I must have been 10 years old when the anxiety hit me. I sat amidst the crumpled paper when it dawned on me, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” As I surveyed my gifts, however, I knew—the descent had already begun. Like a subtle heresy, clothes began to creep into the mix. There were plenty of toys, new diversions I was eager to get to. The joy of anticipation, however, was tempered by the clothes and the realization that next year there would be more clothes. Perhaps even, God help me, underwear. The spirit of Christmas future was haunting me.
I had adopted the creed of Sally Brown, Charlie’s younger sister. Surveying her lengthy and demanding wish list to Santa, Charlie Brown, the round headed sage, chastised his sister for her greed. Her response? “All I want is what’s coming to me. All I want is my fair share.” Lucy van Pelt complained she never got what she wanted, real estate. I wanted children’s things, and I wanted to stay a child.
While I suffered from greed, my understanding of Christmas wasn’t exclusively materialistic. I understood we were celebrating an event, that center stage of the Christmas Pageant was not the North Pole but the little town of Bethlehem. It was an awe inspiring thing to see how the world changed each Christmas season. The universe of a ten year old, home, school, television was a swirling Christmas display. All because of what happened in a small town halfway across the world two thousand years ago.
When that event happened, however, the world did not change. Those in the know were very few. The world, in fact, was busy tending to the business of keeping Caesar happy through the census. The shepherds were tending their flocks with care when they heard the Good News. The magi sought the child, following the star. It’s the ultimate in dramatic irony- all Israel awaiting a mighty king to restore their glory and throw off the shackles of Rome, receiving a baby, long promised but unnoticed. That Christmas they received not a toy soldier but clothes, swaddling clothes enshrouding a tiny newborn.
We, the audience of the future, know what happened, what became of the baby. At Advent we look backward to that time before Christ that we might experience looking forward to His birth, recreating the joy of anticipation.
The Spirit of Christmas Future haunted Ebenezer Scrooge with the ultimate burden, giving him a glimpse of what was to come. That spirit was a false prophet. Because of Christmas past, Christmas future points no bony hand down to his grave but a living hand up to His grace. The Advent is coming again.
Christmas future is not about clothes or toys, not about secrets or subtle portents in the stars. It is not about a darling, sweet baby. Christmas to come won’t be heralded by angels singing in an out of the way pasture. Like the shepherds, we will all look heavenward and will be sore afraid. All the world will know as He comes in judgment. The mightiest of warriors, He will bear the sword and not in vain.
But we, who are His sheep, who know His voice, look to that great day with great anticipation. We will be as children again, His children. He will remove all our burdens, wiping away every tear. And we will receive no new clothes. For when He comes we no longer need to stand clothed in His righteousness. When He comes in glory we will be glorified, our sanctification complete. Like Adam before us, we will stand before Him, naked and unashamed. We will see Him as He is and be like Him.
Never again will we look backward with anticipation. We will look forward, moving further up and further in. Each day we will be astounded that it does indeed get better than this, every day perfect yet every day better than the last, on into eternity.
On that glorious day, wisdom is given to all. Not just three wise men but all men everywhere, sheep and goats, will bow the knee and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. I was a foolish 10 year old, for there is every reason to look forward to Christmas. When we look to Christmas future our joy outshines the reborn Scrooge. God bless us, one and all.
The Bible is faithful to tell us what has come to pass. It, in turn, rightly also tells us what will come to pass. Our faith can faithfully be summarized with these three affirmations, two historical, one future- Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. What the Bible doesn’t tell us is what might have been. What if Adam and Eve had not eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? What if Boaz had not wakened on the threshing room floor? What if Judas’ remorse had come when he was merely thinking of betraying Jesus, and he had stopped short? The Bible doesn’t say.
Hollywood, on the other hand, is not so averse to showing us what might have been. Movies have been made about a world where Germany won the war, or the south defeated the Yankees. No movie better captured the “what if” however than It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey is given the blessing of seeing how his own life, however hard it may have been, was a blessing to all around him. Working families without homes, a druggist guilty of manslaughter, even a whole troop ship lost in the war were just a few of the ripples flowing from a world without George Bailey. We walk away from the story, I pray, more grateful both for the lives that have touched our own, and for the beauty and grace of the providence of God.
