Advent 2024: Christ

Throughout this Advent season, we’ve been reminded of the ways God has revealed Himself to His people prior to Jesus coming. He walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, spoke to Moses through a burning bush, led His people with a cloud and a pillar of fire, and for hundreds of years only a high priest could intercede for sins in the Holy of Holies. The prophets kept speaking of a coming Messiah, but for 400 years, God was silent. 

But everything was about to change. Humanity would soon experience God in the most unexpected way using people that were humble, lowly, overlooked and unimportant by societal standards.

“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given…” Yes, the prophets had foretold of a child, but was anyone actually expecting that? The prophet Isaiah also said, 

“and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah 9:6-7

So when could they expect this government to finally rest on His shoulders? When would His justice and righteousness prevail? Who would announce his arrival?

But here He was… a baby. Our God, with flesh. He had come.

“He was supposed to look like justice, and instead he looks like love…

He was supposed to look like lightning, and instead he looks like his mother…

He was supposed to look like victory, but here he is sleeping so peacefully. And he doesn’t look like power, oh no, 

Instead…he looks like me.” 

- Waterdeep, “Why does God have to Look so Human”

Instead of speaking through a burning bush, He sits and has a meal with sinners.

Instead of leading his people with a cloud and pillar of fire, He walked among us, touching, healing, comforting those He encountered.

Instead of royalty and fanfare to announce his arrival, it was the lowly shepherds who share the good news of great joy with all people. 

The veil that once separated man from God was now torn from top to bottom through His death and resurrection, giving us full access to God Himself.

“So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son…From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is Himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.” John 1:14-18 

Most people weren’t expecting God to come as a baby, and yet He did. Most people today don’t expect to see God at work among us, and yet He is. He is still near. He sent His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to abide in us. We can come boldly to God, no longer needing a priest to intercede for us, because He has made us a royal priesthood, a holy people. And He is coming again for us one day. 

May we have eyes to see the unexpected places God is working. May we embody Christ to those in our circles. May we look around, notice, and not miss all the ways He comes near to us each day. May we sit with Him, talk with Him, behold him, allow Him to speak to us, heal us, and restore us into right standing with His Father. May we experience Emmanuel, God with us, this Christmas and always. Amen.

Advent 2024: The Tabernacle

“And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” Exodus 25:8

“This Moses did; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did. In the first month, in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. Moses erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars. And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He took the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark and set the mercy seat above on the ark. 

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:16-20, 34-35

As a noun, tabernacle is defined as “a fixed or moveable habitation, typically of light construction.” (Oxford English Dictionary)

For the nomadic Israelites, this type of moveable structure for God’s dwelling place on Earth made perfect sense. They had left the slavery of Egypt and been led into the wilderness, still very much uncertain of what was next before entering the Promised Land. It’s at this point– this in between– that Moses climbs Mount Sinai to meet with the Lord. And it is here that Moses receives not only the Ten Commandments, but also very detailed instructions to build the tabernacle, a place the Lord could draw near to his chosen people. 

Maybe, like me, you get to the details of the tabernacle’s construction and you begin to skim, but pause here. Imagine in your mind the artistry and architecture involved. Every detail of its design was meant to draw the people to remember who God is, his history with his people, and also to point to a future together one day in eternity. Pause again and imagine the sight of a massive cloud of God’s presence settling down overhead. 

As I began to prepare for Advent, the tabernacle immediately connected with me. This temporary dwelling feels so relatable to me at the moment. We sold our home over the summer and are in the process of building our new home. In the interim, we are leasing. It took a few months after settling into our new home and a few moments of quiet in a full schedule to put my finger on the lowkey hum of what I had been feeling– the feeling of being in an unsettled place. In an attempt to limit what we unpack now only to have to repack in a few months, we still have boxes piled everywhere. Though not nomadic like the Israelites, I feel the temporariness of our current situation. Yet when I take the time to look, to pause and really look, I cannot help but see the many gifts God has shown us in these months, the gift of his presence woven through this time. 

I don’t know what you are carrying into this Advent. You may be moving, finding yourself in flux in a relationship or at work, having lost a loved one, or just uncertain what the next step God has for you is. But I’d venture to guess many of us can readily draw to mind some experience that leaves us feeling unsettled, waiting, wondering. As we draw nearer to Christmas Day, can I invite you to pause in that feeling? And as you do, to remember our God’s presence with you in that space. 

Earlier, I shared one definition of tabernacle with you. Allow me to share one more. Merriam-Webster Dictionary also defines the verb form of tabernacle. To tabernacle means “to take up temporary residence, especially to inhabit a physical body.” 

