Week Three of Advent – Joy – The Shepherd’s Candle

When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us. So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger. When they saw him, they related what they had been told about this child, and all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said. But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean. So the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told. –Luke 2:15-20 (NET)

We are getting closer to Christmas! Store owners have their count-down clocks going, only 13 more shopping days till Christmas (as of today). Hallmark Christmas movies are in full swing with their feel-good predictable outcome. Houses are decorated inside and out. We focus on joy as the third week of Advent begins.

Anticipation! Merriam-Webster defines it as “a prior action that takes into account or forestalls a later action, the act of looking forward, visualization of a future event or state.” As an 8-year-old boy, I knew I needed to act to “forestall” a potential problem. The problem: there was no present under the Christmas tree for me. Granted it was probably two or three weeks until Christmas, but in case my parents had forgotten, I took matters into my own hands. I had a little money saved up, so the first time we drove into town, I went directly (yes, an 8-year-old could go by himself) to the Five & Dime store in our little town and bought myself a Christmas present, a Tiddlywinks game. Mrs. Skaggs wrapped it up and I took it home and put it under the tree. Problem solved! Now I had a present under the Christmas tree!

In a couple of weeks, homes around the world will find children and adults excitedly unwrapping gifts. You will get to open the brightly wrapped presents that have been tempting you for weeks – the gifts that you secretly picked up, turned over and over, maybe giving a gentle shake trying to see if you could guess what’s in the box. Finally, the moment arrives for you to rip off the paper and open the box. Now just imagine though that one after another of the brightly covered packages contained nothing but empty boxes. Your excitement would quickly give way to despair, maybe a little anger, and definitely a lot of disappointment.

I just imagine this is how the people of Israel must have felt. They have been opening empty boxes for almost 400 years since Malachi’s final words to wait. “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” Malachi 4:5-6 (NIV). Generation after generation would hold these verses close to their hearts waiting for the coming Messiah. Finally, the day arrives with the words, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” –Luke 2:10b-11 (NIV) This angelic birth announcement ends the 400 years of empty boxes for all who have been waiting for the Messiah’s coming.

Mark’s Christmas story is brief and to the point, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” Peter Adams writes, “Like the people in Malachi’s day, we are called to look back and look forward. We look back to the coming of Christ, and to his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension; and we look forward to the coming of Christ in glory, when he will save his people, judge all people, and restore all things.”

God could have sent ten thousand angels to restore His creation and destroy the sinfulness of the world. God had the right as Creator and this would have made political and strategic sense, yet He chose the strategy of love. God came into the world as a baby. Holding my newest granddaughter and looking at her vulnerability, tenderness, and dependence, I marvel at the power of a baby to bring such joy and hope.

God’s incarnation as a baby allows us to touch and hold the sacred and it was in the gentleness of Jesus’ cry that night that a hurting, hopeless, and rejected world could again have hope and life. In that tender cry, we hear the life-giving words “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” –John 3:16 (NIV)

Hebrews 4:14-16 is not a classic Christmas verse but it is worth reading and reflecting upon during this Advent season.  This passage allows us to wait and live with hope, encouragement, courage, and confidence.  “Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Christmas is the amazing story of a Savior; wrapped in ordinary clothes, born in humble circumstances, and marked with a destiny that will change lives forever. Jesus broke the silence of 400 years and is still breaking the silence of brokenness today! Paul David Tripp says it well, “No one knows you more deeply and fully than your Savior, so no one offers you help form fitted for your deepest needs like he does.”

Christmas is coming!

God is great!