Deeper Still by phil mccallum

I think Linus sums up Christmas best.

Scripture
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. John 20:3-8

Observation
As I reflected over the life of Jesus on this Christmas Day, I saw how the story of his life is connected with his clothes.

He was born into poverty. In the rush of travel, Mary and Joseph had no shower gifts to wrap their baby in. So Mary bundled her baby in tight layers of fabric found nearby. What a way to wrap the gift of God becoming man in idle rags.

In life Jesus must have been a well dressed man. His garment was seamless. Someone wove it for him personally with great care. Whoever the woman was, she wanted Jesus presented well. It was so desirable that the soldiers gambled over it. Someone who valued Jesus took care to clothe him well.

Naked and exposed, Joseph and Nicodemus took long strips of cloth, and just as Mary had done 33 years before, they wrapped the body of Jesus tightly and set the stage for the greatest gift of all, the resurrection of Jesus.

It was the Father in heaven who was able to move beyond the wrapping of the gift of Jesus. He brought Jesus not just from the tomb, but through his grave clothes. The words of John suggest that the tightly wrapped bandages around the body of Jesus still had their form and contour. The shape of his body could be seen but he, himself, was gone.

Application
It’s our call to wrap the present of Jesus well, to make him attractive the the world in which we live. It’s ours to wrap tightly those who bear his resemblance so they feel the love of Christ. But it is the Father who can unwrap the present of Jesus to the world in which we live. So Jesus bounds alive and well into the dreary world in which we live. What we can do is nothing compared to what God will do through the presence of Jesus in our world.

Prayer
Father, thank you for the gift of Jesus. This Christmas we made a deliberate family choice not to give and receive gifts. It was the first time in my life I’ve done that. It was nice to fast gift giving this Christmas. What I dissevered was how much I cherished the relational gifts. Having Kris and Laurel married and close was most precious. But it seemed that today I was able to reflect more on the gift of Christ than I have in the past. Thank you for unwrapping the gift of Jesus and making him a part of my life. Amen.

Share on Facebook

Press the arrow to listen to Chris Tomlin’s newest Christmas song.

Scripture
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:11

Observation
How could strangers new to town draw such a crowd of gawkers? Wisemen walking through Bethlehem were like orange robed Buddhist monks trying to blend into a Kansas town Main Street. The king of the land and the head office priests all wanted to have a peek at the baby. And of course the shepherds had already been and left. Mary and Joseph were so new that their number wasn’t yet listed in the phonebook. No one knew who they were or that they were even there.

But Jesus was there and that made all the difference.

Jesus is attractive. It started when he was a baby. He would later say of his death, that nailing him high on a cross would only draw more people to him. I get this picture in my head a heavy object in the centre of a blanket that makes everything else slide to the middle. When Jesus was present a crowd gathered.

Application
I want Jesus present. Activity and programs can sometimes cover up the embarrassing reality that Jesus is not with us. The star is gone, but we think the show must go on. But when Jesus is with us things come together and everyone comes. It may be simple but the theology works. I’ve been pondering on this sentence in the last two days: Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now. It comes from Matthew 6:34 in The Message. If we would only ask what God is doing and then become involved in it we would be like shepherds and wiremen who were there to watch the most amazing event in human history. Simeon and Anna asked it too and got to be in on the front row. But no one else asked that question, so they were home in bed. I want to ask that question so I’m present for the miracle of Christ present when it happens.

Prayer
Father, what are you doing right now? Where is it happening? Help me to be in it. Amen.

Share on Facebook

Press the arrow to listen to my favourite Christmas carol, “The Holly and the Ivy” by the choir at Winchester Cathedral as you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. 1 John 5:6

Observation

The life of Jesus is bookended between twin miracles. On one end is Christmas and the other is Easter.

Christmas is the miracle of water, in this case that the eternal God became human and entered the world through the waters of a mother’s womb.

