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When Pastors engage in counseling they usually receive a lot of “flack” from counselees, like “I have a mental illness,” “I’m a victim,” or “I apologized kind of,” etc. Worse is “I’m letting go and letting God,” or “The Spirit/Jesus hasn’t changed me yet, I’m waiting on him.” That’s not only false, it is a sinful notion: the Bible is clear about Christians and the faithful putting off sin and putting on Christ. Scripture never says “wait till you feel the Spirit.”

“…as you have always obeyed…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” — Philippians 2:12–13. Yes, because God is in you, YOU must move and obey!

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry…But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another…” — Colossians 3:5, 8–9.

“…that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,…” — 1 Timothy 1:18–19. Notice Paul is holding Timothy responsible to act!

“I promise to keep your words” — Psalm 119:57.

“When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies” — Psalm 119:59.

“I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments” — Psalm 119:60

“I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end” — Psalm 119:112.

Even a few from David, an old testament saint! He takes full responsibility (notice the “I’s”)! And so should you!

The gospel reading for today (Luke 2:41-52) is a classic text among people of non-paedocommuion persuasion. They find from the story that Jesus never went up to the Passover celebration until he was twelve. Never mind the text doesn’t say that. And since Jesus didn’t eat the Passover Meal till he was twelve, then covenant children should not sit at the table till they are twelve, likewise. Covenant children don’t get to go into the “real Father’s house” until they are twelve and admitted to the Lord’s Supper. That’s the Bar Mitzvah practice; but when did that become normative for Christian practice and doctrine?

Funny how his parents thought he was with the entourage, as if running around with cousins was a normal thing to do on this trip! It’s also “funny” that at the institution of the Passover in Exodus 12, there was a lamb “for each household,” (3), and if the household was too small for a whole lamb, then two households could share a lamb, “according to the number of souls, according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb” (4). One guesses children under twelve years of age aren’t a “soul/person,” and they can’t eat yet! Funny, too, that when your children ask during the killing of the lamb and preparation for the service, “What do you mean by this service” (26-27), the answer “for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt,” even though all the children in the houses were spared, nobody but those twelve and older got to eat. And, of course, only twelve-year-olders would think to ask such a question!

Funny, too, how Paul teaches that “all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink… from the rock, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians. 10:1-4) Apparently, only children twelve and older escaped from Egypt!

The gospel text of Matthew 2:1–12 for the second Sunday in Christmas is one of those texts you just can’t read lightly, lest you miss some really important stuff. One such important detail is that Herod is a new Pharaoh who kills little boys to prevent the Promised Seed from ascending his throne, and that he is “deceived” by the wise men as was Pharaoh by the midwives.

Speaking of the Wise Men, how many were there? We all know “three,” but the text doesn’t actually say that; just the Christmas carol, thinking each man brought one gift. Are you really paying attention to the text?!

Same thing with the “star” the men follow! Most Christians think this is an actual, cosmic star in heaven, no bother that stars are about 1000 times larger than our earth (don’t trust the science here!). But if you read your bible and connect even a few dots, you know this isn’t a cosmic star but the “Shekinah Glory,” the cloud of light by day and fire by night, the portable throne room of Yahweh and Jesus that moves around leading Israel in the wilderness and that picks up Jesus at his ascension. Paul gets a visit from it on the way to Damascus, and Jesus speaks out of it just like Yahweh did to Moses. So in our gospel account the “star” leads the men to an actual house and “sits” over it; therein they find Jesus.

So this invites the question: Why does the text tell us that David picks up “five” stones when he meets Goliath? Why “five”? We all know the answer: he was a Calvinist, one stone for each point. And all it took was one stone, since Goliath was “totally depraved!” But might it have been that David was preparing to get his four brothers (2 Samuel 21.15-22)?

Stille Nacht (Silent Night) and The First Noel were the first two Christmas hymns that stopped the first World War briefly during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1914. First the Germans serenaded their enemies across the trenches, and the British soldiers responded with The First Noel. Shortly thereafter white flags went up, soldiers from both sides started crawling out of the trenches and exchanging goodies from home, laughter, stories, drinks and food. Dead comrades were removed and buried without withering machine gun fire. This was only the latest example of Europe’s Christian heritage influencing even the engagement of warfare: for centuries various Christian kingdoms wouldn’t allow warfare during Christmas or Easter and other holidays, and regulated burials and ceasefires and treatment of prisoners.

Secularists, in treating this Christmas truce, reduce it to sentimental rubbish: “The truce was a brief tantalizing flash of individual humanity, in a war of bureaucracies, machines and high explosives.”

No, No, No, No! When did this happen? On Christmas Eve! What were the troops singing? Christmas hymns, not beer-drinking ditties! What brought this temporary truce? The worship of Jesus and the peace that he brought to the world in his incarnation. In fact, worship of Jesus (by two Christian armies) preceded the truce. The worship of Jesus lifted even these hardened soldier’s eyes heavenward to gaze for moment on what the angels heralded so long ago:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2.14). What a brilliant example of Jesus’ reign on earth affecting the conduct of men! May it do the same for you this coming year!

