Today is a new day.
(Right at the beginning of a new year, I might add.)
For the last two weeks, I've been flooded from all sides with hope, with possibility, and with a vision for a future that looks so much brighter than I ever thought possible.
Even in the midst of rapid changes all around us, and the 'not-knowing-what's-shaking-out', I still sense an incredible hope.
My outlook on life causes me to embrace change, to almost look forward to it.
In order to survive the sometimes crushing strife that change can bring, I have to seek God.
Sometimes, when seeking Him, He gives me glimpses of what He's doing, in order to understand why things are happening the way they are. He broadens my perspective beyond my own little slice of existence.
Here we sit, it's after Christmas and into the new year.
We just celebrated the birth of our Savior. I'm still wrapping my head around all that entails, especially for today. In order to do that, I have to look at the Christmas story through my own eyes.
The prophets knew that the Messiah was coming. But it was only Mary and Joseph that knew the baby Mary carried was the Christ.
Imagine this, if you will:
The baby you carry is the prophesied and long awaited Messiah. The one destined to save Israel, as the religious leaders have taught for centuries. (Just like we teach the second coming of Christ today...)
This would normally be something celebrated, just as we celebrate the news of a new baby today.
But, there is a scandal. You have not yet married the man you're engaged to.
(And remember, pre-marital 'relations' in this culture could be a death sentence.)
So here you are, pregnant. Pregnant not by your husband, or even by your fiance, but pregnant by God.
(No one's going to believe this, as it is. But it gets better...)
And, to top it off, you're pregnant, and the child you carry is the Son of God! The one promised, the one long awaited by the entire nation.
And you can't tell a soul...
I can only imagine the conversations that Mary & Joseph have. You know, after that first awkward one...
They knew the teachings, they know that things were going to be different from then on out. But I don't think they had any idea what that would look like.
I'm sure that during her pregnancy Mary and Joseph, if they were anything like any other couple expecting a child, they were filled with hopes and dreams already.
The hope that a child brings is endless. The faith that takes over when a pregnancy occurs is often unnoticed, but it is the fuel for visions of the future, and the endless, endless possibilities.
Now, add on to those hopes and dreams, the knowledge that your child is the Christ-child. The Messiah. The one to save your nation.
We all dream greatness for our children, don't we. But to know? That would fuel all kinds of fantastic dreams, wouldn't it?
So the baby comes.
For those who've had children, it's never at a convenient time, is it? (I remember when my mom went into labor with my brother, our entire family was camping... Two hours away from the hospital.)
Mary and Joseph aren't at home, thanks to the census; they end up in the only shelter they can find, so she can deliver the baby. Not a hospital, not a doctor or midwife's office. Not even a hotel. Scripture puts them in a barn; a shepherd's shelter.
A barn doesn't even sound that far-fetched, because we think of the barns we've seen our entire lives.
In all actuality, the shelter the holy family ended up in was a cave, a rocky cutout on the side of a hill.
Everything about this story leads me to believe that nothing about this was turning out as Mary and Joseph planned, or expected.
I wonder if they paid that any mind.
As the life of Jesus progresses, we see more and more of the unexpected.
Who would've thought that this baby, God-with-us, would shatter the barriers between clean and unclean right out of the gate (or womb, if you will), and that the first ones to come worship Him were the very ones that the Jewish religion said weren't clean enough to come to the temple, because of their occupation.
Who would've ever thought that a boy, not quite on the edge of manhood, would be teaching and challenging the religious leaders?
Who would've thought that the Son of God would provide more alcohol for a party where everyone's already drunk! And not only that, but it would be the good stuff, too! (When Jesus turned the water into wine, it wasn't no Boone's Farm...)
Who would've thought that the Son of God would have so much disdain for the religious leaders, the ones who were supposed to be so in touch with God?
Who would've thought that the Son of God would be walking around healing people, bringing them back to wholeness - physically, spiritually, and communally, instead of following the letter of the Law that separated and ostracized the sick from the rest of the people?
Who would've ever thought that the Messiah wouldn't be focusing on the twelve tribes of Israel anymore. Instead He invested time, a period of His life, in His relationships with twelve men.
Working, eating, sleeping, walking, drinking, healing, traveling, praying, teaching, correcting.
He didn't focus on occupation, or on their stations in life; He was teaching them the Kingdom of God.
