The Freemo Journals | Advent 2016 | Volume 2 issue 5 | the eyes of nativity
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THE EYES OF THE NATIVITY THE EYES OF THE NATIVITY CONT ENTS CONT
ENTSTHROUGH THEEYESOF THE NATIVITY 6 APART-TIME TRADITIONALIST45 11 AGRANDFATHER 77 INTRODUCTION 01 1 THECURIOUS03 CONCLUSION 99 7 AHUSBAND51 8 ANEMPATH 59 AN ARTIST 93 13 ANARTIST 9 ASTUDENT65 12 AHUMAN85 10 APASTOR 71 5 AZEALOT39 4 APARENT 33 2 ACHILD11 3 ATEEN23 INTRODUCTION
INTRO- DUCTION The front yard displayed one of the gaudiest Christmas spectacles I had ever seen. The tiny modular home was adorned with (but not limited to) an inflatable Mickey-Mouse- as-Santa, poorly fashioned plastic animals, gnomes, elves, gingerbread men, mechanical reindeer, a lighthouse (for some reason I still can’t figure out), a large University of Michigan flag, and a traditional crèche. A casual guess would put the number of odd décor ornaments and holiday treasures somewhere around a bazillion.
The mechanical reindeer were made out of a stick framework and full of white twinkle lights. They moved their heads up and down around the manger. “What do you think the reindeer are doing?” I asked my granddaughter, Clara. I would have accepted any number of potentially correct answers, although I think they may have been arranged to look as if they were bowing their heads and worshipping the baby Jesus. “Pooping,” was Clara’s answer.
I don’t know how she arrived at that answer from the mere motion of their mechanical heads, but I got a good laugh anyway. And it made me think, “You know, that’s exactly what the animals would have been doing around the manger.” But, we don’t really tell those stories. We leave those details out.
1 INTRODUCTION
For many, the nativity is clean. Bright. Colorful.
Plastic.
If you are a Jesus follower, it’s easy to fall in the trap of telling the Christmas narrative with the enthusiasm of someone reciting, Hickory Dickory Dock. The degree of dullness with which we deliver the goods is often directly proportional to the years we have heard and/or told the story. If you are not a Jesus follower and you’ve heard the story from some of us lackluster old-timers, I’m sorry.
I’ve come in contact with the nativity many times throughout different stages in my life and each stage has taught me something new—something that de-plasticizes and animates the nativity. I will be your tour guide through much of that journey. My prayer is that you take note of your own experience and stories as we take this trip together.
There are stories we’ve simply heard and then there are stories that change us. There are stories we casually enjoy and then there are stories that compel us and propel us to act. This book has 13 chapters about the nativity. Each one looks at the nativity through different eyes—different stages of life—different responsibilities and roles. I pray the nativity changes us and propels us to follow Jesus with great confidence and surety that he has aspecial and unique role for us to play. I pray the nativity changes us and propels us to follow Jesus confidently— not as if he were far away and we’re tracking his footsteps hoping to find him because we think he may have been here before, but rather because we know him and see him as Immanuel—God with us.
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THE CURIOUS After Jesus was born As I write this book, I’m sitting in a coffee shop. There in Bethlehem1 in Judea, is a couple sitting next to me talking about the kinds during the time of King of things churched people talk about. Men’s groups. Herod, Magi from the Women’s groups. Bible studies. Some guy’s wife at east came to Jerusalem church that she thinks is super nice. What they like and asked, ‘Where is and don’t like about their church. I’m not trying to the one who has been eavesdrop. They are right next to me. born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it She just asked me what I’m writing. rose and have come to worship him.’ “It’s about the Nativity,” I told her. “The nativity? Who’s the audience?” she asked me with a quizzical and Matthew 2:1-2 NIV confused look. I told her the book will be written mostly to an audience of Jesus followers but I would love if someone who doesn’t know Jesus finds it interesting enough to pick it up and ask questions. I told her, “I want to view the nativity through the lens of different life stages—childhood, the teens, as a parent, grandfather, and—for me—from the perspective of a pastor.” “I had no idea there was enough information to write about the nativity,” she said. “Christians will actually read that?” (Since tone is lost in the written language, let me assure you she wasn’t being snarky).
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I get it. I’m not offended. I understand her response.
She’s not ignorant. She’s interested.
She’s curious.
And, that’s refreshing.
In my experience, many who have been saturated in church culture usually fall into one of three extreme camps:
Camp 1: Those who berate the nativity for the historical and biblical inaccuracies and contradictions in relation to the story that has been handed down to us (e.g. “Was Jesus really born in December?” “Weren’t there potentially more than three Wise Men?”)
Camp 2: Those who accept the traditional nativity for what it is—even with the inconsistencies—but unapologetically ignore it, finding it unnecessary to their own experience.
Camp 3: Those who venerate the nativity, think they know everything there is to know about it, uphold the liturgical calendar and think everyone who doesn’t observe Advent has a deep spiritual deficit, and sometimes treat the non-enlightened with a bit of contempt.
I have been in at least two of these camps and a few places in between at different points of my life. Of course there are other stopovers along the what-about-the- nativity continuum—it’s not simply these three extremes. Some are genuinely curious and motivated by the potential of having answers to the anonymities surrounding the nativity. Many have enthusiastically questioned the popular extra- biblical details of the Christmas story that have been handed down to them as encapsulated in the popular crèche they see in their neighbor’s yards or in front of the church down the street—in order to understand Jesus more deeply.
I’d like to discuss a bit of my nativity excursion with you. I’d love it if you would indulge me for the sake of conversation. Perhaps we’ll find some things to talk about and grapple with.
CONSIDER Do you fall into one of these extreme camps above? If you aren’t THIS: quite sure, ask someone you love and trust if they think you do.
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The word nativity comes from the Italian nasci, which literally means, “to be born.” According to Merriam-Webster the word has many siblings and cousins in the English language including, “cognate,” “innate,” “native” “nascent” and “renaissance.”
Word geeks might get a little excited thinking about what all these related words mean for the nativity and, more specifically, the Incarnation. We’ll explore some of these a bit later.
When the word nativity is used in this book, it will refer to Jesus’ birth, the time and situation of Jesus’ birth, the popular nativity scene or crèche, and the Christmas story in general. I’ll strive to give you good context when I toss the word around.
In response to some of the historical accuracy questions...
Some of the most popular questions surrounding the nativity are in relation to the mysterious “three” Wise Men we read about in the first twelve verses of Matthew Chapter 2 (NIV).
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place
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where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
The above passage is from Matthew. You can also read the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2. Take some time and read both CONSIDER passages a few times. Imagine you are making a movie of the THIS: nativity. What details would you choose to highlight? Is there anything you would feel okay about leaving out? Who would you choose to play Joseph? Mary?
Numerous books, articles, journal entries have written about these mysterious men and any semi-diligent Google search will provide a wealth of information for the curious. Who were they, exactly? Were there only three? What were those gifts all about?
As reported by Simo Parpola, a Finnish Assyriologist specializing in the Neo- Assyrian Empire and Professor emeritus of Assyriology at the University of Helsinki in an article entitled, The Magi and the Star: Babylonian Astronomy Dates Jesus’ Birth, their rumored number of three originated from the three distinct gifts mentioned in Matthew 2:11. In the oldest of Rome’s underground burial networks—the Catacombs of Domitilla—there is a painting on the wall that shows four magi, another catacomb shows only two. Some Syrian documents name twelve.
. . . An Armenian infancy gospel from about 500 lists them as Melkon, King of Persia; Gaspar, King of India; and Baldassar, King of Arabia—and is thus closest to the Melchior, Caspar (or Gaspar) and Balthassar of the Medieval Latin church. As this Armenian infancy gospel indicates, the “magi,” a Greek term that might be taken as “sages” or “astrologers” (perhaps even “priests”), had come to be identified with royalty. In 490, the Byzantine emperor Zeno claimed to discover the remains of these “kings” somewhere in Persia and brought them to Constantinople . . .Today, they reside in Cologne, in a magnificent reliquary shrine built for them in the late 12th century. There they are known to pilgrims and tourists as the “Three Kings of Cologne.”
Parpola, Simo. The Story of Jesus’ Birth in History and Tradition. Washington, DC. Biblical Archeology Society, 2009.
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A few years back, I stumbled upon a New York Times Bestseller by German author, theologian, and university professor, Joseph Ratzinger (aka Pope Benedict XVI). In my church experience as a young man I was taught to stay away from the Catholics.
In my early childhood however, the influence of my Catholic grandmother and her attraction to religious icons and ornaments surrounding the Jesus story are my first vivid memories of my own Jesus pursuit.
Pope Benedict XVI’s book is a historically rich and engaging account entitled, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives. The book fills in some other gaps for us in the traditional nativity scene through some clues in the Old Testament. Here we read:
...[Traditionally] the magi story was read in conjunction with Psalm 72:10 and Isaiah 60. Hence, the wise men from the East became kings, and with them camels and dromedaries were added to the crib...[The wise men] represent the journeying of humanity toward Christ. They initiate a procession that continues throughout history.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives. Image Books, 2012. 96-97.
Have your views on the nativity been shaped by other traditions? CONSIDER How so? Do you embrace perspectives from other Christian THIS: traditions or do they make you feel uncomfortable?
As far as anyone can tell, the first living nativity ever created was by St. Francis of Assisi in the year 1223. According to St. Bonaventure in his biography, The Life of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis set up a manger in the Italian village of Grecio. He set up the “living crib” for the people to come celebrate the “babe of Bethlehem” as Francis referred to him—completely overtaken with emotion and unable to speak the name of Jesus out loud. Bonaventure described the scene as incredibly emotional and worshipful with participants singing out songs that rang through the forest amidst a festival of lights.
St. Francis included live animals in his nativity—not simply because he is the patron saint of animals. He used an “ox and ass” perhaps prompted by the reference in Isaiah 1:3 (much like the extrapolation of Psalm 72 and Isaiah 60 mentioned by Ratzinger above) that is often thought to refer to the animals present at the time of Jesus’ birth and a fulfillment of prophecy (Bonaventure, 86).
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“The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
I hope my curiosity with the nativity is never satisfied. Yours either. These stories, historical turns, biblical examinations, and observations contained herein are designed to provoke our curiosity. Every time a child puts on a bathrobe and poorly recites a line from his or her Christmas play, I hope we all enthusiastically smile and giggle like we’re supposed to, but we also never simply reduce the story to frivolity and pageantry or allow it to become stale and stagnant. God is always doing something new. Even with ancient stories.
One more thing: This book is not necessarily a theological book—at least, not the kind of theological pedagogy that includes scholarly discipline and annotated bibliographies. However, it’s theological in the down-to-earth way we loosely use the word to describe talk about God and how we might live our lives as followers of Jesus. This book is mostly full of stories I am hoping will make you smile, scratch your head, and start curious conversations.
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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
1. In the beginning of this chapter, I mentioned those who have been saturated in church culture usually fall into one of three extreme camps in regard to how they approach the nativity. Go back and read those. Do you fall into one of these extreme camps? If you aren’t quite sure, ask someone you love and trust if they think you do.
2. Have your views on the nativity been shaped by other traditions? How so? Do you embrace perspectives from other Christian traditions or do they make you feel uncomfortable?
3. Take some time and read both Matthew and Luke’s account of the nativity a few times. Imagine you are making a movie of the nativity. What details would you choose to highlight?
4. Is there anything you would feel okay about leaving out?
5. Who would you choose to play Joseph? Mary?
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10 CHAPTER 2
A CHILD And he said: “Truly I tell I dare anyone to find a more potent image than that you, unless2 you change of the nativity to tell the story of Christian spirituality and become like little to a child. One could understandably and convincingly children, you will never argue the crucifixion is a more potent and compelling enter the kingdom of picture but the execution began with incarnation. heaven.” Children, filled with the wonder and expectation inherent in the biblical Christmas story, are primed and Matthew 18:3, NIV ready to hear stories of sacrifice, identity, awe, worship, seeking, wonder, holiness, reverence, and humility that are necessary ingredients of life with Jesus and portals to the overarching narrative of God’s pursuit of His people.
The nativity provokes questions in children that open doors for the story of Jesus. Regardless of the historical and biblical challenges with the accuracy of what is currently accepted as a traditional nativity, the nativity is useful. The nativity is magical for a child. After all, at the center of it all is . . . a child.
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Put your kid goggles on. What do you want to know about the nativity? Here are some questions my own children asked me over the years and some I asked of the nativity myself as a child: Why are they all smiling? Where are these Wise Men from? Why CONSIDER are they considered wise? Were they all white? What gifts are THIS: they carrying? Why do they say this baby is God? Why are they in a barn? Where’s the animal poop? Was Jesus really quiet or was he a normal baby? Where was the rest of their family? Did Jesus know he was God when he was born?
These aren’t just kid questions. Pursuit of these answers may change you. The nativity is a brilliant place to start an expedition of unlocking mysteries surrounding Jesus and grappling with what it means to follow him. As the bumper sticker says, “Wise men (and women) still seek him.”
My first contemplation of the nativity—at least that I can remember—was when I was about 6 years old. I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, but I often visited my grandmother who was kinda Catholic. She was Catholic in the way that all our huge Italian family on Grandma’s side was Catholic—icons, crucifixes, the sign of the cross, and a healthy dose of guilt were as prevalent in their homes as the stench of cheap cologne, yelling insults in Italian, spaghetti dinners, and gossip about other family members.
Grandma was the first person to teach me how to pray. We would recite bedtime prayers like Hail Mary and the Our Father (without the ending doxology that comes from 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 regarding His kingdom, power, and glory). Every once in awhile, we would pray with our hands on a Bible or Grandma would bring out what I called the picture Bible. The picture Bible was—as far as I can tell based on my failing memory—a catechism book Grandma used as a child. The book was soft, small, leather bound, smelled like cigarettes and was complete with Italian Renaissance paintings of the life of Jesus.
Years later as a young man in my twenties I had the opportunity to travel to Italy to play music for American military youth stationed overseas. While there, I visited countless museums and looked at the paintings in reverence and wonder through the eyes of a younger me that saw many of these kinds of pictures once upon a time while praying with Grandma. I found myself standing in front of many of these paintings and crying.
