Time Out!

I will be away from my blog until February 3rd.  I will be visiting my son who is at seminary in Richmond and then ending up in Charlotte to defend the dissertation for my doctorate. 
Post Script:  I passed the oral defense of my dissertation!

Hearing God Speak (Matthew 2:1-23)

Most of us practice a pretty mundane, lifeless Christianity. We go through our lives not experiencing miracles, not witnessing answered promises or even prayers.  We'd never expect God to reveal himself to us through a prophetic dream or do anything much at all out of the ordinary.

Our relationship with God is usually limited to reading about him in the scriptures.  And maybe a short prayer when we find ourselves in trouble.  Often our Christianity is more of a club that we join than anything else. But what if God wanted to reveal himself to us more deeply?  What if God were willing to use dreams and stars and a host of other things to speak to us?  Would we even notice?

One thing we see in the story below is that God speaks through stars and dreams and even evil Kings.  God speaks most loudly through the ancient prophets and then through the Messiah.  But God also wants to reveal himself to us today - to break through our mundane lives.  Listen to God speak as you go through your day... expect God wants to get in touch with you... be open to how he speaks.  Listen!

Matthew 2:1-23 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." ³ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 

⁶ 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"

⁷⁸ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." ⁹ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹ On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. ¹³ Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." ¹⁴ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, ¹⁵ and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet,

"Out of Egypt I have called my son."

¹⁶ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸ "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

¹⁹ When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ²⁰ "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." ²¹ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. ²³ There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled,

"He will be called a Nazorean."

Was Jesus Inclusive? (Matthew 2:1-2)

Matthew 2:1-2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

Have you ever wondered who these wise men were and how they knew about the Messiah?  The text doesn't give us a lot of information to go on... it says they were from the East  - but that means they were almost certainly Gentiles.  So here comes a bunch of educated, mystic gentiles to worship a Jewish Messiah.  How and why?

Over the centuries, scholars have proposed that these gentile wise men were from Babylon and are the descendants of the wise men that Daniel (of "Daniel in the Lion's Den" fame) saved from execution (Daniel 2).  Daniel was a Jewish boy, who had been taken into captivity by the Babylonians.  While in captivity, he not only saved the wise men from execution, but went on to teach them and the entire gentile nation about the coming Messiah.  Apparently, the message Daniel taught was passed down century after century until one day these wise men see a sign in the heavens that the Messiah has come.

Daniel knew that the message of God's love for humanity and of the coming Messiah was not just for the Jews.   It was for all people.  Very inclusive.  Some how these wise men know it too - they know they are welcomed to come and worship him. 

Picture Jesus waving both hands shouting, "Over here - Follow me!"  We will see in the gospels that Jesus' plan was to get the Jewish people on board (thousands and thousands of Jews did follow Jesus in the first century) and then to expand his ministry through his followers to all people. 

Jesus and his message was for all people.  How does knowing this affect the followers of Jesus today?  Well... we get to share in the mission of God both by demonstrating the way Jesus taught us to live and also by inviting others to join us.

No Place to Belong (Luke 2:1-7)

Most of us know what being an outcast feels like. There has been some time in all of our lives when we didn't fit in some place where we should have been welcomed. Maybe it was in middle or high school? Or at work? Or in your family? Or - like Mary and Joseph - in a religous community?  Even in church?

Luke 2:1-7 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴ Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵ He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Joseph's family was from Bethlehem.  He had family (even if distant relatives) who he should have been able to stay with in Bethlehem.  And yet, not one of them could arrange to house Mary who is nine months pregnant? 

Let me put it this way, when your family shows up for Christmas and there is someone in the bunch who is obviously going to give birth in a few days, don't you give them a warm comfortable place to sleep and rest? Don't you pamper them? Even if you and others are forced to sleep on the floor? Of course, you would.  And middle eastern culture was no different.

I also wonder why Mary even traveled with Joseph to Bethlehem.  Not everyone had to make the journey.  If you were old or sick or 9 months pregnant, certainly your family could register for you.  I believe she went with Joseph because she was an outcast back at home too.  And she didn't want to give birth if he wasn't there to care for her. So rather than stay at home, she went with him.

The normal generous middle eastern hospitality is not available for Joseph and Mary. Or for the Messiah. They don't belong in polite society.  They don't fit in.  Joseph and Mary were outcasts because Mary was pregnant before she was married.  Society doesn't understand.  The best religious people of the day think that treating them as outcasts is the proper thing to do in order to stay right with God themselves.

Of course, we know all this happened to fulfil the ancient prophesy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  But how must it have felt to be treated this way?  No doubt it was confusing.  Had they done the right thing?  Made the right choices?  No doubt they were hurting.  And yet, God has given them each other.

