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John 3:16

12 Days of Christmas

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 27, 2024

Edna Bowman once wrote a modern parody of the famous Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” It went like this: On the twelfth day of Christmas, My littlest love gave to me Twelve dogs a-leaping, Eleven cats a-creeping, Ten fingers gripping, Nine toes a-tripping, Eight drinks a-spilling Seven glasses filling, Six friends and things, Five telephone rings, Four crayoned walls. Three loud calls, Two Kisses free, And one mother up a pear tree.”

According to Robert Webber, a modern worship guru, “Christmas worship is not confined to a single day but extends for twelve days. The origin of these twelve days of festivity lies in the early church. The early Christians of the East celebrated the birth of Christ on January 6 … In the West, Christians began to celebrate Christmas on December 25…Eventually, these two dates became the boundaries of the Christmas season, with the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25 representing the beginning of the festival and the celebration of the manifestation of Christ to the world through the visit of the magi on January 6.” Thus, we have the 12 days of Christmas.

I’ve suggested, along with many others, that the song was written during a period of persecution of Christians, and it was a song with a message only to those who “got it.” Yet, some of the myth buster websites argue that it was simply a nonsense song written as a joke. And this explanation is not true. But there are others that argue it is true. I prefer to see it my way, along with some others. The song has meaning. The suggested meaning, traditionally, has been as follows: My True love is God the Father. I am the receiver, as a believer, of His gifts. They are: The Partridge is Christ crucified in a tree, then, 2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments. 3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity– the Theological Virtues. Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists. 5 Golden Rings = the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch,” which relays the history of man’s fall from grace. 6 Geese A-laying = the six days of Creation. 7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. 8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes. 9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit. 10 Lords A-leaping = the Ten Commandments. 11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles. 12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed. Whether this is a historical fact or not, it sure gives meaning to a nonsense song that we’ll hear often during the Christmas season. We may as well see some significance in it when we hear it. To me, “My True Love” is the God who “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, so that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

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Luke 1:46-55

Be a Player!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 26, 2024

The emotional explosion into song experienced by Mary, Zachariah, the Angels, and Simeon is a difficult thing for our modern minds to comprehend. We don’t do it personally because we watch it too much in the movies and on Television. We have so many stories in our culture. We have a multitude of images dancing in our heads (not just sugar plums), and our histories and lives are confused at times. We can’t focus! We have learned how not to be too personally invested in the explosions of emotions we see in the media. We can enjoy, vicariously, the experiences on the big screens, but we don’t personally comprehend the emotions being expressed.

If you were a Jew in the days of Jesus’ birth, on the other hand, you would not be so handicapped. The whole litany of stories would all have their source in the Bible. The Old Testament included television, movies, music, and works for every person in that culture. More importantly, they would see themselves as significant players in the ongoing story of life. The record of man’s fall in the garden would be the continued lot of each person. The stories of Father Abraham, the man of faith, and his culture and lineage would be the very source of their identity. They would all know the details of the man called Moses and the deliverance from Egypt. They would have understood there current predicament a result of the sinfulness of their first ancestor as well as the failure of all those who had come before them. The pains and harshness of life in a world in which they were dominated and controlled by foreign powers would rule and pervade every personal life. You see, the people of God, were not viewers of a drama, they saw themselves as part of it. They were not spectators. They were participants. Thus, the joys and sorrows of real life were their lot. They did not live vicariously through the adventures of others; they lived in the here and now in the flow of life and were intricately connected to it all. It’s only when we understand this truth that we, too, are not just observers but participants that we’ll ever know what it’s like to burst out in song like these four did.

You and I are the ancestors of Adam and Eve. The fall of man is our fall! We have been sent out from the intimate place of fellowship with God (The Garden of Eden), and we are vagabonds and wayfarers in a world that’s run and directed and ruled by a foreign force. We are in the lineage of the failure of man! The entire history of God’s dealing with man is the history of God’s dealing with us. But through it all, there has remained one great promise: The “seed of the woman” would crush the head of the enemy and deliver us all from the predicament of alienation from God and this life lived out in the valley of the shadow of death. The arrival of the Saviour of the world is what Christmas is all about! He has come to redeem us from the situation that is ours, not some character in a book or figure on a screen. It’s for you! It’s for me! Be a player, not a spectator!

