From the very beginning of Jesus' entrance into the world, we see God's promise being fulfilled that with Him would come hope for ALL the nations, not just Israel.
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” —Matthew 2:1–2
Unlike Luke, Matthew does not tell us about the shepherds coming to visit Jesus in the stable. His focus is immediately on foreigners coming from the east to worship Jesus. So Matthew portrays Jesus at the beginning and ending of his Gospel as a universal Messiah for the nations, not just for Jews. Here the first worshipers are court magicians or astrologers or wise men not from Israel but from the East—perhaps from Babylon. They were Gentiles. And at the end of Matthew, the last words of Jesus are, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. (Excerpt From: Piper, John. “Good News of Great Joy.” Desiring God, 2012.)
Praise God, the door has been opened for all to come near to God through Jesus! As we are busy here with our own disciple-making endeavors, this is a perfect time to remember our dear missionaries - the ones who are in different nations preaching gospel-hope to those nations!
Perhaps there is no other time during the year that a missionary feels more displaced than the holiday season. Their hearts will ache as they see their kids struggle with missing their grandparents, uncles and aunts, and cousins. They'll long for those special holiday dishes that their limited grocery access or budget (since American food is so expensive abroad) won't allow them to enjoy. The shipping rates are outrageous for many of them but they'll try to give their third culture kids a similar kind of Christmas they might have stateside. They will do this all while bearing their own burdens from the heavy load and stress of missionary living. But, they will do it without complaining. They knew this was part of the cost of leaving the comforts of home and the people they love most for something even better - seeing "the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love!"
So, here are a few *postage-free ways we might encourage our co-laborers in the gospel heading into the new year:
1) Did you know most of our missionaries have a Facebook account? Why not "friend" them and use this aspect of social media to send an encouraging greeting from your family to theirs? And have you noticed the "Gift" tab on your friends' walls? You can easily send gifts to missionary deputees and those home on furlough via this option. An email with the redemption information will be sent to their inbox. What coast to coast traveler can't use some Starbucks coffee to keep him/her awake?! Also, friending them on Facebook will help you know how best to pray for them in their current situations - like the Huffstutlers in Kenya with little Makalya just being diagnosed with viral pneumonia. (Keep posts on their walls general since some of them may be friends with those they are trying to evangelize. Also, don't forget to mention what church you're from to help put a face with a name.)
2) Purchase an iTunes gift card for them. Then send them the account number for it via Facebook message or email.
3) Pray Scripture for them and then encourage them by typing out or pasting from Bible Gateway the verses/passages you prayed.
4) Get your family and friends from church together to create a youtube video greeting for them.
5) Not everyone is in the jungle, so why not call a local pizza place near some church planters your church supports and pay to have a pizza delivered to their house or a fruit bouquet or a seasonal flower arrangement? Stateside church-planters need encouragement too!
6) Give this inexpensive booklet, "Gospel Meditations for Missions," as a stocking stuffer to yourself :) or your spouse or even your teen. Although your missionaries will not know you have purchased it, they will benefit from your use of it! Inter-City Christian Bookstore in Allen Park has plenty available for purchase. Here's the link so you know what you're looking for: http://www.churchworksmedia.com/2011/12/03/gospel-meditations-for-missions/
7) If your missionaries serve in the UK, you can check http://www.amazon.co.uk/ to find if they have created a wish list. You can then purchase something off their list and it will be shipped to them directly from the UK.
8) Pick-up the "Missions Prayer Guide" at your church and commit to praying more regularly for them throughout the new year.
Let's spread some joy to those spreading the greatest Joy to the world!
-----------------------------
*Some ideas from desiringgod.org
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
A Severe December
I can still see her beautiful face smiling at us through one of the windows in her front door as she waved to us through the other. She stood there until our car was out of sight.
With her eyes still on the road, Mom took the money Grandma gave us to buy a Christmas tree and stuck it in her wallet. When Grandma found out we needed money that night she didn't judge or lecture. She just gave and sent us on our way, loving unconditionally.
So off we went, hoping our loaned clunker of a car would make it to the roadside Christmas tree stand and home. Our hearts were lighter after seeing Grandma. She always seemed to make things better. It wasn't the money she gave. That actually didn't happen very often. It was her perspective that made the difference. Because of her hope in Jesus, she had a confidence and security that was a testimony to us, her single-parent daughter and timid granddaughter, in our uncertain world.
Mom and I sang Christmas songs as we drove and felt some of the anticipation of the season begin to well in our hearts. December was here! Maybe there would be snow! And only a few more weeks until I'd be out of school for break. We'd be together as a family for the holidays. It really was the most wonderful time of year!
Just a few short days later, the morning of December 13, Uncle Tommy and Aunt Brenda sent their precious bundled up Brienne, my cousin (although I loved that people often mistook us for sisters), off to her kindergarten class with her teacher, our beloved Grandma. Brienne had been rehearsing her lines for the upcoming Christmas program and knew them by memory. Christmas was just around the corner and there was so much to look forward to. Although, to a five year old, waiting a week and a half to open presents seemed like ages! Oh, the wonder of December!