Grandma’s picture Bible changed my life. The memories of this book often flood my mind and greet me like an old friend. I couldn’t read it enough to comprehend
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it at the time, but the pictures told me a story that would fuel my innocent and unguided pursuit for years to come that played no small part in leading me to the Jesus I follow and serve.
If you are a parent raising young children, do not underestimate the power of images in shaping your child’s worldview. And, for that matter, don’t underestimate their power in shaping your own view of the world around you. Close your eyes and go through your mind’s photo album full of images of 9/11, the statue of Saddam Hussein toppling in Firdos Square in Baghdad, and flags of the Third Reich, and just try to not feel something.
The story of the nativity is one that is necessarily picturesque.
One of the images from the picture Bible that stands out in my mind is the picture I would now refer to as a nativity painting. Back then I didn’t know what to call it. A woman and a man I presumed to be her husband stood around a baby lying in a little box full of hay. Animals were present as well. An angel who reminded me of my aunt Diane hovered above them. There were glowing orbs around their heads—or, at least some of them. I remember asking Grandma about the orbs (halos). She told me it was because they were holy. I didn’t know what that meant, but I knew enough to know that meant they were different than me.
What religious icons or imagery are emotive for you? Do any CONSIDER objects or pictures make you want to respond to Jesus and THIS: worship?
At Christmastime each year, I would see a reasonable facsimile of the picture Bible nativity show up at Grandma’s house. Ceramic figurines of the holy family were placed with care on top of the most popular altar of Grandma’s house—the console television where we’d gather to watch shows like Hee-Haw, The Lawrence Welk Show, or Barney Miller. I would sometimes take the figurines out of the nativity and Grandma would let me hold them. She would tell me to be careful not to break them, and while I never remember dropping one, I distinctly remember them having missing parts (an arm, a donkey’s ear), cracks, and globbed-up rubber cement where repairs had been made.
Other memorable traditional Christmas decorations at Grandma’s house included two different collections of three Wise Men. One collection was very colorful—a ceramic collection from the 1950’s. The men were dressed in bright white, green, blue, and gold. Two of them had darker skin in graduating shades. One reminded
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me of a picture I had seen of Richie Havens at Woodstock, and the other had a face that was cast very poorly and indistinct like the popular Aunt Jemima Syrup bottle of the times. The remaining wise man was very white and looked like a cross between the king on a pack of playing cards and King Friday of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
The other collection of Wise Men was made of fabric, or at least their framework was covered in fabric. Grandma was super creative. She was always going to some art class to learn how to paint, sew, or macramé and would often take me to these classes with her. As such, she would often make new clothes for the Wise Men or glue various accoutrements to them. The newly adorned Wise Men would often end up as a centerpiece on the dinner table. Since it was my job to set the table at dinnertime, I would come in contact with the Wise Men often. Each time I placed the Wise Men back on the table after dinner I would take special care to arrange them in different positions than they were in the previous time.
One year, my uncle Eddie (Grandpa’s brother) hid the ceramic baby Jesus somewhere and made my Grandma nervous (Yes, I have an actual uncle Eddie who was freakishly a lot like Randy Quaid’s character of the same name in National Lampoon’s Vacation, but not funny). Uncle Eddie literally and figuratively was in the habit of stealing Jesus from Christmas. He had a penchant for drinking, urinating in places he shouldn’t, and pranks. Uncle Eddie often told us the statues and figurines around the house talked to him. He saw the lawn gnomes running around the yard one day and told us the story in vivid detail. This scared Grandma, and Uncle Eddie was no longer allowed to spend the night in the house.
I secretly hoped the baby Jesus was talking to him. Telling him to stop the madness. Telling him it would be okay. There’s something about Jesus that makes us sinners want to hide him, ignore him, and keep him silent. That’s typically how it is with all our broken relationships—it’s easier to dissolve than resolve. In Uncle Eddie’s case, Jesus spoke about Eddie’s secrets—maybe not audibly, but in a very real way.
Both groups of Wise Men, the small ceramic nativity, and the pictures of the nativity in the picture Bible, informed my entire childhood theology of the Christmas story. While I longed to take a trip to JC Penney to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him everything I wanted for Christmas, I knew there was something more to the story. The pictures and the figurines were animated in my mind as I tried to put the pieces together.
Jesus was talking.
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God can talk through anything He pleases. He surprised many in the Biblical narrative by speaking to them in unconventional CONSIDER ways. He talked through animals (to Balaam), burning bushes (to THIS: Moses), and angels (to Mary and Joseph among others). Just for fun, if God were to surprise you and speak an audible message to you today, what (or who) do you think He’d speak through?
Don’t let my story about Grandma polish my renaissance halo in your mind. The nativity and the story surrounding it also recalls for me some childishly humorous, embarrassing, and regretful moments.
In the year of the American Bicentennial, I was part of my school’s Christmas musical. It was an interesting mix of music, now that I think of it. It also included some patriot songs inspired by the anniversary of the country. Our Little Drummer Boy looked a lot like the drummer on the Bicentennial posters that hung around the school. The program included plenty of religious songs, which was totally normal for public schools at the time. But most of the songs were about the season—generic classic Christmas songs written by famous Jewish composers.
My favorite song to sing was, What Child is This?—the distinctly Jesus-centered song set to the traditional English folk tune, Greensleeves, written by a 28-year-old William Chatterton Dix in 1865.
The song remains one of my top favorite Christmas songs to this day. Now, I love it for the story it tells. The questions it asks. The picture it paints. The arch of the narrative from Jesus’ birth to his death. The haunting melody. The lift in the chorus. Echoes of the logos in John 1.
Then, I loved it because I got to sing the word ass.
Before Josh Groban dropped the verse entirely and other artists used the un- singable replacement word, donkey, my school invited (required) an assemblage of children from kindergarten to third grade to sing a word that we’d only heard our parents yell. If it was good enough for Bing Crosby, it was good enough for us. It isn’t a bad word in its context, even though an internet search result for the original lyrics will sometimes come with a superscription advisory warning that the song contains explicit language. That’s how smart the Internet is.
We weren’t asking deep theological questions about it, as far as I can remember. We were not yet old enough to understand what laud meant. Most of us wondered why people were bringing the baby Jesus fat used to cook with (laud was heard as lard).
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But, I do remember that the entire nativity cast was present in the song—the only exception being Joseph. And, for some reason, the song made me cry. And still does. It moves me to worship. To respond to the revelation of God—which is essentially and necessarily what worship is.
What child is this? Christ the King! Rush to worship him. Don’t waste any time. Praise him with all of creation. Everyone is here with you. Singing. Giving gifts. In the throes of normal life. You don’t have to leave your place to find him. He’s right in the stench of your own barn.
A few years ago we did the song at Westwinds, a church I was then pastoring in Michigan. We sang the original lyrics in our candlelight gathering. When I sang the word ass I chuckled inside. Partly for the same childish reasons I chuckled in children’s choir. Now a grown man I thought to myself, “I’m the ass” (Which isn’t a far hermeneutical stretch for us Gentiles as reported by Orthodox Arts Journal. “The Ass and The Ox in the Nativity Icon.” Jonathan Pageau. December, 2012). According to this article, the ox and the ass represent Jews and Gentiles both coming to worship the baby Jesus. I am a Gentile. But, I’m also just the proverbial donkey at times.
Part of the beauty of the nativity is that it’s inclusive. Jews and Gentiles gather around the child. Believers and skeptics. Young and old. Rich and poor. Humans and animals. Bovine and . . . asinine.
We’re supposed to see ourselves in the nativity (even if you don’t think you’re the one with the pointy ears). Maybe that’s part of the reason children enter in to the story so easily. They see themselves. The scene is all too mysterious, intriguing, adventurous, magical, and full of love. The child is protected. Cared for. Adored. Part of a family. Part of something special. Like every child wants to be.
As adults, we’d be crazy not to entertain these sentiments when telling the story to our children.
Sit down and make a list of your close friends and family. Include yourself. You’ll find all different kinds of people on this list. Based on the things you know about the people in the nativity story, see CONSIDER how many different categories you come up with for your list (e.g. THIS: rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, young, old, revered, outcast). Spend some time praying for the people on that list and thank God for them and their individuality.
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When I was about eight or nine years old, my friend Dana told me his family didn’t celebrate Christmas. I assume now they were Jehovah’s Witnesses because he still talked of Jesus, and they were a religious family. It was the year I really wanted a Stretch Armstrong action figure. I think he wanted one, too, but he wasn’t going to get one on Christmas for sure.
When he told me why he wasn’t getting presents, I felt bad for him. I knew my tree would be littered with presents. Our extended family (before the divorces, deaths, and starting families of our own) got together each year at our home on Christmas and it was a pretty ridiculous display of consumerism young me embraced wholeheartedly.
I’ll never forget running downstairs in my red zip-up pajamas with feet and sliding across the kitchen floor on Christmas morning, ready to tear open a toppling pile of countless packages as if looking for the antidotal serum to a deadly disease before the timer runs out. For us kids, opening presents went from 0 to 60 as soon as the first one of us saw the light of day on Christmas morning, and the affair was over inside of 5 minutes. The rest of the day was spent saying, “What did you get?” We didn’t waste time acknowledging each other’s gifts or our gift givers until the aftermath. Our parents and grandparents seemed to enjoy this and weren’t offended.
The question I had for Dana (not knowing where his family was coming from or anything about what was informing their decision) was, “Didn’t they bring Jesus presents?” I assumed my nativity memories were accurate. Of course, his family’s conviction and boycott of my favorite holiday went much deeper for them than presents.
Yes. They brought presents. Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh.
We could spend some time exploring the meaning and symbolism of these gifts (which I’ll leave up to other authors) but let’s pause and think about the act of bringing gifts to the king instead of the potential allegory of the gifts.
Part of the beauty of the nativity is that it is a picture of worship. Bringing Jesus presents. The worship response is a gift-giving exercise and posture. Time. Spiritual gifts. Sacrifice for others. Financial means. These are some of the gifts we offer the Savior.
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One of my favorite definitions of worship is, “Responding to everything God is with everything we are.” How might you CONSIDER leverage the gift giving exchange this Christmas with your own THIS: family in order to talk about worship? What gifts are we bringing the Savior?
Another friend of mine once told me he was concerned that the presents would distract from the presence. While I understand that sentiment, and I also react against going into debt to win the favor of your loved ones or outdo someone else at the office, I think there’s another way to look at it. Presents are what people bring when responding to his presence—responding to his company with us.
In one of my favorite Christmas stories (now public domain), The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry (aka William Sydney Porter) a poor, young couple sells their most prized possessions in order to buy the other a gift they could never before afford. Della sells her long beautiful hair to a wig maker in order to buy a platinum chain for Jim’s watch. Jim sells his watch in order to buy combs for Della’s long, beautiful hair. The last paragraph clues the reader in to the meaning of title.
“The magi, as you know, were wise men – wonderfully wise men – who brought gifts to the new-born Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the Magi. “
Porter’s story suggests wise gifts are sacrificial gifts. So does the Bible. Romans 12:1 is one of my favorite verses describing the sacrificial gift-giving posture of a Jesus follower:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are not cheap. Gifts appropriate for a King—the gifts of the biblical wise men were certainly costly. And as such were sacrificial gifts. They were not meant to impress. They were responsive gifts incited by joy at the potential of being in his presence.
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And, while we are supposed to see this sacrificial gift of the magi as an appropriate response to the birth of Jesus, we are also supposed to see beautiful absurdity in the wisest of men (kings) presenting gifts to the “only wise God” and “King (I Timothy 1:17)” whose sacrificial gift precedes theirs by the very nature of his birth and ultimately finds satisfaction in his death and resurrection.
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. Philippians 2:5-11. The Message.
A rousing dynamic in sacrificial Jesus worship is wonder—spectacle, awe, amazement, and curiosity. The nativity is drenched and dripping with this kind of wonder.
Adults, parents, teachers . . . lend me your ears. We would be wise to leverage the story of the nativity to teach our kids about worship and its inherent component of sacrifice—where the nativity begins and ends—before the wonder is tempered with the years.
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WONDER
By John Voelz. Christmas, 2015.
Wonder never left my side but she found a place to hide From time to time surprising me In the laughter of a child In the feeling in the air In the countenance of others ‘Till I glanced upon a face like mine And once again, wonder felt smothered ...The last time I saw Wonder She was heading off to sea On a ship called, “Broken Promises” She didn’t even wave at me The ship was loaded with Heavy Baggage And other faces I recognized So many of Wonder’s friends stuck with her I shouldn’t be surprised Somehow I think she was taken captive She went against her will. But I didn’t fight for her that day. That feeling haunts me still. Sometimes I think of calling up Hope. I hear she’s still in town. They say she knows where Wonder went. And knows how to track her down. I’ve heard stories that Wonder sometimes comes back From far across the sea I’m praying this will be that year She comes back to visit me
(For entire, unedited poem http://johnvoelz.com/wonder/)
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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
1. Put your kid goggles on. What do you want to know about the nativity? For starters, here are some questions my own children asked me over the years and some I asked of the nativity myself as a child: Why are they all smiling? Where are these Wise Men from? Why are they considered wise? Where they all white? What gifts are they carrying? Why do they say this baby is God? Why are they in a barn? Where’s the animal poop? Was Jesus really quiet or was he a normal baby? Where was the rest of their family? Did Jesus know he was God when he was born?
2. What religious icons or imagery are emotive for you? Do any objects or pictures make you want to respond to Jesus and worship?
3. God can talk through anything He pleases. He surprised many in the Biblical narrative by speaking to them in unconventional ways e.g. He talked through animals (to Balaam), burning bushes (to Moses), and angels (to Mary and Joseph among others). Just for fun, if God were to surprise you and speak an audible message to you today, what (or who) do you think He’d speak through?
4. Sit down and make a list of your close friends and family. Include yourself. You’ll find all different kinds of people on this list. Based on the things you know about the people in the nativity story, see how many different categories you come up with for your list (e.g. rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, young, old, revered, outcast). Spend some time praying for the people on that list and thank God for them and their individuality.
5. One of my favorite definitions of worship is, “Responding to everything God is with everything we are.” How might you leverage the gift giving exchange this Christmas with your own family in order to talk about worship? What gifts are we bringing the Savior?
