Christmas Mix: Hymn Edition

In my parent's Honda CRV, there is a stack of CDs about an 1.5 inches thick wedged into the space just below the CD player.  That is overflow from the CDs that are actually in the CD case laying between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat in the front of the car.  For the last 4+ years, my brother and I have created mix CDs for every road trip, family vacation, major event.  It is interesting and sometimes hilarious to see what we had been listening to at various times within the past 4 years.

For us, Mix CDs are a way of cataloging - like mp3 scrap-booking.  There are stories and memories that go with the songs.  The speech I gave to my class at my high school graduation was a mix of songs that I thought captured our high school experience and the futures that we were each heading into.

So without further ado, here is the Christmas Hymn Mix

1. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

At Christmastime at my grandparents, my cousins and I used to organize a Christmas play or talent show.  For quite a few years the only Christmas song that we all knew the words to was Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.  (Although, I used to sing "mercy minor" instead of "mercy mild" - that was just my interpretation...)  The memories with my cousins, and with the rest of my family are so important.  We aren't the family that says "hey, I'll take a bullet for you."  I'm sure we would do that - but rather, we are the family that says, "I am rich in everything that matters, because I have you."  That is what is important to me at Christmas.

2. Angels We Have Heard on High

  

This is one of my favorite hymns, because I remember my dad teaching me how to pronounce Excelsis Deo one time in church.  He told me to just say "egg shells-ez," and I have always remembered that.  Gloria, in egg-shells-ez Deo.

Glory to God in the highest.

3.  Silent Night

I will always remember at the end of all of my elementary school Holiday concerts we ended with Silent Night.  A beautiful image of what that still, beautiful night was when Jesus was born.  The lights would go down in our gymnasium as everyone, all grades and their parents, joined to sing Silent Night.  I can still recall a lot of the other songs we sang - one about being a package and sending yourself to someone.  I remember the year that my class got up to sing it, and we all started singing the wrong verse - we were cracking up, but our teacher probably didn't think it was too funny.  Or the classic, Christmas is coming, the Goose is getting fat; Please put a penny in the old man's hat.  You can only imagine the parodies that grade-schoolers came up with for that song.  And then the stillness of Silent Night to wrap up the concert.

4. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

The opening words of this hymn are a great reminder of what Christmas is about.  Come, Thou long expected Jesus.  Not the presents under the tree.  Not the food on the table.  Not the lights or the extravagance.  Jesus.  He is who we are waiting for this season.  He is who we are opening our hearts to.

5. O Come All Ye Faithful

This hymn is in a big red hymn book on our piano at home.  It begins with a call to the faithful, joyful and triumphant.  Do you always fit those categories?  I know I don't.  Have you ever been grumpy, frustrated or felt defeated...and then someone asks you to hold a baby?  How do you feel with that baby in your arms?  They are probably sweet, warm, smiling.  It's hard to hold on to those negative feelings with a baby in your arms.  With the sweet, innocent baby, those burdensome feelings dissipate.  We may not come with strong faith or with a joyful and triumphant heart - but in the presence of our savior, a humble babe in a manger, who has the power to ease our burdens, we can be transformed.

6. In the Bleak Midwinter

   

My favorite verse of this song begins with "What can I give Him, poor as I am?  If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb."  At the end of the verse, it resolves "What can I give Him?  I give Him my heart."  That is the most important thing at Christmas.  It can't be purchased.  It can't be wrapped and put under the tree.  The most important thing about Christmas is that our hearts our present - with God and with our family and friends.  The world may tell you that you don't have much to give - but God tells you that you have everything to give.

(And this is also an excuse to add a little JT to the Christmas mix.  Not Justin Timberlake - the original JT :) )

7. Go Tell it On the Mountain

That is our mission and purpose - Christmas can be the starting point, but we must go out from there and let others know about greatest gift ever given.  It is truly the gift that keeps on giving and that grows bigger every time it is given.  Go out to the mountains.  Go out to the supermarket.  To your school.  Tell them with your words or with your actions - or both.  God's love was born in a manger.  Journeyed to the cross.  And His love is still overflowing from there.  

Merry Christmas!  May the love and peace of Jesus Christ be with you this season and in all the seasons!

~SP

Perspective - It's Powerful

It is moments like this that I am humbled, and returned back to what is important, and what really matters.  At the end of this video, Leo, the man that the story is about, is asked how he keeps his "inner peace."  He says simply, "Faith. Prayer.  That's what it's all about."  What you find out about Leo during the course of the video, which was posted on Upworthy, is that he has been homeless and jobless for quite some time.  You'll be amazed by Leo's story.  When given the opportunity to learn computer coding and the possibility of a high paying job, what Leo really wants to do is design something that will better protect the planet.  A man who has no home, or car, or regular meals, still thinks of the betterment of others before himself.

Growing up, when I would see the faith of people, especially in 3rd world, impoverished countries, who proclaim this incredible faith in God, I was amazed.  They go for years without rain.  Have no homes.  Have little to no food or water.  Their land is ridden with disease.  I would like to think if I lived in those places and had those circumstances that my faith would be strong too.  But it is a reminder, that we can't just claim that God is good when the blessings are material and tangible - God is good because He gave Himself in abundance, and continues to give of Himself in abundance.

