Green Pastures and Still Waters
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We have such idyllic views of the “little town of Bethlehem.” It’s often the case that we get our theology from hymns or greeting cards rather than from the Bible. We must always remember that hymns, Christmas songs and the poets of Hallmark exercise poetic license. The use of imagination is not wrong but it is not always accurate. Bethlehem was not as peaceful, silent and “dreamless,” as we make it out to be. As Verbrugge wrote, “Bethlehem was a town with secrets and a shady past.” Lord willing, I’ll talk more about this on Sunday but for now, know this; Bethlehem was not an upward move from Nazareth. Joseph and Mary did not move there because the schools were better. Just read the Old Testament accounts of what happened in Bethlehem and you’ll see what I mean. This week in the Advent remembrance, we light the Bethlehem candle. Not because we have progressed from Nazareth to Bethlehem but rather because we are moving from hope to faith. The prophets proclaimed the truth we needed to have hope; to have confident expectation in God’s intervention. However, the response to that hope is not universal. People in Jerusalem were experts in the writings of the prophets, the prophets were read in the synagogues every Sabbath. But, if you want to see what faith looks like in response to hope, go to Nazareth and take the long, inconvenient and uncomfortable road to Bethlehem. Read about a baby being born in a stable. Think about a donkey ride to Egypt. Contemplate separation from family while you wait for a king to die. Imagine traveling back to live in the town you left in shame. Faith is certainty in the midst of uncertainty. It is believing God when enough is clear to make the unclear less important. “The just shall live by faith.”
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That’s a word I made up to catch your attention to remind you that in spite of this Covid mess we are still celebrating Advent. While we are longing for something to go away (Covid), we should also be celebrating the One who has come, Christ. We can set our minds on things that are Covid or we can set our minds on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. It’s very easy to become Covid-minded given the way it has affected our everyday lives, the media saturation, statistics and sadness. Covid cannot be ignored but that doesn’t mean it should replace Christ in our thinking and meditation. It’s always been hard to keep Christ in Christmas. The busyness, the commercialism, the expectations and the traditions have often bumped the Christ to the nativity set where He remains until January 2, when we tuck Him back into storage. Our Christmas celebrations may look different this year but nothing has changed the fact that Christ Jesus the Lord has come. We celebrate His first Advent because of all that He did through His life, death, burial and resurrection. But, we also have the promises to whet our appetite for His Second Advent. He is coming again! While we remember what has been done, let’s also look forward to what He intends to do, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…”