Memento Mori is a Latin phrase that means “remember that you will die.” It is, I think, the perfect way to end one year and start a new one. It might sound morbid, but, really, it’s magnificent. Let me tell you why.

Many people will have made many resolutions this past couple of weeks:

• how they will live this coming twelve months
• things they will start
• perhaps even things they will stop

Personally, I can think of no greater resolution for this next three hundred and sixty-six days than this: remember, daily, that you will die.

The earliest known use of the term in popular culture was in the late 1500s. William Shakespeare brought it to the attention of many in his play “Henry IV”:

“…I make as good use of it as many a man doth of a Death’s-head or a memento mori …”
(Act 3, Scene 3)

It was then, and still is now, used to remind people of the impermanence of human life (cf. Isaiah 40). Classical antiquity (c. 800 BC to c. AD 500) was filled with references to the inevitability of death but with different language. Often visually or physically depicted by a skull, it was somewhat ubiquitous for a long time in art and literature.

During the Roman triumphal return of a conquering general, it is rumoured that someone carried a skull to remind the victor that he, too, would die one day … so enjoy today because there will be an end. Second century Christian writer Tertullian, apparently, wrote that this was standard practice, but evidence for his claim is scant.

How, then, does this fit into a Christian worldview?

Isaiah 40.6-8 tells us this:

“All people are like grass, and all their promises are like the flowers in the field. The grass dries up, the flowers wither, when the wind sent by the Lord blows on them. Surely humanity is like grass. The grass dries up, the flowers wither, but the decree of our God is forever reliable.”

The simple and humbling truth here is that you and I, all people, are like grass. Our lives begin with beauty and new growth. It seems like we will never stop developing, expanding, and flourishing. We transform, as if by some means of supernatural metamorphosis, from frail and helpless infants into miniature people, eventually reaching physical maturity with the world laid out before us. But, as Isaiah reminds, the grass dries up and the flowers wither. Our once indestructible bodies start to fail us. We begin to stand just a little frailer than before. Where there was once firmness and strength, we now notice frailty and fragility. What is happening to us? We have turned the corner from grandeur and greatness towards our inescapable end: the grave.

James, too, prompts us to consider the fragility and fleetingness of our lives:

“You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.”
(James 4.14, cf. Psalm 102.11, Job 8.9, 1 Chronicles 29.15)

So, accepting our limitations, what does this do for us?

Accepting that we have an end can, somewhat counter-intuitively, inspire us to live in the here and now. Matthew McCullough writes that facing up to the truth of our inevitable death leads us to a deeper hope in life. As we are honest with ourselves about the truth that each and every one of us faces a physical death, we are inescapably drawn into grief. We think of what we will miss; the people, the places, and the points that define our lives. Grieving over death is natural and shows us that this was never meant to be the case for humanity, that death is a consequence of the fall (Genesis 2.9, 16). To be self-aware enough over the inevitability of your death is to welcome grief into your life. However, as a born-again believer in the risen Jesus, we grieve not as those who do not have hope (1 Thessalonians 4.13-14).

It is in death that we experience the richest life: both momentarily and eternally. In death, for the believer, there is hope and there is life.

It grieves me that the most poignant and personal truths are only shared when life is ebbing away.
How different our transient existence would be if we regularly and routinely told those we love that we do, in fact, love them.
How different would our families, churches, friendships, and relationships be if everyone around us knew how valued, appreciated, respected, and special to us they were.
It grieves me that these truths only surface when death is imminent or, heartbreakingly, once death has already claimed another life. In death, there are some of the richest experiences life can offer.

Eternally, too, we experience the richest life in death.
Death hurts, there is no denying. Anything that we experience that contradicts who God is and His design for us hurts. Isaiah tells us that for those who choose to trust the suffering servant, for those who love the sacrificial Saviour, death no longer has a sting (Isaiah 25.8, 26.19). Death as the eternal and permanent enemy is no more (1 Corinthians 15.51-58). The resurrection of Jesus guarantees, both logically and theologically, your own. Whilst no doubt difficult, death is now simply another step in our journey to glory.
In death, there is hope and there is life (John 10.10).

So, as we all move closer each day to a physical death, accepting this truth should inspire you to live to the fullest each and every day.

Those people you love will not be here forever: tell them how much they mean to you.

Take the chances and seize the opportunities that God puts in your path.
Do not wait for things to one day, perhaps, maybe get better. Take action to do something about it (Nehemiah 4.9).

Yes, there is death in our life, but it is not the end.
Accept it, grieve it, but never lose sight of the hope of eternal life. Never forget, too, that hope and life in death are only found in the person, and through the work, of Jesus, and your faith therein.

Bibliography

Beard, Mary. The Roman Triumph. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2009.

McCullough, Matthew. Remember Death: The Surprising Path to Living Hope. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018.

Last year, at the CGN International Conference, my friend and colleague Nick Cady and I had the privilege of collaborating to create something we believe to be extremely needed in this cultural moment: a workshop for pastors and leaders, aimed at understanding doubt and deconstruction and ministering to those who struggle.

Our workshop delved into understanding the issue from its core and exploring potential solutions. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and it inspired us to go a step further. We’re now transforming this content into practical resources for pastors, leaders, and anyone in ministry eager to help, as Jude says, “having mercy on those who doubt; saving others by snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 1:22-25).

As many of you might be aware, the deconstruction movement has become quite prevalent. It’s not just a phase for the young; it affects people across all ages within the church, leading to doubts and often a departure from faith. This isn’t always simply about rebellion or a desire to ‘sin’ – the situation is far more complex than that.

Take Nick’s experience, for instance. He went through his own period of doubt and deconstruction while serving as a young pastor… an experience that shook him to his core and propelled him deeper into his faith as he studied to find answers.

I, too, have faced my share of doubts, and seen young people in my ministry, and peers from my Christian community, go through similar struggles. There are myriad reasons behind these journeys, and understanding them is crucial.

Video Series

Here are parts 1-3 of the series, covering the problem and roots of Christian Deconstruction. We hope to have another set of videos out early 2024, discussing solutions. Stay tuned for that. And if these videos bless you, please share them with your ministry teams, or anyone struggling through this issue.

If this content is helpful to you, or if you have feedback, we’d love to know. You can email AaronSalvato@Calvarychapel.com

In our series, we dive into the roots of the modern deconstruction movement. We examine influences like postmodern philosophy and how they shape our cultural moment. We also distinguish between personal struggles with doubt and the broader ‘#deconstruction’ movement that’s gaining momentum on social media.

Our exploration includes various causes of deconstruction, ranging from rejection of the religion one was raised in, to personal traumas such as abuse, hypocrisy, and corrupted theology. The goal of these resources is to equip pastors and leaders with knowledge, compassion, and Christ-centered approaches to support those grappling with these challenges.

This epidemic is one that requires insight and sensitivity. We want to help foster within CGN an approach that is informed, compassionate, and deeply rooted in Christ’s truth and love.

Further Resources:

• CGN Doubt & Deconstruction Resources for Pastors and Leaders
  • This is a massive list we put together filled with books, podcasts, videos, and more on this issue.
• My conversation with Evan Wickham on Hope for Doubters & Deconstructors
  • Evan has spent years working with people struggling through these issues. As a pastor who was stationed in Portland, Oregon, he has a ton of great insight.
• The Full Audio Workshop Nick Cady & I did at the 2023 CGN Conference.
  • If you want to hear the full workshop audio, here’s a recording. The video series goes through the content much more slowly and in depth, but the audio workshop had some good Q&A at the end as well.
• My follow-up conversation with a local pastor asking some clarifying questions.
  • My friend Johnny Zacchio, Jr. had some great follow-up questions around this topic, so I answered them in this podcast.

To read Scripture daily is a good thing (2 Timothy 3.16, Romans 15.4, Mark 13.31, 1 Peter 2.2, Psalm 119.130).

There isn’t, as far as I can see, a daily amount that we must read. Other faith traditions may impose an “expectation” on their adherents, but, for those born again by faith in Jesus, a daily commitment to read the Word and to hear from God through His Word, is something we want to do.

So, how much is enough? Should I read a certain amount every day? Let’s see.

Quality

Charles Spurgeon said the following:

“Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart!”

(1882, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit: Sermons)

Reading multiple chapters a day isn’t a bad thing, neither is reading a few verses. The fact that we’re daily in the Word is the most important thing. There’s no minimum daily, weekly, or yearly quota that we must read … and there’s no maximum allowed either! If you have a Bible app on your phone, you can usually set it to deliver a “verse of the day” to your home screen. Often memorable, stand-alone truths, this kind of Scripture intake can really help with “soaking in Scripture,” as Spurgeon says. We have a truth there, at our fingertips, to see over and over again each time we pick up our phones (which, research has shown, is on average every ten minutes).¹ When we read for quality, we should think on that truth throughout the day. We should repeat it to ourselves throughout the day. Quality reading is about a truth truly taken in, not just quickly taken in.

If you’re in a season of soaking, my counsel would be to not allow this to be a permanent state. Don’t allow yourself to perpetually exist on the crumbs of such a glorious meal. If you’re soaking in the quality of just a few words each day now, plan ahead to take a deep dive into something new soon. Plan to devour books, sections, or even Testaments like never before. Enjoy the quality, and look ahead to the quantity.