The problem, as with so much that is so delightful about the advent season, is that in giving thanks for this, we miss giving thanks for that. The glory of God’s providence isn’t ultimately that God allows us to minister to and bless each other. The wonder isn’t that our lives are wonderful, but is in the life of Him whom we call Wonderful. The ripples that began in a manger become that tsunami whereby the kingdom of God covers the world as the waters cover the sea.
And that is the very story of history, the mother of all drama. World wide wars, epidemics, the rise and fall of nations, the destruction of Pompeii, economic collapse, all these are but shadows of the real story, the conquest of every principality and power by that babe who was born in a stable in a podunk town, in the middle of a bureaucratic hassle.
The reason we remember the five evangelical feast days (Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost) is so that we never lose sight of where our story is going. Christmas isn’t something that happened while the world was going on its way. It is instead the very way of the world. The world was made for Christmas, not the other way around. The life of the world is the wonderful life of our Lord. It began when He sang it into being. Drama came with the fall that He ordained. The promise sustained His people. And then, in the fullness of time, a hero was born. He grew in wisdom and stature, and took the weight of the sins of His people upon Himself. The Great and Terrible Father breathed the very fires of hell on His own Son.
Because, however, the Hero was an innocent man, death could not hold Him. He walked out of His tomb, setting the world aright. From there He rose once again, this time to a throne, where He rules heaven and earth. From there He sent His Spirit, to give birth to a people, to sanctify a bride, to conquer all His and our enemies. This is our story, because it is His story, and we are His. What might have been, had He not been born, that is not a bit of Capra-esque entertainment, but a nightmare we need not imagine. Because He was born.
Lisa and I pray daily that God would be pleased to use our work to bless the people of God. As noted in an earlier piece on why I write we desire to be changed and be agents of change, to be a tool in the hand of Jesus as He washes His bride. To that end we produce, every week an online Bible study, every weekday, the 20 minute podcast, Jesus Changes Everything and on youtube the 5 minute podcast, Ask RC. To that end we publish written pieces here six days a week. It is with the same goal in mind that we do all that we do, including Lisa’s work through The Purpose Driven Wife, speaking opportunities and my editing and writing projects.
God has provided for us this past year as we have produced this teaching, though of course, as for many people, it has been an intense financial challenge. Starting a new ministry in the midst of a pandemic takes more valor than discretion. Our goals for the coming year include planting a church, training men in and for gospel ministry, as well as ministering to pastors who are dealing with depression, burn out and scandal.
All of which explains why you might consider supporting Dunamis Fellowship. If we have been a help to you as you seek to better reflect the glory of our Redeemer, if you agree with us that we can and will help others in the same way, we are praying you will prayerfully make us a part of your regular giving. Raising support is not my strength. I suspect it may not be anyone’s strength. But I try to keep before me these two nuggets of wisdom I received from my father- 1) It takes a million dollars to do a million dollars worth of ministry and 2) Why should anyone be willing to give to a work I’m not bold enough to ask them to give to?
Which is why we are asking. The process is abundantly simple. You just click the button marked “Donate.” From there you will be led through the process for either a one time gift or more regular giving. Gifts to Dunamis Fellowship are tax deductible. If you prefer to mail in a check, email us at hellorcjr@gmail.com and we’ll help you with that. We are not a church and are not your church. We are, however, seeking to serve the broader church. Maybe you want to give from your stimulus check, or from a year end bonus.
We are so grateful to those who have given in 2020. For those who commit to giving monthly, we are happy to send you a copy of my newest book, Call Me Barabbas, co-written with my friend Paul Derry, and signed by me. Just let us know it is your intention to give monthly and send us your address. It’s just one way of both expressing our thanks, but also fulfilling our mission.
We will be here, God willing, with podcasts and posts on schedule even through the rest of the holiday season. Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, just like Christmas Eve, we will seek to serve the body with everything in us. God bless you and may you have a merry Christmas.
Truth is I have neither read nor watched Les Miserables. I’m not much one for musicals and well, I have no other excuse. As I recall part of the story is about a man who is sentenced to five years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving sister. He serves 19 years because of his persistent attempts to escape, and eventually begins the long and difficult process of becoming a better man. He is a most sympathetic character.
