Paula Wiseman

Faith and life meet in a story

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The Worship of the Wise Men

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And when they [the Wise Men] had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11

There’s always someone who will point at your nativity set and inform you that the Wise Men were not there for the birth of Christ. That’s true. If the Magi were headquartered in Babylon, the journey they made would have taken something on the order of six weeks, at least. But I don’t think they are in the nativity sets for the sake of factual accuracy but rather because they play an important role in the story. A role worth emulating.

They were alert to the working of God. Although they didn’t know Yahweh, they knew that star-thing was unlike anything they had observed before. Scholars speculate that they had access to Daniel’s writings and connected the dots that the supernatural celestial events pointed to the King Daniel had foreseen.

They sacrificed. Those gifts they brought were not cheap. Even if the Magi were as wealthy as they are typically depicted, the gifts were lavish.

They were committed. Not only did they make an arduous trip to Jerusalem, they asked everybody they encountered where the newborn King was. They were not giving up until they saw Him.

They were genuine. They rejoiced when the star reappeared. They humbled themselves and fell down before the baby and worshiped Him.

The Wise Men prove that the joy and wonder of the birth of Christ aren’t confined to that one night. It extends to everyone who is aware of the working of God, who commits to confronting the reality of the King who came (and is coming again), to everyone willing to turn over their best and genuinely experience the joy of worship.

Hundreds of years before, Isaiah the prophet wrote of Gentiles, coming to the kingdom, bringing gold and incense with them (Isa. 60:5-6). These guys were the first. We, too, are part of that procession to a Kingdom that, for now, is not of this world (John 18:36) but will soon come in power and glory.

That’s a message we need to carry out this Christmas and beyond. Maybe it would go something like this:

I still feel the joy and wonder at the birth of Christ like the Wise Men. Granted I haven’t traveled a long distance or brought expensive gifts, but I try to worship Christ by being active in my church and trying to live a life that honors Him. You see, Jesus isn’t just a baby or a teacher, He’s a king. The invitation to be part of that kingdom is open to everyone.

 

May the reality of Christ with us touch you with fresh wonder and urgency this Christmas and may you be ever more aware of God’ rich blessings in the new year. I’ll see you then!

The Excitement of the Shepherds

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Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. Luke 2:17

Credibility. Attorneys want it from their witnesses. Marketers need it from their spokespeople. We expect it from the people we consult with. We wouldn’t follow an exercise routine developed by someone out of shape. We wouldn’t take medical advice from someone who was clearly ill. We wouldn’t hire a roofer whose own home had damage from persistent leaks.

In first-century Israel, shepherds were social outcasts. In fact, as a class, their reputation for dishonesty and their lack of integrity was so widely known that their testimony was not admissible in court.

So why on earth did God entrust this most momentous message to a bunch of guys who were known to be untrustworthy?

Perhaps it was so that the hearers were moved by the message itself and not by the credibility of the messenger. Maybe their response gives some clues.

They immediately acted on the information the angels gave them.
Verse 16 says they “made haste”. They hurried. They ran to find the manger with the baby.

They told everyone they came in contact with.
Verse 17 says they spread the word.

They glorified and praised God for the whole experience.
Verse 20 says they went back to their regular jobs but profoundly impacted.

And the shepherds just got the birth message. We have the entire redemption story to tell. Maybe we can learn from the shepherds’ example.

Does the reality that God entrusted His message of salvation to us prompt us to action? Do we tell everyone we come in contact with? Are our daily lives changed because of the experience?

You know, the birth of Jesus happened just like the angels said, but here’s what else the angels said. The whole reason His name is Jesus is that He came to save us from our sins. God is just. He has to punish sins. Because He is so holy, our sins are unbelievably offensive. I can either try to make up for them myself and fall short or I can accept the death Jesus died on the cross as the punishment. Really, that was a no-brainer. I’m not perfect, but I have never been the same since.

Now’s a good day to start.

Next week: The Wise Men

 

 

 

 

The Announcement of the Angels

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“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14

If you’ve ever played with a jack-in-the-box, you know it loses its fascination after just a couple of rounds. We know the song. We know the note right before the thing pops out. We know what it looks like. We don’t even jump.

