Rooted

Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

    whose trust is the Lord.
They are like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Spring has begun in New Jersey. It really isn’t all that warm yet, and the trees haven’t grown back all their foliage, but (as I write this) the sun is shining and the hint of things to come is in the air. This is the time that we celebrate regrowth and renewal. This is the time we plant the things we want to see grow. And this is the time that we can shake off the seasonally affected funk of winter to see a new way forward.

In the wintery seasons of life, it is easy to lose hope and perspective, and that is why it is so important to root yourself in the Lord. When a tree has strong roots it can weather the storms, it can face the heat, and it can still bear good fruit. However, the roots stay hidden beneath the surface. For us, this is our internal journey of faith.

It is fairly easy to say the right churchy thing in a decently convincing way and convince everyone around you that you’ve got it all figured out. Unfortunately, putting on that façade only limits your own ability to put down deeper roots. You don’t need to be in complete control of everything all the time.

We have a God that wants to take care of us. When we don’t feel like we can face an oncoming storm of disappointment / loss / stress or any number of the problems we face in life, we can rely in the roots we have placed in the Lord. Our roots can run deep and bring us the nourishment we need.

Plant yourself somewhere you can grow strong.

Journey

2 Peter 1:3; 5-7 – 3 [God’s] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence… 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.

When you read it, it always sounds inspiring and just that easy, “I know the gifts I have received, I’ll go share that with other people.” And filled with faith, hope, and love you set out to make the world a little bit better, but then you are actually around other people—and they are the worst! They seem to do everything they can to make you forget all the good gifts you have received. 

This is why we are called to “make every effort.” From the start God knew that what we are being called to would take time and determination. We know that we won’t reach perfection, thankfully we are given steps on how to grow. It starts with the faith we have; this is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. To grow our faith, we live with virtue; that is, we are honest or show integrity. On and on we learn more about ourselves, we grow closer to God, and through that all we can show love to the people around us.

Looking at the passage from 2 Peter, where do you find yourself on the path? Your answer can change depending on your life or circumstances. Thankfully we serve the God of second chances (or 3rd, or 53rd, or 10,264th). You will have days that you are so filled with glory that you shine like a lighthouse of love to the people around you. And you will have days where all you can do is cling to the assurance of things hoped for.

Wherever you find yourself what can you do to move one step further in the journey?

That Word

How often do you use the F-word? 

Maybe you use it to describe your day. Or your boss. Or how you are doing. I am of course talking about the word fine. Fine, the catch-all word that has lost almost all relevance and meaning because we have been so loose with how we use it. If you say your day was fine, it could mean that you accomplished all the things you wanted to accomplish and felt pretty positive about the whole thing. Or saying your day was fine could mean that nothing went the way you planned it, you were constantly interrupted, and you feel like you got nothing done.

There are times that you don’t want to talk about how you are doing in an honest and frank manner. That’s okay. But there are also times that you need to find someone you can trust and unload the burdens of your soul. They won’t be freaked out or scared because they really and truly care about you and your wellbeing. 

When you feel weighed down, you can feel the need to put on a brave face and say that everything is fine. Even to the point that we don’t want to turn to God with our troubles. It is in those times that we need to remember these words from Psalm 145:14-18 

The Lord upholds all who are falling
    and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you [God],
    and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.

The Lord wants to help us with our burdens and help us up when we feel like we are being crushed down. My prayer is that you know you can look to the Lord. God wants to help you up and for you to know that he is with you every step of the way whether you’re have a fine day or a fine day. 

Smudged

When I lived in Colorado, I briefly worked at a self-contained high school that had about 20 students. This was a middle step for students who were either coming out of, or possibly going into residential programs. These kids all had rough lives, emotional issues, or a combination of the two. On a day that happened to be Ash Wednesday, a kid we’ll call Tory showed up late. These kids were required to take the city bus to school so a few minutes here or there wasn’t made into an issue, but Tory was an hour and a half late, and when arrived he had a smudge that looked like the letter T on his forehead.

He tried to sneak in unnoticed—he was noticed. As the teacher saw him walking in, she was about to confront him when she saw the mark on his head, and let it slide. It wasn’t until lunch that she asked him about where he went to get his cross this morning? Tory was confused. He looked in the mirror and said, “Why would I go to a HECKING church? That STUFF is from my HECKING bike.” 

