Conversations from the Couch

For a time period in my life, I took up the hobby of furniture restoration. I did so mainly because I had received a couple of old furniture pieces out of my grandparents’ barns after they passed. These seemingly discarded pieces of furniture were found underneath a room full of boxes and bags, and other home items. The furniture was in pretty rough condition. Also, the pieces had been painted several times over the years. Their original look was hidden beneath the paint. 

I set out to restore them. Armed with paint stripper and scrapers, I tackled the individual pieces. Tackling them is what it took. It was not easy to strip the old paint off and then scrape the parts that didn’t come off with the paint stripper. I took sandpaper to help smooth out the wood to get it back to its natural finish. It didn’t take days but weeks to complete the restoration process. However, the end result was worth the hard work, patience, and time. These pieces are now prized possessions. 

The Twenty-Third Psalm is one of the more well-known scripture passages from the Bible. Even people outside the life of the Christian faith and Jewish faith are sometimes familiar with its words. Supposedly written by King David of Israel, the words of the Psalm have brought much comfort to individuals who found themselves struggling with trials and difficulties in their own lives. Each line of the Psalm speaks of God’s tender care, and compassion toward his children as a faithful shepherd is to their sheep.

Verse 3 of the Psalm states, “He restores my soul.” God is in the business of restoration. In the book of Genesis, the creation of the first person is described in this way, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”(Genesis 2:7) With the breath and Spirit of God within us, we were transformed from creatures of dust to living souls. With God’s breath within us, life, as we know it,, came into existence. 

Yet, as the story of humanity unfolded, sin entered into to plotline and distorted God’s good creation. In time, humanity would find itself covered in layers of sinfulness, broken and weak, worn and weary, and a far distance from the original work of the Creator. However, rather than discarding his good yet sinful creation, God sought to restore us. God would not leave us in our sinful state, but God chose to return us to his original design. It would not be an easy fix. The Bible chronicles the story of God’s restorative work, which culminated in sending his son to complete the task. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was God’s plan of restoration. Jesus returns us to where God began. The apostle Paul spoke to this when he wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) God would not leave us in our sinful condition, but God chose to restore us through Jesus. God’s grace and love would make us like new again.

God’s restoring work is also an ongoing process. Each day God works in our lives to bring out his original work. By opening ourselves up to God’s Spirit, God continues to restore us. We are all a work in progress. And on this side of heaven, there will always be work to do. But in the end, it will be worth it all.

The classic hymn, Softly and Tenderly, is sung often in Christian worship. In 1880 William L. Thompson penned the lyrics that have spoken to so many people over the years. The chorus says,“Come home, come home; you who are weary come home; earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!” In the Protestant revival tradition, this song is often recognized as an invitational hymn – a congregational hymn at the conclusion of the service that focused on those attending who may be called by the Holy Spirit to make either a profession of faith or a recommitment of one’s life.  Jesus invites those who are weary to come home.

We all get weary at times. It is impossible not to in the world in which we live. We are daily bombarded with situations, events, and experiences that can wear us down. These experiences may be family, work, friends, health, or financially related. The stress of these times can take a toll on us. We may feel so overwhelmed that we are unsure if we have the strength to keep going. 

Anne Brontë was an English novelist and poet and the youngest member of the Brontëliterary family. She was the daughter of Patrick Brontë, a poor Irish clergyman in the Church of England. Anne lived most of her life with her family at the parish of Haworth on the Yorkshire moors. Bronte once wrote, “Oh, I am very weary, though tears no longer flow; my eyes are tired of weeping. My heart is sick of woe.”The Psalmist writes a similar thought in Psalm 6:6: “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.”  Both statements describe weariness. 

What do we do in these times? Where do we go? The hymn offers us an invitation: come home. But where is home? Home is not a physical place but a loving presence, the presence of Christ Jesus. Jesus himself would say, “Come to me all who are weary and carrying heaven burdens and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Jesus invites us in all our weariness to find rest in him. This rest is not an escape from the trials and struggles of life, nor a sugar coating of them, but an inner peace that allows us to face them in the strength of the Lord. The Apostle Paul, who found himself weary more than once, wrote, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10) In our weariness, we rest not on our strength, but the Lord who is our strength.

We can all come home. In our weariness, we find a home in our Lord’s presence. God offers us his rest. We don’t have to carry the burdens of our lives all by ourselves. Our Lord is ready to take them upon himself and ready to receive us into his arms. We who are weary can come home.

Most parents have heard the chorus rise from the back seat of their car when traveling with children, “Are we there yet?” Often children are eager to get to their destination as merely sitting and riding in a car for any length of time can feel like an eternity for them. Parents try to respond the best they can, saying things such as “not too much longer, we’re getting closer, or just a few more minutes,” even though none of their responses may be right. And if it is a long journey, mom and dad might have to become smart with their answers.

Sometimes as a preacher, people will say to me, “I wish I had your faith.” After years of hearing me preach a sermon each Sunday, they assume I have it all together when it comes to following Jesus, as though I have somehow arrived. Well, in all honesty, I’m still wandering and trying to figure it out myself. Each day I stumble over my sin, doubt, and fears regarding living in the world. I still have many more questions than answers. And while I may preach behind a large, sturdy, wooden pulpit each week, my faith is often shaky and uncertain. Am I there yet? Sometimes, I’m not even sure where there is.