But, the paradox of Christmas is that her inevitable companions are the best and worst of times. Polar opposites find common ground in December.
In an instant, a patch of ice coupled with snow accumulation caused Grandma's car to flip, spinning across the road and landing upside down in a nearby creek. Oh, the horror of December!
The shopping we expected to be doing in December wasn't for caskets. The snow crunching walks, arms linked with our loved ones, weren't supposed to reach two freshly dug graves. The anticipation shouldn't have been the terror of facing another day in this harsh new reality. Oh, December is severe!
But, as we would come to find out, so is mercy.
"[T]hough he was God, [He] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself [of all that was rightly His as God], by being born in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2:6,7)
Jesus, born like us. A tiny helpless baby. It just doesn't seem right. The God who for eternity past never needed anything, now had human needs - like milk, like rest, like warmth. He who only knew self-sufficiency was now dependent. He who never knew the force of physical pain, or the drain of fighting temptation, or the throbbing headache and sick stomach and wet cheeks from weeping in deepest sorrow, now entered fallen time and space. The infinite humbled himself to experience all the burdens of the finite. Why did he willingly subject Himself to this severity?
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:14-18)
Tempted to what? Try and "whip God" by charging him with injustice? Grandpa found He could help with that. Tempted to lose confidence that he really is good? He's also able to help with that. Tempted to think He's not powerful enough to stop bad things from happening? There's help for that too.
If God subjected Jesus to such severity so He could show us mercy, how will he not also graciously give us all things? Like peace. Like a deep rooted joy. Like a lasting comfort. Like strength for today. Like eternal hope for the future. Like a secure, inseparable love. Like grace upon grace.
December is here. But, thank God, because of our faithful grief-bearing, sorrow-carrying Jesus, there are mercies inexhaustible, new every morning, ready for us each day of this wonderfully severe month.
With her eyes still on the road, Mom took the money Grandma gave us to buy a Christmas tree and stuck it in her wallet. When Grandma found out we needed money that night she didn't judge or lecture. She just gave and sent us on our way, loving unconditionally.
So off we went, hoping our loaned clunker of a car would make it to the roadside Christmas tree stand and home. Our hearts were lighter after seeing Grandma. She always seemed to make things better. It wasn't the money she gave. That actually didn't happen very often. It was her perspective that made the difference. Because of her hope in Jesus, she had a confidence and security that was a testimony to us, her single-parent daughter and timid granddaughter, in our uncertain world.
Mom and I sang Christmas songs as we drove and felt some of the anticipation of the season begin to well in our hearts. December was here! Maybe there would be snow! And only a few more weeks until I'd be out of school for break. We'd be together as a family for the holidays. It really was the most wonderful time of year!
Just a few short days later, the morning of December 13, Uncle Tommy and Aunt Brenda sent their precious bundled up Brienne, my cousin (although I loved that people often mistook us for sisters), off to her kindergarten class with her teacher, our beloved Grandma. Brienne had been rehearsing her lines for the upcoming Christmas program and knew them by memory. Christmas was just around the corner and there was so much to look forward to. Although, to a five year old, waiting a week and a half to open presents seemed like ages! Oh, the wonder of December!
But, the paradox of Christmas is that her inevitable companions are the best and worst of times. Polar opposites find common ground in December.
In an instant, a patch of ice coupled with snow accumulation caused Grandma's car to flip, spinning across the road and landing upside down in a nearby creek. Oh, the horror of December!
The shopping we expected to be doing in December wasn't for caskets. The snow crunching walks, arms linked with our loved ones, weren't supposed to reach two freshly dug graves. The anticipation shouldn't have been the terror of facing another day in this harsh new reality. Oh, December is severe!
But, as we would come to find out, so is mercy.
"[T]hough he was God, [He] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself [of all that was rightly His as God], by being born in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2:6,7)
Jesus, born like us. A tiny helpless baby. It just doesn't seem right. The God who for eternity past never needed anything, now had human needs - like milk, like rest, like warmth. He who only knew self-sufficiency was now dependent. He who never knew the force of physical pain, or the drain of fighting temptation, or the throbbing headache and sick stomach and wet cheeks from weeping in deepest sorrow, now entered fallen time and space. The infinite humbled himself to experience all the burdens of the finite. Why did he willingly subject Himself to this severity?
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:14-18)
Tempted to what? Try and "whip God" by charging him with injustice? Grandpa found He could help with that. Tempted to lose confidence that he really is good? He's also able to help with that. Tempted to think He's not powerful enough to stop bad things from happening? There's help for that too.
If God subjected Jesus to such severity so He could show us mercy, how will he not also graciously give us all things? Like peace. Like a deep rooted joy. Like a lasting comfort. Like strength for today. Like eternal hope for the future. Like a secure, inseparable love. Like grace upon grace.
December is here. But, thank God, because of our faithful grief-bearing, sorrow-carrying Jesus, there are mercies inexhaustible, new every morning, ready for us each day of this wonderfully severe month.
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