Isaiah 43:16-25

“I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

“But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the desert. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed. I have made Israel for myself, and they will someday honor me before the whole world.

“But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me, O Israel! You have not brought me sheep or goats for burnt offerings. You have not honored me with sacrifices, though I have not burdened and wearied you with requests for grain offerings and frankincense. You have not brought me fragrant calamus or pleased me with the fat from sacrifices. Instead, you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your faults.

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.

Isaiah 43:16-25

Dear God, thank you for blotting out my sins. Thank you for making a pathway through the wilderness. I am sorry for growing tired of you. I am sorry for the times when I refuse to ask for your help. I am sorry for taking back the life I gave you and trying to live on my own. I am sorry for burdening you with my sins and wearying you with my faults. Thank you that you have overcome all of my humanness through what you did by sending Jesus to live, die, and rise again. Thank you.

Father, there isn’t much more to this. Your words through Isaiah are just a great reminder that I am foolish, sinful, selfish, and shortsighted. But you are gracious beyond my foolishness. You are forgiving beyond my sinfulness. You are loving beyond my selfishness. And you are compassionate beyond my shortsightedness. Thank you, Father. Thank you.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

John 16:16-33

“In a little while you won’t see me anymore. But a little while after that, you will see me again.” Some of the disciples asked each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’? And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.” Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. “I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God. Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.” Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe? But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:16-33

Dear God, one of the interesting things about this story is that it is all about Jesus speaking plainly so they can understand, but what they took from it wasn’t what he told them about mourning and then being okay. They still missed it. No, their response was to say that they had been doubting in who he was because Jesus spoke so cryptically, but now since he was speaking plainly to them they believed him. But they still missed what he was saying!!

I’m going to shift gears a little bit here and talk about the mystery of the afterlife. Over the last four years, there have been (at least) two shows/movies that have dealt with the questions of what is happening beyond our earthly lives. The first was a TV series called The Good Place. The second was a movie that just released from Pixar, but they probably started working on about four years ago, called Soul. I probably would not have watched The Good Place if a good friend hadn’t recommended it to me. And I probably wouldn’t have watched Soul except that 1.) it was a Pixar movie and they are usually pretty good and 2.) given that I had watched The Good Place, I was intrigued by how this movie might present the after life. 

Beyond the false premises each of these stories embraced, what I noticed is that, even among seemingly secular people, there is this desire to figure out what is going on in the universe, and an innate knowledge that there is more to life than what we can physically see. The Good Place focused on works to explain what happens to us, but even that life turned out to be empty and ultimately everyone chose non-existence over an good, but seemingly empty, existence for what I’ll call “never ending time.” I am intentionally not saying “eternity” because I am assuming that the time plane you work on does not match up with the time plane where we currently live. 

Soul, on the other hand, focused on the “great before.” The posited that there is a place where our souls develop before they come to earth in our bodies, and it’s only when they find their motivation to live on earth that they get their chance. To be honest, I’m not even sure what question this theory is answering except that we all need to find our motivation for wanting to live life. 

I guess where I ultimately come to on all of this is a willingness to submit myself to ignorance. Some would call that weak-minded, but I simply don’t need to know or understand everything. I’m here for a reason (or many reasons–most of which I do not realize) and you have use of me while I’m here. There will be times when I am scared, confused, hurt, thrilled, relieved, etc. All of those things are pushing me in the direction you need me to go so that I might do the work you need me to do and become the man you need me to become. In terms of the “great before” or the after life, I’m just going to trust you, with the understanding that, if I’m wrong about anything 1.) there is room for you to take care of me and love me and 2.) even if I am wrong about #1 there really isn’t anything I can do about it anyway.

