Since this is the season of Advent, it seemed right to begin with the most recent devotional message given to the nursing home residents on December 15, 2013. As the Director of our church's nursing home ministry, I have the delightful privilege of participating every week in the worship service we present at the local Community Care Center (hereafter CCC). Each non-denominational, Christ-focused service contains Scripture reading, prayer (often led by pastors who are residents at the CCC), worship and singing, and a message. We offer communion quarterly, and host special programs for Easter, Memorial Day, and Advent.
In these services I do not usually have the privilege of giving the message; seven wonderful men from local churches speak in rotation. But on this day I subbed in at the last minute and decided to share with them - and now with you - what the Lord has been teaching me as I read, once more, the Christmas Story.
The Journey is Part of the Gift.
The late Ruth Stafford Peale once told the following story:
Her husband, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, had been preaching and teaching in Africa when a teenaged boy was saved and baptised. He left soon after to work in the fields, and they both thought they'd seen the last of him.
But Mrs. Peale said her husband opened the door one night a few weeks later to see the teenage boy, holding a beautiful conch shell. He had traveled many days, always by foot, to bring the shell to them as a Christmas present. The boy described how he had spent many days combing the beach, looking for just the right shell, one with just the right iridescent hues, one with no chips or cracks, one that when held to the ear, produced just the right sound of waves rushing to the shore.
Mrs. Peale said she felt overwhelmed that the young man had walked so far, all alone, just to bring them a Christmas present.
But she said the young man just smiled. "Oh no," he exclaimed in his best English, "you see...long journey part of gift."
The Long Journey is Part of the Gift.
We think a lot about
Jesus’ birth at this time of year. The
name we call him by, Jesus, is just a Greek variant of the Hebrew Jeshua But
Matthew 1:23 gives us another name for Him “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they
will call him Emmanuel” (which means “God with us”).
God
with us.
That in itself is a gift of rare beauty. But like the
boy’s shell, there’s more to it than even that.
As
we think about that Baby in the manger, we remember what
He became; what He came to do, as we should. But we don’t often think about where He was
before that Holy Night in Bethlehem. But if we consider the journey He made to
come to Earth, we will have an even greater understanding and appreciation of the
gift.
What was He doing before
He was born on earth? John 1:1 says
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word Was God.
He was in the beginning with God."
So before Bethlehem He was God The all-powerful, almighty God.
Born in Bethlehem, he was still God….but in human flesh. And in His humanity, He made Himself subject to our frailty. For the first time, God fell down and scraped
his knee. Caught a headcold. Felt pain. Just imagine…being God and accidentally
pounding your thumb with a carpenter’s hammer! That’s quite a big step on the journey.
And we read on in John
1: "All things were made through him, and without Him nothing was made that
was made."
Wow. So before Bethlehem, He was the agent of creation. He
created EVERYTHING that was ever created. Now that’s Power!
But when He was born in Bethlehem, for the
first time in His limitless existence, God experienced a need.
And the terms he placed on
Himself said He could not meet the need Himself; he had to depend on others.
What others? A carpenter
and a teenage girl. It would have been
slightly better if He had some to earth as an adult; but a Baby? He needed
everything: He needed to be fed. He needed to be changed. He needed to be
carried, and protected, and kept warm.
But even more, before Bethlehem, He was the boss. He had the authority
to command; He said in the garden, after
Peter cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant, “Do you think I cannot call on my
Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of
angels?”
Born in Bethlehem, He put Himself
under the law; the law He Himself established. The law that subverted itself to
try, convict, and execute Him.
Before Bethlehem, Jesus was worshiped along with the Father; many Psalms speak of Him and exalt Him and
magnify His name..
But after Bethlehem, His own people
– even his friends - mocked, ridiculed, and denied Him.
Does that give you some idea of the long journey He
had to go on to give us the Greatest Gift? Do you understand what He gave up to
pay your debt; to win your soul?
A
perfect human could have paid the price and satisfied God’s wrath and paid our
sin-debt. And that would have been an
amazing gift. But for God…for Jesus…the
long journey was part of the gift.
Hebrews 4:15 tells us that “…we do not have a high
priest who is unable to empathize with out weaknesses…” He understands us—all of us— because He has
been where we are.
Once you start thinking about it that way, it becomes easier to accept that He understands us. But
I think the residents are uniquely precious to our Lord and Saviour because They
understand Him They have been
mothers and fathers, pastors, businessmen, teachers, ministry leaders and
commanding officers. And now they are dependent on others to direct their lives
and meet their needs.
Just
Like
Him
When you hear songs about Emmanuel and catch yourself thinking about God
with Us this Christmas, think about where He came from…Before Bethlehem… And when you thank Him for the gift, thank Him also for the Journey.
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