This morning (Wednesday before Christmas)...

I looked into our front room and sighed. It has not been all that long since we cleaned, rearranged and refurnished (moving around furniture we had refurnished sounds so much more…well just more). Today it is a mess again with wrapped presents stacked on the table and under the table and only one under the Christmas tree.

Clutter builds up like that. You clean, organize, straighten and before you know it it is stacked as high as before not with the old but with new “goodies” (they are so good there was no other place for them).  It just never stops. I have no solution to this problem as I am a pack rat as well. I never have the right place for something until it has set in a stack for a while. Then I thought about the packages.

Those beautifully wrapped packages cluttering up the front room are for two other families who needed some help this Christmas. They are given in love to others who could not help themselves. Do you get where this is going? That clutter, those stacks, are the result of ministry the product of loving and giving. It’s Christmas. That is Christmas clutter at its best for its best because of the best gift ever given Jesus. Born at Christmas as a gift for those who could not help themselves like me and you, Jesus is God’s best and only, the greatest gift given because of love God’s love for the world. The Christmas story is messy. It is definitely not clean and it gets messier as Herod has killed all of the male children in Bethlehem less than 2 years of age. That is messy because of this gift of love.

His ministry (Jesus) was constantly stopped by misunderstanding and strife. It would have been easier to just go along like it always had. Not as many problems that way easy, simple, boring, faithless, life in the ordinary. Ministry is anything but boring or ordinary.

As we consider one year past and another beginning let’s evaluate the past and make plans for the future. Consider have we played it safe or been on the front lines? When did we choose easy because we are lazy? Is that how we reflect Jesus the best? If not, what would reflect him more clearly in the coming year? What ministry have we been avoiding simply because it is messy and difficult and God is a God of order and easy (in our mind). He could not possibly be messy, could He?

For the coming year let’s look at the WORD Jesus for our pattern of life and ministry. It won’t be easy and it WILL be messy like our front room. As I thought about this I decided it was good that it was messy.

It’s Christmas!       

Who deserves a Christmas present??????

...the other evening as I was returning home I was listening to the local station that has been playing Christmas music 24/7 since before Thanksgiving. My wife says there are only 50 Christmas songs but thousands of remakes and anybody can remake one. They shouldn’t but they do. I don’t know about that but You’re a Mean one Mr. Grinch Began to play. According to Wikipedia:

"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is a Christmas song that was originally written and composed for the 1966 cartoon special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. The lyrics were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music was composed by Albert Hague, and the song was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft. The song's lyrics describe the Grinch as being foul, bad-mannered and sinister using increasingly creative metaphors and synonyms, beginning with the opening line "you're a mean one, Mister Grinch". The song has six verses.

I had not heard the song in years and we listened to all of the non-rhyming words of all six verses.

 The song begins

You're a mean one, Mister Grinch You really are a heel You're as cuddly as cactus You're as charming as an eel Mister Grinch You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel. You're a monster, Mister Grinch… I wouldn't touch you with a Thirty-nine and a half foot pole… You're a foul one, Mister Grinch You're a nasty-wasty skunk… You have all the tender sweetness of A seasick crocodile Mister Grinch…Given the choice between the two of you I'd take the seasick crocodile…

The last verse #6 puts the stink in the stunk with…

You nauseate me, Mister Grinch, With a nauseous super "naus" You're a crooked jerky  jockey and you drive a crooked horse Mister Grinch.

You're a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich With arsenic sauce.

That guy is bad! He definitely does not deserve a Christmas present. He is the one who would steal presents from sweet children.

Or does he?

Does anyone deserve a Christmas present?

Well I do! I’ve been good (for the most part more nice than naughty). I deserve………a……………..Christmas     pre………. No, I really don’t deserve a Christmas present. At times I am all of those vile descriptions of Mr. Grinch. If we are brutally honest about ourselves, that could be said of each and everyone of us.

Could it not? No one really deserves a Christmas present and yet!

We get one anyway because we do not deserve it. That is called Grace.

That IS the Christmas story even for Mr. Grinch! No one deserves a Christmas gift but “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.”

Isn’t that just like our DAD!

I wish you a very merry Christmas blessed beyond measure because you unwrap more of Jesus than ever before!

The Rev

Before Thanksgiving we purchased a new...

...refrigerator while it was on sale. It took a week to come back in stock and was delivered a day or two before Thanksgiving Day.

Larger and with more doors it also is the first for us with water and ice through the door. The delivery personal were unable to hook up the water line because it was “too short.” It is an existing line previously installed by a previous tenant. When I came home I looked at it and hooked it up. It was just the right length. I installed the water filter and turned on the valve, got a cup and filled it up two or three times to flush the line and fridge. The first cup was lukewarm and so I thought must be water sitting in the line. The second cup was a little warmer but the third cup was hot. So hot I had to put the cup down. I thought what is up with this.

I looked under the sink to trace the connection for the water line our previous refrigerator had an ice maker that never kept up especially in the summer time. This new one has two ice makers. Recently the old one made ice cubes that were hollow never completely frozen solid like you expect. When I found the source of the water line I discovered the problem. The water line for the icemaker and water dispenser had tapped into the HOT water line of the dishwasher. No wonder the water was hot in my test cup.

That previous icemaker had been making ice for 7 years with hot water. No wonder the cubes were sometimes hollow. Honestly, it did a pretty good job considering the supply source temperature. This week as Christmas gets into full swing I thought of this in light of our Christmas celebration and preparation leading up to Dec. 25^th.

The heavenly host spoke to the shepherds “tidings of great joy.” Is that how we feel in the rush to party and shop and cook and wrap and…? It seems we are doing pretty good considering that our source is often times NOT the Savior but the season. But that source, like the ice cubes, leaves us hollow inside. We watch the warm and fuzzy Hallmark Christmas specials and the commercials that make us feel good for a moment but never tap into the Joy of Christ at Christmas. We fail to take time to unwrap the gift of Jesus that Christmas is all about. He alone is the source of joy that never ends, never runs dry and never, ever fails. The angel told Mary nothing is impossible with God. Joy to the world can be for a follower of Jesus a lifestyle and not a season. It all depends on the source!

Well, after discovering the source of hot water I purchased the necessary valve and hose to correct the supply. Now both ice makers are supplying more ice than we use daily. Cold water flows through the door unto waiting cups all because of the source being wrong.

Wrong source hollow fragile ice!

Right source sold hard ice!

IT is easy to tap into the wrong source in any season of life. Jesus has always been the only source that develops sold, stable, hardened lives that last for eternity. Consider your source this Christmas.