To be honest, I am always somewhat skeptical of pulpits where the preacher seems to have all the answers, life is perfectly clear, doubts are a distant memory, and life makes complete sense. If faith is presented as all neat and tight and polished, I often wonder what I am not hearing. Truth be told, most of us realize that the faith journey is not a walk in the park but more like trudging through a swamp. Sometimes we get stuck and even sucked under. 

Perhaps the best-known Christian and preacher in the first century was the Apostle Paul. He traveled everywhere proclaiming the Gospel, wrote more of the New Testament than anyone else, was influential in early church decisions, and is credited with bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles. If you think about it, that’s pretty impressive. Yet, Paul knew, even with this resume, he had not arrived. Paul still wrestled with sin, claiming that even when he knew what the right thing to do was, he still chose sin. (Romans 7:15) And when he wrote to the church at Philippi, Paul confessed, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. “Paul knew that he had not arrived but that he had to keep moving forward despite his failures, doubts, and fears.

Indeed, we are all wandering when it comes to our faith. None of us are where we need to be. We still wrestle with sin, give in to fear, and allow doubt to take hold of us. This does not mean that we are not good Christians; it just means that we are honest about our journey. We don’t have to have all the answers to feel that we are somehow a successful Christian. Instead, we acknowledge our shortcomings and then encourage one another along the way. Are we there yet? Not hardly. Will we get there? Yes. But it takes time, a lifetime. Nevertheless, we keep pressing on to the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

We’ve all probably had the experience of traveling away from home but leaving something behind that we meant to bring with us. It might be something as simple as your toothbrush, which can easily be replaced. It could be something much more significant, like leaving your passport behind when you are already at the airport preparing to leave for an international flight. Somethings you cannot leave behind. 

In the Gospels, we read the accounts of Jesus calling his first disciples. Some of Jesus’ followers were fishermen. In Matthew 4: 18-20 we read the calling of two brothers, Simon and Andrew: “As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. According to the Gospels, Simon and Andrew, upon hearing Jesus’ invitation to follow him, dropped their nets and immediately followed him. If we are to take these accounts at face value, Simon and Andrew dropped everything to follow Jesus: their livelihoods, their relationships with coworkers and family, and any sense of security. They seemed to leave everything behind.

Jesus still calls us to follow him in a life of discipleship. However, except missionaries who may travel to a foreign country, most of us are not walking away from everything in our lives when following Jesus. Yet, we are called to drop our nets and leave them behind. Now, these nets can symbolize anything that might get in the way of our commitment to Jesus Christ. We might have to leave behind certain attitudes or behaviors. For example, we can’t say yes to Jesus but then keep on living with prejudices about others who might be different than us. We can’t say yes to Jesus and continue riding the gossip train at work. We can’t say yes to Jesus and continue an addiction that is harmful to ourselves and others. No, when we follow Jesus, we have to leave our nets behind.

In inviting us to follow him, Jesus calls for us to make him first in our lives. We cannot regulate Jesus to a distant place in our lives and remain faithful to our calling. Nor can we continue to live in unrepentant sin or continue in sinful behaviors. Our nets must be dropped. While this is not always easy, it is the commitment we make to follow Jesus. Trying to follow Jesus and holding on to our nets can create a mess. The Apostle Paul addressed this issue in his letter to the Romans when he wrote, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Romans 12:1-2) Our sin can easily entangle us, hinder our Christian walk, and drag us down. Holding onto sin can only bring grief and sorrow. 

Dropping our nets must also be an everyday action. Each day we will be tempted to compromise our Christian walk by keeping our nets with us. Each morning as we begin a new day, we must seek to leave our nets behind. We all need to confess our sins daily so that Jesus can cleanse us and restore us. Otherwise, we stay entangled in our sin, and we stumble in our sinfulness. Yet, God’s grace is there to help us. We can’t leave our nets behind without God’s grace. Grace enables us to move freely as a follower of Jesus. 

We can still exchange our nets for God’s grace. And when God’s grace wraps itself around us, we discover a life that only God could give. 

It just seems that a day doesn’t go by that we don’t hear about breaking news. Whether it is the cable news on television, a report on the radio, or an alert on your smartphone, our lives are interrupted by some kind of breaking news. Breaking news is an old concept, codified by the Associated Press in 1906 when the wire wanted to designate “news of transcendent importance.” The AP used the term “FLASH.” Other news-breakers used “bulletin,” “alert.” Regardless of the term used, the news interrupts the present moment. 

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus begins his ministry with breaking news. In Mark 1:14-15 we read, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” When Jesus stepped onto the scene, he came bringing news that interrupted the daily narrative of the world. The narrative prior to Jesus was one of a broken world. Since the beginning, when sin entered the picture, the story of creation was one of sinfulness and death. It wasn’t that people were not happy, but there was a deeper brokenness beneath the surface of people’s lives. This brokenness had affected every part of creation: creation’s relationship to God and humanity’s relationship to one another. The good news of God’s original creation had been shattered by human sin. That was the story of the day.

Jesus called the people to repent and believe in the good news. Jesus’ call to repent was an invitation for us to turn away from our sin and back to God. Sin in its essence pulls us away from God and in a different direction than God desires. The words from the classic hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, echo this truth in its lyrics, “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” We seem to simply be bent towards sin. Repentance is bending ourselves back in the right direction. While we must choose to allow this turning to take place, we cannot make that change without God’s grace. Knowing that we are accepted by God even in our sin, allows this turning to occur. Thus, we don’t have to run away from God, but we can run towards God.

