Christmas 2
Devotional
Pause Before The Pulpit
Personal Reflections For Pastors On The Lectionary Readings
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
The child in me still loves opening gifts at Christmas. One of my favorite experiences while opening gifts is what I call "The Shocker!" You know it is a "shocker" when the one opening the gift stops and gasps in surprise as they see what is in the package! Then when they pull it out of its wrapping, everyone gasps along with them, exclaiming, "That is beautiful! That is awesome!" Turning their attention to the one who gave it, they ask, "Where did you get it? That must have cost a fortune!" or "How did you make it?" (depending on the gift).
I see this Gospel Lesson as similar to a "shocker" gift, for when we first peek into the Gospel of John through this text, we might find ourselves making similar exclamations and asking similar questions. "This is beautiful! This is incredible! How did he do it? Is it really true? This is mine to keep? It must have cost God a fortune!"
John is introducing us to (and will unfold throughout the rest of his gospel) the wonder and marvel of who Jesus is, and the incredible significance of that for all who believe. The whole idea of the Word becoming flesh in the form of Jesus is a brainteaser. None of us have ever seen our words take on human form. How can this be? It is a mystery that is outside of our ability to fully comprehend it. However, that does not make it any less true, nor does it mean we can't in some way experience this truth, for we can.
There is great significance in this for us who proclaim God's Word week after week. First of all, it is so important to remember that God's Word is alive. Yes, it took on living flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, but yet today it is a living word. It is not merely a book about God, or about the history of the Judeo-Christian faith. It is the living and active Word of God which touches the hearts and minds of men, women, and children who read or hear it. It affects change in the lives of those who will submit to its authority and do what it says. It is timeless truth that never changes, nor becomes outdated or obsolete. If we see God's Word through any other lens, we diminish it's effectiveness in our ministries.
Secondly, it is absolutely essential that we recognize and emphasize, in our preaching and teaching, that God's Word is full of grace and truth. Many people feel (and it is always people who are feeling guilty) that the Bible is too harsh and demanding. They see it merely as a book of do's and don'ts. Unfortunately, they are not listening to the grace that comes through from cover to cover. Just as Jesus was full of grace (for he was God's grace in the flesh), so too, God's Word is full of grace. It is, in fact, God's main, primary, number one way of delivering his grace to us. When we ignore the Word of God, minimize it in any way, or diminish its significance and importance for all people everywhere, we are doing a grave injustice to this inexhaustible source of grace.
Equally as tragic, is the fact that fewer and fewer people (pastors included) are upholding the Word of God as absolute truth. Through what has become known as "relativism," more and more people are making the arrogant assumption that truth is in the eye of the beholder; that what is true for you may not be true for me. Anything can be true then, no matter how big of a lie and deception it really is. This way of thinking also destroys the effectiveness of God's Word to bring salvation to a lost world and hope to the hopeless, for it has lost its God-given distinction as being the timeless, unchanging, source of truth that it is.
If Jesus was full of truth -- and few would dare make the claim that he was anything but truthful -- then God's Word is also full of truth.
We in the Christian church have been given an incredible gift that ought to cause us to gasp as we open and read it. When we reveal it to others, there ought to be a sense of awe and amazement as well, for we are, through God's Word, being given grace upon grace, which is absolutely amazing and absolutely true!
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you that you and your word are full of grace and truth and absolutely true. Please make your word alive in me today and enable me to preach in it all its truth and authority. Amen.
Ephesians 1:3-14
Perhaps this Christmas you had loved ones or parishioners (or better yet, both!) lavish you with gifts of love and appreciation. I have personally been deeply moved, again and again, by the way my wife and children, and many appreciative parishioners, have lavished me with gifts -- whether at Christmas or at other occasions. It seems the more lavish the gift, the more deeply moved I am. Yet, whenever I read this Epistle Lesson, I find myself asking, "Do I respond with the same sense of gratitude and humility toward the grace of God that has been lavished upon me, as I do toward earthly gifts that are given me?"
I know I have often failed to appreciate God's grace as I ought. Oh, there have been those "mountaintop" experiences when I have been moved to tears by God's grace and mercy and the forgiveness of sins, but for the most part, I know I take it for granted. Perhaps the reason for this can be better understood when we consider the gifts that family or parishioners might lavish upon us. If they are once-in-a-lifetime gifts, or annual expressions of love and appreciation, then we are more likely to be moved and appreciative. However, if those lavish gifts were to become daily provision, would we not begin to grow accustomed to them and take them for granted? I know I would! Thus a passage like this is good for us, and those whom we minister to, as it reminds us of how lavish and extravagant God's gifts to us are. Let's look closely at them by way of reminder.
