Day 3: The Twelve Days of Christmas--Joseph

JOSEPH: A QUIET OBEDIENCE
READ: Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:3-5, Matthew 13:54-55, Luke 4:22 (Click here to read selections from the NIV)

If there is one character in the Christmas story that seems to get short shrift, it would have to be Joseph.  Maybe it's because he wasn't Jesus biological father, or perhaps it's that so little is said about him after Christ's birth.  Whatever the reason, people don't talk about Joseph much, to this day.

But when you think about it, being the foster father of the Messiah had to have turned that carpenter's life upside down, in ways we probably fail to fully appreciate.  It would be hard, for example, to measure the price he paid in loss of reputation and privacy and respect, when he married the young pregnant woman instead of finding a nice way to her out of his life.  Beyond that, consider the inner turmoil that must have plagued him as he faithfully raised the boy--wrestled with him and taught him and disciplined him and tucked him in at night--knowing all along that it wasn't really his son at all.  Surely Joseph's heart was pierced the time he searched frantically all over the temple for Jesus during their annual visit, only to have the twelve year old ask, "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

Though we can surmise about these things, the reality is that Scripture gives us little to remember Joseph by.  After the temple visit, he fades from view and we have no record of how or when he died.  In all of the Gospel narratives, there is nothing written about what he felt, or the things he might have said when the angel woke him, or he took Mary as his own, or when the Baby Jesus was born.  It almost feels as if he was a strangely silent bystander over the course of the entire ordeal.  Apparently, Joseph of Nazareth had nothing to say at all.

Or did he?

Actually, even a cursory glance at Jesus' early years suggests that Joseph left us a profound legacy--not in words, but through his acts of quiet obedience.  When Gabriel told him to wed his pregnant fiance, he did so without argument.  When an angel warned him to leave Bethlehem, he took Mary and baby Jesus and traveled to a hostile land where they would have no family, no friends and no source of income.  When Herod died and God told him to take his family back to Israel, Joseph packed up and went, once again.  And when he got there, only to be warned not to settle in Judea, which was most likely his original plan, he journeyed instead to Galilee to set up housekeeping, an act that opened the door for the fulfillment of the prophecy that the Savior would be a Nazarene.

What is the legacy we glean from these few scattered verses about the legal guardian of our Lord?  Whatever else Joseph might have been, he was a man who feared God above all, and as a result, readily relinquished his rights to comfort or a career or status or security, or even personal identity.  Though every decision to do what God asked was a costly one, we find in the actions of Joseph of Nazareth no sense of resistance.

So, as we approach Christmas, let us look a little more intently at this man whose quiet obedience tells a story all its own.  May his life cause us to consider what kind of message the actions in our personal narratives send to those who may be watching on any given day.  And as we remember this one who stood so humbly at the edges of the Christmas chronicle, may we offer our hearts afresh to the God he served with such unfettered abandonment.

REFLECT

In what ways to you think the assumptions of our culture concerning things like self-esteem, identity, financial security, and personal fulfillment have influenced your spiritual journey?  Spend some time prayerfully meditating on Joseph's quiet obedience in light of your own life.  Is there anything God has asked you to leave behind?  What has been your response?  Is there any area you have marked off as 'untouchable' to God--perhaps not in a conscious, deliberate deicsion, but through a resistance to listen to His still, small voice?  Offer your heart to Him today, asking God to give you the kind of tenderness toward Him that we see in the heart of Joseph.

RESPOND

While our tendency is to focus on the person, when we observe such radical obedience, Joseph's actions reveal something far more important--the greatness of the God he served.  Only the Almighty, full of grace and glory, could inspire such amazing submission.  Worship Him this morning as you make the following verses your own.

Psalm 104:1-2, 31-34    

Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, You are very great;
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak,
Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain.
Let the glory of the LORD endure forever;
Let the LORD be glad in His works;
He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
Let my meditation be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall be glad in the LORD.

 A CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY

Look for opportunities to respond with quiet obedience to the Lord as you go throughout this day.

Day Two--The Twelve Days of Christmas: John the Baptist

JOHN THE BAPTIST: COURIER OF JOY
READ: Luke 1:13-16, 39-43, 57, 80, John 3:25-30 (Click here to read selections from the NIV)

In 1623 a woman in France gave birth to one of the greatest mathematical minds in history.  From early on he demonstrated amazing genius, discovering at the age of twelve that the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles--a fact now taught in every basic geometry class.  As an adult, Blaise Paschal devoted himself to mathematical experiments and traveled about lecturing on his findings.  Then one night something happened that changed everything.

