A 2020 Christmas

 It's almost Christmas AND we've almost finished 2020!  We're pretty excited about both of these occurrences.  This month we have the joy of saying hello to an amazing BIRTH celebration as well as saying goodbye to an amazingly strange, difficult, socially distanced, separated, disease-filled year.  But we find that even as we now anticipate the joy of Christmas, we need to find meaning in the lessons of 2020 for we're convinced they are numerous.

The two liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent have both similarities and differences.  They are different in that they bookend the life of the historical Jesus with two very different events: his birth and death

And Advent is usually seen as a time of “preparation,” while Lent is experienced as a time of “penance.”

Yet, they are similar in their invitation to make a retreat…to go inward…to reflect…to contemplate…and, perhaps, to be renewed.

The text that we chose for this Advent experience is neither new, nor is it “Christmasy”.  In fact, it’s over 25 years old and is not a nativity narrative, but a post-resurrection story: the account of two people walking to Emmaus after crucifixion of Jesus.  The book we are studying is entitled, With Burning Hearts.  And Nouwen suggests that we can embody a recurring five-step pattern in our daily lives…

· Acknowledging our suffering and losses
· Being attentive to God’s presence in our story 
· Affirming our belief
· Intimacy
· Taking action

Nouwen writes about the familiar story of two men on a journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  This story occurs just after Jesus has been hung on the cross, died, and was buried.  Women have gone to the Jesus' tomb but have found it empty.  These two travelers were men who had great hope in the new teacher but alas are now confused, sad, depressed that he has been killed.  The men were experiencing dashed hopes and dreams.  Their expectations for the year had been rudely ripped away from them.  Nothing was what they expected.  They were downcast looking for reason and trying to make sense of all that had occurred.  Luke 24:13-23

Does this sound familiar to you?  It seems very similar to our 2020.  We've been surprised, disappointed, and perplexed with next days.  We might say we've been confused and trying to sort it all out.

Let's also remember the story of Mary and Joseph and the unexpected pregnancy they experienced!  Do you think life as they expected was interuppted?  Were they shocked?  Were their parents disappointed and did they experience a life change, a new way of life?  Could their year have been ANY worse?  They had no eyes to see the future. Certainly, they had tears, questions, and confusion.  Again, just like us in 2020.

There are three things we can learn from these stories:

1. God was with them.  He walked right beside them and listened to all they needed to say.

2. God encouraged them to express their mourning for the life they expected and lost and, in that pain, they begin to SEE with new eyes.  Once they voiced their pain they were able to see God's hand in their lives.
3.  Faith won the day.  They each took steps of faith.  Faith that believes even when it cannot see.

Today, we have the same assurance.  He is with us.  He has never left our side.  He knows the pain of 2020 and he encourages us to voice the mourning of what we lost this year.  And somehow, in that awakening to our losses, our recognition that we need a healing God, we actually begin the process of being renewed.  It's a way of living called Faith.  Faith in who God says He is: the beginning and the end, the Savior of the world, the Hope, the One who loves unconditionally.

Let's join the these fellow travelers and recognize that God is with us.  Let's express our sorrow for the year and give Him all that pain.  And then, express Faith that He indeed is our Savior and He is coming!

Kathy and Scott

Can We Open our Presents Yet?

THIS is the time of the Christmas season that as a young girl I begin to moan..."Can we open our presents?  Please, just one?"  My parents denied this request over and over again until Christmas Eve. Their rule was that we could open only one gift on Christmas Eve; and unfortunately Mama got to decide which gift!!  As I child I hated this rule as I wanted to decide which gift I would open!  I think my children felt the same way as we continued the same tradition...and still do!

Over 35 years ago, on Christmas Eve I was cooking special bread for friends.  I had been cooking all day long.  I was making cream cheese braids and it was a process of mixing, rising, filling, baking, waiting and then drizzling icing.  I was bone tired as we had prepared over 30 loaves of bread that day.   I had on my soiled apron, my face was flour-tinged, my hair was falling out of my pony tail, I had no makeup on and was ready to collapse.  It was around 6 p.m. when my boyfriend, who had helped me all day, told me that I could open one present on Christmas Eve.  Suddenly, I wasn't so tired any longer.

