CHRISTMAS MEDITATION 2014

After 8 years as a member of Peace Mennonite Church her ein Richmond, BC, Canada, I was called on to give the Christmas Morning Meditation in our pastor's absence at the time. I thought I would share what I was given with a wider audience:

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For the rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

And so happy Christmas

For black and for white

For yellow and red ones

Let's stop all the fight

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

Anyone know who wrote that?

Yes, John Lennon, one of the Beatles. The one who said once he thought he was more popular than Jesus. Well, John died some time ago but Jesus is still alive.

So, this is Christmas. Some of us might be saying that with a somewhat resigned tone of voice by now, perhaps even wearily. We have been bombarded by commercial propaganda since - when? - Halloween? We have been hearing Christmas music everywhere for a long time too. No wonder we may be feeling tired. Many of us have attended Christmas parties, Christmas concerts and the annual family gatherings, not to mention all the time and work involved in preparation for Christmas – shopping for gifts, putting up lights, finding and decorating trees, baking, cooking, sending invitations and greetings. Small wonder we might be tired, if not near exhaustion.

So, this is Christmas? This celebration that comes around every year on December 25?  Most of us probably know Christmas did not really begin with the birth of Christ. It wasn't until four hundred years later that The Church established this December 25^th “Christ Mass” as the commemoration of the birth of Jesus. It has probably not even been 100 years since Christmas has taken on the form, in its entirety, as we know it now, sacred and secular.

So, why do we celebrate Christmas? This is probably easy for us to answer and you might even be thinking, Why are you asking it? We know that it is a celebration of the coming of Christ to this earth as a child. It is a celebration of the Incarnation - God coming to earth in the flesh as fully human and God at the same time. To be sure, this is a concept some of us still struggle with, perhaps reflecting on it with renewed interest at this time of year.

Yes, there is still too much about this Christmas celebration now that is secular. Sometimes we talk despairingly about the commercialization of Christmas. We hear slogans in protest like, "Put Christ back into Christmas!" We know there can be no Christmas without Christ, but for far too many around the world, that is the case.

We may even be afraid that there is an orchestrated effort to take Christ out of Christmas. Many schools no longer have Christmas concerts, which used to be a highlight of the school year when many of us were young. We  learned our simple lines when we were younger; more elaborate parts when we were older. We practiced the songs that we sang and played in choirs and otherwise. We may have even gotten new clothes for the season.

Public institutions now refer to this holiday as "a winter break", or "the holiday season." That just shows how confused and forgetful, even ignorant some have become. Holiday originally meant holy day.

Other anti-Christmas campaigners want to refer to Xmas. If we look back back to when Greek was more commonly known, we Christians have the last laugh about that. Nowadays, X has many meanings, usually referring to something extreme or censored, such as X-rated movies and X-rated songs. But before all that, before X symbolized the unknown in mathematics, X was an abbreviation for Xristos, the Greek word for Messiah. I still don't advocate that Xmas is a suitable word for us to use, but once we understand that history, there is nothing really wrong with it. The problem is though, that if we forget the older meaning of X, if we just say Xmas, in an effort to abbreviate things, the efforts of the anti-Christs might not have been in vain.

However, the world is not all off-track when it comes to Christmas, which is about celebrating the birth of a baby who came to earth to fully experience, and show us how to experience, the loving relationships our loving God created us for. In the study of human development in the last 30 years or so, scientists have learned from their observations of babies and toddlers, that what is required for our normal and optimal development, the healthy growth of our brain, our ability to function as healthy individuals, even our existence, is a good relationship with a caring and loving figure. Surprise! Isn't that what God was revealing to us all along? Isn't that what Christmas is finally all about? God created us to live in relationship with Him, one another and our world. He created us to live in community. This was revealed from the Beginning. But after our ancestors wrecked God’s original plans, as described in the book of Genesis, God tried to show us how to live by giving us The Law. We know from Jesus' teachings and the writings of Paul that didn't work. So, God decided the only way to show us how to live was to come down and do it in person. A law can reach our mind, but only a loving relationship can reach our heart. Indeed, God had promised in the prophets that he would bring about a time when His Law would be written on our hearts.

