Entrances

The title of the ancient hymn, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, in a way does not seem realistic, especially around this time of year.  How are we to keep silent in this the busiest time of year?  We have presents to buy; decorations to hang; parties to go to; endless preparations for Christmas.  And what about “Joy to the World”, or “O Come All Ye Faithful”?  These aren’t exactly silent expressions.

Yet that is exactly what that opening line of this hymn from the liturgy of St. James of the 4th century demands…silence.  Of course “Joy to the World” and all those other beloved hymns and carols have a place and express the joy that we feel when celebrating once again the birth of Christ.  The other stuff of Christmas also has its place even though they seem more like trappings at times.  What does all this mean?  Where is it going?  

It may be related to imagination.  One part of this hymn in particular takes my imagination to another place; another time; another realm.

First off, the hymn can be used as a communion hymn any time of the year.  The last line in the second stanza says, “He will give to all the faithful, his own self for heavenly food,” and points to a Eucharistic celebration.  There are elements of both Advent and Eucharist contained in the lines.  However it is most commonly used during the Advent season and speaks to the miraculous Incarnation.   The thought that comes to mind is contained at the beginning of stanza three.  It reads:

“Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way, 

As the Light of Light descendeth from the realms of endless day;

That the powers of hell may vanish as the darkness clears away.”

I checked on the word ‘vanguard’ the other day and it implies an entourage that accompanies a king on his way to or from a battle or other major event.  I can envision Heaven as the great plan of salvation begins to unfold.  The unnumbered hosts of Heaven have known about it for eons, and the time has finally come.  The ‘commanders’ (if there are such things among the angels and other ‘hosts’ of Heaven) gives the order and everyone forms two lines, each facing the other, beginning at the main gate; banners of some kind raised; trumpets blare some sort of fanfare.  Christ, the Light of Lights descends, getting smaller the closer he gets, and in doing so brings light to a dark world.  He intends to vanquish the darkness once and for all.  It is a kind of journey ‘downward’ to earth as he takes his place among us in the form of an infant.  

I can’t imagine the transition.  Leaving eternity, this boundless God, who is his own eternity, becomes one of the most helpless of all creation – a human newborn; what an amazing thought.  

At the same time the demons of Hell are getting more and more nervous.  They are terrified of this Light that is descending.  They can’t bear to look at him.  But, when they realize what is going on – that he is coming as an infant – they begin to sneer with glee thinking, ‘this shouldn’t be too hard, to defeat a baby.  We’ll just alert old Herod and he can carry out our plan’.  All along they do not realize what is really going on.  Their power begins to weaken at the very presence of this one who is the light of all eternity.  Becoming an infant will not change that.

Trips of imagination are part of the Christmas season, I guess, and this scene has always taken me to other places; fired my imagination.  

Our response?  Silence.  Just stop for a while and ponder what’s behind it all.  Stop the ‘hubbub’; stop the frenzy.  Recall what it’s really about; how God in Christ came to us from his eternal realm, where he was the Light, to become one of us; an infant; one who depended on his mother for everything, and did what all infants do.

Recall how this infant grew up to become a kid, a teenager, then a grown man who ministered to the lowest of the low; who forgave; and ultimately provided the final sacrifice for our sins. Remember how he can dwell in us now and fill us with love so great he welcomes everyone into his kingdom.  

Most of all let’s occasionally just…be…silent…and let this miracle soak in.  Imagine him descending from the halls of Heaven, entering his mother’s womb and finally being born in a barn.  Find time to just be silent and listen…somewhere…sometime…it will give you a new perspective on the season.

He is born; the Messiah has come.

Thanks be to God.

Epiphany

This is not about the beloved season in the church year following Christmas where we celebrate “God with us,” in the person of Jesus. This is about, once again, seeing something in scripture that I have seen or heard about hundreds of times in my life. This morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks, and I do not want it to ever go away.

