December 2006

Note: My dear friend and brother in Christ, David Wegener, just sent me the following E-mail, a thoughtful summary of what Scripture teaches on this subject.

I've been thinking a bit about Saddam's death and watched some of the video footage of American-Iraqi's in the Detroit area. They were dancing for joy and singing and delighting in the vengeance that had been taken. I was repulsed by their reactions but I've been rethinking this. What should my attitude be?

The issue is not the rightness or wrongness of the death penalty. The Vatican and most of Europe's leaders used this opportunity to parade their compassion and civility and their opposition to the death penalty, but that is normal. Europe has been post-Christian for centuries and most of her populace doesn't take the Bible seriously on this (Genesis 9 and Romans 13) or other topics.

The issue is how I should view the punishment of the wicked by the state. Vengeance belongs to God and he has delegated the authority to exact vengeance to the state. Should I delight in Saddam's death?

A Psalm of Christmas

Lord we blame
the innkeeper
for only giving you
the stable
when his inn was full
but what about
all the others
who lived in Bethlehem
that night
when you were born.
Why were
all their houses
that weren't full
of guests
fast closed
against the one
who contained you?
God bless
our little homes
this Christmastime
make them
big enough
to welcome you
contained in those
for whom the world
has no room
except
a cold and lonely
Christmas day.

-Joe Bayly

(Note: Mary Lee, my dear wife, wrote this Christmas devotional some years back, and I thought it worthy of our meditation this Christmas Eve.)

It may come as a surprise to most of you, as it did to me, how little there actually is in the Gospels about Jesus' birth. In Matthew we are told, merely, that He was born in Bethlehem--nothing about an inn, donkeys, shepherds, or a manger. Only the Magi are there. In Mark and John we meet Jesus as an adult, about to start His ministry. Luke is the only place we find the familiar story, but even there the details are sketchy, at best.

Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register in a census. "While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn," (Luke 2:6,7 }. That's it.

It's hard to imagine our Christmas today has anything to do with that birth. Shopping, Santa Claus, trees, lights, presents; all this because of a baby born in an out-building?

It's equally hard to imagine that the beautiful pictures on our Christmas cards have anything to do with this Biblical account. It all looks so misty and romantic but in reality it was two scared teen-agers having a baby in what was the equivalent to the modern-day shed in the back yard holding our tools and lawn mower. Nothing much of beauty there. I'm sure Mary and Joseph felt the same about a stable and a manger as we'd feel about a shed for a birthplace and the wheelbarrow for a cradle.

When we celebrate our own birthdays, we don't talk about the hospital room, or even the day of our birth. We talk about the passing of another year, accomplishments, goals etc. When we celebrate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King Jr., we know little or nothing about the circumstances or places of their births. But we do know something about their lives and the things they accomplished.

The same should be true of Jesus' Birthday. Let's get away from the manger and remember who Jesus was and why He came. The life He lived and the death He died--not His birth--should be our focus. Philippians 2 tells us that, although He was God Himself, Jesus chose to humble Himself, "ma(king) Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."

Then He humbled himself even further by being obedient to death, even the death of a common criminal on a cross. Because of this He will be exalted to the highest place in Heaven. The Holy Spirit goes on to tell us in Philippians 2 that the time is coming when "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord".

Pictures of sheep and donkeys standing in softly falling snow at the birth of baby Jesus are nice (pictures don't bleat, bray, or smell), but to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that, as a result of this birth, every soul who has ever lived will one day bow before Jesus and proclaim Him King of Kings and Lord of Lords--this is awesome.

This Christmas, Mary Lee and I are full of joy that this past year little Josiah was added to our family, adopted by Doug (Archie) and Heather. Josiah is our third grandchild, unless you count little ones God chose to take to Heaven before they were born--then it's seven.

Actually, it's nine. Heather and Michal both are carrying little ones who, Lord willing, we'll meet this coming April (Heather) and May (Michal). Incidentally, Heather and Michal's little ones are the seventh and eighth great-grandchildren Mom Taylor is expecting this coming year. Heather and Michal have six cousins on the Taylor side expecting during 2007--so far, that is! This brings our Taylor family--Mom Taylor, her children (and spouses), grandchildren (and spouses), and great-grandchildren--to a blessed total of ninety-six.

Amazon has a great deal on the the earphones I use, the Etymotic Research ER6 Isolator Earphones. They're discounted from $148 to $78, about half price:

The ER6s are a superb set of isolating earphones and I recommend them highly. You can plug them into your MP3 player and listen to Scripture, sermons, podcasts, music or whatever. And while listening, you won't hear any of the environmental noise surrounding you because these earphones don't let any of it through your ear canal. Think about it--on long international flights, in airports, on buses or subways, in coffee shops--you can silence the crying baby or cell phone blabbermouth...