Quantity

As we read above, some people like to read so many … chapters every day. I’ve had seasons where I’ve found myself drawn to reading through certain books of the Bible; maybe I’m teaching a passage soon and want the big picture, maybe things are happening at home that I think a specific book would speak into. Either way, sometimes we are drawn to more, and then reading a higher quantity of Scripture daily is what we need. Different books and different sections of our Bibles are hard to really understand in small pieces (the history books, for example) and so we do need to consider them as they come: as a whole.

If you’re in a season of ploughing through the Word, my counsel would be to make sure that your reading is deep enough for it to produce fruit. The witness of “Yeah, I read five whole chapters a day…every day!” mixed with a decidedly un-Christian lifestyle is not a good look. It’s also inconsistent with the commitment you have made to taking in the Word. If you’re working hard at taking it in, make sure you’re letting the Word work in you (James 1.22-25).

So, Quality or Quantity?

There’s no hard and fast answer to this; it’s a personal, situational, and seasonal response. The bottom line is that, as believers, we should be daily in the Word. If that’s a passage or a paragraph, a whole book or a bite-sized chunk, being in the Word is one of our everyday essentials.

I believe that God wants us to be continually sanctified, to be daily made more like Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5.23, Galatians 2.20, 1 Corinthians 6.11, Romans 6.6, Hebrews 13.12, and many more). In John 17, Jesus is recorded as praying for His disciples to be set apart in the truth. He then says that God’s Word is truth.

To be sanctified, to be set apart in the truth,
we have to be in the Word.

I’d love to hear from you about your Bible reading: Are you in a season of quality or quantity?

Let me know!

References:

¹ https://www.zippia.com/advice/smartphone-usage-statistics/#:~:text=How%20many%20times%20does%20someone,That%27s%20a%20lot.

I came to faith at the College and Career study at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. The pastor was sharing an overview of the Book of Hebrews and highlighting how Jesus is greater than every aspect of ritual Judaism. I was raised in an observant Jewish home, and this theme struck a chord as God’s Spirit plucked my heartstrings. That was the night I recognized Jesus as my people’s Messiah and received Him as my Lord and Savior.

I recognize that each person’s subjective experience when they are saved is varied. Yet, I also vividly recall how I felt. The feeling is remarkably simple to define, but perhaps so nuanced that I could never describe the fullness of the experience—like being in love. So, bear with me as I try. For the first time in my life, I felt whole, complete, content, at peace, and what my people describe as shalom.

I had gone through life trying to experience that feeling through various failed efforts. The usual suspects were all part of the pursuit. Achievement, accolades, success, drugs, alcohol, money, sex, and pleasure. Nevertheless, it was like trying to fill a bathtub while the drain is unplugged. No matter how much you pour in the tub, it is never full.

The underlying theme of Hebrews is encouragement to Jewish Christians not to drift from Christ and their faith despite hardship, scorn, and ridicule. The author is systematically showing Christ’s superiority to any claimed substitute. The relevance to a first century audience is equally applicable to a twenty-first century person contemplating deconstructing their faith.

What I hope to reveal is your greatest need, a need that you are likely unaware of. I say this with a relatively high degree of confidence. For example, at the church where I serve, we gather hundreds of prayer requests weekly. Through the decades, I have reviewed more than a quarter million prayer requests, and I have never seen the one I am going to disclose.

Your greatest need is rest for your soul!

The night that I received Jesus, I experienced for the first time rest for my soul. The result of being reconciled to God, and receiving spiritual life, produced an awareness of wholeness, indescribable peace, and contentment.

The essence of a person is their soul. In effect, you are a soul with a body, rather than a body with a soul. We may be keenly aware when our bodies are exhausted, our emotions are frayed, or our minds are spinning and we cannot continue with the weight. Nevertheless, most of us do not tend to contemplate that the primary issue may be a restless soul. We are a restless people—with restless souls.

I seek to describe some of the obstacles to this rest, and Jesus’ remedy to receive His rest later, but for the purpose of this article, I want to focus on the idea that Jesus offers a greater rest.

Beginning in Hebrews 3, the author observes that the Jews did not enter God’s rest (11, 18, 19). The term rest has several references associated with it such as God resting on the seventh day of the Creation account, Sabbath rest from labor, and the Promised Land (Deut. 12:9). Hebrews 3:7-4:13 contain eleven references to the term rest. The author’s argument is that God has a better rest available for His people in Christ through the New Covenant Gospel of grace.

Let us contemplate four reasons why it is a greater promise of rest:

1. The blessings depend on the Person of Christ (Eph. 1:3).

The blessings transcend material place, prosperity, and moral performance. The message of the Gospel reminds us that our access to God and His blessings, including rest for our souls, is based on Christ’s work.

2. The promise of life with God (spiritual life) is better (1Jn. 2:25).

The material blessings associated with the Promised Land are significant and should be appreciated as a tremendous gift from God. Nevertheless, the promise of spiritual life is greater. The Apostle John writes, “And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life” (1Jn. 2:25, emphasis mine). John is describing spiritual life with God. More than duration, it is a reference to nature and quality, and John is placing this promise at the apex. God was with the Jews in the Promised Land, but He is in believers providing life (and rest for souls).

3. Jesus gives His kingdom.

Jesus reverses the land-exile cycle. First, man is given the Garden and Creation, but rebellion leads to exile. Then the land promised to the Patriarchs is given to the Jews, but rebellion leads to exile. Jesus reverses the cycle and fulfills God’s redemptive purpose through the cross where He became an exile, and offers His kingdom which is greater than the land of promise. Citizens of His kingdom shall not be exiled and thus rest in the presence of the king and kingdom.

4. Jesus provides unique rest for souls (Matt. 11:28-30).

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30, emphasis mine).

This is Jesus’ only autobiographical declaration. Thus, if you scour all the “red letters,” this is the only autobiographical statement. Accordingly, it is likely significant. It is an invitation to come to Jesus addressed to all of humanity—we are the burdened, weighed-down, weary. He is not offering just a rest, but a greater rest. A rest that we are generally unaware, rest for the soul.

We may be hesitant, reluctant, or even intimidated at the prospect of what it might cost to experience this rest. So, He assures us of His gentle nature and that He is lowly of heart—He puts our interests before His own. Our greatest need is for our souls, the essence of who we are, to be at rest with God and in Christ.

The key to experiencing this rest is trust in Jesus.

As a concept, rest for your soul is directly proportional to trust in Christ. As noted, for the purpose of this article, I want to focus on why it is a greater promise and will seek to explain in subsequent articles some of the dynamics of obstacles and the remedy to receive.

“And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
— Isaiah 9:6b

Every Christmas, it seems like Santa Claus gets more and more attention. He’s the star of movies and television specials, his picture appears on cards and wrapping paper, and he can be found at every mall. Life-size plastic Santas light up our front yards, and the worldwide progress of Santa’s sleigh and reindeer are even tracked on Christmas Eve newscasts!

Why is Santa Claus such a big deal? Perhaps it’s because we want someone supernatural to believe in, someone who’s too good to be true, someone who’ll show us the way to live and how to love one another.

For most people, it doesn’t matter that Santa is a fantasy—at least he’s an ideal we can look up to for a few weeks every year. But actually, the fantasy Santa Claus is based on a real person.

A Kind Man Named Nicholas

There was a man named Nicholas who lived in present-day Turkey in the fourth Century A.D. He was called Saint Nicholas because he lived a devout Christian life from an early age. It’s believed that the name Santa Claus came from the Dutch translation of his real name, Sinter Klaas. Saint Nicholas was a generous man and was especially noted for a specific act of kindness: giving bags of money to a poor man who had three daughters. This money was used for the daughters’ dowries so they could be married.

Saint Nicholas became the bishop of Myra in Turkey and was persecuted and imprisoned by the Roman Emperor Diocletian for his devotion to Christ. When the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, Saint Nicholas was released from prison and continued to live as a zealous Christian minister throughout the rest of his life.

Who Did Nicholas Believe In?

Saint Nicholas was a man filled with the spirit of joy and giving because he believed not in a myth, but in the divine Savior. Though the fat, happy Santa Claus who wears a red suit and lives at the North Pole is a fantasy, there’s a real supernatural person you can believe in and depend on every day of the year.

That person is Jesus Christ.

For much of the culture at large, the true meaning of Christmas is almost totally lost. Most people think of Christmas sentimentally. A recent survey indicated that here in America, and I’m sure this would extend to the rest of the Western world as well, “a fewer number of people are celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday.” Of those surveyed here in the U.S., only 57 percent (down from 64 percent just 3 years ago) say they believe what the Gospels teach about the birth of Jesus. For most people, Christmas is about getting new things and spending time with family and friends. It’s not a bad thing to exchange gifts and spend time with family and friends, but if you leave Jesus out, calling the day Christ-mas makes little to no sense.

