Tag: Jesus

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Love – God With Us

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14 (NRSV)

Have you ever been to a baby shower? Maybe it was for your own children. Or maybe you have younger siblings and can remember the anticipation of the coming baby? It’s such an exciting time waiting on a new addition to the family.

Perhaps, this season you will receive a Christmas card with a new face in the group. I guarantee wherever you see a new baby everyone is smiling a bit bigger. There’s a tad more joy when we add someone new.

This verse from Isaiah is a piece of prophecy pointing to Jesus. The young woman is of course Mary. But there’s something peculiar about this verse. It says that the new baby will be named Immanuel. Now, Jesus’ name isn’t Immanuel, it’s, well, Jesus. But we even have hymns that seem to refer to Jesus as “Immanuel.” So, what’s the deal?

Well, the name Immanuel in Hebrew translates to “God with us.” This verse should read something like: the child will be God-right-next-to-us. This means Immanuel is more of a title than a person’s name. In Matthew 1:23, this verse from Isaiah is referenced when the angel announces Jesus’ birth to Joseph.

God-with-us is exactly who Jesus is. He is the incarnation of the living God. He is heaven come to Earth. He has made his home among us mortals because of his love for us. He’s not social distancing but right up in our business. The overarching message of the Bible is just that: Immanuel, God is with us. God says, “I will be with you,” to Abraham when he is asked to leave home. God says, “I will be with you,” to Jacob when he fled from his brother to the wilderness. God says, “I will be with you,” to Moses when he brought the Israelites from slavery in Egypt into the promised land. And God says, “I will be with you,” to Mary when she finds out she will have a baby.

So, if Immanuel is a title or more of a description, how have you seen God with you this Advent season? Does it feel like God has been with you lately? Maybe it has felt like God was so far away he was on another planet. Take some time today to reflect on what it means that God is with us no matter what happens.

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Joy – Sing to the Lord

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. – Isaiah 12:5-6 (NRSV)

Let’s think for a minute: how many Christmas songs talk about joy or being joyful? Well, there’s “Joy to the World,” that one is pretty obvious. There’s also “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “O, Holy Night,” “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and “Angels We Have Heard on High” just to name a few.

Joy is pretty a churchy word, but we use it because we are talking about something more than happiness or pleasure. We are talking about a heavenly feeling which has somehow made its way deep into our soul. Often, in Scripture and in worship, we are so overwhelmed by its presence we cannot help but sing. That’s why we have so many Christmas songs which talk about joy.

This verse from Isaiah encourages the people of God to let loose with shouting and praise. There are hundreds of other passages in the Bible which encourage the same thing, yet we often find ourselves quiet and self-conscious when it comes to worship.

When was the last time you found yourself singing? Maybe it was in the shower or in the car. Maybe at a friend’s birthday or in the choir. There is so much emotion bound up with the act of singing. When we sing we are forced to really feel the words deep within us.

Theologian St. Augustine used to say that “to sing is to pray twice.” In a sense, anything we sing to God reflects the depths of our soul. Isaiah encourages the people of God to sing in celebration and joy at what the Lord has done for them.

But he also tells them to sing for another reason. He says that they should sing because “in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” They should sing, not just because of what God has done, but also because God is here.

During the season of Advent, we are called to celebrate because the God of all creation has decided to make his home among us. God is not far off in heaven. The Holy One is found here in our midst in the person of Jesus Christ. This season do not be afraid to celebrate boldly and with singing the arrival of our Lord.

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Joy – The Gift of God

You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy, they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest. – Isaiah 9:3 (NRSV)

What’s your favorite Christmas food? Take a moment to really think about it. Close your eyes and picture the family table covered in casseroles and carbohydrates. There’s got to be one you dish onto your plate first. Without its savory goodness Christmas would be incomplete. Or maybe you have a sweet tooth ready to devour some cookies, cakes, or pies. They don’t call it holiday weight for nothing.

This verse from Isaiah talks about the joy of Israel. He says that God’s people are rejoicing like it is harvest time, and there’s more food than they can imagine. They are gathered together as a community as they delight in the good things God has given them.

