Bringing Gifts

The purpose of Advent is to take one’s mind off the preparation of gifts for man and; instead, focus on the preparation of gifts for our Father. Then again, the Little Drummer Boy, makes it very clear when he indicates, “we have no gifts to bring.”

So then, where does that leave us?

Yesterday, I was listening to an old John Piper sermon on Advent and it talked about the ways that Satan wants to thwart the gifts we can bring – The gifts of focus, attention, intentionality. Satan is consumed with wrapping us up in the frivolity of the holiday so that we neglect the intention of the season. In Christmas, He tempts us yet again to put religion in front of relationship.

CS Lewis sums it up fairly well in this quote from his essay God In the Dock when he says:

"The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left."

Advent is the reflection on the miracle. It is the bringing forth of the gifts of focus, attention, and intentionality on the birth of Christ. This is keeping CHRIST in Christmas. But, it is also the bringing forth of these gifts to the day to day that we live from now until Christ “bring(s) nature up with Him.”

May the day come expediently.

What are you expecting?

In celebration of Advent, I should probably get an Advent Wreath (super serious advent). Or maybe a calendar (playful and jovial advent)?

Usually, the German Club at my school sells them, but come to think of it, I don’t know if my new school has a German Club. I did order some grapefruits awhile back though, so maybe I can use those instead? I mean, nothing says “Jesus is coming!” like a fruit that is hard to peel and squirts a vicious acidic juice in my eye.

Advent is an anticipation of what’s coming.

In that way, I’ve been adventing all year long. Or so it seems.
I recently switched schools. And, there’s a back story there (not a sketchy “I got caught stealing paper clips” back story, but a back story all the same) and that back story is the one of how God took me from one place to another unexpectedly.

I think that was some sort of blind advent season. I was waiting and anticipating without knowing it.

And now, for all intents and purposes, it’s an active advent. I am in full anticipation mode with my new school. I am waiting for the day when it feels normal, waiting for the day when I won’t feel new, waiting for the day when all seems comfortable. There are many prayers that are directed toward this end.

But, what if that’s not what this advent is about?

Is my hopeful anticipation for my life to go exactly as I plan? Is my advent about achieving normal as quickly as possible? Or, even worse, is my advent about being settled?

What if advent isn’t about getting exactly what we expect? What if advent is about the new thing that God is doing?

The more I think of it. The more I know that’s true.

What was expected was a king that would bring riches and triumph to the land. What they got was a baby in manger living a humble life. Yes, this baby would become the savior and hope to all people, but He wasn’t what people expected, so many turned away.

There’s a lesson in this. And, I’m on the fringes of it.

As we sit in advent this Christmas season, what is it that we are expecting? What is it that we are awaiting? And how we will respond when God performs in a way that we do not expect?

Reflections on Christmas and Modern Man

I started off this first week of advent by venturing into the archives of Martyn Lloyd-Jones. In thinking about Christmas and what it’s all about and what it actually means, one might head to the gospels for a frame of reference, but today, we headed to 1 Corinthians 1:20 - 21.

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

The message of this sermon was clear: Satan wants to abduct the message of Christ and he desires to stand between people and the real message of Christ.

The world’s Christmas message – Christmas is man at his best and man in his best mood.

BUT, is this what Christmas is all about?

The Christian message – Christmas is a challenge to the world.

In Corinthians, it asks – “Where are the wise of the world?”

It is a challenge for the wise to speak for the world. It is meant to humble the world. And Christmas is the onset of this humbling. That is the challenge inherent in the birth of Jesus and culminated in His death a nearly thirty years later. It is a display of the glory and the triumph of God. God making foolish the wisdom of the world. That is Christmas. The foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than man.

The message of Christmas is the announcement of what God has done. Any message lifting up man instead is a renouncement of the message of Christ.
So, what is it that we are lifting up this Christmas?

Christmas plays out in this threefold manner:

1. God enters world. Emmanuel!

2. What God has done on Christmas is something that does not conform to this world. It doesn’t belong to the human order. As believers, we can proclaim the miraculous and supernatural. This gives us hope! For, if we were to be saved by ourselves, then everything would be hopeless. So, Christmas should inspire us to not conform. (Romans 12:1)

3. The world does not understand. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. And this reality that the impossible becomes possible through Christ in a virgin, Mary, is overwhelming and gnaws at our brain. So, Lloyd-Jones concludes that if we have never had as issue with the Christmas message, then we may have never known it. We should struggle with the fullness of what the Christmas message reveals. The natural man struggles to believe it. And, to Mary, it was impossible too. But faith prevailed even when it baffled.

Does your faith baffle you?

God makes human wisdom look foolish.

The world, by wisdom, did not know God.

The world’s wisdom failed to arrive at a knowledge of God.

In his miracles, God exposed the failure of wisdom.

In his miracles, God revealed the triumph of faith.

Advent. Intentionally.

Advent.

I think I most closely associate advent with a cardboard calendar and cheap chocolate candy.

I found a picture the other day. It was my school picture from when I was 5. I was wearing a plaid jumper (yes, jumper) and a gold cross necklace.
I had to laugh for two reasons:

1. I looked ridiculous in that jumper…

2. Where in the world did I get that cross and why did my parents let me where gold when I was 5?

Being neither committed to jumpers nor the Jesus when I was 5, that picture seemed so out of place. Like a funny little picture of someone else. It was totally me and yet it wasn’t all in the same breath.
And that’s how my Advent memory feels too.

There was no preparation for the King or anticipation of His birth. There was simply the single-minded determination to survive another day for that waxy, toy-shaped piece of chocolate.

Now that I’m a believer, I’ve regularly thought that the Christmas season should be lived out with far more intentionality than it actually is. And despite my regular thoughts, there has been an absence of action to follow. Last year’s Christmas season caught me with a sucker punch. I think I waxed poetically about Joseph and a pregnant Mary on a donkey and how tough the journey was. Little did I know that my own journey on a donkey was soon to follow and it seemed a lot less glorious than the one I wrote about in the weeks prior. Those days were all about survival and so, in the spirit of forced obedience, I trudged a path I didn’t want to be on with valuable yet scarring lessons as the reward.

Since then, I have this felt donkey that hangs from my rear view mirror. A donkey to remind me that the journey from now until next will rarely look the way I want (I mean who wants to be riding on a donkey?) and it often won’t go the way I plan (Much like the days and life of Mary), but God is faithful in growing us in good and perfect ways with good and perfect timing and good and perfect execution…

Ok, so back to Advent and living it intentionally.

This year, I’ll be blogging Advent – What God’s teaching me, what text, scripture, etc. He is putting in front of me, and anything else that pops up along the way. For me, to put an experience into words is to convey my intent to chase it down and commit to its lessons. So, for those that are friends, readers, etc. I encourage you to Advent intentionally too… And share with me your experience to prepare room for the King of kings.