My morning devotion time consists of using a Bible app on my phone to hear some scripture read. Recently I was led — I guess — to begin a plan whereby I read an Old Testament passage, a Psalm, a Gospel passage, and a section of an epistle. This takes abut 10 minutes and the app reads the passage. As of now, I am in Joshua 8, Psalm…about 78, Matthew 12, and Romans 8. Joshua chapter 7 showed me something that was an epiphany and eye opening like I have experienced only on occasion before. Something has lodged itself in my mind and has brought me to a place of silence. It is about a love so profound that we cannot begin to comprehend it.

In the Old Testament, if you sinned a certain way, you could be put to death. Prostitution, adultery and other things could be death if you were caught. Joshua chapter 7 talks about Achan, who stole some things that belonged to God. Israel was going to go up against Ai to hopefully conquer it.

Israel got creamed. They had a lot of success since entering the promised land, but not this time.

Joshua was distraught and fell on his face before God. God told him to “get up” and search for the reason of this dismal failure. Joshua called all the tribes to himself and questioned them. Finally he found out what had happened. A guy named Achan had stolen some things — including silver — from what had been consecrated to God. Joshua sent some guys to check it out, and sure enough they found the stash in Achan’s tent, where he had hidden it away.

Big mistake.

Here is what grabbed me this morning. Even though Achan confessed, he was still put to death, along with some family members, and burned. 

The point: After the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ we need to remember that when we sin, no matter what it is, Jesus was put to death for our sin in our place…  Achan died for his own sin. Jesus died in our place for our sin. What an incredible thought! He voluntarily took our place. 

Sometimes something hits you that you’ve known all along, but at a particular moment grabs you and will not let go… and you don’t want it to. Our sins are atoned for because Christ died on the cross in our place. 

Isaiah 53:5 says it loud and clear. 

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (NIV)

I want to live every moment “under his care,” realizing his willingness to take our place as the means back to God.

Thanks be to God.

Back Yard Cathedral

I am a morning person. No question about that. Come 6:00 and I am ready to get on with my day. Being a morning person — and Carol is definitely not — gives me time to have a favorite breakfast, check a little bit of tv while eating, then spend some time in devotions. This time with God is precious and an important part of my days. Things become clearer, my mind relaxes, and my heart tunes with God.

Recently I decided to once again go outside for my devotional time. Weather does not always allow that but it definitely did this morning. Carol and I got our new patio and pergola put in last summer, and we have had a grand time with it. It is indeed a lovely place.

That particular morning was pretty special. It was about 7:00 and the temperature was about 70 degrees. The sun was just coming up, streaming through the branches of trees, and a gentle breeze moved through from the West. The tree branches, the landscaping, grass, and surrounding bushes and weeds all responded.

I have a very large walnut tree in my backyard. I don’t know trees that well, but I know this one is walnut because every fall I need to pick up what seems to be thousands of walnuts and move them off my grass. Fortunately I have a large natural barrier between my property and the duplexes next door that runs right by the walnut tree. It gives us some good privacy, and me a place to put all those walnuts. There are several other large trees about the same size close by and they form a kind of ceiling. The rising curvature of the trunks and the ridiculously rich green create that ceiling resembling the sanctuary in a gothic cathedral. This particular morning while I was listening to scripture being read on an app on my phone it dawned on me that this was a place I was supposed to be. The trees ascended and formed a partial green covering, then suddenly opened to revealed a perfect blue sky with only a few wisps of cloud moving along.

My devotional time continued with daily readings from Keller and Yancey, followed by a time of prayer. The whole time was rich with God’s gentle presence calming me and moving me to silence. Silence is not easy in our world anymore. Distractions seem constant. Sometimes it takes moments like this to get us to be quiet, while we listen and God talks. This brings to mind a time when someone asked Mother Teresa how she prayed. “God talks and I listen, then I talk and He listens,” was her direct, to the point answer.

My little backyard cathedral reminded of a couple of places in Scripture that speak to the beauty and majesty of creation. The very first few verses in Genesis say that God was pleased with it all saying, “That’s good.” Psalm 8 starts out by declaring the majesty of God's work and how his glory is reflected in all of creation. Psalm 24 declares that all of the earth belongs to God and reflects his glory.