Driving around town, it is depressing to see how many decorations have NO nativity scene. But reading C.S. Lewis improved my attitude somewhat!

In his book, God in the Dock, Lewis has some very pungent observations about the keeping of “Exmas” and “Chrismas.” After dealing with all the excesses of Exmas and how it really is just empty religion—meaningless cards of birds on branches, or green trees, or men dressed up like two hundreds years before, or houses with snow; empty gifts that they have to match in value to one another, expensive gifts they wouldn’t even buy for themselves, and how the sellers push junk for purchase, and how miserable older citizens walk around in the market places in red robes; and tired from the “rush of the season,” eat and drink too much on the day and are sick for a few days afterwards, and how they honor a god they do not believe in—he finally gets around to a few of the citizens who keep “Chrismas” (the word in the article) on the same day as Exmas.

These citizens do the opposite of most of their countrymen: they rise early with shining faces and go to temples where they partake of a sacred feast. And they set out images of a fair woman with new-born Child on her knees with animals and shepherds adoring the Child. And they retell the sacred story of the birth.

Let us at St. Mark NOT do what the Exmas crowd does, but let us follow in the path of the “Chrismas” worshippers! Though fewer, in our devotion to Christ let us lead the culture with truth, goodness, and beauty, not gluttony or drunkenness or senseless emotional pictures and decorations!

Merry Christmas! Christ is the beginning of Christmas!

The lectionary readings this week paint a picture of hope. In the scriptures, God often anchors hope, which is all about the future, in the past, so that you, God’s chosen people, can live in the present.

You hope for the future because of the demonstrated faithfulness of God in the past. Lest you think this is somehow faithless—that you must have faith without the demonstrated faithfulness of God—observe how the Psalms constantly rehearse the faithfulness of the God as the bedrock of hope and faith. Or in Matthew 11, when John the Baptizer needs reassuring, Jesus shores up John’s faith with acts of faithfulness. Faith and hope are anchored in the demonstrated faithfulness of God.

We rehearse this time of Advent hope, not because we wait for God to do something, but because He already has. God sent His Son as a babe who was faithful. Now we live in an earth under His reign. We know the gates of hell cannot prevail against our advance because we are led by the one who crushed the serpent’s head.

Yes, we expectantly look forward to celebrating Jesus first coming, but we do so because we know the story. We hope in the continued victory of the reigning King of Kings, the babe from the stable, who has demonstrated His faithfulness to all people in every age. As the saying goes, Jesus is the reason for the season. With glad tidings and good cheer, anchor your hope this season in the demonstrated faithfulness of your Lord Jesus!

When reading the book of Proverbs, young men are confronted with two choices: Lady Wisdom or Lady Folly. It’s pretty clear who Solomon is angling for! But here’s a question for you: where is Husband Wisdom? Or who is Husband Wisdom? Solomon never really says, though in 8:22–31, he points to someone from the past, someone at the beginning of the Creation, a Master Workman at Yahweh’s right hand. But it’s not a question that is much of a focus in the book.

So who is Husband Wisdom? Well, that’s Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:30–31), come to earth as a baby to receive his bride!

“The Word of the Father came down from heaven to teach the Way of Prudence to the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. Wisdom was born of a virgin in the dead of winter to an heir of the house of Judah. Wisdom lived and grew before God and men (Luke 2:52). Wisdom came and spoke to us in [sayings], for he is greater than Solomon (Matthew 12:42). It was the will of the Father to send his beloved Wisdom to the folly of the Cross, and the joy of Wisdom to carry it (Isaiah 53:10; Hebrews 12:2). That same Wisdom rose again, first-born of the dead, and now rules and reigns forever and ever!” (Mark Brians, Theopolis).

Having secured his bride, he now loves her and matures her that he may present her, the church, to himself in splendor, that she might be holy and without blemish.

So this Advent Season rejoice that he came for you, yes, YOU, to make you part of his bride, and he did so and is doing so in all wisdom! Rejoice! For you are not a lonely one, poor and needy (Psalm 113), but a glorious Princess clothed in the splendor of his love! (Psalm 45).

St. Mark’s Advent and Christmas Guide teaches that Advent is a time to remember that we live between the two major comings of Jesus in history, “that we must live by faith in Christ as we await his return,” and that “we are given to each other in the community of the church to encourage each other…”

Psalm 122 is one of this week’s Advent readings, and does a splendid job of displaying what it means to be a community that encourages one another.

It demonstrates the communal nature of worship: “I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord,” and it is “our feet” that are standing within the gates of Jerusalem to participate in worship.

It describes Jerusalem, the worshipping community, as a body that is firmly bound together to give thanks to the Lord. It reminds us that we are under the Lord, who judges his city for their blessing, as the chief of the house of David.

It calls us, the city, the church, to pray for one another: to pray for peace and security amongst those who love the body.

Finally, it calls us to real, brotherly fellowship: “For my brothers and companion’s sake, I will say, ‘Peace be within you!’”, while at the same time exhorting us to seek each other’s good. And to do so for the glory of God!

So while our focus during Advent is the coming of the Lord, we aren’t to forget for whom he is coming: that brother or sister or child in front of you or behind you or to your side. Not only are we to pray for them, but to seek their peace and to love worshipping with them, because they, too, give thanks to the Lord!

