Slideshow image

Hi everyone! I hope your December is off to a great start. Diane and I had a nice introductory taste of winter on a hike earlier this week, when we were treated to a flurry of some of the largest snowflakes either of us have ever seen. It made things feel very “Christmasy.”  May you have lots of Christmasy moments too as you deal with the short days of December.

This time of year, I often pray my way through the Christmas carols in one of my old hymnbooks.

I know people joke about how the constant sound of Christmas songs in stores, on the radio, and elsewhere can start to be annoying after you’ve heard them all 300 times. I sympathize. I can only listen to Mariah Carey singing “All I Want for Christmas Is You” so often before it gets very tiring. (To say nothing of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”!) Even the best, most edifying songs can begin to grate on one’s nerves just a little after you’ve heard the same thing sung by 4 different people all in the space of an hour.

But hearing a song piped into the store as background noise isn’t quite the same thing as taking the time to think carefully about the words. I like to turn off the music for a few minutes and simply sit with the lyrics—especially of some of the classic carols, which contain some of the best theological poetry in the Christian tradition. I know the words to most of these quite well. But they come alive in a fresh way when I slow down and contemplate each verse, and especially when I turn the verses back to the Lord in prayer. It’s a spiritually refreshing exercise for me, and I’ll probably insert quotes from various songs along the way in newsletters, messages, and prayers between now and Christmas.  I hope you don’t mind. I find it meaningful.

Sometimes I run into new songs that enrich me as well. This morning, I was in a different hymnal than the one I usually use, and these words caught my eye.

See, amid the winter’s snow, born for us on earth below,
See, the tender Lamb appears, promised from eternal years!

Lo! Within a manger lies He who built the starry skies,
He who, throned in height sublime, sits amid the cherubim.

Sacred Infant, all divine, what a tender love was Thine
Thus to come from highest bliss, down to such a world as this!

Teach, o teach us, Holy Child, by thy face so meek and mild,
Teach us to resemble Thee, in Thy sweet humility.
(From See, Amid the Winter’s Snow)

I was especially struck by the description of Jesus’ “tender love,” a gracious and self-giving love that prompted Him to humble Himself, descending to our broken world to meet us and bring us hope and life. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the theme of “love” at Christmas this week. On Sunday we’ll be lighting the second candle on the Advent wreath, this time reflecting on the love of God demonstrated so vividly in Christ’s coming.

Christmas Love will also be the theme in Sunday’s message. Last week we thought a bit about “hope” and the way it is modeled for us in the old priest Zechariah. This week we’ll take a look at another character in the Christmas story: Joseph.  I think Joseph is a helpful example of self-giving love, and a pointer to the love of God who is the true and greatest Father in the story.

If you’re wanting to read ahead, to capture the story of Joseph you need to go back and forth between the Advent accounts in Matthew and Luke. In this case I think it’s helpful to follow the story chronologically. That means beginning in Matthew 1:16-25, where the angel visits Joseph to tell him it’s OK to go ahead and marry Mary.  Then you need to jump to Luke. Joseph is mentioned briefly in Luke 1:27 as Mary’s fiancé. Mostly we find him in chapter 2, taking Mary to Bethlehem (2:1-7), meeting the shepherds (2:16), and presenting Jesus in the temple (2:22-52—though Joseph’s name isn’t actually in this verse in the original). Then flip back to Matthew, where Joseph receives 2 more messages in dreams: to flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15), and to return to Israel and live in Nazareth (2:19-23).  There’s another reference to Jesus’ “parents” taking Him to the temple in Jerusalem when He turned 12 (see Luke 2:41-52), but that’s not part of the Christmas story so we won’t be looking into it this time around.

We all know about Joseph, but I find that we don’t think about him very much. He’s part of the wallpaper, mostly just there in the background, not unlike that Christmas music playing in the store. That’s OK. The main point of Christmas is the coming of Jesus, and He deserves to be in the spotlight. For this week, though, as we work our way gradually toward the climax on Christmas Eve, I think it will be good for us to reflect just a bit more on the man who had the job of raising Jesus as step-father. I look forward to studying him together.

In the meantime, may you find joy and enrichment in the music of Christmas, and may these days be rich and meaningful. See you soon!
—Pastor Ken