This is why Jesus called us to also believe in this good news. Jesus came offering a narrative for our lives, not written in sin, but in grace; grace which accepts us, restores us, and loves us. This news shatters the previous headlines that dominated the world news. We who are prone to wander can return to God. Each of us as prodigal children can come home. We simply have to decide to return. This is the breaking news that can change us forever. May we not only hear it, but may we receive it. And in receiving this good news, we can live a new story.  That’s breaking news.

Sometimes in our lives we embark on some kind of endeavor, but we just cannot finish it. For whatever reason, we run out of energy and are just too weary and tired to keep moving forward. We might throw in the proverbial “towel” and call it quits. Just as a boxer might try to go all ten rounds, the fight takes its toll, and the boxer’s manager indeed throws a towel into the rink saying, “no more.” What we might start in life, we don’t always finish. We just can’t go the distance.

Scholars believe that the ministry of Jesus lasted around three years. From his first sermon in Nazareth to his crucifixion on the cross, these three years were packed with highs and lows for Jesus and his disciples. There were miracles, healings, preaching, teaching as well as confrontation and strife among his followers, and exhausting episodes of intense ministry. Jesus, just as human as any of us, knew what it was like to be physically and emotionally tired at times. Yet, even with these same human limitations, Jesus persevered to the end.

In the Gospel of John, we encounter Jesus at the end of his public ministry with a short time before he will be crucified. The setting is the Last Supper. Jesus had gathered with his disciples for one last meal together. John 13: 1 states, “Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” With the cross before him, John remarks that Jesus loved his disciples to the end. Throughout his three years with his disciples Jesus never wavered in his love for them. Even though there would be times in which they would disappoint and frustrate Jesus, he never stopped loving them. Rather, he would love them to the end.

This same truth can be spoken into each of our lives. Like the disciples, we live imperfect lives when it comes to our commitment to follow Jesus. We let Jesus down, disappoint him, and frustrate him just like the original twelve. Yet, Jesus never stops loving us. We can trust that even in our greatest failures as followers of Jesus, his love will always triumph. There is nothing that we can do that will make Jesus love us less. Even when we spurn his love, Jesus will give his love to us. Jesus’ love of you and me is not conditioned by anything we do or don’t do. Jesus simply loves us.

This is what makes the Gospel good news. In a world, where love is often conditioned by our actions, God’s unconditional love meets us where we are. The disciples gathered around Jesus had a mixed record when it came to their faithfulness to him. And in the coming days as Jesus would be arrested, crucified, and buried, they would continue to fail him. Yet, even then, Jesus would love them to end. God’s love will always go the distance. God’s love will never run out of energy for us, but God will be loving us until the end.

A stress test, also called an exercise stress test, shows how your heart works during physical activity. Because exercise makes your heart pump harder and faster, an exercise stress test can reveal problems with blood flow within your heart. A stress test usually involves walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike your heart rhythm, blood pressure and breathing are monitored. Or you’ll receive a drug that mimics the effects of exercise. Whichever way it is done, the issue is how strong is your heart?

Jesus was under a lot of stress. For forty days he was in the wilderness alone, tempted by Satan. The Gospels tell us that immediately after his baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested. Whether Jesus knew what was awaiting or not, we do not know. Jesus was hungry and tired from fasting when the devil tempted Jesus to abandon God’s plan for his life and to take matters into his own hands. Three times Satan sought to derail God’s plan for Jesus’ life by tempting Jesus to choose an easier path. Yet, with each temptation, Jesus stood firm in his conviction that he would be faithful to God’s will, even if doing so would me suffering to accomplish it. 

As followers of Jesus, we too encounter the same temptation to choose other than God’s will for our lives. From the first couple in the Garden of Eden to the present, Satan tempts us to forsake God’s will for our lives and to chart our own course a part from God’s influence. More often than not, we fall for the lie, and seek to live our lives on our own terms. Yet, our track record is not too great when it comes to choosing to live apart from God. One read of a daily newspaper will remind us of the mess we make when we succumb to Satan’s message of going it alone.

This is not a one and done decision. Every day, indeed, every moment, we have to choose to live out God’s will and reject the temptation to live otherwise. When the people of Israel were about to enter The Promised Land for the very first time, Joshua challenged them in Joshua 24:14 with these words: “Choose this day whom you will serve.” God will not impose his will on anyone. Each person is given the freedom to choose and make this decision on their own. Jesus would be faithful to God’s will his entire life. Indeed, Jesus is the only one to ever get it completely right. 

However, even though we daily stumble in our sinfulness, we must continue to seek to live out God’s will for our lives. Some days we will get it right and other days we will fall woefully short. Yet, even in our falling, God’s grace will continue to give us the opportunity to choose his will again. So, on the days we fall short we ask for forgiveness and try it again. The key is to never give up trying. Each moment we can decide whom we will serve. Choosing God’s way can be stressful at times, but in the long run it will make all the difference in our lives, for now and for eternity. A heart anchored in Jesus Christ will stand the stresses of living in this world with its myriad of temptations because when our hearts are in Jesus Christ, then God’s grace will flow through our veins.

