Those Hands

I try to hold my mother's hands as often as possible.  There are 93 years of character etched into those beautiful hands.  One day, I will hold them no longer and I want their memory to be etched onto my heart.  She held my hands, as a baby, and now I have the privilege of holding hers.

What was it like for Mary?  What was it like for her to hold Jesus' tiny hand in hers, at His birth; to have Him curl His little fingers around one of hers, in that sweet baby-pose; to hold His hand as they walked through the little town of Bethlehem?  Mary, holding his hand ever-so-tightly, so that He did not fall.  And then, in the middle of the night, she had to take Him up in her arms and flee for their very lives.  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - refugees.  Escaping to Egypt.  At night.  And Jesus was two years old. (Matthew 2:13,14,16)

Their return,(Matthew 2:15), was prophesied in Hosea 11:1 "Out of Egypt have I called my Son."  But this had actually happened before; to a different son.  God called the nation of Israel, "my son," in Hosea's prophecy. And now, hundreds of years later, it is Jesus who is spoken about, in the same prophecy.  I am fascinated by these mountain-peak vistas in the bible.  At once, looking back to a crucial point in salvation-history and yet also looking ahead to Jesus Christ.

In the first instance, Moses, humbled by his time as a shepherd in the wilderness, led the nation out of Egypt; that mass exodus of close to a million people who had been slaves to the Pharaoh,(Exodus 12:40,41).  And then Jesus, "...being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."(Philippians 2:8).  He was lead out of Egypt to become the Saviour of the world; leading countless numbers of people out of the slavery of sin and into His righteousness.  I cannot imagine anything more humbling - God becoming flesh.

What was it like for Mary; knowing  that her son who would be born was the Son of God, (Luke 1:35)? Jesus in the womb of Mary; taking on human form, walking with His mother hand-in-hand.  The little boy's hands that she held at His birth would soon enough be nailed to a cross.  His death would be for her, (Luke 1:47); and for me, and for you.

Jesus had allowed humanity to handle Him:  "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the Word of Life,"(1 John 1:1).

Hands held Him: at His birth, in His mother's arms; at His death, nailed to a cross by Roman soldiers; at His burial, having been taken down from the cross by two believing Pharisees; at His resurrection, where Mary Magdalene held onto Him, and Thomas was told to put his finger in the nail-prints and place his hand in Jesus' riven side.

I thank God for this greatest of gifts, celebrated at Christmas-time.  Jesus' little hands eventually stretched out to encompass the world; offering forgiveness of sin through His life, death and resurrection.  I thank God He called His son out of Egypt.  I thank God those hands are forever etched with the imprint of the nails; those hands that I will one day see.

The Unexpected One?

Waiting in line can be annoying.  Bus lines. Coffee lines.  Grocery lines.  Pregnant-with-a-baby-absolutely-no-one-expected lines.  Wait a minute!  Lots of women are pregnant when they have least expected to be so.  Some, because of horrible rape - perpetrated by evil.  Others, because they have tried for so long to get pregnant; adoption is the option and “Voila,” an ultrasound brings tears of joy. 

And then there was Mary.  An unsuspecting virgin teenager, betrothed to Joseph, an even more unsuspecting carpenter-turned-stepfather.  This is the stuff of fiction and wild imaginations.  But, truth be told, it is the work of God.  No one was really expecting the Messiah, except maybe Mary.  She was afraid, but not unwilling, when Gabriel the angel spoke to her about becoming pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit.  God had not spoken to His people for four hundred years- why would He speak now?  Little did people know that the Word of God would soon be made flesh, (John 1:14).  Jesus, the God-man, knew from the beginning of time that He would come, as a child growing in the womb of a young mother.

Nine months is a very long time to wait- just ask any mom; for that matter, ask my own mom who birthed eight children.  But this unexpected, yet well-announced baby had been coming for millennia.  And the world was caught in unexpected and ever-so-normal routines.  People going about their daily lives: in the market, at the temple, in Herod’s castle, in Bethlehem’s wee little town square where women met to draw water.  No one there had really expected a young woman to show up with her son; the son whom those shepherds had gossiped about a few days ago.  The Son who lived with His parents in Bethlehem for two years after He was born.  You see, those wise men from the East took two long, expectant years to get from their kingdom to visit the King of Kings- following a bright and shining star.

Now, there’s a story of patiently waiting!  Two years.  One star. Travelling at night.  Riches in their bosom – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They didn’t know that Jesus and Mary and Joseph would use up most of those gifts when they had to flee to Egypt, seeing as Herod the “bought-my-throne-by-murder” king tried to trick them into showing him exactly where this born King was staying. 

But God knew.  All along, God knew.  All along, Jesus knew.  All along the ages, this Unexpected One was prophesied about.  Answering every question, if someone dared to read the Scriptures.  Where He would be born and When and Why and How and Who and What on earth is it all about?

