northpoint notes

This is my 37th Advent season as a Christian minister. 19 of those were in an administrative role which means this is my 18th year pastoring in a local church. 14 of those years were in churches that had a worship service on Sunday morning and Sunday evening. I calculate that I have prepared more than 150 Christmas/Advent messages – including those I would have given even in an administrative role.

 As I was preparing for this Advent season I wondered how to tell the Christmas story again this year. I have heard some very creative retellings of the story and wondered if there was a fresh approach I could take this year.

 But I also remembered that in listening to some of those creative retellings, much of the original story was lost.

Then it occurred to me that the story in all its simplicity needs no special creativity. It is a story that stands alone – a story filled with wonder and hope. It is God’s story. To think we can improve on it seems a bit arrogant when you really think about it.

Who but God would have chosen a virgin birth; a simple couple; shepherds – common people. When God decides to come – Immanuel – God with us, the story truly is spectacular. It is a story that simply needs to be told – over and over and over.

By now the Turkey is nearly gone – depending on whether your big meal was Thursday or Sunday. You are back in the routine of work but life is still not normal. This is the Christmas season. Thanksgiving was just the deep breath before the final push to be ready for Christmas – decorations, presents, food, and plans for family gatherings.

All of a sudden the focus shifts from gratitude for what we have to borderline greed – the desire for more or perhaps the fear that the gifts we give will not satisfy the greed of a family member.

We are an interesting people who speak of Thanksgiving and desire in the same conversation – even the same sentence. Is there anything about thankfulness that speaks of being satisfied as well?

Could satisfaction be reflected in generosity? There is a different tone to Christmas when we really understand that it truly is more blessed to give than to receive. When the focus shifts from “what am I going to get for Christmas?” to “How can I truly bless others?” there is a new joy in the season.

This is moving beyond the obligatory gift giving to finding others to generously bless. When we celebrate the greatest gift ever given, it seems the celebration should be accompanied by a similar spirit of generosity toward those around us – a generosity that is birthed in genuine love and a desire to bless those we love.

For nearly as long as we have been married we have celebrated Christmas on Thanksgiving with one side of the family. It actually works quite well – Christmas with her family at Thanksgiving – Christmas at home on Christmas and then Christmas with my family on New Years day. The kids have loved it – 5 weeks of Christmas – anticipation – gifts – food and family.

Now that our children are grown, we still have Christmas at Thanksgiving. Both of our children live in other cities, are busy with Christmas activities at church and have their own sets of in-laws. It works for us.

We don’t spend as much time thinking about the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday. Instead of a focus on pilgrims and Indians we think more about a baby in a manger, stables, shepherds, wise men, and a young couple trying to figure out what is happening in their lives.

Perhaps it actually works better – we are thankful for all the bounty and freedom that is America but we are also reminded of the One to whom we are thankful and the fact that He has given us more than bounty and personal freedoms.

Then as I reread the title for this post I wondered, “do we have thanksgiving @ Christmas or do we so focus on the bounty that we lose sight of Giver of all blessings.”

I am thankful – for blessings associated with being in this country but I am also thankful for the blessings that come because Jesus came to give new life. We don’t need a holiday to give thanks for that gift. In fact, it’s appropriate to say “thanks” everyday.

My dad was always a big, strong man. He was a very hard worker. It seemed (to me as a kid) that he could lift anything and move mountains. Even after I became an adult, he was still strong and could out-work me on most days.

But there came a day – we were in the woods getting ready to cut fire wood (both of us had wood-burning stoves). A storm had toppled a huge black walnut tree. As we fueled the chain saws, Dad handed me the “big” saw. He told me to work on the big stuff – the trunk and large limbs and he would take my smaller saw and do the trimming.

It felt awkward. Dad always used the biggest tools and did the heaviest work. I remember asking if he was sure he wanted me to use his big saw. I remember feeling sad. A change was taking place. Dad was passing the baton to me. He was saying, “it’s your turn to take the lead – to take the heavy load.”