As we enter this season of Lent and Easter it’s easy to forget that not everyone celebrates the Easter season for the same reasons. For many, it’s just the time of year when everything turns pastel, and Reese’s Eggs are available. However, for those of us inside the church, it is the pinnacle of our church calendar, the time when we mourn the death and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Psalm 138:7-8 says

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Not everyone knows why this time of year is important. Even some people who look the part, just have stuff from their bike on their forehead and have no idea what it means. This year, whether it is through fasting or study, I hope you will take the time to investigate what Easter and the resurrection mean in your life, and how you can show that to other people.

On this Ash Wednesday, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” †

Dude, Be Nice

I once had a roommate that was a musician, and the year we lived together he was in the process of writing and recording an album. Let me assure you this wasn’t fancy or glamorous, anyone with the money and time can go lay down some tracks. He was plenty talented and could write a pretty good song. However, when he would ask what I thought of his latest song, I made the mistake of giving him my honest opinion. He did not want my honest opinion, he just wanted me to say, “oh yeah that’s great!”

It took me a while to figure out that he was just looking for encouragement. Encouragement is one of those gifts that some people hit out of the park with what seems like no effort. Anytime you see them it’s like a breath of fresh air or the sun coming out on a rainy day. The rest of us need to work at it.

It’s weird, we all know that warm feeling we get when someone gives us some honest encouragement. Why wouldn’t we want to give that to the people around us? As believers we have a hope that others have not yet found. From that hope we should be able to be a shining light to others. Hebrews 10:22-24 tells us,

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

It feels like this should be simple, “you know how much you have been forgiven just live a life of thankfulness and share the love you have with the everyone you meet.” But like most things in life the things that sound simple they turn out to be a thorn in your side. You want to be healthy? Just eat right and exercise. Sounds great but I’m too hungry, too busy, to whatever right now. 

And that is why we need to make a resolute effort to reach out and be encouraging to the people around us. A simple compliment or kind gesture can turn someone’s whole day around. I pray we can be the bright spot in otherwise gloomy times. 

Clutch

Psalm 121:1-4 I lift up my eyes to the hills.

    From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

Confession: I hate asking for help. Whether it is something big or small, there is a small voice in the back of my head that shouts, “you should be able to figure this out yourself!” Unfortunately, hermit caves never have good wi-fi, and life was meant to be lived in community with other people.

I know I’m not alone in my hesitance to ask for help. It is easy to feel like asking for help is a sign of weakness, or that it opens us up to judgment. When the truth is, most of the people we consider friends are more than happy to lend a hand. The author of Psalm 121 seems to be far away from the place that they want to be. However, even when they are far away, they know that they are not alone. Their help comes from the Lord who neither sleeps nor slumbers.

We all have those times when we need the reassurance that we are not alone, but sometimes all it takes to find that reassurance is reaching out to a friend. You just might have a problem that they’ll understand, we all need someone to lean on.

Over the past 6 months that we have been in this new location as a church, I’ve had to make a lot of calls and send a lot of texts asking people for help. And I’ve hated making every one of them. Some were emergencies, some were odd jobs that needed to get done, and some turned out to just be dumb questions. With every request I made, no matter how I felt about asking, people were happy to help with their time, tools, or knowledge.

If you’re one of those people that Restore has looked to for help, then thank you. We thank God for your heart for ministry, for this community, and for the Lord. Our help comes from the Lord, and sometimes that help takes the form of the people around us. 

Still There

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

As you go through life, and live out your faith, this verse can take on a few different meanings depending on your current circumstances. When you know you’re on the right path and feel close to God this verse can make you feel even more unstoppable. However, in those dark nights of the soul we can respond to, “who can be against us?” with, “everyone and everything.” We feel tired, overwhelmed, and separate from a source that once gave us strength.

In those times we need to cling to Paul’s reminder in verse 35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” –or busyness, or parenting stress, or social media, or any of the hundreds of other things that fill the minds and schedules of modern people.

I wish that our faith meant that we would live charmed lives. Everything is sunshine and rainbows, you make just a little bit more money than you need, your children always mind you, the dogs only bark when you say speak, and all the lights are green whenever you hit the road. Unfortunately, we are reminded time and again that we will face troubles, but we don’t need to face them alone. 