 He was driving a coach home when the lead horses took fright and fled wildly across a bridge railing into the dark waters below.  had the reins not snapped, Paschal would have plunged to his death, a reality that deeply affected him.  Later that night as he pondered his near-death experience, the presence of God descended in a dramatic way.  He wrote of it on a piece of parchment and secured it in an amulet that he kept next to his heart.  Giving up mathematical pursuits, he went on to devote himself completely to Christ.  Upon his death they found the amulet around his neck, with the paper he'd written that night.  It contained these words:...O righteous Father, the world hath not know Thee, but I have known Thee.  Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.

Joy ought to be the life song of every Christ-follower, for it flows from the heart of God and resonates on page after page of Scripture.  The Christmas story is replete with expressions of gladness and calls to rejoice, and nowhere is this seen more keenly than in Christ's forerunner and cousin, John the Baptist. 





John's joy as a young man was wrapped up in the wonder of being chosen to announce something as incredible as the coming of the Messiah. Though he preached a hard message of repentance, there is never the sense that he viewed his calling as anything but the delight of his soul.  He made this clear to his disciples one day when they were concerned that he was losing his standing to the  newcomer named Jesus of Nazareth.  Though he'd told them many times that he was only there to prepare the way, they lost sight of that when the crowds thinned around them, flocking instead to the One whom John declared was the Lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world. 

As they shared their concerns, John explained that he was like a best man in a wedding, waiting with everyone else for the bridegroom to arrive.  Once he heard the bridegroom's voice, he knew the wedding was imminent, and joy completely consumed him.  Nothing brought John greater happiness than to know that he was fading into the background, even as Jesus gained in popularity.  In reality, Jesus' appearance was the beginning of the end for John; a horrifying one that he may very well have suspected was on the horizon even as he spoke of his joy being made full.

So with every Christmas carol we sing in the coming days, let us cling to the truth that we are made for joy, that no matter what our life might hold on any given day, our very birthright as believers is to know gladness of heart.  Think of it.  We too have the privilege of preparing the way, of listening for the Bridegroom's voice as He comes to us.  And as we live to see Him increase and ourselves decrease, we will, like John the Baptist, have our joy made full to overflowing.

REFLECT

Though joy is our birthright as children of God, we often have to enter into a fight of faith in order to experience it.  Consider your own life today.  Is it permeated with joy in Christ?  Are you motivated by pleasure to do His will?  Do you live to enjoy Jesus more?  In what ways might you need to enter into battle to reclaim your right to joy?

RESPOND 

John the Baptist rejoiced to hear the Bridegroom's voice.  Ask Jesus to speak to your heart today by giving you a revelation of who he is and His presence with you, as you read the following verses.  Spend some time worshiping by rejoicing in Him. 

1 Chronicles 16:32-34

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

let the field exult, and everything in it!

Then shall the trees of hte forest sing for joy

before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

for His steadfast love endures forever!  

A CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY

Make the Christmas carol, Joy to the World your song of the day.  Click here to sing the song and worship with Chris Tomlin.  As you sing it to yourself, think of joy as the greatest gift of all in Christ.  Celebrate!  

 

Day One--The Twelve Days of Christmas: God's Glorious Surprises

READ: Luke 1:1-22, 56-66 (Click here to read selections from the NIV)

I love surprises.  To my poor husband's chagrin, I refuse to participate in the shabby tradition of telling him what to get me for Christmas.  I know it's a practical way to exchange gifts, and one that lots of people prefer, but to me, Christmas without surprises is like a cupcake without the frosting.  I still eat it, but feel like I've somehow missed out on the best part.



I know I'm in good company here, because when you read the stories of Christ's birth, it is easy to see that God loves surprises too.  Take the first narrative Luke unfolds for us, where an unknown priest shows up for his annual ministry at the Temple and gets waylaid by an angel as he burns incense on the altar.  When Gabriel announces Zachariah's role in the grand Gospel story, Scripture says he became paralyzed with fear.  Terror soon gave way to cynicism, however, as the angel promised him the surprise of his life--a chance to father a son in his very old age. 

The thing about God's surprises is that so often they come when hope is gone and dreams have died.  Not only had Zechariah given up on having a son, but he was one of millions of Israelites who had heard nothing from God for over 400 years.  Think of it.  For ten generations there had been no angel visitations, no angry prophets, no clouds by day or fires by night, no temples filling with smoke or Mount Sinai's quaking with the glory of the Lord.  It would be safe to say that most of God's children were living with little anticipation of the promised Messiah showing up to free them from the tyranny of Rome.

