Post 83—It’s Christmas Time

Post 83—It’s Christmas Time                                                     

Merry Christmas to you all! Yes, it’s that day and that season. The season that many of us dread because of the tremendous pressures we put upon ourselves with our frantic buying. When I see the crowds in the malls—I only see them on the screen!—and listen to the shoppers interviewed by reporters, I shake my head and thank God for the wise decision that we have made. Seeing that giving presents is often a matter of bringing coal to New Castle, that is to say, giving presents to people who already have more than they need, we do our gifting to charities who make sure the poor are taken care of.  So, instead of pressures, my wife and I are free to enjoy the season with its many instrumental and choral concerts, joyful church services, street events, etc., etc. We love this season, not the least because of the parties that come with it.

“Merry Christmas” is the traditional if no longer the most popular greeting.  “Merry”—it sounds rather flippant and superficial.  “Let us eat, drink and be merry,” as the Biblical saying has it.     But “merry” became a tradition because in the past it had a much deeper meaning with a spiritual undertone. I insist on using it along with the term “Christmas.” For others who have no reason to celebrate Christmas, fine, let them make do with the superficial “Happy Holiday,” but holiday for what? What are they celebrating? Yes, for some, great family time and that is indeed important and worth celebrating. But today so many have no families or they are far away. In fact, for many it’s a sad and lonely season.

Of course, originally the time was marked by a pagan feast that Christians recast in order to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The rest of this post is devoted to the Old Testament passage of Isaiah 9, where that birth was prophesied in the words of the people of Israel thousands of years ago. That means in words and concepts that we do not immediately understand, but I believe the basic thrust of the passage should make clear what the major concerns were that Jesus came to address.

There are many, many different Bible translations. Most of them are not created to compete with or correct other translations. Rather they all have different purposes and, especially, target audiences. A major purpose is to make the Bible more easily understood to today’s reader. The first translation is from the English Standard Version; the second, from The Message. But both are translations of the same passage.

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                        A New Day Is Coming

             (From English Standard Version)

9 But there will be an end to the gloom those people suffered. In the past, people thought the land of Zebulun and Naphtali was not important. But later, that land will be honored—the land along the sea, the land east of the Jordan River, and Galilee where people from other nations live. ² Those people lived in darkness, but they will see a great light. They lived in a place as dark as death, but a great light will shine on them.

³ God, you will make the nation grow, and you will make the people happy. They will rejoice in your presence as they do at harvest time. It will be like the joy when people take their share of things they have won in war. ⁴ That will happen because you will lift the heavy yoke off their shoulders and take away their heavy burden. You will take away the rod that the enemy used to punish your people, as you did when you defeated Midian.^[a]

⁵ Every boot that marched in battle and every uniform stained with blood will be destroyed and thrown into the fire. ⁶ This will happen when the special child is born. God will give us a son who will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be “Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.” ⁷ His power will continue to grow, and there will be peace without end. This will establish him as the king sitting on David’s throne and ruling his kingdom. He will rule with goodness and justice forever and ever. The strong love^[b] that the Lord All-Powerful has for his people will make this happen!

               A Child Has Been Born—for Us!

              (From The Message)

9 But there’ll be no darkness for those who were in trouble.

Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute,

but the time is coming when he’ll make that whole area glorious—

 the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.

^2-7 The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
    light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
    you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
    Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
    sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
    all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
    as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
    along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
    a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
    the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
    the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
    Strong God,
Eternal Father,
    Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
    and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
    over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
    and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
    beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
    will do all this.

Post 82—The “Christmas Spirit” at McDonald

Today we are going a bit lighter as well as a bit shorter to give you the time you otherwise may not have to do your final Christmas shopping.  If you wonder how come I have the time to write this post when I probably should be shopping feverishly, well, it’s simple: I don’t. Period. Now don’t jump to the conclusion that I—or, rather, my wife and I-- are cheapskates. Remember: before you judge, if at all, be sure you have all the facts at your command. That fact is that we have decided this year to spend our gift money on persecuted people, including refugees. We see little sense in spending fortunes on gifts no one among our family and friends needs. Writing a few cheques or sending monetary gifts online or by Paypal takes off a lot of pressure—and allows me the time to write this post.