I wonder sometimes if the Christmas story has become like a jack-in-the-box. We know everyone’s lines. We know the songs. We know what happens. We don’t even react anymore.

Think about this for a minute though. You’re just doing your job. It’s a regular old boring Thursday, just like hundreds of boring Thursdays before. Your job’s not great but it pays the bills. There you sit.

And an angel of the Lord appeared.
Somehow, I don’t think something like a flashbulb went off and then a guy in a white robe was there. (If you don’t know what a flashbulb is … please don’t tell me.)

And the glory of the Lord shone all around.
The shekinah glory, the shining majesty that accompanies God’s presence shone all around these guys. The glory that shone on Sinai. And on the mount of transfiguration. When the glory is revealed, we respond in confession, praise and worship. And sometimes… terror.

And they were terrified!
Why? The shepherds knew they were encountering the representatives of a holy, righteous God. They had an Isaiah 6 moment. “Woe is me! I am undone!” They understood, at least on a gut level, that the only outcome for a sinful man in the presence of God’s glory was death.

And instead, God says peace. Shalom. Peace, His blessed favor. No longer an enemy, but reconciled to His family.

This world needs the glory and presence of God. My, how we need it. The birth of Savior, redeeming mankind … those are glorious. The angels understood that. In fact, a multitude (more than they could count) of the heavenly host (the armies of heaven) couldn’t restrain themselves. They had to praise God for this amazing peace with sinners, sinners with no other recourse or hope to approach a holy God. That peace began in earnest with the birth of Jesus.

So in this season, maybe we need to focus more on the glory of God, the way the angels did, rather than what a thousand cheesy television specials will tell you “Christmas is all about”. Maybe that’s what we need to share. Maybe it would go something like this:

Actually Christmas is all about God. He loved first. He paid the price. He gave the gift. He showed kindness to the unlovable. He invited the worst of us to be part of His family. In fact, I was one of those He showed kindness to. The best way I can thank Him for that gift is to offer it to you.

The good tidings are for all people! I’ll be praying you meet up with those who need them!

Next week: Shepherds

 

 

 

 

 

The Promise of a Prophet

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“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” Deuteronomy 18:15

God will raise up a Prophet. Those words come in the middle of Deuteronomy as Moses recounts the exodus to a new generation of Israel poised to enter the Promised Land. Throughout the account and through the rest of the Old Testament, over and over we see the exodus as proof of God’s power and prerogative. He keeps the promises He makes and nothing will prevent those things from coming to pass.

Including this promise about a Prophet.

A few verses later, God says, “I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” Deuteronomy 18:18-19.

Those words sound a lot like “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18

The Prophet God promised in Moses’s day came on a Christmas morning years and years later.

We are entering a season of good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. Perhaps as we interact with people, we can follow Moses’s example. Think about the promises has God kept in your life. Maybe you’ll find yourself in a conversation something like this…

When Jesus was born, that fulfilled a promise God made hundreds of years before. But God has also been faithful in keeping promises in my life. (Here’s where you mention them.) The most important promise is the one that if I trusted Jesus’s payment for the things I’ve done wrong, I can live forever in heaven with Him.

Share those good tidings! I’ll be praying for opportunities and open doors for you.

Next week we’ll see how the angels did it.

 

 

 

 

Santa Claus Theology

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And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the LORD their God. Exodus 29:46

Over the last few weeks, we’ve looked at several characters whose stories influence our theology and our relationship with God, including the Tooth Fairy, the Great Pumpkin, and genies. Today, we’ll wrap up with some thoughts about Santa Claus. Our ideas about Santa rest heavily on Clement Moore’s 1822 poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and artist Thomas Nast’s drawings published in Harper’s Weekly beginning in 1863 with “A Christmas Furlough.” By the turn of the 20th century, Norman Rockwell’s art added the final refinements to the Santa Claus we know today.

Our ideas about Santa are so widespread and ingrained in us that it can sometimes be difficult to untangle those from what we know about God.

Santa’s job is to give us the things on our list. It doesn’t really matter how outlandish those requests are, either. Of course, if Santa doesn’t come through, we are left bitter with our confidence shaken. However, we often expect God to deliver in the same way. The error we make though is that God is not obligated to grant us the desires of our hearts. Instead, He pours out His blessings according to the desires of HIS heart. As our relationship with Him grows and deepens, our desires become ever more aligned with His.

