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.

Keeping Jesus At The Center – Ray Ortlund

My wife Jani and I were at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa on New Year’s Eve 1971, going into 1972. The service was held in the big tent, of course.

We arrived early enough to get seats in the center of the front row.

Love Song played. Chuck preached. And then we took Communion. It was wonderful.

But the most unforgettable moment for me occurred right after the service. Chuck was still standing just behind the Communion table. And one of the young people greeting him, giving him a big hug, accidentally knocked over a stack of Communion trays.

What struck me was how quickly and genuinely Chuck reassured him and set him at ease: “Oh, that’s okay! No problem at all.” I thought, “Chuck is a wise pastor.

Any non-churchy kid could come in here and be accepted. Jesus is the only issue here.”

That memory has helped me in my own pastoral ministry all these years.

Thank you, Chuck.

Even When The Crowd Is Quite Small – Nicky Gumbel

I first met Chuck Smith in around 1978. At that time, Calvary Chapel was already a huge church, yet he was willing to come and speak to about five of us at HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton in London).

I still remember the talk he gave on “Healthy Sheep Multiply.” I was struck by his sheer stamina! He spoke for about three hours with hardly a pause.

Later I had the privilege of visiting Calvary Chapel, in around 1985, and heard him preach—expounding the Bible with great authority and humour.

Chuck Smith has rightly been called “one of the most influential figures in modern American Christianity.”

Learning To Love God’s Word – Elaine O’Connor

God used Pastor Chuck to introduce me to the inexhaustible insights and wisdom His Word has to offer.

It all began with my noticing that Pastor Chuck saw the world and others differently.

He saw humanity as precious, created by God for a relationship with Himself. He saw events as under the watchful gaze of a loving God.

The second thing I noticed was that Pastor Chuck cherished God’s Word, every single bit of it. He would get excited to read and study the Bible. I had only seen that depth of excitement at bakeries or sporting events.

It seemed logical that the two were connected. Therefore, wanting that same loving kindness-fueled perspective myself, I also began to read and study the Bible.

Through the years, I have experienced both bitter and sweet times.

Difficult as the bitter times have been, I have known with absolute confidence that God loves me and sees what is happening. I have known with astounding certainty that I can trust Him. No one can purchase this knowledge, even with access to the finest of stores. It is a gift from God.

There is something about one’s roots growing deep into God’s love—via His Word—that enables even the frailest tree to stand … and offer shade to others. The words of Psalm 1 are perfect and true.

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts,” writes the prophet Jeremiah. Pastor Chuck felt the same way.

God used Pastor Chuck to instill in me that same sense of appreciation for Him and His Word, and that has made all the difference.

A Humble, Simple Love For The Word – Daniel Hamlin

I first started attending Calvary Chapel in the mid 1990’s. What stood out to me the most and what kept me coming back was the priority given to the Word of God. Not long after high school I went off to Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, California. Pastor Chuck would periodically come out to the college to preach, and it was during one of these sermons I discovered something about him that left a profound impact on me.

He was teaching through the book of Ruth and asked us to follow along as he read. Everyone’s head was down as they read along with him, but I happened to look up for a moment. I glanced at Pastor Chuck and noticed he wasn’t looking at his Bible. He was reciting the text correctly, but his eyes were off to the side. I realized he was reciting it from memory. We read through multiple chapters of Ruth that day and Pastor Chuck seemed to recite it all from memory. He didn’t do it for show, he didn’t draw any attention to himself about it, he just quietly recited it as if he were reading it. Had I not happened to glance up at him, I wouldn’t have known.

It was then I realized what a tremendous love for God’s Word he had. It challenged my own devotion to reading Scripture and inspired me to continue in my pursuit of studying the Bible. In that moment I realized this wasn’t something he just picked up along the way by accident. It was the result of a lifetime devoted to studying and taking to heart God’s precious Word.

To me, Pastor Chuck is a reminder of what the Lord can do through someone with nothing more than a humble, simple love for the Word and the Spirit. I never met Pastor Chuck personally, but his impact on my life and ministry was profound.

