Tell (and Re-tell) the Story

Jesus saves

A couple months ago, I became familiar with the game Telestrations. In this game, players are given a word or a phrase that the next player must draw a picture of. Then the next player must write a word or a phrase based on what they think was drawn in the picture. This continues for several rounds until at the end of each player’s pad, you can see the progression of what was the original word or phrase to what the word or phrase became at the end. The difference between the two can very often be quite shocking.

This game, while funny to play, only goes to show that messages can get off-track sometimes. People often don’t hear what was initially stated because of miscommunications along the way. That is just a fact of human life.

That is also why we as Christians continue to tell the story of Jesus and his love over and over to people. We do not want the message to get confused or garbled in any way. We want the truth that Jesus died on the cross for our salvation to be perfectly clear to all if you are the first person or the one thousandth person to hear it. That is why we have church every week: to bring the message home again and again. So tell the story of Jesus and keep telling it. Then let the Word take root in the hearts and souls of all who hear it.

No Mail

no mail

When I visited my mom recently in her new senior living community, I noticed this sign next to the mailboxes: “Mail is not here” with a big red X (see picture above). The sign made me chuckle since I can only imagine how many times people must have asked the staff, “Is the mail here?” before a sign like this went up. When the mail does come, a different sign that says, “Mail is here” with a big green check mark is set out.

We are creatures of habit, and getting the mail is an important part of a person’s daily routine, to be sure. But we are also an impatient people. We want our mail sooner than later. And we are a people who like to be in control, and we are not at all in control of when the mail comes each day.

These tendencies play themselves out in our faith journeys well. How often do we develop routines of faith, praying only at certain times, for instance, or sitting in the same pew at church or attending the same service each week. Theses are not bad routines in and of themselves, but if they prevent us from growing in our faith or being open to other schedules or opportunities, then we need to say, “No!” to the over-routined life of faith.

As for being impatient, we know well how impatient we are just having to wait in the doctor’s office or having to watch for a pot to boil. It is hard, then, for us to comprehend how long God’s people waited for a Savior to be born. Yet patience is required as we look toward our Lord’s return. So we must say, “No!” to impatience.

Needless to say, we don’t have much control over anything in life, so thinking that we do can be detrimental to us. That is why it is important for us to remember what St. Paul told us, “You ought to say, ’If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that‘” (James 4:15). It is helpful for us to say, “No!” to any attempt to try to have control over our lives, turning whatever will happen over to God.

In the end, God has a plan, he has a message to bring and he will deliver it in his time. What a day that will be when Jesus returns to say, “I am here!”

A New Creation

new life

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Though I have read this very many times, I have noticed something different this time around. There is a certainty, a sureness, a definitiveness to it. It is a given that newness comes with those who are in Christ. We can count on it. We can be confident that we are being renewed day by day through our Lord and Savior.

The turning of the calendar to a new year does not necessarily dictate or determine a fresh start. But being in Christ assures us of it. Forgiven and freed through the death and resurrection of Christ and through the cleansing waters of Baptism, we are made new each morning to live our lives in and through Christ, to become more and more like him.

So don’t give up. God always gives us another chance. So in essence, every day is like New Year’s Day in the kingdom of God.

Auld Lang Syne

auld lang syne

We sing or hear the words “Auld Lang Syne” every New Year’s Eve, but never think much about what these Scottish words mean. The words literally mean, “Old Long Since,” so the phrase sung throughout the song “For auld lang syne” loosely translates to “For the sake of old times.”

So what are you remembering this last day of 2024 “for the sake of old times”? Perhaps it is a wedding or a birth or anniversary in the past year you want to hold dear in this moment. Maybe it is a job change, a vacation, the ending of a bad habit that you want to celebrate today. As Christians, it is important for us to look back and see the hand of God at work in our lives. God has carried us through each day of this year and has safely brought us to the beginning of a new one. That is a blessing never to take for granted. So whether you sing “Auld Lang Syne” or not this New Year’s Eve, be sure to say with the psalmist today, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (Psalm 126:3).

A Merry Little Christmas

little Christmas 2

”Have yourself a merry little Christmas,” I say to you today, in the words of that familiar song. Why the word little? Perhaps it is because we each have our own personal ways of celebrating in our individual families. Maybe it is because our celebration is just one of millions taking place in homes all over the world. Or it might be that the first Christmas was very little: just Mary, Joseph and the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay in a stable hidden behind a small-town Bethlehem inn. Not many people knew about this miraculous birth when it happened. But soon word would spread through angels and shepherds and wise men. And we are glad today that the news has come to us that a Savior has been born to little ol’ you and to little ol’ me, and that is the bigggest news there ever could be. Ponder that in your heart today.