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John 3:16, John 6:66-68

A Gift For All!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 25, 2024

The Greek language that God chose to give us his written word is often referred to as “Koine.” It means common. It’s not the Greek of the high-brow classics; it’s the language of the marketplace. It’s the language in which husband wrote letters to their wives while away on military assignment. It was the language in which servants wrote shopping lists to take with them to the marketplace. It’s the language that was spoken between neighbors and relatives and friends and acquaintances. It was the language which all understood and all could share in. One of the great challenges for us today in our English-speaking world is to write our messages in the Koine of our day. We need to reach the world where they are with the message that God sent in His Son, Jesus.

I’ve often heard Christians say they do not participate in the secularization of Christmas. The lights, the stores, the parties, the presents, the glitz, the glamour etc., etc., all detract from the true meaning of Christmas. But when we do that, withdraw from our cultural expression of this Holiday season, we lose another opportunity to communicate the greatest message in the world. Mickelsen writes in the Journal of Evangelical Theology (Vol. 9), “We must deal with a secular age which has a secular Christmas in terms which confront that age with the true meaning of Christmas. But then, when we do it, is this a secular gospel? My answer, of course, is no.” I agree completely! The world’s observance of this season presents each and every one of us with the opportunity to make our message the message of love it was intended to be. It is a message that was delivered to the common people in a common way, with a most uncommon effect.

Of all the gifts you could give to friends and loved ones, none could compare to the Gift that God gave to us to share. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The greatest gift of all is the gift of eternal life that is what God has given us through His Son and wishes for us to pass along to others. Peter made it clear in John 6:67 that only Jesus has this gift. Jesus asks Peter if he, too, will leave him as many others had done. But Peter says, “To whom would I go? Only you have the words of eternal life.” There is only one “true meaning” of Christmas. Let the cultural glitz and glamour open up doors of opportunity to share it with those you love.

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Luke 1:46-55

Bursting Out in Song!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 24, 2024

As an altar boy, I’d have responsibilities at Church and had to memorize Latin phrases in order to fulfill that role. I never bothered much about what the phrases meant. I just had to learn to recite them by rote. As I reflect on those years and those songs, I find I’m more interested in what they mean now. In the history of the Christian Church, Latin was the only authorized language for nearly 2000 years. Much of the Christmas music in my childhood was in Latin. There were four songs that specifically stood out. They are the four first Christmas Carols ever written. They were not written in Latin but in the Common language of the people, Koine Greek. This was the language of the marketplace. It was the language everyone understood and used in everyday life. These four songs have been sung in Christmas Cantatas for years, but most only in Latin. They have been sung so often in Latin that they have been given Latin Names from Latin phrases in the song itself. The earliest of these sons is called “The Magnificat.” It was Mary’s song.

Luke 1:46-55 contains the verses of this song. The name comes from the opening phrase, “My Soul magnifies the Lord….” Thus, it’s called the “Magnificat.” This song follows the same pattern as the Old Testament “Praise Songs” in the book of Psalms. Singing has always been a very important part of the lives of the faithful. One whole book of the Old Testament is devoted to music, while other songs are sprinkled throughout the stories of the Old Testament as well. We find songs interspersed with texts in the New Testament as well, especially in the opening portions of the Gospels as well as in the Epistles. Music matters in the life of a believer.

I’ve never been a real “Musical” fan. Kathy loves “Fiddler on the Roof,” “South Pacific,” “West Side Story,” and anything with Fred Astaire or that guy from “Singing in the Rain” ( I forget his name). However, these modern musicals present a part of life that’s undeniable. Some things move our hearts and souls so much that one feels like bursting out in song and dance. If you read the Song of Moses and Miriam back in Exodus 15, you’ll see that God’s deliverance through the Red Sea resulted in the whole nation bursting out in song and dance. Let’s admit it, the Bee Gees are right: some things in life “make me feel like dancing…. Dance the night away.” Mary’s Song is an explosion of emotion! She bursts out in song! The Saviour has come! He has done great things! That’s what it means when she says, “My Soul Magnifies the Lord.” The joy of the arrival of the Saviour makes her sing! That’s why music is such an important part of Christmas. Let your soul “magnify” the Lord too!