Yet even among believers, the true meaning of Christmas can often be obscured. We sentimentalize the manger surrounded by farm animals with baby Jesus in the center, asleep on the hay. But from the Biblical standpoint, Christmas is actually the fulfillment of the first phase of God’s Great Rescue Mission. If we fail to understand and celebrate Christmas in a way that overlooks or obscures that, then we have, to some degree, sentimentalized Christmas.

Seeing Christmas as God’s rescue mission, what do we see?

The Mission was Absolutely Necessary

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining” are words we have all heard and probably even sung for years. They are words that describe the human condition day after day, month after month, year after year, century after century—a pitiful situation we haven’t been able to free ourselves from even after thousands of years of attempting to do so. We had exhausted every hope of self-deliverance. We were Dead in Trespasses and Sins, Spiritually Blind, Living in Darkness, and Held Captive by Satan to do his will. To free us all from Satan’s power, one more powerful than he must intervene. As author Paul Tripp said, “Sin is so disastrous and inescapable that the only solution was for God to come and rescue us.”

Not only are we bound in sin and captives of the devil, we are also blind to our true condition. Blind to our need to be rescued. In an early episode of “The Crown” (Netflix), they portray Billy Graham’s visit to Queen Elizabeth during his 1954 London crusade.

The aristocracy, apart from the Queen, loathed the idea that this unsophisticated country boy from North Carolina would suggest that they were sinners in need of a savior. At one point, someone near the Queen spoke up, saying, “Holding a crusade gives the impression that we are no better than the pagans.” Yep, that’s how most people feel: dead in sin, captives of Satan and completely unaware of it all.

The Mission was Planned

All the way back to before the beginning of time, God, knowing that the ones he created and loved would be taken captive by the enemy, planned their rescue.

Matthew, in his Gospel, quotes two of Israel’s prophets to show that the events that unfolded in the manger in Bethlehem were happening according to God’s plan:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

“But as for you Bethlehem … too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2

His coming was ordained from the days of eternity—before time.

The Mission was Costly

Mary: I wonder if we ever stop to think about the price those involved in the rescue mission paid. Think of Mary. Of course, there was the honor of being chosen to be the mother of the Messiah, but not everyone believed the story of her being pregnant by supernatural means. This would cast a shadow of suspicion over her and tarnish her reputation for the rest of her life. Jewish writers would later accuse her of having an adulterous relationship with a Roman soldier. And that is only part of the cost. Think of what it was like for Mary to see her own son viciously turned on by the mob and brutally murdered by the state. As Simeon prophesied to Mary, “A sword will pierce your own soul.”

Joseph: Think about Joseph for a moment. The emotional difficulty he suffered initially upon hearing that his betrothed was with child. Surely, this would have rocked his world. It took nothing less than an angelic visitation and revelation about Mary’s condition and the child Mary would bear to bring him back to a state of peace of mind. All of this obviously took Joseph out of his comfort zone, to say the least.

God the Father: What about the cost to the Father who gave his one and only Son? The Father who sent his beloved into the world where he would be despised and rejected, mocked, ridiculed, spit upon, brutally beaten and murdered. And these are only the things we can see that Jesus suffered. God only knows all that was involved when Jesus was being made an offering for sin, as Isaiah prophesied.

God the Son: The emotional, physical, and spiritual sufferings of the Son are the price he paid to redeem us and bring us back to God. But even beyond that, what does it mean that God the Son would now and forever have His deity joined with humanity? Is there an unimaginable cost involved in that for Jesus? It seems so. We don’t know all that the Incarnation entailed, but it’s something to ponder. For all of those immediately involved in the mission to rescue the captives, there was a cost.

The Mission was Dangerous, even Deadly

The Incarnation was the first step toward the Crucifixion. And in between were many perils: Herod’s attempt to destroy Jesus as a child, the people of Nazareth attempting to throw him off a cliff, the constant plots and schemes of the religious leaders to destroy him. The mission was fraught with danger.

To save His people from their sins would require that He give His life in exchange for theirs. This is the reality of a rescue mission.

On July 4^th, 1976, the IDF pulled off one of the greatest rescue missions of modern times when a commando unit liberated 102 Israeli and Jewish victims of the terrorist hijacking of Air France flight 139, which was given safe haven at the Entebbe International Airport by Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator. This rescue mission was known as Operation Entebbe, but later became known as Operation Jonathan in memory of the unit’s leader, who was the only soldier killed during the mission—Lt. Col. Jonathan Netanyahu. He was the older brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The rescue mission that God sent His Son on would be dangerous; it would actually be deadly. In His effort to rescue us, Jesus would give up His own life. The manger was the first stop on the way to the cross.

The Mission was Personal

He shall save His people from their sins. This is a family matter. Christmas is the story of the Father sending the Son, the Older Brother, to rescue the children who have been abducted and are being held captive by their tormentors. Hebrews so profoundly expresses this, “Since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death—that is, the devil, and set free those who were held captive all their lives by their fear of death.”

Mission Accomplished

So we see, Christmas is not mainly about gifts or decorations or food or family or friends or time off work, etc. Those are all good things, but they’re not the main thing, which is so much greater and more profound than all of those things could ever be in and of themselves. Christmas is about a loving Father who sent His Son on a mission, a mission to free us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray, a mission to provide forgiveness for our sins and to bring us into a beautiful personal eternal relationship with the One who loves us with an everlasting love, the One who has a wonderful plan and purpose for our lives that stretches beyond time into eternity.

Christmas is nothing less than God’s ultimate rescue mission!

As a child at Christmas, our family crèche was placed in the living room next to a tall, lighted noble fir tree, dripping with ornaments from all over the world. My parents celebrated this day with all the trimmings—lots of presents, a huge feast, and a beautifully decorated home with all the winter charm. We were not a churchgoing family, yet I sometimes attended a Lutheran Sunday School with my siblings. I remember my twin brother and I waking up early in the morning and being exceptionally quiet, trying not to wake my parents so they would keep sleeping and we could miss church, once again. As we grew older, they lost interest in taking us.

A Family Tradition

My understanding of Christmas was partly formed alongside our captivating Nativity crèche with its silent figures, drawing my playful attention. For weeks, I would stare at the ceramic figure of Mary on both knees in adoration of her baby, Jesus, holding both hands to her heart. Next to her was Joseph, kneeling on one knee, keeping guard at the manger. One lone shepherd, dressed in rags, stood at a distance, holding a lamb on his shoulders while surrounded by his devoted sheep. Most fascinating to me were the three wisemen, dressed in glorious attire with turbans on their heads and holding gifts for the helpless Baby. One wiseman knelt reverently, while the other two waited their turn to present their offerings.

I spent hours moving the animals around in this enchanting scene, which also included a cow, donkey, and sheep. Which one should I place next to the special Babe that everyone sang about? A birthday celebration surrounded by animals and shepherds in wonderment captured my imagination. It seemed unheard of—yet also so believable.

The Surprising Theological Depth of Carols and Christmas Films

Besides the crèche, my childlike conception of the incarnation was also formed by the Christmas albums stacked high,playing for hours on our hi-fi stereo near the tree. The music filled the air, as did the smell of spritz cookies baking in the oven. Throughout December, the great crooners from the 1930s to the 1960s serenaded me day and night.

The peace I felt hearing Bing Crosby sing “Silent Night” taught me that the birth of Jesus came silently and humbly, filling my heart with wonder. Bing’s soothing voice singing of heavenly peace still brings nostalgia to this day.

Nat King Cole’s version of “Silent Night” added another memorable verse: “Son of God, loves pure light, radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace.” I didn’t know what “redeeming grace” meant at the time, yet the words sounded so calming.

In our idyllic, Christmas-decorated home, the Bible was never opened or read. The longest reading of Scripture I heard as a child was from the movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas, when Linus recited Luke 2:8-14, explaining “what Christmas is all about.”

Understanding Deepened

“The First Noël,” sung joyfully by Crosby, spoke of shepherds “keeping their sheep on a cold winter’s night that was so deep.” Then they looked up and saw “a bright star shining there in the East beyond them far!” Like a golden thread in a tapestry, the bright star was woven into many Christmas carols. Kings followed it, Mary and Joseph saw it, and songs were written to honor such a celestial miracle. At the top of our family crèche, we added a gold foil star, and my chubby fingers wedged it into the roof of the stable, just above Baby Jesus. The mystery of that star continues to fascinates me today.

Frank Sinatra’s triumphant “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” taught me about the heavenly angels who sang in celebration at Jesus’ birth, “Glory to the newborn king!” This Baby was worshiped as King by other kings from the Orient, praised by angels, and treasured by His adoring parents. The line, “God and sinners, reconciled,” was far above my understanding, but it sounded hopeful!

“O Little Town of Bethlehem,” sung by Elvis, introduced me to a little hamlet far away in Israel, across the world from me in the state of Washington. Israel had only been a nation for twelve years when I was born. Since I had never read the Bible, I had no idea of this ancient country’s history. But I learned that “the hopes and fears of all the years” were met in Bethlehem on that wonderful night. I did not understand why, but listening to Crosby and Sinatra sing “O Come all ye Faithful,” I sensed a calling to adore this Babe born in Bethlehem, this King of angels. I was curious, but clueless.

