A Letter From Jesus About Christmas

This has been around on the internet for a few years, but is always good to read again this time of year.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking my name out of this season. Maybe you've forgotten that history isn’t really sure of the date of my birth. It was some of your ancestors who decided to celebrate my birthday on what was actually a time of a pagan festival. Of course, I do appreciate being remembered anytime!

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of their own. I don't care what you call the day: if you want to celebrate my birth, just get along and love one another!

Now, having said that, let me go on. If it bothers you that the town where you live doesn't allow a scene depicting my birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santa’s and snowmen on your own front lawns and put up a small Nativity scene in their place. If all my followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a “holiday tree” instead of a Christmas tree. Don't forget: it was I who made all the trees. You can remember me any time you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish! (You might remember I used that image once myself when I was explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks are. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15:1-8.)

If you want to give me a present in remembrance of my birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way my birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are lonely and afraid at this time of year. I know: they tell me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. It might be someone you know - or perhaps someone you don't know. Those folks just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President to complain about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family and the decisions he makes in the new year. Then follow up with other concerns you have as they come along.

4. Instead of (at least in addition to) giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need - spend time with them. Tell them the story of my birth, and why I came to live with you down there. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them. Tell them how much you depend on me and how you want them to learn to trust me, too.

5. Think of some persons who have hurt you in the past and really work at forgiving them – and, if possible and helpful, let them know you’ve forgiven them.

6. Did you know that some in your town are so lonely in this season that they feel hopeless? Since you may not know who they are, try givingeveryone you meet a warm smile, a kind word: it could make the difference...

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailers in your town calls “the holiday,” be patient with the people who work in their stores. (They deal with all kinds of customers all day long!) Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one.

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary - especially one who brings my love and the good news of the Gospel to those who have never heard my name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to your church or the Salvation Army or some other charity who will know how to get those gifts and food to those who need them the most. (Actually you could do this in any month of the year - even in every month of the year!)

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in me, your loyalty to me, then live like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in my presence. Let people know by your words and deeds that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of myself. Just love me and love one another and do what I’ve told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work - time is short! I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court.

And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those you love…

And remember:

I LOVE YOU!

Jesus

Love is . . .

Love is a verb, not a noun. Live it today!

Finding Joy

Consider what you might do if one Saturday afternoon, your doorbell suddenly rang. Lurching out of your armchair, you shuffle to the door and pull it open. To your shock and amazement, you are confronted with glaring lights, video cameras and a guy holding an over-sized check for ten million dollars. Against all odds, you have won the sweepstakes, the lottery, the big cash giveaway. What do you think might be your first reaction?

The film shot of most of these big winners usually shows them with their mouths and their eyes wide open, dancing around while screaming "I don't believe it! I don't believe it!" Two conflicting emotions race through their systems at the same time: first, their disbelief that stems from the cultivated rationale that "Nobody ever wins these things" and "The odds against winning are astronomical," coupled with, second, unbridled joy - "Yes, yes, yes, it's really happened to me," "Our lives are changed forever," "It's what we've always hoped for!"

Sweepstakes winners are probably our best current example of how people look and react when they "disbelieve for joy."

Now, let's tell the truth. When we consider all the possible places we might find ourselves surprised by joy and disbelieving for joy, is church the first place we think of? Perhaps we hope to encounter joy at some special family function? Or when seeing old friends? Or by catching sight of a beautiful sunset? Slogging to church services early Sunday morning probably isn't our first pick of potentially joyful moments in life.

And that is our own fault. Church should be the place where we expect to be shaken by the Spirit and tickled to our toes by the power of the Good News of the gospel. But the church has allowed itself to become stodgy instead of scintillating, cerebral instead of celebratory, respectable instead of rambunctious. We have trudged along the well-worn path of predictability for so long now that the church is operating with a dangerously high delight deficit.

Look around, and we will see that life is overflowing with what Howard Hanger of the Jubilee Community calls "LPPs . . . Little Pleasure Possibilities." Why don't we renew our commitment to creating some of these LPPs in the midst of our church. LPPs are one way we can begin to slowly dig our way out of the delight deficit that haunts our church and hollows out each one of our souls. Unfortunately, the delight deficit throughout our culture is so great that it really takes pathetically little effort to inject unexpected joy into the lives of others. God created us to live life abundantly, partaking in joys big and small. Let’s take some time to spread some of that joy today.

