Joseph: "Righteous" or Right?

I've been thinking of Joseph lately. And why not? It's Christmas. And whereas his name is mentioned many times over in the Gospel narratives, his voice is never heard. However, I'm sure he had his say when his betrothed came to him and told him she was pregnant -- and he knew beyond of a shadow of a doubt he was not the father. Yes, Joseph. The most underrated, under-celebrated cast member of the entire Christmas story. And yet one of the most powerful in my mind. If you were to ask me this morning which Biblical person I would like to meet when I get to heaven, my answer just might be Joseph, the earthly father of our Lord Jesus.

Honestly, I think I already have an example right now in my husband. I think he may be a lot like Joseph, He's honest. He's real. He's quiet ... doesn't say a lot. He is steady strength. And when God speaks to him, he listens and he does the right thing, even when it's hard. 

That's Joseph. His story tells us that sometimes what seems to be righteous may not always be right.

Hear that again. Sometimes what seems to be righteous may not always be right.

Yeah. That stings me, too.

Joseph had every right under the sun to divorce Mary. He could have publicly shamed her and it would have been within the law. He could have had her stoned, for crying out loud. That would have seemed righteous. But he chose the hard thing and did what was right. He took her as his wife and subjected himself to every kind of gossip and slander that could come from the "righteous" of his day and that would follow him the rest of his life.

Sometimes what seems to be righteous may not always be right. And Joseph chose what was right.

What about you? What about me? Do we choose to be seemingly "righteous" or do we choose to do right. I think of the woman who circled the liquor store with a bottle of wine every night praying the evils therein would be cast out. And I kid you not, the store burned down. But then there's the woman who blessed the owners of the new bar in town every time she drove by, praying that God would enter their hearts. "Righteous" or right.

Then there's the woman who judges her neighbors because they are cohabitating and therefore won't have anything to do with them, while the neighbors on the other side form a relationship. "Righteous" or right?

And what about the woman who is at church every time the doors are open ... and comes home and serves roasted preacher to her family for Sunday dinner because he can't keep his son under control. While another young woman stays at home with her unchurched husband because he just wants a little time with her alone. "Righteous" or right?

And while we're thick into the "Merry Christmas" or "Happy holidays" quibble, do we get mad and hold to our guns that "Jesus is the reason for the season"? Or do we recover the reason and just DO the season?

"Righteous" or right?

Yep. Joseph might not have a voice in the story, but he sure isn't silent. He has a lot to say to each of us.

Just an ordinary moment...

NOT From a Distance

I stood at the kitchen sink stirring the caramel icing to its correct consistency while the under-the-counter radio next to me played the season's songs. Not giving much thought to what was coming through the speakers, I quietly hummed along to the words being sung.

From a distance the world looks blue and green,

and the snow-capped mountains white.

From a distance the ocean meets the stream,

and the eagle takes to flight.

From a distance, there is harmony,

and it echoes through the land.

It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace,

it's the voice of every man.

Yes, it was Bette Midler singing Julie Gold's, "From a Distance."Granted, much of the song's popularity coincided with Desert Storm. I get that. You can hear it in the 3rd verse.

And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,

no hungry mouths to feed.

And the 5th:

From a distance you look like my friend,

even though we are at war.

From a distance I just cannot comprehend

what all this fighting is for.

I've heard and even sung this popular song for years, but every time it strikes a dissonant chord with me. Whereas the music industry throws darts at its lyrical content, its stiff rhythms and drums, I always cringe when Ms. Midler gets to the chorus. 

God is watching us. God is watching us.

God is watching us from a distance.

I don't know, but that just seems to go against everything we are celebrating during this season of Advent and Christmas. After all, didn't the angel say to Joseph His name was to be Emmanuel? The With-Us God? Indeed, he did.

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matthew 1:23).

To say that God is watching us from a distance undermines the entire Christmas narrative of which this season shouts. The whole Gospel story for that matter. 

"And the Word became flesh and lived AMONG us...." (John 1:14). NOT from a distance.

"[He] emptied himself, ... being born in human likeness..." (Philippians 2:7). NOT from a distance.

And even as Jesus Himself says when praying to His Father just prior to His betrayal and arrest, "I IN them" (John 17:23). NOT from a distance.

In all fairness, Ms. Gold, the writer of the lyrics, says she believes in an immanent and beneficent God and that the song is about the difference between how things appear to be and how they really are.

So, yes, at times it appears that "God is watching us from a distance." But NOTHING, my friends, could be more untrue. Let's celebrate this season in truth: Emmanuel. God is with us!!!

Just an ordinary moment...

Christmas Eve Conviction

Sometimes God just gets into my space; and never more than today during my "sacred space" on this Christmas eve morning.  And not once, but twice did He intervene. It began when I read my friend's blog.  He's been posting an Advent devotional daily since the season began back on Dec. 1 and I have anticipated each one. They have all been good and thought provoking, but today's "did its work in me." 