The same God who met Adam and Eve in the garden, Moses at the burning bush, led his people by pillars of cloud and fire, and came near in the temporary dwelling of the tabernacle is the same God who took up temporary residence here on Earth in the form of a baby. The tabernacle was a temporary, earthly dwelling for our infinite, uncontainable God, but it was just a hint of what was to come when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This Christmas, may we find peace with us in our temporary and wilderness places, knowing that as he was for his people throughout time, our God is near. 

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Editor’s Note: Whether he walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, spoke to Moses through the burning bush, led the Israelites through the wilderness, or let his presence dwell in the Tabernacle, our God has always shown his desire to have a relationship with his people. These instances found in the Old Testament, amazing as they are, are only shadows of what would come when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Each meeting brought us a step closer on the journey to Bethlehem, to the arrival of our Savior. 

Each week in our Advent reflections, we’ll take a look at one of the ways God drew near to his people leading up to Jesus’s birth.

Advent 2024: The Cloud of Smoke and Pillar of Fire

Imagine you look to your left, your right, before you, behind you, and all you can see are the thousands of people plodding onward into an unknown future. It’s a surreal feeling—you are leaving Egypt, the only home you have ever known, that anyone in your family has known for the past 400 years. You are leaving your job as a brick-maker, the only thing that ever gave you value in the world. And strangest of all, you are being led by a something so odd, you think your eyes must be playing tricks on you—a giant column of a cloud, which at night glows like fire. When it stops, your entire Israelite group stops and makes camp. When it moves, and where it moves, you pack up and follow. 

The whispers start to spread around camp one night, speculating about what even is this thing, as you nervously watch it in the distance. Glowing and waiting – almost like a shepherd watching over a flock. People start to remember some echoes of a story, a story passed down from generation to generation, nearly forgotten, like a candle about to go out. When you hear it, your heart beats faster and you immediately forget the weariness you’ve been carrying: “This isn’t the first time that the God of our people appeared like this”. 

You lean in close as you hear the story retold. The one chosen by God, Abraham, was also fleeing Egypt, and was in a place of doubt. He was losing faith that he could continue to trust God’s promise to him. Abraham asked God for proof—some reason why he could continue to believe. God responded in a strange way—that Abraham should set up a marriage covenant. 

And so Abraham did as he was instructed—gathering animals together and sacrificing them, using them to create a path. He knew what happened next. Two parties would take turns walking down this path of dead animals, declaring that “If I do not hold up my end of the promise, I deserve to be like these animals”. 

Abraham knew that it was now his turn. The less powerful party would walk first, followed by the more powerful party. But Abraham tarried. Maybe he was feeling the weight of what it would mean to make a promise with the One who placed the stars in the sky. As he waited, Abraham fell asleep.

He awoke with a start to a blazing light (could it have been the same one lingering over our camp right now?), and it was going down the path. It was as if God were saying “I promise to be your God, and you will be my people. If either one of us doesn’t hold up our end of the promise, I will become like these animals. I will pay the price”. 

The talk in camp dies down as people head off to sleep, but you lie awake pondering these things, the light of the fire ever-present in the distance. After 400 years of slavery and silence, are we really being saved by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? And could it be that this strange, mysterious force leading us and protecting us also cares for us, enough to make this marriage promise for us? 

Over a thousand years later, there was another family fleeing Egypt. This family arrived in Bethlehem, and a light in the sky again acted as a guide. But this time the light was guiding God’s faithful not to a place, but to a person. The Israelites had been again waiting 400 years in silence, waiting to be saved by the promised Messiah, the one God would send to reign on King David’s throne forever.  And he was here. His name is Jesus. He would say about himself “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12).” Could he be that same light from all those years ago? 

And ultimately, Jesus fulfills God’s promise that when we fall short of being God’s people, he would take the punishment and pay the price that we should have paid. 

And so this Advent, we remember that the long-expected Jesus, this Light of the World, is worth following after. By his light, all other things become clear. The Light of the World, who God has sent, lights up the darkness in our world around us, and the darkness in ourselves. This Light of the World ultimately guides us to the peace that our wandering hearts have been longing for. 

References: Exodus 13, Genesis 12, Genesis 15, John 8:12

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Editor’s Note: Whether he walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, spoke to Moses through the burning bush, led the Israelites through the wilderness, or let his presence dwell in the Tabernacle, our God has always shown his desire to have a relationship with his people. These instances found in the Old Testament, amazing as they are, are only shadows of what would come when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Each meeting brought us a step closer on the journey to Bethlehem, to the arrival of our Savior. 