We entered his little den where a small Christmas tree waited with a few gifts underneath.  There was this very small ring-shaped box that I wanted to open!  As I looked at Ray with hopeful eyes, he simply shook his head and handed me another thin, shirt-sized box to open.  Again, I was denied what I wanted.  I took the gift Ray handed me and with hidden disappointment I began to unwrap the gift.  My mind was filled with thoughts of the years I had longed for a ring from this man; the one I loved and hoped to marry.  But, it was not to be on this night.  Chin up, I thought!  You must act pleased.  I unwrapped the box to find long white gloves...the type my mother wore in church in the 1950's.  I was stunned and really had no great exclamations of excitement.  "Oh, how nice I stumbled."  Ray, not to be deterred, hardly noticed.  He encouraged me to try them on so I slipped the right glove on..."it's pretty," I stammered.  Upon Ray's urging I continued to the other glove.  As I slipped it on my hand I felt something in the finger of the left hand.  What??? As I hurriedly removed the glove, there lay a perfect diamond ring.  As I looked at Ray, he simply said, "Will you?"

My heart hammered in my chest and burned with love for him, our future, the love he offered me.  The gift I wanted to open was not the one that was best for me that night.

This Christmas, we will be receiving many gifts from those we love but there is ONE gift that is the very best for you and me.  It's the One we must open to receive all the love offered.  His gift for us awaits us.  Let's not let the ONE gift lie unopened on Christmas morning.  For that's the nature of gifts, we must open them up and receive them.  Surely our hearts will hammer and burn like never before.  This gift of love is like no other.

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.  They asked each other, "Were not our hears burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"  Luke 24:31

'Twas the Night Before

Mary and Joseph entered a tiny village with no where to bed;

She was very pregnant and perhaps he was filled with dread.

For where would they stay?

This blessed couple on whom the Christ child lay.

They were rejected by hotel and inn; 
but had knowledge that new life was about to begin.

Surrounded by the cold, the hay, the animals, the smell; 

But grateful the day had ended; e're not so well.

The stirrings began and soon came the One;

Who knew what had truly now begun?

Miles away the rough shepherds, like me and you; 

Looked to the sky and were startled anew.

But once they saw, once they heard;

There was no question that life would forever be altered.

They followed the love, they followed the call, they followed what their hearts could see.

He had come.  Finally, finally He had come.  No more hollow hearts, no more tears, no more striving to be more, finally freedom to be, to be who He created me to be.

Where do I find myself this week, this week before the birth?  Am I struggling to find rest?  Am I harried with the cold, dread of what lies ahead...the errands, the cooking, the company, the craziness we call Christmas.  Can I pull away and find the stillness that Mary and Joseph found in the birth place of Jesus?  Can I pull away and find myself as a shepherd in the quietness of a hillside?  For that is where the Glory will appear in this week before.  Choose for yourself today and break away to the quietness of the Christ.  He is coming.

The Fore Telling

We are a people who like to know what's coming next!  As a young girl, I loved going to the State Fair in Jackson, Mississippi.  Foolishly, my girlfriends and I always wanted to visit the palm reader.  We were in middle school wanting to know what was coming next.  Will I find a boyfriend who will like an overweight girl with freckles?  Will I go to college? Will I marry?  Will I have kids?  The palm reader would read our palms and all the answers seemed amazingly similar for each of us but we somehow didn't notice.  For she was telling us what we wanted to hear.  So, we happily paid our few coins and anticipated our futures!

Much more significantly, God also fore told some great news about our lives.  The Christmas season offers us a joyful type of fore telling....Christmas is coming!  Get ready!  Only 17 shopping days left!  Children are anticipating, excited for Christmas morning.  We know what's coming and we anticipate!  But isn't the fore telling pointing to more than gifts, food, lights and ribbon?

