Ensign: Blue Christmas

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 20 December 2013

You would think writing a Christmas devotional would be a no-brainer. Wait, strike that … you would think there would be no shortage of material from the Bible to work into a devotion written around the Christmas season. But that shows how much you know (or think you know … or for that matter, how much I know or think I know). Perhaps it's just age with me, but by the year it gets harder and harder to work up enthusiasm to hang up the lights and deck the halls and sometimes, even act festive. Even saying Merry Christmas (and by this point, also “Happy New Year”) has become something automatic, and I'm not sure why.

At my church, this Saturday we're having a Blue Christmas service for people like me who can't quite work up the festive mood our culture has convinced us we're supposed to be – or convinced by our media and neighbors we're supposed to be – in this time of year. Though to be quite honest, I haven't heard quite the deluge of Christmas carols over every loudspeaker; some of the believers in Jesus Christ, God's Only Son our Lord aren't big fans of Christmas either. While I don't myself belief Jesus was born on the twenty-fifth of December in the year zero, or that the shepherds and the Magi arrived at the same time to see Jesus as He was born in Bethlehem, or a few other things …

… nor do I think you believing or not believing them are heaven-or-hell dividing lines either. I figure if Jesus wanted us to know the month day year He was physically born on Earth we'd have been told it already! Nor do I think celebration's the law, although I admit I am not above making merry this time of year and believing, perhaps more closely than I do the rest of the year (but again, that's not the main purpose of Christmas) in peace on earth and good will toward men – NO, I am not going to make this gender-neutral because some of you get ticked! The lyrics are “Sing all ye bright hosts of heaven above,” NOT “Sing all ye citizens”!

But I digress.

The phrase “the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” appears at the beginning of both the fourteenth and fifty-third Psalms. It's important to note that is not the whole verse, and when we don't look at all of Scripture we're missing something. (Our critics have us on this.) 14:1 – The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 53:1 – The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. There is no way to be neutral on this; you can't deny there is a God and still be a “good person” because you're using whose (WHOSE) objective standard?

When you're big and powerful it's very easy to appear big and powerful. Making yourself look small and insignificant, that's another thing.
(Glory Lane, Alan Dean Foster)

Which leads to the question is it really possible to have an objective standard, and that topic has been on the back-burner for some time. I expect “The Neutral Point of View” you will see, barring the return of the Messiah, next year. But to get as close to an objective standard – as God is described in the Bible, being “no respecter of persons” – as possible, we have to have a measurement. Perhaps it's just because I'm away from the television so much that I find myself asking when there is this controversy or that war or this op-ed piece or that entertainment that I find myself asking, “Who benefits from our attention being focused on this?”

Cui bono, for you legal people out there. Oh, don't get me wrong, I will still have a Merry Christmas, but it's a choice I make, not one the culture forces upon me and my family and should not be forcing on you either. Not all of us can be together with family and friends or … let's say it, GET what we truly want for Christmas. But pinning all our hopes and dreams and aspirations on the twenty-fifth of December is drastically limiting not only ourselves functioning in the world but also our God working through us in it. And make no mistake, my friends, He's still in it. We can believe in the Son even when He is not shining, and we should!

Merry Christmas,

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find that I'm not or you want me to get lost, just let me know -- thank you!

Thank You, Lord, that we can come to you in prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and around the world.

Thank You, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service, both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You. I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.