How to Be Generous

"If you can't feed 100 people, then just feed one."

--Mother Theresa

Enough said.

A Smile for the Weekend

There's an old story about a little boy who brought a drawing he made home from Sunday School to show his parents. It was a reasonable facsimile of a large commercial airplane. There were several faces looking out the round windows.

"Who are these people in the plane," his mother asked.

"That's Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus on their flight into Egypt," he replied seriously.

Suppressing her giggles, his mother asked, "And who is this up in the front window of the plane?"

"Aw, Mom," he answered. "You ought to know that. That's Pontius Pilot."

Sometimes Things Are Black and White: Health Care Coverage for Children

"Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying." (Luke 8:41-42)

"Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." (Matthew 19:14)

I don't care where you come down on the new health care reform law, but it seems fairly obvious to me that it is nearly impossible to defend the practice of denying health care coverage to children--especially from a faith perspective. So the fact that the new reform law seemed to deal with that issue is a good thing. But, there is a problem.

Apparently, there is a loophole in the new law that allows insurance companies to decline coverage to children with preexisting conditions in some states. Wisconsin happens to be one of those states. According to 620 WTMJ out of Milwaukee, one Wauwatosa family has found this out the hard way. http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/103975539.html

I don't usually believe issues are black and white, however, in the case of denying health care coverage to children because of preexisting conditions it's not hard to make an exception. I recognize that covering sick children may cut into an insurers profits, but tough (Humana, the insurer in this story made $1 billion last year--up $393 million from the year before). Some things are just wrong no matter what--and denying coverage to children is just wrong.

We need to be more than just frustrated or upset, however. We need to do more than shake our heads. As Christians, we are called to take action when we see an opportunity to love our neighbors. To me that means, first of all, if you work for Humana (or another insurance company with similar practices) you have to take a stand at work (there are four Humana insurance offices in Wisconsin). That can mean registering official complaints with the company about its policy and working internally to make a change to looking for a new job because staying means supporting business practices that are contrary to the Gospel's claim on our lives.

This goes beyond just the employees of an insurance company. Insurance companies have to hear from those who are invested in them. Often times, when a company slides into the morally grey, they defend themselves by saying something like, "Well, we're accountable to our stockholders. If we don't do (such and such-like deny coverage to children), our profits will go down, our stock will fall, our stockholders will be upset, and we'll lose our jobs." That leads to a lack of accountability because so many of us are invested in companies through our retirement funds without any idea of what they're doing or what they're about. It's true that we are most concerned with profits so we can have a comfortable retirement.

I don't believe we can say we're being faithful and continue to operate in this manner. In this case in particular, I would encourage anyone who has investments with Humana (and any other health insurer who denies health care coverage to children with preexisting conditions) to sell their stock and invest elsewhere. Then, send a letter to the company's investor relations department explaining your actions and the reason behind them. If faithful Christian investors refuse to put up with morally ambiguous business practices, putting our money where our mouths are, then I believe we will begin to see change. At the very least, we can sleep soundly knowing that we're not securing our future by offering up someone else's future.

Personally, I'm currently trying to find out if the General Board of Pension and Health invests in Humana or if they're part of the failed/ineligible companies with whom they will not invest. If they aren't, I will strive to get them removed from the list of companies the UMC invests with so my pension doesn't support denying health coverage to children.

"The Truly Profane" or "Swearing in Church"

What do I do on a Saturday night when I should be heading to sleep before the 5 a.m. alarm clock goes off far too early? I decide to write a blog post.

There was (and is) a professor where I went to seminary who loved to swear in class. He even threw in plenty of GD's and JC's. A lot of what he did I believe was to get people out of their comfort zone so they could see things from a different perspective. We get so comfortable with our little Americanized version of the Bible that we need to be shocked out of it from time to time. I do, however, think he secretly enjoyed having someone get offended and walk out the door (they didn't have much choice but to come back for the next class though--they needed to pass his to graduate).

