“And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
(Luke 2:12-14, ESV)
Why this little detail? Why mention the baby blankets wrapping up the baby Jesus from the cold? The angels mention it as if it’s important to them, not just the sign they found the right baby. Babies get swaddled – it’s what they do, or rather it’s what’s done to them.
But the angels are quite specific. You’ll find him in swaddling cloths. In a feed trough in the barn.
We aren’t told much about what angels think in the Bible, what their attitudes are or what they think of us. We can guess. They’ve seen all of what humans can do, you and me and everyone else. They are silent witnesses of our history, and they know the truths of quiet atrocities and noisy cribs. I wonder what they think, and it’ll be interesting to ask them some day.
They noticed the swaddling cloths.
Think about how astonished they must’ve been. There’s a privilege that some of the seraph angels have, which is to worship before the throne of the high King of heaven night and day. He is a king greater than all kings. Atoms and galaxies spin at His command. Gravity and entropy heed Him like well trained sheepdogs. Without beginning, without end, and without change. Praise Him!
And now He needs His mom to still His wailing in the night, needs the comfort of the womb in a tight wrap of cotton, needs His arms tucked in so He doesn’t scratch His face, needs her milk, her love, and her tenderness. Born into abject poverty, His first cries echoing in a barn, born to a life of misery, homelessness, and danger. And He needs, at that moment, His mom’s wrapping and cuddling love in the cold.
No wonder they were singing and we still echo: Gloria in excelsis Deo – glory to God in the HIGHEST!!! Superlatives fail us! The angels are dumbfounded and amazed and marveling. They call us to the same response.
There are many joys and encouragements to faith in this story, and there’s a beautiful invitation to know Him. He’s so available. The one thing that strikes me, and astonishes my brain, is that He doesn’t despise our situation. He isn’t “too good” to be here with us, among us, and like us. He’s so good He jumps into our universe into the deep end for us. He’s so good He humbles Himself beyond even our expectations. He’s so good, the angels are besides themselves with wonder.
Ask our Father to give us new wonder today, that by the Spirit we might glimpse what angels were stunned by – the highest glory of all glories, come to earth as a poor baby boy, to save a bunch of sinners who didn’t even care. What a God! What a Savior! What a Christmas joy! Praise Him!
Baby Blankets
/in Advent /by Chris RobinsWhy this little detail? Why mention the baby blankets wrapping up the baby Jesus from the cold? The angels mention it as if it’s important to them, not just the sign they found the right baby. Babies get swaddled – it’s what they do, or rather it’s what’s done to them.
But the angels are quite specific. You’ll find him in swaddling cloths. In a feed trough in the barn.
We aren’t told much about what angels think in the Bible, what their attitudes are or what they think of us. We can guess. They’ve seen all of what humans can do, you and me and everyone else. They are silent witnesses of our history, and they know the truths of quiet atrocities and noisy cribs. I wonder what they think, and it’ll be interesting to ask them some day.
They noticed the swaddling cloths.
Think about how astonished they must’ve been. There’s a privilege that some of the seraph angels have, which is to worship before the throne of the high King of heaven night and day. He is a king greater than all kings. Atoms and galaxies spin at His command. Gravity and entropy heed Him like well trained sheepdogs. Without beginning, without end, and without change. Praise Him!
And now He needs His mom to still His wailing in the night, needs the comfort of the womb in a tight wrap of cotton, needs His arms tucked in so He doesn’t scratch His face, needs her milk, her love, and her tenderness. Born into abject poverty, His first cries echoing in a barn, born to a life of misery, homelessness, and danger. And He needs, at that moment, His mom’s wrapping and cuddling love in the cold.
No wonder they were singing and we still echo: Gloria in excelsis Deo – glory to God in the HIGHEST!!! Superlatives fail us! The angels are dumbfounded and amazed and marveling. They call us to the same response.
There are many joys and encouragements to faith in this story, and there’s a beautiful invitation to know Him. He’s so available. The one thing that strikes me, and astonishes my brain, is that He doesn’t despise our situation. He isn’t “too good” to be here with us, among us, and like us. He’s so good He jumps into our universe into the deep end for us. He’s so good He humbles Himself beyond even our expectations. He’s so good, the angels are besides themselves with wonder.