Romans 8:37-39 “37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Nothing can disconnect you from the love of God—no busy schedule, no stress at home or work, nothing! How connected we feel will ebb and flow, but God’s love never leaves you. There are times we need to pause for a moment to remember that love, and there are times we need turn and run back to God’s loving arms.

Wherever you find yourself there is connection. There is always a way home. 

Restarts

I saw a friend’s post the other day that said, “My 2022 starts February 1. I kinda screwed up in January.” I think it’s something that can resonate with all of us, that feeling of “I’ve messed things up.” The hard part is not stopping when you feel that way. One bad month doesn’t need to define your entire year. This year can still be great after a rough beginning. 

As of now, we have 332 days left in 2022, and, while we should plan for the future, we can only control what we do and how we react today. Some days you’re going to nail it, some days you’re going to totally blow it, and some days will just be the intervening steps you need to take to move forward. Through all these days we have a God and Savior that is with us.

Lamentations 3:21-24 tells us

21 But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

We can have hope because, even on our bad days, there is someone with us. God’s mercies never come to an end. Whether you need to apologize 1 time, or a 100 times God says, “It’s okay kid, let’s just do better next time.” 

Lamentations was (probably) written by the prophet Jeremiah as he mourned the destruction of Jerusalem. It combines poetry that he uses to try and express the depth of loss felt by the Hebrew people. Having sunk so low and having felt so lost he remembers the hope that he leans on. 

On your worst days where do you turn? Do you succumb to despair or look for hope? We will all have days where it feels like we have ruined everything, but it is in those days that we need to remember that the mercy we have received is new every morning. Mercy that never comes to an end.

We have a God that loves and cares about us deeply. Even in times where our minds are troubled our souls can be satisfied. I pray you know where you can find your hope.

Fullness

Ephesians 3:14-19 – I bow my knees before [God] the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The basis of Paul’s prayer was his knowledge of God’s purpose. Paul had a depth of faith that was enviable to all of us. He seemed to be able to reach to his inner being and show the love of Christ to the people he met and ministered to. And that is something we all wish we had. We want to have perfect faith that never faulters, peace that surpasses all understanding, knowledge of the love we’ve received always at the front of mind, and the power to answer any question that might come our way.

Unfortunately, we don’t, and the truth is neither did Paul. There are plenty of times when Paul mentions his struggles and feeling like he had a thorn in his side that he couldn’t remove. As you go through life there will be times that you face troubles, times if feels like there is a thorn in your side. However, the troubles you face do not define who you are. It is how you react in those times of trouble that you learn the most about yourself.

Do you isolate? Do you blame others? Blame yourself? Lash out at people that aren’t even involved? Or do you reach out to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being? One of those things is not like the other. One of those things isn’t the same.

Having the ability to not react the way we naturally want to react isn’t a mystical talent, it’s more like a muscle. We need to be intentional with recognizing what our knee jerk reaction is and seeing if or how it needs to be modified when we face hard days.

My prayer is that you may be filled with all the fullness of God and know that the fullness starts small and grows as you reach for more.

Sides

Have you ever come across something that has aged horribly? Maybe it’s a movie you loved as a kid, but as soon as you try to show it to your own kids you realize that it has some wildly inappropriate parts. Or declaring your undying love for a band on social media and knowing you haven’t listened to them in at least a decade and their last few albums just weren’t that good. I came across an article recently that did not age well. Written in April of 2020 it declared that the pandemic would put an end to polarization.

I don’t know how your personal pandemic is going, but if there is one thing that is abundantly clear it’s that we are, sadly, as polarized as ever. And it feels like every issue gets pushed and pressed until it is an us vs them battle with no room for leeway on either side. Granted there are some capital T Truths that we hold close to our hearts and do our best to live within. 

However, there are also many places where we should be showing grace and kindness even when we disagree. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to go out and be right every time and everywhere. We are called to love and live out the grace we have been given by giving it to others. Paul in Ephesians 5 says,

“Awake, O sleeper,
    and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

We weren’t called to beat people into submission with our thoughts and opinions. We are called to use our time well, wake up from the sleep that blinds you to the experience of people around you. Let Christ’s love shine on you and through you. It’s easy to see that the world isn’t perfect, but we can all do our small part to try and nudge people closer to the God that is. 

