Happy New Year 2020

I just finished reading Wilfred McClay's book on U.S. history, Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Society. It is an excellent book, optimistic about America, but still revealing its faults and challenges. Probably the most balanced text on American history I have ever read. I strongly recommend it.

In his epilogue, McClay wrote briefly on the nature of patriotism. He warns of its excesses, but he also notes its importance. He writes:

There is a strong tendency in modern American society to treat patriotism as a dangerous sentiment, a passion to be guarded against. But this is a serious misconception. To begin with, we should acknowledge that there is something natural about patriotism, as an expression of love for what is one's own, gratitude for what one has been given, and reverence for the sources of one's being. These responses are instinctive; they're grounded in our natures and the basic facts of our birth. Yet their power is no less for that, and they are denied only at great cost. When the philosopher Aristotle declared that we are by nature "political animals," he meant that we are in some sense made to live in community with one another. It is in our nature to be belonging creatures. One of the deepest needs of the human soul is a sense of membership, of joy in what we have and hold in common with others.

I found this to be a thoughtful reflection, perhaps something to consider as we move into the new year.

Happy New Year.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

When Charlie Brown asks someone one to tell him what Christmas is all about, Linus replies:

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

This is what Christmas is about, Charlie Brown.


Merry Christmas to all from Godbeforemidnight!! See you in the new year!!

Christianity is a Rescue Religion

As Christmas draws near, it's important to reflect on what the holiday is all about. Christopher Ash in his book, Repeat the Sounding Joy, tells us that Christmas is about rescue; that is, Jesus was on a rescue mission!

Christmas is not about sweetness or feeling good in the middle of winter. It is about rescue. Christianity is a rescue religion. Jesus came to save lost people, desperately needy people. The angel gave him that name before he was conceived so there could be no doubt about that. In his great book The City of God, the fifth-century bishop Augustine catalogues at some length the miseries of living as sinners in a world under sin (he also goes to great length to speak of God's kindness!). Then he writes that there is no escape from this life "other than through the grace of Christ, our Saviour, God and Lord. The very name Jesus shows this, for it means Saviour; and what he saves us from most of all is a life after this one which is more miserable still: an eternal life which is more like death than life."

Death can be an eternal life with our without God. Christmas provides the assurance that we can live forever with the Lord. That is good news.

I Am Gospelling You!

Here is another excerpt from Christopher Ash's book on the first two chapters of Luke, Repeat the Sounding Joy. He offers an interesting view on what "gospel" means; specifically, the use of the word in Luke 2:10: "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.'"

Here it is:

Here's the message: "I bring you good news" (v 10) - literally, "I am gospelling you." In the ancient world a "gospel" was the announcement of a new government. When a new king took over a country, messengers went through the land proclaiming the "gospel" of this new ruler. So who's the ruler? He arrives in "the town of David" (Bethlehem); he's going to be a "Saviour"; he is "the Messiah" (or "Christ"), "the Lord" (v.11). So he's a king - the King in David's line, the great Ruler promised all down the Old Testament years. And, precisely because he will be a powerful Ruler, he will be the Saviour of all God's people."

That's a great insight, isn't it? I new "gospel" meant "good news" but didn't know about its connection to the proclamation of a new ruler!

Our Promises Broken, His Promises Kept

This is another excerpt from a Christmas devotional we are reading, Repeat the Sounding Joy, by Christopher Ash. Here Ash talks about the promises of God revealed at Christmas:

Christmas is God keeping a promise. Christmas had to happen, because God had promised that it would....

Plenty of tears will be shed this Christmas for broken promises: marriage vows cast away, business commitments reneged on, pledges of care for elderly parents or young children lying torn up on the floor like discarded wrapping paper. Maybe your life is littered with the debris of a broken promise, and it hurts so much. Perhaps you feel the dreadful guilt of a promise you yourself have broken, knowing that others are hurting. But - most wonderfully - God is utterly faithful and keeps his promises without fail. Christmas - properly understood - brings comfort to the casualties of broken promises.

....

When God redeemed the people from slavery under the Pharaohs, he was remembering his promise to Abraham. When he brought them into the promised land, he was keeping the vow he had made to Abraham. When he gave them David the king, he was acting on his solemn oath. And yet all these little mercies and rescues pointed forward to one great final keeping of the covenant. On that day the "seed" of Abraham - one wonderful man, God incarnate - came to earth and took upon himself a fully human nature in order to live for, love and die for sinners, and be raised from the dead. The astonishing, unique man, whose birth we remember at Christmas, is the seed of Abraham. In him all the promises of God say their resounding "Yes!" (2 Corinthians 1:20) Jesus Christ is God keeping his covenant to Abraham.

And so, amid the misery of broken promises and shattered dreams, when we despair of our own unfaithfulness to our promises, take heart that at Christmas God has kept his covenant promise to Abraham.

Leaping for Joy

For advent season, my wife and I are reading a book by Christopher Ash, Repeat the Sounding Joy. It's a daily devotional that walks the reader through the Christmas story in Luke 1-2. Ash offers great insights into the text; it's definitely worth the $12!

In particular, Ash's perspective on Luke 1:39-45 is very interesting. This passage recounts Mary visiting her cousin, Elizabeth, and as Mary greets her, Elizabeth's baby "leaped in her womb." Elizabeth's baby, of course, would become John the Baptist. Ash finds deep meaning in this reaction. Here is what he says:

John the Baptist will be the last prophet, the final spokesman, of the old-covenant era. In his preaching he will be the summing-up witness for the Old Testament. And everything about his preaching will point to one man, and one man alone. We know this from what the Gospels teach us of his public ministry. But here, even before he is born, his whole tiny being leaps for joy in the presence of the only-just conceived Jesus. In this lovely moment, we learn that the whole of the Old Testament, as it were, jumps for joy in the presence of the One to whom it has pointed, for whom it has longed for all these centuries of waiting. All the longings of the Old Testament feed that joyful jump of John the Baptist!

May our hearts never be slow to leap for joy at the wonder and truth of Jesus. Pray that you would know the thrill and delight of this King more and more this Christmas, and beyond.

Living with Regrets

The following is an excerpt from a blog post by Ed Welch found here. It is a post about regrets, how we should deal with them in the Christian life. What is that balance between acknowledging sin and feeling bad for our failures and living in the grace and mercy of Christ?

Here are some of his thoughts:

It feels so right – so spiritual – to live with regrets. It means you feel bad for the wrong things you have done or think you have done, and that sounds like a good thing. If you forget those wrongs, you are acting like they were no big deal.

How many “if only’s” do you have in your life?

....

Maybe you believe your regrets will be your protective talisman to help make sure you don’t repeat past sins. That makes sense and sounds spiritual, but it’s a false gospel. It is the sweet mercies of God that compel us to fight sin. One way to identify the nefarious nature of regrets is that they do not give mercy the prominent seat at the table. These regrets might be so stubborn that they will only leave through repentance. While you have been repenting of your perceived contribution to past regrets, the real reason to repent is much closer to the present: you are saying, “Lord I don’t believe that you cover my past, though you probably cover the pasts of other people, and I certainly don’t believe that confidence in your goodness and hope for tomorrow is even permissible.” Call it unbelief. If you want to get nasty, call it pride, in which you believe yourself rather than the Lord. Either way, repent.

I have my own regrets—you have yours. God’s mercies are stockpiled even higher.

Regrets of the past can keep us locked in sin in the present if we do not accept God's mercy. Especially as we enter this holiday season, we should remember that Christ came to free us from the sins of the past, present, and future. Sola gratia.