Revolutionary Christmas: Heroes and Sheroes

When we think of heroes, we often think of people who gave their lives – sometimes literally – for the good of others. The kind of people that come to mind are people who, faced with the choice to lay it all on the line or walk away, choose the good of all over simply the good of themselves. Naturally, military heroes make it on our list. Firefighters and police officers who risk their safety in order to provide it for others usually make it, too.

But did you realize the story of Christ’s birth is also filled with heroes and sheroes?

While we may be tempted to adorn Christmas with warm, fuzzy thoughts depicting a simply glorious scene in Bethlehem that night, we’d be better off in the long run to see it for what it was, and let reality speak into our lives. What was the reality? The in-breaking of God into humanity in the person of Jesus Christ was the most revolutionary, rebellious, and scandalous event in history.

The prophecies foretelling Christ’s birth emphasized that this anointed One would have all the authority and power of God, that He would be a King above all Kings, and that his kingdom would never end. These words give us hope. But for the reigning authorities that existed before and during Christ’s birth, these words signaled a threat to their throne and kingdom. Those who followed this anointed One would be seen as guilty of insurrection, punishable by death.

Who were some of these heroes and sheroes?

Mary and Joseph. To say yes to God’s invitation to bring Christ into the world was to go against their self-interest, their family’s “name” in the community, and directly against the ruling Roman authorities. The personal challenge was tough enough without throwing in the political mess.

The Shepherds. For them to respond to the message of the angels put their livelihood in jeopardy, and their necks on the chopping block as they proclaimed what they heard and saw. All so that the community around them would hear the good news of the son of God’s birth.

The Magi. These guys saw the invitation in the stars and followed it, at great personal cost. By approaching Herod, they put themselves and the newborn’s life in danger. By not honoring the king’s wishes, and returning to their homeland by another way, they risked being hunted and killed by the roman soldiers. Yet their gift communicated great meaning to Mary and Joseph – and to all people everywhere – about the nature of this newborn king’s person and purpose.

John the Baptist. A distant cousin of Jesus, John’s proclamation of Jesus as the Lamb of God, the long-awaited Messiah, put his life at risk. He was so overwhelmed by what God was doing that he didn’t care about who his message offended – he was keenly focused on how his message would help those who were seeking after God. His boldness eventually caught up with him, and he was beheaded.

David, Chris, Dan and Kerry. These four guys could leave the life they had behind, and have a life of greater comfort. But instead, they have committed themselves to serving the community in which they were raised, in an effort to raise the community by helping its most vulnerable segment: the orphans. Their school is the only hope these kids have, and the feeding program we support gives them the calories needed to learn and grow. These guys are heroes.

Ray and Adaliah. Just blocks from their home in Tijuana, high ranking government officials were gunned down. Kidnappings are a normal occurrence, poor people holding other poor people for ransom. Human trafficking is right in their face, and the children of prostitution and rape are under their care. They have chosen to reside in an oppressive state just across our border so that the Kingdom of God can take root and grow. These two, along with the other servants of Deborah’s House are servants.

I guess what makes these people stand out is the contrast between them and what seems to be normative in our world. These folks have gone beyond Christian “niceness” and moved on to sacrifice. Their sacrifice is to not order their lives the way most people do – to go against the flow, to break free from the system(s) of this world – and to allow their footsteps to mirror Christ’s. It’s like they have caught on to something that is more compelling than the way they’ve left behind – some better has convinced them to shed their old ways for new ways, old clothes for new ones.

Felicitas and Perpetua lived in the third century in North Africa. They both converted to the Way of Christ and became sisters and dear friends. They were imprisoned for their faith. Felicitas was eight months pregnant. Perpetua nursed her newborn baby in prison. An edict made it unlawful for pregnant women to be killed, so the two stayed in there for awhile. Their families pleaded with them to renounce their faith and be released. They refused. Two days after Felicitas gave birth, they women were fed to the beasts in imperial games. They were said to have given each other a kiss of peace as they met their deaths together. Sheroes.

Basil of Russia is a saint of the Orthodox Church. He was quite a fool for Christ, walking around, barely clothed, looking the part of a vagrant and beggar. During the reign of the Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible, known for his iron-fisted leadership sprinkled with a little religiosity, people cowered in fear. As people were committing themselves to a vegetarian diet throughout Lent, Basil sent a bloody slab of beef before Ivan with a message: “Why abstain from meat when you are shedding the blood of your people?” Ivan didn’t lay a hand on Basil. Rather, he was said to have given gifts to Basil, who in return gave them to the poor. He went against the grain. He was a hero.