There is another thing that we can learn from the science of human development that relates to Christmas. It takes a lot of repetition to create the right kind of brain pathways to make us into healthy and well-adapted individuals. We need a lot of routine and rhythm in our lives to give us stability and security.  Isn't that like celebrating Christmas year after year?

We do not have it in Scripture that God commanded us to celebrate Christmas. However, I believe the Holy Spirit gave The Church the idea of celebrating Christmas. I don't think this celebration would have taken hold as it has and lasted this long if God was not accepting of it. Who knows better than God who created us, including these brains of ours, that doing something like this regularly might just be good for us?

Now we know that Jesus has left this earth for a period of time to fulfill God's mysterious purposes. But that does not mean that it again becomes difficult for us to have a relationship with God. He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us fully, brain and heart, if we believe in him and what he did. The Holy Spirit maintains that loving relationship. The Holy Spirit writes on our hearts.

This brings us to another aspect of Christmas. Just as when we celebrate communion, we must remember that we are not only looking back to Jesus' first coming. We are not only in Advent for 4 weeks before Christmas to prepare to celebrate Christ’s first coming. Advent, like communion, is also a time to look forward to Jesus' 2nd coming. Christians believe that will be the time when all will celebrate in the great Wedding Feast of Christ and His Bride, the Church. Indeed, both Jewish and Christian teachings talk about The Great Feast of the Future, when the Messiah will return to Earth and establish His reign.

So, in spite of the secular, materialism, the commercialization, who should be more joyous about Christmas than we Christians? There are some who say that they believe in God but who do not celebrate Christmas because they think God never ordained it because it’s not in the Bible. However, I think they have it wrong. We know God loves feasts. The Old Testament laws include feasts that God commanded his people to keep and celebrate. Pastor Tim has emphasized in so many of his messages how Jesus regularly attended feasts when he was on earth. The first recorded miracle is of Jesus making better wine for a wedding feast. In fact, many of his parables include stories about wonderful feasts. Until Christ’s return though, we have to make do with feasts, like Christmas, or our Community Meal, that, wonderful as they may be, are but a shadow of the Great Feast that awaits.

Let us, as some of us will have read in the church’s monthly devotional, Rejoice, last week, prepare together to see Jesus, not get so caught up in our other preparations, like the innkeeper, that we have no room, time or energy to receive Christ at Christmas.

We do have to be prepared, we must stop and think, if we want to say with hope, joy, peace & love that Christmas has come. How many of us, to be truthful, have found ourselves saying with excitement and enthusiasm that Christmas has come! How many of us dance with joy that Christmas is here? We were reminded of that the Sunday before last when we lit the Advent Candle of Joy and Pastor Tim told us about how he had been inspired by the joy of a child. Indeed, then that same child danced in front of us while the choir sang. Can we still be inspired and excited by the child that was born at Bethlehem? That's the question I leave you with today. 

Missing the Word

Missing the Word

As I suspect is true of too many of my fellow Christian' lives, just as it is in mine, there are times when we do not read the Bible as regularly, as frequently or as much as we really should. I realized as soon as I wrote that title though that it could also lead to a misunderstanding and not really convey what I am discussing here. I am not just referring to reading words on a page in the book; I am talking about missing fellowship with God, our Heavenly Father, that occurs when we read the Bible, The Word. That is the ultimate point of the Bible, communion with God. In reading it, we open ourselves to further communication through the Holy Spirit, as we are enlightened about what we read by the very same Person that we believe inspired the writing to begin with (John 14:26; 15:26).

My understanding of how we as Christians view the Bible is that it is an inspired record that God has given us to show us how he is at work in his creation, particularly on earth and in the lives of humans. We do not regard it in the same way as I understand the Orthodox teaching of the Muslim is about the Koran, namely that every word is sacred in Arabic as it is written and therefore can never be altered.  They believe this because the belief is that the entire document was given in this form to the original Prophet Muhammad over a period of time in the early 7th century CE. That is why you will find orthodox Muslim scholars even discounting the study of the Koran in different languages. Some of them therefore then also have difficulty with we Christians who have the Bible that has come down through so many languages, translations and copies. They don't believe that we can have a believable record anymore.