During this winter season, I have enjoyed starting a fire in the fireplace each evening after work. Not only for the heat, but also for the warm orange and yellow flames that seem to dance around on, under, and around the logs. Once the fire starts, I am able to keep it going throughout the night by just adding more wood. 

Several days ago, an online ZOOM meeting prevented me from adding more wood. In time, the fire I had begun died out. The fireplace grew dark. After the meeting was over, I decided not to try to start it again. However, a few hours later, the fire that had died, or at least I had thought had died, was ablaze again. It surprised me because I had just assumed that there was no life left in it. Somewhere amid the ashes there had obviously been a spark that I did not see.

During the life and ministry of Jesus, he had a way of seeing the spark in individuals that other people did not see. Over and over again in the gospels, Jesus encountered individuals who others had written off as good as dead or hopeless. Whether it was because of some sin in their lives, like the woman caught in adultery, or because of some disease such as leprosy that had left them unclean, Jesus saw beneath these ashes. Jesus knew that with God’s love these individual lives could burn brightly again. Jesus saw the possibility of new life in those that other had written off.

In our modern society, we are guilty at times of writing people off as beyond hope, helpless, worthless, and lifeless. For multiple reasons we just assume that there is really no chance for their lives to improve or be restored. With such a conclusion reached, we then just ignore them or forget about them. They are left isolated and alone in the ashes. 

As Christians, we are called to see others as Jesus saw them. We have to look beyond the ashes of other’s lives and realize that no person is beyond reigniting by the love of God. God’s love is able to fan into flames the lives we often judge as being without hope. So often, a person is just a spark away from become a burning flame alive in God’s Spirit. God’s love is able to take the darkest life and bring forth new life and light to his glory. Indeed, with God’s love, it only takes a spark.

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One of the road signs you sometimes encounter when driving your car is one which reads “left or right lane ends ahead.” Two lanes will soon become one lane. What drives me crazy is when people don’t merge until the very end. Even though the sign says merge, they go to the last possible second to move over, trying to squeeze in. If they had only merged when they first saw the sign, then they would not be in this position of having to squeeze end at the very last moment. The decision for me is, do I let them merge in front of me, or do I speed up to keep them out. Will I be gracious or not?

In the scriptures, God is described as a God of grace. In Psalm 86:15 we read, “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” While we may ignore, anger, and disappoint God, God refuses to give up on us. God does not cut us off, but God offers grace and mercy to us even in our stubborn sinfulness. While we may push a situation to the limits, and even when the lane is about to end, God’s grace is limitless. The Psalmist would also confess: “You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.” (Psalm 4:1) God makes room for us, even at the last moment. God lets us merge into His abundant love and mercy.

In the sending of God’s son, Jesus, into the world, God’s grace paved a new lane for us to come home. In Jesus, God invited us to merge over, receive his grace, experience his love, and live in his presence. No longer would we have to travel the road alone, but God came to travel with us. God’s grace opens the way for us to new life and abundant life. God doesn’t promise us the perfect life, but rather a life where we live with the assurance that God travels with us. Someone once said, “we are not on a journey to God, but we are on a journey with God.” We don’t arrive to God at the end of the road, but God is on the road with us.

Regardless of where we might be on life’s journey, we can trust that our God continues to go with us. God continues to invite us to merge into his grace and to trust him with the road before us. And even when we push life to the limits, God will always make room for those who choose to merge into him. God will not force the merge, but God, out of his grace, provides the room for us to do so ourselves. Yet, we don’t have to wait till the last moment. We can merge into God’s grace anytime.  So, what are waiting for?  God is making room for all of us to merge.

When the game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, premiered on ABC on August 16, 1999, it quickly became a hit. Television viewers across the nation tuned in each episode to see if contestants could answer 14 multiple-choice questions. If all 14 questions could be answered, then the contestant went home with one million dollars. Most contestants did not get that far. Yet, when someone did complete the challenge, everyone celebrated. 

With each question, the audience watched as the contestant talked through the four possible answers. Viewers were able to witness them ponder each choice. Sometimes they could use a “lifeline” to get help from the audience or friends or family members. Once they came to a decision, the host would ask them one last time, “Is that your final answer?” Right or wrong, they had to affirm that a decision was made.

We make a lot of decisions every day. Many are inconsequential that go unnoticed; what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, etc. We make a decision and then move on. Yet, there are those times when a decision stops us in our tracks. The decision that we make will have huge implications for our lives, such as who we marry, our occupation, where we live, etc. Such decisions are not easily made but often take time and much thought. And if you are a person of faith, it might take a lot of prayer.

In the book of Joshua, the people of Israel were preparing to enter the long awaited Promised Land. After their miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt, the people of Israel had finally arrived at their new home. Joshua, their new leader, challenged the people as they prepared to enter. The people were entering a land where they would be tempted to follow other gods rather than the God who had delivered them. Joshua calls for the people to make a decision. In Joshua 24: 14-15, we read, “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” This would be Joshua’s final answer. Now the people had to decide whom they would follow.

When Jesus began his earthly ministry, he called people to follow him. Jesus never forced or compelled anyone to do so. Jesus simply invited. Jesus offered an invitation and allowed people the opportunity to choose. Some like Matthew quit the work they were doing and walked off the job to follow Jesus. Like the rich young ruler, others walked away from Jesus’ invitation deciding to live his life apart from the Lord.