Of all the Christmas carols I heard as a child, my favorite was “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” sung by Nat King Cole. I did not know what “tidings” were, but “comfort and joy” appealed to my young mind. Trying to comprehend “Satan and his power,” however, along with “we were gone astray” took another decade to decipher. It was then that my parents told me they did not believe in “the adversary.”

From Barbra Streisand’s 1967 Christmas album, I heard the haunting lyric, “I wonder as I wander out under the sky, how Jesus the Savior, did come for to die.” This early American Christmas hymn, planted new thoughts into my mind. Andy Williams echoed similar sentiments on his Christmas Album, (he had the best one, by the way). He laments in his song of apology, “Sweet little holy Child,” that “We didn’t know who You were. Didn’t know You’d come to save us Lord, to take our sins away; our eyes were blind, we could not see, we didn’t know who You were.” These lyrics made me curious. Did I know who He was? The words helped me understand that Jesus was born for a higher purpose, for something grander that I could ever imagine.

Result: A Softened Heart

Growing up, even in a non-believing home, both the crèche and the carols softened my heart with a tenderness for Jesus. There He lay, perfect and harmless, a little child like me. I felt struck by the reality of the Christmas story, the simple, humble beauty of it all. When my sixteenth birthday rolled around a decade later, I transposed my life into the line from “O Holy Night” that says, “Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, ‘til He appeared, and my soul felt its worth.”

At sixteen, I came face to face with my own sin, weakness, and brokenness. My mind recalled the sweet memories of Jesus born as a gift for me, my Savior to receive and my King to worship. I had no gold or sweet spices to offer, but I did not hesitate to present my heart to Him. Deep down, I knew He would treasure my gift. And in exchange, He gave me a thrill of hope for my weary soul.

“Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, and take us to Heaven to live with Thee there.”

The Nativity Is Not Naïveté

Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays. It’s more than the songs, the city lights, or the food. Even in my young adult life, when I was at odds with anything Christian, the Manger Story always drew me in. To my eyes, it looked so peaceful, hopeful, like home. It wasn’t until many years after coming to faith that I realized the warm feeling was my soul longing for Jesus.

As told in Matthew’s Gospel, the Christmas story is a salvation story. We’re narrated into the mind of a man trying to do the best he knows how to do. His betrothed is pregnant, and he’s not the father. This is enough to cause much anguish. To his credit, he doesn’t want to shame her, but the text doesn’t say that he bought into the pregnant by the Holy Spirit explanation when he first heard it either. It took an angel to stop him.

Thanks to the divine intervention, Joseph could hear things from another perspective. This perfectly timed conversation with the right person allowed him to. This wouldn’t be the great scandal that he feared, although obviously, people would talk. Mary was innocent. Her child was conceived of the Holy Spirit. It was true. All of this followed the plan in Isaiah 7:14. The Messiah was to be born, God would walk among His people, and Joseph was given a most privileged place in the salvation story.

The name of Jesus, given to Joseph when he was in doubt, is a name that’s so special to all who know Him. His name, if its meaning is understood, “YHWH is salvation,” is a statement that gives us strength. He is salvation; He will accomplish all He has promised. He will save us. He has saved us from our sin, our shame. Then, understanding what His name means can become a prayer. Lord save. It’s not some strange magic; there’s power in His name. Jesus is the Savior. Personally, as a rebellious twenty-something, I remember finding myself in a life-or-death situation, frightened to my core, beyond trembling. I had only one thought at that moment: the cry of my soul. Jesus, save me. And He did. It is powerful to call out to the Lord.

Decisions, Choices, and Actions

It touches my heart that Joseph received the Lord’s name at such a confusing moment. Life is often unknown, and decisions must be made. How often do the apparent choices we planned for take a sudden, unexpected turn that menace imminent disaster? The threat of public scorn paralyzes in any culture, but in a more shame-based one like first-century Galilee, this would be a terrible blow to the man and his family. The angel says beautifully, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife” (Matthew 1:20). Don’t be afraid, or as the TDNT says, the word translated fear is “ the primary verb phébomai, “to flee.”^[1] As emotion transforms into action, being startled and running away suggests “fear.”Joseph’s fears were real, and his proposed action of putting her away discreetly, though a noble, protective act in his time, was also an escape route.

The escape routes we take, while panicked or shamed, can lead us far from stability. At times, they make the most sense, but the long-term perspective reveals their folly. After all, who wants to bear the actual or imagined scorn we might face when our failings go public? The flight or fight instinct has served many during life-threatening danger. But what if the Lord steps into our story as He did for Joseph? What if He invites us to weather the storm because His plan, despite everything we know, will lead to His glory? This requires faith that cannot be blind; otherwise, it’s naïve at best or, at worst, presumption. Joseph was guilty of neither.

Joseph trusted the One who had been watching over his family for a thousand generations, the One who had promised a Savior. His name was to be called Jesus, “YHWH is salvation.” Sure, it was a common name, and sure, the child would blend in, but that was also the plan. Jesus was the name given, even graciously following the rabbinic tradition that the Messiah’s name would be known from all eternity.^[2] Joseph did as the angel said; he took Mary as his wife and named her firstborn Jesus.

The Name of Above Every Name

This name is the center of the salvation story. In Philippians 2:9, we read it’s the name above every name. And in Acts 4:12, it’s the name by which we must be saved. For us in the West, this Christmas season is quite uncertain; there seem to be more worries on a global scale than we knew even last year. Will we shrink back in fear of the unknown, seek an escape, or call on His name? Jesus remains the same.

Better than fleeing in times of trouble is being saved. Jesus truly saves. As Joseph resisted the temptation to put away his fiancée quietly, let’s not quietly put away our hope either. Jesus is the Savior, and we’ve yet to see how He will transform the bad into good this time. In the meantime, we have a statement and prayer every time we say His name. So come and let us adore Him.

References:

^[1] Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT), “Little Kittel” edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Copyright © 1985 by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
^[2] Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1–13, vol. 33A of Word Biblical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000, 19.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Paul was in the middle of encouraging the Corinthian church to be generous when he drew their attention to the generosity of Christ. It’s an amazing statement, full of beautiful Christmastime truth. Today, let’s consider three things: the wealth Jesus abandoned, the poverty Jesus embraced, and the reason he made that choice.

The Wealth He Abandoned

First, let’s consider the wealth Christ abandoned. Paul said, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich…” (2 Cor. 8:9). Though he was rich. What riches did Christ possess? How was he rich?

In a word, Christ had glory. Before he went to the cross, he prayed to God, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5). Even the wealthiest people in the world should not be permitted to call their situation glory. Glory is a position reserved for God alone—the glory of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Glory is divine. Before Jesus came, as Paul said, “He was in the form of God” (Phil. 2:6). Glory.

In his glory, Christ had incredible and incomprehensible wealth. He had wealth of position—no one was more supreme than him. The Bible calls him “the firstborn over all creation,” meaning there is nothing in any galaxy that is his equal (Col. 1:15). He had wealth of possession—no one owned more than Jesus. The Bible says “all things were created through him and for him,” meaning every single thing belongs to him (Col. 1:16). He also had wealth of power—no one is as powerful as Jesus. The Bible says everything was made “through him “ and that “in him all things hold together,” meaning we would not even exist without the creative and sustaining power of Christ (Col. 1:16-17). And he had wealth of peace—none of us could comprehend the total love, joy, gladness, and peace found within the Triune God.

Position. Possessions. Power. And peace. All of them belonged to Jesus to an infinite and unmeasurable degree. You could combine all the wealth of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates, and it would pale in comparison to the wealth that belonged to Jesus. All the possessions and power and peace found among us are not even a fraction of what Jesus had because he had all of it in infinite quantity. This is what Paul meant when he said Jesus was rich.

The Poverty He Embraced

Second, let’s consider the poverty Christ embraced. Paul said, “yet for your sake he became poor” (2 Cor. 8:9). The word Paul chose could signify abject poverty; Christ embraced a beggarly existence on that first Christmas.

When we consider the poverty of Christ, it is easy to fixate on the impoverished nature of his birth, life, and death. He was not born like the wealthy of his age. And he certainly wasn’t born into the luxury of ours. Instead, he was born among stabled animals in an overcrowded Bethlehem. His first cradle was a borrowed feeding trough. He was wrapped, not in premium linen or a custom Esty sleep sack, but strips of cloth.

And then Jesus’ early years were spent as a refugee in Egypt. Warned by an angelic dream, Joseph likely used the gold, frankincense, and myrrh from the worshipping kings to evade the murderous desires of Herod. Fleeing by night, they remained on the run until Herod’s death.

And then Jesus’ private adult life was one of poverty. He lived in a rocky hillside town called Nazareth. Population? Maybe two hundred, and certainly less than five hundred. It seems he learned Joseph’s trade and became the town carpenter—hardly a wealthy existence.

And when Jesus’ public ministry life began, it leaned heavily on the generosity of others. He said, “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but I have nowhere to lay my head” (Mat. 8:20). Poor.

