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It never surprises me when people get agitated in Seattle. It is by far the most caffeinated city in America and it makes sense that sometimes that coffee buzz leads to silliness. A recent “crisis” in the Emerald City has been averted by the rare combination of communication, common sense, and cooperation. What a concept.

If you missed the story a huge uproar occurred when the officials at Seatac International Airport decided to enact the adult version of “taking your football and going home”. When asked by a local rabbi to include a menorah along with the airport holiday decorations the port officials deferred, fearing a precedent would be set that any and all religious or cultural symbols would have to be displayed. Then the rabbi made it known that a lawsuit was a possibility. So the airport authority apparently hired the overnight moving company that spirited the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis and removed the Christmas trees while we were sleeping. A story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer noted that this was not the intent of the rabbi.

Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky, who made his request weeks ago, said he was appalled by the decision. He had hired a lawyer and threatened to sue if the Port of Seattle didn’t add the menorah next to the trees, which had been festooned with red ribbons and bows. “Everyone should have their spirit of the holiday. For many people the trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season,” said Bogomilsky, who works in Seattle at the regional headquarters for Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish education foundation.

Rabbi Bogomilsky defused the situation by withdrawing the lawsuit option and the trees were again returned to the airport. I salute the rabbi for his gesture that allowed the Christmas trees to be returned. I believe him that he never desired to have the trees removed and that he merely wanted to add the menorah lights. But there is a darker side to this story that plagues the legitimate attempt to defend cultural traditions like Christmas decorations.

That darker side is the hateful, ugly, ungraceful communication of angry Christians (and non-Christians) when issues like this arise. For my purposes, I am only taking Christians to the biblical woodshed. The reason for our little trip is this quote from the Associated Press that simply breaks my heart.

The rabbi had received “all kinds of calls and emails,” many of them “odious,” Bogomilsky’s lawyer Harvey Grad said, adding he was “trying to figure out how this is consistent with the spirit of Christmas.”

I can help the rabbi with this one. It is not consistent with the spirit of Christmas. And that is what I fear the most in the battle for Christmas. We, as followers of Christ, must demonstrate that spirit if we are true to our faith. The quote from Mohandas Gandhi has troubled me for years because of it’s gut level honesty. Gandhi said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Ouch. And guilty.

When we are unlike our Christ we lose the message of Christmas even if we get trees back up in an airport. This December many of us will read the Christmas story without really understanding the meaning of it.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  Luke 2 KJV

Christians believe that the baby born that day was a Saviour, Christ the Lord. By believing that He is Messiah we are called to represent Him not only in truth but also in spirit. And that brings me to the title of this post. As part of our strategy for the war on Christmas I would challenge every follower of Jesus to memorize the following passage. Print it out, place it on your computer monitor, put it by the phone, or make it your screensaver. When an “odious” call or email is made by a Christian or one who claims that title it does damage and I believe it grieves our Lord. Here is the verse that all of us need to write across our hearts.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”   Ephesians 4  NIV

It is okay to be angry and speak truthfully to your neighbor but it is not okay to be ugly and meanspirited. In your anger do not sin. In practical terms that means some or all of the following ideas…

• Never hit the send button on an email written while you are angry. Wait, pray, reread, and pray again before even thinking about hitting the send button.
  
• Ask a mature Christian friend (preferably one without a dog in the hunt…that is Texan for emotional involvement) to read your email to see if it communicates truth gracefully
  
• Do not ever call anyone names or accuse them of motives that you can’t honestly know.
  
• Lay out your argument in a gentle but firm way, never shirking truth, but also never forgetting that you are representing the Lord Jesus Christ
  
• Ask if this letter, email, or conversation is glorifying to God or would you be embarrassed if God were present (important safety tip…He is)
  
• If you ignore all of the above be humble enough to repent and then repair any damage your anger might have caused

In your anger do not sin. Remember that when cultural clashes or even congregational clashes occur. Jesus did not say that He came that we may have discord and frustration. In the Gospel of John the Lord says that, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”. In my simple little world anger and bitterness are not part of an abundant life. How about yours?

Today is a revisit of a “Christmas Classic” from last season. How does a blog become a classic?

1) It is your blog, your site, you pay the server charge and you can call it whatever you want
2) You have no time to write today

So here is a gently read post from Christmas past…

One of my contributions with this modest little blog is to continually ask the tough questions.

While listening to  “Away in a Manger” at a Christmas program my inquiring mind kicked in. You likely know verse three of the song.

The cattle are lowing
The poor Baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes

As I listened an important series of difficult and probing inquiries popped into my head. What noise, exactly, were the cattle making when they started lowing? Was this normal cow talk? Did lowing just sound better than mooing in the lyric or is lowing a more spiritual cow sound? And then the most important question came to mind…what is wrong with me?

I can’t answer the last question but I can help with the others. Lowing is defined at dictionary.com as “the characteristic sound uttered by cattle; a moo”.  

So little baby Jesus was awakened by the characteristic sound uttered by a cow. The next part of the lyric is disturbing to those of us who are parents. If any of the babies who grew up in our household were awakened by cattle lowing they would be squalling (the characteristic sound uttered by a ticked off baby; a scream).  During the course of my intrepid investigating I discovered that this verse was not original to the song. It was added in the early 1900’s by a Methodist minister named John T. McFarland for a children’s program. While verse three is not a part of the original Christmas carol canon it does create an image of Jesus that we need to rethink.