Each of us must give a final answer to Jesus’ invitation to follow him. Jesus calls us to step away from our lives and enter a relationship with him whereby our lives are now founded, guided, and directed by this relationship. We surrender control of our lives over to our Lord so that every decision we make in life is now made under his influence. We make decisions about our lives that will strengthen this relationship and glorify God. And while we may make our initial decision to follow Jesus, we must still decide every day whom we will serve. When we say yes to Jesus, then we enter the promised land of real life. Hence, every day we must respond to Joshua’s statement to the Israelites, “choose this day whom you will serve.” What will our answer be?

The proverbial saying “You are what you eat “is the notion that you need to eat good food to be fit and healthy. Your daily diet of food consumption will affect your body and impact the overall health of your body. If your diet is healthy, then the assumed conclusion is that your body will be healthy. Some people can maintain a lifestyle with this philosophy, while for many, we still tend to eat things at times that we know are not good for us. For folks like this, that bag of chips or box of doughnuts are hard to pass by. Nevertheless, maintaining a healthy diet is the goal of most individuals.

However, one’s diet is not only what you eat. It is what you watch, what you listen to, what you read, who you hang out with, and the like. Like the food we consume, these outside influences have a way of shaping our lives, informing our daily living, and affecting who we are. As a people of faith and followers of Jesus, we should be mindful of what we take in daily, because these outside influences can often run contrary to the way of Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote of these concerns in his letter to the Corinthians where he stated, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” (1 Corinthian 6: 19-20) 

When we enter into a relationship with God, our bodies become temples of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit now dwells in us and should be evident by the kind of lives we live. The more we open ourselves up to God’s Spirit in our lives, then the greater our lives will honor God. Similarly, if we continue to consume those things that are contrary to God’s will and make them a part of our daily diet, then our lives will not match the lives we confess to belong to God. 

Thus, it is vital that we daily evaluate our diet of what we bring into our lives. We should recommit ourselves to those things that honor God and rid those things that bring dishonor. This daily diet check will keep us attuned to God’s will for our lives and grow and develop our faith. By focusing on the things of God, then our lives will reflect these things to others. In Philippians 4:8, we read these words from Paul: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” We become what we take in, what we focus on, and what we live out in our daily living.  Hence, we should consider our daily diet for our relationship with God and with one another.  Are we consuming, processing, and growing in a way that honors God.  We are what we eat in more ways than one.

One of the lessons that my parents taught me was not to talk with my mouth full. When eating, I should swallow my food before beginning to speak as no one wants to see food chewed while the person is talking. Talking while eating can lead to food accidentally falling out of your mouth as you talk, which most of us would rather not see.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus speaks about our lives as being either being a good tree or a bad tree and that a person is known by the fruit in their lives. Likewise, a good tree does not bear bad fruit, and a bad tree does not bear good fruit. For Jesus, what is in a person’s heart will eventually rise to the surface of a person’s life in their words and their deeds. Thus, Jesus concludes, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45) According to Jesus, our choice and use of words say a lot about what our hearts are full of. Simply put, words matter.

In sports, we often use the phrase “trash talking” when it comes to competition. Trash talk is defined as saying insulting things, especially to an opponent in a contest or a game. In the spirit of competition, players on opposite teams try to hype their ability or pull down their opposition’s ability. It is usually good-natured fun. The problem, however, is when trash-talking is part of our daily conversation. When we use words to degrade, humiliate, or shame another person, we reveal our hearts’ nature. Whether calling people names, using derogatory labels, or merely bad mouthing another person, such word choice demonstrates the deeper parts of who we are. Our word choice reflects our character and cannot be separated. Nor can we justify ours or someone else’s word choice by simply saying that’s just the way they talk. For as Jesus says, “our mouths speak what our hearts are full of.”

As followers of Jesus, our choice of words should demonstrate our relationship with Jesus. We cannot claim to live in a relationship with our Lord but then use hurtful words to others. In everything we say, whether in conversation, on social media, or any other outlet, we should ask ourselves, “world Jesus say it?” At times, I know that Jesus must be disappointed in the words that come from my mouth because they do not match the one who supposedly lives in my heart. Words indeed matter whether they are coming from our mouths or another. 

As a follower of Jesus, we should preface everything we say with the prayer of the psalmist who said, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14) God’s grace should filter everything we say. And when we filter our words with God’s grace, then our words will demonstrate the nature of our hearts. Otherwise, we are just trash talking, and this is not the way of our Lord. Our words matter to God, and our words should matter to us as well.

We live by the clock. That is, time matters. As the clock hands turn so do our lives. Time let us know what we are supposed to be doing at any moment: it’s time to wake up, it’s lunchtime, time for work, time for my doctor’s appointment, time for my show on television, time to go to church. We make a lot of plans based on the time so when the time comes, we will know what we are to do.

There are also uncertain times in our lives. These are those moments when everything that is predictable is thrown out the window. Something happens which throws our timing off. It could be a sudden illness or death, a crisis within our families, a loss of a job, a wrecked relationship, and the like. In these moments life can descend into chaos and the very ground beneath our feet seems to be shaking. Often at these times, we are uncertain of what to do next as we are simply trying to hold on.

