Monthly Archives: December 2018

GOD’S RETURN POLICY

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Now that Christmas Day is over and we have opened our gifts, many will be returning something they received. Different stores, of course, have different policies with regard to the way they deal with returns. Some will refund what the gift cost, and some will only offer an exchange for something else. Some require a receipt and a few charge a restocking fee.

I’ve been thinking about this after Christmas post since November 1 when I read an online article entitled “God’s Generous Return Policy” by John Lee. In his article Lee did not relate anything to Christmas gift returns, but I am. I’m borrowing from his basic idea.

My interest isn’t in returning gifts as such, but in returning to God. In the Old Testament the prophets speak often of God’s people not returning to him.

Following an assessment of the Northern Kingdom’s misdeeds and consequences, in Jeremiah 3:10 God comments on the Southern Kingdom, “In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense.”

In Joel 2: 12 and 13 the prophet relays God’s invitation, “Even now return to me with all your heart with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

In Amos 4:6-11 God reminds his people through the prophet of five consequences they have endured, and yet have not returned to him. Very similarly God does the same through the prophet Haggai, “I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me” (Haggai 2:17).

My favorite two verses from the Old Testament prophets about God’s return policy are similar to Jeremiah, Joel, Amos, and Haggai, but add a promise not included in the others. Zechariah 1:3 proclaims God’s message: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you’.  Malachi 3:7 offers the same promise, but also reminds them why they need to take action: “Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

These messages from the prophets to God’s people in the Old Testament give us insight into why a person today might need to return to God: they have left him. The call to return to God suggests that someone has turned away from God or drifted away from him.

When I was a youth pastor some 48 years ago we had a sign in front of our church building on which we posted a new message every week. One of my favorites our senior minister put up has stayed with me: “Feel Far from God? Guess Who Moved?”

The preaching of the prophets to God’s people in the Old Testament also make it clear that often or usually when people leave God there are consequences in their lives. Those consequences are intended to get the attention of those who have done so.

When those who have turned away from God want to return to him what is needed is a change of attitude and action. In the New Testament, especially with the prophet John the Baptist, returning to God requires repentance (Matthew 3:1 and 2).

I’m not sure what to make of Zechariah and Malachi’s promise from God, “Return to me, and I will return to you.” It reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. Do you remember what the father did when he saw his younger son returning? In the story Jesus says “while he (the prodigal son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, thru his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).

John Lee is right, isn’t he? God indeed does have a generous return policy. And if you need to take advantage of it, I encourage you to do so.

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ON GIVING AND RECEIVING

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Every year as we near Christmas I am reminded of one of Jesus’ most succinct sayings. This saying is not recorded in any of the four gospels, but is passed on by the Apostle Paul in his farewell remarks to the Ephesian elders. In Act 20:32-35 Paul is reminding them of his example while with them and then adds, “remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

In light of the fact that this saying of Jesus is not in the gospels, I wonder how Paul knew about it. And my conclusion is that there had to be sayings of Jesus that did not get included in the gospels, but that were known and passed on among Jesus’ followers.

Regardless of how Paul knew of the saying, I find it interesting and challenging. And I hope it is obvious why I think about it each year during this season. It is not just ‘the most wonderful time of the year,’ it is also the season when there is more giving and receiving than any other.

Let me ask you a question — do you believe what Jesus said is true? In your life experience and observation of others, is it “more blessed to give than receive?” What do you think?

I’m pretty sure we all would agree that we are blessed in receiving. Everyone reading this post has been blessed again and again by receiving. And please note that Jesus said that is the case. But He also said that it is more blessed to give than receive.

Not to be negative, but I’m not sure everyone would agree that they are blessed in giving. And yet many of us know from our own experience that what Jesus said has been proven true in our lives.

When Jesus gave the teaching “it is more blessed to give than to receive” he wasn’t thinking about Christmas. I think it is certainly applicable to our Christmas practice of gift giving and receiving, but it is about more. The greater blessing of giving than receiving is true in all of life and is not limited to Christmas. There are many ways to give that have nothing to do with presents. And as we engage in those ways we are blessed.

I think Jesus knows both the blessing of receiving and giving. He certainly knows the blessing of giving because he gave his life for us. In our relationship with him I hope we also know the blessing of both receiving and giving. There is great blessing in receiving what he offers – love, grace, forgiveness, acceptance, eternal life, and much more. But don’t forget the greater blessing we receive from giving ourselves to him, to giving him praise and honor, and to following him in obedience as our Lord.

Merry Christmas to you as we celebrate again this year the birth of God’s wonderful gift to us: Jesus, our Savior and Lord. I pray you are blessed through both giving and receiving.

