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“that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭74‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Chances are that most of us have had an experience surrounded by fear, influenced by fear, and maybe even stopped by fear. We see the effects of fear from very early in the Bible, specifically in the book of Genesis in Chapter 3. When we think about this very closely connected to and influenced by Sin. It wasn’t just sin that entered the world when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.

Does this mean that fear is sinful?

I don’t want to say yes but in many instances I believe that it can be. We have to remember that in some instances fear can be helpful to keep us safe. So on a personal level that fear can be helpful to protect us. However, when we look at the existence of fear on the corporate level, or when fear entered the world, we have to look at sin and what sin created when it entered the world in force.

When sin entered the world, suddenly Adam and Eve were afraid, but prior to this event, all of creation is seen as living in harmony. We even have later prophesies especially from Isaiah

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬-‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

What are the things that cause us fear, the brokenness of our world. Imagine if the image that we have from Isaiah was real, that their would be harmony, there would be peace. Imagine if the brokenness that sin brought into our relationships, more specifically our relationship with God. If that sin did not enter the relationship between God and Adam and Eve, the relationship was one of being present with each other, a closeness, and life giving relationship that did not have fear in it. Once we have sin, suddenly we fear, we recognize God’s holiness from a distance and seeing it through our sin, instead of seeing the fullness of God’s love through our closeness to Him.

When we start to live life with out fear, not belittling who God is but recognizing that we are living with out fear because of what God has done through Jesus Christ in our lives, we are living at peace with God, in His world. If God is for us who can be against us? Remember when we are walking closely with Jesus, we are entering each situation humbly with our Lord, not with just ourselves and our limited strength but with the infinite strength and grace of our Lord and Saviour.

Happy New Year everyone.

As I have been taking a little time to spend with family over this Christmas break I must admit it has been busy. With all the planning that many people spent on Christmas only to have parts of it interrupted. It is always a busy time, planning services, dinners, visiting, catching up, giving of presents and the such. But this year I was confronted with a few truths. With many storm stayed, separated from families, and well laid plans that were suppose to be fulfilled in a certain time, they weren’t.

In the Western Church we celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but this is not so for everyone. Even the different practices and traditions are not universal, yet people risked their lives and others and were heart broken when the plans to be present on Christmas did not work out. The pressure that we have put on Christmas seems wrong all of a sudden. I am not against Christmas and celebrating the birth of Jesus, but there was a quote from a movie that puts Christmas into a wider perspective, it is not just one day a year but it should be everyday. I am not saying that we are to give presents, and have grand feasts everyday, as much fun and work as that would be. But if we are trying to stuff all of our love and giving into one day, we are missing the point of Christmas. God came in Jesus, not for one day but for lifetimes, for eternity.

The Christmas Eve service that people had stressed over, happened. Not as planned, not as full, not with the expected people but it happened. For some it was just what they needed. For others it may have fallen far short of what they expect. But on Christmas Eve, not for an hour but for many hours people lived in the gift of Christ, in the true gift of Christmas, where God’s love is shared with strangers, with people who have little in common but a storm and a desire to be welcomed. I am sure that if this happened on any other day the welcoming would be the same but on Christmas we are reminded of a fragile traveller who changed history and this happened for many people this past Christmas. Their lives were touched by God’s grace and love.

Let us pray.

Glorious God, whose word brings life to the most common person or one who is socially higher. You bring lower the proud and give new hope to the lost. Your voice calls to the wayward and speaks living grace to the corrupted. Lord as we approach the Bethlehem manger once again, revisiting Your Holy entering into Your rebellious creation, we pause not sure if we are looking to Your past presence or to Your coming again. Our yearning hearts are filled with expectation of what should be and what could be. We are having to see beyond what is and what our earthly eyes can perceive to witness Your divine hand leading a revolution through Your redeeming grace.

We are challenged to go beyond our notion of giving and look to Your elaborate gift in Bethlehem. We too often miss the value of the messiness that You entered into to bring together the faithful, the blind, the ignorant, the hurting, the lost, fearful, common people yearning for a glimpse of Your divine love to touch their broken reality, to touch our hurting lives. You did not come as one wielding great power but as one whose gentle, fragile life, free of sin, could enter in and welcome even the lowliest person or one with such pride. Lord help us to not get lost on the journey to Bethlehem. Help us to ear Your words challenging our status quo. Help us to see the work that Your Holy Spirit is doing in lives that we too easily blind ourselves to. Help us to share Your good news that our saviour has come. We pray this all in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, from conception, to birth, to first steps, to first friends, and first kisses, to life together and life with You Jesus. Our feeble steps do not always register with ourselves but You know each and everyone. As we approach the brightly lit night of Your birth so long ago, we yearn to experience the awe and excitement of the shepherds who were greeted by the choir of angels, who cowered in fear, and proclaimed the good news to towns people along their route.

We want to proclaim the good news of the beauty of God’s love shining through baby Jesus, but our eyes are distracted by other beautiful sites around us, our ears hear the songs of self indulgence, our hearts strive to better ourselves but miss the uplifting truth of Your life lifting us up to abundance.