Ask our Father to give us new wonder today, that by the Spirit we might glimpse what angels were stunned by – the highest glory of all glories, come to earth as a poor baby boy, to save a bunch of sinners who didn’t even care. What a God! What a Savior! What a Christmas joy! Praise Him!
Transcendence
/in Advent /by Chris RobinsIt’s just so casual. Out for a walk, hiking up a mountain with some friends. No heads up or prep for anyone – just whammo! He’s suddenly shining like the sun, talking to the greatest minds of bible history like they’re just catching up. Just like that. One second you’re walking briskly, your breath picking up pace as you climb, wondering what Jesus is up to on this little expedition and then – wow – He takes your breath away. He isn’t just a man you’re hiking with anymore. You kind of already knew that – you’ve been around Him for years and He does these amazing things – but this?! Hands up to shield your eyes. You’re confused, bewildered, and begin to blabber out loud. Can you imagine what it was like to be there?! Suddenly in this little bible text we’re in a world we don’t recognize, a universe where people can shine, where long-dead men talk, and where transcendent glory is a hangout. Not a CGI special either – it’s as real as computer chips and soda pop. That means Christ’s glory and transcendence are still that tangible, that glorious, and revealed in space and time. Near to you. Now. Prayer is simply you gabbing with this reality. Near to you. Now. Worship is you kneeling because His throne is in front of you. Near to you. Now. This was the promise in the cradle in Bethlehem. Near to you. Now. There at your elbow, just within your reach, just within hearing, is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the eternal I AM in the center of unending and undying praise. Your friend. Praise Him!!
A God Not Far
/in Advent /by Natalie MeadThese verses don’t make sense, do they? Not on the first read, or if you’re me, the second, third, and fourth. But Paul wrote this letter to Christians in Rome, many of whom were Gentiles–former pagans, not Jews. These folks grew up believing in Roman gods who could live high above the clouds or deep below the ground (the underworld) and hearing about the likes of Hercules, whose many daring feats brought him face-to-face with the “gods” both in the underworld and up in the heavens. Today we know these were just myths, but to the Christians in Rome, this was what they grew up believing was the real deal. That is, before the Gospel turned their lives inside out!
How strange it must have been, then, for these Christians to hear that the very word and power of God, the Spirit of the risen Christ, could be near them…and not just near, but IN them! They didn’t have to be a powerful or a priest in a temple to reach the divine. They didn’t have to climb up from earth to the heavens or journey into the darkness of the underworld to fetch Christ their Savior. Instead, Christ came to earth to be with us humans, and it was because He came and died and rose again that they (and we!) could be transformed and empowered to proclaim the Good News.
So when you think of God, where is he? Do you think like the Romans did, believing he is far away? Is he someplace where you need to strive and struggle to fetch him, if you can get him at all? Or is he in your mouth and heart, walking with you and working through you to redeem a hurting and broken world? Ask the Father for the Holy Spirit of Christ today, and you will find the core message of advent is true: God is closer than you can imagine.
The Secret Place
/in Advent /by Chris RobinsSometimes the exact words of Scripture, the turn of phrase that the writer used, can be startling. I often find some of the most beautiful truths in those texts, texts where the language suggests something strange and wonderful. Christ’s teaching on prayer is like that – especially here, where He tells us to go to the “secret” place.
I’d always thought of that practically – and that’s a good way to start. You should have a secret place, a place you meet with God and no one knows about it. He’s getting at our ancient sin there – to use our godliness or piety to try to impress folks. We are so tempted by that crime that He tells us to intentionally work against it. Sabotage your self righteousness! Do something for Him that no one sees, no one knows, and no one can be impressed by! No prayer posts here! God rewards that sort of invisible worship. Develop the habit of the “secret room” where you go to meet with God.
But the turn of phrase still catches me off guard. Jesus actually says go in secret, because that’s where God is, as if to say, “this is a secret place, so you should expect God to be hanging out here.” That’s odd. We all learned the game “hide and seek” when we were kids. Apparently it’s a favorite pastime of our Father too and not just 4 year old children. It’s as if to say to us all “ready or not, I’m waiting here for you.” That’s an absurdly precious promise itself, but now some of the oddness of this idea starts to hit us.
