(This was my "Christmas letter" from 2016. There is always so much I want to say about Christmas and each year the message seems to get longer. It isn't that I couldn't come up with something else to say so as to have a new message, it's just that I am passionate about sharing what I believe to be true. So, except for a few minor changes, this is a new, old "Merry Christmas." I do hope that you are encouraged if not inspired to present the truth about Christmas to others. Time is short and the Gospel of Jesus is the only thing that will save the world. Thanks for taking the time to read what has been on my heart for a long time.)

“Where were you when the lights went out?”

I was just a kid when someone asked me that question. I didn’t “get” the question (as a joke) and replied, “I don’t know, where?” The jokester said, “In the dark.” There were others in the room during this little rhetorical Q & A and everyone laughed. I thought it was clever so I've asked the question, “Where were you when the lights went out” to many other unsuspecting folks and usually get to break the “punchline” to them. But what has that to do with Christmas? Let's look at this in spiritual terms.

Are we in the dark? Is there even a darkness in which one may be engulfed? Is there a light that can overcome darkness? Who is that light, and where may it be seen and experienced? More than two thousand years ago, a few shepherds saw and heard about Jesus from a group of angels. Later, some “Wise Men” saw a light that led them to Jesus. But beyond the angelic heralds and beyond the star that shone so brightly lay a darkness in the hearts of people that demanded a hope rooted in love rather than religion. Hence, Christmas.

This is the first “new” Christmas letter I’ve written since around 1990. My theme in past years has been about the faithfulness of God to His own Word. When we say “Merry Christmas” what we really mean (or should mean) is that God always keeps His promises! He promised to send The Messiah to the world and He did when Jesus was born. If Jesus’ birth was established long before He came, then His Second Advent is also established. If Jesus came once, He will surely come again! (And I believe His Second Coming is imminent.)

The “new” of this Christmas message centers around two worlds. The world in which Jesus was born and ours. What came to me when I asked myself about the conditions of the world over 2000 years ago, prompted another question: If I fail to understand to any greater level the world in which Jesus was born, could that mean that I really have no idea about the true meaning of Christmas? We (as Christians) are fond of the saying "Jesus is the reason for the season." How "cliche - ish" that has become. Even though we cram some religious activities into the holiday season. Some, take an almost militant approach to saying "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays,"  but in it all we may still miss entirely the magnitude of what it meant and what it means to know the God who invaded history with His perfect, holy, and Divine presence IN THE FLESH. Understanding the reality of “Christmas” necessarily takes us back to the first century and the time in which God chose to send His Son. If we fail to understand the world as it was when Jesus was born, can we fully appreciate the implications of the first advent for our world in our time?

The world, our world, is not too much different or too far removed from the world of first century Israel. The world of the Jew during Jesus time was a time of hopeless despair. The world for the Gentile in the first century was void of light. For all people, it was a time of darkness. So it is today. Our world is void of light, entrenched in darkness and despair. Jesus first advent brought a hope to the world that was so great; so revolutionary; so beyond this world that many missed it. When Jesus came, He, single - handedly pierced the darkness with nearly unapproachable light.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the condition of our nation. For that matter, I think of our world and the darkness that is pressing in against people of all races, colors, and ethnicities. I have been thinking about the world in which Jesus was born. I pondered what I have learned over the years in reading the Bible many times and what I remember from history about Palestine, the Roman Empire and the nation of Israel in the first century.  I began to read some articles on the subject. I found an article by Pastor David Schrock that listed seven elements that comprised the world in which Jesus was born. In many ways, the condition of the “world” in our time and especially that of our country is very similar to the time of Jesus. Following are abbreviated portions of his article to serve as talking points. Pastor Schrock’s material is italicized. The link to the full web article is at the end of my letter. (The article is excellent! Please take time to read it!)

The World was a dark place. While we think of Christmas as a season of light, the truth is, the birth story of Jesus Christ is filled with darkness.  Anticipating the birth of the Christ child centuries before Mary was great with child, Isaiah writes that the light that was coming into the world, came to a people shrouded in darkness (9:1-7).  Gloom, anguish, and contempt were just some of the adjectives used to describe this darkness. Thus, in order to understand the full revelation of the light which came into the world when Christ was born, we need to recognize the darkness into which our Christ was born. 

