The Twelve Days of Christmas

To many the Twelve Days of Christmas is just one of the many Christmas songs that are played on radio and has no further significance.   Contrary to popular belief, the Twelve Days of Christmas begins on Christmas Day, December 25^th and not before Christmas and also has a fun and important history.

The Twelve Days of Christmas actually refers to the days between December 25^th, Christmas Day (celebrated originally in the Western-Latin churches) and January 6^th, the Epiphany (celebrated originally in the Eastern-Greek churches).  Today, Christmas is one of the longest-celebrated holidays as it begins for the shoppers on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and for many of the faithful, officially includes Advent, embracing the four Sundays prior to the 25^th of December. While the Epiphany was originally celebrated by the Greek churches as multiple revelations of God in Christ to the world, today it is primarily remembered as the celebration of the visit of the three wise men (or kings) to the baby Jesus.   

The origin of the 12 Days according to many sources was an attempted reconciliation between the Latin and Greek churches in the 6^th century as a fitting celebration of the birth of Christ.  Bill Federer, bestselling author and president of Amerisearch Inc. and producer of “Faith in History” tells the story that in 567 AD, at the Council of Tours, the church tried to reconcile the dispute between East and West by defining the days between December 25th and January 6th as officially and inclusively as the 12 Days of Christmas.   Bill Federer goes on to say that these 12 days were declared to all be “holy days” so when someone wishes you happy holidays, they are just using the new pronunciation of holy days as ‘holidays’!

Morning Has Broken

"Morning Has Broken" is a hymn that was included in many of the church hymnals after it first appeared in 1931. The author was Eleanor Farjeon who lived from 1881 to 1965 and had a number of poems and other literary works to her credit.   

It was relatively unknown until 1971 when Cat Stevens featured it on his album ”Teaser and Firecast”.
 

While many may just enjoy the melody, the hymn embraces both the first day and the wonder of God’s creation.
 

Here are some of the lyrics to help us remember and see God’s creation:
 

Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing
Praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight
Mine is the morning
Born of the one light Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise ev'ry morning
God's recreation of the new day
Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing
Praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world

The ‘first morning’ in the first verse is a reference to Genesis 1 and the creation of the universe.  

All to often we take God’s creation for granted.  We enjoy it and use it but fail often to fully embrace the wonder of creation.   Even more infrequent is the reference to God’s creation in the media.  However, there was a moment back on December 24, Christmas Eve, 1968, as the spacecraft Apollo 8 orbited the desolate surface of the moon. The Apollo craft carried a three-astronaut crew — Commander Frank Borman, Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders.  

Back in 1968 these historical space flights were the subject of national and international news as we saw the first humans to travel beyond Earth’s orbit, to travel to the moon for the very first time.  On Christmas Eve, with the earth in view out of the porthole, a bright and beautiful marble in the darkness of space, the three astronauts on board chose to read the opening verses of the book of Genesis, the words of Holy Scripture describing the wonder of creation:
 

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.” (Gen. 1:1-5).

 Have you ever thought what it would have been like to be there at creation? It’s almost incomprehensible to read that first there was nothing, and then there was something. The Bible says God “calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Rom. 4:17). “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Heb. 11:3). The Latin term for that is creation ex nihilo (out of nothing).

 

The second stanza closes with a reference to God walking in Eden through the garden, “where his feet pass.” This is an echo of Genesis 3:8: “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.”

 The scriptures teach us that we should rejoice in each new day. In Psalm 118:24 we read the words, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

 This is a verse that I have opened our worship services with. We call people to worship with these words, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Every single day is a gift from God.  Every day God continues His work of Creation.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that we too often forget the miraculous and mighty works of creation in the hand of God.  He said we use all of God’s creation but we don’t remember it is a gift.   Daily, the works of God are the natural rhythms in which creation occurs.”  Bonhoeffer’s words help us know, recognize and reflect how every day is a gift from God and evidence of the Creator’s ongoing work of creation.

 Listen to some of these words from the song again, this time seeing God’s hand in creation.   The first verse says, “Morning has broken like the first morning, blackbird has spoken like the first bird.  Praise for the singing!  Praise for the morning!  Praise for them springing fresh from the Word!”  The last verse adds, “Mine is the sunlight!  Mine is the morning born of the one light Eden saw play!  Praise with elation, praise every morning, God’s re-creation of the new day!”

 I have a feeling that if we could begin each morning reciting Psalm 118:24 and maybe singing the words to “Morning Has Broken” it would help us start each day with a positive attitude.  When we the day offering praise to the Giver of all good gifts and we would see the goodness of God, not only in all his creation but in all of the people around us as well.