Quick Descent

What’s your favorite song about January? Or what’s your favorite party holiday in January? Unless you have a birthday, this month there are not a lot of parties going on. The beginning of the year can feel like a huge letdown after the big holiday season we celebrate at the end of the year. Kicked off by Halloween, we spend the last 62 days of the year looking at decorations, being reminded to be thankful, and looking forward to some (if not all) the parties we will attend. Then we count down from ten, yell, “Happy New Year,” go to bed and it’s like a switch gets flipped.

Your first day back at work in January hits you like a slap in the face. All that stuff you decided could wait ‘til after the holidays, now needs to get done. You drive past the house and can be a little annoyed that your neighbor still has their lights up. It is annoying but not unexpected. It is just one of the ebbs and flows of life. 

We love those mountain top experiences: times when you feel the happiest, the most accomplished, the closest to your friends and family, or those times you felt closest to God. Unfortunately, we can’t live our lives feeling that way all the time. You still need to do the hard work of living life on earth. It’s in coming down from these mountain top experiences that we need to remind ourselves that we still carry those memories with us. 

Psalm 118:19-24

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
    that I may enter through them
    and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
    the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
    and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone. 
23 This is the Lord's doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Even when January comes in like a ton of bricks, we can express joy. It might be a little quieter than it was a month ago. We might not see the delight of hopeful expectation on the faces around us, but God hasn’t changed. God is the same no matter what the calendar says. No matter how far we get from the mountain top we can hold in our hearts the joy we felt when we were there and strive to get there again.

It’s Lit

It's been a long December and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last. Thankfully the last 20-or-so months have left a pretty low bar, so improvement is hopefully inevitable. As we look towards 2022, I pray that we are hopeful that things get better on their own, but also recognize that we should take an active role in making the lives of those around us better.

Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16 says this, “14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

As Christians we have been called to be a light to the world, and we are called to share that light with the world around us. There are times we feel unworthy or times we feel like we need to hide who we are, and it is in those times that we need to let our lights shine the most. The smallest flame can light even the darkest caves.

When you feel unworthy or unloved remind yourself that the Lord doesn’t see as you do: we look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. We want to judge by outward accomplishments or through comparison to other people we think have perfect lives. However, this is something to which you were never called. You can’t shine someone else’s light, can’t live someone else’s life, you can only be you!

And God loves you for that! This year I hope you can shine your light a little brighter. I hope you can help illuminate the joy that is in your heart for the people around you. And should you feel that light getting a little bit dim turn your face back towards the source. The light inside you is a beacon let’s people see you giving glory to your Father in heaven.

Shine on, the world needs the light

Wrapping Up

Well, it looks like we made it. It’s the last week of the year, Christmas festivities are winding down, and we have one more party holiday to close out the season in New Year’s Eve. This year, 2021, has flown by faster than any year I can remember. It’s usually busyness and too much activity that makes time fly by; I never thought sameness could make that happen too. Trying to pin down when things happened, especially during the times we all stayed home, can be tricky. You need to use some memory context clues. Was it hot or cold outside? Was it sunny or rainy? Was it before or after I watched Tiger King? 

In this week, where the collective urge is to say, “That is now January me’s problem to deal with,” I hope you take some time to pause and reflect on the year—even if it feels like it barely happened. When I worked with students, we used to do an exercise called High/Low. You simple reflected on your day, your week, your month, or even your year and asked what a low point of your year was and what was a high point. You don’t need make a fancy chart and rank everything that happened you just take whatever comes to mind.

Most of us will have varying degrees of each experience, which can determine whether we view 2021 as an overall positive or negative year. If you’ve had a great year, praise God, use that joy to help encourage other people. If you’ve had a not-so-great year, that’s okay to admit also. All of us need to lean on the hope that we have that God wants to bless us and draw us closer to his glory.

1 Peter 1:2-9

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We have hope for the future! Our current circumstances test us, but we know our futures will be filled with glory. Celebrate when you can, and hold strong when you can’t. 

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Christmas Begins

Luke 2:16-20 16 And [the shepherds] went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Christmas as a big annual celebration is something that we take for granted as something that has been around forever. However, celebrating the birth of Christ by gathering with close friends and family, giving gifts, and feasting together is only about 800 years old. For the first 1200 years of the Christianity the greatest feast or holiday, the holiest of days, was Easter. Holy week and the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus was the single most important event in the life of the church and the people following Jesus. 