Father, help me to be a person who can provide your comfort and peace to those who are seeking such things. Give them your hope, peace, and joy through me and through others. And for everyone involved in The Good Place and Soul, please speak your comfort and truth to them so that they might join with your kingdom and become your ambassadors as well.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

“If they ain’t following you, you ain’t leading.” Skye Jethani

Dear God, I was listening to The Holy Post podcast from last week earlier today, and there was a part that really struck me. It starts at the 40:30 mark. They were talking about how evangelical leaders are making public statements regarding different social and political issues and yet evangelical people, when surveyed do not, for the most part, support those views. For example, in 2017, there were evangelical leaders who have said that it is important for the United States to be a place for legal immigrants to be able to come, but, when surveyed, a majority of white evangelicals support limiting legal immigration–more so than any other religious group surveyed. When one host, Phil Vischer, asked another, Sky Jethani, what he thought of that, Skye said, “It’s very simple: If they ain’t following, you ain’t leading.”

It made me think about a Baptist pastor in the town where I live. I was in a meeting among several pastors a couple of weeks ago, and the Baptist pastor, who has trained pastors in third-world countries in different parts of the world, said something to the effect that one thing he learned in the pandemic is that he thought they had a church where people were really seeking you, but what he’s found is that they have a social organization where like-minded people are getting together to socialize. The different agendas people have brought to the table since the pandemic and some of the decisions the church has made in relation to meetings has revealed the true character of the church. There was absolute silence when he said it.

Back to the podcast, they started talking about what each of us allows into our heads that shapes our thoughts, theology, and worldview. For example, if I give my church one hour of influence over me a week, how much time am I giving to news (and which news), television, music, movies, etc.? Phil Vischer mentioned (50:30 mark) that he normally spends time in personal Bible study, but lately decided to give himself over to some teaching from a theologian he trusts to allow that person to shape and/or challenge some of Phil’s perspective. The example he gave was a biblical commentary from Scot McKnight, a respected theologian, on the Sermon on the Mount.

That brings me to the last podcast host, Christian Taylor, who talked about a pastor, Matt Murdock at Church of the Resurrection, encouraging the parishioners to take an inventory of what influences them throughout the week (45:45 mark). What is everything I listen to/watch/consume? Who do I talk to? What all influences me? It doesn’t all have to be sacred, but what am I letting in? How am I using each day to know you better? As I envision doing this inventory, I almost envision the Weight Watchers point system. I can get some sweets, but too much is too much. Over time, I think the Holy Spirit will guide me to the answer of how much is too much.

The last part of the conversation is that evangelical leaders need to figure out the new paradigm of leading and influencing in this new age. They are using a 19th century model for parishioners living in a 21st century world.

Father, help me find good people to follow, and help me to be a good example for those who depend upon me to lead. Help me to see what you see, learn what you have for me to learn, and worship you the way you deserve to be worshipped. Do it all for your glory and so that others around me might be drawn to you, your salvation, your peace, and your path for them.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

What are you doing here?

But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9b)

Dear God, it’s a totally different context and set of circumstances within which I find myself right now than where Elijah was in his life, but the question came to me yesterday while I was driving to my vacation. What am I doing here? I don’t feel a particular need for a vacation. I don’t feel burned out. I don’t feel directionless. I don’t feel lost or scared. Why am I spending a couple thousand dollars this week to be here? What am I doing here?

The last time I remember feeling this question asked of me was in January 2005. That was a time of great uncertainty, and we were convinced that was going to be the year that we really focused on my wife. She was going to apply to graduate school in another state, and I was going to be willing to relocate for her benefit. 2005 was gong to be “The Year of Megan.” So I was at a men’s retreat at the beginning of January with my dad and brother-in-law, and I remember going for a jog/hike and praying about the year ahead and being willing to do whatever you wanted. In retrospect, it was a huge year for our family, but it ended up being my career for which we changed cities and moved.

So now I’m asking myself why I’m here. Honestly, I had the week off and I had no idea what I would do at home for a week. I could do some chores, but that would only take a day (and they’ll be waiting for me when I get back). The other days would just be killing time. But there is something being down at the beach at South Padre Island and that helps me to disengage and relax. And it also helps me to be away and to think. It also helps me to maybe give some attention to different writing projects that are on my heart.