From Bahrain With Gratitude – James Travis

I had never heard the name Chuck Smith until I moved to Bahrain in 2013. The pastor of the church we joined on arrival was (and is still very much) a Calvary Chapel guy and I remember him talking about Pastor Chuck a lot.

I got a brief history of the movement, his understanding of the motivation behind the movement, the philosophy of ministry which my mentor saw (and appreciated) in Pastor Chuck, and was finally presented with a copy of Calvary Chapel Distinctives where I could hear from the man himself. The book was
something I devoured as I learnt and trained for ministry, and was later a key text during at least one of my M.Div classes with Calvary Chapel University.

All of that to say, Chuck Smith has had a deep and meaningful impact on my life
and ministry despite the two of us having never met. I’ve learnt a great deal
from his own writings but perhaps more so from those who spent time with
him. Those men and women would be horrified to read their own names here in
what is a tribute to the vicarious legacy of Chuck but, in summary, I’m grateful
for Chuck Smith. I’m grateful for and to the people he impacted and their
continuing impact on the lives of others.

It is a testament to him that ten years on from his death, he is still ministering life and its Author to others, through others.

Descending into Managua, I peered through the plane’s window at Lake Managua, looking quite serene from above. Nicaragua is a land of stark contrasts. The country has more than enough natural resources to be a major tourist destination, yet it remains among the poorest nations in the world. I was there with a group of professional surfers to get content for magazine articles and advertising material. It was my first time on a professional surf trip, and I’d hoped it would be the beginning of the surf dream I’d been chasing for several years. I thought I’d finally made it to the “big leagues.”

It wasn’t my first time in a developing country, but this trip proved to be a crucial turning point in my life. Seemingly on the verge of achieving this “dream” I’d been chasing, I suddenly realized it wasn’t what I thought it would be. Instead of contemplating which board I should ride, I found myself contemplating what I wanted to do with my life. I had this underlying feeling that my focus was on the wrong thing. I began to realize that this ambition of mine was solely a selfish one; it was all about self-promotion and self-gratification. I tried to rationalize the thought, but still it lingered.

Hell’s Gate

La Chureca is a township located in Managua’s landfill. “The Dump” is inhabited by hundreds of Nicaraguans who sift through trash to find enough resources to survive. NGOs and missions organizations got involved to help the community and to raise awareness about their plight. My friend Brad Corrigan was one of them. Brad was in Nicaragua the same time we were, and in the middle of our trip, I received a message from him. He invited us along for a day to show us what this community faced.

The entrance to La Chureca is called Hell’s Gate, and I can’t think of a more fitting name. As we entered, I couldn’t help but notice the brown, smoke-filled air. We learned the trash is set aflame to keep it from piling up. But when combined with the intense Central American heat, it creates a perpetual haze. Tim Maurer, writing for Forbes, lists La Chureca among the most Horrendous Wonders of the World.^[1] I watched in disbelief as children walked barefoot around the outskirts of the dump, looking for anything that might be useable. In the heart of the dump, people sifted through trash as it was unloaded by trucks. Off to the side of the trash, the people of La Chureca built their community. Homes constructed mostly of discarded trash found in the dump created a neighborhood of sorts. I won’t go into detail the horrors and dangers that people face here daily, but it’s heart-wrenching.

Brad walked us through the community and introduced us to some of the families that live there. I ducked a little as I passed through the doorway of one family’s home. The floor was simply dirt, the house itself made of dilapidated materials found in the dump. Worn-out tarps and plastic bags provided waterproofing during rains. As we entered the main living area, a lady sat uncomfortably in a chair, a bit bewildered by her visitors. Brad talked with them for a bit, explaining what we were doing. But I soon realized their conversation turned quickly from our presence in the home to the lady and the reason for her visible discomfort. A motion toward her foot and it became apparent to all what the source was.