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Isaiah 9:6

Focusing Christmas

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 23, 2024

I don’t remember a lot of my earliest Christmases, but the Christmases of the mid and late 50s are the Christmases of my childhood, and I still have visions of those magical days. I will always remember what the Christmas tree looked like in our living room when the three of us kids would sneak downstairs early Christmas morning. My mom would spend hours putting it up. She was meticulous in its selection and creative with its illumination. It stood in the center of our living room window, the very same place every year of my childhood. Mom would move the chairs out of the way, and the tree would light up the room, and all the cars and pedestrians would see our tree from the street. There were beautiful red, gold, blue, and green balls hanging from the limbs. Tinsel hung down from every branch, sometimes so thick you couldn’t see through it. There were dozens of various colored lights wrapped around the tree from top to bottom. There was an angel on the top. No other light in the house was on, just the tree. From the lights on the tree, a multitude of presents were seen all around the tree’s base. The shiny wrapping paper was strangely reflective of the various lights from the tree. It always seemed so magical.

As soon as Thanksgiving was over, I remember Christmas music playing in the house much of the time. My mother loved it! Music is a huge part of the Christmas Holiday season. There is special music for this season with a focus on the traditional songs and hymns that arouse nostalgic memories for us all. We’ve heard most of this music in our childhood and have fond memories of the greatest time of the year. As I’m sure you can, too, I remember the great excitement that surrounded the Christmas season. The songs of my youth still arouse strong memories of those years. But this nostalgia shouldn’t be the most important thing!

Now, don’t get me wrong! I love the nostalgia that Christmas brings to me. However, over the years, I’ve learned that I should not only approach Christmas emotionally but also factually. It’s easy to get carried away by nostalgia and lose the most significant meaning of Christmas. As A. W. Tozer writes, “The theology of Christmas too easily gets lost under the gay wrappings.” He adds that “apart from the theological meaning” of Christmas, it really has no meaning at all. Most of the Christmas music we’ll hear this year celebrates the season and the holiday but not the true meaning of Christmas. Tozer adds that only “A half dozen doctrinally sound carols serve to keep alive the great deep truth of the Incarnation, but aside from these, popular Christmas music is void of any real, lasting truth.” Much of the music we will hear makes Frosty, Rudolph, Santa, and the tree itself the focus of our celebration. Let’s focus our attention and fine-tune our thinking on the Christ Child. He’s the central figure of everything that Christmas is all about. “For unto you, a child is born… unto you a son is given” Isaiah 9:6.

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Luke 2:7, John 3:16

What Christmas Means

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 22, 2024

In my preaching years, Every year, when I sat down to prepare the sermons for the Christmas season, I would think, “This year, we’re going to focus on the TRUE meaning of Christmas.” I wonder if people got tired of hearing me say that year after year.  I think I stopped saying it after a while. But the sentiment isn’t lost because I do have trouble getting my mind around the depth of the true meaning of Christmas. I’m not sure I’ll ever fully comprehend it: God becoming a man, born in a manger, with the sole purpose of dying at the hands of those He created to pay the penalty for their sins. This is just a little too profound for me to grasp. That’s why it’s great to visit this truth often.

It’s very hard to focus on the real meaning of Christmas at Christmas time. Christmas comes at the wrong time of the year. I mean, all the activities of Christmas take my focus off of the true meaning of Christmas. All of my family Christmas pictures growing up were about toys and trees. I got my first bicycle at Christmas. I loved that bicycle! (I had training wheels on it for 3 years!)  I rode that 20-inch bike until I was 13 years old. It served me well on my paper route and I remember when it was stolen at the swimming pool at Miller Park. I was heartbroken.   Anyway, at Christmas We buy presents for everyone in our family. We send cards and or letters to those far away. I don’t get the “tree” idea. Where does the pine tree show up in the Christmas story? I like the idea of lights because Jesus is the “light of the world,” and that’s a great symbol. But we take what’s inside, lights, and put them on the outside. Then take what’s outside, trees, and put them on the inside. What’s that all about? We all have parties to go to, and the list could go on and on. We give and receive presents, which are important because it’s the real meaning of Christmas, giving to others because God so loved that He gave His only son.