So what am I doing here? Father, I think it’s just to not waste days, but to have some time to both rest, pray, and think. Pray about they year to come as it pertains to my personal world (family, work, friends, community, etc.) and the world at large. Think about what is on my heart and what might have been put there by you. And work on a couple of these projects and see if they have any traction. There just might be something there that can make a difference for your kingdom. So be with me this week. Speak to me. Give me ears to hear, eyes to see, and a mind read to respond.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” by Bryan Duncan (translated by John Mason Neale – 1861)

“O come, O Come, Emmanuel” by Bryan Duncan (translated by John Mason Neale – 1861)

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Dear God, as I get ready to go on vacation, I thought I would look at journaling through some Christmas songs/hymns. This is another one from Our Christmas, a various artists collection from Word Records in 1990. I’ve always liked it.

The first verse simply reminds me that I don’t know what it means to suffer. Sure, I’ve had heartaches, but I am a very privileged man. I live a middle class life in a country that offers me a lot of freedom. I cannot relate to the feelings that captive Israelites felt. I don’t even necessarily long for Jesus’s return now. But there are people who do suffer. There are people who are captive. There are people who long for your justice and return. I am sorry I am not more sensitive to them and their longings. I’m sorry I am numb to them. Sure, I do things in my daily life that help others (some of it is part of my vocation), but I draw lines and I try to not be too inconvenienced. It’s easier to just look away.

Now this second verse is one to which I can relate more. Satan is always after us, and I can feel it in my own family, both in my immediate and extended families. Thank you for the gift of ultimate victory over Satan. He might win many, many battles here on earth, but the war is lost for him. Thank you for this gift.

Father, sometimes songs like this are great because the communicate a great longing. Longing for something beyond what we can really understand. Longing for peace and rest. I’ll confess that I’m not sure what to expect or what I even need from this vacation. Help me to use this week productively. I certainly don’t feel like I should be staying here. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do while I’m there. Help me to not waste a moment, but give both my wife and me exactly what we need–as a couple and as individuals–so that our lives might be part of your kingdom coming and your will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

“One Small Child” by David Meece

https://youtu.be/L9iVEF9H-PQ

“One Small Child” by David Meece

One small child in a land of a thousand
One small dream of a Savior tonight
One small hand reaching out to the starlight
One small Savior of life

One king bringing his gold and riches
One king ruling an army of might
One king kneeling with incense and canglelight
One king bringing us life

See Him lying a cradle beneath Him
See Him smiling in the stall
See His mother praising His Father
See His tiny eyelids fall

See the shepherds kneeling before Him
See the kings on bended knee
Oh, See the mother praising the Father
See the Blessed infant sleep.

One small child in a land of a thousand
One small dream of a Savior tonight
One small hand reaching out to the starlight
One small Savior of life

Ooo … Oh … Oh … Oh …
One small child Oh …
One small child Oh …

Dear God, this is one of my favorite Christmas songs. It first came out in 1990 on an album from Word, for whom I worked at the time. Until this moment, I had no idea David Meece actually wrote the song. I thought it was a remake of an older song.

I like several things about the poetry in this song. The first stanza plays with the word “small.” A small child, dream, hand, and savior. I guess everything starts small. Even the nonprofit where I work, which has become a large, complicated operations, started with a small idea given to a woman by you–get some doctors to volunteer one night a week to see people who are poor and don’t have insurance. A seed of an idea. A seed of faith that grows.

The next are the kings. There’s a king bringing riches (one of the wise men), there’s one ruling an army (Herod), there’s one kneeling with incense, and then there’s one bringing us life.

The next stanza has “him and his.” Jesus lying in the manger. Jesus smiling. Jesus’s mother. Jesus falling asleep.

The next stanza is about worship. Shepherd kneel. Kings are on bended knee. Mary praises you. Jesus sleeps.

I have chills while I picture the scenes. Father, help me to be humble today. Help me to be humble with my wife, my children, my family, and my friends. Glorify yourself through my life. Increase as I decrease. Thank you.

In Jesus’s precious, precious name I pray,

Amen

 

Secular Christmas

Dear God, I was thinking abut topics for my prayer time with you today, and then it hit me. It started with how I feel about Christmas Eve now vs. when I was a child.