You are called to be a hero or shero. If you have accepted the God’s invitation to do life with Him by following the Way of Christ, then you have been given a mission. That mission is to be in the world but not of it. To be set apart. To wear a different wardrobe. To cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. To be different. To be a catalyst for the Kingdom right where you are. To not be driven by the winds of the world but by the breath of God. When you do these things, you are being heroic, because not too many people – even professing Christians – live, intentionally, as they understand Christ leading them.

But when we do, the world changes for the better. That’s incentive.

When we do, we discover our desire for a meaningful life is met. That’s a good deal.

When we do, we find joy and love and peace that we didn’t expect. That’s a great surprise.

When we do, we find ourselves becoming more whole, and we discover that those who we lovingly serve are becoming more whole, too.

When we do, we discover that sacrificing the ethic of this world for the Way of Christ was not much of a sacrifice at all, really, and we’d be the first to deny our heroism.

Do you want to see the world change? Do you want your deepest desires met? Do you want more love, joy, and peace in your life? Are you interested in becoming more whole, more “well”? Would you like to see those you love and serve more “well” as well?

Then make the decision to sacrifice the MO of our culture and pick up the Way of Christ. Be heroic.

Revolutionary Christmas: Beyond Words

Before his arrival, the word would get out: the Good News is coming.

When he came, the crowd would cheer his arrival: “The Son of God is here!”

Others would call out: “You are Lord and God!”

His message as he met the crowds was simple and powerful: The Kingdom was here. If people – ekklesia – would follow him, they would certainly be assured of peace, eventually for the whole world. If they would just have faith, like a faithful husband, they would experience everything Emmanuel – God with us – offered.

As he left, the masses wondered when the parousia – the presence – would return.
All of these commonly heard phrases in the first century referred, of course, to… Caesar, the ruling emperor (anointed by the gods) of the Roman empire.

Unless you’ve read up on first century Roman politics, this may come as news to you – that they stole all these words of Jesus and used them for their own purposes.

But that’s bassackwards, as my college choir director used to say… Jesus used the commonly known language of the Roman Empire to describe himself and his ministry. To create an immediate tension among his listeners. By referring to himself as Son of God, Son of Man, Lord, Savior, giver of the presence of God, the Christ (anointed one), the King of the Jews, he pushed his audience to answer some big questions: who is the real King, which is the real Kingdom, and what does it mean to pledge allegiance?

This line of questioning raised the hackle of those ruling the Jewish religion at that time. They were trying to keep the peace with Rome, and trying to keep themselves in power at the same time, enjoying all the luxuries their positions afforded them.

Jesus’ statements eventually caught the attention of the Roman authorities as well, especially when they caught wind of people referring to him as “King of the Jews” – a Rome-appointed king already existed over the land of Judea.

If Jesus simply said these things and then died, it wouldn’t really have amounted to much. In fact, lots of self-proclaimed Messiahs were popping up around that time. All of them fizzled out soon enough. Except Jesus.

Jesus was different. He was born of the Holy Spirit. He was born in the city the prophets predicted – Bethlehem – one of hundreds of prophecies that came true in this one person. His actions backed up his words. When he would speak about God’s salvation – making people whole again – he would follow it up with a miracle that restored people, usually by healing them – an act of His authority over all things sin and death.

His message of peace was backed up with words of forgiveness and expressions of grace. A woman “caught in the act” was forgiven and directed toward new life. Another woman who had been ostracized from her faith community because of continual bleeding was healed and restored to health and wholeness.

His message of hope in times of hopelessness was supported by his great act of hope in raising Lazarus from the dead on the very day all hope was totally and completely abandoned.

His own death symbolized a final sacrifice for those with eyes to see.
His resurrection provided confidence for all those who wondered if they could really believe in some form of life beyond the grave.

This Jesus was the One making such claims.

Rebellious words. Revolutionary cries in the face of a global super power that claimed to hold the answer to the world’s problems.

It took a certain kind of person to fully get the experience Jesus came to provide. It took a person who could look at the vision cast by the super power, contrast it with the reality of life, and make a scandalous observation: the super power isn’t super enough to deliver the world from the miry clay it’s stuck in.

This same special person would also have the capacity to take a look at Jesus’ words and life and take a huge leap of faith in declaring: this is the One who is worthy of my total allegiance.

This was a huge risk because their life was literally on the line. In that era, pledging allegiance to something other than the super power could lead to death – even on a cross.

Today, it still takes a special person to really get the full Jesus experience.

Because it still requires a person to assess all the claims of promises of every power which would like to be super in our lives. Claims of happiness, peace, and prosperity. That special person has the perspective to see clearly that these promises have not been fulfilled.

The same scrutiny is used by these special people to assess Jesus Christ, to see whether or not He is worthy of complete allegiance. These special people today take a huge risk, a leap of faith, in declaring their commitment to this Jesus.
It’s a huge risk because their life is still on the line. Not because some ruler (in the US, anyway) will cut their head off, but because to follow anything or anyone less than the Way God has shown us is to literally throw their lives away into the garbage dump, to use Jesus’ words.

