People like getting things that improves your quality of life. This past week at the doctor, I had the privilege of getting 3 shots injected in my arm to immunize me against the tetanus virus and his batch of bad guy friends. It was terrific, until later that day when I could barely move my arms, and my immune system began to act against the cocktail of weakened pathogens inside my body and as a result, I developed massive headaches and stomachaches, and woke up the next morning feeling like I was going to die. But then the pain went away, and I now I feel fantastic!
So what does my trip to the doctor have to do with anything? Nothing. I'm not even going to try to cleverly tie that into what I wanted to talk about (although, I very easily could).
But back to this idea of receiving things. During Christmas time, people like getting gifts. But society tells us that it's selfish to only receive gifts, and that we should also enjoy giving gifts as well, so we also like to give things. This makes everyone happy in our culture. It allows Christmas time to be enjoyed by all people groups, regardless of religion because, hey who doesn't enjoy other people when selflessness is in season? It's humanity at it's best correct? Don't you get a great feeling when you give someone else a present? It draws people together right? This is the season of giving isn't it? When is he going to stop with all these rhetorical questions?
Now I enjoy the season of giving as much as the next guy. I enjoy buying my family random silly gifts for Christmas, like shamwows, a waffle maker, and the entire men's collection from Bath and Body Works (sounds impressive but there are only 3 things for men at that store, which I think smells fantastic. I'm a sucker for fruit flavored fragrances). But I'm going to suggest that Christmas should primarily be a holiday of receiving. I don't mean to sound like a selfish, arrogant person.
The true message of Christmas has nothing to do with us. It has nothing to do with what we can give. It has everything to do with what God has given to us. He gave us an unmerited gift, the gift of eternal life through his son, Jesus. We did nothing to earn this gift. When you were a child and you received gifts from your family, not because you deserved them, but because your family and friends love you. God loves his creation, people who bear his image. The fullness of the high and mighty God came down to dwell among us. God walked among men. Something so powerful and holy came down to live with people who are weak and sinful. He did this so that we might be able to experience a relationship with the father, and to know God, to have eternal life in Him. That's the greatest gift of all.
But today, people gloss over that reality. On Christmas Eve this Saturday, millions of people will go to church, hear a message that they've heard several times before about God's love. They will sing some hymns without paying attention to the words, and then leave with a feeling of self-righteousness thinking that they did their cultural duty as an American and a Christian. I pray that person isn't you. I pray that you will realize the monumental occasion that you are celebrating. That you wouldn't just use this season as a season to feel good about yourself because of all you've given to charity and family and friends. Because the reality is, no matter how much you do for others, and no matter how pure your intentions are, you will never please God by your actions, by your works. A perfect God demands a perfect person. I doubt you are perfect. Only Jesus is. Only by allowing Christ to become your righteousness can you experience God. Receive the free gift that God has sent to us. It is real. Christmas isn't just a tradition, it's a celebration of a real event, the most important event in human history. Respond to the gospel. Celebrate and worship God for who he is and what he has done. Celebrate Immanuel, God with us. God with us. What a concept. We have a Wonderful Counselor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting father, a Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9), dwelling with us if you have accepted Christ.
Christmas is just the beginning of a life that ended with the defeat over death. Christ became the sacrifice, taking on the death that we deserve. But he conquered death by rising from the grave to dwell with God forever. And now he stands, extending that invitation to me and you.
If you haven't received that gift, I implore you to do so. If you have, I implore you to share it with others, and to reflect on what that means for you as a child of God this season.
I want to leave you with my first attempt at embedding a video on this blog! It is from a spoken word from a Christmas Real Life meeting at Ohio State last year which I had the pleasure of being in attendance. I think it does a much better job of saying what I wanted to say. So if you skipped all that reading and just wanted to watch a video, well you're in luck!
Merry Christmas
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
the trilogy concludes
Welcome to part 3 of my commentary on O Holy Night. If you missed parts 1, and 2, I'd give you a link to click on, but I'm too lazy to insert the links, and I assume since you're on the interwebs, you understand the concept of scrolling down to the bottom of the page to find previous posts. As I sit down to write this post, I can't help but think that I'm following in the footsteps of some other great trilogies of the last 50 years, Star Wars (i'm reffering to the originals, obvi), Lord of the Rings, Toy Story, Indiana Jones (that last movie didn't count), Twilight, Spiderman, and the Jason Bourne Series (a very underrated set of films I might add). In the ways that those movies changed film making, I see this series of blog posts to completely revolutionize the blogoshpere. Also, I think that attaching the word "sphere" to words is cool.
Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
Let's get to it, shall we?
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
The first few lines of this section seem pretty straight forward. Jesus told us to love each other. Great! Love and peace sounds fantastic! Breaking chains of bondage, seeing slaves as our brothers? Cool. I like the sound of that also. Oppression shall cease? Awesome! But again, let's step back and think about what's going on here.
Love is an odd thing to define. There are 4 Greek words for love. Storge, which means affection, Phileo, which refers to friendship and brotherly love (hence the reason why Philadelphia is called the City of Brotherly Love. Random side note: I have an odd inclination to cheering for Philadelphia sports teams because my name is in the city), Eros, which mainly concerns romantic love, and Agape, meaning unconditional love. In the New Testament, the original Greek language uses Agape, pure unconditional love to describe God's love for his people. Unconditional love is hard to come by in this day in age. Even the strongest marriages can end in divorce, and relationships between parents and children are never ideal. But God's love does not fail. The love that compels God to send his Son, that allows Christmas to even happen is truly incredible compared to human attempts at agape. What Jesus did on this earth, living a perfect life and dying on the cross for our sins is the ultimate act of love. John 3:16 is a very popular verse that does a good job of illustrating God's love for us. Perhaps a lesser known verse is found in the book of 1 John in chapter 3, verse 16 which says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." When the Bible talks about love, it goes beyond just being nice to people. It calls us to truly give of ourselves, to make sacrifices, to go beyond our comfort zone, not just during a season of giving, but for the entirety of our lives.
His gospel is peace.
Gospel means good news. The good news is peace. That's what everyone wants right? Politicians and high school seniors writing college essays always talk about establishing world peace. Call me a pessimist, but I don't think that's happening anytime soon. But I can take solace in the fact that God has offered peace to us through Jesus. For there to be a peace, it is implied that there was war, rebellion going on. Humanity was in open rebellion against God, fighting God, using sin to tell God that we didn't want Him reigning over our lives (hey I worked in the title of my blog there!). But Romans 5:10 says "While we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." We couldn't bring about this peace by ourselves, only Jesus can bring peace.
The song continues and states that the slave is our brother, and all oppression shall cease. By claiming that slaves are our brothers, doesn't that also imply that we ourselves our slaves? We are all slaves to sin. When you realize that everyone, you and me alike, were once seen as enemies of God, slaves to sin, wouldn't the oppression that exists between people groups fade away? No one is supreme over anybody. Comparisons become moot points when you are trying to figure out who is worse off than someone else. You're missing the point if you're doing that.
You'll notice that each section of the song ends the same way. Thanking and praising God for what he has done. The primary response to hearing the Christmas story is not to give gifts to other people in an effort to make you feel good about yourself, or even to brighten someone else's day. The first response is worship. Declaring that Christ is the Lord. If you have made Jesus the Lord of your life, then forever and ever, you will praise him for his glory. You will want to proclaim his name to the world, because of what he has saved you from: the grave, sin, eternity without God. It's not something you do once a year as the calender turns to December, it's something you do with all your heart.
In some versions of the song, I noticed that instead of ending with a proclamation of Jesus's divinity and kingship, the song ends with the words "Noel" which simply means Christmas. So often, I hear people talk about "keeping the Christ in Christmas" and how they will say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". I have been known to be one of those obnoxious people. But nowadays, all I hear when people say things like that, is just white noise. Do not simply yell Noel, without reflecting on what you really mean. This isn't a time to make a political statement. It's a time to worship and reflect on the fact that 2000 years ago, God entered into the world on a holy, divine, night in the form of a helpless baby, and the life of that child would change the world forever.
Well I hope you've enjoyed my posts on this classic. And I applaud you on making it this far. I just now realized that I may have been rambling and this post is quite a bit longer than previous entries. I hope you enjoy the Christmas season, and you'll hear again from me again as I continue to share my thoughts about this wonderful season. It's been real.