It is all about the salvation of humanity.  Not to be found in a palace; not to be found within your self.  Rather, the unexpected One - laid in a manger, sought out by shepherd-strangers, this greatest gift to humanity.   Mary had waited for nine long months for this miraculous baby to be born.  This is the One whom she marvelled about and of whom she treasured all things up in her heart,(Luke 2:19). It is hard for me to imagine what those nine months were like; anticipating arrival of this miraculous baby.  But it was so worth it.  And we get to harvest a great blessing, because she waited, and wondered at God's provision.

Maybe this Christmas, you have come to realize that this long-awaited baby came for you.  Yes, for you; unexpected as that may seem.  Are you tired of waiting for something great to happen?  It has already taken place, and you don’t need to miss the blessing of it!  Are you weary of the wait for answers to your deepest questions? Jesus is your answer.  Are you fatigued by profound regrets and unmitigated sorrow over your sin?  Jesus is your solace, your comfort, your joy.  When you acknowledge your sin, He will save.

“She will give birth to a son, and you shall give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 

Behold! The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, 

and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”). 

(Matthew 1:21,22,23)

Communication is Key

Have you ever tried to learn a new language?  It is so fascinating and by times, frustrating.  Teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) classes was such a joy for me.  I loved engaging with people from, literally, all over the world.  So often, as people learned, I could see a pattern.  A few lessons in, they started to understand basic phrases, and then short sentences.  Once we moved on to longer phrases, many students would hear the beginning and the end, but would not catch the middle. 

So, you can imagine the funny responses to a question such as: “What did you have for dessert, once your dinner was finished?”  A response: “I finished my homework!”  Or, “I had apple pie dessert; all finished.”  Another interesting pattern was how common expressions, such as: “You’re pulling my leg,” could be rephrased.  One student came to class and stated:” You are pulling my ankle!”  We laughed a lot, we cried some, and to their credit, these students learned a lot.  They truly longed to communicate; to speak of their families and homeland and challenges and joys.  And I, I would love to have been able to talk with them in their native tongue.  Memorable lessons, and much time and energy was spent in the learning.

In his sermon this past Sunday, our pastor shared with us that people all over the world are wanting to know who God is; how can we know Him; where can we find Him; how can we communicate with Him?  I thought of the lovely Christmas carol: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”  To my great joy, I have discovered that God already speaks my language! Thankfully, I didn’t need to go to any classes to begin a relationship with Him, to communicate with Him.  

  

There are three ways in which He has made Himself known, this God who wishes to be known: through Creation, through the Living Word, and through the Written Word:

Ø  He speaks in Creation – “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

Ø  He speaks FOR me – in the Living Word, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, the one whom the apostle John calls: “The Word of Life” (Gospel of John 1: 1 and in his 1^st epistle: 1 John 1:1). He speaks as My Advocate, (1 John 2:1).

Ø  He speaks TO me – in the Written Word, the Bible, to assure me of eternal life, (1 John 5:13); to teach me all I need for life and godliness, (2Peter 1:3)

And finally, wonderfully, He speaks WITH me – in the conversation of prayer (1 John 3:21,22,23; 1 John 5:14,15). 

God really is the absolute best communicator, ever.  

 And He speaks my language; your language.  

  

 He speaks Truth.  He speaks Love. 

He offers to us the Key of Life- found in Jesus Christ.

 Jesus Christ, who is the express image of God.

Jesus Christ, who said to Philip: 

“If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

He is true to His character - you can take Him at His word. 

One Little Wire

So there I was, searching for a little wire latch I had crafted for the suet feeder.  Since it is my favourite spot to feed our wild birds, a lament escaped from my lips!  "Oh, if only I could find you, in the middle of all this dead brown grass.  Why did I drop you?  What if I can't find you?  I can't believe I will have to go and get another piece of wire; you were such a perfect fit!"

And then I thought of Jonah - lamenting over the death of the plant that had protected him from the scorching heat.  Jonah, the prophet who tried to run away from God, got swallowed by a giant fish, was vomited by said fish onto dry land and finally obeyed God by preaching to the people of the city of Nineveh; a city of unbelievers, full of great violence and wickedness.

(Jonah 4:9-11)   "Then God said to Jonah, 'Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?'  And he said: 'I have good reason to be angry, even to death.'  
Then the Lord said:

 'You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work, and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.  And should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which  there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?'

My lament was cut short, as I realized I was willing to moan about the loss of a wire but unwilling to weep over the spiritual needs of people.  I was willing to waste my time on a little piece of metal and was oh, so justified, in being distressed about it; but unwilling to spend precious time with my God, praying for the lost souls I meet every day.  And it would seem that God was appealing to Jonah even on behalf of the animals that lived in that great city.  As if to say, "Can't you even show pity for at least the animals?'

Jonah had also said: "I knew that You were a gracious and compassionate God, 

slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness..." (Jonah 4:2)

Like Jonah, I can know so much about God, but not always reflect His character.  My prayer:

'Lord, have mercy on me and let me see people as you do!'  

I did manage to find another piece of wire. 

The birds are delighted, and I was taught  a valuable lesson.