Then, in the 13th century St. Francis of Assisi declared that we didn’t need to wait for God to love us through the cross and resurrection. Francis intuited that it was God taking on flesh, his very incarnation set in motion our salvation. God became flesh—materially and physically. We didn’t need to wait for “Good Friday” or “Resurrection Sunday” to solve the problem of human sin, the problem was solved from the beginning. And thereafter, Christmas became the greatest feast and holiest of days in the Christian church, because as soon as God came to humanity and took on flesh himself, the solution was set in motion, from the very beginning. 

And this is something the shepherds, the first witnesses, experienced. They were just living their normal lives and then experienced something astonishing. During this season we are reminded that we have a God that loved us enough that he sent his only son to join us in the struggle that is life on Earth. As you sit in awe and wonder at the glory of Christ’s birth I hope it inspires you, as it did the shepherds, to tell people about the hope that you have, and inspire you to return glorifying God for all that you have seen and heard. 

Merry Christmas!

Heralding Christmas

I have a pastor friend who was given an amazing deal 12 years ago on a then 7-year-old car. He keeps it clean, but at the same time it’s not going to turn any heads driving down the road. What does turn heads is the key. You see this nearly 20-year-old car is a Lexus, and when people see the keys, they make all kinds of assumptions. However, he knows the truth, his family has this car because someone helped them out when they needed a vehicle. His car key portrays an image about him that isn’t true.

Image is something that people think about a lot this time of year. Whether you feel the need to put on a merry face when you’re not really feeling it, or you spend hours crafting a Christmas card photo that lets your family appear perfect. No one ever snaps a photo of a Tuesday afternoon when the house is a wreck, laundry is not done, and someone is fighting about their homework. Reality is too messy.

However, this mess is exactly what Jesus entered into when he came to Earth. He could have come in as a conquering king but chose to come in as a weak fragile infant, to come and experience the difficulty and triumph that is being a person who lives with and among other people. When the angels appeared to the shepherds, they didn’t say, “JESUS IS COMING, LOOK BUSY!” Luke 2 tells us they said,

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

The shepherds heard the good news and went to go check out what was happening. They didn’t clean themselves up. They didn’t make sure everything was perfect. God wanted to meet them the same way he wants to meet you: just as you are. No pretense, no perfection. 

In this season, drop the image and let God draw you in.

Rushing

We have a lot of traditions around this time of year. Some change and some remain steadfast. Our favorite Christmas songs come and go and favorite Christmas meals might change, but there is one tradition that has stood the test of time from the very beginning: traveling during the holidays. Mary and Joseph did it then, and we do it now. Whether you’re just going across town, across the country, or across the world, there is an excitement mixed with angst that comes with traveling during this time of year.

The traffic is bad, the airport is crowded, or you’re riding a donkey while you are “great with child” it all gets in the way of your ultimate goal of being at your destination. Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to take care of some business. They didn’t know that while they were there, they would bring the greatest gift of all time into the world, much less that they would do it in someone’s shed.

Luke 2:4-8

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

This time of year, it is easy to get so focused on where we want to go that we forget to recognize where we are. Are the decorations perfect? Is my Christmas card perfect? Did I buy all the right gifts? Jesus, who lived a life of love and humility, began in the most humble of circumstances: wrapped in rags and laying in a feeding trough. He didn’t need to be born in a palace to grow up and change the world.

Don’t reach the end of December only having a credit card bill to remind you of what happened. Don’t run to have the perfect holiday. Run to be closer to Jesus. Run to be more like Jesus. 

Christmas is Coming

What’s your favorite Christmas movie? Is it something wholesome and heartwarming? Do you have one that is so loved it’s become tradition to gather the family so you can all watch it together? More than any other holiday, Christmas has become the one surrounded with the most ritual and tradition. From the movies you watch, to how and when you start putting up decorations, to when the music you listen to becomes exclusively Christmas themed, it feels like a switch gets flipped and we want the world to be a little more wholesome and hopeful.

That’s why, I think, we all have a favorite Christmas movie. Sure, they all have that moment where Christmas is almost ruined, but something happens to save the day—the lights work, the meal is edible, people make it home just in time—and everyone lives happily ever after. Seeing things tied up in a neat little bow takes us out of the chaos that is Christmas in real life.

In real life you must resist the urge to “bless” out the person who cut you off in the parking lot. The turkey can be dry. You have to promise someone their gift is on the way because it got lost in shipping, (and sometimes it “got lost in shipping” because we just ran out of time). I want to encourage you to slow down this season and let go of creating the perfect Norman Rockwell style Christmas.

