The Greatest Gift of All: God's Presence
“For to you is born this day … a Savior”
And the angel said to the shepherds: “For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Now, here’s the heart of the Gospel, the very core of the Christmas message: “For to you …”
God does not come to us in the leisure distance of some text or phone call: “Hey, how ya’ doin?” Nor does God come to us with an inscribed card from some tropical island that reads: “Wish you were here” … or better yet, “Merry Christmas.” (What? Moving on …) Rather, God gives of God’s very self, to you, to me – we uncertain poor shepherds still out in the wiles of this early 21st century – tending our loneliness, our hurts, our needs, by night – and makes us his own – Emmanuel (“God with us”). God comes into the fear and loneliness of our little darkened rooms and says: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here with you, for you, for always …” (cf. Psalm 23:4). And what great “comfort and joy” is here! You’re not alone. I’m not alone. For God promises to always be with us. “And ALL the people were to be enrolled” (Luke 2:1).
Follow me on this … The baby Jesus couldn’t get into the Ramkota or Hilton, not even the HOLIDAY inn. “And there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7c). This allusion comes from the prophet, Jeremiah who says: “Who am I? am I just a traveler on this land who stays at an inn?” My friends, Jesus can’t get into an inn because he’s not some traveler. He’s going no where. He has to be born on earth because he’s not going to pack-up and leave. This is a permanent presence – “God deep in the flesh” (Martin Luther) – in person – con carne – for our human condition. There will be no walking out of the covenant. There will be no abandonment. This is not some tourist. This is one who’s born on earth.
The Christ Child cannot be born in an inn, because the only people who stay in inns are people who move out. They stay a night and then they leave. Rather … as we sing the beloved Christmas hymn, “What Child Is This?” … the refrain bears witness: “This, this is Christ the Lord …” who does not leave. And you have God’s personal Word on it – marked by the Cross and sealed by the power of the Holy Spirit. “This is my body given for you.” “This is my blood shed for you” (cf. John 15:13). There’s an amazing physicality here. A presence of fleshy vulnerability, wrapped in swaddling cloths. As the medieval mystic, Oetinger would remind us: “Corporeality is the end of the ways of God” (see Paul Tillich’s, A History of Christian Thought, p.262).
I will always remember a university student sharing a very “touching” childhood remembrance with me – one that involved her traveling to Disneyland. As her family was driving on the return to her home state of Montana, her mother posed this question to her: “Honey, what part of the trip did you like the best?” Her unhesitating response: “That Daddy and you could be with me, the whole time.”
Friends and family: Listen. Listen. Personal, physical presence, is the very, very best gift that we can be given. By God for us. And by us for one another, in Jesus’ name. As the Dutch theologian, Eduard Schillebeeckx has observed: “People are the words by which God continues to tell his story of salvation” (Church, p.xiii). Don’t forget this truth; especially when you’re “out there” running around, frazzled, wondering what to buy a loved one for Christmas. Share the comforting word of Christ. Share something of your very presence. Such is the understanding that inspired the Psalmist to write: “In thy presence is fullness of joy!” (Psalm 16:11). Merry Christ-mass!
Dr. John Christopherson
Senior Pastor
Thoughts on Isaiah 61
As the Babylonian exile of God’s people ends and their hope of returning to the promised land begins to be realized, the word of God through the prophet Isaiah promises hope, joy, freedom to the captives and restoration of life. But just what did that mean? What does it look like? When the messiah comes to bring these great gifts will it finally be a time for Israel to be restored to glory? Will they finally get all that their hearts desire and all the power, riches, and honor they deserve? With the Spirit of the Lord upon the messiah will there be any stopping them? Imagine the disappointment that awaited when Jesus Christ showed up as messiah. Instead of elevating Israel with power and riches, he proclaimed the kingdom of God’s forgiveness and mercy, so that all that Isaiah had spoken had to be rethought. Really, however, the gifts of God in Christ - forgiveness, life, salvation - are priceless and beyond all worldly value so that they are far more precious than power and wealth. These gifts cannot be bought, but can only be given in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Thoughts for the Second Sunday of Advent
First Lutheran Church, Under North Balcony
Advent is an expectant time, awaiting the coming of the Lord. The prophet Joel preaches God’s Word promising that even in the darkest days when doubts arise about God’s mercy and steadfast love, there is yet time to return to the Lord. In fact, the darkness and difficulty that one faces is exactly the right time to know God - not only in weeping and mourning and outward expressions, but deeply, inwardly in the heart. That is finally where the day of the Lord occurs, where God’s gracious, steadfast love and mercy comes to each one. Until God has captured the heart, while possibilities and hopes exist without God, the day of the Lord will be terribly frightening. However, return even now to God, who will pour out his Spirit upon sons and daughters, to prophesy and preach the good and gracious message of coming day of the Lord.
