Lost in the Hazy Holiday Maze

I have an idea I’d like to develop but I’ll need to ask you to use your imagination. So, hang with me; there is a point to this.

Imagine that there is life on other planets and that you are a human-type being that has traveled to earth unnoticed. You look like a normal, average human, easily blending in with the population. Of course, you are not from around here so you don’t really care. You observe.

When you look at the human race, what do you see? You observe the political maneuvering of nations. You see aggressive nations trying to gain a stronger footing among other nations. You see terrorism. You see conflicting definitions of freedom.

Remember, you are not from around here. So, you have no allegiance to the U.S. or to Spain or to Indonesia. What does it all mean/matter?

You continue on relatively unnoticed for a while...watching people as they scurry from one place to another, going to work, working after work, playing, being entertained, arguing, struggling, fighting, living, dying. Individuals are doing a lot of maneuvering too. To what end?

Let’s extend this imagination tour beyond days to years, even to centuries. What was happening in the place where you are ’right now’ one thousand years ago? (Trees???)

In your mind go to a population center. Imagine being able to observe people and nations for a millennium. You can see the struggles and triumphs. You observe the rise and fall of power, the shifting of wealth, enterprise and foolishness, the proud and the lowly.

You watch the seemingly unending cycle of life. The repetition was startling at first, but now you can identify patterns and can accurately anticipate the outcome of choices and actions.

A thousand years pass and you return to your home to report. What will you say about the people and the nations of the earth? 

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My purpose in this outlandish journey has been to challenge you to step away from your personal life and its desires and stresses and joys, and disconnect...to think about God.

Do you know why it makes sense that God identified Himself to Moses as, “I Am Who I Am”? He transcends place and time. God created place. God created time. He is the one who really can step back and comprehend all places in all time. For that reason we would do well to respond as Moses did when God revealed Himself: Moses bowed low and worshiped.

Yet, God can also look directly into your life at this place at this time. In fact, He does look, because He is interested in you. So, while He seems to be distant because of His divine nature, His love for you draws Him into your life.

God has seen it all. He has watched the endless parade of nations as well as the cyclical and tiresome ways of man. And at the right time God entered into His creation as a little baby. That little baby was Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. And He grew up, and He became the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He rules the nations and ultimately every knee will bow to Him.

He did not come to earth so that we could hustle and bustle, and exchange gifts, and have lots of food and football and fun and fellowship with friends and family. It doesn’t really matter how you celebrate Christmas or whether you celebrate Christmas if you get lost in the maze of holiday haze and forget why He came. 

So...stop! 

Remember.

Read the words of Jesus slowly.

I    came    that    they    may    have    life…

Mark Stinnett

One Thing You Really Ought to Know about Christmas

The Holiday

Yes, it is true. We really do not know the exact date of Jesus’ birth. Early Christian writers favored a date around December 25th because they held to the belief that Jesus was conceived at Passover. However, this view was held with no known evidence. A birth in the spring or fall is favored by many modern scholars. One writer has commented that about the only thing we know for sure is that Jesus was not born on December 25th.

The word Christmas does not come from the Bible, but from the Roman Catholic Church. It is a shortened form of “Christ’s Mass,” a celebration of Christ’s birth, a celebration which originated in about the 4th century A.D.

What are we supposed to do with this information? Some believers feel that Christmas should not be observed since it is not in the Bible. Other believers love the holiday and would prefer not to be bothered with facts. Some folks who do not believe in Jesus look at the facts and think Christians to be foolish for celebrating a made-up holiday. (Of course, for non-believers, all holidays are made-up.)

When we turn to the Bible the birth of Jesus brought joy to those awaiting the Messiah, and it brought praise to God for fulfilling His promise of salvation. Yet, as joyful a time as it was, the earliest Christians do not appear to have celebrated His birth, nor were they instructed to do so in Scripture. That said, Christians today are given the liberty to celebrate Christmas if they wish, as they wish, whenever they wish...even in July.

The Wise Men

Yes, it is true. No one really knows how many wise men visited Jesus; and no one knows their names. It is somewhat unclear from scripture whether Joseph and Mary had returned to Nazareth or stayed in Bethlehem when the wise men visited. (Compare Matthew's account with Luke's account.) It is also unclear how old Jesus was when the wise men presented Him gifts. About the only thing we know for sure is that Jesus was not lying in a manger in a stable when the wise men visited. He was inside a house with His mother:

“After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." —Matthew 2:11

There are things we are accustomed to hearing and seeing at Christmastime, things we even expect: trees and stockings, fruitcakes and shopping; fa la la la laa, la la la laaaaa.

Whether you celebrate, or in whatever way you may celebrate, your Christmas traditions are yours: December 25th, the wise trio, manger & stable scenes, Tannenbaum and carols; the jolly, rotund, chimney sweep with a big bountiful bag; it is all up to you. But there is one thing you really ought to know about Christmas...

Peace on Earth

An angel announced the birth of Jesus to nearby shepherds. Then the heavenly host responded:

Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.
—Luke 2:14 (NASB)

This was not a divine greeting, but a declaration. Peace on earth would be nice in any century, but God never promised everybody peace on earth. You ought to know that the only ones who will have peace are those "with whom He is well pleased." And that demands a response, not to the baby in a manger, but to the Christ upon the cross, to the risen Savior and reigning King.

Jesus, the adult Jesus, the one called Messiah, and Lord; the man that God acknowledged as his Son; He said that He had come to bring a sword (Matthew 10:34). His sword of judgment will one day separate believers from unbelievers for all eternity.

Jesus did bring peace to earth, but it was peace between God and sinful man. (Just read the first two chapters of the gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke and see for yourself.) Zacharias, the father of John said it; Mary said it; the old man Simeon said it; the angel announced it: 

Jesus came to bring peace between God and man...

            ...to those with whom He is well pleased.

Is God well pleased with you???
BELIEVE...

Mark Stinnett
(Revised: December, 2022.)