He writes, Most of the nativity scenes we see put up before Christmas have all the characters standing except for one.  The last character to arrive in the contemporary manger scene portrayals is the main character.  The last one to arrive is traditionally placed in the scene on Christmas Eve.  Jesus. The child.  The One whose purpose was to save you and me and everyone else from their sin.  The One whose purpose was to change the world.  Jesus.  How strange it is that above all the names we know, His name is the name we are least likely to use in the normal conversations of our day.     http://billjourneynotes.blogspot.com/2013/12/advent-xxiv.html

And I wondered, how many times have I shared the name of Jesus during this holiday season.  Yes, I have wished many people "Merry Christmas," but have I shared the Christ of that Christmas? Have I shared the WHY of His coming?

I then turned in Ann Voskamp's book, The Greatest Gift, and read her writing for this 24th day of Advent. Whereas I'm a true Voskamp fan, I must say she outdid herself with this one. Pulling from Luke 2:1-7, Ann camps on the words, "And the time came." Time came for all the glory to be left in heaven. Her words are graphic. "And the face of God turns one last time in the waters of the womb, and the membrane breaks and the amniotic fluid leaks and the skin of God slips naked and small and holy into hands He made.

"The birth of God -- who can find words? This defies words."

She continues: "Love had to come back for you.  Love had to get to you.  The Love that has been coming for you since the beginning -- He slays dragons for you.  This is the truest love story of history, and it's His-story, and it's for you."

How can we NOT use His name in "the normal conversations of our day" as my friend wrote? How can we NOT tell people about this Christ who loves them so much? In fact, Ann challenges her readers to do exactly that: "Go into all of the world and tell one person about the greatest Gift and how He loves."

And so I purposed to do so this morning. Anyone who wished me a merry Christmas, I purposed to tell them how much they are loved. And so I did, and I have been nothing short of amazed at the responses. The young man sitting behind the counter of the Honeybaked Ham store with a blanket wrapped around him to stay warm wished me a merry Christmas. I returned the wish, then reached out and touched his arm, and said, "I just want to tell you that the Christ in Christmas loves you so very much." His eyes widened, his smile grew larger, his shoulders relaxed, and he said, "Thank you, ma'am.  Thank you very much." 

Later, I sat across the desk from a bank official while she issued me a new bank card because mine had been "compromised" in the latest Target scam. When we finished our business, she reached across the barrier to shake my hand, and she said, "I hope you have a merry Christmas, Mrs. McLendon." Again, while still clasping her hand, I looked her in the eyes and responded, "Merry Christmas to you. And I just want you to know how much the Christ in Christmas loves you." But this time, not only did her eyes widen, they filled to the brim with tears as she said, "You don't know how badly I needed to hear that today. Thank you so very much."

Why, dear ones, do we refrain from letting that precious name depart from our lips? Why do we withhold the source of love when people so desperately "needed to hear that today"? I don't know either. But won't you purpose with me, not only this Christmas season but throughout this new year, to tell one person, and then another, and then another about the greatest Gift, as Ann says, and how He loves.

At least that's MY Christmas eve conviction.

Just an ordinary moment...

Turn on Your Lights!

When I was a little girl, people didn't decorate the outside of their houses like they do now.  Oh, there was the wreath on the front door and maybe a Santa Claus on the porch checking his list,

, 

but rarely did one see multi-colored lights strung around the shrubbery or white icicles hanging from the eaves. It just didn't happen; and on the very rare occasion someone might dare put a string of lights around the roof, it was because they weren't from around here.  As my daddy would quickly point out as we drove by, "Those people are Yankees." Now before that last statement makes your toes curl, please hear his reasoning.  The lights were beautiful reflected in the snow they were so used to up north.  But this is middle Georgia and snow and Christmas just don't mix. Therefore, the lights just set them apart as ... different. 

Of course, now there is hardly a yard that doesn't have some kind of outdoor lighting or decor. Everything from nativities to big blow up Frostys. And many times both in the same yard. 'Tis the season! Whereas my husband and children have at times hung colored lights from my 4-poster bed, complete with reindeer antlers dangling from the ceiling fan when I asked them to put up the lights for me, I have refrained from all the tiny bulbs on the outside. Maybe I just can't get that whole "northern" thing out of my head, but it probably has more to do with pure laziness. However, for the last several years, I have slowly made my way onto the bandwagon by deciding to do a little outside decorating that stretched me passed just a wreath on the front door. So now each year, my sweet (yet sometimes reluctant) husband spends a Saturday morning hanging wreaths, setting up a nativity, buying hay, and placing spot lights in just the perfect locations.  And I'm from the south, y'all!