The first Bible delivered to me as my very own copy of this The Word of God was a King James Version, which was the only form known to most English-speaking Christians at the time (I am referring to the early 1950s). I believe it was a 7th birthday gift. I read that through, although not immediately of course. While attending Canadian Mennonite Bible College in the mid-60s, I purchased the version used for the most part there, the Revised Standard Version, and read that in its entirety. A few years later, when the New English Bible came out, I read all of it. I have read the Bible from cover-to-cover several more times since then. Now I have begun to read a “Green” edition of the New Revised Standard Version. This is a special version that highlights everything in the Scriptures that has to do, according to its editors, with creation and the environment. I had just before this, for the first time ever, purchased a study Bible, in the form of the Harper Collins Study Bible, which is another New Revised Standard Version translation. I had not really felt much of a need for this type of Bible previously because even my very first Bible had cross-references, a concordance and other such study helps that served me well over the years.

So, I have read through The Word a number of times. I have studied it from when I was an elementary age Sunday School student until the present time. I have taught it to Sunday school classes, led small groups in its study and preached sermons based on it. When I was about 12-years-of age, I remember wanting to read it diligently to discover all the rules I could to live the proper life of a Christian.

However, I must confess that it was not until I was almost middle-aged that I reached the point where the desire to read the Bible came from somewhere inside of me, not because of that external compulsion that this was something a Christian should do. To me, this could only have happened because of having reached a certain degree of maturity as a Christian, having come to the point in my relationship with God were I really wanted to keep in touch with Him through His Word. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit prompting me to keep up my communion with God.

So, this is where I am when I said to the current small group of our congregation of which I am currently the leader, I have missed the fact that we have not been meeting this fall, as it has had a negative impact on my reading and studying the word, and therefore my being in communion with God. Now I truly sometimes say with the psalmist David, "As the heart pants after the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, O God." (Psalm 42:1) He actually expresses it a little more graphically yet in Psalm 119:131: “I opened my mouth and panted: for I long for your commandments." (Commandments is just one of many words David uses, especially in Psalm 119, to refer to the Word of God.) Therefore, I am going to begin, as it were, to catch up on the studies that we would have done this fall, had we been meeting.

LEADERS OR SERVANTS

LEADERS OR SERVANTS?

I. Introduction

When I first wrote this, our neighbour of 18 years passed away recently. He was someone who had taught himself to play violin. He went on to establish quite a reputation among violin players in this country. Of course, he and his friends referred to the instrument more often as a fiddle. At his funeral it was said that he was a man who was content to play second fiddle.

That sentiment is just the opposite of what was once said about violinists of whom the famous conductor Leonard Bernstein once spoke. When he was asked what was the hardest part of being an orchestra conductor he said, “Getting people to play second fiddle”.

II. Leadership

We hear a lot about leadership these days. It seems to be important in education and business. Now it even seems to be important in the Church.  You can open any Christian magazine and see ad after ad about leadership seminars and schools that will turn out better leaders. Somehow this makes me uncomfortable. I suspect if I convey that discomfort to the people who are putting out these ads they will say something like “You just need to get with the times. Leadership is where it’s at”. They would tell you that you need to discern what your gifts are, and if they include leadership, you need to develop that. Of course, they are there to help you do that – and if I wanted to be cynical about that I could add, ‘for a fee’.  Furthermore, if you follow those steps, they would give you the impression that you will be so much better off as a person spiritually, and so will be your Church. I am not sure I agree with entirely with these sentiments.  I believe Jesus’ teachings told us otherwise.

So, why am I concerned about leadership?

1. In the first place leadership is important because we all have leaders.  Moreover, our congregation is again looking at changes in leadership.  Not only are we going to fill our church positions again, we are also going to have to look at what we are going to do in the very near future in terms of our Pastoral leadership.

2.  Secondly, we all have a responsibility to look at the people we nominate or elect to see whether they have the qualities of leadership. Leadership is important because we all choose leaders.

3. Thirdly, most of us do have a position of leadership in some area in our lives.

READ Our Daily Bread (Radio Bible Class devotional) MARCH 27, 2000

So, leadership is important because we may all be leaders.