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IF IT’S SIN, I’M GUILTY

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Noting the title of this post, you are probably wondering what the “it” is to which I am referring: it is worry. Many readers will be able to identify with me as I confess I am a worrier.

Yesterday our four year old grandson had dental surgery. We had known for several weeks that it was scheduled for today, but as the date grew closer I realized I was worrying more and more.

For the past few days I’ve been thinking about my habit of worrying. My recollection is that I have been a worrier pretty much all my life. My worries have never been debilitating, but they have had an impact on me. Many times worry has added stress to my life and eroded my joy.

In retrospect I remember my mom was a worrier. I don’t know if worry is hereditary or can be learned from a parent, but I have always been grateful for her interest and concern. I just wish she had not worried so much. However, as a worrier myself I understand.

But I’m asking myself, “Is worrying a sin?” The New Testament suggests in at least two places that it is.

One is from the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:34 Jesus concludes a section of his teaching, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Respected author John R.W. Stott, and one of my favorite writers, concludes from Jesus’ teaching that “worry is incompatible with Christian faith.”

The second passage is from the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (New Living Translation). Commentator Ralph P. Martin notes, “[worry] betrays a lack of confidence in God’s protection and care for his people.”

It seems obvious from Jesus, Paul, John Stott, and Ralph Martin that worry is indeed a sin.

Possibly as an excuse for my own worry, I’m not sure all worry is sin. My worry is not due to a lack of faith and trust in God. In connection with my worry I practice what Paul instructs in Philippians 4:6 – I pray taking the things I worry about to the Lord.

I find some comfort and encouragement from what a couple of other writers say about Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Commenting on Jesus’ statement, “Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34), D.A. Carson notes, “It is as if Jesus recognizes that there will be some unavoidable worry today after all.” Archibald Hunter concludes, “. . . the principle is surely this, that, taking reasonable care, we are to face life with [trust], accepting each day fresh from God, and leaving the unknown future in his hands.”

My sense is that most of us need this teaching from both Jesus and Paul. I know I do. As a matter of fact, I’m a little worried about what some may think about me in light of my admission that I worry.

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WHAT I JUST LEARNED ABOUT ADVENT

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I’ve been celebrating Advent for over 40 years as a pastor and learned something new about it this year. As surprised as I was to realize I had not known about this other aspect of the emphasis, it makes perfect sense.

The title of a new book being advertised earlier in the fall got my attention: ADVENT: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ. Written by Fleming Rutledge, I was curious about a book dealing with both Jesus’ birth (his first coming) and Jesus’ future coming (what is called his second coming). I ordered the book in the middle of November and have been working my way through it.

What was new to me is that Advent is a season of focusing on both Jesus’s birth and his future coming. Rutledge affirms “Advent is preeminently the season of the second coming” (p. 52). She notes that during advent “The movement is from the second coming to the first coming.” (p. 60). I had never heard that before. She notes in the first part of Advent Christians are focusing on and looking forward to Jesus’ second coming. The second part of Advent is the celebration of his first coming so many years ago.

In my experience (and in most churches) Advent begins the fourth Sunday before Christmas. But Fletcher notes “the Advent season actually begins before the first Sunday of Advent. It’s a seven week season” (p. 172). Later she reports “The season was not intended to be the run-up to Christmas in the sense that we think of today. It was designed to be the season that looked forward, not to the birth of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, but to the second coming of Christ” (p. 180). That part of the advent theme is that “He (Jesus) will come again to set all things right” (p. 177).

Soon after I started reading Rutledge’s book I read an online article from Christianity Today that reinforced what I had been reading. Courtney Ellis blends the focus of both comings by noting that Advent is about “the sacred hope that Christ has come and will come again.”

A third source I just began reading on Monday is N.T. Wright’s Advent for Everyone. The first sentence in the introduction to this daily devotional asserts “If people know anything about Advent, they know it’s the time when we prepare for Christmas.” I think he’s right (no play on his name intended!) and that is what I have always thought. On the next page he writes about the new aspect of Advent I have just learned about: “. . . that brings us to the other side of Advent: because this season isn’t just about getting ready for Jesus to be born. It’s about getting ready for Jesus to come back” (p. xii).

I have no idea if the practice of focusing on both Jesus’ first coming as well as his future coming during Advent is new to you like it is to me, but I like it. I’m not lobbying to extend Advent to seven weeks as I think four is adequate, but I agree with the observation Courtney Ellis makes when she asks, “Why not overlap the two—the celebration and anticipation—and commemorate the birth of Christ while waiting his return?”

While some Christians seem to focus too much on the second coming, a lot of us may not give it enough attention. This year in my own celebration I’m reminding myself that Jesus did indeed come as God promised, and that he will come again.

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