But isn't that exactly what we are celebrating? What we are shouting every time we flip that switch?  That the Light has come? Yes, most are probably even unaware of the part they play in the testimony of God sending His Son to earth to bring light. In fact, it may never even enter their hearts or minds. But with spotlights shining, and candles set in windows, and thousands of bulbs encircling rooftops, flagpoles and trees, they all are announcing the Good News: THE LIGHT HAS COME! 

And without a doubt, the glory of the Lord creeps across the landscape worldwide and the darkness can never be the same. 

So turn on your lights. Be set apart as different. And announce the Good News. 

HE HAS COME!!!

In Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John 1:4

Just an ordinary moment...

My Presenting Face

I was confronted with a thought provoking statement this morning in my quiet space (a.k.a. devotional time).  It simply read, "Reflect on the face that you present to other people."  I have to admit, I wasn't sure I wanted to do that ... especially at this season of the year when time seems to be our greatest commodity and traffic as well as lines at the post office and retailers our greatest irritation.

But what face do I present?  Do I offer people a CHEERFUL and GRACIOUS presence?  Is my smile mostly GENUINE or is it phony?  If like begets like, does mine cause another to be born in someone else's face?

Writing of her experience in Uganda where she had not yet learned the small village language,  Katie Davis relates in her book Kisses From Katie: "Although we were not able to speak to one another, we found many other ways of communication; the children seemed to know I loved them, and I knew they loved me, too. ... Days were spent learning to communicate, laughing hysterically with my students and trying to laugh at the frustrations that came with this new job."  In other words, the "face" Katie presented to those children was one of love and joy.  And they got it.

To some it is easy for me to offer graciousness in my face.  Those whom I love and enjoy, for example.  But to others -- those who are less desirable, those who irritate and rub me the wrong way, whose character offends me, whose own lives are so wracked with dysfunction that they don't even have it in them to be kind to their own self -- it is sometimes less so.  I don't have to speak an unkind word.  One look at my face, and they know.  

Could it be that a friendly smile is enough to make a difficult nature open up?  That a kind look really could heal a broken heart or just help someone make it through the next few hours?  I really think it could.  But what I'm coming to understand is that's not the real object.  The ultimate purpose in being kind -- in reflecting a gracious face and ultimately a gracious spirit ... especially to those who are less than deserving of such ... is to rejoice the heart of our Lord.

I'm convicted.  What about you?  To whom could you offer the gift of a pleasant face this week ... someone who needs such quiet affirmation -- and in the meantime, bring joy to the Lord as well? 

"For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  

Do not even the tax collectors do as much?  

And if you save your greetings for your brothers, 

are you doing anything exceptional?  

Do not even the gentiles do as much?  

You must therefore set no bounds to your love. ... 

In so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, 

you did it to me." 

Matthew 5:46-48; 25:40

Just an ordinary moment...

Christmas Stress ... And a Little Peace

While finishing up the Christmas shopping this weekend for the kids, my husband and I stopped at a sandwich shop for lunch.  I placed my order: chili (with provolone cheese) and a drink.  And then I remembered.  "No, make that a water, please."  You see, I had been there before and suddenly I remembered the dreaded drink machine. 

Have you encountered it yet?  It boasts 120+ drinks out of one stinking machine!  Here are the choices that greet you when you walk up.

The customer presses one button and then another screen pops up giving him/her even more choices within the selection already made.  Christmas shopping and traffic can be stressful enough.  No need to add to that situation, and so I just ordered water.  The only problem is that the 120+ includes water (see bottom right corner) ... AND the ice, should you like your drink on the rocks.

So this is what happened.

I got stuck behind a guy who was going through his decision making process.  He AND the girl ahead of him were novices, no doubt.  Or just very careful not to make any rash decisions.  And, no, I did NOT strike up any conversation nor did I ask if I could take his picture.  But, Lord, have mercy, I could have made a short movie complete with soundtrack for the time it took.  And all I wanted was water!

Maybe I'm being a little melodramatic here.  But consider the fact that I did have time to think about it, formulate a blog, get out my phone, and take several pictures.  Of course, when I looked over at my husband who was still seated at the table, he had his head cocked with that look on his face that said: "WHAT are you doing?"  I was waiting to get my water, for crying out loud!

Why is it we tend to think more is better?  I don't know about you, but I'm starting to see a strong correlation between "more" and "anxiety."  We add more and more things thinking they will make life easier ... give us more time.  Make life better.  And before we know it, not only has "busy" become our status symbol, but we have become captives of our own choices ... all the time grasping for more and more time.

As I've reflected on this over the last couple of days, one thought and image has returned again and again.  And it's really quite simple.   But the angel said to them,... "You will find a BABY..." (Luke 2:10,12).  In a day of such complexity and confusion ... and "more", that truly is some good news. 

"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth 

PEACE..." 

Luke 2:14.

Just an ordinary moment...