Peter Loughman is one of the pastors at First Pres. Anchorage, he writes that his wife committed a horrendous mistake their first Christmas as husband and wife. What she did was rip open her gift. Doesn’t sound too bad does it? Until you realize, as Peter explains, "Mom’s way of gift wrapping was to separately cover lid, and base of a box with paper so to wrap a gift all you had to do was place the item in the box and put on the top. To open simply slide of the top, Re-use next year." The box which Katie had torn open was 15 years old.
Peter then asks a very good question, "Are we too concerned with the package? Jesus – how could we miss him?" [1]
There are many who would worship the wrapping rather than the gift. Who will fight for the disposable and toss away the eternal. Who will ooh and ah over the pretty and not touch the life changing. Who will Season this season with songs, thoughts, concepts, decorations, and approaches to life that are okay; but just okay. And in doing this they risk missing the most incredible season of all, the season of God’s love.
To Season our Glorifying we have to make sure we’re praising the right things. Thus our focus is on Christ. We need to consider means by which we glorify Christ. Our worship, consideration of the things God and living out Jesus’ agenda become part of the season of our lives.
An amazing thing occurred the night Jesus was born. "God became flesh." So overwhelmed, the angels couldn’t help but allow their song of praise to blast out across the pastures near Bethlehem. The most wonderful news was told to a group of shepherds. We don’t know how many. We don’t know if they herded their sheep into the town when they went to see the baby (logic would say no). We don’t know what the angels looked like. But, what we do know is the glory of Heaven had become a human baby. And the glory of the Lord shone around those sheep bound lives on that very night. That those charged with glorifying God shared it with those just like us. And when these shepherds had seen the baby they too returned with joy.
A hymn from 1811 Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning was written by Reginald Heber for epiphany. He was later became bishop of Calcutta. The hymn has been set to at least four alternative tunes, rather than just Harding’s "Moring Star". My favorite version came from 1972 when singer/composer John Fischer recorded it on his Still Life album.
Listen as I read the verses for you.
Brightest and Bless
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!
Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom and offerings divine?
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?
Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would His favor secure;
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
Focusing on Christ as opposed to the other good things that the season brings. A Charlie Brown Christmas seems to lead to the point where Charlie Brown cries out, "Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?" Linus calmly walks center-stage and recites Luke 2:8-14. When he’s done he walks off stage and says, "That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown."
If you haven’t realized it, our world is a bit uncomfortable with Luke’s message. So much so, that when the cast of the TV show Scrubs created their own track for Charlie Brown’s Christmas the message of Linus is given by Dr. Cox who tells his young questioning newbie:
"You can stuff your stocking with shiny little toys…; but until that stocking is filled with friendship, loyalty, love and devotion, well it’s just plumb empty. And no, you can’t purchase those things at Laura Ashley’s. And no, you can’t win them in the Redbook Giveaway Extravaganza. And gee! I’m sorry if these aren’t things you can wind up and watch spin for eight hours.
Let me make this exceptionally clear! Christmas is about love. You can’t live without other peoples love. Not during Christmas, not ever. So got spend that time with those friends and family. And if they laugh at you, laugh with them. And if they laugh at you again, hit ’em and go find some new friends.
But, for the love of God, Jesus, Mary, Joseph and his technocolored dreamcoat don’t ever, ever forget this newbie, you have to give love to get love. So start giving, Now!"
God loves us. God comes to us. But our culture insists we are at the center of things. In the original show Charlie Brown rehearses the words of Scripture as he stands outside with his sad, little tree. In Scrub’s version he decides to invite others and as a last minute invite tells God that he’s invited too.
Don’t get sucked into this cultural understanding and explanation of Christmas and what it means. It’s NOT about family and friends any less than December 30th, March 3rd, July 23rd, of October 1st is. Followers of Christ know that family and friends are important year round. Christmas is about God’s love for us.
If our focus is on Christ how do we glorify Jesus in appropriate ways? Glorification and worship cannot be separated. Worship is God-directed attention. When done well, each part of our worship becomes an intimate, personal and corporate opportunity to tell God how wonderful He is.
A disturbing trend that has popped up in the church the last 20 years or so, a disconnect has occurred between what is called "worship" and "teaching". Worship has become synonymous with music and teaching with talking. You will hear some people comment about how the teaching was good but the worship was off. God’s word teaches that worship includes music as well as our offerings, periods of teaching, praying with and for each other and even eating together.
How do we Season our Glorification?
"Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness " Psalm 29:2 & 92:9. Notice we worship in God’s splendor not the splendor of the creation or our own splendor. We worship God because he is so much greater than us and deserves it.
"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him Psalm 37:7 "Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still" Psalm 4:4. In the huge acrostic Psalm 119, meditation is listed six times. We are instructed to meditate on God’s precepts, statutes, wondrous works, promise and all God has done.
To meditate on God is not to become a spiritual zombie. It is to set apart time to reflect upon, consider, think about, intellectually wrestle with the truth of God’s word. In the midst of everything that happened those first Christmas days, the Bible says, "Mary treasured up all these things." She thought about what the message the shepherds brought. Just as she wondered at the announcement by Gabriel, that she would bear the Christ.
Do we make the time we need to consider what God has done for us? Do we take the time to think about, to ponder the mystery of God’s love for you and I? Do we pause from the things we have to get done to do what is really important, be with God?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:7-8 Throughout John’s gospel there is a theme that obedience, doing what Jesus tells us to, living like Jesus wants us to live the proof that we really love God.
And here’s a third way in which we glorify God, by what we do. Colossians tells us to make the most of all time and to act wisely. Isaiah tells Israel, and us, that our sacrifices are meaningless, what God desire is that we learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless and plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17 "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Says the Lord in Hosea 6:6
How does our life match up with the desires of God’s heart? Are we living lives that are just or do we seek to get ahead anyway we can? Do we plead for those with no voice or seek the favor of the powerful? Are we engaged with our community or locked away in our family or homes?
It’s too late to shop for Christmas 2007. It is almost too late to impact your taxes for 2007. But it’s not too late to begin the heady task of glorying our Lord and Savior by focusing our lives on Him; choosing to spend time pondering the things of God; and in doing the right thing.
1 http://sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=97043 accessed December 18, 2007