When I was little, it was all about the presents that were coming for me and the presents I was giving others. Presents, presents, presents. Then, when I was about 9 or 10 years old we started doing church on Christmas Eve. Christmas started to take on a more appropriate celebration of Jesus’s birth and incarnation. Later, as I moved away, it became about going home to visit for the holidays and then taking my wife and eventually children to visit our families at some point around Christmas. Jesus was still there, but there were, I don’t want to say “obligations,” because the word is more positive than that. I suppose there were emotional pulls to try to see family.

Of course, then we had children and it became about making it fun (and yet somehow meaningful in a Jesus-centric way) for them. Outside of my own childhood years, those might have been my favorite. It was a lot of fun to shower them with love, and they were young enough where they could receive it with complete joy.

Now, I am at the age where the kids are living in other places and there aren’t really things they want that they don’t just buy for themselves. This is the first year for my wife when both of her parents are gone. In fact, she told me it struck her that she doesn’t have anyone to buy a Christmas present for from her family of origin this year. That’s a weird feeling that I haven’t experienced. So we have each other. It’s Christmas Eve. I saw my parents briefly yesterday, in a safe, socially-distanced way. Our son and his dog will be here for the day tomorrow. And we will Zoom with my family of origin and our daughter tomorrow as well. We bought some presents for our children and my parents to express our love, but it’s more about the thought of the gift rather than what the gifts are. It’s different.

Which leads me to what I want to talk about this morning. I realized that all of the cultural Christmas things I have been experiencing over the last four weeks are completely secular. The TV shows and movies have nothing to do with you. In fact, I looked at the top 10 Christmas movies as rated by some group. They were 10.) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 9.) The Nightmare Before Christmas 8.) A Christmas Carol (1951) 7.) The Apartment 6.) Elf 5.) The Muppet Christmas Carol 4.) Home Alone 3.) Miracle on 34th Street 2.) A Christmas Story 1.) It’s a Wonderful Life. Even A Christmas Carol, in any of its renditions, really doesn’t have anything to do with you. It’s about the human heart, but nothing about reconciliation.

I probably need to go back and watch The Nativity. It was a really well-done depiction of Mary and Joseph’s journey up to Jesus’s birth. I think I’ve watched it twice. I supposed I should have watched it more. Why haven’t I?

Father, I really do want to spend this day in gratitude for you. My wife is important. My children and family of origin are important. Helping a family that is unknown to me with Christmas presents is important. But I don’t want to take you for granted any more than I already do. I am really grateful to you. Please help me to love you and then channel your love to others. And thank you for Jesus’s incarnation.

I pray all of this in Jesus’s name,

Amen

 

Luke 2:8-20

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Luke 2:8-20

Dear God, yesterday I took this story and spent some time with Mary and Joseph. Today, I want to look at it from the perspective of the shepherds. First, I acknowledge that I probably don’t know enough about shepherds and their lives in this era. But going back to my question yesterday of, “Why did you appear to the shepherds and have them go to see Jesus?” I want to ask this question again from their perspective. Why these guys?

First, what were your options? Local synagogue leaders, the local political officials, the wealthy community leaders, Joseph’s relatives (presumably he had relatives there for the census too), etc. Why didn’t you choose any of these people? When I ask it this way, the answer is pretty obvious: they would have laid their own agenda on top of yours. Church leaders might have tried to take the baby from Mary and Joseph. Local political or community leaders might have tried to prop up Joseph and Mary in an effort to train the child to one day be their leader–ultimately keeping them from being able to flee to Egypt or completely altering the life Jesus led as he grew up. Even his relatives would have been excited about the Messiah being born to their family and they might have tried to influence the rest of Jesus’s life.

Then there are the shepherds. Unassuming. No agenda. No power or prestige. No reason for anyone outside of Mary and Joseph to even believe them. Heck, they could have been drunk and hallucinated the whole thing. No, these were the perfect people to hear about your son being born.