Love is an odd thing to define. There are 4 Greek words for love. Storge, which means affection, Phileo, which refers to friendship and brotherly love (hence the reason why Philadelphia is called the City of Brotherly Love. Random side note: I have an odd inclination to cheering for Philadelphia sports teams because my name is in the city), Eros, which mainly concerns romantic love, and Agape, meaning unconditional love. In the New Testament, the original Greek language uses Agape, pure unconditional love to describe God's love for his people. Unconditional love is hard to come by in this day in age. Even the strongest marriages can end in divorce, and relationships between parents and children are never ideal. But God's love does not fail. The love that compels God to send his Son, that allows Christmas to even happen is truly incredible compared to human attempts at agape. What Jesus did on this earth, living a perfect life and dying on the cross for our sins is the ultimate act of love. John 3:16 is a very popular verse that does a good job of illustrating God's love for us. Perhaps a lesser known verse is found in the book of 1 John in chapter 3, verse 16 which says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." When the Bible talks about love, it goes beyond just being nice to people. It calls us to truly give of ourselves, to make sacrifices, to go beyond our comfort zone, not just during a season of giving, but for the entirety of our lives.
His gospel is peace.
Gospel means good news. The good news is peace. That's what everyone wants right? Politicians and high school seniors writing college essays always talk about establishing world peace. Call me a pessimist, but I don't think that's happening anytime soon. But I can take solace in the fact that God has offered peace to us through Jesus. For there to be a peace, it is implied that there was war, rebellion going on. Humanity was in open rebellion against God, fighting God, using sin to tell God that we didn't want Him reigning over our lives (hey I worked in the title of my blog there!). But Romans 5:10 says "While we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." We couldn't bring about this peace by ourselves, only Jesus can bring peace.
The song continues and states that the slave is our brother, and all oppression shall cease. By claiming that slaves are our brothers, doesn't that also imply that we ourselves our slaves? We are all slaves to sin. When you realize that everyone, you and me alike, were once seen as enemies of God, slaves to sin, wouldn't the oppression that exists between people groups fade away? No one is supreme over anybody. Comparisons become moot points when you are trying to figure out who is worse off than someone else. You're missing the point if you're doing that.
You'll notice that each section of the song ends the same way. Thanking and praising God for what he has done. The primary response to hearing the Christmas story is not to give gifts to other people in an effort to make you feel good about yourself, or even to brighten someone else's day. The first response is worship. Declaring that Christ is the Lord. If you have made Jesus the Lord of your life, then forever and ever, you will praise him for his glory. You will want to proclaim his name to the world, because of what he has saved you from: the grave, sin, eternity without God. It's not something you do once a year as the calender turns to December, it's something you do with all your heart.
In some versions of the song, I noticed that instead of ending with a proclamation of Jesus's divinity and kingship, the song ends with the words "Noel" which simply means Christmas. So often, I hear people talk about "keeping the Christ in Christmas" and how they will say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". I have been known to be one of those obnoxious people. But nowadays, all I hear when people say things like that, is just white noise. Do not simply yell Noel, without reflecting on what you really mean. This isn't a time to make a political statement. It's a time to worship and reflect on the fact that 2000 years ago, God entered into the world on a holy, divine, night in the form of a helpless baby, and the life of that child would change the world forever.
Well I hope you've enjoyed my posts on this classic. And I applaud you on making it this far. I just now realized that I may have been rambling and this post is quite a bit longer than previous entries. I hope you enjoy the Christmas season, and you'll hear again from me again as I continue to share my thoughts about this wonderful season. It's been real.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
i should be studying for finals, but i wrote this instead
Welcome to part 2 of my analysis of the beloved Christmas song, O Holy Night. Here's part 1 for those of you who missed it. I should be studying for my final on parasitic pathogens and infections, but learning about the parasite known as Leishmania is not all that fun. So instead, I'm taking the next few minutes to write this post as I prolong my studying, and if you go to OSU, here's a chance to take a little break for yourself! And if you don't go to OSU, great, you have all kinds of time to read this! We pick up the song in verse 2.
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Here the first few verses refer to the well known story of the 3 wise men who come to visit Christ. Not much is known about these 3 kings. Of the four gospel accounts, only Matthew records this incident, but this story of their visit holds a lot of significance. These Wise Men, the Magi, are not Jews, but they have an understanding of Jewish scripture and prophecy. In the book of Matthew 2:6, they quote a prophecy from Micah 5:2, "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel." They come from, according to the song, Orient land, or east of Israel. Why would these non Jews, these Gentiles, be interested in the Jewish Messiah? They had faith in God. This Messiah is not just for the nation of Israel, but for the entire world. Jesus came to be worshiped by people of all different cultures and races. He came for everybody.