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22 CHAPTER 3
A TEEN What is more, I “I like the Christmas Jesus best when I’m saying consider3 everything grace. When you say grace, you can say it to a loss because of the grownup Jesus or teenage Jesus or bearded Jesus, surpassing worth of or whoever you want. “ knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake (Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby. I have lost all things. I Judd Apatow and Adam McKay, 2006.) consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ... Apparently Ricky Bobby isn’t the only one obsessed with baby Jesus. Baby Jesus Theft has its own Wikipedia Philippians 3:8 NIV Page. It’s a thing.
According to that very page:
Baby Jesus theft is the theft of plastic or ceramic figurines of the infant Jesus from outdoor public and private nativity displays during the Christmas season. It is an “enduring (and illegal) practice” according to New York Times journalist Katie Rogers, “believed to be part of a yearly tradition, often carried out by bored teenagers looking for an easy prank.” The prevalence of such thefts has
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caused the owners of outdoor manger scenes to protect their property with GPS devices, surveillance cameras, or by other means.
Stealing the baby Jesus from nativity scenes became a widespread prank a few years ago and continues to this day. I remember watching a story on the news a couple of years ago in Michigan, where I was pastoring at the time, about a baby Jesus stolen from a churchyard. When the police asked the pastor to describe what the baby Jesus was wearing so they could identify it, he simply replied, “swaddling clothes.” I chuckled thinking that wouldn’t help much if they stumbled upon that black market warehouse full of stolen baby Jesuses.
Long before it was a trend, I got caught up in my own bit of larceny.
One day, in order to impress a girl, I did the unthinkable. I desecrated the nativity in the school gymnasium where our church met. The act was pretty innocent actually. It wasn’t destructive but it was potentially, as some would refer to it in the days that followed, disrespectful and sacrilegious.
You just don’t mess with the baby Jesus.
The movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial had hit theaters that summer and I had somehow come into possession of a medium-sized E.T. doll. The girl dared me to replace the baby Jesus in the manger with my stuffed alien creature from the mind of Steven Spielberg (hear “the woman you put here with me—she gave me some of the fruit and I ate it”). Coerced and compelled by a crush, Baby Jesus was safely tucked into the back of my friend Tom’s pistachio green Ford Pinto under swaddling rags.
Opinions about messing with the baby Jesus reached new heights that day.
In 1982, fundamentalist parents in my church (and many others) spent an inordinate amount of energy striking paralyzing fear into the hearts and minds of young people by suggesting there was a demonic influence at work in the form of rock and roll (with its sexually suggestive beat that messed with the natural rhythm of the human heart and backmasking), Dungeons & Dragons, and Three’s Company. And I lived among them.
How would you describe your religious experience in your teen CONSIDER years? Authoritarian? Libertine? Somewhere in between? How were THIS: you shaped during these years in relation to how you now think about Jesus?
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Little did I know at the time of my rebellion, those same parents had recently launched a war against E.T. the Extraterrestrial.
George Lucas had caused a stir with them years prior with Star Wars, and that battle was still raging strong on the heels of the release of The Empire Strikes Back and the upcoming Return of the Jedi. Lucas was regarded as some sort of antichrist by many in our Baptist church. According to some of the well-meaning and confused parents who wanted the best for their children like every other parent, Lucas’ movies were chock-full of mysticism, witchcraft, and new-age rhetoric and ideology.
Spielberg upped the ante for many of them with E.T. the Extraterrestrial. While he’d once outraged them with Close Encounters of the Third Kind—his science- fiction adventure about humans who have a psychic connection with alien life forms—a few years before, the war on Spielberg moved to DEFCON 1 when his loveable, wrinkly, big-headed alien landed.
Not only did parents see Spielberg’s character embodying many of the same flaws as the Star Wars franchise, they saw E.T. as a mockery of Jesus and the Christian faith. In their minds, the alien who left his home above, entered literal darkness (he came at night), and made his home among us had way too many similarities to the story of Jesus to be coincidental. His glowing heart light resembled the Sacre Coeur as depicted in religious art. He had the ability to cure disease and restore life. Curious men wanted to know him and there were those who would seek to destroy him. The persecuted alien was left to die outside the city. He formed a bond with Elliott that was so strong Elliot identified with him in his death almost to the point of death himself. He died and came back to life. His death and subsequent resurrection brought life to Elliot. His earthly, human mother figure he actually referred to as mom (actually Elliot’s mom) was named Mary. He ascended back where he came from at the end of the film, assuring Elliot that he would always be with him. In his heart.
There certainly are undeniable similarities to the Jesus story. But, instead of seeing E.T. as a potential allegory in which to teach children about Jesus, they chose to vilify and demonize the film.
It was this alien that I chose to take the place of Baby Jesus—meek and mild.
While I think our pastor was full of grace and even got a bit of a chuckle out of my stunt, he nonetheless had to hold me accountable and asked me to apologize for my insensitive act to the parents who showed grave concern. I think my own parents were mostly embarrassed. They were very new to the faith. Their
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conversion took place just two years prior to Mangergate, while my decision to follow Jesus was made 5 years prior. I apologized as I returned the baby Jesus unscathed, though smelling a bit like exhaust.
Someone once told me, “Sometimes God is at work outside the church more than he is inside the church.” They were referring to CONSIDER the story of God and his people being allegorized in Hollywood THIS: film and literature with great success. What recent media have you seen that may support this claim?
Even after the apology, the scandal didn’t die down quickly enough for me. I don’t think I imagined stares and headshakes in the hallway at church. I was ignored by some and became the project of others. One day, I overheard old ladies praying for me out loud, citing my not-so-secret sins, knowing full well I was within earshot.
The nativity became my scandal.
But it was someone else’s scandal first.
“Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” Matthew 1:19, NIV
In high school, I joined the choir my senior year. I had been recruited to join when my friend Michael Hill (still my best buddy) submitted my name as a potential candidate. It would become my second memorable choir experience—the first being my third grade Bicentennial concert mentioned earlier.
We performed throughout the state and held many seasonal concerts at home. One of my greatest memories was when we got asked to sing for a then 63-year- old man by the name of Chuck Yeager who, 40 years prior, had been the first pilot to officially break the sound barrier in level flight.
My greatest memories, however, surround multiple Christmas music programs. My friends and I would often change the words of the songs during practice and played a game to see if our director would notice. Those of us who were a bit more daring would sneak the words into actual performances e.g. “Later on, we’ll perspire as we break [dance] by the fire.”
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In 1986, it was still acceptable for public schools to sing Christmas songs that mentioned Jesus, but I distinctly remember my choir director—the esteemed and decorated Mr. Donald Bagget whom our theater was named after—telling me he had to be “careful” to not perform too many “Jesus” songs. Don is a Jesus follower and we had many conversations about Jesus when I was 17. Part of Don’s tomfoolery at Christmas time was to get the choir to perform songs about Jesus... in Latin.
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum. Et exultávit spíritus meus: in Deo salutári meo. Quia respéxit humilitátem ancíllae suae: Ecce enim ex hoc beátam me dicent omnes generatiónes...
“...My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.” Luke 1:46-55
I knew The Magnificat was a Latin translation of Mary’s song in Luke 1. Maybe it was the romantic poet and musician in me but I was never moved by the tension of the passage until I sang it in Latin.
Are there songs or poetry inspired by the nativity that emotionally move you? Are there songs without specific or blatant nativity content that nonetheless draw you to the nativity? Are those CONSIDER songs tied to specific memories? Are the lyrics and music crafted THIS: in a way that tells the story in a way you haven’t quite heard it before? Do you find the songs have universal appeal? How might you incorporate those songs into a corporate worship gathering? A family dinner? A conversation?
I had been dating my girlfriend Tahni (now my wife) for two years by the time I sang The Magnificat. We were “good” Christian kids with Christian hormones—which are exactly the same as pagan hormones, by the way. I often prayed God wouldn’t allow me to succumb to the desires I had, and I really didn’t want to make a bad choice that lead to Tahni getting pregnant. Some friends in our class lost the battle or, at least, gambled and lost and wound up pregnant.
But, Mary? That’s a different story all together.
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The Magnificat came from the soul of a young woman engaged to be married who became pregnant and claimed it was God’s fault. Such a claim would be unanimously met with skepticism in any day and age, let alone approximately Fifth Century B.C. in ancient Palestine where women weren’t exactly given a platform to defend themselves.
An interesting observation according to Lynn Cohick, Ph.D, Department Chair and Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in her book, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians (Baker Academic, 2009), suggests the scandal of pregnant Mary was not sparked by pregnancy out of wedlock.
Most authors today assume Mary faced great social shame and ostracism due to her pregnancy. They base this on the assumption that she was an “unwed mother” ...such a conclusion does not take into account the betrothal customs of the day. Mary and Joseph had a binding contract of marriage; all that awaited them was the wedding. If they engaged in sexual intercourse with each other, that was not seen as a violation of any norm. What is shocking is that Mary is pregnant and Joseph knows he is not the father. The problem is not that a betrothed couple had sex but that presumably Mary had sex with another man—she committed adultery.
Location 3245, Kindle Edition
I’m so glad my 17-year-old testosterone-drunk self didn’t know about ancient betrothal customs. After all, we had talked about marriage. I may have immaculately conceived a way to try and justify some kind of holy horizontal hula.
Based on Cohick’s observation it totally makes sense why Joseph would want a quiet no-fault divorce during the betrothal. In agreement with ancient Jewish law (that is, the entire written law of the OT, the commandments established by the rabbis, and compulsory customs), men could divorce women for any number of reasons (though not the other way around).
Fulfilled prophecies and visits from angels aside, Mary had some ‘splainin’ to do. Mary’s assumed undertaking that led to her pregnancy was not just a sin against God. It was a sin against her betrothed—Joseph the Just. And, a sin against another man.
Thomas Aquinas, in his Commentary on Saint Matthew’s Gospel, provides a counterpoint, suggesting Joseph never suspected adultery. If he did think she betrayed him, his reaction of quietly ignoring her actions gives the appearance of consenting to her sin, which is also sin (Romans 1:32). Aquinas then suggests,
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along with Frankish Benedictine monk and theologian, Rabanus, that Joseph knew the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 about a virgin conceiving, along with the prophecy of the Messiah coming through the line of David (Isaiah 11). Joseph believed if this was indeed referring to Mary, he was unworthy to be her husband, so he would quietly and sacrificially put her away while he fought for her honor. (Lectio 4; Matthew 1:12-21) Even if this were true, we have no reason to believe that anyone else would process Mary’s pregnancy in this way.
Bottom line? Scandal. Before Joseph was visited by an angel who convinced him otherwise (Matthew 1:20), Mary’s situation caused him grief. Others had their opinions about her as well, as evidenced by the “no room at the Inn” narrative of Luke 2, which we’ll take a look at a bit later.
Mary knew what this pregnancy would mean for her in all the bad ways. She could have been distracted with anticipation of the jeers. She could have been distracted by anticipation of the rejection. She could have been distracted by anticipation of the loneliness.
Yet she sang. In the shadow of the scandal, she anticipated the promise.
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. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:30-33 NIV
Think through times in your life when you knew the only way CONSIDER forward was to trust the promises of God. Write those moments THIS: down. What specific promise did God come through with?
Part of the magnificence of the nativity is the fulfillment of a promise through a child wrapped all up in swaddling clothes for a young, obedient girl wrapped all up in a scandal. The Sunday School answer to the question, “Who came to worship the baby Jesus?” would most certainly be, “shepherds and wise men.” That would be correct. But, there was also another important worshipper there that first Christmas—a teenage mom who would live the rest of her life wearing an unwarranted proverbial Scarlet Letter.
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New Testament scholar, professor, and historian Scot McKnight writes:
[Mary] learned to follow this Messiah Jesus through the ordinary struggles that humans face. In this sense, Mary represents each of us—both you and me—in our call to follow Jesus.
McKnight, Scot. The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus. Brewster, MA. 2007, 4.
There is wonder (curiosity, magic) in the nativity for a child. The teenager wonder of the nativity is of a different sort. If you have teenagers—or are one—take a look a the nativity and ask yourself, “How did she do it?” Let’s be honest, God put her in a difficult situation.
Once again, the Jesus way includes sacrifice.
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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
1. How would you describe your religious experience in your teen years? Authoritarian? Libertine? Somewhere in between? How were you shaped during these years in relation to how you now think about Jesus?
2. Someone once told me, “Sometimes God is at work outside the church more than he is inside the church.” They were referring to the story of God and his people being allegorized in Hollywood film and literature with great success. What recent media have you seen that may support this claim?
3. Are there songs or poetry inspired by the nativity that emotionally move you? Are there songs without specific or blatant nativity content that nonetheless draw you to the nativity? Are those songs tied to specific memories? Are the lyrics and music crafted in a way that tells the story in a way you haven’t quite heard it before?
4. Do you find the above songs or poetry have universal appeal? How might you incorporate those songs into a corporate worship gathering? A family dinner? A conversation?
5. Think through times in your life when you knew the only way forward was to trust the promises of God. Write those moments down. What specific promise did God come through with?
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32 CHAPTER 4
A PARENT Children are a heritage I remember the details surrounding the birth of my son from the Lord,4 offspring with vivid detail. a reward from him. When Tahni first found out she was pregnant with our Psalm 127:3, NIV second child, I was scared. I wasn’t making a ton of money. I hadn’t yet figured out what I wanted to be Start children off on the when I grew up. And, I didn’t know how to share my way they should go, and love with two kids. even when they are old they will not turn from it. I talked with my wife one evening about my fears and she gave me some great wisdom. To this day I don’t know if she read it somewhere in a book about how to Proverbs 22:6, NIV deal with the immanent birth of a second child or the wisdom came from heaven above but she looked at me with a well full of love in her beautiful brown eyes and said, “You’ll get new love.” She, of course, was right.
When she started having complications with the pregnancy, my new love sped me past all my anxieties and put me in full-on protection and concern mode. She spent weeks in bed and the doctors told us there was a 99% chance she would lose the baby.
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Our 1% baby was born a few months later.
When Connor was born, he—in professional birthing language—presented his arm first. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Only the doctor and I saw what happened in that moment. When that little hand popped out, I immediately stuck my hand down there to grab it and to my surprise and delight my son actually grabbed on to my finger. My first moment with my son barely outside the womb was like a depiction of Michelangelo’s, Creation of Adam fresco painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Then I held him. My only son.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. I John 4:9 NIV
I remember crying and thinking, “God, I just want to be a good dad.”
