Christmas is about letting Go and letting God!

Christmas is the reversal of Genesis 3. While humanity in Genesis 3 sought power by wanting to be god (4-6). Christmas is about God letting go of that power and becoming human to show us that the solution to the human problem lies in letting go and letting God. Philippians 2:5-11, an ancient Christian hymn recorded by Apostle Paul describes well this Christmas theme of Jesus as God letting go. What this hymn is saying, first of all, is that before Jesus became this earthly man he was in the form of God (6). In essence what this hymn is saying is that Jesus was God before he became man. Next the hymn says that even though Jesus was God He did not regard His equality with God or being God as something to be exploited or taken advantage of (6). We live in a world where many CEOs and executives of big companies and banks exploit or take advantage of their positions by giving themselves big raises and bonuses while the workers on their factory floors are struggling or losing their jobs. But, this hymn says that Jesus did not regard his being God, the CEO of the universe as something to be exploited or taken advantage of by staying in the heavenly mansion and by not caring about the people on the factory floor of this earth. He did not regard His position as God to mean getting as much as He could for Himself but as giving everything He had. He did not regard His position as God to mean a way to avoid suffering but to embrace suffering for His people. Therefore He did something quite unimaginable. He as God came down. The hymn says that He emptied himself (7), meaning He poured Himself out for the service of his people by taking on the form of a slave. That is He became a person without advantages, rights and privileges. Slaves did not have rights and privileges in that society. That is what Jesus became when he gave up His rights and privileges as God and became a man. He became a slave. As the second person of the trinity he became a slave of God, the Father. As a result he served God all through out His life. And he became a slave of humanity because it was his God, the Father’s will that he die for the sins of the world. For that reason Jesus could say to His disciples in Matt.20:28, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.” And that is also what the verse 8 of this hymn refers to. That He became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.  It is ironic that crucifixion as the most extreme state sponsored punishment was reserved for people such as the slaves. Jesus who took on the form of a slave also died a slave’s death on the cross. Even though Jesus as God did not have to die, his obedience to God, the Father knew know limit. He was obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross for the sins of the world. In the garden of Gethsemane just before he was taken Jesus prayed, “Father not my will, but your will be done.” What He was saying, that if it is your will that I die may your will be done. While in the Garden of Eden humanity wanted to be like God, replace God as a moral authority and decide what is best for themselves, in the Garden of Gethsemane God as a man giving up his privilege as God, the authority to decide what is best for Himself submitted completely to the will of God, the Father.

That is the essence of Christmas. While humanity in their attempt to be like God messed things up, on Christmas day God became man to fix things up by teaching the world the value of letting go and letting God. You see while Adam as the representative of humanity in his attempt to be like God ended up dying and ushering in a culture of sin, death and destruction into this world (Romans 5:12-21), Jesus Christ by letting go and letting God even though he died was resurrected back to life ushering in a culture of new life, eternal life and restoration for all who trust in him. Therefore while war, tragedy and destruction remind us of the futility of humanity trying to be God, the angel voice that still echoes “Peace on earth and goodwill to men” reminds us of the value of letting go and letting God. 

Prodigal God

Sometimes in disbelief I used read God's promises in the Bible to give, give and give... adoption as God's children (Ephesians 1:5), resurrection (1Corinthians 15), glorious inheritance (Ephesians 1:18), a new world without pain or death, or sickness or sorrow (Revelation 21:1-4)...the list goes on and on. But now as a dad I have a better understanding of God's heart for his children. Tomorrow is my beloved daughter's birthday. My wife has wrapped four sizable gifts, and here I am asking are these four gifts enough. It just does not seem enough, because I want to give her so much more. Therefore now I believe. Romans 8:32: "He who did not withhold his Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?"

Joseph, Mary and Jesus

Our families shape our characters and identities. I wonder if the same was true of Jesus. Where did he learn to have such compassion for people who were rejected by his society as sinners? Of course the theological answer is that Jesus being God had godlike compassion. And that is true. But I just wonder how God used Mary and Joseph to contribute to the character development of Jesus. Jesus surely grew up hearing the story of his virgin birth. I grew up hearing how I was with a blue skin color like the Indian god Krishna. Extraordinary events in a family are usually told and retold. Jesus' family I am assuming was no exception in that regard. Jesus also most likely grew up experiencing how his mom was shamed by his society, and accused of being an adulteress.  After all the society did not believe in Mary's story of being impregnated by God. Some Jews from as early as the second century accused Jesus of being the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier. A veiled reference to that can be found in John 8:41. Here Jews might just be saying to Jesus, "We are not like you, illegitimate!" Beside the social shame that his family suffered, did Mary's taking on the shame for God and  Joseph's boldness in sharing in that shame shaped Jesus' character. After all it is quite possible that Joseph was accused of getting Mary pregnant before marriage or of condoning adultery. Roman law of that time treated a man who did not divorce his wife accused of adultery as a panderer, a pimp.  The society in which Joseph lived one's honor meant everything, and Joseph risked loosing his honor by marrying Mary. Therefore I wonder if Jesus got from his mom his commitment to suffer in service of God, and from Joseph the ability to share in the shame of others by identifying with them. The life and the cross of Christ certainly is marked by both .

