Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Lamplight 

Isaiah 43:18-19

“Remember not the former things nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing something new, do you not see it?” 

This is the time when you’ll see a lot of programs on T.V. that look back at the significant events of 2011 and that is a good idea. Someone who is wise once said, “Those who don’t remember history are condemned to repeat it.”  We can learn from the past, from our victories and from our mistakes. 

I guess that’s why the Bible places such a high premium on memory.  There are 244 verses that call us to remember. For example in Deuteronomy 32 Moses sang new song about the old days, “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask your father and he will show you the elders and they will teach you.”  In other words those who are younger should ask those who are older what life was like back then, and how God moved. 

Now the people of Israel were great for remembering the old days.  Read the Old Testament and much of it sounds like the words of a parent to a teenager today. “You don’t have to do it just because your friends are doing it. I did it, and it was a foolish, and I don’t want you to make the same mistakes.” 

The Bible tells again and again that we ought to remember until we hit this prophecy in Isaiah, “Remember not the former things nor consider the things of old.” 

Now, I don’t believe that the Bible is squaring off against itself; that Moses and Isaiah are at opposite ends.  I don’t believe God has changed his mind.  I think he’s just telling us we need to have some balance.  We need perspective.  Sometimes we can get locked into the old days.  Memory can become a trap. 

That is what happened to Isaiah’s congregation.  For eighty years they had lived as strangers in a strange land.  Their grandparents had been hauled across a thousand miles of desert by a conquering Babylon army and there they served as slaves.   

To keep the memories alive, every night after dinner Grandpa would talk about the old days when he lived free in a land flowing with milk and honey.  He spoke of God and how great God was and the great things God did and the great men and women of faith who lived back then.  This was good and it was important, but all of it was in the past tense.   

So, after a while that’s the way people began to look at God – in the past tense.  Consequently, few considered that God might be with them today in the present tense, and fewer still had any notion that God might do something tomorrow in the future tense. 

That’s why God said, “Remember not the former things nor consider the things of old, behold I am doing something new, do you not see it?”  Do you have eyes to see and ears to hear? 

God of eternity, we know you old the future in the palm of your hands because you have promised through your Word, “I know the plans I’ve made for you for your welfare to give you a future and a hope.” Grant that we may have eyes to see this hope fulfilled in this coming year and throughout our lives.  Amen.




Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Lamplight

"Yes, I am coming quickly". Amen. Come Lord Jesus

Revelation 22:20

Nearly the last verse in the Bible quotes a promise from Jesus, "Yes, I am coming quickly." That was two thousand years ago, so we must wonder if he broke that promise or if his understanding of "quickly" is different than our own. I think the latter is true because the passage of time is a relative thing. For a child waiting on Christmas morning the few hours he or she must wait until Mom or Dad get up can seem like an eternity. But, when Grandma and Grandpa reminisce about Christmas’ past when their children were young it seems to them like they flew by in an instant. Though time is constant, our perception of it is not.

There is a lot of waiting in Christmas, and in fact there is a lot of anticipation in the Christian faith. We don’t receive all that God has to give all at once. The Bible says, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." Growth is gradual and is filled with peaks and valleys. We look forward to those Christmas Eve moments when "all is calm and all is bright", but we must also struggle through those times when there seems precious little "joy in your world."

That is when we most fervently pray, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come." This final prayer in the Bible probably refers to Jesus’ Second Coming, to his return to our world, but it is also the same prayer anyone offers who needs Jesus in their life right now. Whether the Christmas season bodes joy or sorrow born from loss, the power of this prayer remains the same. A favorite Christmas Carol echoes our prayer:

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend on us, we pray;

Cast out our sin and enter in, Be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels, The great glad tidings tell.

"O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel."

That’s where the "Merry" in Christmas really comes from, so to each a joyful and Christ-filled Christmas.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Lamp Light

“Desiring not to put her to shame,
Joseph resolved to divorce her quietly.”
Matthew 1:19 

          Relationships are full of surprises.  The things you learn about a person after you say, “I do” can either stretch or strain the bond that was created.  When God is present and central; the commitment and strength to face the obstacles follows.  Where God is absent those challenges can overwhelm.

          Joseph was a man of his times, and they shaped the expectations he had for Mary his bride-to-be.  First among those was that she would come to their honeymoon hotel innocent and inexperienced.  When it became known that Mary was with child, his marital vision shattered.  There was only one explanation that made any sense. 

          In that time the options would be two.  Either shame her publicly, in which case she could be stoned, or divorce her quietly so that she might have an opportunity to move to another community and create a new life.  What Joseph did not see, until God revealed, was a third option; marry her and raise the child as his own. 

          This Joseph did, and then he disappeared from scripture.  Not much is said about him after that, but I can’t help but think that much of Jesus’ understanding of what it meant to be a man must have come from his adoptive father.  He took on Joseph’s carpentry trade after all, and I’m sure that he learned from him more than how make a board straight. Joseph was also his model for manhood.  He saw in him decency and dignity.  Joseph gets short shrift, but quiet steady men often do. They find deeper rewards that extend beyond themselves to those around them and those that follow. 

          So, “Merry Christmas” Joseph. Without you the story may have ended before it began.

          Lord, we thank you for steady men whose actions speak louder than their words.  Grant that we may learn from them and from their example become an example of faith to those we hold near and dear.  Amen.