I wasn’t sure I was ready. I was ready to take the heavier load. I wasn’t ready for him not to have that lead role. I wanted him to remain strong. He was saying it was my turn.

I often wondered if that wood-cutting day had significance for him. Was he just tired or did he realize he was passing the baton? I wondered if it was a sad day for him – if he felt he was giving up something. We never talked about.

I have an idea of how he might have felt. I now have an adult son who can out-work me. He uses the bigger tools and carries the heavier load. I hadn’t thought about it until a recent opportunity to work together and I realized there are things he can do that I can no longer do.

There is a part of me that wishes I could keep up. On the other hand, I am proud of him and am happy to pass the baton.

A number of years ago I was asked to serve in a leadership role in my particular tribe (denomination) of churches. In that role I was responsible for presiding over an annual, regional conference. I know that my dad was proud and yet concerned with how that first conference might go. He sat directly in front of me about three rows from the front where I couldn’t miss him. It was his way of saying, I am passing this baton to you as well. You can do it. Run well.

My son is also in Christian ministry. I have no hesitation about passing the baton to him. In fact, I see so many great things in this next generation of believers. They are authentic in their faith and very focused.

It feels good to be passing the baton -  the Church is in good hands.

I made a decision this past week that affected a friend. I know the decision hurt and even though I felt it was the right decision, I did not want to make it.

I don’t like bringing bad news to people – mostly because I don’t think I do it well. This decision was no different.

The friend, though disappointed and hurt by the decision, received it well – he demonstrated grace and respect. His response speaks of character.

I have been in the position of receiving bad news and been on the short end of a tough decision. I hope I can receive those decisions with grace and respect.

I also know I will have to make tough decisions in the future – decisions that people won’t understand and decision that may hurt someone. I hope I can do a better job of sharing those decisions.

We have been doing some work on our house which required moving “stuff” from a storage area in the basement into the main area of the basement – it is the area where I pay bills, read and have my own personal time. Right now that space has become quite crowded.

 This morning as I sat reading I began to take notice of the boxes stacked around me. I realized that most of them do not contain much of value to anyone. They represent memories.

There seminary papers, old sermon notes, an antique meat grinder, a copper kettle (used by my father to make apple butter over an open fire), a few old magazines, leis from a trip to Hawaii, a few pictures we no longer hang on the wall – they were wedding gifts, a box of papers from my parents’ estate (Dad died in 1997 and Mom in 1998).

The list could go on. As I was reading and praying I was reminded of how blessed I am – I am thankful for the usual things – family, friends, food, a roof over my head, health, etc. But as I looked at all the boxes representing memories, I realized that I have been blessed through the years with relationships that have enriched my life, experiences that have helped me grow and challenges that have stretched my faith.

The blessings I enjoy are not just the total of the contents of the boxes or even the number of friends but also the experiences I have enjoyed through the years that have continued to contribute to my journey of faith. I am thankful.

A portion of my life was spent on a farm – making hay, baling straw, stacking bales in the barn. With all the dust associated with that whole process, I do not recall suffering from hay fever or sinus infections. I may have felt a little stuffiness for a day or maybe two but nothing resembling an infection and nothing requiring a doctor’s attention.

Now it seems that whenever I rake leaves, saw a board in two or even run the vacuum I am apt to develop a sinus infection. I have obviously developed some allergies.

It is amazing to me how such tiny little specks of dust or pollen can so clog the sinuses and cause an infection.

I have been involved in mediating conflit in local churches for more than 25 years. People who have worshiped together, worked, played, laughed and cried together get to the point where they can hardly stand to be in the same room with each other.

What is amazing to me is that generally there is very small issue – much like that tiny speck of dust or of pollen that has creeped in, become infected and begins to poisen relationships.