Another thing about God's surprises is that although they seem to come when time has run out, we discover in retrospect that His plan was perfect to accomplish His goals.  In His sovereign wisdom, the Almighty carefully lines things up, preparing the way for break-through, even though we may be oblivious to His working, and perhaps have even given up.  Yet, we can look back and see the ways in which every detail of how, and when God chose to act, played a critical role.

 In this story, for example, Zachariah had left the hills of Judea to come to the busy metropolis of Jerusalem.  He was not ministering at the temple alone in the early morning or late at night, but at mid-day when the crowds came to offer prayers and hundreds would see him come out and know that something supernatural had occurred.  And though Zachariah came as a priest to perform his temple duties once a year, this was the only time in his life when the lot fell for him to enter into the holy of holies.  What better place to be ambushed by God?

All in all, when you consider what would soon unfold, God had a pretty novel idea to kick the whole thing off.  Not only did an old man get a wish that he'd long ago given up on, but his miracle baby would prepare the way for the fulfillment of the greatest promise ever given, the coming of the Messiah.

So as we enter the final stretch before Christmas, let us ponder deeply the story of a faithful priest and the people of God who endured 400 years of Sovereign silence.  And may we take delight that we have a heavenly Father who, when least expected, loves to come crashing into our world with glorious surprises.  

REFLECT

Although Zachariah was struck mute because of his cynicism and unbelief, God used his failure to draw attention to His own power (see verses 57-66).  Are there areas in your life where you have given up hope of God breaking in?  Does unbelief keep you from an abiding trust in God's Word and His ways?  If so, offer these things to the Lord, asking Him to give you a fresh start.  Affirm that He will use even your unbelief to accomplish His purposes in His time. Write your thoughts to the Lord in a journal.

RESPOND

Zachariah burst out in praise as soon as God loosened his lips.   Read his words below aloud, personalizing them as your own prayer of praise to God.

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace."

A CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY

Plan a way to surprise someone who might least expect it today.  As you experience the joy of doing so, reflect on how God takes pleasure in bestowing surprises upon His children

Acting Like God is With Me This Christmas

 The art of life is to live in the present moment, and to make that moment as perfect as we can 

by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God Himself.

Emmet Fox

The stress lines were etched on the teenage clerk’s furrowed brow as she pressed the button summoning the next in line to her register.  Greeting her warmly, I tried to elicit a smile, but she was intensely focused on ringing up my items.  There were eleven in all, stocking stuffers I’d carefully selected for those who will awaken at my house on Christmas morning, one of my favorite traditions. 

Observing her painfully slow process of ringing up each item, I decided to keep quiet and not distract her.  Joe had gone to the car by then, and I began to feel irritated that he got through his line so fast and mine was taking forever.  As she neared the end, I reminded her that I needed a gift receipt and handed her a gift card from a previous return.  This seemed to confuse the young girl and soon a frustrating fiasco ensued, eating up perhaps fifteen minutes of my precious time.  When the manager said we’d have to start over and ring up each item again, I sighed heavily, noting that it had taken forever the first time. 

Head down, the girl whispered an apology as she fidgeted nearby.  When the two of them finally finished, I mustered up a polite thank you and hurried to the car where I regaled Joe with the details of the annoying encounter.

This morning as I sat listening to Christmas music on Spotify and gazing at our beautifully lit tree, I thought of that girl, recalling the simple message in the Advent devotion I’d read yesterday morning.  

To sin, to be hurtful, to choose selfishness, is to act as if God is not with me.  

I was one of perhaps hundreds of customers that clerk dealt with yesterday, some perhaps nicer and others less kind, but the sobering truth is that I acted as if God wasn’t with me, when He surely was.  Perhaps He waited for me to show compassion, to encourage her, to ask about her day or her life, lift her spirits or bring a rare smile to her weary face.  Maybe I was to have presented a moment of peace--ironically a rare commodity this time of year--to the entire checkout line.  

Instead I acted as if God was not there, not living in me, not a pulsing Spirit, ever longing for Holy expression.   

If the incarnation reminds us of anything, it should be that because Christ came, we have gift of God’s presence in us and to us and through us.   

What does it mean then, for us to act like it?  With our families?  Our neighbors?  Our friends?  The strangers we may never see again?   

Since God is indeed with us, what difference would it make if we chose to act like it in our shopping and cooking and planning and preparing and partying  and wrapping and giving and seeking to bless? 

