Friday, December 30, 2011

New Beginnings

As we approach the new year, most of us begin them with resolutions to change something in our lives.  It is a perfect time to do so.  January is named after the Roman god Janus who had two faces one looking back and one looking ahead.  It is the time of year, when we evaluate the past and prepare for the future.  As we look back we see things that we do not like.  For example, we may not like our weight, our health, our relationships, our spirituality.  Therefore, we prepare for the new year resolving to do better, to lose weight, stop smoking, focus on relationships, spend more time in prayer.  There is nothing wrong with this exercise, it is good to be able to start over, to begin again.

As a Christian, we have the privilege of a new beginning every day of our lives.  Because of the cross and the forgiveness it provides us, we can begin again every day of our lives.  We can look back to yesterday and if we have had a bad day, we can focus on the cross and know that every sin that we have committed has been paid for by the blood of Christ.  We can confess each sin as well as our sinfulness for even as we live our lives we do so often unaware of our actions and in-actions that are sinful.  We can know that God still loves us and start again asking God to help us to develop the spiritual disciplines we need to live out who we are in Christ.

We can look back on good days as well and vow to start again because it is so easy to begin thinking that God is pleased with us because of our goodness rather than the goodness of Christ in us.  We can confess to God that even when I think I have a good day, my goodness is not enough for God to approve of me.  I can rest on Christ's righteousness alone for God's approval of me.  Otherwise, I risk developing a self-righteous attitude.

Each day is a new beginning for each of us.  Do you avail upon that grace in your life.  Think about it. 

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Did Baby Jesus Cry?

Each Christmas we sing the words, "the little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes," but do we stop to think if what we are singing is true.  It sounds so wonderful.  Jesus was God incarnate, God come in the flesh.  Therefore, Jesus was perfect .  In our minds, a perfect child would not cry.

Yes, Jesus was the incarnate Son of God. But incarnate means that Jesus was also fully human.  A fully human child cries.  For example, when a baby gets hungry, the only way he can communicate that he is hungry is through crying.  Therefore. the little Lord Jesus some crying he made.  In fact that is the greater miracle.

Why is that a miracle?  It is a miracle because Jesus was truly human.  God loved us so much that he sent his son into this world to experience everything we do.  He could have sent His Son and kept him separate from the hurts of this world, but He sent His Son to experience the hurts of this world.  Therefore, Jesus not only came into this world to save us, but to live through everything we do so that He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Oh, what a love that God has for us.

So the next time you sing, maybe you can change the words to, the little Lord Jesus some crying He made.  Think about it.





Friday, December 9, 2011

When Tebow Disappoints

I have watched with fascination the last few weeks the stories about Tim Tebow, the quarterback of the Denver Broncos.  According to most football analysts, Tim Tebow right now is the most successful failure as quarterback.  I have heard people talk about his inability to throw the football correctly and to direct an offense consistently.  The only thing that Tebow does right is win. 
What makes Tebow controversial though is not his poor mechanics, but his out spoken faith in Jesus Christ.  Tebow unashamedly talks about his relationship with Christ, and looks for opportunities to share his faith.  Some people don't like this and have expressed their opinion about it.  I have even heard one commentator say that there are some people who hope that Tebow has a fall from grace.

I am not a Denver Broncos fan but I do like Tim Tebow.  I like him not just because he is a Christian but he brings excitement to the game.  No matter what the experts say, Tim Tebow is a winner.  He has been one in college and surprising to most he is doing that right now in the NFL. 

I do want to set a couple of things straight about Tebow.  First, Tebow is not winning games because God is blessing Him for being a good Christian.  There are many Christians in the NFL and they are playing on losing teams.  God's blessings are far greater than a NFL win or a large salary, and are present in your life when you lose and when your salary is gone.  God's blessings are never earned, they are given by grace.  So when Tim Tebow loses a game, it does not mean that God loves him less.

The second thing I want to say is that one day Tim Tebow will be a disappointment.  I am not saying that he will have a great moral failure (although he like all of us are capable).  But He will disappoint someone, because we are all sinners.  We are all moral failures.  We are Christians not because we are good people.  We are Christians because we are sinners who have had their failures (past, present and future) forgiven by God through faith in Jesus Christ.  Christians are as Luther said at the same time sinner and just.  When we sin, we scar ourselves and we scar others.  We have to live with the earthly consequences of our behavior, but the eternal consequences have been paid for on the cross of Christ.

So, Tim Tebow is a Christian and Tim Tebow is a sinner.  As a sinner he can and most likely will  disappoint someone.  He is not perfect, none of us are.  However, there is one person who was perfect.  His name is Jesus.  He will never disappoint.  Think about it.