Recently, a Chinese friend experiencing Christmas for the first time asked me, "Ms. Kathy, if Jesus was born so many years ago, why do you still anticipate his birth?  I mean wasn't he already born?  Shouldn't people just have a birthday party for him?  It seems like such a big celebration for a simple birth."

What am I anticipating this Christmas, I pondered?  Yes, it was a simple birth but the birth of a complex Baby.  Let's remember that for generations and generations people had been anticipating a Savior King, waiting and watching for His arrival. For a Savior would save them from their difficult lives, they're persecution, the hard times of life.  Two thousand years later, it seems we too anticipate such a savior.  Our worlds sound similar, don't you think?  People are looking for someone to remedy their pain, someone to fill the void.  And this simple baby, complex King came then, comes today, will come this Christmas.

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  For no word from God will ever fail.”  Luke 1:30-32, 34-36, 37

Mary received news that she could have never expected.  How could such a fore telling have been expected?  The news was too unreal to comprehend or understand.  And even today, when we hear that Christmas is coming perhaps we too hesitate to truly comprehend the news.  Perhaps we get stuck in the to do list of the season.  Maybe the news of Jesus' birth is taken-for-granted so that it's not even Good News to us but just OK news (Mike Yaconelli).  

What is the big deal, she asked?  He was already born, right?  My answer to the student was, "Yes, He has come, He is coming and He will come again.  The greatest gift of life is coming to find me and you.  He didn't wait for us to find Him; He comes today, tomorrow and yesterday to meet us".  That's the big deal.  That is the fore telling of the Savior.  Anticipate this wonderful, incredible miraculous fore telling of the Savior.  He wrote your story on His hands.  He wrote His story on our hands.

Get Ready!

Some dear friends of ours are expecting.  They're expecting their first puppy!  This pup will be the first "baby" for these friends.  One of these friends has been hoping and praying for this gift, while the other was initially more hesitant but has now come to fully embrace the idea.  Their joy is palpable.  We've seen pictures of the family, heard stories about the naming, learned about house preparation.  And what we see in their faces is pure, delightful JOY.

A new world is about to open to them.  And for those of us who have walked this road ahead of them we know puppy-life is so very sweet...and so very, well..."puppilicious".  It's a world filled with exuberance, excitement, confusion, difficulties, crying (only from the pup) but forever love.  The shoes you love...gone.  Grandmother's hand-made quilt...in tatters.  Newly planted flowers...goodbye.
And yes, we'd all have a puppy again and again.  For there is nothing quite like that new, precious pup.  He forever changes your life.  Our friends are preparing to receive this new love.

It's time for us to prepare too.  For we are approaching a new love ourselves.  A birth that often gets lost in the preparation.  In these next few weeks, we will be preparing many things for many people in our lives.  My question is, are we preparing ourselves? Will we give ourselves this gift of preparation?  Just like my puppy-minded friends, we too, can excitedly be mindful of the gift that lies ahead.

Our Gift will be a gift of great value.  It will be a gift that we hardly understand or fully comprehend.  It will be a gift for this December and a gift of forever.  It will be a life-changing gift.
The worries in my life...He will resolve.
The pain of my past...He will heal.
The questions of tomorrow...He will lead.
The joys in my life...He will expand and renew.
The people I grieve over...He comes as a gift for them too.

How is it that our God is here today, yet coming tomorrow, and furthermore, coming in the future?  These are traits to be celebrated and anticipated and prepared to receive.  Mary prepared for His birth. John the Baptist, cried out, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord'.  Luke 3:4 encourages us,

"As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

    make straight paths for him.. "

How do we prepare the way for the Lord?  How do we make the paths of our heart straight for him?
Let's be aware.
Let's be thoughtful in anticipation.
Let's be exuberant about the gift.
Let's rejoice in the change He brings, the wildly exciting experience and the joy of a Savior.
Let's look forward to our lives forever changing.