Sympathy is a good thing. Anyone left feeling unfazed at the prospect of a man serving five years in prison over a loaf of bread had better check for a heartbeat. That said, sympathy, like any other emotion, can lead us dangerously astray.
Enter Lisa Herbold, city councilwoman in the workers’ paradise that is Seattle. She is proposing legislation that would decriminalize what would otherwise be crimes, assault, larceny and more, if the perpetrator could be shown to suffer from mental illness, to have an addiction or to be in poverty. Not mitigate punishment. Not involve social services. Decriminalize. Which would ultimately mean, should this become law, that the mentally unbalanced, the addicted and the poor are entitled to the wealth of their neighbors.
The God of heaven and earth is full of compassion and grace. He is well aware of the reality of poverty. Sympathy is His passion. And yet He never made it open season on the mentally balanced, the free from addictions and the prospering. What He did instead was call upon His people to exhibit the same compassion He exhibits. He set up in Israel a system of gleaning. All landowners were commanded by God to practice it, allowing the poor to pick up the fragments from the fields, to harvest from the corners and thickets. There was, however, no civil penalty for failing to do so. More important still, while the landowner had this duty, no particular person had a right to glean any particular field. The landowner was the one with sole discretion on who might glean his fields. God’s system managed to provide for the desperately needy without enabling or entitling them, and without undermining the property ownership of property owners.
What though did God command of those who stole, hungry or not? Had Valjean lived in Israel would he have served five years over a loaf of bread? No. He would be required to make restitution for his theft. If he hadn’t the resources to make the restitution he would become the debt slave of his victim. He would have the opportunity to work off his debt. He would not be locked up like an animal. He would not be coddled like a baby. He would be treated like a man.
Our Lord calls us to compassion. But also to wisdom. We are to feel what He feels. We are also, however, to do what He commands. Compassion followed by following our own wisdom on how to work it out is folly and leads to destruction, making all of us the miserable downtrodden.
Just so you know, Jesus Changes Everything, as well as blog posts, will continue through the holidays.
Thesis 53- We must believe He rules over all things.
Rome could not help but trip over her own feet. When you get the gospel wrong the error does not stay hermetically sealed, leaving everything else safe. Rather, the whole ship goes down. Rome, seeking to elevate the church, created a two-tiered world, not just distinguishing, not just dividing, but separating the sacred and the secular. The Reformation, in turn, did not seek merely to get this doctrine or that straightened out, but sought to bring every thought, as well as every word and deed captive. They understood, as we must once again come to understand, that Jesus rules over all things.
While contemporary evangelicals are not making the exact mistake Rome made we have divided reality into two worlds. We are happy to affirm that Jesus rules over our spiritual lives, that He reigns in that kingdom that resides in our hearts. Our broader lives is where things get a bit fuzzy. He impacts our work in the sense that we try to live ethically there. He is present when we are at play in the sense that we don’t want to commit any of the really bad sins. But our attitudes, perspectives, even our convictions often are simply inherited from the world around us. When we find cognitive dissonance between what the world says and what the Word says, too often we embrace the former and massage the latter. Then we justify what we’ve done by separating our faith from the rest of the world.
It, the world, however, is all His. His reign knows no bounds. There is no issue over which He has no opinion, and no opinion He has that is not true. He commands of us that we take not some, not most, but every thought captive to His obedience. That means when I think through how a man has peace with God, I must submit to Him. When I think through how to understand the culture wars, I must submit to Him. It means that I must fear Him and not the disapproval of the world.
The irony is that we can have the courage to face the world because He really does rule over it. When we stand firm in rejecting the sexual anarchy of the broader world and are vilified for it, every bit of hardship that comes our way, whether we are cancelled or driven out of business or put in prison, it is because such is what He ordained for our good and His glory. We need never fear He is in heaven wringing His hands over what we are going through.
Our calling isn’t, however, just to stand against the forces of change and shout “STOP!” Our calling is to make manifest, that is, visible, the glory of His reign. We are to press the crown rights of King Jesus where’re He reigns. Where does He reign? Everywhere. Reformation means re-forming, in the power of the Spirit, ourselves and the world around us. Jesus reigns.
