Come To The Manger Just As You Are

Luke 2:1-14,

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 

So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an Angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the Angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there were with the Angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” *

What do you think of what happened over two thousand years in that manger in Bethlehem? If you were one of the people in the Christmas story who would it be? Are you like the shepherd? Working hard, but existentially alone in that big old pasture of life. Are you the king or queen of the situation, in a high place and battling the intellectual arguments against Christ? Are you like Mary and Joseph in a difficult situation and you don’t know where to take refuge? Are you an inn keeper? Or, are you King Herod? Come To The Manger Just As You Are!

The shepherds were tending the sheep in the fields, when some angels dropped by for a visit. It was then that they declared the glory of God and announced the birth of Jesus. These shepherds were very frightened! Cold, or hot, always on guard awaiting the next predator that they may have to protect their flock from, the life of the shepherd was not easy. 

I recently saw some well-acted movies depicting the life of lighthouse keepers. In the modern depiction of this lifestyle they show how the lighthouse keepers start out disciplined but, they soon turn to drink, paranoia and even murder. It seems to me that unless one depends upon God in the hard jobs that they must do, this is just what happens. This is what is occurring in our world right now.

The solitary nature of what a shepherd has to do, just like the lighthouse keeper, carry spiritual significance. In the solitude of these jobs one can either go crazy, or one could recognize the deep need for spiritual grounding and thus create the desire to run towards Jesus. Life is raw for the shepherds of life and this is no place for those of little faith.

What of the three kings? Through the study of the night sky they were able to discover that a most unusual star had arisen. A spectacular celestial event which pointed to the birth of a king. Was it God’s grace or their own skill that led them to the infant Jesus? Or, was it both? Does God use our giftedness to point towards salvation? 

These three kings represented the upper echelons of their respective societies. Something significant had occurred and they had to go see about it. They were the elite people of their times who were used of being at all the happening and pivotal events. Sort of like being at Davos or Art Basel but, only old-school. This however, wasn’t just any old event though, it would be the birth of the Savior of the world and the three kings would see that he had enemies in high places. What would they do about it?

What of Mary and Joseph? Can we see their part in the Christmas story and relate to it? Like Mary and Joseph we are asked to carry Jesus to the world, can we say yes, to that. This world, then and now, sorely needs a Savior but you will be persecuted for bringing this message to the world. Will you still choose to bring him into the world and place him in your home, your school or your workplace? What about your politics? 

Then, there is the inn keeper. He was depicted badly in all my church plays. He was portrayed as possibility insensitive to the plight of Mary and Joseph and the fate of their soon to be delivered baby. The inn keeper was in the hospitality business but, perhaps this census arranged by the Roman Empire had taxed his patience. 

The census brought many people into the region of Bethlehem. The infrastructure and resources of this little town were stretched beyond its’ limits. Mary and Joseph needed to get settled in and safely housed for the night. Mary, who was in an advanced state of pregnancy, was surely exhausted after her trip, anyone could see that. So, the Inn Keeper’s famous utterance of, “no room at the Inn;” seemed to ring a cruel tone. 

But, perhaps Mary wasn’t the only one exhausted. Are we like the Inn Keeper? Tired by our job and its’ impossible demands? There probably was no more available rooms and people had been asking the same question all day, “hey, I need a room, anything available?” Business is not necessarily evil because it deals with its’ limitations. Isn’t it unfair to expect the inn keeper to solve the problems brought about by the actions of the Roman Empire and most especially by God whose purposes and meaning were brought out by the birth of our Savior in the most humblest of ways?

I suppose a few of you are wondering how many of us will relate to King Herod in the Christmas story. How many of us have the kind of power and ruthlessness and could be so monstrous. Listen to yourselves, let’s get spiritually serious for a minute. The truth is that we are sinners, that means our nature is to think and do bad things. We have lied, plotted to hold on to our power, lusted, and had murderous intentions. Some of us have done some horrible things, I venture to guess that someone who is reading this blog has.

