http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Haggai%202:7&version=NIV
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Eph%203:20-21&version=NIV
Our son, Luke, made it home for the holidays yesterday. From Mesa, Arizona. He is the only one of our 3 children who doesn’t live within 2 miles of us. I guess you would say that we are fortunate in this regard. Blessed. Every Christmas Beth & I eagerly anticipate his return. The spare bedroom gets a once-over. Extra food is purchased. Menus are planned. Our vehicles are filled with gas. Our other 2 children rearrange their schedules. The nephews and nieces wait in expectation of when Uncle Luke is going to come home. And they have visions of him playing with them quite a bit.
Expectations. They generally run pretty high during Christmas. Family getting together. Driving or flying in from somewhere. Perhaps from Iraq. Or Afghanistan. Expectations of gifts being given and received. Expectations that everyone is going to get along. That strained relationships are going to hold. Maybe even improve. On the other hand, some people have few, in any, expectations for Christmas. No family. No money. Not many relationships. Just another day.
I don’t know what the level of expectations were that 1st Christmas. In theory, they were relatively high. For untold centuries the Jewish people had been expecting the Messiah to appear on the scene. No doubt every parent secretly wondered whether their son was The One. Certainly they hoped that He was coming soon. To free them from their hated Roman overlords. To restore their nation to its former glory. When Kings David & Solomon made Israel a country of tremendous blessing and national pride.
On a practical level, the expectations were quite low. 400+ years without hearing from God. Using today’s date as an example, 400 years ago it would be 1611. The year the King James Version of the Bible came out. 9 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in the New World. Before the Revolutionary War. And the Civil War. And World Wars I & II. In other words, a long, long time. This was how long it had been since the last prophet had arisen in Israel. So, no doubt much of life continued the same as it always had. Hand-to-mouth. Slaves to a foreign power. Nothing much to look forward to except despair and death. Yes, the Messiah was supposed to come. But they had been saying that for centuries now. No reason to get excited.
Perhaps this explains why there weren’t very many people present at the birth of Jesus. In a village so crowded that Joseph & Mary couldn’t secure a room at the local Inn, the talk was of the current Roman census being taken. So that Rome could levy even more taxes. No, the future did not look very bright at all. In fact, it looked bleak. Immersed in self-pity and despair, the people of Bethlehem were inward-focused. Completely unaware of what was happening right in their midst. Just a couple of streets over. In a manger.
Fortunately, just when things seemed at their bleakest, a sliver of light, hope and optimism pierced the gloom. The Desire Of Ages, the Anointed One, the Messiah, was born. God had not forgotten His promises. He was right on time in keeping them. As Galatians 4:4-5 tells us, “When the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law.” When people least expected it, God stepped into human history. The Son of God entered the world. As a tiny bundle of human flesh. The enigma of this Child was that He would fulfill all the expectations of the godly down through the ages. But He would also fall far short of the expectations of many others.
Such is the nature of Christmas. Some people with sky-high expectations. Others with none. I don’t know where you are regarding expectations this Christmas Season, but let me offer that it has the potential to be your best. Not just because family is coming home. Not just because there are presents under the tree. Not just because you have an income. And health. And many other blessings. This Christmas has the potential be our best as we get closer to God. As we deepen our relationship with Him. As we begin to understand the significance of the events that were set in motion that 1st Christmas morning.
So, expect the best this Christmas. Expect God to meet you in a deep and power way. Expect Him to touch the lives of others as well.
Expectations. They generally run pretty high during Christmas. Family getting together. Driving or flying in from somewhere. Perhaps from Iraq. Or Afghanistan. Expectations of gifts being given and received. Expectations that everyone is going to get along. That strained relationships are going to hold. Maybe even improve. On the other hand, some people have few, in any, expectations for Christmas. No family. No money. Not many relationships. Just another day.
I don’t know what the level of expectations were that 1st Christmas. In theory, they were relatively high. For untold centuries the Jewish people had been expecting the Messiah to appear on the scene. No doubt every parent secretly wondered whether their son was The One. Certainly they hoped that He was coming soon. To free them from their hated Roman overlords. To restore their nation to its former glory. When Kings David & Solomon made Israel a country of tremendous blessing and national pride.
On a practical level, the expectations were quite low. 400+ years without hearing from God. Using today’s date as an example, 400 years ago it would be 1611. The year the King James Version of the Bible came out. 9 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in the New World. Before the Revolutionary War. And the Civil War. And World Wars I & II. In other words, a long, long time. This was how long it had been since the last prophet had arisen in Israel. So, no doubt much of life continued the same as it always had. Hand-to-mouth. Slaves to a foreign power. Nothing much to look forward to except despair and death. Yes, the Messiah was supposed to come. But they had been saying that for centuries now. No reason to get excited.
Perhaps this explains why there weren’t very many people present at the birth of Jesus. In a village so crowded that Joseph & Mary couldn’t secure a room at the local Inn, the talk was of the current Roman census being taken. So that Rome could levy even more taxes. No, the future did not look very bright at all. In fact, it looked bleak. Immersed in self-pity and despair, the people of Bethlehem were inward-focused. Completely unaware of what was happening right in their midst. Just a couple of streets over. In a manger.
Fortunately, just when things seemed at their bleakest, a sliver of light, hope and optimism pierced the gloom. The Desire Of Ages, the Anointed One, the Messiah, was born. God had not forgotten His promises. He was right on time in keeping them. As Galatians 4:4-5 tells us, “When the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law.” When people least expected it, God stepped into human history. The Son of God entered the world. As a tiny bundle of human flesh. The enigma of this Child was that He would fulfill all the expectations of the godly down through the ages. But He would also fall far short of the expectations of many others.
Such is the nature of Christmas. Some people with sky-high expectations. Others with none. I don’t know where you are regarding expectations this Christmas Season, but let me offer that it has the potential to be your best. Not just because family is coming home. Not just because there are presents under the tree. Not just because you have an income. And health. And many other blessings. This Christmas has the potential be our best as we get closer to God. As we deepen our relationship with Him. As we begin to understand the significance of the events that were set in motion that 1st Christmas morning.
So, expect the best this Christmas. Expect God to meet you in a deep and power way. Expect Him to touch the lives of others as well.
Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus
by Charles Wesley
Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free,
From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee,
Israel's strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art,
Dear Desire of ev'ry nation, joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver, born a child, and yet a King,
Born to reign in us for ever, now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit, rule in all our hearts alone,
By Thine all-sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.
by Charles Wesley
Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free,
From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee,
Israel's strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art,
Dear Desire of ev'ry nation, joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver, born a child, and yet a King,
Born to reign in us for ever, now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit, rule in all our hearts alone,
By Thine all-sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.
Lord, while I don’t want to have unrealistic expectations for this Christmas I also don’t want to have none. Help me to have the expectation that You want to work in my heart. To draw me deeper and closer to You. To have the expectation that You are going to work in the hearts of others around me as well. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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