MERRY CHRISTMAS- 2024

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

T'was the night before Christmas-

       when the young couple completed their long

            journey... and arrived in town.

T'was the time of the census, and
      men were returning to their hometowns
            to register ... for the powers-that-be.

One of these men was a man named Joseph-
      Yosef, not Joe, and he came from Bethlehem,
            which means "house of bread" in Hebrew.

It was a homecoming of sorts,
      but he couldn't find a room for his fiancée,

and she was very pregnant with their first child.

 

So,,, they ended up in a cattle shed, behind an inn... 

      grateful for a place to lay their heads...

Miriam (Mary) was in need of rest and shelter

It was there, in that cattle shed,

where she gave birth to a boy named Yeshua,

which comes to us as "JESUS."

 

At the first Christmas... the stars were the only lights.

There was no feast or gift exchange either.

              just a young man, his bride-to-be, and a baby

       lying vulnerably... in a cattle trough

The mood was sweet. The noise of the world

was muffled by the joy of the moment

and the sense of wonder

that filled the cattle shed.

No one could've known it then–

not even the boldest among them,
       but time itself was split in two on this day,
            with BC giving way to Anno Domini (AD)

Before his birth, they lived in a world without hope,

everyone did… and then there was a promise

and a hope that would never be squelched,

 

The shepherds weren’t accustomed to being invited.

Come morning they were still just shepherds... 

              but they were never without hope again!

A couple of years later,
      some astrologers came from Persia

brought gifts of homage...

to the baby King born in Israel.

 

They were "wise" because they sought him,

and worshiped him, and didn’t enter into

His presence empty-handed!

 

Come morning- it looked like just another day-
      with babies crying, women making bread,

and men working at their trade...

But that first Christmas was no ordinary day... 

      and there would never again be an ordinary day...

            because a Savior had been born!

 

God had come to earth,

with gifts of joy, peace, love, hope, and

              salvation to people who needed to be accepted

and saved... more than anything else!

Come morning, it was AD, Anno Domini,
      because our Lord had arrived in Bethlehem. 

            Unto us a Savior had been born! Hallelujah!!

Sherry and I pray that each and everyone of you will experience the depths of God’s love and grace, this Christmas of 2024!  pk

 

Bearing Fruit Worthy of Repentance

“BEAR FRUIT WORTHY OF REPENTANCE”

 

In their minds they had given their best efforts to please the Lord. What does it take, they cried, to please the Lord? (Micah 6:6-7) This was the question and this was Micah’s answer- do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God… which are action words. DO justice. LOVE mercy. WALK HUMBLY. LIVE as if… you have given your heart and soul to God. In Amos’ day (760BC) the people also wondered why God seemed to be so unhappy with them, and in part, Amos told them that their sin rested in the way they treated others. Open your eyes, he exclaimed, and see what’s going on: you impose a straw tax on the poor and also tax their grain; you take bribes and deny justice in your courts; you treat your neighbors with disdain. Quit worshiping yourselves… and let justice roll down like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream.  

In Isaiah’s book (58:6ff) God told us plainly how to please Him:  “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie
the cords of the yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them?
Help people stand-up and live with dignity. Open a door for someone who has his or her hands full, listen for a moment (even if you’re in a hurry) to someone’s story, share a prayer, make life easier in whatever ways you can, cheer for others, give others a ride or car fare, sit with someone who is sitting alone… live as if you love God with every fiber of your being and trust that the glory of the Lord will be your year guard!

They came by the thousands for John’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and when John told them to “bear the fruits worthy of repentance,” they wanted to know what he had in mind. Should they take a class in theology, increase their church attendance, make amends like they do in the12-step world, give more generously, work at the food bank, and even sign on to teach Sunday school? And John said, if you want to show others that Christ lives in your heart, let your love for God tumble out of your hearts and touch the lives of others in very ordinary and meaningful ways. Give one of your coats to someone who doesn’t have a coat- if you have two, you have one coat too many- and if you have more than you will eat, share your food with those who are hungry! Tax-collectors were at the river too, and they asked John what they could do to show others that they had repented. And John told them to quit collecting more taxes than they were required to, and it was the same with the soldiers who were at the river. John didn’t admonish them for being soldiers, but if they had given their hearts to God, they should quit extorting money from vulnerable people and be content with their pay.

A year or two ago I asked our great-grandson how he met his best friend and he said, “Well, I was sitting in our cafeteria- alone as usual- and when he came into the room, he sat down right beside me.” I remember a church employee who had “lost” her car and didn’t have the money to fix it. It was a crisis in her life… but one of my friends gave her an old car that had been sitting in her garage. The reason for the quick response was simple. She said, “we had three cars and she had none.” And then there’s the time when our daughter was walking through Central Park on Christmas. Due to a number of unforeseen events she was alone… and lonely. She must have looked lonely because when she passed by a beggar at the gate, he yelled, “Hey, get over here! It looks like you could use a Christmas hug!” And they hugged- the beggar and the artist who lives in Westchester County- and the hug lifted both of their spirits.

I won’t see my friend, Tug, this Christmas Eve- but the smile on his face from last year’s service is still with me. And I will recall the “fruit worthy of repentance” that he had shared with people who touched his heart through the year. There was a cashier at Kroger’s, an employee at Home Depot, a woman at Proctor Home! He blessed them because God had blessed him! They weren’t big enough gifts to replace the lottery, but they were more than big enough to bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye! God bless!

You don’t need a sermon. Just share the love of God with those whom God has placed along your path!