I guess the question today, and everyday, is: are you that special kind of person who hears the revolutionary, rebellious, scandalous call of Jesus, and answers yes?
How are you answering yes? With your time? With your priorities? With your wallet? With your attention? In your relationships? Your sex life? Your devotional life?

As you say yes to this invitation, how will you choose to grow in your relationship with Christ in 2009? With whom will you gather to support and be supported as you walk in new ways? How will you give yourself to the mission to which God has called you?

This Christmas, as you give and receive gifts, may you accept the gift given in Christ’s invitation to you to follow with everything you’ve got, because everything matters much.

May you have ears to hear that Jesus’ call is still one of life and death – your life – and may you have sense enough and courage enough and faith enough to say yes.

Revolutionary Christmas: Be Scandalous

That day was not unlike many that preceded it except for the investigation team. John the
Baptist wasn’t doing his powerful preaching in the outskirts of the Temple. He didn’t fit there.
His message, his style, and his wardrobe was for an entirely different audience – one that was hungry, dying for hope, ready to give their lives to something worth living and dying for.

The investigation team from the Temple was on a mission to discover who this preacher was.

Was he the Messiah? Was he the long-anticipated Elijah, returning from his whirlwind tour of heaven? Was he a prophet?

John wasn’t happy to see them, and gave them an answer they could not have expected. He was the one prophesied about in Isaiah, the forerunner to the Messiah of God.

John was so impacted by the reality of the Messiah’s coming that his whole life reflected it. He wore weird clothes. He ate weird food. He preached a weird message. He was against the flow. His whole life was objectionable by many. He was scandalous.

He probably got some inspiration from his second cousin, Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Mary and Joseph had hopes for where their life would go. It involved a Chupah – the prayer cloth beneath which they would take their vows and even consummate their marriage.
But they never got the chance because God invited them into a scandal. The greatest scandal in history. A sex scandal no less.

Think about the core of the conversation that buzzed around Nazareth when Mary’s news started getting around. This was juicy stuff. And God orchestrated it.

In order for Mary and Joseph to say yes to God’s scandalous act of grace incarnate, they had to say yes to a host of other things as well: yes o humiliation; yes to misinterpretation; yes to broken relationships; yes to hurt feelings; yes to loneliness and fear. The list of difficult yes’s goes on and on.

But the most important thing they said yes to was God’s scandalous idea that God could dwell among us in the flesh. That God’s dream was bigger than theirs. That God’s plan would have greater impact than their plan. That God’s plan would ultimately be better for them, and better for all people that their plan.

To say yes to the scandal, to the revolution, was worth the struggle they would endure.

If you could go back in time and walk in their shoes knowing what you do know about how it all turned out, would you be up for it? It would be pretty cool to experience some of those miraculous things, wouldn’t it? You would, of course, do it knowing that it was going to work out incredibly great. You would probably say yes to the invitation to the scandal.

Do you realize, however, that being a Jesus follower is scandalous? Revolutionary? Rebellious?

How is your scandal going for you?

Not specific enough?

Okay, how’s your sex scandal going?

We live in a culture where sexuality has become so ordinary and commonplace that it is no longer treated as sacred, let alone as set aside for marriage.

So, I’m wondering, is your view of human sexuality scandalous in this world we live in?

What formed your view of sexuality? Until you have a clue as to the answer to that question, you and your view are not your own.

What is God’s call for your sexuality? How is it different than our culture’s? Is your way any different? Is it so Jesus-like that it may even be considered scandalous?

How about other areas of your life? What about you would others see as so obviously Jesus that they would say it’s scandalous, revolutionary, and rebellious against our cultural systems?

Mary and Joseph said yes in spite of all the struggles their yes implied. They said yes because they knew what was being offered. They said yes because they knew who was making the offer.
May it be so for you.

Christ the Revolutionary or Snuggle Me Jesus?

The coming of Christ was not a Hallmark card.

Mary didn’t have her make up on, her hair looking just right, with a soft halo-like glow around her lily-white skin. She gave birth in a shelter for animals after a journey that lasted for several days with no rest areas.

Joseph came to grips with Mary’s “condition”, but not without great inner turmoil before, during, and after Jesus’ birth. Lots of pride to swallow.

The shepherds who heard the angelic choir that night most certainly soiled their loin cloths.

The Wise Men spent loads of dough heading for the castle, only to discover the newborn king in a feeding trough.

I believe that the prophets who were used of God to foretell the Messiah’s coming struggled as well. How could they not struggle? They could not know what kind of world or religious culture into which this Christ would be born.

Christ’s entrance into the world came as a terrific shock that nobody really expected, even though they had been looking and praying and hoping for the Messiah’s arrival.