Years later I would see the movie, The Holiday with my friend as part of a Christmas game where our staff drew movie tickets from a hat and had to go see the movie we were assigned to. Ben and I got the chick flick. At one point, when Jude Law’s character is spending time with his precious little English-accented daughters and crying because their mother had passed away, Ben and I both began to well up with tears.
We caught one another in our peripheral visions and started laughing because we were two grown men crying (and trying to hide it) in a movie theater. Ben looked at me and said, as he wiped his tears, “He just wants to be a good dad.” It would from then on become a joke for our families every time we see a movie or hear a story about a dad who sacrifices for his children.
I wonder what Joseph thought as he stood at that feeding trough looking at this boy.
If you are a parent, how has the story of redemption as evidenced by God sending his only son been bolstered and augmented as you think of your own children? How would you begin to convey CONSIDER those emotions to someone who does not have children? Is THIS: the God as Father image of scripture important to the story or coincidental? If you don’t have children, what does the motif mean to you as someone else’s child?
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The Bible doesn’t talk a lot about Joseph, Jesus’ legal father. We know very little about him. We know he lived in Nazareth (Luke 2), he was from King David’s line; he was a devout Jewish man—faithful to the law and considerate; and he was faithful to the message of the angel, took Mary as his wife and named the baby Jesus—when choosing a name should have been his prerogative (Matthew 1). He was committed to raising him as a good Jewish boy and followed the law (Luke 2). The Lord spoke to him in dreams and he listened; He was a protector of his family (Matthew 2). And, we know at some point in Jesus’ life the heat of the nativity scandal subsided probably due to no small effort on Joseph’s part, since people would start to refer to Jesus as “the carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13) and “the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know” (John 6).
And, no doubt about it, Joseph’s part in the nativity includes sacrifice.
An old eastern orthodox painting, unlike the nativity depictions of the west, shows Joseph at the bottom of the scene—far removed from Mary and her newborn. In this painting, there’s an old man whispering to him and Joseph looks disturbed. The old man is supposed to represent Satan and the painting invites us to ask, “What is the devil whispering?” “Are you sure you can go through with this?” “Are you sure this is the son of God?” “Born this way?” “To you?” “To her?” “Did an angel really visit you?” “Messiah? Really?” “Are you drunk?”
A lot of attention is given to Mary in the nativity and rightly so. But, there was another little-observed worshipper there that night in the nativity scene. There was a man who risked ridicule, loved his young wife through the course of a Jerry Springer-like ordeal, sought the heart of God, and anticipated the birth of one who would fulfill the promise he had heard about in the Hebrew scripture and subsequently from the voice of angels.
I like to imagine that God may have given Joseph a gift the night Jesus was born like my special gift of a mid-natal fist bump during the delivery of my son. Because, after a long arduous journey to Bethlehem and being relegated to the barn, Joseph would have needed some kind of comfort as well as Mary.
He just wanted to be a good dad.
If your teenage daughter came home pregnant, how would you CONSIDER respond? Be honest. What emotional and physical support do THIS: you think she would need from you as a parent? How might we speculate Mary’s parents responded?
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As a father, the nativity holds a special allure for me. It gives me a calming reassurance that a father can be scared, confused, tired, a hard worker, wondering where the next meal is going to come from, feeling like you are failing and unable to provide what you really desire for your family, and all the while be smack dab in the middle of a beautiful story where God is paying attention to every detail and making something beautiful out of broken things.
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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
1. If you are a parent, how has the story of redemption as evidenced by God sending his only son been bolstered and augmented as you think of your own children?
2. How would you begin to convey those emotions to someone who does not have children?
3. Is the God as Father image of scripture important to the story or coincidental?
4. If you don’t have children, what does the Father/Son motif mean to you as someone else’s child?
5. If your teenage daughter came home pregnant, how would you respond? Be honest. What emotional and physical support do you think she would need from you as a parent? How might we speculate Mary’s parents responded?
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38 CHAPTER 5
A ZEALOT Woe to you, teachers of I was in my mid-20’s the first time some religious the law and5 Pharisees, acquaintances suggested to me that the nativity I was you hypocrites! You accustomed to was full of historical errors. That’s not are like whitewashed how they described it though. They were much more tombs, which look fanatical in their approach. beautiful on the outside but on the inside are I addressed answers to some of these concerns in full of the bones of the Chapter 1: Through the Eyes of the Curious, so we dead and everything won’t expound on them here. This chapter, rather, unclean. addresses the ornery and angry religiosity of a wayward heart when faced with these concerns. The curious heart Matthew 23:27 NIV seeks to know. The zealot’s heart seeks to condemn.
One morning, on a walk through my neighborhood with a friend, he told me about all the lies I had accepted over the years. He began to enlighten me. There weren’t three wise men. There was no drummer boy. The angels weren’t flying over the manger. The baby probably wasn’t smiling because he was a normal human baby and babies cry. Jesus was not a baby when the wise men reached him. Joseph was probably way older than Mary. Mary was not a young woman but rather still a girl.
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He began planting seeds of a war that was being waged against Jesus by people and institutions that only liked the idea of Jesus but were unwilling to do what it really takes to follow him. He accused (without naming names) some of our friends, our churches, our country, the Illuminati, Barney the Dinosaur, and whomever else he fancied of watering down the gospel or distracting us from Jesus.
And with this, extreme religiosity started making its way in my young-married- white-poor-disillusioned-adults-with-children religious circle. Someone was rocking the Mayflower.
Many of my friends, in an attempt to “honor Jesus”—the true meaning of Christmas—removed and destroyed all historically inaccurate (and therefore profane) Christmas imagery from their households with the same fervor I had seen years before when my dad burned all my evil music albums. They said I should do the same.
Have you ever gone through a purging of sorts in relation to objects, habits, entertainment choices, etc.—the kind where you swing the pendulum and make a 180° turnabout and rejection CONSIDER of something you once enjoyed or participated in (e.g. burning THIS: books, destroying music)? Were those rejections helpful or harmful? Do you still hold those convictions? Have you since reneged on your conviction?
I remember talking to one of them and suggesting he not destroy his beautiful crèche but instead donate it to a thrift store. “What? And pass along these lies?” he said. He went on to rant about how he would then be guilty of causing someone else to “stumble” as he “told lies about Jesus.”
My friends were a big influence on me, apparently, because I found myself starting to think, talk, and act like a hyper-religious version of my parents I disdained just a few short years prior (p.s. Mom and Dad eventually grew out of their legalistic period as well as I). For a year or so, I began to see it as my Godly duty to poke holes in everything that was not biblically accurate from my limited, uneducated, and yet vehement perspective.
My list of newfangled no-no’s and new pursuits was extensive and subjective. For starters, I stopped listening to any music that wasn’t Christian. I never watched TV preachers whose words were for itching ears. I went on a search to find the correct
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version of scripture I should use. I was always sure to spell out C-h-r-i-s-t instead of using the devil’s “X” in abbreviations of Christmas. I started listening to Rush Limbaugh.
These new restrictions and practices were added to a list of leftovers from my parents influence on me—the ones I picked and chose based on my own subjective convictions. For instance, like my parents before me, we didn’t celebrate Halloween because of its appearance of evil and didn’t perpetuate the lie of Santa (whom my parents referred to as “that man” at Christmastime) to our children but rather let them in on the whole secret like good, pious parents. We told them not to tell all their friends because some other families chose to lie to their kids and we didn’t want them to get mad at us.
That same year I remember getting furious at my mother-in-law who insisted on giving our children gifts from Santa. “Just tell them YOU bought them. Don’t lie to my kids!”
I told my wife not to put the nativity out at Christmas.
We didn’t get rid of our nativity like many of my friends did. But, when the time came to unpack it from the box in the garage, we didn’t.
Every nativity I saw that year fueled my anger. The one in front of the “so-called church” at the end of the street. The one in my “pagan neighbor’s” yard. The one at the “so-called Christian bookstore.”
It was a living nativity of sorts that broke me out of my Stepford stupor.
Grandma Lynda often creates activities around family Christmas celebrations in order to create memories for us all. We’ve poked fun at Grandma Lynda for some of these compulsory undertakings over the years but one thing is for sure, Grandma Lynda loves Christmas and she loves her family. In the year of my religious militancy, Grandma Lynda (a.k.a. my mother-in-law) decided it would be fun to have my children act out the Christmas story on Christmas Eve for the family.
My wife leaned over to me when we started receiving instructions and said, “Just ...don’t.” I knew this meant something along the lines of, “Unless you want to complain about this to your next wife, do not make a scene.”
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Have you ever made someone else feel bad for something they did that didn’t line up with your own convictions? Did you ever ask their forgiveness? Did they respond as you had hoped? If not, CONSIDER could you have said something or demonstrated your repentance THIS: in a different way that might have produced a more positive outcome? If you are feeling brave, ask a trusted friend if you ever religiously condescend others.
I watched my children act out the Christmas story as we all took turns with our obligatory readings of scripture. My children (we had two at the time), wearing little costumes Grandma Lynda had put together for them, were adorable. My oldest, Karysa, was acting the part of Mary with large gestures as if she was meant to play the part her whole life (She now plays the role of a mother of three children, and I believe this Christmas was some kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy). My son, Connor, was less than enthusiastic. He didn’t want to be on display, and the role of Joseph was a bit of a daunting task for him. He looked a bit embarrassed and nervous.
As cute as they were, I was annoyed. The story I made up in my head was that— between the forbidden gifts from Santa and this defiant play—Grandma Lynda was trying to get my goat. Apparently, my opposition to the live nativity was not as covert as I (and my wife) had hoped. The air was thick and it smelled of brimstone.
And I knew Grandma Lynda felt it.
I don’t know exactly when it hit me later that evening but the Holy Spirit did what he does best and brought his strong stick of conviction down upon my rear. Maybe it was when I was opening up presents that were graciously and lovingly gifted to me with great thought and insight into my needs. Maybe it was during the beautiful dinner Grandma Lynda had prepared for us with the typed menu describing all our courses in picturesque detail. Maybe it was during Bing Crosby and David Bowie’s Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy song.
I remember feeling convicted that year for two reasons: First, I needed to give my mother-in-law a break from the mockery of her fun Christmas ideas. Second, it was this kind of rare beauty and engagement with the Christmas story I was in danger of souring my children against if I wasn’t careful. My not-so-silent boycotts were not only poisoning me, they were injuring my family.
Through the nudge of the Holy Spirit, I decided instead of passing my sin of legalism on from generation to generation it would be wise to find out how to leverage the magic of Christmas with my kids.
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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
1. Have you ever gone through a purging of sorts in relation to objects, habits, entertainment choices, etc.—the kind where you swing the pendulum and make a 180° turnabout and rejection of something you once enjoyed or participated in (e.g. burning books, destroying music)? Were those rejections helpful or harmful?
2. Do you still hold those convictions? Have you since reneged on your conviction?
3. Have you ever made someone else feel bad for something they did that didn’t line up with your own religious convictions? Did you ever ask their forgiveness?
4. If so, did they respond as you had hoped? If not, could you have said something or demonstrated your repentance in a different way that might have produced a more positive outcome?
5. If you are feeling brave, ask a trusted friend if you ever religiously condescend others.
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44 CHAPTER 6
A PART-TIME TRADITIONALIST Fix these words of Not too many years later, after the madness of my mine in6 your hearts legalism subsided and my head was removed from my and minds; tie them as proverbial behind, my wife bought a new nativity scene symbols on your hands from one of the big box stores, and we started a new and bind them on your tradition. foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking Each year we set up the nativity with all the participants about them when you but the wise men. We set the wise men in another part sit at home and when of the house. On Christmas Day, we begin to move the you walk along the wise men—one day at a time—towards the nativity. By road, when you lie down New Year’s Day, the wise men arrive and find the King. and when you get up. Wise men still inch towards him.
Deuteronomy The traveling wise men are our family tradition. It is not 11:18-19, NIV a widely practiced or observed tradition of the greater Christian faith. It has nonetheless been helpful in our context. Especially when the kids were young, it was a fun way to teach through the nativity story and try to recapture the events. Of course, it’s not an exact replica of the timeline, nor is it supposed to be. But, we’ve learned some beautiful lessons about worship by leaning in to the nativity story and the wise men’s pursuit has been a great way of telling that story.
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Are there nativity traditions you have observed in other families CONSIDER that you have taken as your own? How have those traditions THIS: impacted you and your family?
Throughout the course of my life I have been part of or associated with many different traditions and denominations. I’ve been part of a Conservative Baptist church plant. I went to Vacation Bible School at a Wesleyan church for a few summers. I was on staff at a church modeled after the Willow Creek Community Church seeker-friendly movement of the 1990’s. I sporadically attended the Catholic Church with my family when I was young. I led a church that prided itself on not wearing any labels that would seek to define it. I’ve written two books for a Methodist publishing house and taken many classes at a Free Methodist university.
These experiences have given me an appreciation for traditions, habits, and practices. While I’ve only adopted some traditions as my own, I have certainly learned from and have been influenced by many. I’ve also learned that it’s neither advantageous nor prudent to try and argue with someone whether or not their particular tradition is necessary.
At a bare minimum, the practice of nativity traditions in different contexts has helped me pay closer attention to details in the story and has given me a sense of connection with others in a community and consensus of faith.
What nativity traditions might help you and your neighbors to CONSIDER experience camaraderie even if they are not part of your church THIS: tradition?
When I pastored a church in Michigan, our church was widely known as one that respected many traditions but didn’t hold fast to any group of traditions in particular—which, ironically, is a tradition in and of itself.
We would try different corporate worship traditions on for size (e.g. Lectio Divina, burning of incense, following the liturgical calendar) in order to expand our peoples’ view of the world around them and breed in them a respect for other church customs. We were extremely orthodox in our theology but playful in our methodology—i.e. the way we did the things we did, especially in corporate worship gatherings.
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One of my most memorable nativity moments was the year we observed the liturgical calendar as modeled by our Free Methodist friends down the road. Our co-pastor Randy (who is now with Jesus) was especially excited about leading in this venture. Randy was part Christian mystic, part reflection of the 1970’s Jesus Movement, and part Mainline purist.