Each week in our Advent reflections, we’ll take a look at one of the ways God drew near to his people leading up to Jesus’s birth.

Advent 2024: The Garden

Editor’s Note: Whether he walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, spoke to Moses through the burning bush, led the Israelites through the wilderness, or let his presence dwell in the Tabernacle, our God has always shown his desire to have a relationship with his people. These instances found in the Old Testament, amazing as they are, are only shadows of what would come when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Each meeting brought us a step closer on the journey to Bethlehem, to the arrival of our Savior. 

Each week in our Advent reflections, we’ll take a look at one of the ways God drew near to his people leading up to Jesus’s birth.

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The Garden

Genesis 3:8-10 – “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’ ”

I’ve often wondered what it was like to be Adam. First human being, first man, having the first woman alongside you for the ride. But more than that, I’ve often wondered what Adam’s relationship with the Lord was like and how I would have reacted if, on a cool, breezy, sunny day in that lush Garden all those centuries ago, God had suddenly decided to sidle up to me – as he did with Adam and Eve.

I would have been awestruck. Terrified. Diving for the nearest bush whether I was naked or not. I’d like to believe I would have realized the sheer magnitude and significance of that singular moment in time, but like Adam, I probably would have been ashamed, ignorant, or perhaps too self-involved to truly notice.

The Lord God’s stroll through the Garden that day marks the first time he was literally “with us.” Even though this remarkable appearance wasn’t in literal human form, God revealing himself to Adam and Eve as a sound – like that of an all-enveloping rushing wind – signified His desire to be with us, to share his masterpiece with us. After all, why would He have created us if he didn’t desire our companionship?

It's also important to remember that the Lord God, in all his infinite, boundless power and glory, could have lost patience with humankind right then and there, choosing to snuff out Adam and Eve and begin anew with more compliant, reverent models. But he didn’t. That incredible act of ceaseless love brings to mind the lyrics of an old hymn my childhood church used to sing quite often:

 “He speaks and the sound of His voice, is so sweet the birds hush their singing. And the melody that he gave to me, within my heart is ringing … And He walks with me, and He talks with me. And He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other, has ever, known!”

How magnificent is that? The Lord God of Adam and Eve still walks and talks with us today, and he does so because of another miraculous, selfless choice. He opted to come to Earth as an innocent, pure baby; experience all of the same highs and lows Adam and Eve endured; then sacrifice himself on the cross for their sins and those committed by every single human being since that day in the Garden. He opted to declare, for all to hear, that he desires us forever and without exception.

So as we march headfirst into the usual hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, take a moment – take a few moments – to remember why the Lord God did all that. He didn’t have to. He wanted to. He wants to walk with us, to talk with us, and to continually, forever call us his own. And that’s something worth singing about.

Christ Stories: Jesus, Our Immanuel

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”             Luke 1:31-33

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

    and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).              Matthew 1:21-23

On this Christmas Eve, we are reminded of the birth of our Savior, Jesus. Jesus, whose name means “the Lord is Salvation,” was born in the humblest of circumstances with the greatest purpose already given to him. Many prophets spoke of this long-awaited king hundreds of years prior to this point. The angels heralded the news of the birth of the Son of the Most High. The star guided foreign seekers to Immanuel, God with us. God spoke through people, angels, and even stars to ensure we would not miss this unprecedented arrival of the Lord of our salvation, God with us. And yet, amidst all the fanfare, Jesus was born in a stable in a small village to a young virgin.

God had dwelt with his people before, first in the Garden—when humans were unstained by sin—then in the Tabernacle, and finally in the Temple— each place, while amongst his people, were still quite separate from them. This time, though, God chose to get dirty and humble himself to become the lowliest of people. He was no longer only with us when we were clean enough to enter his presence. No, Jesus’ humble beginnings illustrate that he now enters into our messy lives, truly “God with us”—in our pain, in our temptations, in our weaknesses and sorrows.

And he is our Salvation. Immanuel’s purpose is written in his name, “the Lord is Salvation.” He does not leave us in the mess to fend for ourselves. He gives us healing, resistance, strength, and comfort. He walks through the valleys with us. And after all that, he saves us from our sin. Salvation from sin and its conclusion is freely given to all who trust in Jesus. The gift of salvation is the greatest gift any of us could get.

This Christmas, let us remember God’s deep love for us in sending the Son of the Most High to take on human flesh to be God with us and the Lord of our salvation. Let us be generous with the grace given to us and extend that gift to others. May we praise him, the Son of the Most High, for joining us in our broken state and lifting us out of the depths of our sin and into his marvelous light.