I think every pastor in town would like to think you would have come to them with the news. I would like to think that I would be trustworthy with the news of Jesus being born. But all of us are likely to lay our own agendas, visions, and preconceived notions on what this child’s life should be like. Look at Zechariah and his prophecy over John. A lot of it was wrong. He didn’t understand. No one did. How could they. You needed someone then who wouldn’t try to apply their own ideas and understandings to the situation. How much is that true now as well? How often do I get in the way of your plans with my own “wisdom” and agendas.

Finally, I want to look at what it did for these men in particular. How did they see you differently? What were their conversations like as they went back to the fields? We know they went back praising and glorifying you. Was that the first time in a long time they had done that? Were you more real, more important to them now than you had been the night before? How did this transform the rest of their lives? Their families?

Father, when I come across the moments in my life when you show up, help me to just praise and glorify you. Help me to let go of trying to lay my own plans on top of it. Even at work right now, you did great things for us this year, and there are times I allow myself to become burdened by what I’m supposed to do with the gifts you have given to the organization where I work. But I don’t know, and when I do that it steals the joy from the moment. I forget to worship and glorify you. I don’t forget to be thankful, but I also don’t stop to simply accept the provision and pray for how you want it used. So I pray for that now. Help our organization know how to use the donations of money and time that you bring to us. Help me to know how to glorify your name so that you are always increasing and I am decreasing. Help me to approach life like a shepherd and not like the people from whom you kept the knowledge about Jesus’s birth.

I pray all of this in Jesus’s name because you reconciled me to yourself through his sacrifice and power as your son,

Amen

 

Luke 2:8-20

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Luke 2:8-20

Dear God, the things we always miss in the telling of this story is the “why.” Why did you have the angels appear to the shepherds? I have a theory, and it’s only a theory. In my mind, much like Hagar after she ran away from Sarai got an angel visit and she called you “the God he sees me” (Genesis 16:13), Mary and Joseph were in a terrible spot. They had agreed to follow your requests and be the parents of this baby, but now they found themselves alone without family, in a stable with their new baby. Was this really your plan? Were their previous visions of angels just weird dreams? Was there any part of Jospeh that was once again doubting Mary’s story?

Then these men show up and tell everyone their story. It was not only remarkable, but it contained a few things:

• Third-party verification of what Joseph and Mary had each heard separately.
• Affirmation of who this child was.
• The knowledge that you knew exactly where they were in that moment (a stable) and that was okay.

So now Mary and Joseph have their affirmation. And not only for the moment, but for the future as well: “Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.” She thought about them when the wise men showed up. She thought abut them when they went to Egypt. She thought about them when they lost Jesus 12 years later. She probably thought about them when she doubted Jesus’s sanity. This was a huge gift for her.

So why these guys? Well, maybe I’ll talk a bout that tomorrow. For now, let me just sit with the idea that you see me, you love me, and you send me affirmations I probably sometimes miss. You are so good. I’m sorry for how I fail. I really wish I was better for you, for my wife, for my children, and for everyone around me. Help me to be better.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 

Luke 2:1-7

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

Luke 2:1-7

Dear God, I’m so grateful to Luke for recording all of this. And it always amazes me how efficient biblical writers are with their words. He tells this particular part of the story with 130-ish words (depending on the translation). I probably need to be a lot more efficient in my own writing and storytelling.

Isn’t it interesting that you have this story for us at all. If it were up to me to give believers in Jesus a handbook, I would have just given them Jesus’s teachings. Here’s what he said about this. Here’s what he said about that. Instead, we get these stories about everyone around him. His second cousin, Elizabeth and her son John. His disciples. His mother and father. His siblings. The Pharisees like Nicodemus. Pilate. In this case, we have two real people responding the real challenges. They made the best of a bad situation, but you weren’t the first person to be laid in a manger and you won’t be the last. It’s just that stories like this help us to understand we are not alone. It’s possible to do it right and still face struggles.

Father, help me to face my life the way these two parents did–one moment at a time. They had their dreams and thoughts about what and who Jesus would be (and they were mostly wrong), but they had a problem to solve and provision from you to seek. And you provided. You provided a manger. Later, you would provide gold and other gifts from the wise men they could use to fund their escape to Egypt. They didn’t have to know the future or your plan. They just had to be faithful. Help me to be faithful today.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen