Unremarkable

Three wise women … Mary, Elizabeth and Anna. All three played a major role in their own way in the Christmas story and all 3 were faithful followers of God who lived out their faith in quite remarkable ways.

We often make the mistake of making spiritual superheroes out of people when they are mentioned positively in the Bible. While it is good to admire and learn from them, it can also prove to be unhelpful if we see them as above and beyond us - as living life and faith in a way we could certainly never attain to.

For God seems to delight in taking quite unremarkable people and using them in remarkable ways!

This is especially true in the case of our 3 wise women. What we should never forget is that all 3 of these women would have been considered to be ‘below average’ by the society of their day.

None of them would have been considered very highly – they were all ‘little’ people in a way. Firstly, because all women were treated like second class citizens with very few rights. They were thought of as being spiritually, emotionally and intellectually inferior to men (unfortunately this is a misguided bias that lives on in many sections of our global society).

Secondly, they were all women with issues. Mary was unmarried and pregnant, in fact under the customs and rules of the day she was fortunate not to have been stoned for this. Elizabeth was married, but had long been infertile (infertility was seen as a curse for sin and was ALWAYS considered to be the women’s fault). While, Anna was an elderly widow (any rights and privileges a woman had were centred upon her husband).

So by the standards of the day, all 3 of these women were considered less, not more, when it came to faith and spirituality.

Have you ever put yourself down by thinking that you were too ordinary, or not gifted enough, to be used by God?

Think again.

God seems to delight in taking quite unremarkable people and using them in remarkable ways!

What might this mean for you?

PRAY AS YOU GO
Almighty God, you who are the King of the Universe, chose to be born into the dust and dirt of a stable. Help us to remember that you have always chosen to use very ordinary people to bring glory to you. Bless us with the courageous imagination and faith we need to perceive how you might begin to use us. Amen.

FOCUS VERSE
Luke 2. 36-40
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

The Three Wise Women

Around Christmas time, a lot is normally said about the 3 wise men. We sing songs about them, tell stories about them and portray them in Nativity scenes and on Christmas cards. Tradition has even given them imaginary names – Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar.

Now, all of this attention is devoted to the 3 wise men, in spite of the fact the Bible says almost nothing about them. They are mentioned only briefly and then only by the author of Matthew’s Gospel. In reality, no names were given to them in Scripture, and frankly, we don’t even know for sure if there were 3 of them - we only guess that because there were 3 gifts.

So we may not know much about the 3 wise men, but we do know for a fact, that according to the Bible, there were 3 wise women!

3 wise women who played pivotal roles in the unfolding of the Christmas story. 3 wise women who have much to teach us because of the remarkable way they responded to the news of Jesus with inspiring faith and courage.

Yet, around Christmas time, they don’t get mentioned half as much as the men!

We shouldn’t be too surprised at this, because unfortunately women often get a short shrift in the church. This is really unfair for many reasons, but especially when you consider that women make up the majority of church membership throughout the world.

Women have sustained the life of the church for centuries upon centuries in quite wonderful ways without ever getting much credit for it. Indeed, as already mentioned, women were quite integral to the unfolding of the Christmas story. As one scholar has pointed out: ‘Women were the last at the cross, and the first at the tomb’.

I am reminded of that American story of a Fortune 500 CEO who pulled into a petrol station in his flashy Ferrari. After filling up, he went inside to pay. When he came out, he noticed his wife in deep conversation with the service station attendant. It turned out that she knew this man well enough to have dated him back in high school.

Well, the CEO got back into his car and drove away in silence. He was feeling pretty good about himself, and when he finally spoke he said: ‘Honey, I bet I know what you’re thinking. I’ll bet you’re thinking how glad you are that you married me, a Fortune 500 CEO, and not him – a petrol station attendant.’
To which she replied: ‘Nope. I was thinking that if I had married him, he’d be a Fortune 500 CEO and you’d be a petrol station attendant!’

The 3 wise women of Christmas are of course Mary, Elizabeth and Anna. We will be learning from their story over the rest of this week as a way of further preparing ourselves for the Christmas event.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Holy and Loving God, we do ask that you would begin to prepare our hearts for Christmas. Help us to turn our hearts away from busyness, stress and also the rampant consumerism so prevalent at this time of the year. May our hearts ‘leap’ within us as we celebrate the good news of Christ’s Incarnation. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Luke 1. 41-42

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!’