The next line refers to Jesus as being the King of Kings, which is kind of weird considering the circumstances, that he is lying in a lowly manger. The King of Kings, the God of the universe, the first born over all creation, who has all the power in the world, has been reduced to an infant, incapable of surviving without the help of his mother. The almighty God became a helpless baby. Just let that truth sink in for a little bit, no matter how many times you have heard that before. It's still amazing.
The verse continues, that Jesus was born to be our friend in our trials. Do you remember a few years ago, when those "Jesus is my Homeboy" t-shirts came out? I hate those t-shirts. Jesus is not simply your homeboy. He is so much more. He's not just someone you go to in times of trouble, because he's a good listener and will guide you on your life journey. Hebrews 4:15-16 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need". Jesus experienced everything we have gone through. He experienced all the pain and suffering of the world when he was crucified on the cross. He's not just an onlooker. He is an active participant in our lives. He's more than a homeboy, he is more than an acquaintance. He is our friend, the best friend we will ever have (yeah I know how cheesy that sounds, but that doesn't mean it's any less true).
The section ends with a call to worship. No, it's more than a call, it's a command to kneel in recognition of our place before God and to see Jesus for who he really is, our Lord and savior. He's not just your homeboy, not just a good moral teacher, not a set of rules to follow, but the sovereign king of creation. Jesus may not look the way you think God should look. But God does not conform to our norms, to our expectations. We are called to follow what he has planned for our life, and the first step, is to admit that we are sinful people who need this baby to live a life that we never could.
Well, this concludes my study break. Now I'm off to the wonderful world of parasites and medical terminology. Check back soon for the thrilling finale of my analysis of O Holy Night. (meh who am I kidding, it won't be all that thrilling, but it will still be good).
Until our paths cross again...
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Here the first few verses refer to the well known story of the 3 wise men who come to visit Christ. Not much is known about these 3 kings. Of the four gospel accounts, only Matthew records this incident, but this story of their visit holds a lot of significance. These Wise Men, the Magi, are not Jews, but they have an understanding of Jewish scripture and prophecy. In the book of Matthew 2:6, they quote a prophecy from Micah 5:2, "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel." They come from, according to the song, Orient land, or east of Israel. Why would these non Jews, these Gentiles, be interested in the Jewish Messiah? They had faith in God. This Messiah is not just for the nation of Israel, but for the entire world. Jesus came to be worshiped by people of all different cultures and races. He came for everybody.
The next line refers to Jesus as being the King of Kings, which is kind of weird considering the circumstances, that he is lying in a lowly manger. The King of Kings, the God of the universe, the first born over all creation, who has all the power in the world, has been reduced to an infant, incapable of surviving without the help of his mother. The almighty God became a helpless baby. Just let that truth sink in for a little bit, no matter how many times you have heard that before. It's still amazing.
The verse continues, that Jesus was born to be our friend in our trials. Do you remember a few years ago, when those "Jesus is my Homeboy" t-shirts came out? I hate those t-shirts. Jesus is not simply your homeboy. He is so much more. He's not just someone you go to in times of trouble, because he's a good listener and will guide you on your life journey. Hebrews 4:15-16 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need". Jesus experienced everything we have gone through. He experienced all the pain and suffering of the world when he was crucified on the cross. He's not just an onlooker. He is an active participant in our lives. He's more than a homeboy, he is more than an acquaintance. He is our friend, the best friend we will ever have (yeah I know how cheesy that sounds, but that doesn't mean it's any less true).
The section ends with a call to worship. No, it's more than a call, it's a command to kneel in recognition of our place before God and to see Jesus for who he really is, our Lord and savior. He's not just your homeboy, not just a good moral teacher, not a set of rules to follow, but the sovereign king of creation. Jesus may not look the way you think God should look. But God does not conform to our norms, to our expectations. We are called to follow what he has planned for our life, and the first step, is to admit that we are sinful people who need this baby to live a life that we never could.
Well, this concludes my study break. Now I'm off to the wonderful world of parasites and medical terminology. Check back soon for the thrilling finale of my analysis of O Holy Night. (meh who am I kidding, it won't be all that thrilling, but it will still be good).
Until our paths cross again...