Her foot was swollen, cracked, dry, possibly infected. She had sprained her ankle and the injury severely limited her mobility. Without access to medical care in La Chureca, even what might seem an insignificant issue can quickly turn serious. I stood speechless, feeling like anything I could offer was completely insufficient. None of us knew what to do. Then Brea Burkard, the wife of our trip’s photographer Chris, in one of the purest and most powerful acts of compassion I’ve ever witnessed, knelt next to the lady and began massaging her swollen foot. It was one of the most Christ-like acts I’ve seen, and it humbled me to my core.

Not much was said in the car ride as we left La Chureca. The visit exposed me to a reality I’d heard about but only viewed from a distance, a reality that for most of my life didn’t seem real. The contrast of what I was pursuing in Nicaragua and what those who served the people in La Chureca were pursuing wasn’t lost on me. Brad’s invitation changed my life’s direction.

Seeing Past Ourselves

Please don’t misunderstand the point I’m making. I don’t believe we all need to quit our normal jobs to pursue non-profit work. I don’t believe it’s wrong to be successful in business or whatever profession one may be in. And it’s not that I believe the dream I’d been chasing was a bad one, or that professional surfing, surf journalism, or the surf industry are bad careers. I think they can be fine careers, and I’m happy for those who have been able to be successful in them. But what that trip did do for me was confirm a truth I’d been taught since I was young—that life gets better through selflessness, not selfishness. No matter how successful one may be at their chosen pursuit or passion, if you live solely for selfish ambition, you will in the end find only emptiness and vanity, not fulfillment and purpose.

That trip to Nicaragua taught me an important lesson. It taught me the difference between healthy, God-given ambition and selfish ambition. Healthy ambition is the desire to be good stewards with the talents we’ve been given. It’s living with the understanding that we all have an eternal purpose to fulfill; life is more than just self. In contrast, selfish ambition enthrones self, making the goal of life to gratify and magnify self above all else.

The Truth About Giving

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

This is perhaps the most well-known verse in the Bible, for good reason. In it we find God’s free offer of salvation and His unfathomable love for us. And we are given one of life’s greatest truths—that God gives. He is a gracious and generous God. He loves, so He gives. It’s at the heart of who He is and how He made life to operate. The world leads us to believe we will find fulfillment in this life by getting, but God has told us fulfillment in this life comes by giving. It can’t be experienced through a self-centered outlook in life.

Our lives get better, and our story gets bigger as we give. God gave and as a result, salvation is available to all creation. Since we are made in God’s image, somewhere within each of us the truth testifies that it’s more blessed to give than to receive. Interestingly, secular science is discovering this truth as well. The Science of Generosity, a report by The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley suggests that generosity is directly linked to a person’s overall happiness. It states, “While popular culture may imply that happiness comes from focusing on yourself, research suggests the opposite: Being generous can make you happier.”^[2]

One of the first lessons Jesus taught is that we must think differently from the way popular culture has taught us to think. It might seem counter-intuitive, but the truth is that life gets better and more purpose-filled through generosity, not self-promotion or accomplishment. God has declared this to us throughout Scripture:

“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25).

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).

“Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice” (Psalm 112:5).

A culture that prizes self above others will produce people who are largely unhappy and unfulfilled, ever in search of purpose and direction in life. They’ll seek their fulfillment through selfish ambition and self-promotion, through accumulation of wealth and power. They’ll be lovers of self and as a result, their morality and justice will be determined by what suits them best, not what’s righteous. I’m not trying to paint a hopeless picture but rather reveal what’s at stake. If we aren’t willing to see past our own immediate gratification, we’ll never find the purpose and identity we seek.

A Life Filled with Purpose and Fulfillment

Some would say my life didn’t change much after that trip to Nicaragua. I didn’t stop surfing, and I haven’t been back to Nicaragua since. But it did teach me one simple yet profound truth that remains with me to this day. It taught me that no matter what we achieve in this life, if it’s self we’re seeking to magnify and not Jesus, it’ll ultimately leave us empty and unfulfilled.