In Deuteronomy 29:29 there’s a strange passage on secrets. Moses tells us “the secret things belong to God, but the revealed things belong to us.” There’s all sorts of stuff that’s been revealed by God, but there’s even more that He hasn’t told us: when we’re going to die, what’s going to happen to our business or career, and how our kids will make it. Take your pick – we just don’t know what God has secretly decided about our lives, our generation, and this world. These are the secrets and they “belong to Him.” He controls them so they’re His property, His business. But do you see it? It’s so amazing! Here in Matthew Jesus is inviting us right into God’s secret business. The God “who is in secret” is this Father! The invitation to “secret” prayer, with the “secret” God, is nothing less than asking for input on His “secret” works!
Mary learned this with her own body, the shepherds learned it worshiping in a barn, the disciples learned it running naked into the night, and we learn it whenever we look at the cross. God works in secret ways to reveal the surprise of His love and mercy! God works in secret to reverse what everyone else thinks will happen. His secrets are the defeat of man’s knowledge, cleverness, and power. His secrets bring new life out of death. The invitation to the secret room is nothing less than this: His personal invite into His joy and His plans and His decisions, to make His secrets ours. Go and pray today secretly. He’s there waiting. Praise Him!
Sure Rescue
/in Advent /by Natalie MeadWe all know what it feels like for the soul to be cast down. What do you do when your soul is cast down? Where do you turn for comfort? I know the places my heart goes when I’m feeling crushed, sad, or hopeless. I’ve worn easy, straight paths to anger, despair, and cynicism in my heart.
But this psalmist doesn’t turn to lesser comforts in a time of trial–he turns to God. This seems odd…it is God who has allowed “waves and breakers” to crush this person. They are left desperate and hurting, with enemies taunting them besides! It’s as if God ordained great suffering for the psalmist, and then hid Himself away from sight. But even so, the psalmist chooses to do what we talk about so often in advent: wait for God to show up. The writer knows that the lesser comforts simply won’t do.
I like to imagine Adam or Eve reading this psalm. They were not only cast out of God’s presence–they were justly and rightly cast out because they listened to the serpent! Every wave and breaker from God was well deserved. But even in this immense guilt (it’s hard to imagine how immense), Adam and Eve had no choice but to wait for the God they sinned against to rescue them. There is no other rock, no other salvation, and no better comfort. And we also have no other sure salvation, no other hope than the rescue from our own sin: Christ the Messiah, the one Adam, Eve, and the psalmist were waiting for. May we turn to Him for comfort that nothing and no one else can provide. Even if we must wait, His help is sure to come.
Rejected Stones
/in Advent /by Chris RobinsThe stone the builders rejected
Has become the capstone
The Lord has done this
And it is marvelous in our eyes
Worst childhood memory? One of them has to be gym class. I wasn’t athletic or coordinated, so it was miserable. That misery peaked into nightmare when the class would start with this announcement – “Ok kids, I’m going to pick team captains for kickball and they’ll choose their teams.” I know what this meant. I’d quickly scan the class for someone weaker, with less hand eye coordination. Then, as the brutal selection began, I’d sit there and hope I might get picked before one of the girls. You can imagine how that went.
Rejected stones are just that, broken leftovers on the job site, construction refuse that is literally worthless to the builders. You can usually tell a piece of junk when you see it, something probably oddly shaped or cracked, sitting thrown away on the dump truck pile. It’s a practical decision, one we’ve all made many times while cleaning out the garage. Is it useful? No. Valuable? No. Does it mean something special to you? No. Then off to the trash it goes.
Rejection is awful. But we all know a story or two where someone was rejected, perhaps in the football draft or applying to Juilliard, and it was the wrong decision. Then that person goes on to break all the records and be someone truly amazing. For some reason we love those stories, perhaps because of the way they give us so much hope. Rejection is an Advent story. In Jesus we have this story told as large as it gets. Eternal creator come to save His creation treated as discarded loser who needed to be gotten rid of. And when that same loser turns around to save those who rejected Him? Sweet joy of heaven. That’s an eternal and unbeatable love right there. And it gets even better – it’s a story He loves to tell over and over in our lives. He is God and He makes the choices, and it’s meant to show us what kinds of choices He makes. And guess what, He’s radically different than Junior High School kickball captains. As God He had better reasons not to, and He had better folks to choose from, but in the end I’m surprised by this joy – He picked me!
Prepare His Ways
/in Advent /by Chris Robins