There are a number of Christian blogs that I read on a regular basis and from which I have learned a great deal. One is the PyroManiacs blog, maintained by Team Pyro, whose current members are Phil Johnson, Dan Phillips, and Frank Turk. I should mention straight off that Johnson, Phillips, and Turk are strongly reformed in their theological views. Thus, they are significantly more conservative than I am on many theological and social issues, as I am only moderately reformed in my theological views and am quite liberal on a number of social issues. At any rate, I think that the guys at PyroManiacs have an unusually deep understanding of the Gospel, the Bible, and the nature of Christian discipleship. They also write well. If you haven't checked them out already, then I would recommend doing so. Anyway, Frank Turk just published a meditation on the meaning of Christmas that I wanted to share. The full text of the meditation can be found here. What follows are some excerpts:
“Look: a few years ago I made a point of
telling everyone that God's view of Christmas is a strange and amazing balance
between his
threat to bring justice to disobedient people and his promise to save them from
their utter disregard for him. Another time I made it
a point to tell you that the miracle at Christmas is not that a legion of
fantastic beings sang out to God's praise in a field -- it
was that a baby was born and laid in a manger, fulfilling the promises of
God with God Himself. That was a pretty good one.
This year, let me say this: in this world
where your home may seem empty because of a gigantic loss, and where the death
of innocents seems to be an insurmountable sign of how the times have turned,
God has already taken it upon himself to change the status quo. The point
here -- the actual reason that there is a Christmas, actually a moment when the
world affected by the church of God stops and stares, expecting to see
something completely amazing -- is that Jesus, who is God, didn't try to remain
equal with God. Instead he gave up everything, and was born in a manger to become
a slave, when he became like one of us. Jesus was humble the way only God can
be humble, surrendering the Glory which Isaiah saw in the throne room of God to
become a miracle wrapped in rags. He obeyed God -- and his obedience didn't
stop at being born in a barn. His obedience took him lower still, to a
death on a cross when he deserved worship and honor and power, so that the
death of innocents would, in an eternal and permanent way, be defeated forever.
Jesus is not just
some ephemeral housekeeper who can tidy us up right now --
or at least until we toss ourselves back into the filth. He's not someone who
merely helps us avoid the worst right now, as if God has nothing better to do
than to stop us from doing exactly what we want to do. His story is not
just a story about truth: he's the one guy who understands our weaknesses
because he has suffered through them all, refusing to sin, and then he died for
them all so that they can all not only be defeated, but forgiven…
This Christmas, I beg you: look for him,
find him, and throw yourself on him, because in that stable, and at his cross,
and ultimately at his empty tomb and his seat at the right hand of God, is your
only hope in this world where death is the common end. Let nothing you
dismay: for Jesus Christ our savior was born upon this day to save us all from
death and sin's power when we had gone astray. Those are the tidings of
comfort and joy.”
The story of Jesus is so beautiful, so powerful, so wondrous, that I often find myself unable to express my thoughts and feelings about it in words. Frank Turk has done an admirable job explaining the significance of our Savior's birth, and he has also captured something of its beauty, power, and wonder. I'm grateful to have stumbled upon this meditation, and I'm sure that I'll read it again in the coming days.
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