This year has been an incredible dose of perspective in what I really need.  The truth is, there are a lot of things I can do without.  It is not always easy, because when you get used to things you have to work on adapting.  But that is the point, they are things.  Things are not necessary.  Things can be replaced.

This is what I have come to know: the worst type of poverty is spiritual poverty.  Being hungry is terrible.  Not having a place to sleep at night is terrible.  Not having a job is terrible.  Having all of those things but not having Jesus is worse.  Losing all of those things and not having Jesus - I'm not sure where I would be.

"This is what I have come to know: the worst type of poverty is spiritual poverty."

I was humbled by this man's gratitude at the end of this video.  Gratitude that can only be inspired by faith.  Simple gratitude for God being who God is, and God doing what God does.  Again, it's not just about being thankful for the tangible blessings.  Things we can touch.  Things that actually happen.  It is about God being the creator and redeemer - and us being grateful for that.

So I believe that God is working on my heart.  I just wrote about my doubt and my fear - but I can already feel God working in my heart to change those things.  Reminding me that He takes care of it all if I am willing to surrender everything to Him.  Give up my plans.  Trust that if the plans don't come out exactly how I foresee them, it is not that I have failed, it is just that God has another direction in mind.

~SP

Doubt

This is my biggest struggle right now.  Doubt.  I am struggling with a lot of insecurities of what the future brings.  Whether I will be selected for an internship.  Whether I will have the means to take that internship.  I've never experienced doubt this great.  Doubt that fractures trust.  It is consuming.

It is so hard to not be in on every detail, every step of the plan.  Because that is control - and I like control, because it makes me feel secure.  But I also know safety and security in Jesus - so how can that be so hard to rely on in this time?

A friend who prayed for me, and with me, a few weeks ago offered this up in prayer: God, it is when we are helpless and have surrendered that you do wonderful, amazing things, that You take control.  Sometimes we treat God as if He is the God that just shows up sometimes.  He reveals something wonderful to us, pours out blessing, and we say, oh look, there He is!  God just showed up.  But He didn't.  God was always there.  It was you or I that was holding out.  Holding on to the plans and trying to make our own.

It is not a magic trick.  There is no magic prayer or words that allow God to do His work.  It is you and I who have to do the surrendering.  God can take control of the plans with or without our surrender, and He does.  But He wants us to choose His will.  When we surrender, we realize that God didn't come running upon our decision.  He has been there all along - we just failed to see.

My doubt is holding me back from surrender.  So I pray.  I pray that I will be able to wholeheartedly give up the plans and surrender.  The the outcomes of my efforts in April, whatever they may be, are in God's hands.
Last summer, I stood in front of a bunch of kids and adults that I loved.  I told them about the God I knew, and how He provides exactly what we need.  And now I need to hear those words, with my ears and with my heart.  God provides.

God you are good, and you know my heart.  My standing up, and my sitting down.  You, who hem me in before and behind will carry me, love me, provide for me, and give me hope.  You ask for my surrender.  Help me where I am weak to lean on you.  Lift up the burden of doubt.  Let any plans that I may have, be yours.

Amen.

Star of Wonder, Star of Night

In past posts, I have talked about the scripture in Genesis, where God speaks to Abraham and tells him that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars.

Psalm 174: 4

He determines the number of stars; He gives to all of them their names.

Those stars were us - the ones that God pointed out to Abraham.  No, we aren't literally gaseous balls of fire, but we were planned and are known by God, just like it is described in the Psalms.  

And then in the gospels, we read about the bright star shining in the sky.  The one that led the wise men to Jesus.  The one that inspired Christmas hymns.  The one that often adorns our Christmas trees.

What was that star?  Why did God choose to put it there?  The star stood out above all the rest.  It could be noticed, because it was bright - it made it easy for travelers to follow.

We were stars placed in the sky.  We were placed as a part of a family.  We were sons and daughters of God.  And on the night that Jesus was born, God placed another Son in the sky among us.  The star was made up of the same matter as the other stars, just as Jesus was human.  However, there was something different about that star.  Something not of this world.  Something unlike the other stars.

We have always been a part of God's family, but we often fall away.  We distance ourselves, we become like strangers.  We estrange ourselves from the family.  Then God sent a sibling to live among us.  One who had been living in perfect Unity with the Father.  One who could tell us about the Father, and how His heart longed for our return.  He would bring with Him the offer of adoption back into the family - to lay the things of the world aside.  Jesus came like a bright and radiant star in the midst of dark night, so that the other fading stars could have their light restored and be held in their place by the hands of God.

Merry Christmas!

~SP

Church: Open on Christmas, Easter and Every Other Day In Between

 I want to address something that occurs usually twice a year - this great, wonderful thing that we should rejoice in - but I often find myself snarling about.  I walk into my church, or the church I am attending on Christmas Eve or Easter Sunday, and it is packed.  People are sitting hip to hip in the pews.  There are faces I don't know; faces I haven't seen for a long time.  I want every Sunday to be like that when I walk into Church.  I want to have to set up more chairs, because the pews can't contain everyone.