Our congregation had a large group of former Catholics, former Lutherans, former Methodists, and clandestine folks who found a home with us but were cautious about leaving the tradition they grew up in. Observing church traditions was beautiful and nostalgic to many of these. To others who were perpetually trying us on for size and reticent to commit, our occasional flirtations only highlighted for them that we weren’t traditional enough in their eyes.
During this season, a young woman who was less than pleased with our casual, noncommittal approach to Advent got angry with me and set an appointment to talk. I invited Randy to sit in as well. During our appointment, I quickly learned we weren’t going to have a discussion, but rather she wanted me to take time to hear her vent about how we were doing it all wrong.
She was upset, not that we were observing Advent, but that we weren’t observing it every year. Our part-time observance had become offensive. She would rather we didn’t recognize Advent at all rather than “treat it as if it were some kind of program in order to attract people to church.”
What she was accusing us of was using a time-honored tradition as some kind of sparkly bait. Her fear came from a place deep inside where she believed many churches were weakening the gospel by replacing it with attractional entertainment. I tried to remain sensitive to her accusations and concerns even though it was hard for me to connect the dots, and I was a bit angry at her approach.
Conflict can either make us or break us. It can make us bitter or bring us to our knees. What conflict is present in your homes at Christmastime? Is there a way to get ahead of this conflict by CONSIDER talking it out when there is no pressure of the season weighing THIS: down on you? Is there enmity between you and another that might be harnessed in an attempt to receive Jesus’ coming this year?
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Randy sat listening to her and didn’t say a word. He authentically smiled at her and nodded his head as if to say, “I understand.” Much to my delight, the Holy Spirit won in this exchange and once she got everything off her chest, her demeanor quickly changed. I, too, was able to breathe deeply and set aside the fight-back reflex. I believe the Holy Spirit was using Randy’s calming presence in the room to work in both of us. I was able to say to her, without any hint of sarcasm or holier- than-thou pretense, “I think I know what you are afraid of. I think I understand where you are coming from. With all the bad parts aside, don’t you think a goal of Advent is indeed to attract people to Jesus?” She hanged her head and nodded in approval.
The rest of the conversation was a good picture of what I believe James meant when he said we should, “do the hard work of getting along” with each other (James 3:18, The Message). We decided we would suspend judgment and lean in to the story together. Together we would celebrate and take a penitent approach to Advent and Christmastide. We would both anticipate Jesus’ coming with a fresh unified perspective, as Jesus prayed for his disciples (John 17).
That season I met together with this woman and her husband to pray. I asked their opinions and insight into how we would celebrate the nativity corporately. They sent me an apology letter for their accusations against my motives and character. We learned to laugh together. We learned to serve side by side. We worshipped together.
Jesus came to us all. And he keeps coming.
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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. What nativity traditions might help you and your neighbors to experience camaraderie even if they are not part of your church tradition?
2. Are there nativity traditions you have observed in other families that you have taken as your own? How have those traditions impacted you and your family?
3. Conflict can either make us or break us. It can make us bitter or bring us to our knees. What conflict is present in your homes at Christmastime?
4. Is there a way to get ahead of this conflict by talking it out when there is no pressure of the season weighing down on you?
5. Is there enmity between you and another that might be harnessed in an attempt to receive Jesus’ coming this year?
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50 CHAPTER 7
A HUSBAND But after he had My wife loves her Young Living Essential Oils. So much considered7 this, an so that she often comes to bed smelling like some kind angel of the Lord of Italian dinner. There are great-smelling essential oils appeared to him in (Lemon, Orange, Thieves, Grapefruit, Cedarwood) and a dream and said, then there are some that my wife tries to convince me “Joseph son of David, smell good. do not be afraid to take Mary home as your She swears by their healing properties. And I have seen wife, because what is evidence of that as well. Only problem is, I’m allergic conceived in her is from to most of them. My allergy test a few years back the Holy Spirit.” confirmed I’m allergic to mostly everything outside.
Matthew 1:20, NIV But one thing that doesn’t seem to bother me is frankincense. He who finds a wife finds what is good “Try the frankincense, for crying out loud,” my wife said and receives favor from to me when I told her I was going through a depressed the Lord. period. “It’s what they brought to Jesus.” She didn’t say it, but there was an implied, “Duh.” Proverbs 18:22, NIV Frankincense is sourced from the resin of a tree indigenous to Somalia. People have boasted about its ability to do everything from aid in digestion to cure
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cancer though these (no surprise) are not claims supported by the FDA or any pharmaceutical company. Frankincense—which literally means “sincere incense”— can also be diffused into the air in its oil form and inhaled. It’s this method of using frankincense that I have found most helpful. It’s not just for aromatherapy—it relieves stress and anxiety.
The other thing frankincense proponents readily boast about is its anti- inflammatory capabilities when rubbed on the skin with a carrier oil, like jojoba.
In reference to the nativity story and the gifts given to Jesus by the wise men, countless observations have been made about its potential significance in reference to Jesus’ priestly role and the duties of a High Priest that included the use of incense during prayer and sacrifice.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16, NIV
The traditional Christmas song, “We Three Kings” agrees with this observation.
Frankincense to offer have I Incense owns a Deity nigh Prayer and praising, all men raising Worship Him, God most high
Many others have suggested the frankincense had healing properties for Jesus as well as the myrrh. Still others have suggested the frankincense was merely for the Holy Family to burn and enjoy.
Gold for his honor Frankincense for his pleasure And myrrh for the cross he will suffer
Downhere, “How Many Kings?” Centricity Music. 2008.
We will never know exactly why Jesus was presented these gifts. I plan to ask him one day. But everyone can agree the gifts were costly. Frankincense is not native to the Bethlehem region. To ship it in from the east would have cost a pretty denarius.
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I enjoy giving my wife costly gifts. There have been many times over the years where I have done side work as a speaker or musician and banked my money without her knowing so that I could save up for something to blow her mind.
There’s a difference between something expensive and something that costs.
What is the most costly gift you have ever given another? What CONSIDER is the most costly gift you have ever received? What was more THIS: difficult for you, the giving or the receiving?
I have nothing to complain about with my income but I certainly don’t have money just lying around or a ton of discretionary income. Never have. So, the money I save for her big surprise gifts has always cost me something—namely, extra time and energy.
I remember saving for a cruise a few years back. The money I made from speaking and music engagements back then is not much different than I make for the same gigs now. However, I made less money back then and so did my wife. A cruise back in those days seemed like it cost a whole lot more than it does now, even though the price is about the same.
I could have spent the cruise money back then to pay off a bill or buy groceries when we were low, and I didn’t. I wanted to buy my wife extravagant gifts that took a long time to save for precisely because we didn’t have the money and didn’t think we ever would. When you have very little, abundance is magnified and exaggerated.
The gifts Jesus was given by the magi were gifts his family would have never afforded. Joseph was a carpenter. Tradesmen have never boasted sizeable incomes.
Other evidence of their poverty is found in Luke 2:22:
When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
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According to Leviticus 12:8, this is a poor person’s offering.
But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.
I’ve always wondered if the family ever used the gifts. Or, if Jesus used the gifts. Or, if Jesus sold the gifts and gave it all away to the poor (not a surprising move). Or, if Jesus donated the gifts to the temple.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:11, NIV
Wait. Opened their treasures? This doesn’t sound like the scene that I am familiar with where these men come bearing jewelry-size boxes. The New Living translation actually says they opened their “treasure chests.”
The wise men dumped out their treasure chests and gave them to Jesus. This was not just a birthday party. It seems this scene set him up for his entire life.
If money were no object or the cost were not more than you could CONSIDER bear, what gift would you like to give a loved one to improve their THIS: lives? How do you think they would receive that gift? What would you be willing to sacrifice in order to give that gift?
Baby Jesus was born into an underprivileged family from an insignificant place in Jewish culture, and one day we find him in the center of Jewish society debating with and instructing some of the most wealthy, intelligent, and accomplished people of his time. Jesus was a scholarly force to be reckoned with.
Is it possible that the homeless man we worship actually had a sum of money he chose not to use to buy a home? Is it possible that he was, if not rich (which seems like a stretch) at least not destitute? Is it possible someone invested in Jesus and his ministry?
Apparently I’m not the only one who has ever asked these questions.
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Suggesting an answer, Robert Parham, Executive Director of the Baptist Center for Ethics writes:
One answer robs him of his humanity. That is, his ability to read from Isaiah, for example, came from his divinity. Another answer is his pre-Protestant work ethic. He worked harder than everyone else, teaching himself the Hebrew texts by the fireplace until the break of dawn. A third answer is that he was born with an IQ off the charts. He was a genetic anomaly.
If these answers ring hollow, consider a fourth speculative answer: His parents invested most of the gold in his education and future vocation, anticipating great things from their son (Luke 1:32-33 and Matthew 1:20-21).
Without the gold, answering these questions becomes tricky:
• Where did Jesus get the training to ask probative questions of the teachers in the temple and astonish them with his insight (Luke 2:46-47)? • Where did he learn to read (Luke 4:16)? • How was he able to teach in the synagogues “with authority” (Luke 4:32)? • What gave him the confidence to interface with the tax collectors, who were among the wealthiest members of society? • How was Jesus able to finance 12 disciples? Remember, some of the disciples had families. How did these families sustain themselves while their husbands were wandering all over the country? • Where did the startup funds come from the “money box” that Judas carried (John 12:6)?
“What Happened to the Wise Men’s Gold? The Long-Awaited Answer.” Ethics Daily.com. Ed. Robert Parham. December 2011. Web. October 14, 2016.
Even if we think it’s not far-fetched to suggest Jesus’ gifts were used to finance his ministry, he certainly operated with low overhead and went without. It’s certainly consistent with Jesus’ overall narrative to not hold on to wealth or position in order to become a servant to all. In Matthew 8, when a teacher comes to him bragging that he will follow him anywhere Jesus tells him he has “no place to lay his head.” He ate dinner at other people’s homes. He told a rich young ruler in Matthew 19:21, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
This fun speculation should, at a bare minimum, get us to think about our own gift giving and receiving posture.
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I have quite a few gifts I remember from my childhood that moved me and had incredible backstories e.g. the cassette tape box my dad made with the help of my cousin at my cousin’s cabinet shop the year my parents could not afford to pay bills let alone have a substantial Christmas.
But, some of the more potent memories I have of Christmas gifts are the ones that were presented to me by my wife when we were living in poverty.
I was a young man struggling in the construction trades and working odd jobs when there was no house to paint or home to build. My wife also worked various jobs. We developed a taste for government cheddar.
One year, around our second or third anniversary, we were volunteering for a youth group event. I got very wild and careless and soon found myself running full- speed down a basketball court with teens in a game called, “Murder Ball.” I don’t remember how it was played, but I do remember running straight into the low bleachers and slamming my hand into the wall thereby breaking the four fingers on my left hand all at once to varying degrees.
I was rushed to the hospital. First things first, the doctor took some plier-like tools and cut off my wedding ring that was cutting off the circulation in my swollen, crooked finger. I can still hear the sound of the severed gold hitting the stainless steel pan below.
I started to cry. Partly from the pain. Mostly from the defilement of the sacred symbol around my finger. My wife stood by me assuring me it was going to be okay and that she knew I loved her even without a ring.
Have you ever lost or damaged a gift someone gave you and it rips your heart out because of the sentiment and memories CONSIDER attached to it? Have you ever seen someone mistreat a gift you’ve THIS: given them or take that gift for granted? In what ways do we mistreat the gifts our heavenly Father gives us?
Months went by where I had no ring and no money to get another. To this day I don’t know how she did it, but that all changed on Christmas morning. “Your gift is on the tree,” she said. I looked over every ornament, thinking she bought me a fun novelty ornament, which is about all we could afford. “Look harder,” she said. There, dangling from a ribbon around a branch, was my wedding ring. All fixed. Repaired. Looking as good as when we first picked it out at the frugal department store we bought it from.
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I was thrilled. And, to be honest, I was partly embarrassed and ashamed.
I didn’t give my wife a large gift that year. The gift I wanted to give her was security. A solid job. Bills paid on time. Decent food. A car that ran well. But, I couldn’t give her any of those things. We had just barely left the home of her parents whom we had to move in with for a while when there wasn’t even enough to pay rent. The best thing I could offer her that Christmas was a roof over her head, and I went to bed every night praying I could pay for it the next month.
Joseph, too, must have felt these things. At some point, as he looked around at the filth and smelled the stench of his wife and child’s fecal-filled birthing room he must have thought, “She deserves better than this.”
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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. What is the most costly gift you have ever given another? What is the most costly gift you have ever received?
2. What was more difficult for you, the giving or the receiving?
3. If money were no object or the cost were not more than you could bear, what gift would you like to give a loved one to improve their lives? How do you think they would receive that gift?
4. What would you be willing to sacrifice in order to give that gift?
5. Have you ever lost or damaged a gift someone gave you and it rips your heart out because of the sentiment and memories attached to it? Have you ever seen someone mistreat a gift you’ve given them or take that gift for granted? In what ways do we mistreat the gifts our heavenly Father gives us?
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AN EMPATH This is how we know My wife is the kind of person who hears about someone what love8 is: Jesus with a health issue and immediately thinks, “Is someone Christ laid down his life bringing them dinner tonight?” She constantly gives for us. And we ought things away to people in need. When an old man is on to lay down our lives the side of the road changing a tire in the heat of the for our brothers and day she notices and compels me to pull over and sisters. If anyone has help him. material possessions and sees a brother or Some people would call my wife a bleeding heart. I call sister in need but has her compassionate. It’s an attractive quality that has no pity on them, how rubbed off on our children, and I see them emulate their can the love of God be mother frequently. She’s made me a more empathetic in that person? Dear person. She inspires me to ask the question, “How can children, let us not love I help?” with words or speech but with actions and in It’s a Wonderful Wife. truth.
I John 3:16-18, NIV Do you relate to my wife? Who is the most empathetic person in your life? CONSIDER What do you see them doing that THIS: you wish was an innate motivation of yours? What might keep you from being more empathetic?
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Sometimes I’ve imagined that, had my wife been a close friend of Mary, the nativity hardships would have been a bit different.