Help, Who Needs A Savior?

Our precious grandson, Owen visited recently and I have so many memories stored in my heart.  I remember the days we made crafts, made pie crusts and Christmas cookies.  I remember his little feet pattering throughout my house.  I remember his little questions.  I especially remember words he spoke...love you, PapaRay, Kaki...and one more, help.  As he would try to unlock or unwrap or open something, after the struggle he would say...help, help.  And we would jump in to help.  How could we resist such preciousness!

This simple word reminded me of my childlike needs and my cries for help. "Mama, help me iron, Mama, can you sew on this button?, Mama, help me cook, Mama, help me get to school, Mama, help me understand my new baby, Mama, just help me."

Children have no reluctance in asking for help.  In their lives, they have come to understand that they need a helper, a hero...someone to come along beside them to lend a hand, lend a direction, offer a way.  They need a savior.

Do we grow out of this need?  Do you still need a helper or a Savior?  Have you ever wondered why people in the Bible were so intent on looking for a Savior?  In story after story, we find people wondering about a Savior and actively looking for a Savior.  Am I still seeking a Savior?  Do I still cry, help!  Or have I figured it all out?

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  Luke 2:8-11

What is a Savior?  What does a Savior provide?  Webster offers this definition: one that saves from danger or destruction; one who brings salvation. The synonyms are: deliverer, redeemer, rescuer.  If people were looking for a Savior 2000 years ago then surely, we must be looking as well.  I mean, the state of our world is dying for a deliverer, isn't it?  Is that too global a thought?

Ok, then let's put ourselves in this shepherd's role above.  Here was a guy simply doing his job, waiting for his shift to end.  He was probably worried about all matter of things: providing for his family, finances at tax season, maybe he had some health issue...I mean, he was a real guy.  Just like me and you.  Real people who need some help!  We need help because life is real and hard.

Let's make Christmas real for us today.  Let's apply Christmas to our real lives. What are the cares and concerns in your mind and heart?  What do you think about as you're trying to find sleep?  As you lie in bed and your thoughts bombard you?  What can the Savior help you with today?  Your future, your worry, your family problems, your own lost-ness, your need to fit in, to perform well, to please your family...to succeed.

Our own need for help, is the same today as 2000 years ago.  But I'm afraid we've stopped looking for a Savior.  I'm afraid I hide my need to say, help.  It's so difficult to be that honest with myself and certainly with another human.

That's the beauty of children like Owen who so honestly and willingly ask for help.  The elderly ask for help too.  Five years ago, this Christmas Eve, my mama died.  I remember her last years of life.  They were filled with, "help me".  Help me dress, help me stand up, help this pain stop, help me understand my new world.

My mama's end of life taught me to look up.  Look up like the shepherd did.  Look up when things are hard and don't make sense and when you're in pain.  Look for the angel to appear.  Look to the heavens, the Savior has been born.  He was born 2000 years ago and he's born today.

Help...Savior Jesus!

The Static of December

True confession...my list of to-dos has become the boss of my days.  Nary a present is under my Christmas tree!  In fact, we just put up our Christmas tree this week and currently it stands barren!  My house is a wreck and people are coming.  I have so much on my mind I can hardly keep my mind on track.  My brain is like an old radio station that can't quite tune in...full of static and faint sounds of music.  I'm joyful in this season but there is just too much brain buzz going on.  To sit in silence and try to have a reflective thought is ridiculously hard.  I cannot hear anything but the static we call the holidays.  Can I please put on headphones to block it all out?  I really do want to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.  I want to hear the Good News of a Savior's birth.  I want to realize the significance of His birth in my life today.  I want to hear the Savior's voice.  I so want to tune my ears to the true sounds of Christmas.  Is this a new problem?  Or have generations encountered the static?  Did Mary and Joseph have trouble focusing on the birth of their son, the Son of God?

What was that night like in Bethlehem?  Were Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the townspeople hustling and bustling about?  Were they worried about paying taxes, family commitments, and to-do items?  What was Bethlehem like 2000 years ago?