In our way and with the power that has been allotted to us, we have at times used it in sinful ways. There is nothing too hard for the Savior of the world though, that his atoning death can not cover. That is, if we are truly sorry for our sins and go before the Lord to ask for his grace and his forgiveness. There is a young man who sits listening at the back of the church saying, you don’t know what I have done. God can’t possibly forgive me. Come To The Manger Just As You Are.

So, just who are you this Christmas season? Grab your sheep and head for the manger. Take your journey from a far away land to the Lord. Bare Jesus to those who need him. Tired Inn Keeper, you are not the Savior of the world so lay that burden down on Jesus’ shoulders. Finally, there are lots of King Herod’s wherever I look, please know that your life is heading in a way that is in direct opposition to Christ and you must make a U-Turn before it is too late. Jesus can right the car of your life and send you in a new direction. Keep the focus on the star or you will lose your way. If you follow it, you will meet Jesus!

Special Christmas Greeting: I looked at my blog statistics from the past year to see what countries from around the world have viewed my blog. Below, is a greeting to each blog reader from this past year. I hope these are correct translations. Also, please excuse the fact that my keyboard may not have all the correct accent marks.

Merry Christmas, Buon Natal, Boas Festas, Frohliche Weihnachten, Hristos Razdajetsja, Glædelig Jul, Geseënde Kersfees, Vessela Koleda, Prettige Feestdagen, Shub Christu Jayanti, Selamat Tahun Baru, Mboni Chrismen, Bara Din Mubarrak Ho, Merii Kurisumasu, Maligayang Pasko, Sarbatori Vesele, Sheng Tan Kuai Loh, Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal. Jôyeux Nöel, ¡Feliz Navidad!, Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun, Srećan Božić, Zalig Kerstfeest, Eid Milad Saeid, Feliz Natal, Seun-tan chu-ka-hae-yo, and Frohe Weihnachten!

* to read about the three kings and Herod read Matthew 2: 1-12. Also, please note there are other people in the Christmas story that I did not cover in this year’s Christmas blog. Feel free to read Matthew, Mark and Luke’s infancy narratives and find other people whose stories that you may relate to.

Long Lost Relative

A long-lost relative came to my door in Westchester County, only I was not there. I was out-of-state on my recent real estate hunt. My husband was there though and after driving home after the completion of his errands discovered Megan* and her dog Dexter* waiting on the front step. She had not called nor set up this time to visit. In fact, had Megan come just one week later, she would have found a new woke and fully liberated single woman named Jessica* looking to get pregnant and start her family in my old house. We learned all of this when she sent us a real estate love letter. Have you heard of those? They are letters sent by perspective home buyers hoping to get chummy with the seller through flattery etc, in the hopes of standing out to the seller in an intense sellers market.

The paradigm has certainly shifted when a young woman waxes poetic about the journey of becoming a new mother without the benefit of marriage or as a natural outcropping of a committed and loving relationship with a man. The buyer of my former home does not resemble previous generations of typical house buyers. 

Those couples were moving to the suburbs typically after getting married. Perhaps, they were saving money while living in a cramped apartment. They dreamt of having a quiet life in the suburbs, with a backyard for their children to play in (backyards are seldom used in Westchester today, people opt instead for expensive after school activities away from home). 

Westchester grew to represent the concept of what a suburb should be. In fact the popular 1960’s family sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke show was fictionally set in Westchester County, New York. Then, suburbs were considered a nurturing place to be and thought to be filled with many worthwhile family activities to engage in. It was a place where one got to know their neighbors and became involved in the life of that community. Suburbs grew in locations close to economic hubs making them convenient when work came to be something one did away from home. I make that distinction because there was a time when we were an agrarian society. Then people worked at home so to speak. Now, we have returned to a time where many people are remotely working out of their homes.