Easter is the miracle of blood, that the eternal God entered the miracle of the resurrection through the veil of blood shed on the cross.

This is Jesus Christ, a life unlike any other.

The life of Jesus Christ is in me and my life is sandwiched with his miraculous life. I live between the uneplained and the unexpected. The unexplained has happened, because I have experienced new birth through his life. The unexpected is ahead because my resurrection is yet to come. I live squeezed between the bookends of Jesus’ miraculous life.

Application
My life is an unpredictable life because Christ is my beginning and my  end. The best is yet to come.

Prayer
Father, today I choose to live with expectation because my life is caught in the middle of Jesus’ life. Jesus is victor. Amen.

Share on Facebook

Video Title: Merry Christmas Jesus 

Scripture
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. 1 John 2:15-17

Observation
Hop onto the internet and pull up Google images. Insert the word “London” and look at a few pages of pics. In 30 seconds you will have seen more images than any of your ancestors from a century ago. Prior to the invention of the camera people saw only what was in front of them. Only the wealthy had paintings, and few of those. Catalogs of pretty things to purchase from mail order companies did not come out until later in the 19th century. The furthest vision anyone had was the front window. What a difference that would have made in the contentment level of living!

Even though our ancestors could see so little and desire even less, nevertheless John felt it important to warn them not to get so preoccupied with things that they missed the Father’s love for them. If those words were needed 2,000 years ago, how much more for us who have Amazon.com, YouTube.com and Google.com! And even more so on Christmas Day!

What does the world offer to us? Is it possessions and achievements? No, John summed it up perfectly, “For the world offers only a craving….” The world does not satisfy a need, it just creates a desire for more that is insatiable.

Application
Why is it that God calls us not to love the world? Is it because he wants us to be careful not to enjoy life too much? Not at all. In fact he gave all things “for our enjoyment.” What the Father wants us to avoid is the hollowness of having a craving-filled life rather than one filled with a fullness of love. He doesn’t want us to enjoy anything without him any more than children should open Christmas presents without having their parents to watch.

When we love the things that the world makes we make no room for satisfaction with God’s love. Instead we push it aside with cravings. When Laurel my daughter was just four years old she gave me the greatest reward a parent can ever have, “Dad, you are more interesting than TV!” Can we say the same of the Lord? If we have the love of the Father in us that is exactly what we should be saying.

Prayer
Father, I want to be satisfied today in having just Jesus. That is enough. Amen.

Share on Facebook

Scripture
But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

Jesus replied, “Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime. The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil. You go on. I’m not going to this festival, because my time has not yet come.” John 7:2-8

Observation
When my kids were little one of my favorite books to read to them were the stories of the Berenstain Bears. They were just an average furry family of four living in the hectic woods, and so they escaped to the wilderness for holidays. It was to be an idyllic week in the woods but there was a leaky roof, empty fishing lines and other inconveniences not in the travel brochure. The Berestains went home frankly like bears with sore heads, until the pictures arrived. What the remembered most from their vacation were not the pictures fit for a brochure, but the memories of all of the inconveniences.

This story of Jesus could also be called, “Too Much Vacation.” This account of Jesus’ tiff with his family was written into the Bible years after the very brother who had doubted Jesus became the head pastor of the biggest church. James, Jude (who himself went to write part of the Bible) and a few others had an agenda for Jesus, but Jesus had other plans.

It was holiday time, in fact it was THE holiday. The Feast of Tabernacles season was like our current Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years trifecta. Everyone looked forward to the autumn festivals. In fact the rabbis said it was a sin not to be happy at that time of year. But holidays accordion families into the tight confines of dinners, grandma’s house and road trips. Mary and Joseph’s kids were now grown with minds of their own. It was tug-o-war time in Nazareth as they tried as adults to live as if they were still children.