Jesus and his parents know first hand what it is like to have no place where you are wanted or accepted.  If we embrace Jesus in our lives, there will almost certainly come a time when we don't fit in either.  In times like this, stand firm and do God's work anyway!

Someone once said, "God doesn't call us to be popular, God calls us to be faithful."  I think it applies.

Willing to be a fool? (Matthew 1:18-25)

Matthew 1:18-25 ¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. ²⁰ But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." ²² All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ²³ "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." ²⁴ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, ²⁵ but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Joseph is engaged to Mary, but she has become pregnant. And the baby is not his.  Disturbing news to say the least!  News that destroys his hopes for the future:  an idyllic married life.  Imagine the trauma and hurt this caused him.  And now he has to decide what to do.  Marrying a pregnant woman is not an option.  And according to the law, he does have a few choices: he can have Mary stoned or he can publicly divorce her.  Breaking an engagement required a divorce back then.  Choosing either of these options would clear his name publicly.  No one would blame him and he'd end up coming out of this mess squeaky clean.  Mary, of course, wouldn't fare so well.

But the law also allowed for a third option: a private divorce with just two witnesses.  This choice would leave the community to wonder the circumstances of the divorce.  The community would be left free to gossip and wonder what really went on.  It wasn't the best option for clearing his name, but it would be kindest to Mary.  So he chose to divorce her privately and quietly.  Joseph is a man who thinks beyond himself.  He is kind. He wants the best outcome for Mary even if it means it will cost him the respect of the community.

So Joseph's world is in turmoil.  But God is going to stir up the situation even more.  God wants Joseph to marry the girl anyway. This bucks everything a good Jewish man should do! The law doesn't allow for marrying a pregnant woman who is carrying someone else's baby.  And what does it say about God that he would not only put Mary in such a humiliating situation, but now he is asking Joseph to support her too!  Well... it tells us that serving God - being part of God's mission - following Jesus can make the follower look foolish.  It tells us that if we follow Jesus, we may look foolish too not only to those who are not religious, but often to those who are most religious.  God allows both Joseph and Mary to look like fools to the religious folk of the day.  Can't you hear the community talking?  "Mary and Joseph are such liars - making up a story about an immaculate conception." Or "What a fool hearty person Joseph is to marry the little tramp - he can get someone better than her."  It also tells us that God didn't want Mary to face these  hardships alone, that he provided her with a good man to love and protect her.

We should be prepared for looking foolish before we sign up to follow Jesus.  Profession of faith in Jesus is a costly decision.  The Apostle Paul, in a letter to the church in Corinth, described in detail this phenomenon of looking like fools when we follow Jesus. 

Our culture, in particular, has a hard time accepting that embracing Jesus means we are often going to look like fools!  Being a Christian is supposed to make us look good - like righteous, disciplined, trustworthy, hardworking citizens.  We've been taught that if we are good Christians we will be successful in whatever we try to accomplish.  Our marriages and families will be perfect.  Our careers will take off. Our businesses will thrive.  God won't ask us to do something that would embarrass us - something that goes against our church, society and culture.  Right?

Well, here God asks this young girl to face ridicule, embarrassment, even the possibility of death by becoming pregnant.  And he asks her fiance to go ahead and marry her anyway - to take care of her.  They look like fools.  And yet, they are the parents of the Messiah.

Have you ever felt twinges of embarrassment because you were serving God?  Did you ever not get the support of the community that you depended on - the community that was supposed to be God's people?   It is a costly decision to follow Jesus - one that will often make the follower look like a fool.  Follow Jesus anyway!  And just as he sent Joseph to walk along side Mary, almost certainly he will send someone to walk along side you too.

God's mission prevails (Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:24-38)

There are two geneologies of Jesus in the New Testament.  I have printed the start of both of them - snipping 40 some generations to spare us the details:
 
Matthew 1:1-17 An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David: the son of Abraham...

Luke 3:24-38 Jesus was the son (as was supposed) of Joseph son of Heli... 

It had been prophesied that the Messiah would come through the lineage of King David so it was important to show that Jesus could be traced back to King David.  But Jesus' lineage was never disputed during his ministry.  And since records were kept in the temple, it would have been an easy thing for the Pharisees and others who hated Jesus to dispute if there had been any question.  So we can assume this was a pretty clear fact.

BUT what is remarkable to me about Jesus' lineage is exactly what I snipped out of the verses above.  If you read the whole thing you can see that women are mentioned in it.  And they aren't the goodie-two-shoes grandmas one might brag about.  They are Tamar, who committed incest; Rahab, a gentile who was a prostitute; Ruth, also a gentile; And Bathsheba, who committed adultery with King David.  Jesus was not entirely Jewish?  And if you think the men mentioned in the geneologies might be any better, then think again.  There are names of some unjust wicked kings, adulterers, and murderers! 

Jesus had a terrible family tree.  But this tree shows us how God works.  People can choose to play a positive role in God's mission or a negative one.  Either way, in the end, God's mission always gets accomplished.  This is what our hope is based on: that we can trust God to work out his mission - keep his promises - despite the worse kinds of obstacles!  Even the obstacles we create in our own lives.  God can work through the obstacles in our lives to enable us to serve him despite ourselves.  It is exactly why Jesus came... to make right our broken lives, to make our paths straight.  God is powerful enough to enable any of us to follow Jesus.  There is hope for us.

God's Gift of Wilderness (Luke 1:80)

Luke 1:80 ⁸⁰ The child (John the Baptist) grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.

A few blogs ago, because John the Baptist's dad, Zechariah, had doubted the angel's message, God provided Zechariah, with a "time out" by taking away his ability to speak.  Nine months later, after John the Baptist's birth, God not only restores Zechariah's ability to speak, but gives him a new gift: prophetic words to speak to the people of God.  God has used this silent time in Zechariah's life to both let him consider the consequences of his doubt (does the world really need a doubting priest?), but also to prepare him to prophesy a very important message to the world.  God uses this "time out" to reshape Zechariah's faith and to enlarge Zechariah's ministry.

Through out scripture, these "time outs" that God gives happen because God wants the person's attention for a variety of different reasons.  In Zechariah's case, it was because he had doubted and God wanted to change that behavior, but many times it has nothing to do with a failure of some sort. It has to do with God wanting to provide a space for growth. In the scripture today, God provides "wilderness time" to John the Baptist where he could not only grow up, but also grow spiritually. Wilderness time was a time for John to prepare. 

I thought it would be interesting to think about other ways that God has used wilderness time in scripture...

• Wilderness Testing:  The Holy Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness (Luke 4:1-2) where he would be tested.  Jesus needed the experience of overcoming temptation. If you are going through a time of wilderness testing, look for ways to get temptation under control!
• Wilderness Maturing:  An idealistic, but immature Moses felt compelled to protect his fellow Hebrews, but ended up running for his life into the wilderness after killing an Egyptian who was hurting one of them (Acts 7:29-30).  God kept Moses in the wilderness for forty years while he matured and learned how to survive in the wilderness.  This was a good lesson, because Moses would spend another forty years guiding the spiritually immature Hebrews through the desert.  If you are going through a time of wilderness maturing, look for lessons to absorb!
• Wilderness Injustice:  Joseph spent a lifetime in slavery and at least two years in prison having done nothing to deserve it (Genesis 39:20-23).  He could have developed a terrible faithless attitude toward God, but instead he did a quality job every time a job was required of (mostly force on) him.  If you are going through a time of wilderness injustice, pay attention to your attitude and look for creative ways that God might use you.  Joseph eventually became a ruler of Egypt.
• Wilderness Nourishment:  King Saul forced David into the wilderness to protect his throne for himself and his son, Jonathan (1 Samuel 23:13-17).  Even though Jonathan was the rightful heir to the throne, Jonathan protected David from his father and showed him mercy, love, and kindness. Lessons David put to use as King.  If you are receiving wilderness nourishment from another person, pay attention to how you might mimic their behavior on down the line.
• Wilderness Outcast:  Jephthah was rejected by the really awful people in his life (Judges 11:3-6).  And was eventually forced to live as an outcast in the wilderness.  He experienced wilderness rejection!  If you feel unwanted and unloved in the wilderness, it may be that God is using this time to teach you the kind of self-confidence that seeks only God's acceptance.  Eventually, God not only sent other outcasts to join Jephthah, but Jephthah learned to lead these outcasts. If you feel unwanted and unloved in the wilderness, it may be that God is using this time to teach you compassion for other outcasts.  Eventually Jephthah became the commander of the Hebrew army.
• Wilderness Isolation:  Before Paul committed his life to following Jesus, he murdered Christians(Galatians 1:15-18).  Then one day Jesus met up with him.  Afterwards, instead of sending Paul into the world immediately to bare witness to his new faith, God sent Paul into the wilderness of Arabia for three years.  There is no record of anyone with Paul in the wilderness. During this time the Holy Spirit must have taught him the theology that comprises most of the New Testament, because Paul says that God taught him directly.  God isolated Paul so he could be in a tight relationship with God learning new things and unlearning old things. Before we can effectively minister to others, we must be ministered to by God. If you are experiencing wilderness isolation, allow God to minister to you.

Most of us have a hard time going through the wilderness.  We are often consumed with finding our way out instead of enjoying it as a time to embrace Jesus - as a time to be nourished and to prepare.  But the way we spend our wilderness time is essential for our future.