his mouth. Her heart, now completely broken, seemed to be turning to fluid and pouring into every part of her body…and finally He died. He was dead and no longer in the unimaginable agony he had endured for hours. Could she now breathe without gasping?

Then a soldier pierced his side with a spear to ensure his death. It might as well have gone into her very own heart. She remembered again old Simeon and his prophecy. She was losing consciousness as John, to whom Jesus had committed her care, pulled her from this dark and terrible place. For now there was no understanding of how or why they had killed God’s Son – the perfect son – as a lamb without blemish. Only God could explain why He allowed His own Son to suffer so. Surely He would.  (John 19:17-35, 20-21 & I Peter 1:18-19)

While we remember the precious beauty and innocence of the baby Jesus, it is more important to remember the paradoxical beauty of the Lamb that was slain. Read Acts 1-4 for the “why.”  ~  DLA

…”Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

(Revelation 5:12)

November 2010: Thanksgivings

This is the month when most American families will gather around a table of bounty on Thanksgiving Day. Some will bow their heads to give thanks, some will take their turn in speaking of something for which they are thankful, and some will chow down into the feast of plenty with no thought of gratitude.

As a Christian I have frequently conflicting thoughts and emotions about the holidays. Who doesn’t enjoy festive foods, decorations and special times of family interaction?  We need special times and special celebrations in life as individuals and as families. We need them as a society as elements of common cohesiveness. As Christians, our concern should be in regarding the how and why of what we celebrate. But of all our major calendar holidays, Thanksgiving (to me) is the least controversial, and for various reasons, has the potential for being the best.

We are about six generations forward from the Great Depression and a previous culture in which bounty was not so common. No wonder then that we are now so prone to whine and complain in the midst of relative luxury. “The eye is never satisfied…” (Ecclesiastes 1:8)  As a whole, most of us don’t know how to be truly thankful on any day of the year. We can’t fully appreciate anything or anyone until we are without them. Even when we try to be more aware of even some of the most common yet wonderful things we should be thankful for (example: the vision to see God’s creativity displayed in His complex yet gloriously ordered prism-like hues of autumn leaves and light) we soon allow some negative thought to swallow our effort. 

The Scriptures don’t tell us to set aside a day to celebrate the birth of Christ, nor even His resurrection from death. We should celebrate these ‘unspeakable gift(s) [II Corinthians 9:15] every day through our thoughts, words and deeds.  The celebration of Christmas and Easter are Christian liberties (to be celebrated [or not] as would be pleasing and acceptable to God and in accordance with one’s Biblically grounded convictions). But the Scriptures are full of commandments and admonitions to be thankful and full of praise to the One who is the source of every good thing. A good place to begin:  Consider the ground which nurtures the lilies as well as much of our food. Then let our thoughts of thankfulness slowly rise to the stars as a reminder that every day should be a thanksgiving day. (Luke 6:35)  ~  DLA

A few relative Scripture references:  Psalm 26:6-7, 50:14, 95:2, 100:4, 147: 7-11, II Corinthians 9: 14-15, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2, & Revelation 7: 12   

October 2010: Accepting the Inevitable

They come and they go as the clouds pass over on a windy day. The days of our short lives are ticking away as the grandfather clock in my living room – a constant reminder that our days on this earth are truly as a vapor, rising and disappearing.

Only yesterday I was young, twenty-something. Someone warned me that I had no clue of how quickly my youth would be a thing of the past. I considered it to be mostly the voice of disappointment from someone who had many regrets. I would choose wisely how to spend my days without a lot of regret. After all, God had blessed me to know Him in my heart at a young age, and had drawn me to the Scriptures for how to live my time on earth. I would relish the days given me and squeeze every drop of nectar from each one. But even then the nectar was sometimes tainted by the bitter taste of words from my own mouth and other pesky sin problems, as when the little foxes ruin the vineyard.

A positive perspective became more difficult to maintain as various troubles came. Try as I might to avoid all the bumps and pits in the road, my feet grew weary and sometimes bogged with gooey clay. God would graciously lift my feet from the bog and set me on a straight path once again. But alas, clay feet seem to naturally meander into the sticky places, and we inevitably have to make the time to have them scraped and cleaned. (Lord Jesus, not my feet only but all of my being). Those wiser choices in life are not always as easy to recognize as we sometimes assume.

One day when I awoke I was not young anymore. My previous life seemed to have passed like a night’s dream. The mirror showed me that the sparkle of youth had gone and that those telling fine lines had come in spite of all the SPF I had slathered on. More sobering, I had become one of those ‘older’ people who are always so full of advice.

With the realization that life is indeed fleeting, slowly there came a settled acceptance that my stay here is very temporary. My presence here is altogether transient and my contemplation of the end of it is not nearly as dreadful as it once was. The ‘laying aside of my earthly dwelling’ might be imminent or a relatively few years down the road, but my comfort lies in knowing that the true Christian has a hope that shines ever brighter – to leave the stress of a sin-cursed world, to be in Christ’s presence and freed from this body which is so prone to sin, sickness and weariness. The best we can hope for is not to die in our sleep, but to die in Him. “For me to live is Christ…to die is gain…to be with Christ… which is far better.” THIS IS HOPE.  ~ (Psa. 90, James 1:9-12, Phil. 1:20-23, II Cor. 5:1-8)    DLA