First, when Christ was born, the word of God had not been heard for four centuries. If we compare the world that Jesus was born into with today, to what conclusions must we come? Malachi was the last O.T. prophet to receive a message from God. From the time that Malachi rolled up his scroll until Jesus came on the scene as God’s Living Word, 400 years had passed. While we must work a bit to get it, it is possible to understand, at least in part, why Israel rejected Jesus. But we have Christ and His Word in all His fullness and yet we either overlook, or, worse yet, ignore Him. So, which of the time periods might we consider to be the worst? A world without a Word from God for centuries, or, God’s Word revealed and yet ignored?

Second, the people of God were under the oppressive rule of Rome.  We believe we live in what we call a “free country.” We are not under the thumb of a foreign power. But are we really free? Are we chained in servitude to a host of idols that manifest themselves in hedonistic, humanistic, and materialistic pleasures? Is even the church out of touch with the common elements that bring God’s people to dynamic mission? Have we traded liberty for license? License is doing what we want when we want. Liberty is having the power to do what is right.

Third, the nation of Israel was fracturing. Does that have a familiar ring to it? Could America be more divided? Splintered? What did Jesus say or do that provided a balm for the brokenness that plagued His people in the first century? What does He provide for us today? 

Fourth, the birth of Jesus came through a virgin.  Christ followers universally believe in the “Virgin Birth” of Jesus. But it wasn’t so for Mary, Joseph, and their contemporaries. At first, Joseph was faced with a monumental struggle. He needed to protect his honor and that of his betrothed. It took a Divine dream to untangle the knot in which Joseph was entwined. But what of today. With pluralism eating away at a commitment to absolute truth and with Jesus being at the center of controversy which gives way to the slide into alarming levels of subjectivity, has the Virgin Birth become as problematic today as it was then?

Fifth, the census was a considerable imposition. Joseph and Mary had to travel about four days to get to Bethlehem from Nazareth to obey the new census law. And yet, they made the journey. Today, most folks won’t travel four miles in a heated/air-conditioned car with cruise control to be counted part of the Body of Christ.

Sixth, the poverty of Mary and Joseph did not fit the royal son they had.  Not only were the conditions leading up to Christ’s birth dark, so too was his birth.  Luke 2:7 records that there was “no place for them in the inn.”  This is probably because it was filled up with travelers coming for the census; but it may also be the case that Joseph, a carpenter by trade, did not have the means to pay for or to pay extra for a room.  Money talks, right?  But it is clear, that Joseph had no bargaining power.  Mary and Joseph went to the stable, where Jesus was born and laid in a manger.  Without family or hospitality, darkness surrounded them.  Today, images of a new born baby, “wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” are still the basis for Christians who try to keep Jesus as “the reason for the season.” And while the King of Kings and Lord of Lords did come into the world stripped of His majesty, He is NO LONGER a baby in a manger. He IS literally OUR King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We should no longer have a euphoric and perhaps even romantic image of The Messiah as a baby. When we see Him, we will see Him as He is.

Seventh, through the hostile forces of Herod, Satan tried to kill Jesus.  Poverty was not the only source of darkness; persecution followed Jesus’ birth, so that he was constantly under threat. Jesus is now beyond danger. His resurrection from the dead has placed Him at the Father’s right hand as He ever intercedes for us. Satan cannot touch Jesus but, he is busy trying to touch us. His schemes fall to the ground, however, rendered powerless by the Blood of the Lamb and the testimony of those who have been covered in that blood.

Darkness is everywhere in Christ’s birth, which should not come as a surprise when we think of the prophecies in the Old Testament and the conditions of the world that God created.  As John 1 says, “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world, . . . yet the world did not know him.”

Remembering that the light of Christ came in the darkness of night gives us hope that God can still pour light into our hearts and shine light into our lives.  No matter how dark it may be, no matter where the darkness comes from, God is the light who enlightens everyone, and has come to take up residence in the lives of those who look to Christ.

This Christmas, I am going to spend much time in learning about and reflecting on the world in which Jesus was born. I am going to think about and meditate on my world. I am going to seek ways to speak about this Jesus who brought hope, light, and peace to a world far removed from mine and yet, is here, now. today, in my place and time to do as He did then...

Jesus...He REALLY IS the "Reason for the Season." But rather than think of Christmas in terms of a short cliche, think of it as proof that God keeps His promises. Share the depth of that with others this year. 

May YOU be blessed this Christmas season with a renewed vision of the One who came, died, rose from the dead and will soon come again.

(Italicized material taken from David Schrock’s article. The weblink to that article is below.)

Pastor Shrock's Article