We have to read this story with a long term view. Years later I’m sure that James and Jude remembered this episode with a smirk. Jesus was obviously right and they were, well, just jealous brothers. What brought this family squabble to a happy ending was Jesus’ choice to listen to his heavenly Father rather than to the gossip of his siblings. That choice of Jesus to what God expected of him made all the difference. There was overwhelming pressure on Jesus to live up to their expectations.

But in the midst of all of the family murmurings Jesus could still hear his Father’s voice. He had to make this trip to Jerusalem alone that year. It would be like skipping Christmas dinner at mom’s house if that had been the rule for a thousand years. Jesus could hear the Father’s voice because he did not live with his adult brothers and sisters as if they were still children, but instead behaved like an adult and followed God’s direction for his life.

There must come a point in our maturity where God’s voice matters more than any other voice, even those that we love. Part of maturity is transferring from our earthly father’s house to our Heavenly Father’s house. It started for Jesus in the temple at age 12. It came into full focus while the family was packing for vacation. Listening to the Father first will not necessarily make the family happy…at first. But clarity comes when we play for an audience of one and live by his time schedule.

This story has a happy ending. James, Jude and even Mary herself had a 180 degree turn in their understanding of Jesus. It would never have happened if Jesus had toddled off to do what he had always done just to keep everyone quiet. Jesus had the courage to take an adult course of God’s direction for his life. That choice God could use in the future of his family.

Application
Christmas season is a little like the story of the Berestains and Joseph’s family. The joy of the season can short circuit with the reality of being together. When grown siblings attempt to direct life as if they were still living as children there is bound to be conflict. James and Jude later found the joy of releasing their brother to God’s plan, but first Jesus had to make that choice for himself. Our Christmases will be bright when we do what is right in God’s sight first. That has the greatest chance of long term happiness.

Prayer
Father, let my Christmas be blest this year. It’s the first in years and years that we will all be together. Help us to enjoy the uniqueness of the call you have for each and to bless that. And grant to each of us the courage to walk on as best we understand you. Amen.

Share on Facebook

From 2002-2006 I worked to plant a new church called New Hope Brisbane in Australia. God prepared a young man in our church to succeed me, Matt Prater. It was daunting for him, but Matt did not linger in inadequacy, but took the steps of humility to serve and God has blessed him and the church for it.

Scripture
Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 1:38

Observation
Mary, the teenage bride, was asked to do a very great thing for an adolescent. On one hand she was to bear the favor of God in becoming the mother of the Messiah, while on the other hand she would cop the shame from those who would not understand.

Mary could have stuck with her first comeback and opted out of the whole thing. Passing the call to bear the Son of God would have looked to the world like humility. But true humility was found by letting God do something in her greater than herself.

Inadequacy can parade like humility but it is only a mask for insecurity. Avoiding God’s call to responsibility is really another form of rebellion. When I chose to hide behind inadequacy I am looking for a face saving way to skip out on demands that would require me to step out of myself and into God’s power.

One expression of humility is to allow God to do through us things beyond our capacity. Mary found that. In bearing the Son of God there was nothing she could do to take credit. She could only open herself. And when we let God work through us our inadequacy is what demonstrates his glory.

Application

Here’s a quote from the OMF website that demonstrates the point:

Missiologists and historians refer to [Hudson] Taylor as ‘one of the profoundest Christian thinkers of all time’, ‘a visionary pioneer’ and ‘one of the four or five most influential foreigners in 19th century China’. Taylor’s own assessment was somewhat different: ‘I often think that God must have been looking for someone small enough and weak enough for Him to use, and that He found me.’

Why would the omnipotent God ask permission from puny people to do extraordinary things through them? Because God wants us to be involved in the process so that he may work through us. Prayer should not be a frantic waving to get God’s attention so that we can do things for the Lord. Instead, prayer is a passive openness that sets problems in his presence to see how he will work through us to do greater things than we could do.

Prayer
And so Father today I lay my life before you. Do you work through me and let us work in that together. Amen.

Share on Facebook