A Birthday Letter to Jesus

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

First I want to sincerely apologize for all the years that your birthday has come and gone, and you were the last person on my mind. Between the decorations, finding the Christmas tree, cooking and baking, preparing for guests, this time of year is outrageously crazy. Turkey Day was a total blurr, stuffing myself silly then sleeping it off in preparation for the midnight madness that is Black Friday. Speaking of gifts, I was soooooo busy trying to figure out what gifts to give to others, how much money I was going to spend on gifts I couldn’t afford, burning up the magnetic strip on my credit card as I thrash my credit scores trying to make everyone else happy that I didn’t even think about what you might like. Also, I know you said turn the other cheek; I now know you didn’t mean “hip –checking” the guy competing with me for that last toy on the shelf both our kids wanted that Black Friday a couple of years back, so if you could forgive me for that, I’d appreciate it.

When you think about it, it’s rather messed up that we expend so much time, energy and effort conforming to a marketing scheme rather than celebrating your birthday. Granted, the whole Santa and the 8 tiny reindeer thing is nice and all, but how do you celebrate someone’s birthday and someone else is the guest of honor??? I thought birthdays were supposed to be celebrated with birthday cake, balloons, confetti, cards, presents and plenty of well-wishes – for the birthday boy/girl!! Whose idea was it to cut down a perfectly good pine tree, decorate it, and leave presents for everybody else underneath it? (I’m not a botanist, but I’m pretty sure pine trees don’t grow in Jerusalem either). Needless to say, minus a nativity scene, Jesus, you are nowhere in the picture (I guess that’s why we started calling Christmas “X-mas” instead).

As afar as a cake goes, I can prepare an angel food cake, but since I am not sure of your return, I didn’t want it to go bad waiting for your return, nor not have it ready should you arrive earlier than anticipated (to which I will probably be too busy celebrating up in the clouds with you to even be worried about it). As for gifts, Lord it’s kinda hard to shop for someone who owns it all (after all, the whole world is in your hands!). The three wise mne got the best symbolic gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Who can top that??? Decorations? Can I really compete with streets paved with gold? No way! Even the little drummer boy beat me to the homemade gift idea, so I’m kind of stumped in what to give you for your birthday.

I cannot come to your birthday empty-handed, so the only thing I can give you is my most prized possession – my heart! Talents and gifts come from you, so giving them back would seem both cheap and tacky (like getting a gift for Christmas, then rewrapping to give it back, hoping they didn’t notice). However, the giving of one’s heart is both original and personal. And from what I’ve seen, not too many people have done that. With my heart, you get everything that comes with it – my mind, my will, my obedience, and the credit and glory for everything that I’ve been able to do with the talents and gifts that you have given me. So with that, Lord Jesus, I present this gift to you – my heart. I hope you will enjoy it.

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

Love,

Your Servant Carl

The Beauty of a Storm

Scripture reference: Philippians 4:6-7, James 1:2-8

Years ago I sat on the sand dune at a beach in Delaware, watching a large storm coming in off of the ocean. I was awestruck - not so much at the size of it, but the way it moved ominously towards the shore. It was miles away, yet its presence was felt where I sat. When the storm finally hit, the roar of the waves crashing against the shore, the howl of the wind as it whipped around the house I was staying in, the flash of the lighting and the rumbling of thunder was nearly overwhelming as the storm wailed all night. It was an awesome sight to see. How I was able to fall asleep, soundly, is but a miracle to me.


I awoke the next morning to sunshine as the sun pierced the darkness and declared the start of the day. I went outside, wondering what damage was done and what devastation was left behind. I walked over the sand dune, expecting to find a mess upon the shore. I walked over the sand dune, looked out and saw the water before me - an aquamarine canvas of calm, peaceful, serenity of which I’ve never seen before, nor seen since. (If you know anything about the ocean in this region of the NE corridor, you know the ocean is never bluish green!) I sat in the sand, my face towards the sun basking in its warmth, the slight ocean breeze, the cool sand between my toes, and a peace in my heart that words fail me to describe.


Years later, this image of the storm, and its aftermath, has a profound meaning for me. At the time I did not understand the experience, but now I'm convinced that God was showing me, in grand fashion, the beauty of a storm. You see, the storms in one's life (I'm talking about the really, really big ones) feel ominous as they approach (the foreclosure notice, the medical diagnosis, the separation papers, the layoff notice, etc. - just to name a few) the impact upon the shore of our life are very much real. The sheer size, speed and magnitude make it impossible to evade, try as we might, forcing us to take shelter. And in the shelter, we are forced to slow down, think and reflect, and patiently wait for it to pass.


The storms in our life have an uncanny ability to avert our thoughts away from what we have been taught was most important, and reassess the value of those things we hold dear. They can also clear away the debris in our lives that prevented us from hearing God, seeing the path he has laid before us, and following without distraction. And for those who have only heard of Him, often times this is the medium of introduction. And for all these things which are wonderful, what makes a storm the most beautiful is this - knowing that no matter how powerful the storm is, God's power is even greater. Storms come, but they can never stay; all storms must move on. With this, we have this assurance, this hope that we can rest assured - the calm before the storm is nothing compared to the peace that comes afterwards.

Stop Defiling the Altar!

Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 15:21, Leviticus 9:24, 1 Kings 18:36-39, Malachi 1:6-14, Romans 12:1

The altar is a holy and sacred place - it is the place upon which sacrifices are to be offered up to God, honoring Him and making atonement for sin. The offering is to be without spot or blemish - the best that we have to offer in reverence. When an offering is placed upon the altar, it becomes a sacrifice when it is killed by the shedding of blood; if the sacrifice is accepted by God, it is consumed by His Fire of Righteousness to where nothing is left.

How is it then that we have come to treat the altar as the place to leave your problems? We bring the worst of us to the altar, attempting to leave our problems and burdens there, hoping God will take care of it. In doing so, we are out of order. Are we not supposed to be offering ourselves? Are we not to be “…a living sacrifice - holy and acceptable unto God…”? By grace, we are allowed to approach the throne to obtain mercy. By grace, we are allowed to cast our cares and concerns upon the Lord, with the hope and expectation of His assistance. We are not, however, permitted to defile the Altar of the Lord by incorrectly using it as a trash can to dump our issues, expecting God to honor what we have done.

Our issues are not an appropriate sacrifice unto the Lord; in fact, they are not a sacrifice at all! Nevertheless, we treat them as such. In our error, our sacrifice is rejected, as Cain's offering was rejected. In our ignorance and selfishness, we defile the altar and rob God of the offering due Him, as we hold on to our lives while offering only the blemished portions of ourselves to satisfy a religious paradigm. The altar call is such a religious practice that is in error. The altar is not the place to ask for deliverance from reoccurring sin, troubles borne of unrighteousness, or a place to release guilt; it is the place to offer a holy sacrifice.

As Christians, we are to die to self, offering ourselves a living sacrifice! The blood of Christ was shed for the atonement of sin; His blood covers that portion of the sacrifice. The consumption of the sacrifice by fire is through holiness, as symbolized by a consuming fire; we are consumed, such that we walk in righteousness. To be righteous is to be in right-standing with God; our actions cannot be right if we defile the altar by presenting to him an offering that is anything less than our ourselves, treating the altar like a container to burn trash (i.e. guilt) in.