A Simple Faith

man, i was really blown away by the insight god revealed through his word this week!

• imagine for a moment you are mary…young…secretly pregnant…told by an angel that the child you are carrying was god’s baby…crazy!
• you know, without a doubt, that the penalty for sex outside of marriage is steep…maybe even death
• or if things went really, really, well, you could probably count on being divorced and abandoned by your young husband
• you face the public disgrace and humiliation for you and your family
• and the prospect of being completely ostracized from your community is something more than just a possibility!

this is a bad situation…really bad.  there is no question that she could have:

• been swallowed by self pity…and cried “why me?”
• been inflated by thinking that she knew what was best for her life…and argued with God
• been focused on her discontent…and complained
• let her intellect and human logic overtake her…and doubted
• been consumed by her fear…and ran 

instead, she cried these deep and passionate words of faith: 

“i am the lord’s servant…may it be to me as you have said” – luke 1:38

here is the heart of our christmas message:

•  like young mary, our faith is neither blind nor ignorant…it recognizes the craziness and unpredictability of a sovereign god and says, “may it be as you have said”
• like this young servant, our faith is neither self-centered, nor self serving…faith is not about us.  it is not my faith…as if i can shape and mold and define faith as i choose…”may it be as you have said”
• like this unwed, pregnant, scared teenager, our faith is to see beyond circumstances to the ultimate “big picture”…the one that god sees…so that we can say, “may it be as you have said”
• like this humble, child-follower, our faith resonates above logic and intellect…defining it and giving substance and meaning to our thoughts and fears and reasons and excuses…overtaking them with a simple statement of faith:  “may it be as you have said”

what do you think?

Have a simple Christmas

the prophet isaiah said it a few thousand years ago:

“All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” NLT

it’s all in a name.  his name would be called immanuel.  god is with us. isaiah got this vision from god that someday…someday…god would actually be with his people…walk among his children…become a man…

god with us…the presence of god…outrageous…unbelievable…absurd…god, right here on earth?  it was ludicrous…even gross irreverence to think, let alone believe, that god would become one of us…the presence of god among us…incredible.

the day before, at holiday at the hall, we did something godly.  we gave presence.  we rolled up our sleeves and became a presence in our neighborhood.  did we change lives?  i doubt it.  did we heal the sick?  probably not.  did masses come to know christ because we built a float?  be serious.  but we did something godly.  we gave presence.

and when we give presence, god has something to work with.

john wrote this about jesus in the first chapter of his account of the the life of jesus:

the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  John 1:14

eugene peterson translates the same verse in the message this way:

“The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood”.  John 1:14  (MSG)

i like that.

you want a simpler christmas?  move into the neighborhood.  of your marriage.   in your kid’s lives.  of your co-worker’s world.  on your own block.  give presence.