WORTH CELEBRATING EVERY DAY

Some Christians only go to church two days out of the year, at Christmas and Easter Sunday. In their defense, those are the two biggest days of the Christian year, celebrating the two biggest events in history.

Christmas, of course, is the day it was reported, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

And on Easter we remember that although that child, now a grown man, had been murdered by authorities two days earlier, on the third day those coming to mourn him were greeted by an empty tomb and asked, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5)

That sacrifice and resurrection were key to a rather joyful development, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

The one thing those twice-yearly visitors may not fully appreciate is that those two bookends of Jesus’ journey are worth celebrating every day, not just on those two specific days of celebration.

And so, Merry Christmas! Happy Easter! 

-- Warren Bluhm

#6256

GOD’S GENTLE WHISPER – Part 2 of 2

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV)

I have two practices at the beginning and end of the day that help me listen to God’s “gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12)…

My evening practice is a time for self-reflection or what some call “the daily examen.” For my nighttime ritual, I simply review my day and ask the Holy Spirit to help me accurately assess my relationship with God, myself, and others. I typically ask myself three questions:

• Is there anything I need to celebrate?
• Is there anything I need to confess?
• Is there anything I need to change?

Sometimes this means getting up and making a note to do something in the morning or even sending a text. It’s the ongoing work of keeping my heart clean and removing anything that hinders my inner world. The gentle whisper of God recalibrates my soul.

So, whether it’s early in the morning or late evening, God’s whisper is transformative. And it’s the space between, in the everyday-ness of life, that the whisper gets lived out. I cannot tell you the number of times that something God has spoken into my heart becomes a word for someone sitting in my office seeking [pastoral] counsel at 2 pm. Afterward, there is a sense of God’s confirmation that I am hearing from God not just for myself but for the well-being of others.

-- Jorge Acevedo in “Everybody Needs Some Cave Time: Meeting God in Dark Places”

#6243

REMEMBER WHAT WE CELEBRATE

"But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as His very own children. And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father.’ Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are His child, God has made you His heir."  (Galatians 4:4-8)

On this eve of Christmas, whether you feel yourself to be surrounded by earthly blessings or whether you feel your blessings to be few, set aside those thoughts and concerns long enough to remember what it is that we are celebrating: God’s loving plan to bring you home to Himself, through the gift of Jesus Christ.  

-- Nancy Guthrie in “Advent: Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room” 

#6016

 

CELEBRATING WHO WE ARE

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”  (John 1:12-14 NKJV)

Knowing the stories of our faith, and how they connect with our own life experiences, means that we can celebrate the faithfulness and grace-bestowing love of God that was given to Abraham and Sarah, to the Israelites in Egypt and in the wilderness, and to the disciples. We can celebrate what is given to us as we join others in claiming God’s purpose and rejoicing in God’s love as we gather at the Lord’s table. We can celebrate what will be given to us and to all creation in times yet to come because God is faithful and God keeps His promises.

We know who we are -- children of God loved and forgiven and called by God! And we know Whose we are -- children of God called to be witnesses to God’s love and care for all the world. We are therefore able to share in festivity that grows out of our shared stories and visions. Our identity as God’s children -- His beloved sons and daughters -- causes us to seek ways to celebrate and repeatedly affirm that we are who we are! 

-- Adapted from “Rituals for Resurrection” by Linda J. Vogel

#5740

A WAKEFUL FAITH

If wakeful Christians harbor a wish for heaven to fulfill, they wish not for an escape from reality, but for a deeper acquaintance with reality. When wakeful Christians lament this life, they grieve this world’s trivialization of itself that obscures the more profound reality of the Kingdom of God in our midst. Yet, more often wakeful Christians celebrate life, finding the mark of God’s hand in this world and beginning their praise with the discovery of the holy here. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory,” the seraphim sang. (Isaiah 6:3) Wakeful visions of other worldly praise reveal angels singing of God’s reign on earth as it is in heaven. 