Joseph and Mary were most likely in a stable connected to the home of Joseph’s own family. The word katalyma, according to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Ed. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, Eerdman’s. Grand Rapids. 1985, 543) can be translated as inn for sure, but more likely the nativity reference is associated with its other meaning, guest room.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke uses the word pandocheion to describe the place where a Samaritan took a man who had been robbed and beaten to be taken care of. He does not use the word katalyma like he did in the nativity narrative because this place is different. This was a place complete with a proprietor who would receive money in exchange for providing rest and—in this case—care.
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.” Luke 10:33-35, NIV
Katalyma is also used by Luke to describe the upper room where Jesus ate a Passover meal with the disciples—found in Luke 22—that was part of a man’s home—his guest room.
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked. He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.” Luke 22:7-12, NIV
Imagine this: Joseph and Mary are compelled to leave whatever comforts they had in Mary’s final days of her pregnancy to travel to Bethlehem—by foot—in order to be counted in a census for taxation purposes. Having had three children, I know how difficult it is to get a 9-month-pregnant bride into a car to get across town, let alone go for a long walk.
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James F. Strange, a New Testament and Biblical Archeology professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, regularly led annual excavation teams at the ancient city of Sepphoris, near Nazareth.
When he was interviewed in the LA Times it was reported:
“It was a fairly grueling trip,” said Strange...“In antiquity, the most we find people traveling is 20 miles a day. And this trip was very much uphill and downhill. It was not simple.”
... And the trip through the Judean desert would have taken place during the winter, when “it’s in the 30s during the day [and] rains like heck,” said Strange. “It’s nasty, miserable. And at night it would be freezing.”
Under normal circumstances, he said, the pair would have expected to stay in the spare bedroom of a relative or another Jewish family.
“A Long Cold Road to Bethlehem: Nativity: Gospel Accounts of Mary and Joseph’s Journey Gloss over the Arduous Reality of Life and Travel in Ancient Galilee, Scholars Say.” LATimes.com. Los Angeles Times from Religion News Service, December 23, 1995. Web. October 15, 2016.
When they finally arrive after many days, they expect to stay with family. In a guest room. Instead, they are sent to the barn because there is no room for them in the house. No room for a pregnant lady. A relative.
Where was the common decency? The chivalry? The sacrifice?
Can you imagine yourself treating a family member like Mary and CONSIDER Joseph were treated? Have you ever been treated in the same THIS: way? How might you have done things differently?
I like riding public transportation. I like to people watch. There is always some kind of drama unfolding on the bus or the light rail system. Recently, I was on a bus with my wife taking a tour through Zion National Park in Utah. My wife had just broken her leg a few days earlier on our vacation and was using crutches to get around. When we got on the bus, I kindly asked the young couple sitting in the front of the bus—that was reserved for the elderly and people with disabilities according to the signs posted everywhere—if they could move for my wife to sit.
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The young woman made quite a spectacle of herself because she was being forced to give up her seat. We all watched her rant with our mouths wide open. F-bombs were being dropped at a pace as if she was managed by Dr. Dre. One elderly gentleman thought it was his duty to put her in her place and teach her about respect. She fired back at him and said, “This is why I hate people.” We were all stunned. Not only because of her ridiculous outburst but because every human being knows it is common decency to give up your place for someone who needs it more than you.
How would you have responded to the woman on the bus? Would CONSIDER you try and instruct her about sacrifice? Would you give up your THIS: own seat? In what practical and new ways might you “give up your seat” for others?
How many children were in Joseph’s family’s home that night? Kids love to make forts in the barn. Why weren’t they asked to give up their bed? Where was the stereotypical Jewish mother—overprotecting and smothering, interfering in the lives of her children regardless of how old they are, making sure they eat enough, and exhibiting ceaseless self-sacrifice? How many cozy beds were occupied in the house by women who had gone through childbirth themselves and knew what was at stake?
Were they embarrassed? Teaching the reprobate Mary a lesson? The Messiah was about to be born and no one was making room in the inn for him.
That’s the point.
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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
1. Do you relate to my wife? Who is the most empathetic person in your life? What do you see them doing that you wish was an innate motivation of yours?
2. What might keep you from being more empathetic?
3. Can you imagine yourself treating a family member like Mary and Joseph were treated? Have you ever been treated in the same way? How might you have done things differently?
4. How would you have responded to the woman on the bus? Would you try and instruct her about sacrifice? Would you give up your own seat?
5. In what practical and new ways might you “give up your seat” for others?
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A STUDENT All Scripture is God- Back in 2012 I sat in my basement with a few friends, breathed 9and is useful teasing out details of the biblical narratives with for teaching, rebuking, theologian, semiotician, pastor, historian, author, and correcting and training a man I have the privilege of calling friend, Leonard in righteousness . . . Sweet. My friend David and I were co-pastors leading a church at the time and decided we were going to not II Timothy 3:16, NIV spend any money on staff retreats and conferences that year. Rather, we were going to give our friends a gift. We were going to invite close friends in ministry to sit in my basement for a few days with someone we really wanted to spend time with in order to hear from them in personal, up-close ways and pick their brains. Len was our first choice and we were glad he obliged.
“What is the story saying to you?” Len kept asking. “Ask it questions.” “Let the story speak.” “Do you trust the story?” There was a lot of stillness in the room for quite some time. Len has this way of throwing out thought bombs and leaving the room silent long enough to make you feel really uncomfortable and dumb, but then you realize it was just enough time to surface some great discovery and all your feelings of stupidity subside when Len points at you and says, “Bingo!”
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One of the big ah-ha moments for me that day was what we might learn about Paul when he said, “See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!” in Galatians 6. “Why were his letters large?” Len asked. I had always heard it was because he was going blind, but Len didn’t give a nod to that answer when my friend suggested it. We asked ourselves a ton of questions to get to a potential answer. “Where did Paul live?” “What was his occupation?” “What happened to him in his journeys?”
“Was he ever hurt?” someone asked out loud. “Keep going there,” Len said. “Let the story speak.” The next few minutes led us down a road of discovery where we discussed the stoning methods of the time that including putting someone in a pit or over a hillside (Like they wanted to do to Jesus in Luke 4) and rolling stones on top of them in order to crush them. Acts 14 details the stoning Paul endured. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul says he was beaten multiple times and stoned. “What do you do with your hands when something is coming at you?” Len asked. “You put them out in front of you to protect yourself. Same as when you are falling,” I said.
“Bingo!”
Can you remember a time when the details of a biblical story came alive for you in a fresh way? Did those details come from your own study or through a teacher? If it was a teacher, did they guide CONSIDER you through the discovery process or present the details? How THIS: do you best learn—through hearing or through some process of discovery? Do you have a habit of studying scripture, expecting to grapple with new ideas and perspectives? What study tools and resources have proved helpful in your discovery process?
This kind of discovery would go on for days in my basement. One of my favorite unearthing-the-small-details conversations surrounded the nativity narrative. As we sat around my basement—safe and warmly protected from the sub-zero Michigan temperatures—drinking coffee and burning candles, the setting couldn’t have been more perfect to discuss the babe born in a... stable beneath the house (Yes. Hold tight. We’ll get there soon enough).
Every once in awhile Len would give us a break from self-discovery and tell us riveting, colorful stories, legends, and traditions regarding early Jewish history— mostly things I had never heard before but trusted because I trusted Len. Len told us stories about the time into which Jesus was born and connected dots I have never before connected. He reminded us of the Hebrew meaning of Bethlehem—
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“house of bread”—while enlightening us to the fact the Arabic root of the same word would actually mean, “house of meat.”
“This is my body. Given for you...” Luke 22:19 NIV
He told us Bethlehem was a little city pushed away on a hillside that raised and housed lambs for temple sacrifices. When lambs that were raised as Passover sacrifices were born, they were wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger. This is the scene the lowly shepherds would have come upon when they saw the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. “What would they have thought?” Len asked us. “Do you trust the story?”
Len explained the ancient Jewish people were required to live with their lamb for a few days before they brought it to sacrifice during Passover. The priest would ask them three times at the time of sacrifice, “Do you love your lamb?”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. John 21:17 NIV
Len led us in surfacing the paradoxes and ironies of the Christmas story. Esteemed wise men that were well dressed and respected were not the first to find Jesus, but rather lowly shepherds dressed in rags and spit on by society. Almighty God became a human servant. A King left his throne for a manger and ultimately a cross.
CONSIDER What are some of your favorite biblical paradoxes? THIS:
Len would later write in his book, Jesus: A Theography (Sweet, Leonard and Frank Viola. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN, 2012) that, “The Living Water gospel is a cocktail of opposites, a paradoxical brew of hydrogen and oxygen, fire and wind, ‘Lord, I believe’ and ‘help my unbelief,’ as well as . . . Come and live. Come and Die. Be as wise as serpents, innocent as doves. My yoke is easy, My burden is light. You want to be first? Be last. You want to find yourself? Lose yourself. You want to be famous? Be humble...” (Advance Reader’s Copy, 55).
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Len also told us another story that would later end up detailed in the same book. One of the most common designs of homes for poor families of the first century—a home most likely the kind of Joseph’s own relatives that Joseph and Mary could not find room in—had two levels. The upper level is where the family would sleep and most likely had a guest room. The lower level was also used for living but it’s where the animals were brought in at night to sleep—the original Animal House. Only rich people had separate barns for their animals. This lower level had a fringe benefit for the poor, however. The heat the animals generated would rise through the floorboards and heat the level above.
It’s conversations and discoveries like these that have led me in recent years to strive to make the nativity come alive for people. The story is lush. Deep. Colorful. Wrought with provoking details that help us understand the overarching narrative of the God-came-to-earth story.
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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
1. Can you remember a time when the details of a biblical story came alive for you in a fresh way?
2. Did those details come from your own study or through a teacher? If it was a teacher, did they guide you through the discovery process or present the details?
3. How do you best learn—through hearing or through some process of discovery?
4. Do you have a habit of studying scripture expecting to grapple with new ideas and perspectives? What study tools and resources have proved helpful in your discovery process?
5. What are some of your favorite biblical paradoxes?
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A PASTOR So Christ himself Not too long ago, I thought it would be an amazingly 10gave the apostles, the creative idea to put together a living nativity at our prophets, the church that more accurately depicted the story. I evangelists, the pastors imagined building a small home on the church property and teachers, to equip that was split in half like the vignettes they make on all his people for works the design shows where they decorate multiple rooms of service, so that the side by side and give away a prize to the best designer. body of Christ may be built up... My larger-than-usually-acceptable nativity vignette would allow participants (not simply viewers) to view Ephesians 4:11-12 NIV and engage with the inside of a two-story little home with a cozy family up top nestled in their beds while an exhausted holy family lay below on the floor covered with hay and poop and surrounded by animals. It would be lit only by candlelight. Off in the distance, wise men dressed in outlandishly expensive clothes would be making their way towards the scene with a caravan full of treasure chests . . .
As I started telling the idea to our elder team (not really asking permission but hoping for an enthusiastic blessing) the room was silent. One of them finally spoke up and said, “No one will come.”
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He was right. No one wanted to stand outside in -20 ° weather and engage (who knows how?) with an overproduced and underwhelming nativity that messed with their precepts of how nativities should be constructed.
But, man...I wanted them to. Because engaging with this story surfaces so many things about the gospel story. Unlike an earlier time in my life when I wanted to rage against the lies of the nativity in order to keep the Christ in Christmas and so on, now I wanted people to meet my Jesus. I wanted them to hear and see the nativity in a new way that would somehow tear down their defenses and shake them up in ways the traditional scene that had calloused them could not.
This, I believe, is a job for everyone in a post-Christian numb-to-the-story world. The biggest challenge with the nativity story is not that people who don’t follow Jesus have never heard the story; it’s that they’ve heard it told poorly so many times they have become anesthetized to it.
My co-pastor Dave once tried something to provoke interaction with the nativity that smacked us in the face faster than you can say, “Chick-fil-A.” On screen at church he posted a photo of a monster nativity he found online while talking about those who adored the baby Jesus. Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon were all there. A few curmudgeonly church folk let out their audible disfavor. But, you know who never complained? The folks who asked questions about it. The ones who asked what they could learn from such a display. The ones who immediately made connections like, “Wait, am I a monster?” The ones who made connections to the absurdity of the actual cast of characters in the Bible. The ones who were eager to hear the Christmas story in a way they had never heard.
In a recent Christianity Today article, Dietrich Schindler—former Executive Director of the Department of Evangelism and Church Planting in the Evangelical Free Church of Germany—explains:
If you want to know what American churches will be facing in 20 years, look to Europe today. Contemporary Europe is a heathen continent with a Christian residue. Encroaching darkness, however, has provided European Christians with unusual opportunities to flourish, especially in evangelism.. . . People in Europe have closed their hearts to traditional presentations of the gospel (i.e., evangelistic campaigns, literature distribution, preaching, and information- based proclamation) ...
...A new apologetic is emerging that is emotion-based. Traditional apologetic approaches of gospel proclamation are having less traction among
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postmodern Europeans. This is due to the change of context in European thinking and feeling. Contemporary Europeans generally live without a meta- narrative, find truth to be subjective, are ruled by feeling and inclination, come from dysfunctional families, have experienced much personal pain, and are drifting on a sea of malaise...“
Schindler, Dietrich. “Evangelism in Post-Christian Western Europe: Six Insights What Can American Evangelicals Learn from Their European Counterparts in Regards to Evangelism?” Christianity Today. August 18, 2016. Web. October 15, 2016.
In other words, we need to become good listeners and storytellers that allow people to see themselves in the rich, timeless stories of the Biblical narrative and allow the gospel to break through their own sordid and painful story of brokenness.
Is there a method of evangelism that was helpful for you sharing the gospel once upon a time but you find it doesn’t work today? CONSIDER What methods of evangelism that were once successful in THIS: America are no longer effective? List the reasons why you find those methods to not be helpful.
The Apostle Paul was amazing at this. Just read the narrative of Acts 17 and how Paul engages in story—theirs, his, Jesus’—in order for people to experience the gospel rising up.
While God has certainly used an apologetic approach to the gospel in order to turn hearts towards him, it wasn’t really Paul’s (or Jesus’) modus operandi. I Corinthians 2 is a great demonstration of this with the first five verses reading:
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
This is how the nativity grabs us. It doesn’t say, “This is what you ought to think about Jesus.” Rather it asks, “What do you think about that!?”