First of all, let us remember that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing! We haven't been given a part of the package, but the whole thing! And it is all ours simply through faith in Christ! Notice that God always intended, before the foundations of the earth were even laid, that we would be chosen (in Christ) to be holy and blameless! What an incredible gift! Try as we may, we can never on our own stand holy and blameless before God to the degree which God requires, so he planned to choose us as his very own holy and blameless children through a personal relationship with Christ. Only those who receive this gift, of course, actually know the joy of having received it.
The same point is repeated in the next verse, only with different words, as Paul announced our adoption as children of God, again through Christ, but emphasized that this wonderful gift was according to the good pleasure of God's will, which he freely bestowed on us. Can't you just see the excitement in God's eyes as he holds out this glorious gift of grace to one person after another? It's similar to (yet greater than) that sparkle in the eyes of those who are about to lavish a very meaningful, and possibly expensive, gift upon us.
However, an expensive, lavish gift, as generous as it may be, doesn't mean much to us if we don't know what it is or its purpose. So Paul reminds us what God's grace is all about and what it is for. It is for the purpose of redeeming us back to God from Satan and for the forgiveness of our trespasses. If we tend to take this gift of grace lightly, then we would do well to consider what life and eternity would be like without it! Do we want to face the full weight and consequences of our sins on our own? I sure don't! Yet I am so guilty of taking this precious gift for granted.
Once in a while we are given a gift in which the giver did not fully think through what they were doing and merely acted out of emotional impulse. As it turned out, they really couldn't afford it. But Paul reminds us that God did his giving with all wisdom and insight. He knew what he was doing then and he still knows what he is doing today as he gives us his grace over and over again.
Lastly, Paul goes on to remind us of a wonderful inheritance that is ours and the free gift of God's Holy Spirit as well. Space does not permit me to sufficiently describe the full extent of all God has lavished on us, but I'm sure you get the point by now and see that there is no other proper response, but to praise him daily for all he has given us!
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
I praise you and thank you for all you have lavished upon me ... (pray through the text). Forgive me for how I have taken all of this for granted. Teach me to appreciate it as I should. Amen.
The child in me still loves opening gifts at Christmas. One of my favorite experiences while opening gifts is what I call "The Shocker!" You know it is a "shocker" when the one opening the gift stops and gasps in surprise as they see what is in the package! Then when they pull it out of its wrapping, everyone gasps along with them, exclaiming, "That is beautiful! That is awesome!" Turning their attention to the one who gave it, they ask, "Where did you get it? That must have cost a fortune!" or "How did you make it?" (depending on the gift).
I see this Gospel Lesson as similar to a "shocker" gift, for when we first peek into the Gospel of John through this text, we might find ourselves making similar exclamations and asking similar questions. "This is beautiful! This is incredible! How did he do it? Is it really true? This is mine to keep? It must have cost God a fortune!"
John is introducing us to (and will unfold throughout the rest of his gospel) the wonder and marvel of who Jesus is, and the incredible significance of that for all who believe. The whole idea of the Word becoming flesh in the form of Jesus is a brainteaser. None of us have ever seen our words take on human form. How can this be? It is a mystery that is outside of our ability to fully comprehend it. However, that does not make it any less true, nor does it mean we can't in some way experience this truth, for we can.
There is great significance in this for us who proclaim God's Word week after week. First of all, it is so important to remember that God's Word is alive. Yes, it took on living flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, but yet today it is a living word. It is not merely a book about God, or about the history of the Judeo-Christian faith. It is the living and active Word of God which touches the hearts and minds of men, women, and children who read or hear it. It affects change in the lives of those who will submit to its authority and do what it says. It is timeless truth that never changes, nor becomes outdated or obsolete. If we see God's Word through any other lens, we diminish it's effectiveness in our ministries.
Secondly, it is absolutely essential that we recognize and emphasize, in our preaching and teaching, that God's Word is full of grace and truth. Many people feel (and it is always people who are feeling guilty) that the Bible is too harsh and demanding. They see it merely as a book of do's and don'ts. Unfortunately, they are not listening to the grace that comes through from cover to cover. Just as Jesus was full of grace (for he was God's grace in the flesh), so too, God's Word is full of grace. It is, in fact, God's main, primary, number one way of delivering his grace to us. When we ignore the Word of God, minimize it in any way, or diminish its significance and importance for all people everywhere, we are doing a grave injustice to this inexhaustible source of grace.
