The Present, and how it brings about Character Change

December 14, 2018

"The Present" is a 2014 award-winning animated short film (directed and co-written by Jacob Frey and Markus Kranzler) which my wife Mary, an elementary school teacher, uses in her fifth grade class to teach character change. 

As a teacher in a public elementary school, Mary uses the film to teach her students about character development and how to develop a story line -- specifically what causes the "character change" in film's major character. 

But after hearing Mary describe the film, and then watching it, my focus went immediately to the "minor character" of the mother.  And I was struck by how close this story is to the Christmas story.  Take a look, watch it -- the film is only four minutes long: 

I wonder: 

Are there ways the main character could represent broken humanity? Much like the Christmas story we're about to celebrate, was the "minor character" of the mother used to deliver a "like you," present to broken humanity? What kind of "character change" happens in the film? What kind of "character change" was God desiring for humanity -- for you -- by giving us the gift of becoming, that first Christmas, someone who is only not like us, but one of us -- to show you a new and different way of living, and to invite you to your own character change?  

See you Sunday (morning, and evening!)* 

John

When "the holidays" are a tough time of year, remember this

December 6, 2018

Each year in mid-December, I hear people speak an honest, vulnerable truth. And that's that this time of year -- "the holidays" -- are tough on them. 

For these people (and for many more people who keep such thoughts to themselves) this is not the "hap, hap, happiest time of the year." In fact, truth be told, many people almost dread Christmastime.  

For many people -- whether they feel free to admit it or not -- the whole Thanksgiving-to-Christmas "holiday season" is not primarily a joyous season, but a season of increased stress, increased feelings of loneliness, and additional pressures.  

I think it's important to recognize that. 

But here's the thing: a major reason that people who are going through tough times at Christmastime feel that the holiday is "not for them" is that when they think of "Christmas," they are thinking of the culturalChristmas, and not the Biblical Christmas. 

(I'll say it again: one of the reasons it is important to have a Bible that you actually spend time reading on a daily basis is that in doing so, you discover that the Bible is far more applicable, realistic, raw, insightful, and of practical encouragement than most churches have made it out to be.) 

Read the Christmas story as it's in the gospels of Matthew or Luke, and you'll discover that the biblical story of Christmas -- the realstory of Christmas -- is radically different, far more realistic, and much more hopeful than the gauzy, commercialized, schmaltzy story of Christmas which our culture tries to force upon us.  

Having a tough time at Christmas? The good news is, Christmas is NOT about neatly-attired, well-behaved, happy, affluent people opening The Perfect Gift in front of a perfectly-coifed tree in a gorgeous living room on a snowy morning surrounded by peaceful, perfectly behaved children.  

No. The real Christmas story -- the one told in the Bible -- is about a young man named Joseph trying to decide what to do about the fact that the young woman named Mary to whom he was betrothed-but-not-married, had conceived a child not-his-own, and who was therefore potentially disgracefully pregnant...and to make matters worse, just when it came time for Mary to give birth, the two of were mandated by the government to travel far away from home in order to register for a census...and to make matters worse, once there, they find no place to stay, almost certainly a consequence of being poor -- there is always "room in the inn" for those with enough money -- so Mary gives birth to her first-born in a barn, and uses a feeding trough as his first crib. 

This birth -- this world-changing event -- is first announced by angels, not to the rich and mighty and respected and powerful, but to the most ordinary (and even low-esteemed) working-class people of the time: shepherds, out working the night shift. 

Shortly after a bizarre visit and even more bizarre gifts from magi, Joseph is warned in dream to flee their home country and become refugees in neighboring Egypt because the paranoid king Herod was about to try to kill the baby Jesus. 

You see? There is nothing easy, or romantic, or commercial about the biblical story of Christmas. It is a story full of doubt, questioning, stressful travel, crushed plans, deep suspicions, and even murder. 

And yet, at the same time, it is the story of Immanuel: God-with-us. 

Throughout all of the biblical story, God moves, acts, protects, defends, and redeems. 

Christians rejoice at Christmastime not because it has been a good year, not because things are going well in life,  and not because we're surrounded by family and friends.  

We rejoice at Christmastime because of Immanuel: God-with-us. We rejoice at Christmastime because of God's presence...because God is near, among us, in and among the messiness of life. 

We rejoice at Christmastime because of what we are joyfully anticipating: that on that first Christmas God entered in. 

So, if you're going through tough times...if you feel stressed and lonely and badgered, please know that -- unless you insist on trying to observe the cultural Christmas -- Christmastime is for you. 

See you Sunday, 

John

Advent starts this Sunday

November 30, 2018

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent, a four-week season of joyfully anticipating Christmas. 

I want to unpack, a bit, each of those three words, in reverse order: 

• Advent is meant to prepare us for Christmas. We start each Sunday of Advent by lighting a new candle of the Advent Wreath and singing a verse from "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." Emmanuel (or Immanuel) means "God-with-us."Contrary to some of the lessons assigned in modern lectionaries, Christmas, as presented in the Bible, has nothing to do with the "second coming." Rather, the Bible stories leading up to that first Christmas -- the stories we hear of angelic visitations, miraculous pregnancies, and Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem -- are about the "first coming" of God among us in human form that first Christmas. 

• Advent is a season of anticipating Christmas. Advent wreaths, Advent calendars, and other advent resources help us count down the days to Christmas, building anticipation.Anticipation is different than celebration. We anticipate the birth of a child (or the arrival of a loved one from far away, or getting good grades or a promotion, or moving into a new home, etc.). But we don't celebrate good news events until they actually happen. Contrary to how our culture jumps the gun on Christmas celebrations, Christians who observe Advent spend this time of year anticipating...waiting...counting down. 

• Advent is a season to joyfully anticipate Christmas. Advent is a season of anticipating the birth of Jesus. Remember how the news of this birth -- this world-history-changing-event! -- was first announced, and to whom: an angel of the Lord told ordinary working-class shepherds "I bring you good news of great joy." 

Contrary to how some churches observe it, Advent is not Lent. Advent is not a celebratory season, but that doesn't mean it is in any way supposed to be a penitential, sad, or somber season. Advent is a season of joyful anticipation.

See you this Sunday, as we start joyfully...anticipating...Christmas! 

John