Pastor Lars Olson
This Weekend in Worship
Daniel in the Lions' Den, Rembrandt, about 1649
The Church’s Call to Truth in a Den of Lions
First Sunday of Advent
Daniel 6:6-27; Matthew 10:26-33
Our Old Testament text for this coming weekend, from Daniel 6:6-27 (the famous story of “Daniel in the Lions’ Den”), is what biblical scholars refer to as “apocalyptic literature.” It speaks of end times, whether the end of all earthly empires or the very earth itself (cf. Daniel 3:8-30; Matthew 24:1-44; Revelation 18). The book of Daniel as a whole challenges us with a “wake-up call” … to attend to all the false gods and vain authorities who strut and fret, but actually, in the end … will signify nothing (Shakespeare).
This text from Daniel, comes together for this first week of Advent, with Jesus’ Word of reassurance in Matthew 10:26-33; that despite persecution of those who trust and give allegiance to God alone – “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” and the God of "our crucified yet risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" – will be saved. You who march to a different drummer than those of Rome’s Caesars, of Hitler’s Third Reich, or even the Neo-Nazis in the news this past week (with their goose-stepping “Heil!”) … be not afraid. Continue as the church to proclaim the Lordship of Christ the King, love one another, share the gospel in word and deed. As Jesus reassures us once more in St. John’s gospel: “I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Yes … each of us confronts the world with all of it possibilities of gain and loss. Risk and anxiety attend our every move. Therefore, the crucial question facing all of us – in every moment – in every time and generation – is the matter of trust. What or who can we finally trust? What is our foundation for hope in the midst of “wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6)? This is the question of all existence. It is this question which gives all of life its religious dimension. In the face of such risk and insecurity we place our trust here and now there. We are tempted to place our trust in the ways of ourselves and the world – of materialism, nationalism, nuclear build-up, some political party or messiah figure who promises to “save the day.”
Yet, again and again we discover our trust betrayed. Is there anything, anyone finally trustworthy ... that from which we are given a foundation for hope – even in the darkest of times? To seek what is fundamentally and finally trustworthy is to come before Christ’s cross that points us toward a future … one which, as with Daniel and Jesus’ disciples of every age … has the power to reveal strength even in the midst of weakness, hope even in the midst of hopelessness, and life even in the midst of death … of a cave (note the revelation even to ol’ King Darius in Rembrandt’s sketch depicting “Daniel in the Lions’ Den”), a tomb that stands empty (read Matthew 27:62 – 28:10) … because God’s truth will always overcome any and all “lion” (lyin').
dr. j.r. christopherson
Jehoia-who?
Jehoia-who?
By Pastor Katherine Olson
This weekend’s reading from Jeremiah (36:1-8, 21-23, 27-28) describes the prophet’s clash with a disobedient king named Jehoiakim. When I first learned of the Scripture passage appointed for this weekend, my first thought was “Jehoia-who?” Most of you probably share my reaction – so for those of you who might like a refresher on ancient kings of Judah, read on.
At the Lord’s command, Jeremiah had his scribe Baruch write down the content of his prophetic preaching on a scroll, and then ordered him to take that scroll into the temple for a public reading (since Jeremiah was no longer welcome inside). Baruch carried out his duties, the scroll was read in the hearing of the people, and then the king’s cabinet members decided that Jehoiakim ought to also hear the words that called the wayward nation to repentance and posited a challenge to the status quo.
The scene then shifts to a chamber inside the palace walls – the king cozies up next to a fire in his luxurious winter apartment and hears the words which threaten his job security. As his servant read the scroll aloud, the king ripped shreds of the scroll off with a penknife and tossed each word, column by column, into the blazing fire.
Professor Roger Nam observes: “King Jehoiakim’s response, though deplorable, is not surprising in that the destruction of prophetic words is natural for a ruler who is both paranoid and massively self absorbed….(but) instead of eliminating the word of God, Jeremiah 36 shows that it is more powerful and lasting than the actions of a narcissistic king. The words of Jeremiah continue to find power two millennia later. King Jehoiakim is merely a footnote as a disobedient king.” Jehoia-who indeed!
Upon reading Nam’s observation about Jehoiakim’s “paranoid, massively self-absorbed, narcissistic, and disobedient” temperament, I smirked: “Gee, we wouldn’t have any political leaders like that in our world today, would we?” Yes, like many citizens in our country I’m still smarting from the events of a bitter political season. But my sense of smug contempt was soon tempered by another thought: “There’s a little king (queen?) that exists within my own heart…I possess all those same qualities too.”
I’m still working on my sermon for this weekend, but if you come to church, you’ll hear something like this: in Jesus Christ, we have an entirely different King, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself…he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8) Exalted by the Father, he has also promised the riches of his kingdom to poor sinners like the criminal hanging on the cross (Luke 23:39-43), sinners like you and me.
Let us pray. King Jesus, obliterate the disobedience, sin, and selfishness that exists in our hearts by the fire of your Holy Spirit. Remember us in your kingdom, which, unlike all earthly powers, shall reign forever and ever. Amen.