If we’re good, Santa gives us what we want. Santa never quite resolves that conundrum of how greed and self-indulgence are good, but that’s a topic for another day. Now the song tells us to be “good for goodness’ sake,” but let’s be honest … we’re being good as a means to an end. It’s not genuine goodness but adopting a behavior to manipulate someone. I think the technical term for that is hypocrisy. Jesus called out the religious types of His day for it, recorded in Mark’s gospel. He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. Mark 7:6

In the end, goodness doesn’t really matter much. Nobody’s perfect, but nobody’s bad enough that Santa passes them over. And we figure the omissions from our list are Santa’s fault, not ours. The truth is, “being good” is the last thing on our minds on December 26 or March 23 or July 7 or October 21. In contrast, God in His grace reaches down to us while we are sinners and He saves and transforms us. Transforms means He changes us. One of those changes is that Christlikeness becomes our priority. If it isn’t, we need to examine ourselves. Obedience to His commands is outward evidence of that transformation. Besides, it would be an affront to His holiness and His justice to ignore all our sins.

When we don’t make the effort to know God and His ways, we can be influenced by the culture around us and get a distorted picture of God. When that happens we miss the awesome truth about His grace and His great love for us.

 

 

(If you’ve read these posts over the last few weeks and decided maybe you don’t know God as well as you’d like, I hear you. I’ve been working on a project all year that will help you deepen your relationship with God and connect with Him in a more intimate, meaningful way. I know it helped me. Interested? Great! In just a couple of weeks, I’ll be ready to share it with you. I can’t wait!)

 

 

 

More Like the Shepherds

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Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Luke 2:8

Shepherds, in spite of their low standing in society in New Testament times, play a significant role in Scripture. Abel was one. So were the patriarchs. And King David. There were parables told about them. Jesus declares Himself to be the Good Shepherd. The most famous psalm calls the Lord a shepherd and the metaphor is applied to New Testament pastors. So it’s no accident that the announcement of Christ’s birth was made to shepherds, and I think we can learn a lot from them.

They were in the middle of their regular routine when God spoke.
Sometimes God chooses the most mundane moments to do amazing things. In the middle of the regular – our jobs, our family time, our worship services, our devotions – know that God may speak the extraordinary.

 

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Luke 2:9
They had a deep reverence for God, His glory, and His holiness. That fact may have figured into God’s choice of giving them the announcement. We need to maintain that same reverence for God. The relationship He draws us into doesn’t erase the fact that He is utterly different from us.

 

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Luke 2:15-16
The shepherds understood the angel’s message was a call to action, immediate action. They didn’t wait until morning, until the weekend, until their schedules cleared, until a less busy season. They immediately followed up on the angel’s message. We have been given a message perhaps even more wondrous than the one given to the shepherds. The Savior has not only been born, He has accomplished our redemption. Salvation has come. The time to act on that is now. Right now.

 

Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. Luke 2:17
The shepherds had seen the Christ, and they told everybody. Whether people believed them or not, everyone knew the shepherds had seen the Messiah. Do others know first and foremost that we’ve seen the Messiah, that peace with God is possible, that deliverance from the penalties from sin has been accomplished? Have we made that widely known?

 

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. Luke 2:20
They couldn’t go back to life as usual after their encounter with the Christ. Instead, their lives were marked by worship and praise for the experience, for the message and for the reality that God has become flesh and dwelled among them. Usually, after Christmas, we settle into the long, cold gray days of January emotionally, mentally and spiritually. But we don’t have to. We can return, praising and glorifying God for all the things we have seen and heard.

 

None of the shepherds are named. While guys like Peter and John and Paul get lots of attention, and deservedly so, so much of the kingdom work is done by regular people who encountered Jesus, discovered everything they’d heard about Him was true and they were changed forever. Thank God for shepherds. What can I do to be more like them?

 

 

(A very merry Christmas to you and yours. Thank you for everything! You bless me and encourage me more than you know. I’ll be back after the first of the year. Shalom!)

 

 

 

 

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