Renewing Your Christmas Spirit: Looking Up

Yesterday, I mentioned the rush that Christmas can be. It seems that we hustle to and fro with our heads down as we desperately try to complete shopping lists and other chores in time for the big day. We keep our heads down so much that we don’t stop to pay enough attention to what is really important at this time of the year.

For Christmas is a time that we should remember to look up.

To look up to the God who is in all life’s experiences because this profound truth is never made more clearly to us than at this time of the year.

For Christmas celebrates the wonder of God’s incarnation – that God became human and so has shared in our lives in awesome ways. God walked earth and knew hunger, thirst and suffering. He attended parties and feasts and so also ate tasty food and drank good wine. He experienced both tears and laughter.

The very presence of Jesus on earth teaches us that God shares all of our life’s experiences with us – God is not distant and aloof from us.

Many, many years before Jesus was born, the prophet Zephaniah looked up to God and prophesied the coming Jesus. He foresaw the Messiah’s coming and understood what that would mean for us. Twice within the space of two verses, Zephaniah proclaimed the great Christmas truth: ‘The Lord your God is WITH you’! (See focus verse).

This cry was later echoed by the author of Matthew’s Gospel who informs us: “All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, - which means ‘God with us.’” (See Matt 1. 22-23).

In Manila, tens of thousands of people make their homes on garbage dumps. People are born, live and die without ever leaving these dumps. They try desperately to eke out an existence from what they can scavenge.

Did you know that there are missionaries who also make their homes on these dumps?

They live there so they might tell the people about God’s love for them. It is very difficult to hear this message from someone who lives in an entirely different world from you, and so these missionaries leave their first world comforts in an effort to reach out to their brothers and sisters.

When I think about how selfish I can often be, I find what those missionaries do to be extremely humbling. But not as humbling as the thought of God stooping down into human flesh so that we might truly know that God IS WITH US.

God With Us means that God has held nothing back from us, not all the treasures of heaven, and not even his own life.

Because Christmas is a time we should remember to look up to the God who is an all of life’s experiences.

God IS with you. Don’t ever forget that.

FOCUS READING
Zephaniah 3. 15b-17 (NIV)
The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; 
never again will you fear any harm.
On that day they will say to Jerusalem, 
"Do not fear, O Zion; 
do not let your hands hang limp.
 The LORD your God is with you, 
he is mighty to save.

Renewing Your Christmas Spirit: Fatigue

I don’t know about you but I find December to be an exhausting time. December arrives at a time of the year when we are already feeling tired and drained. We then find ourselves pushed onto a treadmill of Christmas parties, shopping trips, and seemingly never-ending lists of things that have to get done.

Fatigue poses great dangers to our spirituality.

This is because fatigue affects our perspectives and ability to think straight on issues. Fatigue drains us emotionally and spiritually as well as physically. Instead of being a time of rest and renewal, the Christmas rush can lead to even further exhaustion, leaving us depressed and down.

It is very important that we learn how to deal with our fatigue if we want to renew our Christmas spirits. In the next few weeks try out the following two suggestions:

Take regular time out to rest. This seems so obvious but the fact remains we just do not do this enough. Did you know that in his 3 year ministry, Jesus is recorded as having a holiday or retreat 14 times. 14 retreats in 3 years! What is more, in the story of Creation, we are taught that God worked only 6 days before resting on the 7th. Rest is a gift given to us by God and modelled to us by Jesus. We may say to ourselves that we cannot afford the time to rest but the truth of the matter is that we just cannot afford the time NOT to.

The second suggestion follows on from the first. Henri Nouwen once said that, “Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life.” Again I would remind you of how often Jesus took time out to spend in solitude and silence. Jesus knew that times of solitude and silence provide fuel for the soul and therefore are vital to countering the effects of fatigue.

This is your challenge today. Book yourself time out to rest, not to do shopping or other chores but just to rest. Ensure that at least part of this time is spent in solitude and silence – just you and God.


Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Renewing Your Christmas Spirit: Pessimism

Christmas is just around the corner! For many of us Christmas is a time of great excitement as we think happy thoughts of food, family and presents. However, for others Christmas is something to dread rather than look forward to. Reports tell us that depression and suicide rates actually increase at this time of year.

With this in mind, we will be spending the next few days looking at some of the common issues which can turn Christmas into a real downer for some. Issues that can potentially kill off our Christmas spirit. We will be looking at how during a stressed holiday season, we can open our hearts to God renewing our Christmas spirits.

The first issue we will be looking at is pessimism. Pessimism can be defined as a general belief that things around us in the world are bad, and are tending to become worse.