And then, who would've thought that the Son of God would lay down his life for us.
Not just to show his love for us, it's deeper than that. Yes, He showed His love. If you don't believe me, read the prayers of Jesus in John 17.
Yes, it's deeper, bigger than just "love". A greater redemption story is at work here, playing out over and over, time and time again.
Back to today.
Christmas has come and gone. The Savior has been born. And with Him, hope has been born as well.
Do we know what this looks like? I guarantee, it's probably not what we expect, because the spiritual landscape is changing; just as it changed when Christianity was brand new.
We can't see it, because we're in it, we're part of it.
Christ came to restore us to the relationship we had with God back in the Garden of Eden. Walking in the cool of the day, side by side with God. Walking, talking, living, tending, learning, correcting... sound familiar?
The new year arrives, and when it does, we put the past behind us. We let go of the mistakes of the last 365 days, with the hope that the next 365 will be better.
With every new year, our resolutions burst forth: to make new changes, to improve ourselves, to make something better in or around us. The new year brings hope that swirls around us, fills us, and inspires us.
What trips us up in all our new year's resolutions is faith. Or maybe, it's our inability to incorporate faith into them...
You see, faith is messy. It is sticky, it is hard, and it is ever changing.
We don't know what to do with it, because it's a gift that's been given, without directions. And because there's no "blanket instructions", we don't know how to use this gift, or even know why it's a gift.
We don't know what to do with it, because it doesn't originate in us; it's planted there, like a seed, by the gift-giver. And it has been given to us under the often-forgotten directions that we have to seek the giver, in order to seek the directions.
The gift itself, and the nature of the gift, necessitates we do this, not just once upon receiving the gift (touchdown!), or once a week, but day after day after day. After all, Adam didn't just walk in the garden with God on Sundays...
And what we end up learning is that the "gift" is really building a relationship with the Giver; as it turns out, the gift IS the relationship between you and the Giver. And as the relationship develops, the gift, the present, turns into the Presence.
Without that relationship, we're just little kids running around with a shiny new toy; a present that we don't know how to use, we don't know how it works, and don't know how to explain it to others.
And what do kids do in that situation? Someone gets an idea, shares it, and all of a sudden, everyone's doing the same thing with their gift.
(This might also sound familiar.)
Here's the beauty of it... not one of us is the same, and yet, we've all received this perfect gift, one that's tailor-made for each of us. The faith that I have is not even remotely close to the faith that my husband has. Or that you have. The gift each of us has been given has everything to do with who God designed us to be.
AND THAT IS NOT THE SAME PERSON!!!
Think of faith as a pair of jeans. Super weird example, I know. But follow me for a minute.
We all know that each of us has a favorite pair of jeans. They fit just right, they make you feel good, they make you comfortable, and they're useful. Like they were made...just for you!
Ladies, have you ever tried to wear men's jeans? They just don't fit! They're too big in the waist, too tight across the hips, and not enough room to move in the legs.
Men, I'm not even asking.
Even though there are millions of different pairs of jeans out there, we find the ones that fit us. Our shape, our style, our purposes.
The same goes for faith. My relationship with God, my faith, is different than yours. As it should be.
In order to accomplish all God has for us, since one person can't do it all (nor were we designed to do it all - hence "community"), we need to be different.
Think about it.
If the Body of Christ was made up only of hands, we'd never go anywhere.
If the Body didn't have a spine, how would we be able to stand in the face of persecution?
And, if the Body didn't have a butt, we'd never be able to get rid of our... "Kakos"!
With the hope of something new being brought forth, just like a new year, or just like a baby in a manger, hold firm in the faith He's given you, and know that God is up to something.
Sometimes that's hard. My God, I know this. Our human instinct is to fight change, to hang on to the familiar. But when we do that, we're no longer paying attention to the relationship, and we're hanging onto the religion. The results are blinding; just ask the apostle Paul.
If we remove the cumbersome goggles of our own rules, expectations, and experiences of what we think God could, would, can or will do, we might just be able to see what He IS doing.
If we say that God can only move in one particular way, or that the Holy Spirit only does this, or only does that, we'd only be showing that our minds are closed, and would separate us further from those who don't experience God that way, or even worse, don't know what it's like to experience God at all. How can we say that something is good or not good, when the lens we're looking through is limited by our own experiences?