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How do you define evangelism? Can you give biblical support for your definition? The Bible says evangelism is a gift (Ephesians CONSIDER 4:11). Do you consider yourself an evangelist? If not, describe how THIS: your responsibility to share the gospel as a Jesus follower plays out in your own experience.
Irish writer, philosopher, theologian, and speaker Peter Rollins says about Jesus’ approach to teaching:
Jesus made his teaching salty, evoking thirst. Instead of offering a scientific explanation that would convince, or publicizing the miracles so as to compel his listeners, Jesus engaged in a poetic discourse that spoke to the heart of those who would listen. In a world where people believe they are not hungry, we must offer not food but an aroma that helps them desire the food that we cannot provide.
Rollins, Peter. How (Not) to Speak of God. Paraclete Press. Brewster, MA. 2006. 37.
The nativity is stories within a story within a story. We would do well to tell them all. We would do well to invite people to ask and discover. We would do well to create a space for the Savior because there is no room for him.
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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Is there a method of evangelism that was helpful for you sharing the gospel once upon a time but you find it doesn’t work today?
2. What methods of evangelism that were once successful in America are no longer effective? List the reasons why you find those methods to not be helpful.
3. How do you define evangelism?
4. Can you give biblical support for your definition?
5. The Bible says evangelism is a gift (Ephesians 4:11). Do you consider yourself an evangelist? If not, describe how your responsibility to share the gospel as a Jesus follower plays out in your own experience.
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A GRAND- FATHER Children’s children are a As my kids started growing older and moving out of 11crown to the aged, and the house, my energy to make Christmas surprising and parents are the magical for my household began to wane. As a pastor pride of their children. who puts an enormous amount of energy into Christmas plans at church and seeing them to fruition beginning Proverbs 17:6, NIV each year sometime around September, my own love for the season was not hitting me until about December 23.
Pastors are repeatedly ranked among the highest stress occupations in the world. Even when they aren’t listed specifically in a Top 10 list, it’s easy CONSIDER to see how they share many things THIS: in common with other high-stress occupations e.g. event coordinators, politicians, CEO’s. Knowing this, how might you encourage your pastor(s) throughout the Christmas season?
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Grandkids helped to pull me out of my funk. My oldest daughter, Karysa and her husband, Charlie, have three kids—Clara, Betsy, and Edison. There’s something about little feet running through the room and jumping on your bed on Christmas morning that makes it impossible to not wake up with anticipation.
One of the traditions (maybe it’s not old enough to be a tradition yet) I started a couple of years ago with my grandkids includes me buying a bunch of $1 gifts out of the dollar bin at Target and putting them in a bag. The kids get to reach in and pull out one gift a day throughout the Christmas season. Some of the gifts are practical, like socks (kids can never have too many socks because they disappear or get holes constantly) and some are plain fun like coloring books, glow-in-the-dark bracelets (that always kick off a glow dance party in some room of the house like a walk-in closet), or modeling clay. My favorite gifts are the interactive ones. Poppie’s diabolical plan is to spend time with the kids and one way to do that is to create an activity we can do together.
I want to spend time because I want to get to know them. And, I want them to know me. And, I want them to know my God. When I have twisted, macabre daydreams about my funeral and what people will say, the scene always includes my grandchildren talking about Jesus.
During a not-too-distant Christmas celebration at the kids’ house, Poppie (that’s me) was kicking back on the couch and watching the kids play. “Let’s play Christmas,” Clara said. I knew what she meant by it. Just like the other times we had played house, wedding, church, and school there was going to be some degree of role-playing. Clara and Betsy began to assign parts. Edison was obviously going to be Jesus because he was the baby. I would be playing the role of Joseph. Clara assigned herself the role of Mary. Betsy, putting the narrative together in her head, realized the main parts were already taken. As I was just about to speak up and say, “Sweetie, why don’t you be the angel?” to save her from tears and ward off an argument Betsy said, “I’ll be the donkey.”
The donkey became a fun and coveted role over the next few minutes. So fun that we had to keep switching roles so everyone got a turn at being the donkey. The donkey got to eat the carpet, tickle people, lick faces, and poop on the floor—and no, I didn’t initiate that.
I realized I hadn’t been playful that whole season until that night. I was sad that I let Advent nearly pass by without embracing joy. I needed a new beginning.
I think I ripped off my youngest daughter, Kasidy, of at least a couple of years of Christmas charm that only daddies can provide. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a
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Scrooge, I was just tired and distracted, and I think it showed. I was doing a great job of pouring energy and new ideas into Christmas for other people, but my family got the leftovers. And, unlike Christmas dinner leftovers that bring joy for days to come, my leftovers were depressing. Sorry, Kasidy.
Sometimes we can’t fulfill our children’s expectations for the CONSIDER Christmas season simply because their anticipations aren’t THIS: true-to-life. How can we help our children have realistic hopes surrounding and leading up to Christmas?
Kasidy’s love for our favorite holiday has never diminished. She begins saving her money to give people presents in the summer and starts wrapping people’s gifts she’s planned for in October. She starts singing Christmas songs around September even though we have a no-Christmas-music-until-November rule in our home so Daddy doesn’t go crazy. This year, she got sneaky and just started playing 1940’s jazz to give her the feeling of Christmas in September. I couldn’t argue.
A few years ago, at the height of my Christmas melancholy, Kasidy was decorating the house for Christmas alongside my wife, as she loves to do. I was sitting in a chair with a snack and holiday libation, watching her enjoy herself. When the tree was just about done, Kasidy asked, “Where’s the nativity?” “I don’t know,” my wife answered, “Do we really need to put it out this year?”
What happened next is burned in my mind as one of the most memorable, “That escalated quickly” moments in Voelz family history.
My son came running down the stairs. “We aren’t putting the nativity out?” he whined. His disapproval was shown through volume and a long tirade about tradition and how we know how important it is to him. Kasidy started to cry. Words were exchanged.
My poor wife had been working hard all day leading up to the altercation and had no energy left to discuss why we didn’t need to immediately find the nativity, but suggested we could look for it at a later time. Because the situation had escalated to what it did, postponement of the nativity setup was just as bad as not doing it at all in my kids’ minds. Perhaps they thought a short postponement would turn into procrastination or that, when my wife had more energy, she would try to convince them we’d be okay without it for a year.
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I quietly asked my wife for permission to go look for it right away so as not to undermine her authority. She reluctantly agreed but also knew it would save her some grief the next day.
For the next few minutes I found myself going through boxes in the basement that were in disarray from foraging for Christmas décor all day long. It was funny to think that the nativity set I almost discarded so many years prior had become such an important part of our family tradition.
Kasidy helped me set up the nativity and set the wise men up on the stairs across the room so they could begin their journey on Christmas Day and arrive by New Year’s Day. All was well. The story was complete.
Is there a special Christmas tradition your family celebrates? A CONSIDER nativity? An Advent wreath? An Advent calendar? How would your THIS: family react if you forgot that annual tradition?
Years ago I was in a Kmart store when a nativity scene went on Blue Light Special (do they still do those?). I heard a woman say out loud, “Why do they have to make Christmas so religious anymore?” I chuckled to myself at the absurdity of this statement (I eventually wrote about it in a song I called, “Away With the Manger” and put it on a Christmas album I called Fleas Naughty Dog).
I’m not one to get on the ultra-fundamentalist, “Keep Christ in Christmas” bandwagon. I certainly don’t want Christmas to exist without Jesus. It wouldn’t make sense. But, even if it did, Jesus still came, died and rose again. Nothing changes here. I don’t fear the government taking away my religious holidays as a threat to my faith.
I think the Keep Christ in Christmas rhetoric has done more to harm the name of Jesus and the church than to help and surfaces a tension for me where I believe the actual bigger war on Christmas is a civil war. The grandiloquence has been mixed in with a giant sludge of political banter that purports Christians are under attack and there is a war on Christmas. Frankly, it is precisely the way many handle conversation in what has been labeled a battle like this that egg on the attack. The words war and battle highlight the obvious question, “Who are we fighting?”
It’s hard to tell someone a story while yelling at them.
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I have to believe the war on Christmas would be better won if we actually lived like Jesus. Call me old-fashioned. Call me a simpleton.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35 NIV
CONSIDER What are some specific ways we can get on board with what God THIS: is doing in our communities during the Christmas season?
In Spring Hill, TN a McDonald’s store owned by a devout Christian family has had a tradition of painting the words, “His Name is Jesus” complete with a nativity scene for over 40 years on the side of their restaurant. When someone posted a picture of it on Facebook in 2015, the picture went viral and national.
Smith, Samuel. “McDonald’s ‘His Name Is Jesus’ Nativity Scene Christmas Tradition Wows Customers.” ChristianPost.com. December 22, 2015. Web. October 15, 2016.
Of course, this would never fly in California. The Bible-belt states get away with much more than the pagan north (or west). Part of me finds it sweet that a beautiful Christian family has had this tradition for so many years and it has been passed down through their family. The snarky part of me asks, “What Would Jesus Eat?” and wishes they wouldn’t do it anymore. I digress.
Of course, Kasidy and her brother were not suggesting we were taking the Christ out of Christmas on that night we forgot the nativity. But, their reaction to what had taken place because of an oversight and busyness made me stop and understand a purer, non-militant side of the war on Christmas debate.
How do we effectively and considerately tell the story of the CONSIDER nativity to the world around us without becoming another in a THIS: sea of angry voices upset that Jesus isn’t getting the attention he deserves?
As a grandfather, especially while my grandkids are young, I want to make sure I don’t ever again allow myself to get too busy to tell the nativity story. And no doubt about it, it’s partly my job. I have their ears. Even in a different way than their parents do.
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It’s not their school’s responsibility to tell the story of Jesus. It’s not their government’s. It’s not the media’s charge. It’s not the sole responsibility of their church. If the nativity story were to either fade or flourish in any of those entities, they still need to hear the story from their Poppie.
Living in California, we are now over 2,000 miles away from our grandkids. We physically see each other a few times a year, fortunately. We are also fortunate enough to have the privilege of technology available to us unlike my parents ever did when we moved our kids hundreds of miles away from them. My heart skips a beat when my daughter texts me, “FaceTime?”
Last Christmas season, Clara read me a bedtime story before she went to sleep. It was the nativity story. The facial expressions, joy, inflection, enthusiasm, and interest in that sweet princess’ demeanor reminded me once again of the crazy power of the nativity story to point us to Jesus.
That story needs to be told, not screamed. Preserved, not just protected. Invitational not marginalizing.
It is a sin to dirty the story.
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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Pastoring is repeatedly ranked among the highest stress occupations in the world. Even when it isn’t listed specifically in a Top 10 list, it’s easy to see how it shares many things in common with other high-stress occupations e.g. event coordinating, politics, CEO. Knowing this, how might you encourage your pastor(s) throughout the Christmas season?
2. Sometimes we can’t fulfill our children’s expectations for the Christmas season simply because their anticipations aren’t true-to-life. How can we help our children have realistic hopes surrounding and leading up to Christmas?
3. Is there a special Christmas tradition your family celebrates? A nativity? An Advent wreath? An Advent calendar? How would your family react if you forgot that annual tradition?
4. How do we effectively and considerately tell the story of the nativity to the world around us without becoming another in a sea of angry voices upset that Jesus isn’t getting the attention he deserves?
5. What are some specific ways we can get on board with what God is doing in our communities during the Christmas season?
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A HUMAN I have become all things The nativity feels different in California than it does 12to all people so that by in Michigan. All the Biblical stories do. When we hear all possible means stories, they are processed and interpreted through I might save some. the framework we have to work with. That doesn’t only include things like our teachability, education, and the aptitude of the storyteller to keep our attention. They I Corinthians are also, in big ways, interpreted through the place 9:22b, NIV we live.
We can’t separate who we are from where we live. The people and places around us rub off on us and both adversely and positively affect the way we see the world and interpret the biblical narrative.
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It’s cliché and not uncommon for teenagers to say something like, “I can’t wait to get out of this town.” It’s not uncommon for adults to say similar things, thinking another place would create new CONSIDER opportunities or at least cure them of their boredom. Have you THIS: ever found yourself thinking along these lines? How might you create a new rubric through which you view your community? Have you considered ways you can create new opportunities for people to come in contact with the gospel in your community?
Any preacher will attest to this. The stories you tell as you tell the story are exceptionally important in helping people understand the biblical narrative in their own context. You can’t tell the gospel story and tell someone else’s story. The gospel story is told well through the preacher’s story and the story of the hearers. A preacher who uses someone else’s examples is not going to connect with his or her audience.
The nativity story told well in Jackson, Michigan is told best and heard through the lens of hard-working, lower-to-middle class, out of work people who know what it feels like to be kicked around. The idea that the lowliest of blue collar people were the first to hear about the birth of the Savior does not fall on deaf ears with a Michigander.
In Folsom, California—or at least part of the town—these above highlights would not be as potent. The idea that God emptied himself and became a servant might have greater flair. The fact that Jesus had no health insurance and was born in a house-barn instead of a birthing suite might give some the shivers.
Show me a good storyteller and I’ll show you someone who knows the value of context. Making new thoughts, concepts, ideas, and criticisms more tangible by placing them in the context of everyday living and helping people connect their own experience to those thoughts is part of the art of storytelling. When someone leaves church and says, “The pastor was speaking right to me” they are bearing witness to a good storyteller. You might call it incarnating the story. Making the story fleshy.
Christian storytellers incarnate the Incarnation.
CONSIDER Who is your favorite storyteller? What sets them apart from THIS: the others?
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One of my favorite books is Dorothy Sayers,’ Letters to a Diminished Church. I take it off the shelf from time to time and re-read sections. In one of the essays entitled, “The Greatest Drama Ever Staged (Is the Official Creed of Christendom),” she writes on the Incarnation:
[Jesus-bar Joseph, the Carpenter of Nazareth] was not a kind of demon pretending to be human; he was in every respect a genuine living man. He was not merely a man so good as to be “like God”—he was God . . . for whatever reason God chose to make man as he is—limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death—he [God] had the honesty and courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that he has not exacted from himself . . . When he was a man, he played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile.
Sayers, Dorothy. Letters to a Diminished Church. W Publishing Group: a Division of Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN. 2004, 2.
In crude terms, the Incarnation is how God—preexisting as the Logos—became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.