These thoughts move me.

God is with you, Tricia.  

Now go act like it.    

Saint Patrick: A Life Devoted to Christ

 HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!

Patrick was a missionary to Ireland who God used to convert almost the entire nation from paganism to Christianity. His story is fascinating, and his faith an amazing testimony of the power and wonder of our God.  The three-leaf clover in his hands represents the way that he often shared the Gospel, relating the reality of the Trinity. Patrick wrote his own autobiography and at the end of it said this:

Thus I give untiring thanks to God who kept me faithful in the day of my temptation, so that today I may confidently offer my soul as a living sacrifice for Christ my Lord; who am I, Lord? or, rather, what is my calling? that you appeared to me in so great a divine quality, so that today among the barbarians I might constantly exalt and magnify your name in whatever place I should be, and not only in good fortune, but even in affliction? So that whatever befalls me, be it good or bad, I should accept it equally, and give thanks always to God who revealed to me that I might trust in him, implicitly and forever, and who will encourage me so that, ignorant, and in the last days, I may dare to undertake so devout and so wonderful a work; so that I might imitate one of those whom, once, long ago, the Lord already pre-ordained to be heralds of his Gospel to witness to all peoples to the ends of the earth. So are we seeing, and so it is fulfilled; behold, we are witnesses because the Gospel has been preached as far as the places beyond which no man lives. 

This prayer he wrote is equally moving:

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today

Through God’s strength to pilot me;

God’s might to uphold me,

God’s wisdom to guide me,

God’s eye to look before me,

God’s ear to hear me,

God’s word to speak for me,

God’s hand to guard me,

God’s way to lie before me,

God’s shield to protect me,

God’s hosts to save me

From snares of the devil,

From temptations of vices,

From every one who desires me ill,

Afar and anear,

Alone or in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,

Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,

Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of pagandom,

Against false laws of heretics,

Against craft of idolatry,

Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.

Christ shield me today

Against poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against wounding,

So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,

Christ in the eye that sees me,

Christ in the ear that hears me.

Have a blessed Saint Patrick's day.  May his life and words draw us to deeper union with Christ and greater faithfulness to His call.

If you'd like to follow my book, Contemplating the Cross, click here for the daily devotional links.  Or if you prefer a hard copy, or one for your Kindle or IPAD, they are available on Amazon.

LENT BEGINS

(Contemplating the Cross 

devotionals link below)

My best friend in the 4th grade was a member of a devout Catholic family – they never ate meat on Fridays, and faithfully embraced the Lenten season by giving up various and sundry things. Though as a Baptist girl I was often intrigued by the ways they practiced their faith, I never could figure out how my friend’s sacrificing gum for forty days honored the death of Jesus on a Cross. 

After celebrating Lent for myself for a couple of decades now, I’ve begun to understand their Lenten practices a little better, and realize that like many religious rituals from my own past, the true nature and purpose of the event may have gotten lost along the way.

Lent actually has a colored history, with controversy about how it originated, how long it is to be and what a Lenten fast is to consist of. But today believers from all streams would agree that Lent is a to be a season of soul-searching and repentance, a time to reflect and prepare our hearts for a fresh revelation of Christ’s redeeming love. 

In Day One of the prayer pilgrimage from my book, Contemplating the Cross, I wrote:

The journey to the cross is one of introspection. It is a time for mourning over the sins we have committed that nailed Jesus there. In Scripture ashes were often a sign of repentance. Many people begin their journey to the cross on Ash Wednesday (first day of the Lenten season) by having a cross of ashes put on their foreheads to symbolize their repentance of sin and need for a Savior (Job 42:6, Jeremiah 6:26, Matthew 11:21).

I have come to love Lenten seasons for the opportunity they provide for me to pull away from the noise and busyness of the world, to change my normal patterns and focus more intensely on the reason for my existence – the glory of Christ, who gave His life for me. 

Our family has celebrated it in many different ways through the years – from different types of food fasts to things as simple as fasting from TV and radio. In each case the purpose has been the same. We lay aside something that has meaning to us in order to pursue a greater gain in the presence and person of Jesus, our Lord. 

Often we have used the devotionals from my book, reading them aloud to each other, observing moments of silence and then taking turns praying. Many have shared with me that reading the narratives together as a family greatly impacted them and made Easter the most meaningful they’d ever had. 

When my son was younger, I provided him with a journal and a sketchpad to write verses and prayers or to draw pictures of the things on his heart as we read. It is a great way to teach our children the beauty of contemplation in God’s presence (and ourselves as well!)

