Tag: restore

Advent 4: Family

One of the things that has always bothered me about the Christmas story is the whole “no room in the inn” thing.

Because of the census, Joseph takes Mary to Bethlehem. The image I always got was that they arrived after dark. I had this image of a family pulling into a town on vacation needing a place to stay.

Then one Christmas it dawned on me: Joseph took Mary to his hometown, the town where his family originated. So if you go to the town where family is why would you be looking for an inn? Wouldn’t you just go to cousin Samuel’s house and bunk down there? I mean, come on. Picture it: Joseph and his obviously very pregnant wife roll into town–you would think that someone would at least let them crash in a corner of the living room.

But no. And I began to wonder why. And then I wondered if it was because of his very expectant wife. Joseph could have dismissed Mary and probably should have in the eyes of his family. He got himself into this mess, let him take care of it.

Family. We do some pretty odd and even hurtful things to one another. There is so much talk about dysfunctional families these days that I sometimes wonder what a functional family really looks like.

As I have read the story of God’s people in the Word, I have found many stories of fractured families. I think of Moses, Abraham, Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Esau, David and his brothers, and then David and his children. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

Throughout each of these situations I see God working to try and restore relationships. We were created for relationship–with God and with each other.

What a gift it would be and what joy we could find if in this season of Advent we would mind the heart of God and seek to restore broken relationships, whether they are in our family or amongst our friends. Or maybe in the family we call the church.

No one should have to sleep in a barn when family is nearby. Let’s allow the God’s love and grace to remove the dysfunction so we can better function relationally and bring honor and glory to him.

Refiner’s Fire

I have been down with the flu for five days. And I got a flu shot. I keep trying to imagine how much worse it would havee been if I hadn’t got the shot!

I would have loved to have spent the time cozied up and polishing several books on my Nook, but I just couldn’ t focus good enough for that. So honed up on my Yahtzee skills and listened to a lot of TV. Needless to say, I’vehad my fill of year end car sale/deal ads. Thee were also lots of ads for new movies and new TV programs. One new program that seemed to get a lot of ad time was the new show with Kevin Bacon, The Following. I just looked up the plot on one of my go to sites, IMDB.com, and I honestly still don’t get it. But there was a part of one ad that really disturbed me– enough that I remembered it in spite of my foggy mental state these past few days, and enough to write about it.

At one point a woman appears to be describing the series, and she uses just two words. I’m not sure if itnwas the way she said that troubled me or the impact of the words. It just sent chills, and not in a good way when she delivered her summation: deliciously evil.

Does that trouble anybody else? All I can hear is the serpant’s hiss hanging on the end of the phrase. As I pondered why this bothered me so, a verse from Proverbs came to mind: Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burnt? Proverbs 6:27, NIV

I know disastrous it is try and play with fire, to dance at edge of the precipice–hkw slippery the s,ope really is and how hard it is to come back. Sometimes I feel like an alarmist, always shouting that the bridge is out, waving my arms crazylike hoping someone will see and turn away before it’s too late.

It’s a new year. A time for resolutions and determined resolve. Here’s a no brainer. It’s so important that Jesus included it in his model prayer for his disciples. He told them that they need to pray that theybwould be led away from temptation, evil. In our day this prayer is even more necessary for his followers.

I challenge you to go to scripture, at least 7 different verses about avoiding evil, assign one to each day of the week, and then pray that verse on that day. We have lost our joy, our peace,and our power because we have allowed evil to creep into our lives. We are far too accepting and comfortable with it. If we ca  think of it as deliscious…God help us.

God, make us aware of the places and spaces where we have made evil welcome in our lives, our hearts, our homes, our relationships. Do in us the hard work of cleansing and purifying. You are our refiner. Our one desire is to be holy, and wholly thine. This is our prayer in your name, Jesus.