Advent Begins Again!

The Advent season begins. It occurs to me that, as I once again receive this gift, I choose to be present, to simply experience, day by day, the wonder of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. God wraps His Advent gift in a holy promise, divine mystery and fulfillment that takes my breath away. I choose to be present!!

Elaine Burnett

Father of Lights

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

I don’t think I ever thought of this verse as Christmassy before, but last night I couldn’t get it out of my head. It was still front-of-mind this morning when my clock-alarm jarred me awake. The sentence dovetails so beautifully with Isaiah’s prophetic words…

“There will be no more gloom for those who were in distress…

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Additionally, there is the mention of gift-giving, which is so apropos to the season. It reminds me that the practice of giving gifts is an ancient ritual, perhaps coming from an archetypal wellspring within us. In fact, the gesture is older than humanity itself! The Father of sun, moon, and stars is characterized by generosity.

Change of Plans

Christmas reveals a God who is not a Distant Observer but rather a Nearby Interrupter! Matthew 1:18-25 describes the divine invasion of a common man’s circumstances.

God’s redemptive agenda disintegrated Joseph’s world and then reassembled it into an utterly new order of meaning. I think it’s fair to say that the reassembly required Joseph’s cooperation; in a real sense, he became a co-creator with the Spirit.

Joseph’s said yes to God, but in a different way from Mary: she surrendered to what the Spirit was doing deep within her – something she could not do herself. Joseph’s “yes” required him to do and not do a series of important things; he had to drastically change his plans. Amazingly, he agreed to refrain from love-making with his new bride until after Jesus was born! (See verse 25.)

Joseph was a teachable, flexible person, able to embrace change. He accepted the fact that things would never be the same, and he adapted to the new way of life.

The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").

Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus. Matthew 1:18-25 (The Message)

Flesh and Blood

The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish. John 1:14 (The Message)

God in Baby-Skin

Christmastime… Expectation is a key theme of the season. Hopeful anticipation is the tenor of Advent, as we remember humankind’s deep longing for its Savior.

The countdown to Christmas also stirs our expectancy for waking up into the magic of gifts and family and festivity. Monday morning we’ll wade through drifts of wrapping paper, enjoy favorite foods prepared with once-a-year extravagance, and visit at leisure with people we don’t see often enough.

Perhaps these things aren’t so very incongruent. Maybe the sparkling, delicious forward-looking we feel for the goodness of gifting, feasting, and visiting is directly connected to the heart of Christmas. Rather than moan about the secularization and consumerization of the Holiday, let’s look with wide-eyed wonder for God in baby-skin, delivered into the middle of our world.

“Yea, Lord, we greet The, Born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory given… O come, let us adore Him…”

Scott Burnett

Christmas Twins

Matching snowmen robes.

Plush.

Plush robes are not for wrapping inside of after a shower. They are not for drying. They cannot Absorb. They are for warming or for Posing In.

Twin cousins in snowmen plush robes. Robes thickly over clothes, over daytime clothes in the morning. Christmas Morning. Cousins, girls, not the same age, not having the same appearance, but with twin kindred souls. Christmas souls. Twin cousins in snowmen plush robes with their arms around each other in the photograph. Looking at the picture-taker and Posing. Smiling at the photograph, years later, all the time after, smirking at those snowmen. Twin Teenage cousins with a Boyfriend or Boyfriendless in plush robes on Christmas morning with arms around each other. They are swimming in the robes like pajama royalty, one Twin Cousin with straight white teeth and a kid tan from living in California. The other Twin Cousin with kid Bangs and borrowed clothing. Twins because they are Cousins because they are In Photographs together inside the world like a secret. Girls.

Snowmen.

Snowpeople.

Snowgirls.

Snowgirls in snowrobes, Posing as teenagers Holding On to each other in a twinly kindred way of looking out at things.

Of loving things.

Of wearing gifts.

Girls wearing gifts of a changing, falling-down-and-falling-up-all-around, mind-whirring, eccentric Growing Up.

Twin Cousins, twin snowpeople. Together.

An inherited, made-up Growing Up.

Perhaps apart. California being one Separator of Twin Cousins.

But always with the memory of snowmen robes wrapping them up in a Plush Swimming in the middle of Christmas in the daytime. Twin Souls. Not dry, not wet. A Growing Up snowgirl part of a Family. A kind of Always, twirling and diverging and flowing in the middle part of souls. Percolating on and Posing In, cyclic, during Christmas.

Courtney Burnett

Christmas Kindness

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” Matthew 1:18-19

When Joseph found out Mary was pregnant, and before the angel clarified the matter to him, his first thought was to honor Mary and treat her with dignity.

Consider the magnitude of the strength of character revealed in his response! He could have chosen “righteous indignation” or given himself permission to play the victim role; but instead, humility and kindness motivated his actions.

Joseph provides a gentle and understated example for us at Christmastime: Kindness requires great courage and confidence.

Scott Burnett

Absent Angel

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:38

An angel has described to Mary the miracle God’s Spirit is about to create within her. She opens herself to the message, surrendering to a transcendent destiny. And then the angel is gone.

It must have been a relief in some sense. After all, how long can a human endure a face-to-face encounter with the supernatural? Still, normalness must have returned with a dull thud. Her head must have been spinning!

In my opinion, this is one of the most helpful bits in Luke’s rendering of the Nativity narrative. Each of us is invited to receive the miracle God wishes to plant within. Once we’ve said yes, the gift’s gestation occurs in the ordinariness of everyday life.

Scott Burnett

As You're Loading Up Your Plate...

During this holiday season as we sit down for our Christmas feast will we load up our plates with stress, anxiety and worries, or will we fill them with love, joy and thankfulness?

Paul talking to the Thessalonians says, “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (I Thes. 5:16-18 NIV)

Each year during Christmastime, I remember a bit of wisdom handed to me as a teenager with some stubborn difficulties in my life. I would always take them to a very close friend, my Dad. “Why is it,” I whined and complained, “that I can’t seem to cope with these problems?”

I remember my Dad’s long, thoughtful glance. “Maybe,” he offered, “it is because you aren’t grateful enough.”

“Grateful?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the law of Living that you will discover someday,” he explained. My dad knew a lot about living. As I stood there reflecting his deep brown loving eyes pierced my heart. He went on.

“Focus on adversities and you’ll attract more of them (focus on stress and it will turn into distress). Be thankful for the privilege of living, and your life will grow increasingly bright.” He paused, looking at me with the love of a father. I am sure you have heard this phrase before but it truly impacted my life. He said “Michael, develop an attitude of gratitude, an attitude of thankfulness!”

I was a teenager then. Years of observing life and many wonderful people has left me convinced that what my Dad said that day is true. He has passed away now, but every holiday season I remember the times I complained to him about how hard it is to raise a family in today’s world. He always shared with me his advice to stop complaining and develop that attitude of gratitude and thankfulness.

That is the secret of living that my Dad shared with me so many years ago. So as you load up your plate this Christmas remember:

Pastor Michael Fernandez

“Gratitude is a God-honoring Attitude.”