I'll just throw something out there - yes, there have been names made up for those who only choose to attend church twice a year.  There's the plain old "twice-a-year Christians."  There's "Creaster" - a goofy melding of the words Christmas and Easter.  I need to apologize.  Because I've used these terms.  My heart has been hard.  I don't know why I get frustrated and make these bitter statements.  I love God's Church and I want to see it grow.  I shouldn't spite you because you don't have a spotless attendance record.  That's not what it's about. 

This has created what my pastors in Bloomington call an "us and them" culture.  It's not a good thing.  I should be overjoyed to see people I don't know and people who I haven't seen in a long time in Church.  You are not different, or part of an outcast group - you are welcomed as part of God's church, always, whether you attend every Sunday or just twice a year. 

Now let me say this, genuinely: I would love to see you again.  The Sunday after Christmas.  The Sunday after that.  Actually, all of the Sundays in between Christmas and Easter.  Then after Easter, I'd love to see you at Church all the Sundays between Easter and Christmas...see what I did there? :)

Let me offer you this: Church is a lot more than just sitting in the pews and being there to Celebrate Christ's birth, death and resurrection.  It is about a community that I want you to be a part of, and more importantly, that God wants you to be a part of.  I want you to experience the way God works throughout the entire year, not just on the Holidays.  There are so many wonderful things that God is able to do through the body of His Church - come and find out.

What if life was like this: what if people were only nice to you on your birthday.  They only affirmed you, supported you or paid any attention to you on that day.  You only get one day out of the year.  Would you survive?  I couldn't.  Jesus lived a whole life in between His birth and His crucifixion.  He had big days, like the Sermon on the Mount and the day He fed 5,000.  He had less glamorous days - like the day He met the woman at the well, and the day He visited Zaccheus' house.  Those days were still important.  They were a big part of Jesus' life and story and they were a big part of the lives of the others involved.

All those Sundays in between are important.  The Sundays when you have joys to share and the Sundays when you are hurting.  We don't just want to celebrate Christ's birth and death in community, we want to celebrate everyday in community.  Everyday is a gift.  Jesus is not just there for the milestones - He is there for the journey.

Merry Christmas!

~SP 

A Broken Nativity: How We Come to the Stable

My family has a lot of Holiday traditions.  Some big, and some small.  They have adapted as our family has grown, but at their core they are still built on the value of our family being together.  That is one of my greatest gifts at Christmastime.

One tradition that started when my cousin Alana and I were very young was setting up the Nativity at my grandparents' house.  The frame of the stable sits under the grand piano in the living room.  There is an old-fashioned department store box full of Nativity pieces.  To take a census, there are about 10 sheep figurines, two donkeys, maybe a camel or two.  We've go three wise men.  A few shepherds.  Mary, Joseph, Jesus (who is the size of a toddler).  We've also got one huge angel and then a bunch of little angels (clearly originating from two different nativity sets).  Now, what sets our Nativity set apart is the variety of missing limbs from all the figurines.  We've had several amputations and re-attachments over the years.  We've got Mary with a shepherds hand.  Baby Jesus has a full grown man hand.  But regardless of the state of each of the figurines, the Nativity gets set up during Christmas.

One year we decided to incorporate the figurines from the Nativity into our cousin variety show (it's an annual event).  We decided to do a retelling of the Christmas story using the Nativity characters.  Joseph was recruited to play full grown Jesus.  Just as we reached the point of the story where Jesus grows up, his (Joseph) hand tumbles to the ground.  So I lifted up Joseph/Jesus and said "and then Jesus grew up to become the savior of all humankind...single-handedly."  My parents, aunts, uncles and even Grandma and Grandpa were rolling with laughter.  The whole event has been immortalized on home video.

The point of this story is not my 11-year-old, faulty theology.  All the broken pieces of the Nativity set make me think about how we would all approach the stable.  On Christmas Eve, or Christmas day we often put on our finest outfits for the candlelight service.  We "put ourselves together."  But over the past year, there may have been times of brokenness or struggle.  We may come with some scars - visible like my grandparents nativity, or invisible.

Some Christmas throughout our lives, we may all approach the stable a little broken.  We may have a piece or two missing.  And there at the stable, we are accepted whichever way we come.  Even as a baby, in Jesus' presence we are made whole.  We are invited in to be a part of a family, to be a part of a home.  When there is no room for us in the other lodging, Jesus makes room for us.  There may have been other people in Bethlehem who were enjoying the comfort of their private lodging that night, but the stable doors were open to welcome the travelers, the sick and the lonely, the broken.  They were invited into the presence of their King.

Over the years, none of the Nativity characters in my grandparents collection have been discarded.  Even those who are missing both hands, a leg, or various other parts.  We are always able to find a place for them.  The stable is open.  Come as you are into the presence of your King.

Merry Christmas.

~SP