Oh yeah, let me tell you about a little squirrel. He comes each morning to my patio and stays for a few moments. He showed up this morning also. If he has found a storage place on my patio for walnuts I have not discovered it yet. This morning, he went about half way down the main trunk of the large walnut tree and stopped and glared at me for a bit. It was like he was saying, “Uh…excuse me, but are you finished yet?” In my crazy frame of mind, I spoke to him saying, “Ok, kid, don’t get all impatient with me. You’ll get yours soon enough.” Ultimately he left and went to another part of the tree. I thought, God takes care of his creatures, and the squirrel lives in a walnut tree…I mean…it can’t be better than that, right? Don’t worry, I don’t talk to squirrels on a regular basis.

I know not all mornings are like this. Some are cooler, overcast and not as lovely. God, however, is the same, and is continually calling us to be silent before him.

I love Psalm 46, verses 1 and 10. “God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble.” Verse 10 speaks to the silence that I experienced this morning, “Be still and know that I am God.” This morning I seemed to experience something that was bigger and more profound than I. It silenced me and I have a feeling it changed me also.

Thanks be to God.

Inner Workings

Inner workings

It has been a while since I’ve written a blog, but I feel like I have something I must share with you.

For several years in my life I struggled with sinus infections and colds. I lost a considerable amount of weight sometime ago and since that time things have gotten better. I’m not over them completely, they are just not as frequent as they used to be.

Recently I had one of the worst bouts with allergies I’ve ever had. Headaches, drainage, getting rid of phlegm, all that with a hard cough. These hard coughs have been common all my life. It also seems to be common in my family. The hard coughing actually caused a muscle pull in the upper part of my left leg, and when I would cough, or move my leg up or down, I would experience a new momentary misery.

By the way, it was not Covid. I got tested in April and the results were NOT DETECTED.

I took medications of all kinds, hoping to calm some of the symptoms. I had to keep a list of medications I was supposed to take, and when I was supposed to take them. This was to help me keep it all straight. This was in addition to my daily diabetes medication.

I also prayed fervently, even fiercely at times, probably even disrespectfully, being in such misery. I would demand to know why God did not relieve me when He could do so with just a passing thought. However, I am eternally grateful for His patience with His children when we act like this.

As it turned out, He did not answer those prayers the way I was asking.

I was feeling lousy physically and in my spirit as well.

Then, during my morning devotional time, something came to mind – – probably from the Holy Spirit. Do not pray for what is apparently not God’s will at that particular moment. Rather pray to be in God’s will no matter what it may be. It seemed that He had something better in mind than a simple healing from allergies.

Admittedly, allergies, colds, and things like that are common enough, and most of the time not that severe, although my coughing fractured some ribs a few years ago.

Perhaps the most shocking part of my story happened just a few mornings after that. Suddenly I began to feel better. I don't know if healing was taking place or that the process had begun. After more than three weeks of misery, I was calming down, which no doubt helped.

There are still some things hanging on, an occasional milder cough, some drainage, an occasional tickle, but I am learning how to “baby” some of these. Even the muscle pull seems better.

Galatians 5, talks about the fruit of the Spirit. I have to confess that the one piece of fruit in my own life that is weak is patience. My spiritual battle had centered on that. Then I remembered something I saw in an article that said, the fruit of the Spirit comes from the Holy Spirit Himself, not the Christian. Apparently exercising any of these fruits is the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul says in Ephesians 3:20 that there is a power at work within us. That power is remaking us into the image of Christ daily and renewing the fruit of the Spirit.

I have been deeply humbled by this whole experience. I have learned that God cares about small things, and we should not hesitate to take them to Him and to express our deepest frustrations, fears, angers, and hurts. After all, if one of our kids came to us like this we would seek to calm them first, and then listen as we begin to help settle the issue.

May this power — God’s power — be at work in us always, and may we just be still and know that He is God.

Thanks be to God.