In Genesis 1, God creates a three-tiered universe of the heavens, the land, and the waters below. The first three days he creates them, the next three days fills them, and then puts man in control of it all in Genesis 1:26: “…dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over… all the earth…” The three tiers show up all over the bible: it was seen in Psalm 8 in Pastor Joe’s sermon, and in my sermon in Revelation 12:12 and soon in 14:7.

This language of three-tiers of the universe is also in the second commandment, where God forbids us to bow down to an image of anything in “heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth” (Exodus 20:4). Stop for a second and take that in! God forbids us to bow down to images of anything! “Heaven, earth, and sea” means the whole universe!

In this holiday season, these are important words. Rather than worshipping things, or wealth, or beauty, or good times, or family, or coveting all that might go with those entities (like fake Coca-Cola Christmas scenes and all the emotions evoked by them), we are to worship the Trinity and give thanks for all that we’ve been given, and be content with that as well (1 Corinthians 4:7). We’re to be people of thanksgiving and joy, not envious or covetous of anything in the universe. We’re not to worship it or bow down to it, but rather “rejoicing in the Lord always…in everything by prayer…with thanksgiving letting our requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6–7). Or, as Paul said elsewhere, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). What a way to enjoy the universe God has blessed us with in Jesus!

It’s that time of year of waning light, and Christians get discouraged for multitudes of reasons: not enough sunlight, poor election results, wickedness accessible on all screens, idolatry of the general culture, rampant sexual immorality blasted in every medium, failing statesmen on all levels of government, holiday debt, kids just aren’t soaking in the discipline routines, conservatives are really Democrats in “go slower” hoodies, etc. We feel bleak, and that carries over into our estimation of Christ’s kingdom and the Great Commission: things look bleak (which is called “living by sight, not by faith.”).

So here’s a great quote to help you live by faith!

“It is often casually said that we live in post-Christian times. I believe that statement to be false. Theologically, the term ‘post-Christian’ makes no sense. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, and all the letters in between. He carries constitutionally the freshness of morning dew. Christianity is of the dawn. If, at times, during given periods, we feel enshrouded by twilight, it is because another day is in the making.” — Erik Varden, “Towards Dawn”

Wow! Now that’s inspirational, because it is TRUE! If in the fullness of time all things were and are united in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:10), what are we doing moping? As Varden points out, Jesus always “is” in His reign and action and love and kingdom. We live in the “regeneration,” the new world order, where Christ sits on his glorious throne, and we are ruling with Him (Matthew 19:28).

But Jesus isn’t just sitting there! No, he’s moving the heavenly Jerusalem to imprint itself upon the earth. He is making all things new, each and every day.

Meditate on that this season, and rejoice that Jesus “is” the daily dawn!

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ…shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly…not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock… Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another…” (1 Peter 5.1-5).

Church membership really is an exercise in humility and like-mindedness.

For the elders (elder means “old guy” in both Hebrew and Greek), they have to humbly accept the sheep that God gives them, and willingly exercise oversight over those sheep; not under compulsion but as a gift, the gift of eternal souls being shepherded unto eternal life. Peter says they can’t bully the sheep into heaven, but that the elders have to be examples to the sheep. In humility they can’t push them away, but have to consider that they, too, are sheep, and must shepherd as they would want to be shepherded. That’s like-mindedness for those under your care. Peter makes it also clear the shepherding is to be done eagerly unto Christ, as it is God’s flock, without any “fleecing” of the sheep for shameful gain. Those in authority often use their power to ascribe further power or possessions for themselves; but Peter says “no” to such malarkey. The “gain” is to the sheep.

For the members, who are younger than the “old guys,” they are told to be subject to the old guys, clothing themselves with humility. So “might is not right” for youth with respect to subjection to the leaders; but a refusal to use that youthfulness and strength while listening and following the wisdom of those who have traveled the paths ahead many times over. The youth learn from the old guys how to navigate the future with holiness, watching and following their example.

People often ask, “Is there a compelling reason for church membership presented in the Bible?” Of course there is!

In the book of Numbers, God knows exactly who his sheep are, because he counts them twice: once after the Red Sea, and then just before entering the Holy Land, after the older, rebellious generation has died off. He knows who He is responsible for, and they know who to obey.

Same thing after the exile: 1 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah all have lists of those who came back.

Jesus also says that he knows his sheep, and that they know his voice. Since he appoints men in the church to lead his church and keep the keys of the kingdom

in Matthew 16, it only makes sense that they also are to know who they are responsible for, and for those cared for to know the voices of their leaders.

Hebrews 13:17 provides the clearest compelling argument for membership in a local congregation: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account…” The individuals have to know the names of the men who rule over them, as one cannot obey a nebulous or undefined leadership. Likewise, a body of elders cannot render an account to God for an undefined membership either!

So this verse (see also Hebrews 13:7 and 1 Peter 5:1–5) requires two lists of names—a list of the elders and a list of the members! We’re not talking about some impressionist painting of fuzzy sheep and shepherds on a distant hillside while working with smudgy brushes!