As I think about profanity, swearing, or whatever you want to call it, I believe we get way too worked up about it. Our offense to it is very cultural (as is most "vulgar" language, as I learned while on a mission trip to Mexico. I used the wrong Spanish word for hot and was told by my interpreter that I was really giving the wrong impression to the woman I was speaking to. Funny, the teacher never pointed out that distinction in my High School Spanish Class). As a matter of fact, I think we should swear more often in the church. It might do us some good.

You see, we get offended when someone swears in church (rarely do we take such offense in our every day lives, except when children are around or involved) and we think we're being reverent. The truth is, I don't think God cares too much about swearing; not even the JC's or GD's.

Let's start there. We believe that people are using "the Lord's name in vain" when they say Jesus Christ or GD it. Likewise, we often say, "in Christ's name we pray" at the end of our prayers because Jesus said, "If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it." (John 14) The truth is, the words Lord or God or YHWH or Jesus Christ have very little to do with asking for something in God's name. Are they literally names of God? Yes. But, to ask for something in Jesus' name is to ask for our wants and needs to be in line with Jesus' will for us. It's not a part of a magical formula. Say these magic words and Jesus will have to do what I want. It's more about asking for our will, our wants, and our needs to be put in line with Jesus' will.

In the same way, to truly use the Lord's name in vain is to falsely say that God is blessing an event, an action, a group of people, etc. So if a dictator says that God wants him to wipe out a group of people and that God will bless all of those who help in doing so--that is using God's name in vain.

Honestly, our political leaders use God's name in vain in this way all the time. To simply say "God Bless America" can be fine, but to say it and to also mean--"God blesses us, our particular set of political beliefs, our country over almost all others" is blasphemous. To ask God to bless our troops is fine, as long as we're not implying that we're asking God to help them kill others (I prefer to pray for all combatants on both sides). Asking God to bless something in the Scriptures is serious business. We no longer look at it that way. We just want God to bless what we like and what we're for (and we'll use God to further our own agenda as well). And so we get upset about someone saying GD it instead.

Now some may quote to me, "So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire . . . it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself on fire by hell . . . no one can tame the tongue." (James 3) It is true that James talks a lot about taming the tongue. But, I don't believe he is concerned about swearing or social etiquette. In that same passage he says, "With it (the tongue) we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God."

James is really concerned about the plague of most churches. Gossip. Backstabbing. Misrepresentation. People being judgmental. (Please note that those aren't four letter words he's concerned about). James isn't concerned about our cultural sensibilities. He's more concerned about our relationships with one another, how we treat one another, and how we love one another.

If gossip and rumor mongering ended in the church and it was replaced with bad language, I honestly think the church would be better off and would be closer to God's intention for it. It is gossip and rumors that destroy Christians, lives, and relationships. Often they rise up out of anger, frustration, jealousy, fear, and hate.

So--I don't have a problem if we were to start using more "vulgar" language in church, if in turn we were more careful about what we said about God and what God approves of and what we said about our brothers and sisters sitting next to us (especially when they aren't within ear shot). Let's get offended by hate, slander, lies, and propaganda--and let's start by changing the ways we engage in that behavior. If we have time to deal with four letter words after that, then we'll be in a great place!

Which One of These Things is Not Like the Other

A little Bible quiz: Which one of these four sayings isn’t from the Bible?

• “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
• “God helps those who help themselves.”
• “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
• “When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

Not so easy, is it? The correct answer—the adage that’s found nowhere in the Bible—is “God helps those who help themselves.” It’s usually attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who published it in Poor Richard’s Almanac, although the 16^th century poet and Anglican priest George Herbert said something similar: “Help thyself, and God will help thee.”

Surprised? A great many Americans are, when they learn “God helps those who help themselves” isn’t in the Bible. Somehow they just assumed it had to be in there someplace. “God helps those who help themselves” is a beloved tenet of American secular religion, but not of Christianity. It reflects the breezy optimism that, with hard work, anyone can make it in our society.

It’s a nice thought, but the real world is just a little different. And, the greatest part of Christianity is totally different. God reaches out to help us exactly because we can’t help ourselves and doesn’t expect us to. Rather, he calls us to rely totally on Him. Now that’s good news!

From the Mouths of Children

On the way home from church, a little boy asked his mother, “Is it true that we are made of dust?”

“Yes, darling.”

“And do we go back to dust again when we die?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Well, mom, when I said my prayers last night, and looked under the bed, I found someone who is either coming or going.”