Go to the bookstore and take stock of all the Christmas books. The Christmas Shoes, The Christmas Jar, The Christmas Blessing. Yes, The Christmas Blanket, The Christmas Treasure, The Christmas Miracle, The Christmas Tree, The Christmas Promise, The Christmas Package, The Christmas Prayer, The Christmas Present, The Christmas Gift, pa rum pa pum pum. It's the Christmas bonanza for creative writers. Warm fuzzies and heart wrenching stories for the holidays.
Maybe the season triggers my OC tendencies a little too much but for the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to shake what to me is The Christmas Truth: All things are possible with God. This is, of course, is what Gabriel said to Mary when she couldn't quite grasp the realty of what was getting ready to happen to her. To me, Gabriel's words were a precursor, maybe a warning of sorts. In the future, Mary was going to have to believe things more astounding than the Virgin Birth. I mean, one day she would be at the foot of a cross and find a way to believe in the resurrection of her beloved son.
In some respects, it's a scenario right out of everyday life. Not the miraculous birth or the angel talking to a little girl part. No, her response to what the angel said may be more ordinary. Hearing something totally incredible, she just wanted to know how such a thing could be. It is the question every one asks when staring down the barrel of something that defies human reason. Instinctively we want to know, how can this be?
Thumb through the bullet list. How can we live on 90% of our income? How can we stretch the church budget to include this new mission line item? How can we find the time to teach this class? Where are we going to discover the resources to fund this initiative or that? You know it's true, the automatic way we question the things we know God in His power can cover if we're obedient and pursue Biblical values.
It's the question that hangs over the talk about a Great Commission Resurgence since the GCRTF report was approved by messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention last June. How can we fund an authentic Great Commission Resurgence and still fulfill our financial commitments to agencies and institutions? How can we do all of these worthwhile Kingdom tasks when the economy is in the pits, in the face of continuing numerical declines and budget deficits? The difference is more than obvious, however. Now, it's not a naive, young teen-aged girl asking the questions. In most instances, the doubters are college or Bible school graduates, seminary educated religious leaders and pastors, seasoned church people. Now its agency and institution CEO's and CFO's and EGO's asking the questions. How can this be?
Faith-based organizations are usually established on stronger footings than the mere economies of men. Probe around the founding documents of churches and spiritually related organizations and you'll most likely discover a deep dependence on the promises of Scripture as core principles. You know, Biblical ideals like, "if God is for us, who can be against us", "this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith", "my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory", "God is faithful in keeping His promises," and my all time favorite, "see if He will not throw open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing there will not be room enough to receive it." If these sound corny to you, you've not learned The Christmas Truth: all things are possible with God.
And, if it isn't true, then we're, in the words of the little boy, all sunk anyway!
So, here's what this simple mind is praying: that the wonder of the season will be real to every single one of us and that we'll once again enter the New Year with the expectation of miraculous things because we actually trust the one who promised them.
Treasure that in your heart and ponder it.
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