John says it this way:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-2, 14, NIV
Every time we tell the nativity story, we are speaking Incarnation.
In 2009, I was asked to write a theme song for the book, Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ. It was a huge honor for me. The song, “It’s Jesus” would be released as part of a mobile device app to promo the book and summarize the Manifesto. My biggest takeaway from the book was that the Incarnation demands my response. Inspired by the book I wrote these words:
When it all comes down, when it all makes sense When it all points to one thing, it’s Jesus When it all comes together, when it all comes to light When it all comes around, it’s Jesus
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And I know time and time again You show— Breaking out that I might know— You are who I need to know So how can I not bend my knee? It’s for this You set me free Jesus, You have captured me ...
Sweet and Viola say this so well:
There are two sides of the Incarnation. One is “God sent his son” and thus “abased Himself.” On the other side, God raised humanity and pulled us into something bigger than we are—a trinitarian vortex that we get to be part of. Incarnation doesn’t just apply to Jesus; it applies to every one of us. Of course, not in the same redemptive way. But close... the question of Mary is also our question: How can this be? How can Jesus be born in me and grow in me?
...“What would Jesus do?” Is not Christianity. Christianity asks, “What is Christ doing through me...through us?
Sweet, Leonard and Frank Viola. Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN 2010, 58-59.
Around theological tables, Sweet and Viola’s words cause some controversy. The incarnation-as-mission motif causes some to accuse them and others, like author Alan Hirsch, of weakening or “hijacking” (as one anonymous blogger recently wrote) the actual Incarnation. Don’t we have better things to argue about?
If all the super-sensitive Bible nerds and freshly graduated Bible college students could take a seat for a moment and a chill pill while they’re at it, think about these words from Alan Hirsch on the actual Incarnation:
The Incarnation embodies an act of profound identification with the entire human race...And it is God’s distinct greatness that in Jesus his love encompasses not just the great and the strong, but even the smallest—all of the little inconsequential people who suffer in their quiet corners... That is the extent to which he loves us and wills to experience unconditionally what it means to be human.
Frost, Michael and Alan Hirsch. The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church, Hendrickson. Peabody, MA, 2003.
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I’ve wanted to write a book called, Incarnation Instant Breakfast. It hasn’t even made its way into a sermon or sermon series yet. As a matter of fact, this may be the first time I have ever typed it. But, ask anyone I’ve brainstormed ideas with in relation to the Incarnation and they will tell you I won’t let this title die.
Incarnating the Incarnation does not happen while meandering. Actually, let me rephrase that because I actually do believe that God does amazing things in the passing periods—on our way to something else. In the spaces between. In the liminal space. But, those moments are still only realized when there is great intentionality about following Jesus.
Incarnating the Incarnation is intentional. When you start your day. As you move throughout it.
How are you intentional in regard to Jesus? Do you have daily routines or habits that help you to be intentional about telling CONSIDER his story? What are some practical ways in which you introduce THIS: Jesus into your everyday life and the people you do life with, e.g. neighbors, co-workers, family, patrons, people that work at places you frequent?
My wife always says, “Everybody battles something.”
She’s a great listener, and people pick up on that really fast. So, consequently she hears a lot of stories about people’s pain. And, she’s able to be hope in the midst of their pain. She is a Jesus person. She is a gift to our town and our people.
In Michigan, where we spent 11 years, pain was all around. When you talked about hope people said, “Gimmee!” Not always, but painting with super large brush strokes, a greater number of people I came in contact with were eager to hear about the good news of Jesus in the frozen tundra of depressed and dilapidated Michigan.
Of course, we still had to be intentional. We had to go where the people were. Sharing the good news was not just a proposition and a willy-nilly homily. It meant people were at our home all the time and we created space in the town and in our church for everyone to call home. We had to create space in the inn. In our inns.
Trying to breathe hope into people’s lives in upwardly mobile California is way harder than it was in Michigan. Not because there isn’t pain. Because there is and it’s hidden well. My wife refers to this as the state of being “glossy.”
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For over a year, our church has been both huddled and motivated by a rallying cry, “Find the Pain. Be the Hope.” This rallying cry came out of a series of conversations between leaders about how to intentionally live the Incarnation. “Where is the pain?” The answer was, “The Family.” Followed by, “The hope is in the church.” Jesus works through his church to be hope to the world around us.
Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!... When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. Ephesians 3:10-13a, The Message.
A few months in to the rallying cry focus we realized finding the pain was actually pretty easy. It’s all around us. Spend any time with even the most seemingly put-together people in the world and pain will leak. Being the hope, however, is incredibly hard. It requires actually doing things like giving people your time. Listening to them. Letting them snot on your shoulder and get their body odor on you. Listening to them cry. And giving them a back-lot tour of your own life and facades.
The Incarnation is at least (not at its most) about identity. The best way to incarnate the Incarnation in light of the nativity is to ask, “What is Jesus doing around me, and how can I get on board?” Jesus asked that question about the place he lived and engaged with his locale and social landscape. He influenced and was influenced by the people and places around him to which and through which he ministered.
We have to be human. To other humans. Even the ones we don’t really like. It’s not always a simple task. I recently told my church, “Loving your enemy is actually pretty easy. Unless you’re sleeping with them.”
The closer we get to humanity, the more we will understand the nativity.
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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. It’s cliché and not uncommon for teenagers to say something like, “I can’t wait to get out of this town.” It’s not uncommon for adults to say similar things thinking another place would create new opportunities or at least cure them of their boredom. Have you ever found yourself thinking along these lines?
2. How might you create a new rubric through which you view your community?
3. Have you considered ways you can create new opportunities for people to come in context with the gospel in your community?
4. Who is your favorite storyteller? What sets them apart from the others?
5. How are you intentional in regard to Jesus? Do you have daily routines or habits that help you to be intentional about telling his story? What are some practical ways in which you introduce Jesus into your everyday life and the people you do life with, e.g. neighbors, co-workers, family, patrons, people that work at places you frequent?
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AN ARTIST For we are God’s The word translated as, “handiwork” in Ephesians 2:10 13handiwork, created in is the Greek word, poiema. If it sounds familiar, it’s Christ Jesus to do the word from which we get the English word, poem. good works, which God Another way of saying it is workmanship and a short prepared in advance for meaning of poiema is, “a thing made.” God made you us to do. something beautiful to do something beautiful.
Ephesians 2:10, NIV CONSIDER Do you feel beautiful? Why or For you created my THIS: why not? inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I’ve always loved this verse as an artist because it’s... I praise you because poetic. Ephesians 2:10 is not some emotionless I am fearfully and mandate. You are a poem. A song. A piece of art. Now, wonderfully made; your go be your beautiful self. Make more art. works are wonderful, I know that full well. The Apostle Paul saw fit to use the wordpoiema once again in Romans 1:20: Psalm 139:13-14, NIV For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
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God is an artist. He makes things. He makes things that make things.
When God the artist made Jesus, he made a poem. A poem among a collection of other poems. A poem that suddenly made sense of all the other poems and love songs that had been written.
CONSIDER Not only are you God’s poem, you have a heavenly nickname (Rev THIS: 2:17). For fun, what do you think your nickname might be and why?
As a visual artist, it makes me sad if I see my paintings in storage. As a songwriter, it makes me sad sometimes to retire a song that our congregation has enjoyed. I pour myself into my art, not only to exorcise my demons or make a point—I want my art to be enjoyed. Art is communal in nature. Art is supposed to do something.
Art raises questions. Art makes us confront our own humanity. Art sometimes startles us. It sometimes convicts us. Art tells a story.
Have you ever seen a piece of art or heard a song that made you CONSIDER cry? Describe as best you can what it was about that piece of art THIS: that moved you.
As His poem—His piece of art—don’t you want to tell the story well?
I had an intern once who told me one day as we were welding an art project together that he could sum up my entire ministry philosophy in one sentence. I was eager to hear his conclusion, if for nothing else to ascertain if I was doing my job as his mentor, so I indulged him. “We make stuff and we make stuff happen,” he said. I think I started to cry.
My intern had walked a long road with me where we tried to bring the story of the Incarnation to our town through a variety of creative means. To name a few:
• We hosted an event in an enchanting renovated warehouse where artists created for 24 hours straight and folks could watch the art become in real time. They could bid on pieces of art by walking through the building or logging on to our live web stream of the whole event. We gave all the money we made to a local charity to help prevent home foreclosures.
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• We partnered with a local vintner to make a charity wine wherein we not only designed the wine itself but the artistic labels that told a great story about The Artist. We sold the wine and gave all the money to a local art school in order to fund scholarships for students who were about to be kicked out of the program for lack of tuition. • We joined forces with local garages to provide free oil and free oil changes for single moms in our town. We helped over 300 moms in one day. • A mom in our church bought a house with her husband in an impoverished part of town and provided after-school programs, clothing, education, and meals for children who really had no home or parents to go to after school. • My co-pastor David wrote two incredibly fun semi-allegorical novels and traveled throughout the state hosting live events in theaters where he would tell the stories and spark spiritual conversation. • We hosted a poetry contest in local schools in which children’s poems were turned into songs by a group of professional local musicians and played in a concert event at the theater downtown. Kids, their families, their neighbors, their teachers, and all their friends got to hear simple poems turned into amazing songs. Winners received scholarships, instruments, and a great deal of someone-believes-in-me.
If you were given the opportunity to build into a young person CONSIDER a philosophy of ministering to others, what would you hope to THIS: pass on to them?
One of the most creative, intentional, and incarnational ideas I’ve seen come to fruition in recent days is an effort known as, “Christmas Around Towne.” Lakeside Church—the church I pastor at in California—partners with other local churches in the area and hundreds of volunteers to create a shopping mall of sorts for folks that are incredibly under-resourced to be able to provide meals, gifts, toys, clothing, baby items, and other needed items. The folks who dreamed this up and see it through work countless hours to create an environment that feels like some sort of shopping mall where folks can shop with dignity for their families.
Christmas Around Towne is a piece of living art. A painting. A picture of what life can be like. What it’s supposed to be like.
A community of people helping each other. All kinds of people. Like the ones surrounding the nativity.
CONSIDER How can you, in some small way, live the nativity out for your THIS: neighbors today?
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The most creative thing we can do—no matter how we do it—is tell the story well. In brilliant detail. With enthusiasm. That’s what the nativity deserves. Nothing less.
We cannot let the nativity story fall on deaf ears.
This requires us to tell it in inventive, surprising ways.
Maybe you don’t fancy yourself an artist. You don’t paint. You don’t write songs. That doesn’t matter. You, my friend, are a poem. And you are uniquely shaped to tell the story in only the way you can.
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QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION
1. Do you feel beautiful? Why or why not?
2. Not only are you God’s poem, you have a heavenly nickname (Rev 2:17). For fun, what do you think your nickname might be and why?
3. If you were given the opportunity to build into a young person a philosophy of ministering to others, what would you hope to pass on to them?
4. How can you in some small way live the nativity out for your neighbors today?
5. Have you ever seen a piece of art or heard a song that made you cry? Describe as best you can what it was about that piece of art that moved you.
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98 CONCLUSION
CONCLU- SION I took a risk.
The construct of this book weighed heavily on my own experiences and stories. My confession to you is that halfway through I started to feel uneasy and self-centered. I confessed that to God as well and prayed that these back-lot tour stories of my own life would do what I really hope—get you to think about your own life and what to do about the nativity.
What hats do you wear? How do you see the nativity in light of those roles?
How has your view of the nativity changed through the years? Did it change while reading this book?
How can we all be more effective in telling this story?
We began this journey looking at where the word nativity comes from. We learned one of its cousins is the word cognate. Cognate is a word that means similar, alike, or related. In light of what we now know about incarnation, this is beautiful. Another close relative is the word, innate, which means native and essential. Another is the word nascent, which can mean emerging, hopeful, and growing. Finally the word nativity is also related to the word renaissance.
99 CONCLUSION
The period of time known as The Renaissance is one when Europe saw a cultural rebirth. Volumes have been written about how art, science, music, education, and religion experienced great changes during this period. A renaissance is a rebirth or resurgence.
The nativity is all of these things.
Thanks for your time.
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FINAL THOUGHT
Knowing God is the highest priority of humanity, because knowing God changes us. We hope that this issue has given you a fresh perspective and equipped you with the raw materials God can use to keep you learning the Way of Jesus.
Sincerely, Dr. David McDonald Editor, FreeMo Journals Disciple Deeply By Dr. David McDonald with Mark Van Valin
The original twelve disciples were thickheaded, ego-driven, and blind; so, clearly, you don’t have to be perfect in order to follow Jesus. But it seems like we give ourselves too much leeway to behave poorly, to think sloppily, or to interact disingenuously. because “nobody’s perfect” we don’t put a lot of effort into the process of our ongoing perfection.
We ought to change that.
Embrace All BY JOANNA DEWOLF
The best stories only get better over time and nothing captures our hearts like the story of Jesus’ birth. HONORING FRUITFULNESS BY RICK CALLAHAN
Jesus offers an abundant life–a life that is deep and wide, full of meaning and purpose.
cultivating health BY cheryl wayman
Why is it so hard to heal our broken relationships? How can God transform not only our relationships but out emotions as well? PARTNER STRONG By BEN REDMOND
Partnership is not an optional endeavor for those of us who follow Jesus. God has placed us in this exact moment of human history, and He has chosen us as His partners. Not based on our resume or talent. No, God picks His partners based on availability over ability.
So now it’s our turn to partner with God, with each other, and with the world as we find our place in the greatest story of them all.
MULTIPLY MINISTRIES By LARRY WALKEMEYER
Mustard plants are one of the most remarkable plants in God’s garden. As a spice, mustard is only surpassed in importance by salt and pepper. It is one of the hardiest and most generative herbs. Mustard multiplies.
As followers of Jesus we are often tempted to look in the mirror at our own limited dimensions and envision the future based on the reflection we see. What can I do? How much can my ministry accomplish? How can our little church have an impact? How can we leave a significant legacy?
The answer?
Multiply.
The FreeMo Journal is published 5 times each year (Fall, Christmas, January, Easter, and Summer). Subscriptions are available through Light + Life Communication and previous issues can be ordered from The Wesleyan Publishing House at (800) 493.7539. If you’re interested in writing for the FreeMo Journal, please contact [email protected]