-- J. Marshall Jenkins in “A Wakeful Faith”

#5519

VICTORY IN JESUS

“Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie -- the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ ‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”  (John 5:2-9 NIV)

Anyone who can be in a landscape of joy while maintaining immunity to it hasn’t come to the end of himself. He hasn’t experienced how good the good news really is. He should see that someone else’s victory over hopelessness is our own victory, because Christ has brought the same liberation to every single one of us willing to say yes, to stand, and to walk. Once we’ve been to the end of ourselves and the beginning of Christ, we share our victories together, and parties break out at unpredictable moments.

-- Kyle Idleman in “The End of Me: Where Real Life in the Upside-Down Ways of Jesus Begins”

#5400

A COMMUNITY OF CELEBRATION

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”  (Luke 15:20-24 NIV)

When we as failers fail and then come to our senses, we should be eager to return home to our Christian community because we know what to expect.

We do not expect a chorus of “I told you so’s.” We do not expect a group of accusers and theology monitors. We do not expect to jump through hoops to prove we’re repentant. No. We expect a party.

That is what Christians do with failers. We are irresponsible just like Jesus. We do more than instruct, we surprise. We do more than pray, we party. We do more that correct, we dance. And we do more than love, we celebrate.

Just like Jesus. 

-- Michael Yaconelli in “Reckless Grace,” Discipleship Journal, No. 109


#4430

TAKING A KNEE

Some football players, when they break away for a go-ahead score or cause a key third-down sack, want to be sure they get their full ESPN's worth -- the dances, the struts, the jerky moves they've been saving up for just such an opportunity.

Then there's the other approach -- the guy who rips off a long touchdown run, flips the ball back to the referee, and trots to the sideline without all the show and the secret handshakes. He lives by this code: Don't act like it's the first time you've ever seen the inside of the end zone. Look like you've been there . . . like you never expected to be anywhere else.

When Jesus returns, you can be sure there will be a lot of people doing a lot of tap dancing, trying hard to prove why their occasional big plays should be enough to earn them a spot on His team. But eventually, "every knee" will bow, "in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11). That's when the people who'd already humbled themselves before Him on earth will have no hesitation taking a knee and giving Him praise in heaven. It'll be like they've been there... like they never expected to be anywhere else. And where they'll be thankful now that there's no more penalty for excessive celebration.

-- Joe Gibbs in Two Minute Drills online devotional


#3589

NOT CELEBRATE?

Not Celebrate?
Your burden is too great to bear?
Your loneliness is intensified during this Christmas season?
Your tears seem to have no end?

Not celebrate?
You should lead the celebration!
You should run through the streets
to ring the bells and sing the loudest!
You should fling the tinsel on the tree,
and open your house to your neighbors,
and call them in to dance!

For it is you above all others who knows the joy of Advent.
It is unto you that a Savior is born this day,
One who comes to lift your burden from your shoulders,
One who comes to wipe the tears from your eyes.
You are not alone, for He is born this day to you.

-- Ann Weems in Kneeling in Bethlehem


#3561

THE JEWELS OF REMEMBRANCE

The death of a dear one is the most profound of all sorrows.  The grief that comes with such a loss is intense and multifaceted, affecting our emotions, our bodies and our lives.  Grief is preoccupying and depleting.  Emotionally, grief is a mixture of raw feelings such as sorrow, anguish, anger, regret, longing, fear, and deprivation.  Grief may be experienced physically as exhaustion, emptiness, tension, sleeplessness, or loss of appetite.  'Grief invades our daily lives in many sudden gaps and changes, like that empty place at the dinner table, or the sudden loss of affection and companionship, as well as in the many new apprehensions, adjustments, and uncertainties.  The loss of a dear one throws every aspect of our lives out of balance.  The closer we were to the person who died, the more havoc the loss creates.  Love does not die quickly.  Hence to grieve is also 'to celebrate the depth of the [relationship].  Tears are then the jewels of remembrance, sad but glistening with the beauty of the past.  So grief in its bitterness marks the end … but it also is praise to the one who is gone.'

-- Judy Tatelbaum in The Courage to Grieve


#3275