If you’ve never celebrated the Lenten season in some special way, I want to encourage you to make plans to do so – I can guarantee you will be glad you did. The Lord loves to reveal Himself to those who seek His face by focusing on what the cross of Calvary really means. 

This year Lent begins on FEBRUARY 22 and ends on April 7. Traditionally Sundays are not considered part of Lent, since Sundays symbolize the resurrection. This explains why the actual time Lent is forty-five days instead of forty.

I pray you will walk through this very blessed season with a greater awareness of the amazing love on Calvary and the price Christ paid to restore the glory of His name in hearts and lives throughout history and across the globe.

If you'd like to follow my book, Contemplating the Cross, click here for the daily devotional links.  Or if you prefer a hard copy, or one for your Kindle or IPAD, they are available on Amazon.

In Him,
Tricia Rhodes

Time in a Bottle

Chris, Me, Mom, Dad, Carol--Vintage 1971

I came of age in the early seventies, when flower power and polyester suits were in and the Viet Nam war was out, when Weight Watchers and microwaves had just come on the scene, and some say rock and roll was in its prime.

   

Ever the dreamer, I often curled up alone, losing myself in the ballads of singers like Joan Baez and Linda Ronstadt and Jim Croce, a hard luck guitarist who died well before his time. One of the last songs this troubadour recorded was a tribute to his newborn son, Adrian James, called Time in a Bottle, in which he wrote of yearning to save everyday till eternity passes away just to spend it with you.

College days

Wouldn't it be nice if we could bottle it?  Time, that is.   

I read recently about a man named Clive Wearing, who has the most profound case of amnesia ever documented. For him, every moment in time is suspended, isolated from all that has been, and all that might be.  He has no past to savor, no future for which to prepare.  Over and over again, he picks up the journal they've given him in which to record his experiences, and writes the same thing:  I've just woken up for the first time.

I haven't been able to get that phrase out of my mind.  What would it be like to know that this was the only moment I had? How would it be to encounter every experience as if I'd just woken up for the first time?  

The lovely canyon on my daily walk

I've thought about this at traffic lights and on morning walks.  I've considered it while cleaning bathrooms and studying statistics and cooking and eating and showering and folding the laundry. 

I've pondered long this idea of what it might mean to own only this moment. I've tried to plan days, pregnant with possibilities...and laid my head down, weary with regret in the shadow of night.  At what point in these hours past, did I begin to lose touch with the moment at hand?

The tragedy for Mr. Wearing is that once that moment is gone, he cannot enjoy the fruit of having cherished it.  He has no memory, none at all.  Memory comes like a rope, let down from heaven, to draw one out of the abyss of unbeing, wrote Proust.  

But it is this moment--the one that is here and now, the one that can feel like nothing or everything, the one that can explode with joy, or pierce with pain, or dull with monotony, or arrest with intrigue, or fill with frustration--that we have the capacity to remember.  And it is in clinging to this moment, the only one we ever own, that we make a memory.

Do you see it?  Memory is what draws us out of the abyss of unbeing, what makes us alive--even to the simple wonder that we breathe, and that this too is gift.

We embrace this moment, and store these memories, and we remember...and worship the Giver of life for what has been.  Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually.  Remember the wondrous works that He has done...1 Chronicles 7:11-12

We remember...until we see His hand, His goodness, His faithfulness...and this moment begins to matter more than all the others past.  This is what it means to be.

Engagement picture--1974

Jim Croce's song Time in a Bottle became a huge hit two years after he died, the same year that a young couple named Bill and Gloria Gaither came on the music scene, releasing their own song about time.  We have this moment to hold in our hands and to touch, as it slips through our fingers like sand.  Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today.

And so it is.  And because of who He is, so it will always be.

******************************************************************** 

My Journey:  I am calling my focus this year "a return to God-centeredness,"  which means a return to the one thing that sets everything aright, that guarantees my good and His glory.  It truly is because of who He is that I start afresh each day of 2012. 

Practically, I am engaging in lectio divina through the Psalms, each day asking the question:  What does this tell me about You, Lord? 

Some tools for embracing God's Word:

Reflective reading--click here
Meditation--click here
Scripture study using the online program Studylight--click here

  
I am also going to try to memorize 1 Peter.  If you'd like to join me, I will be providing memory cards each month.  Click here for the first two sets--Each one is about 9-10 verses! For tips on how to memorize Scripture, click here.