But none of these elements of poverty are Paul’s point. He’s not focused on how poor Jesus was as a human. What he’s focused on is that Jesus became a man. So while we might think he had hardly anything and lived in such poverty, heaven’s vantage point is different. The great sacrifice wasn’t in becoming the poorest of men but in becoming a man in the first place! As Paul said, “He emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men”(Phil 2:7).

The very being who was there at the beginning of all things with Father God, God himself, the One who made all things and in whom life is found, the light of the world, he became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1-4, 14). All the way to the point of death. The ultimate poverty.

And all of this was by choice. Paul said, “He became poor.” This indicates choice. He decided to take up humanity. And when he did, he became poor.

Becoming poor—going from wealth to poverty—is harder than knowing only poverty because your past wealth is a constant memory nagging at your current situation. But the most difficult of all is living in poverty while still being abundantly wealthy, choosing not to access the vastness of your riches so you can embrace the pain. No one does that. But Jesus did.

The Reason For His Choice

Lastly, let’s consider the reason for his choice. Why did he decide to do what he did? Paul said, “So that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

Why did Christ do what he did? Why did he abandon his wealth and embrace our poverty? It was all for us so that through his poverty, we might become wealthy.

Paul is alluding to the reason Christ came—his substitutionary death for us. Baby Jesus’ life was on a straight line to the cross. And that death, followed by his resurrection, would unlock a world of blessings for all who trust in him. By believing in Jesus, we become rich.

What wealth becomes ours in Christ? It’s the same wealth he abandoned when he came to us in the first place. Remember that wealth? Position. Possessions. Power. Peace. What do I mean?

We gain the wealth of position—God becomes our Father. He becomes our loving provider and guide and protector and friend. We are placed into Christ, and we become coheirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). The Father sees us as he sees his only begotten Son.

We gain the wealth of possessions—in Christ, we have access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). And since this world belongs to him, we will one day inherit it when he returns. And, even now, since all things are through him and for him, he has given us all things to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17).

We gain the wealth of power—in the sense that every principality and power was defeated at the cross of Christ, so now we have the resources we need to enter into victory over habits and tendencies that drag us down (Col. 3:13-15). He holds us together and gives us strength. We can overcome.

And we gain the wealth of peace—because of Jesus, we have the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). These elements—the peace of Christ—can rule our hearts today (Col. 3:15).

All these elements—and many more—became ours when Christ came into our lives. And 2 Corinthians 8:9 tells us that Jesus abandoned his wealth and embraced our poverty all so we could become rich. He placed us first. He loved us (John 3:16).

Conclusion

Last year, actor William Shatner of Star Trek fame briefly went into space in Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin space shuttle, becoming the oldest living person to ever travel to space. In his book, he recounted the experience, stating that he was overcome with incredible sadness when confronted with the vastness and darkness of space and the warmth and smallness of earth.¹ They call it the “overview effect,” and apparently, it has happened to many astronauts over the years. On earth, we are confined within our borders and can easily dismiss the hardships in other nations or continents, but from space’s vantage point, war, hunger, and poverty become overwhelming.

And if that overview effect can be felt by finite beings, what must it be like for God? He can peer into every human heart. He has witnessed every act of evil. He has seen every abuse and heard every cry.

So what did he do? He denied himself the privileges of divinity, embraced the poverty of humanity, and, through his cross, made the way for us to become rich with him. On the cross, his human body consumed every act of evil, every abuse, and every cry. He became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). And as wrath was unleashed on him, he performed the greatest of rescue missions, becoming the poorest so that we might become the richest.

References:

For the past couple of years, Christmas trees seem to be appearing earlier and earlier. Not in the shops that want you to buy their stuff, but in the homes of regular people like you and me. It seems that people are watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, and eating Christmas foods way earlier than ever before.

Why is that?

Is it a Bahrain-specific thing: I’m traveling soon but want to enjoy some Christmas cheer here before I leave? Perhaps … but there might be a bigger-picture reason.

When we decorate for Christmas, when we put up the tree and switch on the lights, what are we really doing? For some, it begins and ends there:

Decorating the home looks nice.

Twinkling lights look nice.

Mince pies taste nice.

Michael Bublé sounds nice.

For some, it’s very surface-level. It’s just … nice.

But, on a deeper level, when we put up the tree and switch on the lights, what are we really doing?

What we’re doing is turning our eyes and hearts and minds towards hope.

When we put up the tree and switch on the lights, we’re putting a (very) visual reminder in our homes and lives that something better is coming.

We’re telling ourselves that the lives we live in the here and now are not all that there is and all that there will ever be. We’re turning eyes and hearts and minds to hope:

The hope of a coming child, a son, through whom we can live a peace-filled life (Isaiah 9.6).

The hope of restoration to right relationship with God and the close and intimate fellowship this brings (Revelation 21.3).

The hope that there’s something, someone, bigger, greater, and above it all who loves you, cares for you, and stepped down into fallen creation to rescue you from it all (Philippians 2.5-11).

The last few years were strange, weren’t they?

They put us in situations of separation, of uncertainty, of anguish, and of heartache. At times like this, we need hope.

If we look to the world around us for hope, for encouragement, and for the reassurance that tomorrow will be better, then each and every year we may just end up putting the tree up a little bit earlier. Just think—if you’re having a bad year, maybe your tree will go up in the summer …

But, if we look only to Jesus for hope, for encouragement, and for the reassurance that tomorrow will be better, then we’ll be free to throw that tree up and switch on those lights whenever we want to because our hope is firmly rooted in the truth of the Word of God and the Word become flesh, Jesus.

So, when should we put up the tree and switch on the lights? I guess it depends on why you’re doing so. Thinking deeper and leaning harder on the truth of Jesus for your hope, encouragement, and reassurance this festive season, put that tree up whenever you like.

It’s amazing how different our modern Christmas is from what Mary and Joseph experienced. We have holiday sales, ugly sweater contests, family gatherings, Christmas lists, apple cider, gift wrapping, and all sorts of traditions we like to celebrate. And to be sure, I don’t believe there’s anything inherently wrong with these things. In fact, I look forward to many of them every year. But they do tempt us to miss the reality of the incarnation.

The First Christmas

That first Christmas was much different for Mary and Joseph than our version of Christmas. Most of us learn the traditional Christmas story about how Jesus was born in a manger, and we sing songs about it and view it in this romanticized light. But at the heart of this story is the reality that Mary and Joseph were poor, and as a result, Jesus was born into this world essentially homeless. When the God of the universe decided to clothe Himself in humanity and come into our world, He did so as poor, dirty, and homeless.

Luke tells us in his Gospel that when Joseph and Mary went to dedicate the baby Jesus in Jerusalem, they couldn’t afford what was considered the normal offering. Furthermore, in the vast wisdom and sovereignty of the Almighty, when He announces the birth of the Savior, He does so to shepherds. To give you some idea of how shepherds were viewed in Joseph and Mary’s society in those days, shepherd’s testimonies weren’t even accepted in a court of law. They were considered ceremonially unclean, cut off from the religious life of the people. They were marginalized and outcasts, essentially a voiceless and despised group.

The God of the universe chose to come into this world as part of the poor and homeless and marginalized. He chose to identify with those in such circumstances. The story of Jesus and His birth is the story of the impoverished and marginalized becoming an integral part of the most important event in human history. It’s the story of the Almighty condescending from His heavenly throne to intimately participate in the lives of the poor, dirty, and despondent. It’s the story of you and I. Regardless of our financial situations, we are the poor, dirty, and outcast. Sin has made us that way. The incarnation means the King of all kings has chosen to identify with us; He chose to enter our dirty, sin-infested world, to take upon Himself our poverty, all to lavish on us the riches of His heavenly kingdom.

Humanity: From Dust To Glory

Poverty and glory—this is the dichotomy that is woven throughout the incarnation and throughout humanity’s existence. When we celebrate Christmas, we are meant to be confronted with this reality. And not just in the sentimental “oh, that’s a warm thought” kind of way. We are meant to come face-to-face with the King of Glory, clothing Himself in the dirt and dust of humanity.

In Genesis 2:7, we are told that God created mankind from the dust of the ground: “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.” Poverty and glory. We were literally the dust of the ground until the living breath of God changed everything. Suddenly, we are given the unfathomable gift of becoming a living soul. But not just a living soul; we are given the glory of being His image bearers.

The original language for “breathed into” in Genesis 2:7 paints a telling picture. God didn’t just cause Adam to suddenly begin breathing. God got up-close, face-to-face, to give His own life breath to Adam (the way someone giving CPR uses their own breath to inflate the lungs of someone else). God leans into Adam’s lifeless body, nothing more than a clump of dirt, and transfers His eternal breath of life into Adam’s lungs. As Adam’s eyes open, the first thing he would have seen upon becoming a living soul would have been the face of his loving Creator looking back at him. The first thing Adam is aware of is God, and it is from this gazing into the face of God that Adam’s identity is formed. He was a true image bearer. Eventually, sin caused his gaze (and subsequently our gaze) to become self-focused, and as a result, mankind has stayed self-focused ever since.

