We have arrived at the end of our advent destination! With the lighting of the fourth candle on advent wreaths, we celebrate the concept of “love”. Some churches will add in a fifth candle as well, but our focus is on the depth of God’s love for mankind, a measure of love that remains inconceivable to the human mind, yet understood by embracing humility and surrender to His sovereignty. 

The flame burning on the fourth purple candle also draws us in to ponder and embrace that through the sacrifice of Christ’s life all who put their trust and faith in Him will enjoy eternity with God forever.

Four unique forms of love are found in Scripture. They are communicated through four Greek words (Eros, Storge, Philia, and Agape) and are characterized by romantic love, family love, brotherly love, and God’s divine love. In our English language, we often use the word “love” describing our feelings for a  variety of reasons…I love my family. I love being outside. I love a good meal. I love a good cup of hot coffee. Not so with God. His definition of loving us far exceeds reducing it to comparisons we make in our own minds.

This depth of love that God has for us is personified in His Son Jesus. Prophecy foretold of the birth for hundreds of years until the time came for a virgin to conceive and bring forth God’s one and only son. He was born in Bethlehem (Bet Lehem in Hebrew) which means “House of Bread”. Is it any coincidence that in ministry 30 some years later Jesus would refer to Himself as “the bread of life”?

Jesus’ birth was also one of great humility and commonplace circumstances. Joseph and Mary had traveled to Bethlehem to be counted in a census, thus returning to their hometown to register as direct descendents of David. Normally, they would have stayed with relatives but because homes were filling up with other families, they found lodging in a stable housing  animals. Time came for the birth of the Christchild and His mother laid Him in a manger which was literally an open box for fodder for stable animals. Mary also wrapped Him in swaddling cloths which was customary for new mothers to do with their newborns. These clothes consisted of strips of cloth tied together  to be wrapped around an individual much like binding a wound in a gauze bandage. Indeed, the Hebrew word, of which “swaddling” is the English translation, denotes clothes used in the binding of broken limbs (Ezekiel 30:21).

Also,  the significance of swaddling clothes was that EVERY Passover lamb was wrapped in swaddling cloths when born. Jesus was the ultimate Passover lamb. (1Cor. 5:7) Passover lambs as well as any lamb sacrificed at the temple had certain criteria to be met… they had to be certified.

This baby that Christians celebrate all over the world at Christmas was no ordinary child. From the beginning of time beyond human comprehension, God had in mind a need for man’s redemption from sin and darkness. This tiny baby Jesus–wrapped in swaddling cloths–would one day be bound with chains when arrested by the chief priests and turned over to Pilate. Chains were ultimately replaced with burial cloths, strips of linen. (Matthew 27: 1-2; 11-26) From swaddling clothes to chains, to burial cloths, lying on cold hard stone,  the body of Jesus was kept safe and secure for His ultimate purpose in leaving heaven and coming to earth–to love us and prepare us for eternal life. 

This Christmas, when you sing “Away in a Manger”, my prayer is that you can see the baby lying in a cold, stone trough…..I pray that as you imagine his tiny body being wrapped in swaddling cloths, that you connect with a mother’s tender love for a baby entrusted to her by her own heavenly father, that you realize a small innocent baby’s body will grow in maturity to that of a thirty year old man who will be bruised and broken for mankind. He will leave an empty manger behind. He will also leave an empty tomb behind because He IS the bread of life, He is the Light of the Word, and He is the literal personification of love!

Merry Christmas!

Joy to the world, the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare him room And heaven and nature sing!
And heaven and nature sing! And heaven and heaven and nature sing!

Did you know that “Joy to the World” was not written as a Christmas carol? In its original form, it had nothing to do with Christmas. It wasn’t even written to be a song. Isaac Watts was one of the great hymn writers in church history, and nothing shows that better than the fact that he wrote one of his most famous hymns by accident. In 1719, Watts published a book of poems in which each poem was based on a psalm. But rather than just translate the original Old Testament texts, he adjusted them to refer more explicitly to the work of Jesus as it had been revealed in the New Testament. One of those poems was an adaptation of Psalm 98 Watts interpreted this psalm as a celebration of Jesus’s role as King of both his church and the whole world. More than a century later, the second half of this poem was slightly adapted and set to music to give us what has become one of the most famous of all Christmas carols: (source crossway.org)

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found!
Far as the curse is found!
Far as . . . far as . . . the curse is found!

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness
And wonders of his love!
And wonders of his love!
And wonders . . . wonders . . . of his love!

This week the lone pink candle will be lit on the advent wreath.  Christians everywhere will be rejoicing that the Lord is near. The candle we designate as “joy” is also referred to as the “Shepherd’s Candle” because of the joy those men experienced when the angels appeared to them announcing the birth of the Messiah. Those shepherds exhibited the very definition of “biblical joy”, the kind that goes far beyond momentary happiness. It is an extreme happiness that cannot be deterred by present  circumstances. This type of joy comes from God alone. Joy can often be experienced when a Christian thinks about salvation, eternal life, or Jesus.  It is an eager anticipation about wonderful things to come. The shepherds experienced this as they ran to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus.