God knew that the time was right to send Jesus into the world at Christmas. The Apostle Paul would write in Galatians 4: 4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman.” God has chosen the time to enter into our world and bring peace to our troubled times. Jesus is God’s response to the uncertainty and chaos that often leads us gasping for air. In Bethlehem’s manger God offered to us “stable time.”Born in a stable for animals, God came to bring hope to our lives. The birth of Jesus is God’s way of anchoring us to his presence so that when our times are troubled and uncertain, we can trust that God is with us. 

The psalmist would write, “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, You are my God. My times are in your hands.” (Psalm 31:14-15) In Jesus, God extends His hand to us and invites us to take hold of it. God offers us His presence to us for all time. Regardless of what time it is in our lives, we can live with the assurance that God is holding us in His hands. Just as Mary and Joseph cradled the newborn Jesus in their arms, God desires to cradle us in his love and grace. There is no time now in which we are separated from our Lord. Jesus is with us all the time. Hence, we can live in stable time even when the times are uncertain. It’s Christmas time and this makes the difference for all time.

We live by the clock. That is, time matters. As the clock hands turn so do our lives. Time let us know what we are supposed to be doing at any moment: it’s time to wake up, it’s lunchtime, time for work, time for my doctor’s appointment, time for my show on television, time to go to church. We make a lot of plans based on the time so when the time comes, we will know what we are to do.

There are also uncertain times in our lives. These are those moments when everything that is predictable is thrown out the window. Something happens which throws our timing off. It could be a sudden illness or death, a crisis within our families, a loss of a job, a wrecked relationship, and the like. In these moments life can descend into chaos and the very ground beneath our feet seems to be shaking. Often at these times, we are uncertain of what to do next as we are simply trying to hold on.

God knew that the time was right to send Jesus into the world at Christmas. The Apostle Paul would write in Galatians 4: 4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman.” God has chosen the time to enter into our world and bring peace to our troubled times. Jesus is God’s response to the uncertainty and chaos that often leads us gasping for air. In Bethlehem’s manger God offered to us “stable time.”Born in a stable for animals, God came to bring hope to our lives. The birth of Jesus is God’s way of anchoring us to his presence so that when our times are troubled and uncertain, we can trust that God is with us. 

The psalmist would write, “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, You are my God. My times are in your hands.” (Psalm 31:14-15) In Jesus, God extends His hand to us and invites us to take hold of it. God offers us His presence to us for all time. Regardless of what time it is in our lives, we can live with the assurance that God is holding us in His hands. Just as Mary and Joseph cradled the newborn Jesus in their arms, God desires to cradle us in his love and grace. There is no time now in which we are separated from our Lord. Jesus is with us all the time. Hence, we can live in stable time even when the times are uncertain. It’s Christmas time and this makes the difference for all time.

The psalmist would write, “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, You are my God. My times are in your hands.” (Psalm 31:14-15) In Jesus, God extends His hand to us and invites us to take hold of it. God offers us His presence to us for all time. Regardless of what time it is in our lives, we can live with the assurance that God is holding us in His hands. Just as Mary and Joseph cradled the newborn Jesus in their arms, God desires to cradle us in his love and grace. There is no time now in which we are separated from our Lord. Jesus is with us all the time. Hence, we can live in stable time even when the times are uncertain. It’s Christmas time and this makes the difference for all time.

In the Christmas story, as told by the Gospel of Luke, we learn of shepherds who were in the fields watching over their sheep at night when angelic messengers informed them of Jesus’s birth. When the workday began for them, I doubt any of them imagined that the day would turn out the way it did. Most of us don’t go about our daily activities, thinking today might be the day of a divine interruption. We tend to focus on the tasks at hand and not what God might be up to.

However, it just seems that God has a way of stepping into ordinary days and transforming them into something extraordinary. God is always working behind the scenes to bring about His will and purposes for our lives and our world. While we are caught up in the rhythms of day to day life, God is actively seeking to create in our lives extraordinary moments where we experience God in surprising ways. God is always stepping into our lives to awaken us to His presence.

We might not experience an angelic encounter as the shepherds did, but God makes himself known to us every day in various ways. We might encounter God in the smile of a child, the hearty laugh of a friend, a falling tear of someone we love, the orange sky of a sunrise, the melody of a song, or a silent night of contemplative thought. God is always reaching out to us to make Himself known with a message of good news, just as God did with the shepherds.

The challenge for us is, will we take time to notice these divine interruptions? The shepherds paid attention. They left the fields and their sheep and traveled to Bethlehem to see what the angels had told them about. They would not let this moment pass them by. They would extraordinarily experience God’s presence. We, too, can experience God in meaningful ways when we receive His divine interruptions with open hearts and lives. When we open ourselves up to God’s revelations, then our lives will be changed, renewed, and recreated. These shepherds would never be the same again. So, let us pay attention to those moments when God has something to share with us, and when we do, we will never be the same.

“Over the River and Through the Woods” was originally published in 1844 as a poem written by Lydia Maria Child. The poem was published in Child’s book of poems Flowers for Children, Volume 2, and was originally titled “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day.” In time, Child’s poem was set to music by an unknown composer, and over the years many children have grown up singing the song in school or community holiday programs. The familiar lyrics state, “Over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go. The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow.” The family in the story is on their way to grandma’s house for a family gathering. Although there is drifting snow, they are willing to travel the distance.

We learn in the Gospels that Joseph and Mary traveled from the town of Nazareth to the town of Bethlehem for the Roman census. Because Joseph belonged to the line of David, Bethlehem would be where he would register for the census. This would not be an easy journey. Most scholars believe that they would have had to travel about 90 miles to the stable where Jesus was born. Mary was nine months pregnant at the time. Thus, a stressful and challenging journey was even more so. 

