The Snowflake

Tonight I was sitting in the living room examining the Christmas tree. We have a lot of lights and ornaments. As many a variety of ornaments, I think, as a tree can hold. Our tree has hand made ornaments, fine glass ornaments, cheesy toy ornaments and even a spaceship or two (okay ten).

But, the ornament that caught my eye was a cheap plastic snowflake covered in glitter. There are many just like it on the tree. I am sure that many years ago my mom bought them in a pack of 10 or 20 for less than a buck.

As I sat looking at this ornament I was taken back to a simpler time, at least for me it was simpler. It was back when I was in grade school and I took one of those ornaments to school and taped it to my desk. I wanted to decorate my desk for Christmas and that ornament was one I could take without mom getting worried about it getting lost or broken.

For me it was a time before holiday performances and concerts to attend. Before the family was so busy that planning the Christmas gathering was an act of congress. And maybe I was shielded from it, but before saying “Merry Christmas” was something that you had to be concerned about offending someone.

I have been greatly bothered this year by how the “magic” of Christmas seems to have disappeared. I know that I have changed and my life has gotten more complicated. I have things in my life now that I have never had before. There are things I thank God for everyday and things that I ask God to help change everyday.

I wonder if I have changed so much that I no longer see the “magic” of Christmas as I saw as a child. I wonder if in all my studies, growing up and growing more cynical with life has changed me to the point that I am no longer able to experience Christmas as I did as a child.

As I was writing this I was reminded again of one of the most amazing newspaper columns ever written. Veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church wrote it for the September 21, 1897 edition of New York’s Sun publication. It has become known around the world as “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” I would encourage you to read the whole column, but I want to quote the part that means the most to me:

“Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.”

Christmas is all about the unseeable. Science tells us that each individual snowflake is different, but we cannot see that with the naked eye. God created each of us as individuals different from each other, just as He created each individual snowflake different from another.

I know that sometimes I have gotten so busy that I forget to notice the beauty of God’s creation. There is a great diversity that exists in all created things. But sometimes because of life it becomes unseeable. I forget why we do all the things we do at this time of year.

I wonder if maybe the “magic” of Christmas is lost on me because I have forgotten it. Maybe the “magic” of Christmas is nothing external but it is an internal unseeable thing. That maybe the most important thing about Christmas is not all the gifts, parties, concerts, church services and whatever else we find to cram into a few short weeks in December.

The most important thing about Christmas is remembering why we do all the crazy stuff. That in some far away land, a long time ago a baby was born. He was born in the most humble of circumstances and yet angels and a bright shining star announced His birth.

The heart of Christmas is that the most lowly and unlikely of places can become a holy space, that the most unlikely birth can change the world. That God who takes so much care to make no two snowflakes the same took time to save the world.

Advent - Week 4 : Peace

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”
Therefore He shall give them up,
Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth;
Then the remnant of His brethren
Shall return to the children of Israel.
And He shall stand and feed His flock
In the strength of the LORD,
In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God;
And they shall abide,
For now He shall be great
To the ends of the earth;
And this One shall be peace. -- Micah 5:2-5a

In this great Messianic prophecy we hear echoes of Isaiah. Micah tells us, “And this One shall be peace” and Isaiah tells us, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).

All throughout Scripture, God promises peace to His children. In Leviticus, God promises Israel that if they will keep His covenant “I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land“ (Leviticus 26:6).

Our God is the God of peace. He wants to bring peace to your life and mine. However, the thing that prevents that is what we do. More accurately, it is our sin. We sin everyday, willfully and unknowingly. God in His infinite love and mercy uses anything and everything He can to bring us to repentance and set our lives on the right path. In many cases this includes the lack of peace in our lives.

God wants to give us peace, and when we find that we are truly resting in Him, we have a peace that passes all understanding. And we also have the promise from His word that in the end, if we are faithful to Him, we will enter into His eternal rest and peace. We will live and reign with Him forever in paradise. That thought should bring us peace and hope now in the midst of all the chaos of this world.

As we begin the final week of our Advent journey, let us remember that everything God does is for us, that the hope we have in God, the love He freely gives and joy that trusting God brings should lead us to peace. Knowing that we serve the God of the Universe, who made the effort to save us and direct our lives, should inspire us to follow Him daily and in that effort find peace.

The following are promises and examples of peace from God’s Word. As you read each days passage, if you are not at peace, take time to ask God why. He will show you, as He desires to bring peace to your life.

Monday - John 16:32-33
Tuesday - Psalm 4:7-8
Wednesday - Hebrews 13:20-21
Thursday (Last day of the Season Advent) - Job 5:22-24
Friday (First day of the Season of Christmas) - Merry Christmas - Luke 2:1-20

Advent - Week 3 : Joy

Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
You shall see disaster no more.
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

“ Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.
The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
“ I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.
Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.
At that time I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,”
Says the LORD. -- Zephaniah 3:14-20

Something amazing happens in this passage of Scripture: “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” So often we rejoice over what the LORD has done for us, that we do not realize that He rejoices over us.

We forget that our sins grieve God, that He endured horrific torture and death in order to secure our salvation, so when we are restored He rejoices, which in turn should bring joy to our lives.

The God who created everything rejoices over us when we are restored to righteousness. We can see the joy of God in the story of the prodigal son. The father is so joyful the son has returned that he restores everything to the son. So it is with God--when we return He rejoices and restores everything to us, which should bring us joy.

As we continue this Advent journey together, let us never forget the joy we have in being restored to God and the joy He has in restoring us.

The following are examples from God’s Word in which we are given reasons to rejoice or in which God rejoices because of us. Read each day’s example, and let the hope that God brings and the love He pours out on us to bring us eternal joy.

Monday - 1 Peter 1:6-9
Tuesday - Psalm 5:11-12
Wednesday - Luke 2:9-11
Thursday - Jeremiah 33:8-9
Friday - Luke 15:8-10
Saturday - Isaiah 9:2-3

Advent - Week 2 : Love

“Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
“ But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the LORD
An offering in righteousness.
“ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
Will be pleasant to the LORD,
As in the days of old,
As in former years. -- Malachi 3:1-4

What a strange way to start a week of focusing on God’s love. This is a message from the prophet Malachi on what it will be like when Messiah comes. It does not sound very enjoyable. He will come and purify so that we can offer an acceptable offering of righteousness to the LORD.

The process of purification is not always an enjoyable one. It involves removing things in our lives that separate us from God. Some of those things we may not want to admit we struggle with, or we like the sin in our lives and do not want to be purified of it.

But when the Messiah comes, we will be purified. We will be able to make the offering of righteousness that the LORD desires, and this will all be accomplished because of the love of God, a God who is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9b) is willing to send His Son to purify us so that we can be in relationship with Him.

As we continue this Advent journey together, let us remember that everything we have or ever will have comes from the hand of a loving God.

The following are examples of God’s love for us from God’s Word. Read each day’s example and take time to meditate on it and thank God for the love He bestows upon you.

Monday - Romans 5:6-11
Tuesday - Deuteronomy 7:11-13
Wednesday - John 3:16-17
Thursday - Psalm 42:5-8
Friday - 1 John 4:9-12
Saturday - Psalm 136