Christ’s entrance was a shock to his own religious tradition. In his adult ministry, Jesus bucked the system. He ticked off the religious leaders left and right (both sides of the aisle – he was an equal opportunity offender!). But even his birth didn’t hit the radar of those watching. Who would have guessed that the person God would send to reestablish the Kingdom would be born in the most humble of circumstances? Who would have guessed that his arrival would come in such a provocative, seemingly immoral way? From the very beginning, Christ challenged the religious system he came to recalibrate.

Christ’s entrance into the world was also a shock to the political system. There was one superpower nation on the planet when Jesus drew his first breath. It wasn’t the United States. It was Rome. The Roman government was ruled by Caesars over a long period of time, each with their strengths and peculiarities. In the first century, the prevailing belief among the people was that the gods had appointed the Caesars to their throne. Some of these Emperors really took that idea to heart. Domitian, for example, believed himself to be a son of God. He demanded that Roman citizens call him Lord and God. As a general rule, the Caesars believed themselves and the empire they ruled to be the Savior of the World. They proclaimed the good news (using the same root word for our evangelism) of Pax Romana – peace under the Empire’s rule. The prophecy of the long-awaited Messiah used terms like Lord and God to describe him. The prophecy (Is. 40:1-11) painted a picture of one who would have authority to level the playing field completely – ultimate power and authority. The words further describe his dominance in contrast with humanity’s frailty.

Whichever lens you use to view this – the religious or political - all of this was provocative. Subversive, actually. This Messiah, this Son of God came to bring about a revolution.

Tickle Me Elmo and Snuggle Me Jesus…. Without question, we have created Jesus in our own image. We have custom-made Christ into a vehicle to satisfy our need for a little inner peace, and a little intellectual assurance that when our bodies give out, we’ll live forever. We want a stuffed doll – a Snuggle Me Jesus – who is only there when we have trouble sleeping at night.

But that’s not really a choice we have. Christ is who he is.

The question is: do we want the real Christ?

The Christ that was prophesied is radical. Provocative. A rebel who is leading a revolution, an eternal movement that bucks all systems in favor of one that actually changes – and saves – the world. To embrace this Christ means that we allow him to challenge how we think about our precious religion. To embrace this Christ means we allow him to challenge how we think about our nation. At first, you may give a quick nod to this invitation.

But wait.

The only comfort this Christ offers is the comfort that comes from knowing you have finally found and are growing in Truth, in Reality instead of the façade we’ve created. Following this Christ does not allow room for devotion only when you really feel like you need it or feel it’s necessary to get rid of your guilt. Remember, we’re talking about a revolution-leader, not a stuffed animal.

If we’re really honest with ourselves, I think we’ll admit that if we’ve settled for Snuggle Me Jesus, our deepest needs haven’t been fully met. Not even close, actually. Snuggle Me Jesus only offers momentary, shallow peace during difficult times, but does not compel us toward changed behavior or changing the world. Snuggle Me Jesus only offers slight intellectual satisfaction about heaven, but hardly enough confidence to actually commit our lives to the King’s cause (I’m speaking of total devotion, not suicide bombings).

I usually, quickly define the word “fear” as “reverence” when it shows up in a passage where fearing God is instructed. Maybe in my efforts to make the Bible relevant I’ve done the word a disservice. Maybe we need to shake in our boots a little when we consider this invitation that Christmas proclaims, because the invitation is coming from the one who has the power and authority – forever – to level the playing field, to outlast all of us, and to do whatever the Kingdom needs done.

Do you really want the Christ that came, and still is?

Or do you want a Snuggle Me Jesus for Christmas?

Questions to Journal, then Dialogue in Community…
What emotions do you typically feel or think of (if you’re void of emotions) when the Christmas season arrives?

What warm, fuzzy traditions do you celebrate during the Christmas season?

What is the emotional tone of our beloved Christmas carols? How about the covers of Christmas CD’s? Christmas movies?

Do we generally associate Christmas with a revolution? Why or why not?

We live in a consumer-driven economy and national system. How has this reality shaped the way many of us celebrate Christmas?

We live in the only superpower nation of the planet (for now). How do you process Isaiah’s prophecy that paints a picture of the Messiah as one whose power dwarfs and outlasts our incredibly mighty nation?

What might it mean if our primary allegiance is to God, which may at times significantly challenge our allegiance to what has become construed as Christianity in America? Can you handle it?

What might it mean if our primary allegiance is to God, which may at times significantly challenge our allegiance to the United States? Can you handle it?

What keeps you content with your Snuggle Me Jesus? In other words, why have you embraced Snuggle Me Jesus in the first place, and why do you still?

What is compelling about the actual Christ? What would compel you to give up Snuggle Me Jesus in favor of Christ? What hopes do you have? Fears?