For example. If a pastor doesn't "move mountains" when they speak, or they don't take on what we think are the "appropriate tonal fluctuations" when they're delivering a message, it doesn't mean they're operating outside of the Spirit of God.
All this does is openly display the religion in our life, and blind us to what's going on around us.
So let's remove the glasses of all we have experienced "church" to be, and just for a few moments, imagine what the church could possibly look like. This may sound completely unfathomable at this moment, but when Jesus came, He shook the world on its head.
Could it possibly be that the days of the attitude of the "pastor-knows-all" may be coming to a close? With information at our fingertips 24 hours a day, ancient writings accessible electronically, and still, the temple curtain remains torn between God and ALL His people, it is quite possible for everyday regular people to have access to the same information as the pastor.
What could this mean??
That the people can minister to one another, can pray for one another, can bless one another, heal one another, and teach one another. We can support one another, we can feed one another, we can nurture one another, and we can encourage one another.
If you think about it, it sounds a little bit like the Acts church. Acts 2: 42-47 says this:
"The believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the community, to the shared meals, and to their prayers. A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. They praised God and demonstrated God's goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved."
Acts 4:32-34 says this: "The community of believers was one in heart and mind. None of them would say, "This is mine!" about any of their possessions, but held everything in common. The apostles continued to bear powerful witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and an abundance of grace was at work among them. There was no needy persons among them."
And isn't it interesting that in Luke 10 and Mark 6, Jesus sends His disciples out in twos...
Sure, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal when we read it, but when we see it, when we experience it... It sure brings a new intensity to the message, a new understanding, and a new level of authority, doesn't it??
Imagine if the overall attitude of the church was Love first.
We use the scripture out of Mark 10:9 all the time as our affirmation of marriage, or our justification against divorce. "Therefore, humans must not pull apart what God has put together."
But just listen to what it says there. We don't even have to read between the lines!
God has put (us) together.
He is calling us into community with Him, and into community with one another.
Ever heard the saying, 'There's strength in numbers'?
Try to grasp, just for a moment, the immensity of the truth that every single one of us, inside and outside the church, is here for a reason...
Every.
Single.
One.
Of.
Us.
It's time we stopped using fear as a reason to separate ourselves from people who are different than we are. God is putting us together, out of His love for us. And it's our love for Him, that flows out to one another.
Great Love is shown when the desire to be connected to one another exceeds the desire to be correct.
What if church happened wherever we went?
Instead of being hung up on our fears, or our judgments, or our own priorities, what if we were so zeroed in to what God is up to in each situation, in each moment, that lives are changed wherever we go?
That our disbelief is cast aside, and in it's place stands fearlessness.
Imagine if we stopped judging one another for our failures, addressed the hurts we've all experienced, validated one another, linked arms and walked into healing together.
What would it look like if we used our God-given creative abilities to develop solutions to the problems that people face, like poverty, hunger and disease? I saw a commercial this morning that said 1 in 4 children in North Carolina live in poverty. What if we tapped into the power and reality of Heaven to remedy this!?
I'm telling you - God is doing this now!!
It's not just happening in this church, or the church down the street. It's not just happening in one denomination. It's not just happening overseas.
Expand your perspective a little bit...
It's happening at jobsites; it's happening at grocery stores; it's happening in neighborhood gatherings, kitchen tables, traffic jams, bus stops, public schools, and all kinds of places and situations we'd normally think to be regular or "unholy".
He's doing this all over the world!!!
We have a tendency, as human beings, to look around us and think that the world is burning to the ground, falling apart, or whatever terms we use to say "it's not looking so good".
Keep in mind, when Jesus was born, the Israelites thought the same thing about the world around them, too.
*Here's a secret: It's always going to look that way if you don't have your eyes on Christ.
The game has changed. Christ is our Vision. And He is not limited to only where we think He is. He is not hindered in any way, shape or form by our human restrictions and limitations.
I can almost guarantee that He is going to be in all the places we least expect Him; that He'll say what we don't expect Him to say, and He's already shown that He's doing what we don't expect Him to do!
And whether we like it or not, He's ushering in His Kingdom.
Please. Do not limit yourselves by what we've always been taught, or the way things have always been done.
Listen to what He's telling you now, today and tomorrow.
And step into a future more beautiful than you've ever imagined, catching glimpses of Heaven along the way.