God gives because it’s part of who He is; giving is an attribute of love. As His children, bearers of His image, it’s meant to be one of our attributes as well. And it starts by being able to see past ourselves. When we do, we find we have taken the first step toward a life filled with purpose and fulfillment, a life that touches the lives around us, a life that impacts eternity.

References

^[1] Tim Maurer, “Hope in Hell On Earth: Micro-Finance in Nicaragua,” Forbes.com, July 26, 2012.
^[2] Summer Allen, The Science of Generosity, page 23, prepared for the John Templeton Foundation by The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, May 2018.

“The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.””
Exodus 3:2-4 (emphasis added)

When you look at the countless examples of people that God has used throughout history, there seems to be a common trait with them all. They all responded. Some responded wholeheartedly and some reluctantly, but just about all made a conscious decision that God deserves a response. Apathy has no place in the kingdom of Heaven. One of man’s greatest temptations throughout the ages has been apathy—a lulling to sleep spiritually, an avoidance of responding appropriately.

Moses’ Response to God Revealing Himself

I recently read the section in Exodus on the burning bush, and something stood out to me. I was convicted by Moses’ response. I have the tendency to ask God to reveal Himself or give some sort of revelation of Himself. I tend to like signs and proof. But how can I ask for more if I haven’t responded to what He’s already revealed?

In the account of Moses and the burning bush, we have a great example of how we should respond to what is right in front of us. We see in this exchange with Moses that God didn’t speak until after Moses responded to His presence in the burning bush. One could argue that Moses’ encounter with the burning bush warrants his response because of how miraculous the incident was. But do we acknowledge His overwhelming and holy presence in our midst daily? Is creation any less miraculous than a burning bush? Have we ever lifted our eyes to the heavens? The vast universe, the sun, moon, and stars, the mountains and oceans, the sunrise and sunset; are these any less miraculous? Have we ever contemplated what is right in front of us? Have we responded appropriately to what He’s already revealed?

Lifting Our Eyes to the Heavens

In Isaiah 40:26, we are instructed to “Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things…” Oswald Chambers says regarding Isaiah’s command to lift our eyes to the heavens, “The people of God in Isaiah’s time had blinded their minds’ ability to see God by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to use their power to think and to visualize correctly. If we’re children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it’s holy and sacred.

We’ll see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades … The real test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your mind and thoughts under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded … If your power to see has been blinded, don’t look back on your own experiences, but look to God.”

Seeing God’s Fingerprints in His Creation

Chambers calls this ability to see God’s fingerprints in His creation “sanctifying our imagination.” If we don’t want our vision to dwindle, if we want to avoid spiritual apathy, it will require sanctifying our imagination. Chambers doesn’t mean we pretend to see God; he means we respond to the countless number of ways God reveals Himself daily. Creation itself is overflowing with miraculous design, with holy testimony.

Astrophysicist and author Ethan Siegel said this: “When you put it all together, it means the most astounding fact about the Universe is this: that it exists in such a way that it can be understood at all.” What Seigel’s statement touches on is an astonishing and miraculous fact that often goes unnoticed. It’s the fact that since creation exists in an understandable way, and since humans exist with the capability to understand it, it is logical to conclude that it was created to be understood. Ethan Siegel, as far as I know, isn’t a Christian. But he brings up an excellent point.

Creation testifies to the fact that God has designed it in such a way so as to lead us to Himself. His creation declares Him to us. Isaiah instructs us to look at God’s creation because there is a revelation there for us, a revelation that helps guard against spiritual apathy. You could say creation itself is our burning bush. I’m not saying that we should worship nature or creation. But His creation does provide a timeless testimony of His love and existence for those who are willing to look. You can accept this testimony or reject it, but it would be a tragedy to ignore it. At the very least, it deserves a response.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a poet in the 1800s, put it this way: “Earth is crammed with Heaven, and every common bush afire with God; and only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”

If we can lift our eyes to the Heavens as Isaiah declares, we’ll see a glimpse of just how miraculously and emphatically God has revealed Himself. And such a revelation, like the burning bush, deserves a response. I pray that we’ll be those who respond.