As we celebrate in our homes and with our loved ones, it can be easy to let the focus of our joy be on the food or the presents. Our eyes will drift to the harvest on the table and under the tree, and we will forget the God who has made all our blessings possible.

This verse reminds me of the final seen in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. If you remember the story, all the Whos in Who-ville were being quite obnoxious with their joyfulness so the Grinch decided he would steal Christmas. On Christmas Eve, he went house to house and stole all the food and decorations and gifts then waited until morning to hear them cry “boo-hoo.” But of course, they didn’t. They arose Christmas morning and gathered together to sing. Somehow or other Christmas came just the same.

James 1:17 reminds us that “every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (NRSV).” Nothing we have comes from our own hand, but only through the grace of God. We must not find joy in the gifts without first finding joy in the Giver. And, during Advent, we are awaiting the most important gift of all in Jesus Christ, from whom we reap a harvest of salvation.

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Joy – Our Light in the Darkness

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined. – Isaiah 9:2 (NRSV)

This time of year, the world is full of lights. There are twinkling lights on the Christmas tree and flickering flames in the Advent wreath. There are great big light extravaganzas down the street and dainty icicle lights on the house next door. There are candles in the windows and headlights on cars. As the song goes, “city street lights, even stop lights dressed in holiday style.” We need light this time of year because the days are short, and the nights are long.

This year might have felt pretty dark to you. We have been engulfed by the uncertainty of COVID-19, and it has amplified our preexisting fears.

Maybe you once feared starting a new job, and now you’re afraid of the health risks involved. Maybe you once feared getting into the right college. Now, you’re not sure how well college and coronavirus mix. Maybe you want to feared starting a new relationship. Now, it seems like avoiding relationships is the safer option.

We have been walking in the dark for most of the year – never knowing what the next day would bring. For most of us, darkness is terrifying, but we’re even more afraid that any light in our life will be destroyed by the darkness.

Author Brené Brown says this about the darkness, “the dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.”

Think about it this way, there is no way a shadow can ever overcome the light. The smallest amount of light, the tiniest good thing shines even brighter, becomes even more noticeable, in the depths of the dark. If we spend time worrying about the dark, worrying about the bad things, we are letting go of our own joy.

For those of us who call themselves the people of God, our great light this Christmas is the boy-child Jesus. He is the light of the world, and if you are following Jesus then you will never have to worry about the dark.

As you go about today, keep your eyes peeled for Christmas lights and candles. Maybe even find a bright spot around your house. Ask yourself, what does it mean for Jesus to be the Light of the World and what does it mean for Jesus to be my light in the darkness?

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Joy – Good News

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” – Isaiah 52:7 (NRSV)

This is the third week of Advent, and churches all over the world are talking about joy. You cannot read today’s verse without hearing joy. We’ve all experienced the joy that comes from getting some long-awaited good news. Maybe you’ve anxiously refreshed a webpage looking for a grade, or you’ve waited outside while a team of judges decide if you’ve passed the audition, or you get that thrilling text with those four joyous words: you made the team.

Back before iPhones and fax machines, the only way to receive a message from a long way off was to send a hand delivered letter. There was not a postal service or a Pony Express. Most of the time, these messages were carried by those on foot. Today’s verse describes someone traveling on foot to deliver a message of peace and salvation. Picture a soldier dispatched from the front lines and told to run back to the city. The soldier is to announce that the war is over. Peace has come, and God has brought about salvation. The beautiful feet in this story are not just bringing good news, they are bringing a message of life in the face of death.

Though we have all received good news, we have not received many messages of life in the face of death. That kind of news sounds more like hearing “his cancer is finally in remission,” or “she survived the accident,” or “we will be together again someday.”

However, we have all received the same good news in Jesus Christ. In fact, that’s exactly what the word gospel means! Good news! And How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the gospel, who proclaim peace with God, who announce our salvation and the Kingdom of God.

This season, we should remember that Jesus’s birth is the ultimate good news. More than that, it is a message of life in the face of death. Take joy and give thanks for God’s message of life in the face of death.

