Cardboard
The other day I was helping some friends move and as I left, wished them a good night in their new house. My family moved a lot when I was little and I used to look forward so much to that first night in a new house. My friends moved almost everything over in just one day, but when my family moved, it was a long process. The movers came and packed everything, we’d stay a day or to (or more) longer and clean, and then there was the long in-between time during which we might go to another state to visit family before we move out of the country, or camp on our way up to the new state, or go live in a hotel for a while, while awaiting the move-in or completion date of our new house. After living out of a suitcase for a couple of weeks, it was always nice to get into the new house, even if it meant sleeping on an air mattress for a few nights. The best thing, though, was moving-in day. Boxes and furniture would come in a steady stream from the big moving van. One by one boxes would be opened and treasures would be unearthed from under layers of brown packing paper. It was a relief to have all my things back under one roof. Finally, familiar books sat on the shelf and pictures took their place on the floor, leaning against the wall on which they would soon be hung. Once the movers left and the night crept in, the boxes with comforters and other bed linens would be opened and the bed would be made for the first time in the new home. I’d get showered clean and then tiredly crawl into bed. Depending on the length of the moving transition, all our things had been in boxes for at least a week, and maybe up to a couple of months. No matter how long they had sat in boxes, the sheets, pillows and blankets always smelled of cardboard that first night. I would go to sleep breathing in that sweet smell, knowing that once again I was settled, I was safe and secure, and that tomorrow would begin a new adventure.
O Holy Night
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night divine, O night, O night divine!
Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend!
He knows our need, To our weakness no stranger;
Behold your King! Before the lowly bend!
Behold your King! your King! Before Him bend.
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name!
Christ is the Lord, Oh praise His name forever,
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim.
J.S.Dwight & A.C.Adam, 19th Century
Joy
I got to go to the Prestonwood Christmas production on Saturday. I’d heard about it a good bit from lots of people, but this was my first time to see it. From the beginning it was impressive. It seemed to be produced with the same quality of a West End production or something you might see on Broadway, although maybe a bit more over the top. It started off silly and holiday-ish, and transitioned into to traditional Church Christmas music sung a brilliant choir during the second part, but the third and last segment of the production was astounding.
The scene began with the cross and Mary weeping and then went on to tell the entire story of Jesus’ life from the point of view of Peter, as if he were remembering all the extraordinary times he had shared with him or knew of him, starting with his birth and going through several miracles, through the last supper and passion, through death and resurrection.
In my entire life, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a representation of the life of Jesus portrayed for Christmas. That’s usually reserved for Easter. But somehow, after seeing it there, it seems short-sighted to celebrate only the birth of Jesus at Christmas. Only when you look at the whole story of Jesus can you understand why Christmas is so significant and essential to our faith. Hundreds of years of prophecy had foretold Jesus’ coming. Jews for ages had been expecting him. God promised that Jesus would be sent, as the Lamb, the new covenant, the Savior. He was sent to fulfill the blood sacrifice that was required for sins. Not just for one sin, or one person’s sin, but for all the sin of the world of all time.
As Pastor Gary said on Sunday, the meaning of Christmas is realized through what Jesus did while he was alive; especially through relationships with others, individually—the adulterous woman who was going to be stoned, and corporately—every person who has ever sinned.
Christmas can’t properly be appreciated without understanding the implications of God sending a living sacrifice for his people. It is proof of God’s power, of his commitment to his word, of his great plan, and of his boundless love for us.
The night Jesus was born is the night God came to earth. The promise is kept. The Savior is here. Death is defeated.
That is the story of Christmas. That is reason for joy.
P.S.
On Sunday both Pastor Gary and Clayton mentioned themes from my last entry, and the theme of both of their sermons is the theme for my next entry (which I started preparing on Saturday, so it was really odd listening to them preach about my next blog... there must be something in the air that makes us think on the same topic at the same time... weird). Anyway, Pastor Gary mentioned Hosea as an example of God's love for his people which also uses the marriage analogy. Song of Solomon is yet another example (I can't believe I forgot two whole books!). Just in case you wanted to do some research on the topic :-)
By the way, Narnia is an incredible film. It is an instant classic. I so enjoyed watching it (twice) with everyone. If you haven't seen it yet, please try to take time before Christmas to enjoy it. I'll explain why in my next entry.
Eight Diamonds
Last summer as I was walking through the British Museum, a ring from an exhibit of 15th –18th century pieces caught my eye. It was very simple, but elegant with a narrow gold band and several square-cut diamonds set at an angle. I think the card next to it may have given a year it was supposed to have been made, but I don’t think it said who it had belonged to or what it was for… so my curiosity grew. I counted the stones. There were eight. If there had been seven, it might have been to show off one stone in the middle, or even had something to do with the Church, as the number seven is symbolic of perfection, and was commonly used and understood in religious art during that time period. But eight? Eight is symbolic “of the new life, of the final resurrection, and of that anticipated resurrection implied in baptism” (Male, Emile,
The Gothic Image p.14). In symbolizing the resurrection, eight also symbolizes our union with God. Early baptismals were often made in octagonal shapes, and even the old chapel at Fielder Road has eight walls.
When we come to know Christ, we ask him to become our savior. We dedicate our life to him. It is both a plea and a vow. Our symbol of that commitment and new relationship is baptism, through which we give testimony of our new relationship with Christ and are symbolically buried in the water, and raised out if it to walk “in newness of life.” Just as baptism is a symbol of dying to the old and birthing the new, once we’ve made that commitment and begun our relationship with Christ, our eventual literal death will be followed by new, eternal life with Christ.
Often in the Bible when John talks about our future union with Christ, it is often explained with marriage analogies, “
Then I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” (Rev. 21:2) “
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready… Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Rev. 19:7-9) and when Paul and others talk about marriage, or union with a spouse, they relate it to our relationship with Christ. “
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church…”
Paul writes in Ephesians 5:22-33 about the connection between marriage and Christ and the Church:
“
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
Did you see all the ways our relationship with Christ is to be mirrored by our relationship to our spouse?
In the same way, God hates divorce, or the broken vow between spouses, so much that He uses the language of divorce to describe unfaithfulness between God’s people and Himself. Read Jeremiah chapter 3 for an example.
God created marriage, he even oversaw and was present in the first marriage, and he chooses this institution to describe his current relationship to us, the Church, whether faithful or unfaithful, as well as our future union together when he comes back for us. Marriage is used to instruct us in our relationship with Christ, and our relationship with Christ should direct and impact our marriages. Marriage is an earthly symbol of our relationship with God. It is to be conducted daily as our relationship with Christ… loving others more than ourselves, sacrificially giving, and selflessly serving others. Once the vow is made, it is never to be broken. Just as men and women look toward marriage eagerly, so we should look forward to being in the presence of God.
I have tried to find out more about that ring, I even tried contacting the museum once I got home, but I still know nothing more about it. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if it were a wedding ring—symbolizing the temporal union of marriage, and future, eternal union with God.
That’s what it has come to mean to me, anyway. And I look forward eagerly to both.
Journaling
Hi
Friends, please leave happy messages until I come up with something meaningful and astonishingly important to say.
Thanks.