The Incarnation: Rediscovering Who We Are

The incarnation is about God giving us back our identity. It is an opportunity for us to shift our gaze back into the loving eyes of our Creator. Everything about the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus has to do with God’s first interaction with Adam: that first moment when they looked each other in the eyes and man became an image bearer of his Creator. Why is God concerned with the outcast, the downtrodden, the voiceless, the hopeless, the marginalized? He is concerned because we are His image bearers. To bear His image is to embrace the reality of this dichotomy of poverty and glory.

We are nothing, made from the dust of the earth, yet God breathed His breath of life into us and made us His image bearers. The lowest of creation, literally dirt, suddenly becomes the image bearer of the only self-existent One. No other creature gets that privilege. Not animals or angels or powers or principalities. And the glory and honor of that privilege is not elevated nor diminished by our finances or social status or job title or worldly accomplishments or anything else. The more we realize our true poverty, the more we will realize our true importance and glory as His image bearers. But if we try to realize our true importance, our true identity, without acknowledging our true poverty, we will find neither identity nor glory.

The Path to True Image Bearing

When the God of the universe incarnated Himself and came into our world to show us once again what it means to be a true image bearer, He did so in such a way that we would be forced to reckon with this dichotomy of poverty and glory. The birth story of Jesus of Nazareth forces us to reckon with the fact that Jesus was born into poverty. The King of the universe, the One who created everything, embraced the full reality of the poverty of being human so that we might know and enjoy forever the full reality of the glory of being His image bearers.

In Genesis, the poverty of man in his state as simply dust particles is transcended by the importance and glory of the life imparted to him by the God of the universe. What once had little value, being merely the dirt of the ground, was suddenly and forever changed into the very reflection of the One who is of utmost prominence and importance. The value of the gift given to us is based on the value of the source from which it comes. We are His image bearers. When He came to earth, He came to show us what it means to be a true image bearer. He came to restore us to our intended position as His image bearers.

In my flesh I’m impoverished, simply the dust of the ground. But because of Jesus, I’m now the temple of the Holy Spirit, the very abode of the Living God, and I get the important privilege of reflecting Him to the world around me. The incarnation reminds us that He made our story His own story as well. At the heart of the Christmas story is the story of poverty and glory.

(Proverbs 2:1-5, ESV)

1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

One of my favorite figures in church history is William Tyndale. An Englishman who lived during the tumultuous times of the reformation, he had a strong conviction to get the Bible distributed in English. First, he became a master of languages (Latin, Greek, and Hebrew). Then he painstakingly created his own English translations of the Old and New Testaments. Then he found underground printing presses that would be willing to make copies. And since his activity was illegal at that time, he pressed on in secret. He was arrested and tortured for the work. There were even times a decade of work was destroyed by the authorities or by fire. But, every time, Tyndale got back to work.¹ The word was that important to him.

And, in the last stages of his life—which for him were his late thirties and early forties—when he was in exile, the King of England offered to extend him mercy and allow him to return home. But Tyndale had a long held condition for his homecoming—would the King and Roman Catholic Church permit an English translation of the Bible? Tyndale said he would never write another word or do another thing as long as the Bible was not allowed to circulate in his countrymen’s native tongue. It was his only condition for returning to England. Alas, the King declined, and Tyndale spent the rest of his years in exile until he was finally captured and burned at the stake in 1536.²

I wanted to begin with Tyndale’s story because it is a good one to help frame the importance of personal Bible reading. His story highlights that we should take this privilege seriously. Men and women have spilled much blood, shed many tears, and become drenched in sweat for the treasure of Scripture. So we should not take the marvelous book we hold in our hands for granted. At great cost, it was brought to us—it is the words of eternal life.

The snippet of Proverbs 2 above is one of many Bible passages that exalt the word. From Genesis to Revelation, lives devoted to the word, people who are creatures of the word, are portrayed as lives well lived. And this section of Proverbs affirms that concept. The person who receives and treasures the commandments and wisdom of the Heavenly Father, inclining their ears and hearts to understand its wisdom, will enjoy an abundant and good life (1-3). To value the word as you would the most precious metals or gems, will lead you to a life of knowledge, understanding, soundness, integrity, victory, discretion, and deliverance (4-19). To rejoice over and submit to the word leads you to the paths of life (19-20). You will not be cut off from God’s blessings but will remain and be rooted in them (21-22).

This is typical of the way the Bible encourages us to read the Bible. It does not say, “read it.” Instead, it says, “Devote yourself to it. Discover it. Fuss over it. Celebrate it. Seek it like the most sacred of all treasures. Buy it. Do anything you can to gain knowledge of it. And let it be the master guide over your life. It is the very word of God.” Reading it is good, but God wants us to dive in and swim in it!

I do not, however, want you to expect rapturous joy during every moment of your Bible reading life. I fear I have lost many of you already because you have tried in vain to engage the Bible and you feel it has not worked. Perhaps you have concluded the flaw is in the Bible—too stiff, too long, too winding, too far removed from modern life. Perhaps you have concluded the flaw is in you—too distractible, too undisciplined, too unknowledgeable, or too busy.

I cannot paint an overly rosy picture of my Bible reading, but it has been a foundational element of my life. Nor will I, in an attempt to be relatable, act as if it is always a laborious experience. It is not. In general, though my Bible reading is difficult and slow-moving at times, I have found great solace, comfort, guidance, and instruction in it.

What follows are eight suggestions that come out of my own life and experience, all given with the hope of helping you read the word.

1. By Listening

I want to begin by saying that the title of this article is not a good one. I do not really want you to know how to read the Bible. When I read a book, I am alone. When I read a book, I can silence it any time I would like. When I read a book, I initiate. But the Bible is not a mere book—it communicates the very heart of God. It is God’s way of communicating with us. When reading the Bible, I am not alone, because God is alive, aware, and paying attention to whether I hear him or not. When reading the Bible, I am not able to silence it because God has spoken through it (and is speaking through it) whether or not I open my eyes and ears to it. And when I read the Bible, I am not the initiator because God made the first move.³ His word is his way of engaging us.

And many people would rather read than listen. Imagine a husband, mindlessly scrolling through sports scores, political news, and social media feeds, all while his wife tries to share her heart with him. For him to put down his phone and listen to this woman with whom he shares his bed would be far more emotionally demanding than to continue logging his phone time. This is why many Christians prefer to merely read the word rather than listen to God in the word. So, when you approach the Bible, approach it as God’s voice, his heart in print form, communicating with us.

Try to learn something about God every day. The Bible will give you direction and guidance in life, but it is not about you. It is about God and his plan to redeem a broken world. With that in mind, see what each day teaches you about him. The blood of Christ gains us access to God, and the word he has given us helps us learn of him.

2. With Humility

Any approach to the word requires humility. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). If we come to the word with a sense of spiritual need, then we will find a way into the things of the kingdom.
What I mean is that we must approach the Bible with an open heart about anything the Lord might need to address in us. If we open the word with a feeling that there are two or three overt and obvious sins we battle against, but in every other area we are set, then we will not hear God speaking to us about the more subversive sins that are disrupting our lives. It takes humility to hear God about sins like anger, jealousy, sloth, racism, pride, fear, arrogance, etc.

Without humility, a poverty of spirit before God, a sense that God has all the spiritual wealth and that we must receive it from him, we will often read the word as a way to see ourselves as the good people and others as the bad people. But this would be an incorrect reading of Scripture—all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And even after we are justified in Christ, we must go to him with open hands to hear anything he might need to say to us.

3. Consider it the “Real World”

Sometimes, after another Sunday gathering filled with worship to God and hearing from God, we might quip, “Well, now it’s time to go back to the real world.” What I want to say here is that the world as God sees it, the truth as God lays it out, reality as spoken by God through prophets and apostles, is the real world.

Our normal way of seeing the world is actually the phony world. Behind this world of economics and politics and physical desires is the true, spiritual dimension. God is there, along with principalities and powers, and when you enter into the world of the Bible you enter into the real world. You are getting a peak behind the curtain. What makes us do what we do? The Bible will tell you. What satisfies a human heart? The Bible will tell you. What makes the nations rage? The Bible will tell you.

4. With Patience

Do not be too discouraged with the hard days. Look, if you are anticipating a Bible reading life that feels as easy as watching Netflix, let me burst that bubble. The Bible is not a Harry Potter series. It takes some thought, study, and prayer to navigate. Dry moments will come. At times, you will not understand what you are reading. In a sense, this is a test of the human heart. Do you want to know God? Stick with it, ask questions, dig, and find him.

Commit to a reasonable amount of reading each day. Reading the Bible through in one year is a noble venture, but many people find that tough sledding. My preference is to read the Bible through. A few times through it has taken me less than a year, but mostly it takes me a year or year and a half. What I am trying to say is, pace yourself in a way you can keep up. It would be better to read the Bible in three years than never to read it at all. For starters, a plan like the F260 Bible Reading Plan, available on the YouVersion Bible App, could get the ball rolling.

5. With Discipline

Set a non-negotiable portion of your day aside. For me, the first part of my day, a firstfruits sacrifice if you will, is the right part of the day to set myself apart to hear from God. Some people’s work schedules legitimately prohibit this, while other people’s work schedules fictionally prohibit this. Either way, find a portion of the day which works for you, a time you know you can generally count on for Bible reading.