There are times in our lives in which our journey becomes challenging. We can find ourselves traveling through life on cruise control, when all of sudden something happens that causes our journey to become difficult. An unexpected sickness or death, a financial crisis, depression and sadness, family division, and the like can disrupt our travel plans. Life can become difficult in the blink of an eye. It is often during these times that we wonder if we can continue on. We can feel overwhelmed and exhausted.

We can only wonder what the trip was like for Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. Their lives had been turned upside down from an unexpected pregnancy. Now, they were on the road realizing that any moment a baby could be born. What did they talk about as they traveled? What was their emotional state? We simply do not have answers for these questions as the Bible does not tell us. Yet, while in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to give birth and Jesus was born. Despite the challenges and difficulties of getting there, God’s plan would be fulfilled.

In our lives, we can trust in God’s plan. While life can leave us wondering at times about the future, we can trust that God will bring us to the place we need to be. Likewise, in God’s time, God can bring forth new life and birth new hope into our lives. We do not journey alone. With each step we make, our God walks with us along the way. 

Often after eating a big meal, people will respond, “I’m full.” It means that their stomach has reached its capacity. Generally, human stomachs have a volume of about one liter, which is a little more than one quart. Since the stomach has the ability to expand, it can hold much more food. The human stomach can be distended up to four liters, which is more than one gallon. When the stomach reaches its limit, we confess, “I’m full.” Indeed, during the Christmas season this can easily occur as we tend to eat more than usual because of all the baking, the parties, and the get-togethers. 

Christmas can also lead to a full heart. One might say that the birth of Jesus was God’s response to empty hearts. Ever since human sin entered the picture, our hearts ached because of our emptiness. We were created with a full heart. But sin punctured that heart of fullness and drained us empty. As St. Augustine would confess, “our hearts became restless.” We realized that something was missing. There was an inner emptiness. Regardless of how hard we tried, we could not seem to fill that emptiness. We tried to fill our hearts with wealth and possessions, pleasures, power, people, and a host of other substitutes. Yet, nothing seem to fill the emptiness of the heart.

At Christmas, God offered to us His son. A son who would be our Savior and once again fill our hearts. The old Christmas carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem, says it this way, “So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven.” At Christmas heaven came to earth to take up residence within us. The Bethlehem manger is none other than our individual hearts. Hence, empty hearts became full of the very life of God. The Apostle Peter in the book of Acts would confess this truth when he said, “You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.” (Acts 2: 28)

We do not have to live with empty hearts. Nor do we have to settle for poor substitutes to fill that emptiness. Instead, in Jesus, our lives can be filled with God’s presence. Emmanuel can live within us, thus imparting His life into our own. In Galatians 2:20 the Apostle Paul would write, “I have been crucified with Christ. I don’t live any longer, but Christ lives in me. Now I live my life in my body by faith in the Son of God. He loved me and gave himself for me.” Christ can now live in us as we open our hearts to Him. Every heart is a potential manger. We simply have to respond in faith and trust in the one who can fill our hearts with life, hope, love, and joy. This is heaven’s blessing God desires to impart to every human heart. It is an incredible gift. We can live with full hearts thanks to God.

There is no doubt that our senses are heightened during the season of Christmas. As our world magically transforms into the holiday season, we are greeted with the sights and sounds of this time of year. Darkened spaces are covered in bright lights. Buildings that you might not usually notice are lit up. Trees covered in lights stand proudly for others to see in our windows. The daily music we might listen to on our radio shifts to seasonal songs that celebrate both the sacred and secular of Christmas. Walk in any store at this time of the year, and Christmas music can be heard in the background. 

On a quiet hillside outside Bethlehem, shepherds were watching over their flock when they were greeted with a heavenly display of angels. A host of angels, basked in light, announced to them the good news that a Savior had been born. Their announcement rang out like a song, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests.“ (Luke 2:14) With their senses awakened, the shepherds go to Bethlehem to see for themselves what the angels had told them.

In Bethlehem, they find Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus. Their story was indeed amazing, and Mary pondered their words in her heart. What a dramatic tale they shared. The scriptures then tell that they “left glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.“ (Luke 2: 20) The sights and sounds of that first Christmas would forever impact their lives. Experiencing what they had experienced would be transformative in their lives. Two thousand years later, we are still telling their story.

How has the Christmas story impacted our own lives? Have our senses been awakened by the angelic announcement and the baby in a manger? The sights and sounds of the first Christmas continue to offer us an invitation to experience the birth of Jesus anew in our lives. We, too, can live our lives glorifying and praising God for all that God has done. Like the shepherds, our stories can be transformed by Christmas. This is the good news that is offered to all people. May our eyes and ears be open to the sights and sounds of the season and our mayo our hearts be opened to the Bethlehem child.

Most people remember what their children’s first words were. In many cases, it is some form of mom and dad. Once heard, parents will try to get their child to repeat it so others can listen too. And as time moves forward, parents wait excitedly to hear what the next word will be. And as time continues to move forward, the child will put words together to form sentences, which will eventually lead to conversations with others.

