The angels' joyful announcement was worthy of
a Heavenly King.
But how do we celebrate His majesty?
The world’s preparation for Christmas shuts Him
out. Jesus, our Lord -- the long-awaited Messiah --simply doesn’t fit today's
vision of pluralism. That's why signs and symbols of the celebration bearing His name have
been censored from schools and public places from coast to coast.1
Never mind that He created the universe
and has each future day written in His book.2 Or that He alone
can fulfill our longing for genuine peace and lasting joy. His guidelines
offend the world. Unless its masses can
re-imagine a god more like
themselves [Ps
50:21],
they resent His name. His holiness violates their comfort zone, so they hide
from Him (like Adam and Eve), deny His existence, or fill their days with
shallow distractions and alternatives.
Meanwhile, many
of us are too busy planning His party
to seek His will or grieve His absence.
The
King whose birth we celebrate may be sad, but He’s never surprised.
John 2:24
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 spirituality: all religions are
equally good -- except Biblical Christianity. It is too narrow to be tolerated
in this new millennium. The envisioned "Culture of Peace"
won’t make room for God's "divisive" Biblical values. Faith in His unchanging truths
clashes with the global standard for
mental
health.
And at the
forefront of this cultural transformation stand countless compromising churches that
teach a cross-less and Christ-less distortion of Christianity.
No
wonder embarrassed theologians joined the public outcry two years ago when
several presidential candidates dared to name Jesus in public.3
To offended "Christian" leaders, evasion and lies would have
been more tolerable than Biblical 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.
For 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 God, to those who believe
in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
John 1:10-13
Human nature doesn’t change with time, nor does the spiritual
battle that still rages against Jesus Christ, His Word, and His followers.
Churches still conform to the culture, and statistics tell us they do so quite consistently.
For
the most part, the world will tolerate 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
alternatives to Christmas. While Kwanza,
Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice may have replaced Christmas programs
in public schools and homes, they alone wouldn’t weaken the Church.
Just look at China. Where true believers face the greatest
challenges to their faith and families, they demonstrate a growth in faith and
perseverance (as well as in numbers) that puts the American church to shame.
Luke 6:22
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 unholy roots may contribute to the spiritual complacency, the real crisis
is more personal.
Our
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
we, His people, turn worship into self-indulgence
-- or
pretend to please Him while we serve 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, His humility prompts us to give Him our lives,
surrender to His will, endure persecution and fix our hope on
eternity.
Peter didn’t understand
such single-minded love. 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)
These
pilgrims were willing to risk their own lives to make the long, dangerous
journey, and the gifts they brought were chosen with care. 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
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. The best they kept 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 the shame of an 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
God
chose Mary, for He knew her heart. He saw that she was willing to to do whatever
He 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:
"...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 is summarized in 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.
"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 his parents and 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 today and this
Christmas?
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.