Both Megan and Jessica represent a new mindset. For example, Megan’s visit to Westchester County was concordant with the no-planning seat-of-the pants way that she and many in her generation now run their lives. No worries is a mantra. Planning is not necessary, because in the back of their minds they believe that the government will take care of things. What happened to this thoughtful child? Megan was so grounded in all things spiritual, and smart as a whip. The answer is she was broken of everything that was right in her life by the liberal school system, the insane entertainment industry and Generation Y’s twisted spiritual values.

This generation takes the term, generation gap, to a whole new level. They don’t operate in ways that would be meaningful to any of the previous generations. This is no mystery. Parents and churches turned their backs on the true message of the Bible and of history.  Both the vehicle that is the Bible and the history books have been hijacked. Marxists have driven the car of Judeo-Christian Western Civilization into a satanic ditch and it is damaged badly. Although, God will not be moved, our civilization can.

Parents for several generations allowed the popular culture to get into their families and to raise their children. Parents did this by serving two gods, which Jesus warned against. They went to church and sent their children to Sunday school or religious instructions. But, they mixed that message in with watching television, playing video games and doing other activities which had messages opposed to biblical truths. Next, they let these opposing ideas go unchallenged. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 

While the verse relates to serving God and money, studying the passage closely points to putting God first in all areas of our lives. That includes understanding the balance of serving God and earning a living but it further points to putting the practice of faith first. Godly relations with family would be one of the results of putting God first.

My husband had to have a serious discussion with Megan. Megan’s approach to life is, it’s all good or don’t worry be happy. However, that approach has left her poor, clueless about the real meaning of family and a future cat lady-in-training. 🐈 🐈‍⬛ 🐈 🐱 

The way that she sees life has sent family relations into a ditch of its’ own too. In a situation like this, I am glad that my husband took the biblical approach. Realizing that she needed to have something deeper and more meaningful than anything that he could give her, he preached the message of the Bible.

My husband, has been a hesitant evangelist. His cultural and religious background have caused a certain privatization of his faith. It has been a source of contention with us over the years. Even, his adult conversion to a more personal faith in Jesus Christ has not entirely moved this shy and hesitant Moses to speak. But, something seemed to have changed when he was unexpectedly visited by our niece Megan after a long period of estrangement. 

He knew that he had tried other ways to reach her. He had done the cool Uncle thing. He had tried to be a friend, yuck. Understanding that he had failed, he turned to God to try and reach this troubled young woman. He went over her life with her and tried to dispel some of the mythology that she had made up in her mind. Megan says that she is a Christian. So my husband finally realized that he needed to try to talk to her about the Bible and godly standards. He made her an offer. He invited her to come stay with us in our new house so that we could begin to rebuild our family and help her sort out her future. 

He asked her to think about a lot of things. First and foremost she needed to think about what place that God currently has in her life. Secondly, she needed to realize that family is important. Our society is breeding a lot of discontented young people who reject family and substitute friendship in its’ place. Megan is at a turning point in her life. Will she reject God, family and tradition. Time flies and she might end up alone and depressed. Jessica can too for that matter, if she continues in her quest to have a baby without a father.  There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to destruction- Proverbs 14:12. I am praying hard for these two young women to find a path to God. I think that the book of Proverbs is a great place for the two of them to start.

* the names of the people, dog are changed for privacy.

Go with the Flo?

As far as Flo* goes. I met her at the local supermarket where she works. I don’t see this relationship working out for either of us because we are so different, or in Christian parlance, we are unequally yoked. I got on her checkout line a few times and we had some fun chats. When I got home and checked my bill, on one of those days, it seems that Flo had put her telephone number on this piece of paper with a message to call her that night. My, oh my, I wondered if I should call her? 

At the time, even though I knew this would probably be a mistake I couldn’t resist calling her since I was lonely. Loneliness as a chief motivator, is always a bad reason to do anything. I had just moved into my new home without my husband. He was busy selling our old house in Westchester County, New York. Now, I have to ask myself over and over again, “what did I get myself into?” 

