Unprecedented

It’s a white Boxing Day in Memphis after flurries (that didn’t stick) on Christmas Day.  Both very unusual, but not unprecedented.

This morning I began to read Luke.  What strikes many readers in chapter 1 is that Zach and Mary seems to have similar responses to the angelic promises, yet Zach gets struck mute in judgment.  Mary’s concerns seem to be valid:  “How on earth will this happen, since I’m a virgin?”

But Zach’s concern seems justified to modern readers as well.  We all know about being too old to reproduce, and we all know about being barren.

One big difference here is that Zach, being “righteous in God’s sight” (1:6), should have known his salvation history well enough not to doubt that God could give life to a dead womb.  It wasn’t frequent, but it certainly happened, and if an angel of YHWH showed up to tell you that grace was falling on you, there was really no option but trusting the God of Abram and Sarai and buying a skin of wine to split with Elizabeth.

But Mary’s pregnancy had no precursor.  Her question for clarification shows that something new was happening in salvation history, something that was even greater than what happened for Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah.

The Messiah came in an unprecedented fashion, precisely because he himself was unprecedented.

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

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And another Christmas gem

And another Christmas gem from the greatest singer-songwriter in Memphis (my opinion, which is nearly infallible).

 

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A Few Christmas Gems

(1)  The story of the 1914 ceasefires in the trenches of WWI may say more about humanity’s love for soccer (“football”) than about humanity’s love for each other.  But it says something and it is worth a read.

(2)  My friend Gerald has written a beautiful Christmas poem.

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Silent Night

This is an article written by Eamonn Brennan of ESPN about a great Christmas tradition at Taylor University-

Taylor University is an NAIA liberal arts Christian college in Upland, Ind.,and has perhaps the best hoops-slash-Christmas tradition in the whole wide world. That sounds like hyperbole, but it’s not that far off.

What is this fabled tradition? It’s called “Silent Night.” Every year around Christmastime, Taylor students and fans pack the school’s gym as they would any other game. Only on “Silent Night,” the crowd dresses in pajamas and stays absolutely silent until Taylor scores its 10th point of the game. What happens then? Bedlam.

In fact, it’s probably best you just watch the video for yourself:

Yep. Bedlam.

 
The Christmas-y fun doesn’t stop there. In the closing moments of the game, Taylor fans unite for a singing of “Silent Night,” and then reconvene for a school-wide Christmas party called Christmas Fandango where the school president reads the Christmas story, students compete in gingerbread house-making contests and children tell Santa what they want for Christmas.

In other words, if you don’t like Christmas — and yes, plenty of people do not like Christmas, including my roommate — do not go to Upland, Ind., on “Silent Night.” You probably wouldn’t like it.

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Joyeux Noel

The video above is from my second favorite Christmas movie (first is “It’s a Wonderful Life”), Joyeux Noel. It is the story of the French, German and Scottish soldiers on the frontlines in World War I who call a truce on Christmas Eve and celebrate Christmas together. I don’t want to give too much away, other than to say that the experience transforms the soldiers. The clip above is of Christmas Eve night, as a German opera singer stationed on the frontline sings “Silent Night” to his fellow soldiers. The first song is the Scottish soldiers singing “Dreaming of Home”. It occurs a couple of times in the movie, and reminds us that at Christmas, our celebration is rooted in our longing for Home.

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Better Days

This is one of my favorite “Christmas songs”, Better Days by the Goo Goo Dolls:

And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days
Cuz I don’t need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight’s the night the world begins again

And it’s someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And thats faith and trust and peace while we’re alive
And the one poor child that saved this world
And there’s 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight’s the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now
Cuz tonight’s the night the world begins again
Cuz tonight’s the night the world begins again

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Let It Be To Me

Our familiarity with the Christmas story might keep us from appreciating how difficult and even frightening it may have been for the people in the story. Luke tells us that Mary’s initial reaction to the Gabriel’s presence was that “…she was greatly troubled…” (v29). Gabriel tells her not to fear, and explains that even though she is a virgin, through the power of the Holy Spirit she will be the mother of the Son of God! For any woman, the news that she is going to be a mother is filled with both fear and joy. For Mary, how much more would this be true? Because she was “favored by God”, she was going to have a baby! But she was a virgin and betrothed to Joseph, how would he respond to this news? What would her family think? And this would not be just any child, it was to be the Son of God who would sit on the throne of David and His Kingdom would never end. Was she ready to be the mother of God’s Son? We can only guess as to what she was feeling, but we are told how she chose to respond. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” We must be careful not to read this as Mary resigning herself to an inevitable fate. No, this is Mary responding to amazing and overwhelming news with a staggering statement of faith. She was filled with humble confidence in her Lord. We see this faith spelled out a few verses later in the “The Magnificat”. Mary’s song praises God for His holiness and mercy, for His strength and compassion. Mary’s submission to God’s will is rooted in her faith in God’s character and promises. As I consider Mary’s faith, I am reminded of how often I respond to far less overwhelming circumstances by questioning God and reminding Him of my plans and what I think is best for me. Hearing Gabriel’s news will lead us to the kind of faith that Mary had. Mary’s son is Jesus, our Savior. In sending His own son, God has shown that He is merciful “…to those who fear Him from generation to generation” (v50). When we know this kind of love, we can say we with Mary, “let it be to me according to your word”.

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Love Must Be Made Flesh

The quote below is from Bono, discussing his thoughts while meditating on the Christmas story during a Christmas Eve service in Dublin:

“It dawned on me for the first time, really. It had dawned on me before, but it really sank in: the Christmas story. The idea tha God, if there is a force of love and logic in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, in (dirt) and straw…a child… I just thought:”Wow!” Just the poetry…Unknowable love, unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and it’s not that it hadn’t struck me before, but tears came down my face, and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this. Because that’s exactly what we were talking about earlier: love needs to find form, intimacy needs to be whispered. To me, it makes sense. It’s actually logical. It’s pure logic. Essence has to manifest itself. It’s inevitable. Love has to become an action or something concrete. It would have to happen. There must be an incarnation. Love must be made flesh.”

from Bono, in conversation with Michka Assayas

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Born a Martyr

“The whole of Christ’s life was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified, even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of one and the same day. From the creche to the cross is an inseperable line. Christmas only points forward to Good Friday and Easter. It can have no meaning apart from that, where the Son of God displayed his glory by his death.”

John Donne, The Book of Uncommon Prayers

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