Have a way to record thoughts and questions and prayers. Nothing fancy is required here. I have used pieces of paper, journals, and Evernote. You might want to write a long and flowy diatribe about God. I do not recommend it during Bible reading. Brief bullet points and sentences will likely cut it. Remember, this is a time to get his word in, not your words out.

Have a group for accountability. Especially when you first start, or when you walk away from Bible reading, a group can be of great help. When the group has a reading plan, you will more often stick with the reading plan. I have watched my middle-school-aged daughter stick with her Bible reading because she knows her discipleship group is going to talk about those passages the following week. Some sort of group like this can serve as a stimulant to staying in the word.

6. With Trust

Trust that God knows what you need better than you do. While we often think we know what we need to hear about, God often has a different agenda. He sees the end from the beginning, and in his omniscient state, he knows what is of vital importance. So you might approach the word thinking, for instance, that you need guidance navigating a human relationship. God, however, might want you to hear more about, as an example, the atonement. But as the truth of God’s words gets inside you, wisdom and discernment for relationships will be on the rise.

7. With Your Mind

Think about what the passage says and means before you think about what it means for you. We often jump straight into application, but your best insights and applications will flow from first thinking about what it said and meant to the first hearers of the passage. For example, we do not like the idea of being lukewarm believers, but what did that mean to the church in Laodicea? This is where some background material, commentary, or a decent study Bible could be helpful. Often, however, one will not need additional study aides to ask the question: what does this mean? What would the original readers think?

Ask questions about the passage. What does this passage tell me about God? Is there anything in this passage I need to obey? Has God made a promise or vow in this passage, one that I should believe for my life today? Are there any attitudes or perspectives in this passage that I must put on? What do I learn of Christ and his redemptive plan from this passage? Are there any prayers in the passage I can pray today? Are there any admirable habits in the passage I must ask the Holy Spirit to help me grow into? What do I see of Christlike character in this passage? How might the Spirit want to grow me into that image?

Read a short introduction to each book of the Bible you start. The Bible is one book, yes, but it is unique in that forty authors communicated its one cohesive message in sixty-six books over a period of 2,000 years. Because of this, it is good to read some background material for each new book of the Bible you read. Even the brief introductions found in most study bibles are enough to get you going. If you would like something a little more robust, I would recommend Talk Thru The Bible by Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa.

Have one trusty Study Bible or commentary resource for reference. I think it is a good idea to have a good study Bible or commentary nearby. I do not think you should read it every day, but sometimes you will come across a Bible passage which needs some help to understand. Study Bibles will often suffice at answering your initial questions about a given Bible passage, and a light commentary will often take things a little bit further.

8. Through the Cross

See the word through the lens of Jesus Christ. Where in the passage do you see Jesus? Who in the passage reminds you of Christ? What problem in the passage did Jesus come to solve? How are the promises or predictions of this passage fulfilled in Jesus?

Resist the temptation to read the Bible as if it is a book all about you. It is not. The Bible is designed to communicate who God is to this world and His plan to redeem that world. Everything in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, points to Christ (Revelation 19:10). If we only see the Gospel in the Crucifixion accounts, then we are not reading the Bible intelligently. See “Jesus vs. Sin” in “David vs. Goliath.” See how the Spirit of Christ rebuilds a human life when reading the rebuilding project led by Nehemiah. See Jesus’s willingness to reconcile with men who betrayed him in the life of Joseph, a man who was willing to reconcile with brothers who betrayed him and left him for dead. Search for the Gospel in every portion of scripture you read.

Conclusion

Get started. Step out. Start reading. Get moving. A long journey requires a first step. With the knowledge that it will not always be an easy task, step out into a life of Bible reading. I think you will find the results immensely rewarding, and your growth as a Christian and person will accelerate as you get into God’s word.

In the Old Testament Law, God said that new Israelite kings needed to inaugurate their reign with the Scripture. He said:

18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”

(Deuteronomy 17:18–20, ESV)

We, too, need the word. Let us emulate these kings of old and turn evermore to the pages of Scripture. God has spoken. Let us hear him.

References:

Advent Shows Us How to Wait with Expectancy

Sunday, December 3rd, marks week one of Advent, which is all about hope. Hope often looks like expectation, anticipation—while waiting. Waiting is central to hope. It’s easy to see this theme around Christmas time. Children everywhere wait with expectant anticipation for December 25th, for Santa, for presents. Every year, I recall a fond memory of my four-year-old daughter Scout yelling, “Christmas is my favorite Halloween!” Kids love (and hate) waiting, but they do so because they have hope.

Advent’s hope is woven throughout our Christmas hymns. In “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” we sing from the perspective of the Old Covenant Israelites, impersonating their hope for the long-expected king who the prophets said would come—soon. This theme is in the Scriptures’ telling of Jesus’ coming. When the Messiah finally came, Philip went to Nathanael and exclaimed, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote!” (John 1:45).

Perhaps the best example is Symeon, who lived his entire life with the hope that he would see the Messiah. We’re told that he was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” having been told by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn’t die until the Messiah came. Holding the infant Jesus in his arms, Symeon declared his willingness to die, for finally, “my eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:25-32). Symeon had waited for this moment his entire life, able to endure the “in-between” because he had hope.

Advent is a season where we learn to wait. Perhaps you’re waiting for something today. You’re between jobs, between decisions, between seasons of growth, between relationships—waiting for joy, waiting for success, waiting for salvation. How can we hold on to hope in the in-between?

A Little While

Jesus’ language for that in-between is the phrase “a little while.” In John 16, he tells his disciples that for “a little while, you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me” (John 16:16). He’s perhaps referring to the few days when he goes to the cross, dies, and is buried (scholars disagree on what “little while” Jesus is talking about). In any case, it’ll be a time of grief, sorrow, and painful waiting. That’s the in-between: the difficult, perilous, frustrating seasons of waiting. But afterward, they will see him again. The dead will rise. Hope will be fulfilled as “your sorrow will turn into joy” (v20). Here, Jesus offers hope to his disciples at their darkest hour. How will they get through the trauma of the next few days? Only by holding on to hope.

Fleming Rutledge explains that this pattern of hope in the in-between is what Advent is all about:

“Advent contains within itself the crucial balance of the now and the not-yet that our faith requires… [Between] the yearly frenzy of “holiday” time in which the commercial Christmas music insists that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” and Starbucks invites everyone to “feel the merry.” The disappointment, brokenness, suffering, and pain that characterize life in this present world is held in dynamic tension with the promise of future glory that is yet to come. In that Advent tension, the church lives its life.“ (Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ).

The “Advent tension” that Rutledge mentions is what so many of us experience on a daily basis. It’s what our songs are about and the air Israel breathed for centuries. Waiting is an everyday reality on this side of resurrection. In order to hold on to hope, we must remember three things.

The In-Between is Necessary

The “little while” was necessary if Jesus was going to make a way to God. “Until now you have asked nothing in my name,” he explains. “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (v. 24). Before the cross, “until now,” our relationship with God was based on nothing but promises and hope. By going to the cross, Jesus changed the relationship. Now, we approach God “in his name.” Jesus is helping his disciples understand that he had to leave them for a little while because by doing so, he secured our relationship with God.

Sometimes we don’t understand why God tarries or why promises take a long time to fulfill. We ask, “Why?” and wonder if we’re not wasting our time. But we can hold on to hope if we remember that these seasons of waiting are necessary. God is using them for our good. Peter relayed this lesson later in his letter:

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

Frodo Baggins didn’t understand why he was tasked with the season of life he found himself in. “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” he tells Gandalf. Gandalf explains to Frodo that none of us understands the times we’ve been given, nor can we control the seasons we’re in. But, knowing these seasons are necessary, one thing we can do: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” The in-between seasons of life are something God is using. But what is he using it for?

The In-Between is Formative

God uses the in-between seasons to form something beautiful in us. Notice the verb in Jesus’ promise: “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). That turning is the process of spiritual formation. It’s the process of becoming like Christ as we learn to trust in him, believe his promises, and hold on to hope.

Admittedly, this process is a difficult one. Pain seems bad. We might try to ease the pain of migraine with Ibuprofen or endure the heartache of a breakup with a tub of ice cream and a night of Netflix. But have you noticed that not all pain is bad? The pain of grad school—that’s a good kind of pain, the kind that promises a career at the end of it. There’s the pain of practice that promises proficiency. The pain of physical labor brings with it the promise of a remodeled bathroom. Growing pains bring growth. Exercise brings health. Labor brings a child. As we sometimes say, “No pain, no gain.” The Gospel of Jesus extends that promise to the pain of suffering:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).

God uses painful trials, James says, to form something in us. This answers the common question, “What purpose could ever come from my sorrow? What blessing could ever come from my pain?” The answer is that God is forming you into someone who is patient, joyful, and full of hope. To be sure, this is a difficult process, one filled with mystery and unanswered questions. But equally sure is this: one day, “your sorrow will turn into joy.”