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Joy – Jesus’s Greatest Miracle

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. – Isaiah 35:5-6 (NRSV)

The ministry of Jesus Christ is full of the miraculous. He healed those who could not walk and gave sight to the blind. We know that he walked on water and calmed a raging storm. He fed thousands of people with a few pieces of bread and once he made a coin appear from the mouth of a fish.

John writes in his Gospel that Jesus did so many miracles that they couldn’t begin to have written them all down. But I have to say, of all the miracles, the coin in the fish thing seems the most like a magic trick.

Let me ask you this, just for fun, what would you say was Jesus’s most extraordinary miracle? You might think it’s one of the fancier miracles like walking on water or calming the storm. Or, you might jump straight to the resurrection as his most impressive feat. However, what if it’s something else? What if it’s something that literally every person alive today has done?

Every human being who is alive has gone through the process of birth. There are different ways of being born, of course, and we don’t need to get into that here. Yet, every human alive was formed in the belly of a woman and brought into this world to undergo the human experience. Even though Adam and Eve weren’t ‘born’ in the typical sense they still lived the human experience. However, Jesus isn’t human, at least, he isn’t only human.

Now, the idea of Jesus actually having a definitive “Most Extraordinary Miracle” is not real. This is just a thought experiment. However, since it is the Season of Advent, maybe we should consider the birth of Jesus as Fully Human and Fully Divine as his most extraordinary miracle. We call this event the incarnation and without it none of the other miracles are possible.

This is the moment that heaven touches earth and they mix together. This is the moment that Love came down and took on human skin. What would it mean for us to think of Jesus’ birth as his most extraordinary miracle?

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Peace – A Prayer for Peace

His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.

– Isaiah 11:3-4 (NRSV)

If someone asked you for a definition of ‘peace,’ what would you say? Perhaps you would talk about the inner calm you get from prayer. Maybe you would use words like “tranquility” or “harmony.” You might talk about meditation or circles of hippies singing kumbaya and everyone getting along. This verse from Isaiah does not talk about peace in that way.

Isaiah describes the ministry of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, as one of judgement. This passage throws around words like righteousness, equity, and ‘meek of the earth.’ This is the sort of turn-the-world-upside-down sort of peace in which the winners become losers and the losers become winners.

As Jesus puts it in his own words “the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” Moreover, Jesus isn’t the sort of judge who hears testimony or can be corrupted. It says that he doesn’t need his ears or his eyes to know what’s right. Jesus already knows how to righteously judge.

There certainly hasn’t been a lot of peace this year. There have been protests and counter protest, riots and prayer walks. More than wearing their emotions on their sleeve, people have started printing up t-shirts broadcasting their frustrations everywhere they go.

Maybe you’ve even posted or protested too, possibly using some mantra like Back the Blue, Black Lives Matter, Pro-Life, Love Wins. In our world, everyone has got a slogan, and no one is at peace.

We live in a broken, mixed-up world, and, on the other side of Christmas that will still be true. We are all sinful people trying our best to do what we think is best.

During Advent, we are awaiting the arrival of Jesus the Righteous King. When he sits down to judge the people of this world he will do so with perfect justice. Until that day, we are called to seek justice and equity as best as we can.

Today, take time to consider someone else’s point of view. How can you lovingly pray for those who are not at peace?

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Peace – A Prayer for Peace

His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.

– Isaiah 11:3-4 (NRSV)

If someone asked you for a definition of ‘peace,’ what would you say? Perhaps you would talk about the inner calm you get from prayer. Maybe you would use words like “tranquility” or “harmony.” You might talk about meditation or circles of hippies singing kumbaya and everyone getting along. This verse from Isaiah does not talk about peace in that way.

Isaiah describes the ministry of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, as one of judgement. This passage throws around words like righteousness, equity, and ‘meek of the earth.’ This is the sort of turn-the-world-upside-down sort of peace in which the winners become losers and the losers become winners.