O Christmas Tree

Christmas tree

Is your tree up yet? Are you even putting up a tree this year? The Christmas tree has become a hallmark of the Christmas season. I recently watched a news segment on the tree that was chosen to be placed in Rockefeller Center this year. It came from a yard in a Massachusetts town, where it had been growing to its gigantic height for the last 30 years. This year was its time to shine. The lighting of that tree took place on Dec. 5. It now brings joy to the entire city of New York.

My tree’s story is not that dramatic. I went to Lowe‘s and bought mine 14 years ago, which was the first Christmas in my new house. It has lost some of its luster and the lights that came with it no longer work, but I have a special place in my heart for it because of its history. I use new lights for it now and have added new ornaments to it every year. It brings me that “Christmas feeling” each year.

Whether artificial or real, your Christmas tree has a story too. Think about the story of your tree when you put it up (or just think about past trees you have put up if you are not having one this year). The stories of our Christmas trees are a way for us to enter into the story of the birth of Christ. His story is a part of us. His story shines bright for us. His story has special meaning to us. The “Christmas feeling” that I get when Luke 2 is read in church on Christmas Eve is beyond any other feeling of the season. And rightly so. No tree can save us, except the tree of Christ’s cross. That is why he was born away in a manger.

Every Need

Wish list

 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

“What do you want for Christmas?“ we ask our children and one another in these weeks of December. But later, perhaps in hushed tones, we say to each other with compassion in our voices: “What do you need?” The difference between what we want and what we need can be quite shocking. God is the only one who really knows what we absolutely need, regardless of what we tell him we want. Even in this Christmas season, when we say that dreams comes true, the reality is that not everything we want is actually what God sees that we need.

That is not to say that we are deprived. The gifts that God supplies us come from “his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” We are made rich in Jesus through his birth among us and the forgiveness, love, peace and joy he brings that we are in need of most of all. In the end, all we really need is Jesus. Our every need is found in him.

The Kids’ Table

kids’ table

Did you ever have to sit at the kids’ table at your family Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? It’s always off to the side somewhere, often a little lower in height to the main table, and regularly reserved for the smallest among us.

Some people think of the kids’ table as the last place you want to be. But Jesus wouldn’t think so. Listen to these words:

“But when you are invited [to a banquet], go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:10-11).

Metaphorically speaking, the kids’ table is the place for us to be in the kingdom of God. Why? Because we are to be humble in our approach to God and to one another. We are never to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, St. Paul tells us (Romans 12:3). Only the host, who is Jesus, can invite us to be near him at the head table. Only Jesus can make us worthy of a seat with the saints. Only his suffering, death and resurrection for our sake give us VIP status at the feast of heaven. In honor of him, we graciously await that beckoning forward by our Savior.

Here Again?!

Christmas

There is a line from a Beach Boys song that my siblings and I always laughed about growing up. The line goes, “Christmas comes this time each year.” Yes, it does. Pretty obvious, right? But with each passing year, I do have to say that I find myself a little bit surprised when December rolls around. “Here again?!” I say to myself somewhat incredulously. But the calendar does not lie, and Christmas is something that comes regardless if we are ready for it or not. Some wish it would come quicker. Some hope it comes late. But every December 25, it arrives.

The holiday itself is a symbol of Christ’s arrival in our lives each and every year. He comes to us, ready or not. He comes to us, busy or not. He comes to us, happy or not. His arrival is sometimes long-awaited and sometimes a surprise to us. No matter what is going on in your life right now, let Christmas come to you. Let its meaning sink into you. Let the Son of God born as a baby in Bethlehem warm your heart, soul and mind this time each year…and always.

Biography

biography

Today is the very last day of the church year. It also happens to land on the last day of November this year, which seems appropriate. Tomorrow is the First Sunday of Advent and the first day of the new church year. It also works out well this year that the first day of the new church year is the first day of December.

So take some time today to contemplate the meaning of the church year. It is, in a nutshell, a year-long biography of sorts of the life of Christ, and who doesn’t like a good biography? We begin with the events surrounding the birth of Christ as the Son of God (the seasons of Advent and Christmas), we follow the ministry moments in the life of Christ as he spreads the Good News of the Kingdom of God (Epiphany and Lent seasons), we ponder the Passion, death and resurrection of our Lord for our salvation (Holy Week and the Easter season), and we consider how Christ is with us in our hearts now that he has ascended into heaven (Pentecost season). But the story isn’t finished. We wait for the final chapter: Christ’s return on the Last Day to take us to heaven to be with him. There we will live happily ever after. So keep telling and retelling Christ’s biography throughout the coming church year to yourself and to others. You’ll be glad you did.