Here’s the breakdown on Flo: she takes some south Asian plant called Kratom to handle pain supposedly from an accident that she had several years ago. And, she seems to be in pain all the time and not just where she supposedly sustained her injury. Does this seem like some sort of pain killer addiction and rebound effect to you? She is in the process of a lawsuit to get monetary damages from that accident. She is depending upon that money as well as Covid relief funds to financially survive. She is currently underemployed and gets fired from jobs a lot. Hmm, none of this sounds good. 

Oh, and Flo lent $150 dollars to a friend named Yvonne* who happens to also be the wife of an ex-con. This money was supposed to be used to buy concert tickets for the two of them. Flo gave Yvonne $100 for her ticket and she lent her $50 dollars towards the cost of Yvonne’s ticket since this grown woman was going to a concert she could not currently afford. Only, the woman ended up taking the money and buying two tickets for her and her recently released jailbird husband. I wonder if he is violating parole by staying out too late? Anyway, this all came up when she asked me if I knew anything about small claims court. 

I let Flo know that I had no personal experience with small claims court except for what I might have read over the years or heard from others. How can one person have so much crazy stuff going on? Oh, and did I fail to mention that her neighbors have complained about her to her landlord because she feeds feral cats and leaves food on her porch for them every night? Now, her landlord is trying to get her evicted apparently. 

By the way, according to her everything wrong in her life is someone else’s fault. Here are some of her pronouncements: her lack of a job is due to her accident. Her father is to blame for her series of dead end jobs. Men are not to be trusted, it is much better to own a cat. Her landlord and neighbors suck. Finally, no one will tell her “not to take care of suffering cats.”

In this world, God calls us to reflect his message to those around us. Most of those people are lost in a sinful and morally bankrupt life. We are to point to the Savior in that case but, we are not the savior. How good it is to know that I can not solve Flo’s problems but, that I can try to tell her about how knowing Jesus has given me direction and healing in my life.

I am the seed planter and the Lord brings those seeds to harvest. As long as I keep that straight, then I am okay. Still what is a Christian way to handle the mentally ill, the criminal or addicted individuals among us? Knowing the Lord has given me a heart for the poor and suffering but, in the past I got hurt by helping those in need. When you are dealing with the ill who are in need of the great physician then, you are going to run into some messed up things.

But, the Bible gives us practical boundaries which tell us to guard our heart and actions. It also directs us to not be unequally tied to people who are not believers. Therefore I can try to assist her with prayer, and some practical suggestions but, i can not allow myself to get caught up in her dysfunction. This is pretty hard to do unless you are a mature holy-spirit directed Christian. Following Jesus ultimately results in a soft and caring heart which is why I feel for this woman.

It is so abundantly clear to me that Flo would thrive if she had the clarity that only the Bible can bring. But, so far, she never picks up on any of the threads of discussion that I begin about Jesus. There seems to be some ways that I can bless her now. Some of those ways are materially but, they are mostly spiritually. 

She needs a lot of help as regards the practicalities of her daily life. I need to make sure that I don’t pass by an injured person on the side of the road. I need to strive to be a Good Samaritan not someone who see’s people in need and ignores them. This must be regardless of the fact that there are things that I don’t like about her (not unlike in that famous story).

The story of the Good Samaritan shows me two things very clearly. Firstly, that I am a sinner. In reading the story of the Good Samaritan, I always imagined that I would be the good guy who stops and helps a person in need, but the truth is that I am both the one who cares for those in need and the ones who ignore those in need. With God’s help I can be the one who cares. The story secondly makes it clear that we help those whom we love and repel from those we don’t love. It hurts to help those that we do not like. That point seems very poignant as I see the United States in a spiritual divorce. Every day people rage and hurt those opposed to their point of view.

The story of the Good Samaritan balanced with reflections on Jesus’ teachings shows us that it is important to help lead someone to the spiritual truth of salvation and not enable people to do evil as you help them. That will help me not to swoop in and do a lot of stuff that might make me feel like a good person but, won’t help her address the real issues of her life. This way it may be possible, with the Lord’s help, to get her life back on track. 

* the names have been changed but, if any of the folks who this is about read this, they will be mad at me.