Does "Naughty or Nice" embody the true spirit of Christmas?

The Christmas season is upon us and I have a confession to make. As Santa Claus uses my hard earned money to maintain his historical name I have been using his name in vain to maintain my kids bed time habits, food habits, running through the house like a maniac habit. Are you being naughty or nice is all I have to ask and they submit! Life is good. But the gospel of Jesus Christ always turns my life upside down! Recently I have been convicted by the gospel. As you know the gospel of Jesus Christ is radically countercultural. Therefore it is also very counter- Santa  culture. While, according to the Santa culture, naughty boys and girls need to straighten up and be nice in order to receive gifts from Santa, the gospel  tells us a different story. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.." The world in the gospel of John is described as a realm opposed to God. In John 15:18 Jesus talks about the world hating him. Yet John 3:16 talks about God loving the world and giving it the gift of his Son. Paul says something similar in Romans 2:8, "God proved his love for us in that while we were sinners Christ died for us." Again Paul says in Romans 2:10, "....while we were God's enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son."  What the Bible is saying is that while we were still awful and naughty God gave us the greatest gift, his Son to save us. That is the  good news  of Christmas that the naughty and nice list of Santa always fails to embody.   There goes my leverage!

Continue to be Thankful!

The day before Thanksgiving Day, I got a call from a distraught mother. She requested that I go visit her son who is on a suicide watch at the jail. I did. That evening I picked up my kids from the gym and we drove to pickup a few movies for the holiday. As we drove the snow fell gently and we listened to our favorite Christmas song (Little Drummer Boy). I knew Jody was home warming up some good food for supper that night. As I relaxed behind the wheel I was truly, truly thankful for what I had at that moment, my family, this country, a job.... I knew given the call that I received earlier that day that what we take for granted, for example our family, might not be there always. True thanksgiving is to recognize as precious what we take for granted everyday, and to give thanks to God for loaning us those those precious people, those precious things and those precious moments. Therefore let us continue to be thankful.  

Why Grace

What sets Christianity apart from other world religions is this idea that one is saved by God's grace only and that one cannot enough good to earn any of it (Ephesians2:8). It is not that Christianity does not believe in human effort or good works. The truth is that Christianity has done more good in this world than any other religion. It has given birth to such organizations as the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army and through such Christians as Mother Teresa has done much to care for the poor and the impoverished in this world. But Christianity is also a religion of humility before the greatness of God. It is not that Christianity does not believe in good works or human effort, it is that Christianity does not believe that a human being can do enough to enter heaven without God’s help. It is not that Christianity is arrogant or narrow-minded. It is actually a sign of humility that Christians claim Jesus, the help sent by God as the way to God and does not claim to have a spiritual or moral map-quest to God. Christianity’s assessment of the human condition is sober, because it realizes that humans corrupted by sin are unable to keep the high standard of God’s law. For that reason Apostle Paul in Romans 7:14 writes, “For we know that the law is spiritual but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery to sin…For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Paul describes well the human predicament, the inability of a human to overcome the tendency to sin.
In fact, it is the do it yourself religious philosophy that seems arrogant. As Ajith Fernando, a Christian scholar from Sri Lanka pointed out in a sermon, self sufficiency is a product of the human pride that says we do not need God, we do not want a Savior and that we can do it ourselves. And pride as we know is the source of all sorts of sin. Therefore, “you can save yourself” religious or secular philosophy actually is the product of that pride of self-sufficiency of humanity which itself was the first sin against God. In Genesis 3 we read that humanity wanted to be God themselves instead of letting God be the God.  On the other hand Christianity’s emphasis on the grace of God and on faith or trust in Jesus Christ for salvation is a reversal of that pride. It is regarded as righteousness in the Bible because it relies not on self but on God (Romans 4:5).

Why God Allows Suffering

 Christian philosopher David Wood points out that our definition of "good" is something that maximizes our happiness and minimizes our pain (Responding to the Argument of Evil in "Evidence for God, p.40). David Wood tells us that we treat God as a cosmic thermostat who would keep the universe just the way we like it, and for that reason when we are confronted with evil our belief in a good God is rattled. But God sometimes likes to turn up or turn down the heat to our utter discomfort for a reason. In Rom 1:24 we read that God gave sinners who refused to honor God up to the consequences of their sins. It is like when we decide  not to obey God and play with sexual immorality God gives us up to sexually transmitted diseases, divorce and lawsuits. And he does so for a reason. According to Chrysostom, this is designed to awaken us to the awful seriousness of our situation. This is what Phillip Yancey refers to as the gift of pain. In his book Where is God when it Hurts Yancey describes pain in life a gift from God that no one wants. He describes pain as something necessary for life, because pain serves as a warning signal that something is wrong. Without pain we will not know when we cut ourselves. Without pain we might bleed ourselves to death. Philip Yancey urges us to listen to our pains. In jail I see so many inmates want to get baptized and be right with God. God uses their pain and suffering as a means to speak to them. Therefore, presence of evil that produces pain does not mean that God does not exist or that he is not all powerful and all good, but it means that he allows us to suffer evil in order to warn us of our problem of living without God and living in disobedience to God so that we would turn to God.