Lord we struggle with the busyness of this season. We know that You are at the heart but we too easily get led away from Your centering love. The running and planning too easily get in the way of being present, of sharing the Good News, given from heaven and birthed in the ruggedness of living creation.

In the singing and eating, in the waiting and rushing, help us to focus on You, the word made flesh to bring reconciliation and healing to our broken lives. In the simplicity of a manger You have transformed broken lives into lives gifted eternal life. Gracious Lord we thank-you. We pray this in Your holy name. Amen.

Are you ready for Christmas?

I am sure a few of you have asked the question or been asked it of yourselves. What if the answer is no, I’m not ready. Can some of us pause time or switch the date while others go ahead because they are ready. People ask two similar questions that reach to a deeper level of our spiritual lives and our wanting and expectation.

Why did God wait so long to come in Jesus, the first Christian Christmas? And why hasn’t Jesus returned as promised?

Somewhere, someone is wondering how did we get to this point. Let’s take a little bit of a look at all three questions which are all very similar.

Jesus was born into a specific time and place. To a certain cultural experience and time where the message that God has for His people could be heard, experienced, and spread. Yes earlier before all the bad things that humanity had done might seem better, but would we have heard and listened. Even now with the greatest technological, communication, and relational reach that we have we still struggle to hear the life saving Gospel.

Timing is everything. The world situation that enhanced the spread of the good news in a way that took root and has grown to change the course of our history. Whether we like it or not God came in Jesus at a time when we humans were ready to receive Him. Not with grandiose celebrations flaunting wealth but with humble gatherings in the back corner of a barn. On side streets, and obscure fields, on hillsides and at people’s dinner tables.

We may not like God’s timing but what if it isn’t God’s timing that we are really mad at but our own ineptitude and really God is being compassionate and caring to our stubbornness and sinfulness.

2 Peter 3:8-9 remind us of this truth. “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”
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Are you ready for Christmas? Are you ready to receive the gift of Jesus? Are you ready for God with us, shining His holiness in our lives? Are we ready to humble ourselves before God and admit our sins and receive His grace, forgiveness, and love.

The names that Isaiah gives to his listeners referring to Jesus are incredible.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Each of these names has a profound meaning with great depth that many of us who have not had to reach out to Jesus for our very grounding and existence may not recognize. Whether we see counselor as someone who helps to bring grounding into our lives or as one who advocates for us, the help that many people who are wandering or struggling can appreciate the importance of divine help in the seemingly mundane complexities of life.

Believing that Jesus is strong enough to face and all the heart wrenching problems of this life brings hope to the broken, sin sick, and devastated among us. Knowing that the one who has called us His own can defend and provide for His redeemed in a world filled with broken promises calms the anxious heart.

Everlasting Father reminds that even in this world filled with death and grief, broken relationships, and the absence of true love, God is our stable, everlasting ‘Father who will not be taken away, tempted or corrupted. In this truth we find hope and comfort to find rest and renewal in the one who gives instead of the one who is empty and devoid of love and takes away.

Hearing of the Prince of Peace in a world of striving and wars whether from Isaiah’s time says that this to shall pass. The blood soaked ground will be washed in the holiness of God, sins will be washed away and a right living will happen, encompassing all of creation. The contrariness of our current situation will cease and the wholeness of heavenly living will descend into incarnate living.

Yet the prophecy that Isaiah preaches in 7:14 sums up the greatness of Jesus’ Gospel and the importance of relationship in the Gospel,
14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).
Immanuel, God with us.

Where is Jesus when I was sick?

God with us.

Where was Jesus when I was looking death in the face?

God with us.

Where was Jesus when I was at my lowest point in my life?

God with us.

where was Jesus when . . . ?

Immanuel, God with us.

May we have the eyes to see Christ, and the ears to hear Him calling to us, inviting us into His peace.

Let us pray.

Lord, when our strivings seem to be insufficient to please those who judge us, when the accomplishments turn into failures, when our hearts loose hope, help us to be still with You.

Lord, when the world around us tries to sour our hearts to Your unfailing love, when perceived friends speak their truth, yet in our weaken state our hearts collapse under the wait of stress to our hearts and minds and souls. Our striving to do good and make a difference fall short of someone’s expectations. Too often we give more heart to the damaging words than to You Lord, the giver of our life.

Lord have mercy on us in our strivings. Too often misguided, unfocused and lost to the most important, we wander in this life but we don’t give to You the attention we should. Our expectations are skewered yet we still call us with the expectation that we will respond to Your voice, that we will respond to Your love and grace, that we will follow You, obey Your holy word, live the sacred life that You have blessed us with.

Help us to be still in Your presence and not be distracted by our frustrated strivings. Help us to know that it is You who needs to move us not us trying to move You. Help us to rediscover worshiping in the heart of Your grace instead of worshiping ourselves in Your name. May our whole being learn to worship You in Your fullness once again to truly live in Your joy, in Your life, so that our lives would be in tune with You. Lord we pray this in the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.