Third Week of Advent - Joy

This week we celebrate the third week of advent.  Advent is the time of preparation including the four Sundays and weeks before Christmas.  Interestingly, before there was any celebration of Christmas, Christians would celebrate the Ephany (January 6th) and prior to that feast new believers would prepare falso for four weeks, for Baptism. 

Today in many churches we celebrate Advent.  Each of the four Sundays in Advent are assigned one special focus or application:  Hope, Love, Joy and Peace.  

In this third week of advent we look at Joy.  

One of the very first verses our children learned was Philippians 4:4 which reads. "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice." (ESV)     Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit along with love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness.  The Bible tells us that as Christians we are to automatically produce these fruits.

It may be difficult sometimes to be joyful but every day there are many blessings to be counted.   These difficult days are times when it’s good to remember friends, family, and significant people and events in our lives that gives us great joy.

The Bible tells of the shepherds in the field and the angel that brought good news of great joy.

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." - Luke 2:8-10

We have a choice each day to live our life with Joy and happiness or sadness and depression.  Here are some ways to remember to be joyful:

1. We can trust in God even when we have every reason to doubt.  God is faithful.  The Bible says he is our strong tower, our ever-present hope in time of need. He has promised to never leave us.
   
2. Giving to others in their time of need is a sure way to turn your frown into a smile.   The Bible says it’s better to give than receive and this is exactly the point.  Giving releases that gift of joy.
   
3. Exercise is great for the body and exercising your faith is great for your spirit.   Pray, spend some time in worship, open the Bible and enjoy time with the Word of the Lord and quickly, the God of hope will fill you with joy and peace as you trust Him  (Romans 15:13.

Advent is a time of preparation.  In this third week we are getting closer to the business of the holiday.  Make sure you spend time to prepare your heart for this wonderful celebration of the coming of the King. 

2nd Week of Advent - Love

This week we celebrate the second week of advent.  Advent is from the Latin word for “coming”, or “to come”  Each of the four Sundays in Advent are assigned one special focus or application:  Hope, Love, Joy and Peace.  In this second week of advent we look at Love.  

The Bible tells us that God is Love.   It isn’t just that He has love or shows us how to love, while this also may be true.   When we say God is love we also acknowledge that it was love that both created the universe, our earth and mankind but also provided the atonement through Christ as God loved us.   While most people immediately recognize John 3:16, here is another verse that tells of the love of God.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:7-12.)

At Christmas we are reminded by the Christ child of how accessible God has made himself to us.  A baby is born in Bethlehem.  This is no ordinary birth nor ordinary child for this is a the promised Messiah, the Emmanuel or “God with us”.

Love was born in Bethlehem.  It is out the capacity of God’s love that mankind is redeemed and set free.   The message of Christmas is love.  In fact, the entire gospel including the prophecies of His birth, to the nativity, to the cross, to the resurrection, to the establishment of the Church and to his second coming is all and entirely about love.

In our ministry as Pastors and Christian leaders, we must continually teach that love is not only the end goal, it is also the very beginning of a relationship with God.  Love is given but at the same time, God receives, deserves and demands our love. 

Yes, It's A Wonderful Life

Yes, It’s a wonderful Life

I enjoy the seasons.  While the official seasons of Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring don’t change much in Florida, the holidays are still special.   For Christmas, my wife and I enjoy getting into the mood by listening to Christmas carols on the radio or our old CD’s and of course watching the Hallmark Channels endless movie offerings, all with the same theme, often the same actors and just the right amount of snow.

There are standards however and every Christmas movie’s standard is Frank Capra’s, “Its a Wonderful Life.”  Released 70 years ago, with Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey and Donna Reed as Mary Hatch Bailey, the reason for its success is the heart-felt lessons that it teaches all of us through the intervention of Clarence the Angel.  

If we look past the dramatic over-acting that was common for its day and the non-biblical view of angels (angels are created beings, not dead people earning wings), there are two spiritual truths to be understood

1. God’s greatest gift to you is your very life in its entirety

George Bailey was constantly searching for something different, something better.   As a young man, we see him planning on traveling the world.  Trains and steamships take you places where it must be better than Beford Falls.    He’s ready to leave again when his brother, Harry gets married and ruins his plans of escape.

George and Mary get married and have children but George is still a busy guy.  Too busy to be thankful for the life he has as he constantly laments the life he hasn’t been given.    George obviously envies his good friend Sam Wainwright who had introduced George to his future wife, Mary.

Old man Potter tells George that he’s worth more dead than alive and George decides to believe Potter who lies, cheats, defrauds and oppresses the townspeople.  It’s interesting how people are more likely to believe a lie even when it’s from a source that is despicable.