The Denison Forum recently featured a story by one Nick Pitts under the heading “250 Mcdonald's Drive-Thru Customers 'Pay It Forward'.” Since it’s a Christmassy kind of story, it is a fitting  post in this Christmas week. In Pitts’ own words, it goes like this:

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Marisabel Figueroa probably started her shift at the Lakeland, Florida McDonalds where she works expecting that day to be like any other. However, one woman's generosity set off a chain reaction that, several hours later, would leave her saying that she'd "never experienced something like that before." It all started when Torie Keene decided to pay for the order of the car behind her and specifically asked Figueroa to tell the driver Merry Christmas, rather than Happy Holidays, when she delivered the news of the free meal. 

As the cashier described, when the other driver was told that her meal had been paid for, she was so grateful that she decided to do the same for the driver behind her. The pattern continued for almost the entirety of Figueroa's six-hour shift, as some 250 customers decided to "pay it forward." 

"I just kept giving everyone the same message, and they were all so stunned and so happy,” Figueroa explained. “One lady even paid for the meals of the next three cars behind her."

After a local news station picked up the story, Keene contacted Figueroa via Facebook to express her surprise, saying that she was "only trying to brighten someone's day." It seems clear that she did that and more as the story has now made national headlines. 

I don’t know just where Pitts’ story ends and where Denison of the Forum takes over. The next few paragraphs amount to a kind of Biblical application of this apparently true story.

The thing is, most of the people that experienced the gift of a free meal and decided to continue it paid roughly what they expected to pay when they arrived at the drive-thru window. The difference is that, because someone had already covered their debt, their actions from that point forward became voluntary rather than necessary. They were given the freedom not to pay but chose to use that freedom for the betterment of others rather than just themselves. 

It's a living example of the mentality Paul describes in his first letter to the Corinthians when he spends the majority of the Epistle writing on the need to think of others before yourself and to place their rights above your own (1 Corinthians 6-14). He is clear that we are not called to make that choice out of an obligation to them but in order to simply be better representatives of Christ in their lives. As he wrote to the Galatians, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). 

Because of Christ's sacrifice, we have been set free from the burdens of the Law. Will we use that freedom to model the kind of life to which He has called us or will we view his grace as a license for disobedience? How we answer that question speaks volumes about the nature of our relationship with God, and an unbelieving world is watching closely for our response. 

So this Christmas season, let's be intentional about using the freedom that God has granted us for His purposes rather than our own. Our heavenly Father has given us the gift of unhindered access to Himself through Christ and asked us to "pay it forward" by helping others to understand that offer as well. Will you?

The only thing I question in the above few paragraphs is that italicized clause that there was/is no obligation at work here. Presenting ourselves as better representatives of Christ is our obligation. True, it’s also our privilege, but you cannot eliminate the obligation part. And what is the problem with that?  

Maybe this “little” is a reflection of a divide between Lutheran and Calvinist thinking with the former tending towards a negative attitude towards obligation and law while the latter emphasizes that law and grace always go together. 

Perhaps the non-obligatory part is also a reflection of the influence of the general Western antipathy to law that stems way back in our history to the so-called Enlightenment.  The roots of our thought patterns go so deep and long to the point that most of us are not even aware of them; we just act, speak or think along those patterns without any further second thought. 

One of the purposes of this blog is to lay bare for you readers the reasons and roots of our accepted thought patterns or worldview. This obligation thing may be one of those unexamined items in our Western culture. 

I guess I ended up not so short after all nor so light. Next time just read the story without the comments, enjoy it and ponder it for yourself. Maybe even go to Burger King and initiate the same story to see what happens, Christmas or not. Oh, sorry, it was McDonalds, not BK. No matter, for when it's spring, can summer be far way? When you see Big Mac, can BK be far away?