Tree Trimmings #8: An Angelic Invitation (Short Version)

"When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "'Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us'.  And they went with haste..."

Luke 2:15-16a

Anybody work in an office where you have a holiday party... for Veteran's Day?  MLK Day?  Groundhog Day?  Do you happen to live in a part of the world where you and almost everyone you know goes shopping for Armed Forces Day?  Ever see the shopping malls filled up for Tax Day?  Valentine's Day and Halloween are pretty big commercial holidays but I don't know of any workplaces that shutdown and pay workers to stay home for those days.

Everybody has more than enough to do and even more options during the Christmas season.  Whether one celebrates the specifically Christian roots of the holiday or not, it is generally expected that the season brings with it interruptions and worthwhile investments of time and money.  Even as many are fearful of the growing trend of secularization in the West, there are few who would espouse the old objections of Ebenezer Scrooge, "Christmas time--a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket!"  Scrooge wasn't in favor of giving Bob Cratchit the day off, but even he, miserly as he was did that much, albeit fictitiously.  People seem to make time for what they either desire to do or to do what is apparently expected of them.

Consider the shepherds' response to the "angelic invitation".  First of all, one could hardly call it an invitation in our modern sense seeing there was no explicit request for their presence.  Telling shepherds what to expect or how to verify the birth of a promised savior required them to leave their fields and go to Bethlehem.  See how the RSVP was missing?  See how the phrase "you are cordially invited" was severely lacking?  Not even something like, "Your presence is requested" was used.  This was no invitation, it was virtually a summons.  They were willing to leave their job, even while on duty, to obey a higher calling and a more urgent need.  

Naturally, if we were to see a man at our door with chicken scratchings on a strip of paper we might wonder what he was doing there since we did not invite him.  As he goes on and on about a particular office building and room number, we may well be very distracted at his untimely appearance and be distant in our thoughts looking for ways to dismiss him.  However, if he has a shiny badge, a gun in his holster, and a couple cop cars behind him, we are likely to deduce his visit is not a pleasantry but official business of government.  Failure to distinguish between the two would bring more problems than the undesired visiting we're mandated to do.

The angels in this passage came from a celestial court with a message from the King of the Universe.  As powerful as they were, their message was even more weighty because it carried the importance of God behind it.  Amazing how presumably unschooled, illiterate shepherds had enough sense to understand that.  And it would be even more amazing--if it wasn't so pitiful--that Christians today, with the same obligation to tell the world of God's salvation in Christ, think sharing the summons that is the gospel is optional.

Tree Trimmings #7: Joy

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."

Luke 2:10

When you read the Bible and examine God's immediate impact on people, you don't get the idea that He'd do well as a party host.  He's probably not "gifted" to be on your church's hospitality committee.  Of course God is great and of course God is good... but seriously, drawing a crowd and keeping people smiling doesn't seem like something He does very well.

When Adam and Eve heard Him coming, they preferred to run from rather than run to Him (Genesis 3:8-10).  When the Lord appeared to Abraham to confirm His promise, the Bible tells us that a "thick and dreadful darkness" overcame Abram (Genesis 15:12).  At the mere voice of God, a nation redeemed and rescued and by Him trembled in fear--even while they stood at a distance (Exodus 20:18).  Time and space in this single post would not permit to speak of theophanies, visions, and other encounters between God and men.  Fortunately, John Calvin summed up the history quite well with this one quotation:

"Hence that dread and amazement with which as scripture uniformly relates holy men were struck and overwhelmed whenever they beheld the presence of God... quaking with terror that the fear of death takes hold of them... men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God."  --Institutes of the Christian Religion

So we can see that the problem is not God, but we ourselves.  It is our sin that informs and supplies ample reason for our fear.  The first Adam, after he had transgressed, knew God as the Interrogator/ Inspector.  Which is why we are amazed that God came as the Second Adam as Intermediary and Intercessor.  Christ came to remove, once for all, the only thing that legitimately kept us from enJOYing God: our sins.  The human birth of God's divine Son marks the march of God's grace to overcome our sin.

Let this Christmas season be a time where believers rejoice removal of the sin's penalty--the justification Christ arranged for via the Cross.  Let this Christmas season be a time where believers are determined to walk in sanctification so that we do not give way to sin that persists in our lives.  Let this Christmas season be a time for us to glory in the hope of our future glorification through Christ.  For certainly, in light of a removal from the presence of sin, we will know God in His fullness and know for ourselves that "in His presence there is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11).

Tree Trimming #6: Peace on Earth

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.

Luke 2:14

I'll admit, when I first saw this ornament on the Bronners CHRISTmas online store I thought, "Oh yeah, there's that verse about how 'the Lion shall lie down with the lamb'..."  It seemed like a really cool reason to get the ornament.  Of course, when I went to check Isaiah 11, I found no such thing.  "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain..." is the the main idea and summation behind the previous verses (Isaiah 11:9a).  Where as in our day, we would never imagine letting a child play with a cobra nor would we put a wolf in the sheep pen and expect harmony--but one day, at least metaphorically, Jesus' reign will make this a reality.

But is "peace on earth"merely a future hope?  Is it something that will elude us entirely until we literally see lions eating straw and leopards nuzzling nose to nose with goats (Isaiah 11:6-7)?   Is there a way to better understand how this picture of a Lion and Lamb bring peace on earth?

I think so.

"Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep!  See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.  He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.'  Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders... "

Revelation 5:5-6

There it is.  In John's vision he is encouraged to look  at the Lion of Judah Who has triumphed and won the adoration of heaven.  But when John looks, he doesn't see a Lion, but a Lamb Who appeared to have been slain.  We're told later in Revelation 5:9-10 that the Lamb's life was used to redeem persons to fill the kingdom of God with citizens who are kings and priests.  It's an amazing scene and a shocking one as well.  Expecting a lion but finding a lamb would be supremely surprising and few things are more stupefying.  Among them is God's wisdom to use men's murderous intent against His Son to reconcile them to Himself not to mention reconciling Jews to Gentiles and vice-versa.

"For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.  His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death their hostility."

Ephesians 2:14-16

Christmas is a celebration of embodiment.  The Incarnation opens up the immeasurable spiritual blessing encased in a human body.  That God was at work to bring peace between Himself and humanity through the suffering and physical death of Jesus is a wonder for the ages.  Faith in Christ's sacrificial act to justify us is what brings "peace on earth" between men and God (Romans 5:1). The Lion is the Lamb and He Himself is our peace.