We Christians are in time of waiting, this one is for the Second Coming of Jesus. While we wait, we can rest in perfect peace no matter our circumstances, a peace that is accompanied by joy…a kind of joy that no one can take from us (John 16: 22) Scripture also says that it’s God who fills us with joy (Roman 15:13). Joy is a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22). Depending on your translation the word joy is mentioned in the Bible over 100 times. I think God wants us to understand and have joy.

In the years leading up to the birth of Jesus, the Jews were waiting for their messiah. The world was dark, it was harsh. In many ways, one could say that nothing has changed. Turn on or click any media source and the news is heavy. But, be of good cheer! Jesus came into a dark world just over 2,000 years ago, granting hope, peace, redemption, and salvation to all who would receive Him. By declaring “I am the Light of the world” He overcame darkness then and continues to do so every day for His beloved children. 

This week, as you consider what it means to experience true joy, my hope for all of us is that we turn off the noise from the world and tune into God’s goodness through the reading of scripture, singing or listening to sacred Christmas songs, finding joy in the midst of our personal circumstances. 

“Find out where joy resides, and give it a voice far beyond singing. For to miss the joy is to miss all”. (Robert Louis Stevenson)  

P.S. Don’t “miss” Jesus either….He’s the best part of “all”. 

Imagine with me if you will, the millions of advent wreaths that now rest in protestant sanctuaries worldwide. Last Sunday each one of those, holding three purple candles and one pink, were illuminated by the lighting of the first candle–hope. This week, a second purple candle will be lit and burn brightly, ushering in our desire for “peace” as it flickers alongside the “hope” candle. Together, hope and peace form a partnership as we settle into the second week of advent.

In my high school years and into adulthood, I sang with our school’s honors choir and also in my church’s senior choir.  In those years of vocal experiences, nothing has compared to that of performing Handel’s “Messiah”, specifically “For Unto Us a Child is Born”, his powerful arrangement of the prophet Isaiah’s words from Chapter 9, verses 6-7: 

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (emphasis my own)

Peace. Exactly what is this feeling and how is it achieved? The Bible gives us some clues.In Hebrew, the word for peace is shalom. Throughout the Bible, shalom is used in several ways. When people are feeling physically well, others say that they “are shalom” (Genesis 29:6). People who have shalom with God have his protection and blessing (Numbers 25:12). There are hints in the Old Testament that shalom with God is to be an inner state that comes from trusting in him (Isaiah 26:3). However, the Old Testament also talks about Israel having peace with God through a covenant, and that peace is conditional. In the books that describe the founding of Israel and its history, we see how Israel’s people make a covenant with God where he provides peace and protection as long as they do not “turn to folly” (Psalm 85:8). When the nation strays from following God, he withdraws his shalom from them (Jeremiah 16:5). By the time that Jesus appeared on the scene, Israel had been ruled by other empires for centuries, so shalom with God had been absent for a while.

On a broader level, humanity lost peace with God when sin entered the world. From the moment that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, all of humanity became sinners (2 John 1:8). This put us in conflict with God. The “flesh,” in the sense of sinful desires, became what we follow (Romans 8:7-8). No human being, since Adam and Eve, has been righteous (Ecclesiastes 7:20), which means we are all in a state of rebellion against him. This lack of peace presented a dilemma that the Messiah came to solve. (credit to biblestudytools.com)

Do you remember the popularity of beauty pageants years ago? Beautiful women competed to be named Miss Universe, founded in 1952, Miss International, founded in 1960, and Miss Earth, founded in 2001. Our own Miss America pageant began 102 years ago. Often, one of the contestants was asked to give a profound answer to “What do you think is the biggest issue facing our society today”.  Invariably, each woman usually responded “world peace” as she smiled into the camera, trying to solve a spiritual problem with a humanistic solution. As sincere as these wonderful women desired to display their loving solutions, their attempts to bring awareness to our human condition as sinful people in need of a savior, fell short. 

When the apostle Paul wrote the Book of Romans, he told us in chapter 3, verse 23 “For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…” (emphasis on “all” is mine)

Peace. By definition of today’s numerous headlines telling us about numerous wars being waged around our world, one may think that the absence of war and its conflict is naturally a presence of peace. While I absolutely admit that totally eradicating every war that is being fought entertains a wonderful thought, I know it will not be something I witness in my lifetime. Man has been fighting wars–big and small–since the beginning of time.

Jesus’ own words in Matthew 24: 6-8 tell us “you will continually hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end (of the age). For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”

His words that are contained in those two sentences are not meant to cause us fear. On the contrary, if you and I choose to focus on God’s love for His people, and place our “hope” and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, we ARE able to experience the “peace” that only God can give, the very nature of peace described throughout the Bible.

Today, two small candles will burn in countless churches, as the wick representing “peace” is lit.  Light is the absence of darkness. If we consider how many candles will be burning around our world, imagine the amount of light shining to remind us where our true source of peace comes from…not from a “thing”…but a person…and His Name is Jesus, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Shalom!