Christmas isn’t about getting that perfect family photo. Christmas is the time we set aside each year to remember the birth of our savior and the hope we have as sinners. Luke 1:26-33 starts the story like this,

26 …the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”…“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Like Mary, we can be surprised by Christmas, it came out of nowhere and became the most important event of her life. Don’t let the distractions of the holiday season pull you away from the reason that we celebrate.

Remember hope!

Endure

I’m not even supposed to be here today! I’m supposed to be in southern California, where, at the time of writing this, it is sunny and 75 degrees. I was supposed to be there for last Thanksgiving too. Unfortunately, a combination of Covid and other factors has it impossible to see my best friends in over two years. It’s hard enough when plans need to change under the best of circumstances; it hits a little differently when it happens around the holidays.

We look forward with hopeful hearts. We may not know what we’re going to do, but we almost always expect those days to be something special. Then something happens to take the wind out of your holiday sails, and Thanksgiving turns from a celebration into just another Thursday. Worse still is when you’ve met a tragedy around these special days that hangs like a shadow over future festivities.

I wish I could say that the life of the Christian was free from tragedy. Unfortunately, tragedy is part of the human experience. However, what we do have is hope, and hope, though it starts from the smallest places, can grow from a flicker into a flame. 

Paul reminds of this in Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

We never celebrate our suffering when we are in the midst of it. It is only through time and patience that we are able to endure, build character, and produce hope. There are some Thanksgivings that it’s going to be harder to say what you’re thankful for. That’s okay! Hope does not put us to shame. We know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Lord, help us remember that no matter what things look like today, there is always a new dawn, a new morning, a new creation on the horizon. Your mercies are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Amen.

Time Flies

It’s like some weird form of time travel. In no year before do I think we’ve had the collective experience of, “Where did the time go?” like we do right now. It feels like we just started the March 2020 lockdown yesterday, and now the calendar says 2022 starts in forty-something days. For many people, the last year and a half has fluctuated between feeling extremely stressful and extremely boring. I’m sure you can think of your own specific milestones for that time, but I’m also sure there’s a lot of it that just blurs together.

It’s difficult to prepare when completely new experiences are thrust upon you. We will all certainly be more prepared for the next global pandemic (training I pray we never need). However, one thing that we can recognize is how fast time flies. It flies when you’re busy and it flies when you’re bored. Knowing this we need to make intentional effort to slow down and recognize who we are called to be and from that how we treat the people around us.

Paul in his concluding remarks of 1 Thessalonians 5 reminds us,
“Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

As demanding as our recent history has been we need to remind ourselves that it has been that way for everyone. As much as we want people to have the grace to treat us this way, we must also do our very best to show this same grace to the people around us. However, we can only do this if we take the time to slow down and be present in the moment with someone else.

Soon the last year and a half will just be a blip on the radar of your personal history, an interruption to your time flying by. Going forward, how can you capture your time and use it well?

Clocks

Cold take: I think Daylight Saving Time and changing the clocks twice a year is lame! I do appreciate that when we fall back it is the one Sunday out of the year most of Restore shows up on time for church. However, I don’t think it’s worth the weird jet-laggy, “why am I so hungry?” feeling we deal with in the days after as we try to adjust our bodies to the new declared time. Sure, we save a little energy and farmers are a little happier, but at what cost?

Unfortunately, I do not have the political power to sway the world or the US to change. If it was truly an important issue to me, I could move to Arizona or Hawaii, and those are two very different situations. What I must accept is that a change has happened and live into it. If I have a meeting at 4pm and show up at 5pm no one is going to accept, “I refuse to acknowledge a change in the clocks!” as an excuse, they’ll just think I’m late. The times are new.

A similar change happens when you recognize or accept the call of God on your life. You give up the old way of doing things and live into the new person you’ve become. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

This change, that we had no hand in creating, puts away the old creation and picks up the new creation. Where last week you drove to work in darkness now you drive in the light. Where before you were lost in sin, God, through Christ, found you and washed you clean. We can’t hold on to the past, who you were this time last week may be completely different from who you are now, because we have experienced the love of Christ, and have (hopefully) grown. Live into the new creation that you have become through Christ.

With or without Daylight Saving the time you have is now.