I imagine that Bethlehem was dark in a way we've long forgotten.  Dark with no electricity, no lamps, no street lights.  And sound, there were no city sounds only natural sounds.  The low moo of a cow, the rustling and snorting of horses nearby, perhaps voices in the night.  It was quiet and dark as only a small rural town experiences.  Quiet.

Can we find the quiet of Christmas in these days leading up to the birth of Christ?  Is this birth important enough to us that we'll make an effort to tune out the static and find the quiet?  As I sit in my house right now it is quiet.  I hear the distant bark of a dog, the ding of my phone and the mummer of appliances.  But nothing else.  All is quiet as I strain to hear and wait.  I'm conscious of my breathing and the beating of my heart...And so much more.  In this quiet, I'm aware of His presence. I'm aware of His role in my consistently beating heart.  In this quiet, I...am...quiet and I ...am...aware of the birth of a Savior for me and you.

I encourage you to try this with me...give yourself 10 minutes today just to be still.  Maybe you need headphones.  Maybe you need a legal pad beside to write down all the thoughts that swirl through your mind; write down those to-dos but stay in the quiet place.  Your mind will eventually stop whirling.  And in the wait...His voice, His love will arrive.  I promise.

This time may be the best gift you could give yourself.  Do you hear what I hear?

Read the words below from two dear friends of mine.  They will tell you their own stories of waiting and hearing.

My name is Qian.  As a new believer, my Christian life is younger than two years, officially. However, I believe that God has been taking care of me for many years. Even before I clearly saw him, God had kept showing me his love through the breathtaking stars, the magnificent mountains and ocean, the warm smile and helping hands of families, friends, and strangers, and the beauty of science. I had felt the love for many years, and eventually, I found the source of the love.
When I was in Shanghai, Christmas meant Santa Claus and shopping, and I rarely related Christmas with Jesus Christ. A fundamental change happened in the winter of 2017. A friend took me to see a "Christmas Comes Alive" show. In that chilly and silver starry night, I saw the coming of Jesus Christ into this world. The scene of the born of Jesus in the barn was stunning, and it felt peaceful and hopeful --- it felt like a starting point of Human being’s hope and redemption.

------- 

 My name is Mia Zhang, I came from Wuhan, China. When I was in high school, for some reason I started searching for the god that I wanted to believe in. I read a lot about Buddhism, Christian and other religions. I bought my first Bible in a book store in China when I was 16. I believed that there is a god, higher power that is above all human power, a god who has answers to all the ultimate questions I’ve been ask myself like “who am I?” “Why I’m here?” “Where will I be after death?” .... But by then I was not sure who that god is. Then I came to the States five years ago and met a group of wonderful Christian people, from what they say and what they do, I learned more and more about Jesus. From there my spiritual journey begun, I kept going to church and Bible studies and finally was convinced that Jesus is my Savior. I became a Christ follower and got baptized two years ago, on my 30th birthday, with my baby daughter in my womb.

Jesus was born for a reason. He is The God, but unlike every other god (claimed in other religions), he was born not to be served, but to serve instead. How humble this God was to come to this world as a human baby, as fragile as every one of us was. How deeply must God love us to sacrifice his only son to be the ransom, as a mother I can only imagine... 

Before I came to the US and learned more about the truth of Christmas, I thought Christmas was nothing other than lights, Santa, gifts, eating and shopping, all about fulfill our desires and enjoy the happiness. Now I know it’s way much more than that, it’s not even only about us and our families, but about this whole world. History was cut in half ever since. BC became AD. Therefore, to some extent, the whole world today using this Gregorian calendar is in acknowledge of the truth of Jesus the Messiah had come, despite nations, races, religious beliefs. So, this Christmas I pray that we don’t get ourselves stuck in Christmas decorating and plans, but have our eyes on the enormous picture, to celebrate the birth of the Messiah in the name of all human beings and live in His Joy and Glory.