The In-Between is Worth It

The beautiful promise of the Gospel is that, soon and very soon, he will bring the in-between time to a swift end. We won’t even remember the pain. We will only see what God has done and rejoice. As Jesus explains, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). One day, the sorrow of the in-between will give way to the permanent joy of eternal life in the kingdom of God.

I remember going on vacation with our family to my father-in-law’s timeshare in Mexico. The kids were so excited. “We’re going to Mexico!” they screamed as we piled in the car, drove down I-5, and eventually arrived … at the airport. My kids were incensed. “Dad this is the airport, not Mexico! You lied to us!” I tried to explain that sometimes, getting to your destination includes a bunch of stops along the way. In order to get to Mexico, we had first to board a plane at the airport. Getting to where you’re going involves some amount of waiting in the in-between.

It’s those little stops, fits, and starts that make a trip feel like it’s taking forever. That’s the “in-between.” God promises to deliver on his promises to us, but sometimes, we have to stop at the airport first. In those times, we’re tempted to say, “God, you lied to us! This is the airport; I want to go to Mexico!” Instead, we need to remember that it’s just a little while.

Sit tight. Hold on.

Listen to God’s voice. Trust him.

We’ll be there soon.

“What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:23)

So begins Paul’s address to the educated crowd at the Areopagus in Athens. He had discovered an altar established for an unknown God within the city, and he used that as an opening to share the good news about Jesus. This Thursday, as we gather with our families to celebrate Thanksgiving, we have a similar opening. For many of our family members, Thanksgiving is a holiday to an unknown god.

Thankful to Whom?

Regardless of religious background, many of us will take turns around the table and sharing what we are grateful for without considering who we are grateful to. The act of giving thanks is a relational gesture, and it implies a giver. Thanksgiving (Gk. eucharistia) is a response to giving (Gk. charis). To say thanks is to say thank you. Paul would recognize this as an open door. An opportunity to ask, could I tell you about the one you thank?

We can tell them about “the God who made the world and everything in it” who “gives to all mankind, life and breath and everything (vs. 24-25). To another crowd, Paul proclaims him as the one “who did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17) and how he has done all of this so that all people, “should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.” (Acts 17:27)

We can tell them about how humanity collectively, although deep down they know these things, has failed to honor God, or give him thanks and how rejecting such truths has made us vulnerable to lies and idolatry. (Rom. 1:21-22) For if we do not worship the Creator, worshiping created things is all that is left.

Black Friday

This ungratefulness and idolatry are not hard to illustrate. It can be easily seen in what follows our Thanksgiving celebration: Black Friday. What could make our gratitude more questionable than our actions the next day (and increasingly, Black Friday is encroaching on Thanksgiving Thursday)? Because we can’t be satisfied with the giver and content in his gifts, we fight tooth and nail for the latest and greatest, trying to fill the void. Without true Thanksgiving, the feasting isn’t enough to satisfy … barely enough for a single day.

Of course, we haven’t even gotten to the good news yet: that the God we are introducing is gracious even to the ungrateful (Luke 6:35) and that his greatest gift is the Son he sent to save our selfish world. God’s response to our making gods in our image was, as God, to come in the image of man. His life, death, burial, and resurrection bring freedom where there is slavery and life where there is death. This greatest gift produces the greatest gratitude. That is why when Christians remember what Jesus did for us, we call it the Eucharist (Thanksgiving).

A Life Defined by Thanksgiving

The Christian life, the response to God’s great gift, is defined by thanksgiving. It is the earmark of Christian speech (Eph. 5:4). For we give thanks always and for everything (Eph. 5:20) and in every circumstance (1 Thess. 5:18). Whatever we do, in word or deed, we do in the name of Jesus and with thanksgiving (Col. 3:17). Our very lives are lived as a sacrifice of thanksgiving, responding to God’s great mercy (Rom. 12:1). Even our desire to share with our family about this unknown God flows from a place of thanksgiving. We invite them to turn their “thanks” into “thank you” and join with all who say:

“I will give thanks to you, O LORD,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

“Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.

“Give thanks to the LORD,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

“Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.“ (Isaiah 12)

It was 1924 when the Summer Olympic Games were last held in Paris. The world had yet to feel the weight of the Great Depression or the specter of Nazism. These were also the first Olympic Games to be commented on via radio. Yet, more known in some Christian circles, they were ones that provide the setting for the movie Chariots of Fire to tell the story of Eric Liddell and his gold medal run.

In the movie, Eric famously said that he felt the favor of God when he ran. The scene opens in joy as he announces his acceptance as a missionary to China. He tells his sister, Jenny, then explains that he will defer his call to China until he finishes the Summer Olympics. Jenny doesn’t understand; he has to talk her into it. From a pastoral point of view, I wonder if my reaction wouldn’t have been like hers. It’s rather presumptuous of Liddell to say. There’s no Bible verse to back him up on this, just a feeling he has. How many of us would have counseled him to come back down and serve the Lord with the incredible gift he’d been given: an honored chance to serve the Lord in foreign missions?

But we know Eric was right. If you look closely at the actual pictures of his face as he was crossing the finish line, we can make out the face of someone in the ecstasy of total praise. It reminds me of the blessing taken from Numbers 6:24-26 that many pronounce on Sunday at the end of the service. A blessing was given to Aaron and his sons through which they were to bless Israel in the wilderness and throughout their history so Israel would bear God’s name to all the world. I want to look at this blessing in three parts, knowing that God’s face radiates love when He sees us in Christ.

May the LORD bless you and keep you.

To be blessed by the Lord is a happy state that envelops every part of our lives. Like Israel in the wilderness, one of the great reasons for this is because God is there. When Aaron blessed Israel, the Presence was visible: He gave manna, a physical blessing, to eat; water from a rock; and even quails when they complained …

Aaron would speak the blessing, but God was there and acting through the experience. As the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament explains: “God’s activity can be actualized through human speech; it can be ignited by it.” It’s visible and palpable yet invisible and spiritual.

Another example comes from Deuteronomy, where Moses recounts: “ So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years” (Dt 8.3-4). This was His provision and instruction, the Lord’s blessing and name upon His people.

His blessing is to know his protection. If God keeps us, it’s having Him as a Shepherd who protects and directs. This reminds me of that scene where Balaam tried to curse Israel, but wound up blessing them every time he opened his mouth (Nu. 22-24). The Lord’s protection was upon them. The prophet was powerless. It also reminds me Jesus taught us to pray that God would not allow us to enter into temptation but to deliver us from evil. In this way, He keeps us. His protection is here with us as He is here, present, and watching over us.

May the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

This part of the blessing brings us close to what Eric Liddell expressed. He felt the Lord’s favor, His face like a benevolent light. This is interesting because John writes that God is light without shadow (1 Jn 1.5). He is, therefore, pure and life-giving. When God turns “His face,” His regard toward us “radiates.” What’s communicated responds to the fundamental need of humanity that begins at an early age. It’s the need to know we are seen. It’s the need for acceptance and love.

Babies manifest this need from the beginning. They seek the loving gaze of their parents. They need their full attention, more than mere eye contact. As they grow, children go on showing this through what they do. On the playing field, they watch the stands to see who’s watching. They run in the door from school with a picture in hand, their creation. They want one thing: to be seen.

This blessing responds to this need, like in the case of Eric Liddell, who knew God called him but felt God’s favor as he ran. The Lord’s face turns toward us, shining with His favor, His grace.

It’s often said that grace is the undeserved favor of God, and it’s even more! His grace is love that’s infused into the dynamics of everyday life. More than saving grace, it’s holistic, physical, and, why not, emotional. He wants to do good to us. Then, this grace is like the rays that emanate from His gaze. Why? Because He has adopted us, we are His children.

May the LORD turn His face to you and give you peace.

His gaze is favorable toward us. It’s important to let that sink in. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament puts it this way: “to raise the face, turn towards, lift the countenance, to encourage, take sides, show partiality toward the one He blesses.” This is how He sees us in Jesus. God sees us and smiles with affection. We do the same when looking at someone we love. His face radiates love. Knowing that God loves us this much strengthens us when times are difficult.

If that weren’t enough, He gives us His peace. It is one of the most precious aspects of this blessing: peace with God. Jesus became our peace because we were enemies with God. Let’s allow Scripture speak: Colossians 1:21-22 “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” Jesus became our peace, between us and the Father.

Yet His peace goes beyond judicial righteousness. Jesus spoke of the peace He gives through the Holy Spirit. John 14.27: “Peace I leave with you, The peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Then, we can even go further. His peace translates into a state that covers everything, just like it says in Isaiah 26.3-4: Y“ou will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.” Because He is there, we know that all will be well, and the storms that swarm around us will calm down with the power of His loving gaze into our lives.

In the end, Aaron would pronounce this blessing on Israel so that God’s name would be upon them. Knowing that we bear the name of Christ, His name is upon us, too. That is why we end our worship services with this blessing and can go into the world knowing of His favorable gaze towards us. He loves us. Maybe you are like Eric Liddell. You know God has something for you, but you are on another project today. I hope this article encourages you. What God has given you today, do it with all your heart and enjoy His favor. It’s He who takes care of His plans. It’s enough today for us to trust Him, receive His blessing, and live in His favor.