Friday, December 2, 2011
not everyone can sing, but everyone can think
In my last post, I made a reference to my favorite Christmas song of all time, O Holy Night, sung by the wonderful voice of Josh Groban. This song is incredibly hard to sing for me, and as a man, I have tremendous respect for those who succeed where I have failed. You need to have a really good range to hit those high notes, something that I am lacking. (Side note: in middle school I was one of a few boys who actually could sing and was actually involved in middle school show choir and a Capella group. Thanks to my Asian upbringing that involved intense piano study, I developed a great ear and knew my way around a music staff. As a tenor, I was one of the few who could hit those high notes. Then one day, puberty came and my greatest asset and contributions to the choir left me and my dreams of being the front man of a boy band died.) In fact, whenever I sing during worship, I always feel bad for the people around me as I make valiant attempts to hit the high notes. I seriously think that there have been times when others have left the area around me to go worship next to someone who can actually sing.
Now if you've been to any Christmas Eve service in a Protestant church, you've probably ended the night singing this song. It's been a staple of every Christmas themed service I've ever attended. It's very easy to take this song for granted, or any other worship hymn or song for that matter. But have you ever stopped to think about the lyrics you are singing? Because this song is surprisingly deep upon further review and makes some bold claims. Over the next few posts, I'm going to analyze the lyrics of this Christmas classic.
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd 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 angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.
The first verses of the song set the setting for the well known entrance of Jesus. But starting with the 4th lines, the song has some serious implications. Think about it. Human souls had no worth. It was stuck in the mire of sin. Life was hopeless. This all changes with the birth of Christ. The soul regains its worth when Christ steps onto the scene. Apart from him, there is no real hope in the world. This occasion marks the dawning of a new age, a new chapter of humanity where a personal intimate relationship with the Father is made possible by the Son. So what are we told to do when we hear this good news? We fall on our knees and worship. The last time I was listening to this song, instead of being amazed by God's love, I was more in awe of Josh Groban, or Celine Dion's vocal fortitude. But we should be in awe of the voices of the angels in heaven who are declaring "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14). The rebellion of humanity's sin against God is coming to an end. Heaven has sent down an olive branch, and all of God's angels rejoice. I wonder how beautiful and terrifying it must have been for those shepherds that holy night when they sat in their fields and all of a sudden, a legion of God's angels appeared to them shouting the praises of God.
As we continue on in this Christmas season, I encourage you to look at the lyrics of your favorite Christmas carols that talk about the birth of Christ. Really reflect on them, and understand what you are proclaiming when you sing along on the radio or in a candle light Christmas church service. I'll continue my analysis of O Holy Night in my next post. Until then, you stay classy, world wide web!
Now if you've been to any Christmas Eve service in a Protestant church, you've probably ended the night singing this song. It's been a staple of every Christmas themed service I've ever attended. It's very easy to take this song for granted, or any other worship hymn or song for that matter. But have you ever stopped to think about the lyrics you are singing? Because this song is surprisingly deep upon further review and makes some bold claims. Over the next few posts, I'm going to analyze the lyrics of this Christmas classic.
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd 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 angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.
The first verses of the song set the setting for the well known entrance of Jesus. But starting with the 4th lines, the song has some serious implications. Think about it. Human souls had no worth. It was stuck in the mire of sin. Life was hopeless. This all changes with the birth of Christ. The soul regains its worth when Christ steps onto the scene. Apart from him, there is no real hope in the world. This occasion marks the dawning of a new age, a new chapter of humanity where a personal intimate relationship with the Father is made possible by the Son. So what are we told to do when we hear this good news? We fall on our knees and worship. The last time I was listening to this song, instead of being amazed by God's love, I was more in awe of Josh Groban, or Celine Dion's vocal fortitude. But we should be in awe of the voices of the angels in heaven who are declaring "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14). The rebellion of humanity's sin against God is coming to an end. Heaven has sent down an olive branch, and all of God's angels rejoice. I wonder how beautiful and terrifying it must have been for those shepherds that holy night when they sat in their fields and all of a sudden, a legion of God's angels appeared to them shouting the praises of God.
As we continue on in this Christmas season, I encourage you to look at the lyrics of your favorite Christmas carols that talk about the birth of Christ. Really reflect on them, and understand what you are proclaiming when you sing along on the radio or in a candle light Christmas church service. I'll continue my analysis of O Holy Night in my next post. Until then, you stay classy, world wide web!
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