Getting back to my dis-ease with what I see as the current emphasis on leadership. In my understanding of the Kingdom of God, the accent is on servanthood. Yet, we now have a leadership commission in our conference. Can one be a servant and a leader at the same time?                                                             

There is a time for leaders and leadership.  We as a congregation need to look at what we have and want in leadership. I think the old saying, ‘You get the government you deserve’ could just as soon be applied to the Church to say, ‘You get the leadership you deserve’.   

III. Definition

So, where do we as Christians turn for our definition of leadership?  The word ‘leadership’ doesn't even occur in The Bible. The word ‘lead’ occurs some 50 times, referring often to God’s leading of the Children of Israel. The word leader occurs only three times: references to leaders of Israel and it’s enemies. None of these references were to Jesus, or even his followers.

This might make one think that the Bible doesn’t say much about leadership. We can probably come up with a number of examples of persons in the Bible who were leaders. Was Jesus one of them?  What words did Jesus and his followers talk about when they talked about their role?  They used the word servant. Look at what Paul wrote in Phil. chapter 2 vss. 7 to 8 when he was talking about Jesus:

“He made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of man, humbling himself and becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross.”  

In fact, Jesus was even spoken of as a servant in the prophecies that foretold his coming.  Look at Isaiah chapter 42:1:

“Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my elect, in whom my soul delights".

And what did Jesus say to his followers in Matthew chapter 20 vs. 25:

“You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.  But it shall not be so among you: whoever will be great among you, that one shall be a minister; and whoever will be chief among you, that one shall be your servant: even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister".

In another place, he told his disciples that he was “among them as one who serves”: Luke 22 vs. 27.

He also said that "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant”: Matthew 23 vs. 11.

Is servanthood something we can equate with leadership? I believe it is.

Leadership has been described as the process of: "enabling a group to engage together in the process of developing, sharing and moving into vision, and then living it out."  Leaders are individuals who fulfil six functions. When they do this there is movement. We could say we TRAVEL:

Let’s review these six functions:

1.    Leaders are teachers.

They have something which they want to pass on to their followers.  This could be knowledge.  It could be skills. The buzzword here today is 'equippers'. Leaders, including especially pastors, are expected to be able to teach their followers so that they will be able to carry out the tasks they are called to. We need to be equipped to make the vision reality.

2.    Leaders develop relationships.

To teach and influence, you have to get to know your followers. Leaders have to know their followers. We have the image of the shepherd knowing his flock. Jesus knows us; as the Good Shepherd, He calls us by our name, and we know His voice. You can’t serve well if you don’t know your flock, your followers.

3.    Leaders exhibit attraction.

Leaders need followers. Particularly with the Christian model for leadership, the servant model I believe Jesus portrayed, we are looking for followers. Do we know those we would like to get on board with us in pursuit of the fulfilment of that vision? What are we doing to bring them on side? Are they attracted by what they can see of our vision? By our character and enthusiasm for what we are doing?

4.    Leaders have vision.

Leaders need to be persons with a vision, an idea, a goal, a plan. You can’t lead if you don’t know where you’re going. Do we know our leaders’ vision? Do we have a vision we wish others had? Is the vision being developed and shared? Is it being lived out?

5.    Leaders are examples.

Servant leaders, as we all should be as followers of our Leader, our Lord, are only seeking to influence others to catch the vision Christ planted in his ministry on earth. This vision is not only for this earth, but for eternity. So much leadership focus seems to be on structure, building a church of a certain ideal here on earth. We look for a Kingdom where lives are changed, whose origins and centre are heavenly, not earthly. This is a Kingdom where there is no room for striving for power and authority, no room for titles. We are looking for leaders who themselves are followers of Christ and exemplify that in their lives.

6.    Leaders love.

Behind all of this, to get to first base to begin with, and to be effective in the end, Christian leaders have to be known to their Leader and Lord. They have to be individuals of faith in God who spend time with Him in the study of His Word. They have to spend time in prayer. Leaders have to know and love their God. They also have to love their followers.

 

So, did you get that mnemonic about leaders who T-R-A-V-E-L? T for teachers, R for relationships, A for attraction, V for vision, E for example, and L for love. Does Jesus show us all these criteria? Of course he does.