There is a great deal of pessimism today that grips and even paralyses people. Some of the challenging issues we South Africans face can lead to pessimism if we are not careful. We read stories of horrible crimes, we drive past hungry street children, we hear tales of corruption and power abuse and we begin to lose hope as a result.

It is important though to remember that to lose hope is to lose life.

The movie, “Children of Men,” although graphically violent, is a stark portrayal of what happens to people when hope is lost. In the movie the human race loses its ability to reproduce and so begins to go into a downward spiral of deep depression. Pessimism becomes the norm because no one can see any hope for life beyond themselves. The lesson of the movie is that our outer worlds will surely collapse around us if we do not hold onto hope within.

The opposite to pessimism is not blind, idealistic optimism. Instead it is faith.

Faith is being sure of what we do not see (Heb 11.1); and so faith counters pessimism because it holds onto hope despite even the worst circumstances.

While pessimism can kill the Christmas spirit, faith is that quality which lightens our hearts and minds with the good news of Christ’s love and presence. Let us never forget that Christmas is a powerful reminder that God is with us always and everywhere. As today’s focus reading reminds us, even if we face great opposition (such as crime, poverty and disease), we need never lose hope if we can keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV):

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful people, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

The Advent Conspiracy

The concept behind the Advent Conspiracy is simple and can be summarised in the following way:
Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All.

1. Worship Fully:

It starts with Jesus. It ends with Jesus. This is the holistic approach God had in mind for Christmas. It’s a season where we are called to put down our burdens and lift a song up to our God. It’s a season where love wins, peace reigns, and a king is celebrated with each breath. It’s the party of the year. Entering the story of advent means entering this season with an overwhelming passion to worship Jesus to the fullest.

2. Spend Less:

Before you think we’re getting all Scrooge on you, let us explain what we mean. We like gifts. Our kids really like gifts. But consider this: America spends an average of $450 billion a year every Christmas. How often have you spent money on Christmas presents for no other reason than obligation? How many times have you received a gift out of that same obligation? Thanks, but no thanks, right? We’re asking people to consider buying ONE LESS GIFT this Christmas. Just one.  Sounds insignificant, yet many who have taken this small sacrifice have experienced something nothing less than a miracle: They have been more available to celebrate Christ during the advent season.

Looking for ways to give gifts that don't cost a lot of money? Have a few ideas you'd like to share? Head to rethinkingchristmas.com today.

3. Give More:

God’s gift to us was a relationship built on love. So it’s no wonder why we’re drawn to the idea that Christmas should be a time to love our friends and family in the most memorable ways possible. Time is the real gift Christmas offers us, and no matter how hard we look, it can’t be found at the mall. Time to make a gift that turns into the next family heirloom. Time to write mom a letter. Time to take the kids sledding. Time to bake really good cookies and sing really bad Christmas carols. Time to make love visible through relational giving. Sounds a lot better than getting a sweater two sizes too big, right?

4. Love All:

When Jesus loved, He loved in ways never imagined. Though rich, he became poor to love the poor, the forgotten, the overlooked and the sick. He played to the margins. By spending less at Christmas we have the opportunity to join Him in giving resources to those who need help the most. When Advent Conspiracy first began four churches challenged this simple concept to its congregations. The result raised more than a half million dollars to aid those in need. One less gift. One unbelievable present in the name of Christ.

[This article sums up the message of The Advent Conspiracy. You can find out more on www.adventconspiracy.org].

Atheists Wanting Equal Rights at Christmas

Atheists groups in the United States have made a concerted effort the challenge to rights for traditional Nativity scenes to be displayed in public squares and have sought to replace them with their own displays.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is co-led by an evangelist-turned-atheist, has protested against the Nativity scene in front of the city hall in Ellwood City, and demanded that instead the city put up a banner reading, “At this season of the Winter Solstice, LET REASON PREVAIL,” alongside the Nativity.

The FFRF also demanded that a town in east Texas remove their Nativity scene displayed at the Henderson County Courthouse. The group wrote a letter to the Henderson County Commissioners, stating, “We request that … you take immediate action to ensure that no religious displays are on city or county property. Please inform us in writing of the steps you are taking to remedy this First Amendment violation."

FFRF added that when the county displays a manger scene, it puts the “imprimatur of the county government behind the Christian religious doctrine.”

In Santa Monica, California, 14 life-sized nativity figures that have stood alongside Ocean Avenue for the past 57 years have been reduced to three, after an atheist group applied for the previously uncontested spaces to display anti-religious messages ranging from “Happy Solstice” to “Religions are all alike, founded on fables and mythologies.”