Equally as tragic, is the fact that fewer and fewer people (pastors included) are upholding the Word of God as absolute truth. Through what has become known as "relativism," more and more people are making the arrogant assumption that truth is in the eye of the beholder; that what is true for you may not be true for me. Anything can be true then, no matter how big of a lie and deception it really is. This way of thinking also destroys the effectiveness of God's Word to bring salvation to a lost world and hope to the hopeless, for it has lost its God-given distinction as being the timeless, unchanging, source of truth that it is.
If Jesus was full of truth -- and few would dare make the claim that he was anything but truthful -- then God's Word is also full of truth.
We in the Christian church have been given an incredible gift that ought to cause us to gasp as we open and read it. When we reveal it to others, there ought to be a sense of awe and amazement as well, for we are, through God's Word, being given grace upon grace, which is absolutely amazing and absolutely true!
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you that you and your word are full of grace and truth and absolutely true. Please make your word alive in me today and enable me to preach in it all its truth and authority. Amen.
Ephesians 1:3-14
Perhaps this Christmas you had loved ones or parishioners (or better yet, both!) lavish you with gifts of love and appreciation. I have personally been deeply moved, again and again, by the way my wife and children, and many appreciative parishioners, have lavished me with gifts -- whether at Christmas or at other occasions. It seems the more lavish the gift, the more deeply moved I am. Yet, whenever I read this Epistle Lesson, I find myself asking, "Do I respond with the same sense of gratitude and humility toward the grace of God that has been lavished upon me, as I do toward earthly gifts that are given me?"
I know I have often failed to appreciate God's grace as I ought. Oh, there have been those "mountaintop" experiences when I have been moved to tears by God's grace and mercy and the forgiveness of sins, but for the most part, I know I take it for granted. Perhaps the reason for this can be better understood when we consider the gifts that family or parishioners might lavish upon us. If they are once-in-a-lifetime gifts, or annual expressions of love and appreciation, then we are more likely to be moved and appreciative. However, if those lavish gifts were to become daily provision, would we not begin to grow accustomed to them and take them for granted? I know I would! Thus a passage like this is good for us, and those whom we minister to, as it reminds us of how lavish and extravagant God's gifts to us are. Let's look closely at them by way of reminder.
First of all, let us remember that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing! We haven't been given a part of the package, but the whole thing! And it is all ours simply through faith in Christ! Notice that God always intended, before the foundations of the earth were even laid, that we would be chosen (in Christ) to be holy and blameless! What an incredible gift! Try as we may, we can never on our own stand holy and blameless before God to the degree which God requires, so he planned to choose us as his very own holy and blameless children through a personal relationship with Christ. Only those who receive this gift, of course, actually know the joy of having received it.
The same point is repeated in the next verse, only with different words, as Paul announced our adoption as children of God, again through Christ, but emphasized that this wonderful gift was according to the good pleasure of God's will, which he freely bestowed on us. Can't you just see the excitement in God's eyes as he holds out this glorious gift of grace to one person after another? It's similar to (yet greater than) that sparkle in the eyes of those who are about to lavish a very meaningful, and possibly expensive, gift upon us.
However, an expensive, lavish gift, as generous as it may be, doesn't mean much to us if we don't know what it is or its purpose. So Paul reminds us what God's grace is all about and what it is for. It is for the purpose of redeeming us back to God from Satan and for the forgiveness of our trespasses. If we tend to take this gift of grace lightly, then we would do well to consider what life and eternity would be like without it! Do we want to face the full weight and consequences of our sins on our own? I sure don't! Yet I am so guilty of taking this precious gift for granted.
Once in a while we are given a gift in which the giver did not fully think through what they were doing and merely acted out of emotional impulse. As it turned out, they really couldn't afford it. But Paul reminds us that God did his giving with all wisdom and insight. He knew what he was doing then and he still knows what he is doing today as he gives us his grace over and over again.
Lastly, Paul goes on to remind us of a wonderful inheritance that is ours and the free gift of God's Holy Spirit as well. Space does not permit me to sufficiently describe the full extent of all God has lavished on us, but I'm sure you get the point by now and see that there is no other proper response, but to praise him daily for all he has given us!
A Pastor's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
I praise you and thank you for all you have lavished upon me ... (pray through the text). Forgive me for how I have taken all of this for granted. Teach me to appreciate it as I should. Amen.