When I take my allergy pills. My sinus open enough to let the dust and pollen come out so that infection does not set in. His ministry

When Jesus comes, he opens our hearts to allow those minor issues to be flushed out of our system so they don’t fester and become infected which results in relationships being fractured and broken.

He is the one who opens our hearts so that we do not embrace the problem but we embrace the people He loves and we work through the problems that have become irritants

My dad was a great story teller – not fictional stories but stories about his life experiences. He told those stories often when I was growing up and repeated them frequently for my children. He told them so often that I can remember many of them and my son can remember them as well.

There were stories of the Great Depression and the number of meals that consisted mostly of beans. I remember war stories and farming with horses. There were stories about the one-room school and the pony that was only half broken.

Those stories were important because they gave him and the rest of the family a connection with the past and insight into what shaped him. They helped us know him better.

In a few weeks churches around the world will tell the story of the birth of Christ – again. It has been told for centuries. It has been told in plays, sermons, musicals and around dining room tables. We tell it over and over because it is an important story. It connects us with the author of the story.

This story of shepherds, wise men, stables, inns that are full, and a young couple expecting a baby has all the elements of a great story. There is a similarity between this story and the stories my dad told. It is a story about real people with real problems. In other words, it is a true story.

There is also difference between this story and my dad’s stories. Dad’s stories have a limited audience – there are a few people who knew my dad and would enjoy hearing about some of his experiences. There may be a few who would be interested in the stories because of their intertainment value. But his stories will die within a generation or two.

The Christmas story has been and will continue to be retold for generations because it connects us with the One who can give us hope. So we tell the same story again trusting it will renew hope in some and kindle fresh hope in others.

I did my civic duty or exercised my civic privilege. I voted. I’m always a bit frustrated by the voting process. I voted for people I don’t know. I cast a ballot for people to give leadership to this community that I don’t know. I have had the privilege of meeting both mayoral candidates but I don’t know them.

I have heard them talk about themselves. I have heard the opinion of the local media and I have talked to friends who passionately support their choice. I have tried to stay informed but I still don’t know the candidates.

It is interesting to me that people can become so passionate about a particular candidate that they only know by TV spots, newspaper editorials, yard signs and opinions of friends. Although we are inundated with ads and the community is littered with signs our exposure to the candidates is short-lived.

On the other hand, many have difficulty trusting in One who has thousands of years of testimony, volumes of written material and daily evidences of His presence, grace and power. It is difficult to  get to know a political candidate simple because of time and space constraints. But God is as near as my next breath and desires to know us and for us to know Him.

While candidates often dance around the truth, He who is truth, longs for us to know the truth.

I voted today for people I don’t know. At the end of today one of the mayoral candidates will be declared a winner (I am not sure that being elected qualifies one as a winner – it may get you a job but…). Whoever is elected will need the prayers of the community (great another prayer assignment).

It is precisely because I don’t know them that I will pray to the One I do know and trust and ask Him to guide these leaders. 

I voted today but my confidence is not in the candidates but in the One to whom I will pray on behalf of the candidates.

I knew it would be – a good day that is. Jonathan did a really good job sharing the journey they are on to be a part of a team teaching somewhere in Southeast Asia. He was very transparent about this journey of faith – the ups and downs – the fears – the affirmations and confirmations.

 He talked about hope and asked two questions. The first: Where is your hope or in whom is your hope placed? The obvious answer of course is that our hope is in God. He is the one in whom we hope. Actually, more than that, He is our hope.

The second question: What do you hope for? Then he began to innumerate things he and Kari might hope for – to be in Southeast Asia by late spring – to be able to quit his job by the end of the year – to have all their support raised by March. The list could have gone on and on.

Then he concluded by saying that the real hope is that their lives would bring glory to God – that He would receive glory through them as they visit churches, as they continue to process, as they wait for God to provide.

It was a good day because it was a reminder that God wants to receive glory through all of our lives. It was a good day because, I am confident that God was glorified today through Jonathan and Kari and their testimony of faith.