God’s greatest gift is George’s life itself with all of its ups and downs, the heartache, difficulties as well as its moments of ecstasy.    To make sure we don’t miss this lesson in the movie, Clarence’s angel boss, “Franklin” states clearly, “At exactly 10:45 p.m. tonight, Earth time, that man will be thinking seriously of throwing away God's greatest gift.”

God’s greatest gift is life itself!

2) Our measure of success is not to be money or houses or wealth

A few years ago I was interviewing a candidate and on the top of his resume his objective was ‘to become a success’.

We often measure success all wrong and it can really mess up our lives.  Ambition is good but when it drives us to value things and devalue people we have our priorities all wrong.   George is ambitious and industrious but it creates unhappiness and dissatisfaction.   Beyond some prayers by Mary and the children towards the end of the movie, we don’t see any obvious reference to Christian values.  

Honoring God, serving mankind, personal integrity, fidelity in marriage, hospitality to family and neighbors, parental responsibilities and citizenship are all present at various times in the movie but never noticeably appreciated by George.

Clarence is supposedly an angel and makes an attempt to clear up any misunderstanding of what success is about.  In the dedication of the book that was given to George he writes,  "Dear George, remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings. Love, Clarence."

"Having Friends," yes, that is definitely a priority.  More to the point, the Westminster catechism clarifies our priorities succinctly: Question 1. “What is the chief end of man?” Answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Fear Not!

“But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10 ESV)

Two thousand years ago, over the pastures and hills of Bethlehem, shepherds were watching their flocks.   Suddenly, the shepherds were startled by an amazing thing.  Angels, possibly surrounded by light and possibly even hovering in the air appeared.   Their reaction was that they "were sore afraid."  Today, we would use other words but all of us can relate to what it means to be terror-stricken.

The angel however tells them to not be afraid and says, “I bring you good new that will cause great joy for all the people (Luke 2:10).   Often we are told of ‘good news’ but we find that it may not be entirely ‘good’.    Also, this news was not only good but would cause great joy for all people. 

“Fear not” is a common phrase in the bible, often attributed to angels.   In proper context, it can be found over 80 times.  God appeared to Abraham and told him to “Fear not.”   Moses told the people of Israel to “Fear not.”   Joshua was told by God to “Fear not,” and was given a further promise that He, God would be with Joshua as He had been with Moses.

The shepherds are given the best greeting of all as the angel said unto them, "Fear Not... behold a Savior" (Luke 2:10-11). The answer to their fear and the reason that this good news was to be for all the people was that the Savior, the long-awaited Messiah, was born.

This verse out of Luke kicks off this season of Advent and the beginning of the Christmas season.   While Christmas is associated with gifts and good cheer and great times around a dinner table with family, the message of the angels is still the message for today, “fear not, the Messiah is born”.

This baby that was born in Bethlehem was no ordinary baby nor ordinary king.  The Bible says clearly that Jesus was sinless, born of the Holy Spirit.  It was because of this miraculous birth that we can have life eternal.   This was the promise of the Messiah, the good news for all people.

Unity of the Body; Diversity of Traditions

It’s the Christmas season and I always enjoy hearing about the diverse ways people celebrate the holidays.  Take gift giving, for example, do you open your presents on Christmas Even or Christmas Day?  In Spain, children received presents on the Feast of the Three Kings.  Los Santos Reyes is the popular Latin American celebration of the Epiphany.  It is often the three wise men and not Santa Claus who bring gifts for children.  However, the American influence of Christmas has been increasingly more popular each year, particularly with the children.

To this day, many children in Germany still place their shoes on their doorsteps or balconies and fill them with something like straw, hay or grain for the three kings’ horses.  The wise men reward the children with cookies, or small gifts next to their shoes.

While our traditions are different, at the heart of our celebrations is the birth of Jesus.   The birth of Jesus is celebrated because he was the long awaited Messiah.  He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, visited by the wise men, lived a life that culminated in his earthly ministry, his crucifixion followed three days later by his resurrection.

When we celebrate Jesus birth, we embrace all of the above. This is the foundation of our faith and through these diverse traditions, we can illustrate the unity of our common faith.

Both Jesus and the Apostle Paul spoke often of unity.   Jesus prayed, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:21-23) 

It is not our traditions that ultimately have attracted people to the faith but the way that we act out or exemplify our love of God and the people (the Great Commandment).   Through the years, Christians regardless of their traditions, denominations, culture, nationality, gender or race have been the ones that have been known for both the random acts of mercy as well as their organized charities and missions.   Collectively, we care for the hungry and the homeless, the blind and the lame, the widow and the orphan.

At this time of the year, remember that it is Christ, born in a manager, that we celebrate.  We embrace our various traditions as the means of illustrating our beliefs and at the same time, the unity of our faith.