Mary unexpectedly found herself in a conversation with an angel. This young teenage girl from Nazareth suddenly found herself in the most important conversation she had ever had. This angel had come with a message to the young girl. God had chosen her to become the mother of God’s son through the Holy Spirit. Whatever conversations Mary had had that day, they dissipated in the light of this revelation. Here she stood before a heavenly messenger who had just informed her that she was favored by God and would soon to be the mother of God’s son. 

Yet, Mary is a virgin. Virgins don’t have babies. This is not how biology works. Thus, we hear the first word of Christmas spoken from Mary, “how?” Mary asks the angel, “how can this be since I am a virgin?” The first word we ever hear Mary speak is “how.” Standing before the angel, Mary is full of questions. How is all of this going to work?

In our faith, “how” is also a question that we pose to God as well. As we consider our lives, we often wonder “how” God is working in them. We believe in God, but how does God work in our lives? Life can be complicated, messy, and challenging at times. We can sometimes look at our lives and wonder how anything good can come out of a current situation. How in the world is God going to pull off something good amid such a time? Hence, we are often left wondering how, why, when, where, what, and who in our relationship with God. We know God is working; we just don’t know how. In the book of Isaiah, God speaks to the prophet, saying,

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55: 8-9)

Indeed, grasping the mind and workings of God is too much for us as humans. We will never be able to fully grasp the mind of God on this side of eternity. But to all our questions to God, God replies, “trust me.” Mary would trust God even though she had very few answers to her questions. She would trust that God knew what was going on, and that was enough. Thus, as the conversation comes to an end, Mary confesses, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me, according to your word.” (Luke 1:38). Like Mary, to all our unanswered questions, we must trust God and respond, “Let it be with me according to your word.” 

The Gospel of Luke tells the story of Jesus’ birth as Mary and Joseph travel to the town of Bethlehem for the census. Luke begins his story with “in those days.” Luke then sets those days in a historical context. Caesar Augustus rules over Rome, and Quirinius is the governor of Syria. Luke had already written at the beginning of his gospel that he wanted to give an orderly account of Jesus’s life. For Luke, those days are real-time days. Luke doesn’t begin with “once upon a time,” as we might expect in a fairytale, but Luke is grounding the story of Jesus in the real world. 

However, the story of Jesus’ birth and the rest of his life is not stuck in those days. Instead, the story of Jesus intersects our own lives today. The Bethlehem manger transcends times and speaks to us just as it did to shepherds on a hillside. The good news of Jesus’ birth moves beyond its historical point in history and enters our stories today. As a result, we are more than the audience watching it on a stage, but we participate in the story. Like the shepherds, we are invited to travel to see this thing that has taken place.

The story of Jesus is also a story that transforms us. Ordinary days become extraordinary ones as Jesus remakes our stories into something new. Jesus now defines the days of our lives and the stories we live in. Immanuel, God with us, now shapes our stories, our past, present, and future. Indeed, when God is part of our stories, then our stories take on an entirely new life. Those days now become the days of our Lord.

Because of Jesus, we are now able to proclaim with the Psalmist, “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24) The joy of the Lord now finds a home in our everyday living. It doesn’t mean we will not have bad or tough days; that is simply the reality of living in a broken world. But now, “the joy of the Lord is our strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) The joy of our Lord now guides us through these days with the promise of a future day where life will completely be transformed into an eternity of endless days.

The Christmas story is not trapped in the pages of history, but His story now becomes our story. We live now with meaning and purpose. These days are now part of God’s great plan for all of creation. It is a Gospel story for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Every day is now the day of our Lord.

When’s the last time you got excited about something? So excited that you can barely contain your enthusiasm. We all have those experiences where the excitement of the moment makes us feel as though a volcano of joy is about to erupt from within. It’s more than a good feeling; it is a great feeling. Whatever has occurred, joy is stirring within you.

After Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit, this soon to be mother went to visit another soon to be mother, her cousin, Elizabeth. Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, were much older than Mary. Elizabeth was beyond childbearing age. Yet, she was pregnant now with another promised child. Her baby boy would grow up to be the forerunner of Jesus. He would be known as John the Baptist. The Gospel of Luke tells us that when Mary and Elizabeth met; the sound of Mary’s voice caused Elizabeth’s baby to leap for joy. Like any pregnant woman can tell you, she felt her baby move.

Indeed, joy should be our response to the good news of Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas. As the old carol reminds us, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.” With the arrival of Jesus, God’s heavenly joy is poured out upon the world and into the hearts of all those who receive Him. This joy should stir our lives to praise. Our lives should bear witness to this inner joy that can only come from Jesus. While many things in the world can bring us happiness, Jesus is the only one who can bring us joy.

The joy of the Lord cannot be contained. Instead, joy should radiate from the believer’s life as a light into the darkness of a sometimes joyless world. The psalmist would proclaim, “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.” (Psalm 32:11) The psalmist calls us to shout for joy. But why shout? We shout with joy because the world is deaf to the joy that comes from God alone. Many people live never realizing the deep joy that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. As a people of faith, like John in the womb of his mother, we must leap for joy. 

Christmas is a natural opportunity to leap out in joy. Christmas brings a message of love and hope that combined create an inner joy that cannot be contained but must be shared with the larger world. The birth of Jesus creates the ultimate joy. So, during the season of the year, let us take a leap in joy with this good news, so that the world around us might experience the joy of the Lord. “Joy to the world, the Lord has come!” May this message stir within each of us a deeper joy.