IV. Characteristics of a Servant Leader

Servant leadership is at the heart of Christian leadership. All Christians are called to be servants, serving each other, following Jesus' example in washing his disciples' feet, and loving our neighbours as ourselves. Servant leadership is not a particular style of leadership, but rather relates to the motivation behind a leader's thoughts, words and actions. I have grouped the characteristics of Christian Leadership under six Cs.

1. Calling

Christian leaders must be called. It is not enough for themselves to have a feeling or an opinion that they are called.  The people whom they believe they are called to be a leader amongst must also accept that this potential leader has been called.  This calls for the process of discernment.

2. Comprehension

Leaders must know what leadership is.  As George Barna put it in his book about leadership, A

FishOut of Water: "Authentic leadership is not about position, power, popularity, or perks; it is about  

obedience and servanthood, resulting in transformation". Leaders must understand that.

3. Character

READ ODB 2004/2/23 PAR. 1-3

Leaders must possess character, the type of that moves people to trust them to take them to places - spiritual, emotional, relational, and intellectual - that they otherwise would not go… such character demands intense and lifelong commitment". Without it, leaders are just actors, leading people into the following them by “an illusion of trustworthiness”.

4. Competency or Capability

Leaders must be competent, capable.  They must be able to "moves people toward meaningful outcomes".  This does take skills, and these are things that can be learned if we’re not born with them. A true leader will also understand his strengths and weaknesses and gather others around him or her who will make up for these deficiencies.

READ ODB JULY 31, 1994          “Dwight D. Eisenhower – for the younger of you who may not

remember that name; he was the president of the United States before John F. Kennedy – used to demonstrate…           

5. Compliant

Christian leaders must be compliant. They must be obedient to their ultimate leader, our Lord Jesus. Servant leaders are not leaders on the basis of their position or leadership role, but rather lead according to their calling, vision and principles. What underpins servant leadership is the motivation behind our actions as leaders. It is not personal desire. Servant leadership will require us also to set aside personal gain, to make sacrifices, and to put the needs of others above the direction we may prefer for ourselves. You've probably met people who are highly career minded, people whose main motivation is to get themselves in a position where they will gain some reward. This is the complete opposite of servant leadership.

READ ODB June 17, 2002 Par. 1-4

So there we also have reference to an Old Testament character, Nehemiah, who modeled leadership as Christ did.

6. Consequences

Leaders must accept the consequences of their actions.  They must learn to take responsibility for the results of their choices.  They must be able to evaluate outcomes.  They must also be able to handle resistance and conflict that their attempts to move others and make changes will undoubtedly bring about.

Whilst serving others as the heart of leadership may not appear easy, it is perhaps in one sense easier for a leader to be consistent with the vision and values that they hold for themselves, rather than always

seeking to live upto an image, to constantly seek opportunities to sell themselves, or to be for ever trying to read the political signals sent out by others. This reminds me of a statement of a politically active friend about our elected representatives, whether to Ottawa or Winnipeg, maybe even to city hall. ‘From the moment they are elected’, he said, ‘they are working on their re-election’. That’s all about power and position, not service.

READ ODB JULY 19, 1993

 ODB November 25, 2001   "Leadership has its God-given privileges, but more important - it comes with huge responsibilities.” We know that neither we nor our leaders are always perfect. “That's why it's so important for every Christian in a leadership position to strive daily to keep his heart attuned to God and his word".            

VI. Conclusion

When we think about people, particularly in our congregation, who appear to be in positions of leadership: before we evaluate them we should ask ourselves: How close are we to God? We all need to give him the glory and honor due his name, obey his word, and worship him in spirit and truth. Leadership is not a vehicle for seeking recognition.  We are always to point to our Lord. We need to make it our prayer that to lead people more effectively, we and our leaders will have a real and deep faith in Christ.  Let us learn from the models, the characters that have gone before us.  Let them guide us in how we ought to develop the character necessary to be servants and/or leaders. Let us learn to use skills that work. As a daily devotional for this month put it: “The only leaders qualified to lead are those who have learned to serve”.  Let's not be ‘fish out of water’. The best leaders are those who are good followers and servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. Good leaders know the way, show the way, and go the way.  Let's follow, let's be the leader who follows and serves Christ. Only in that way can we serve as good leaders.  Good leaders are good servants.

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Lorne Brandt, 2004/2/1