The main problem I have with Christmas is that I’m always too busy with the season to really enjoy It. When I was pastoring, we’d have two Christmas Eve services every year, which were the highlight of our season’s holiday. When Christmas came on a Wednesday, I’d preach three sermons on the Sunday before and then two on Tuesday night, which was Christmas Eve. Thankfully, we didn’t have a Christmas Day service. That’s a lot of stress. Now that I’m retired, I won’t have the stress of the ministry to occupy my mind so much. It’s nice not to have a lot of deeds to do and promises to keep in my old age. Yet, I still struggle with the commercialization of Christmas and all the mushy Christmas movies that seem to miss the real point of Christmas. It’s not about my finding love in this world, it’s about finding God’s love demonstrated to me on the cross.  God gave us Himself so that we might have eternal life!  He came into the world to give us that present. He was born of a woman and lived with us. “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger…” Luke 2:7

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Romans 5:8

Loving and Giving

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 21, 2024

Richard Hatch was the winner of the first Survivor game show. I never liked the guy very much, and after he won, he started doing the talk show circuit. He was on all the big ones: letterman, Leno, etc. He was arrogant and obnoxious! (I guess it takes one to know one!) The most memorable thing about him is what he said, which always makes me think about the Christmas tradition of giving. He said, “Selfishness is a virtue.” He said, “For example, if you give somebody a gift, it’s because you want that good feeling that comes to you from the act of making someone you care about happy.”

Well, that’s the truth in many ways. I remember shopping as a little boy for my mother and father and wanting to get them something that they would like. Dad always got excited over the handkerchiefs and the socks. Mom loved the cheap perfume. Well, they sure acted like it. It was interesting that as I look back, I realize that there sure wasn’t much for them to get excited about at Christmas time, but they sure did act like it. I didn’t fully understand it until I had my own kids and got the joy of giving to them and acting like the pencil drawing of a tree was the greatest gift I could have ever received. It really does feel good to give to those we love! We truly do have a selfish motive in our giving. We love to make those we love happy, and we usually go to some expense to make that happen.

But what if the one you loved most was what you had to give away? Do you see any selfish motives in that? God so loved the world that He gave his “only begotten son.” Jesus is often referred to as God’s “beloved son.” Jesus is the one God loved above all others, and it was this that God gave up. Instead of pleasing the one he loved, He gave Him up for us! And He gave him up for us when we were His enemies. In doing this, He “demonstrates His Own love for us in that: that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Someone once said that the only purely motivated gift of love was the one God gave us in the person of His only son. When we look at all the presents under our trees this year, let’s remember the greatest present of all. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved us, you and me, “that he gave His only begotten Son.”

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John 3:16, 15:13

The Perfect Gift

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
December 20, 2024

One of the best Christmas presents I’ve ever received came early in 1970. It was our son Chuck! He came on that year on December 1. We were in Greenville, South Carolina, with my family in Omaha and Kathy’s family in California. It was just the two of us for over a year. But God gave us a great present on our second Christmas together. It made our Christmas 1970 very special. It was a difficult adjustment. We lived in a one-bedroom duplex, and the baby slept in a bassinet in the living room most of the time at night and then in the middle of our double bed during the daytime. Our landlord really fell in love with the baby, but Chuckie (as we called him) didn’t care too much for her. He’d scream bloody murder when she tried to hold him. Marie would wrestle with him for a few minutes and then hand him back to Kathy. We thought it was funny, but she didn’t. I think she was offended by it.

Chuck 3 was the best Christmas present I ever received, or the greatest gift because he taught Kathy and me how to love. He was helpless, messy, hungry, and demanding at times, but that never stopped our love for him. In 1 Corinthians, Paul gave an expose on the Spiritual gifts, but he concluded with “Faith, Hope, and Love. And the greatest of these is Love.” I’ve always found it interesting how Paul put “love” amidst his discussion on the Gifts of the Spirit. Love is the greatest gift we can give or ever receive. During the days when our first son was born, Love was the only thing we really had to give, but it was more than enough. I was reminded of that on my anniversary just a few days ago when Kathy gave me a card. She said I’ve given her many things over the years, but the “greatest and most treasured of all is your love!” And nothing can be truer than this! The greatest Gift anyone can ever give or receive is the gift of love.

Jesus is God’s perfect expression of His love for us. It’s the greatest gift of all. My prayer for myself and all is that His great gift will be our focus this year! And that all our gifts, tied and wrapped, will also be accompanied by love. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved that he “gave….” Then, in John 15:13, we read, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Christmas is all about the perfect gift from the perfect giver of all good gifts.

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