As Jesus puts it in his own words “the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.” Moreover, Jesus isn’t the sort of judge who hears testimony or can be corrupted. It says that he doesn’t need his ears or his eyes to know what’s right. Jesus already knows how to righteously judge.

There certainly hasn’t been a lot of peace this year. There have been protests and counter protest, riots and prayer walks. More than wearing their emotions on their sleeve, people have started printing up t-shirts broadcasting their frustrations everywhere they go.

Maybe you’ve even posted or protested too, possibly using some mantra like Back the Blue, Black Lives Matter, Pro-Life, Love Wins. In our world, everyone has got a slogan, and no one is at peace.

We live in a broken, mixed-up world, and, on the other side of Christmas that will still be true. We are all sinful people trying our best to do what we think is best.

During Advent, we are awaiting the arrival of Jesus the Righteous King. When he sits down to judge the people of this world he will do so with perfect justice. Until that day, we are called to seek justice and equity as best as we can.

Today, take time to consider someone else’s point of view. How can you lovingly pray for those who are not at peace?

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Peace – The Gift of the Spirit

The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. – Isaiah 11:2 (NRSV)

This verse from Isaiah throws out a lot of words we don’t typically associate with peace – words like ‘wisdom’ and ‘understanding,’ ‘counsel’ and ‘knowledge.’ These are all words associated with thinking and decision-making. And, of course, Isaiah keeps repeating the same word over-and-over again – spirit.

Isaiah is not just giving us a general description of Jesus’s character traits; he is pointing to a very specific element of who he is. Jesus is anointed with the Holy Spirit of God.

In John Chapter 14, Jesus sits down with the twelve disciples and talks with them about the Holy Spirit. He says that the Holy Spirit will be given to them as a gift, and the Spirit will teach them, remind them, and guide them. He even calls the Holy Spirit the counselor. He goes on to say that he will send this Spirit to them after he has gone away.

Remarkably, everyone who is in Christ has been promised the Spirit of the Lord as well. Though this verse points to Jesus, it could easily be rewritten to apply to you or me. It might sound something like: The Spirit of the LORD rested on Riley, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. James received the Spirit of counsel and might. Marcus was covered in the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Although Jesus was originally filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, he has already offered it to you. If you accept God’s Spirit, then it promises to change the way you think. It will teach you and remind you of God’s instruction. The Spirit will bring you an inner peace grounded in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. If you accept the Spirit of God, then you will be transformed.

When was the last time you heard the voice of the Holy Spirit’s voice? In the middle of this busy Advent season, you might take some time to listen for its council. Find a quiet space today to sit and listen to the Spirit of God.

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Peace – Tree of Jesse

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. – Isaiah 11:1 (NRSV)

What a crazy verse to start out week two of advent. If you haven’t heard this verse before it’s commonly read in churches in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Though it’s meaning might be hidden from us, the Jewish people of Jesus time considered this a prophecy about their future king.

The key to understanding this verse is to know who in the world this Jesse guy is! If you remember your Old Testament, Jesse is King David’s father. David was the best king Israel ever had, and his family ruled Judah for hundreds of years before the kingdom was destroyed by Babylon. When the text talks about the “stump of Jesse,” it’s referring to David’s family tree, the royal family of God’s people.

Now, if you remember your New Testament, you’ll know that Jesus comes from the house and line of David. He is born in David’s hometown of Bethlehem and is called the King of the Jews. Jesus is Jesse’s great-great-great-great-great grandson, or something like that. The people of Judea had waited for generations for God to regrow the royal family tree, and Jesus is that shoot growing up from Jesse’s stump. In fact, there’s a lot of kingly language in this passage.

The Hebrew word for “shoot” can also mean “scepter.” It’s a play on words connecting the symbols of kingship with an image of new growth. Jesus is the shoot rising up to claim the throne of David, ready and eager to extend new life for us.

There’s a tradition in some churches to take bare branches and cover them with ornaments representing Jesus. They call these decorations ‘Jesse trees,’ after this passage. Trees are a big part of the Christmas celebration. Maybe you have one in your home right now. We use evergreen trees to remind us of God’s ever-present love for us, even in times of darkness and uncertainty.