I remember as a child singing “Away in a Manger” and picturing the baby Jesus with this beatific smile on his face and a little halo hovering over his head. In my imagination the animals were swaying and singing like the campfire scene from the movie “Three Amigos”.  I pictured Mary and Joseph as awed spectators as the baby Jesus acknowledged the shepherds and welcomed them to his place (remember…the earlier lyrics told us he didn’t have a crib). My images of the baby Jesus were indeed childish. But I wonder if we don’t carry a little of that flawed perspective into our adult Christian journey (like Ricky Bobby in the movie Talladega Nights…you bad Christians know what I am talking about).

This Christmas why not take a little time to think about the implications of the incarnation. That nice little theological word is used to denote when the second person of the Trinity assumed human form in the person of Jesus Christ and became both fully God and fully man. C.S. Lewis called the incarnation “the Grand Miracle.” He wrote: “The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation…. Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this…. It was the central event in the history of the Earth–the very thing that the whole story has been about” (from Miracles, chapter 14).

By a miracle that passes human comprehension, the Creator entered his creation, the Eternal entered time, God became human–in order to die and rise again for the salvation of all people. “He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still … (to) the womb … down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him” (Miracles, C.S. Lewis).

Take a moment to meditate on the mystery of that. Fully God and fully man. I am sure the little Lord Jesus would have had the normal response to being awakened by any cow noise…lowing or other. His swaddling clothes had to be changed just like any baby. Chuck Swindoll described Him as diety in diapers.

How does that affect me this Christmas? Because God became flesh He understands the frailties of our flesh. When I suffer Jesus understands. He has been there. When I am lonely or feeling betrayed He understands. When I am joyful and laughing He understands. By becoming like me Jesus can empathize with me. He gets it.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.   I John 2

Jesus became our advocate and our path to salvation when He arrived on earth. The miracle in the manger was not Jesus ignoring stupid cows. The miracle was God becoming flesh.

I suppose the reader’s bar is set pretty low when you visit a site entitled “Confessions of a Bad Christian”. So I don’t imagine you will be at all surprised to learn that I love the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. And that my favorite character is a mean, cynical, self-centered rodent named Rat. I love Rat because he exposes the dark side that the rest of us try to whitewash and hide. Today’s strip was classic.

Rat is talking to his porcine pal named, surprisingly, Pig. Creator/Strip Writer Stephen Pastis didn’t agonize over character names.

The cynical Rat has decided to make two lists and everyone in the world will be slotted onto one list or the other.

List number one is called “People I don’t like” and the other list is “People I can’t stand”. The sensitive and caring Pig immediately sees the hopelessness and cynicism in such categorizations. “Oh, That’s very cynical Rat…you need to make a third list of people you like and give it a nice little title.” Rat grows thoughtful and proclaims that Pig is right. He draws up the third list and titles it…

Future Disappointments

There are days that I relate a little too closely to Rat’s worldview. (There is a sentence I never imagined I would write) It is so easy to grow frustrated, cynical, and even bitter toward people and especially other Christians. It is easy. It can even be fun. But there is another three letter word that can describe that approach to others in the body of Christ.

Sin.

And it is nothing new. Paul addressed a little “situation” in the church at Philippi. This is a church that Paul loved. A church that he called his partner and that had a special place in his heart. Sounds like all systems were go, right? Not exactly. Paul addresses a church rift between two Godly women in his letter to the Philippians.

Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.   NLT

Paul does not indicate any false teaching or any moral shortcomings with these two leaders in the church. Yet this was a big enough issue for news to reach Paul as he was being held prisoner in Rome. And Paul raises a great point for us to remember. He reminds everyone that these two women were co-laborers who had contended at the very side of the Apostle for the Gospel. They are both Christians whose names were in the book of life. Yet they had a disagreement serious enough for Paul to weigh in from Rome. He decides to be Switzerland by remaining neutral in the dispute. He simply pointed out the focal point of unity…the Lord Jesus.

God has been teaching me that it is far more important to Him for me to be righteous than to be right. I am prone to reverse His preferred order. I find it fascinating that this plea to resolve a church dispute is the beginning context for some of the most quoted verses in the Bible. Resolve your differences, he advises, by concentrating on this…

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

That incredible passage comes out of the context of conflict. Wow.

Abraham Lincoln once made this powerful observation about our nature…If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.

And if we have a hard time finding it you can count on Satan lending a helping hand. When I reflect on the comic strip character Rat’s list from above I realize one undeniable fact. If you are around me long enough I am a “Future Disappointment” waiting to happen. The only question is when. And you will make my list too. At that point we would be wise to remember more advice from Paul…this time to the Galatians.

If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.  The Message
 

Our lives changed forever on D-Day of 2006. Diagnosis day was March 20th of this year and that day seems like it was years ago. It is hard to fathom that in real time it has not quite been nine months since we found out about Joni’s breast cancer. My wife’s recent post made me realize how much our perspective has changed in those nine months. Joni was sharing one of the most exciting developments in her cancer journey. The headline was typically Joni…to the point.

I have eyebrows!!!

Chemotherapy patients know the trauma of losing your hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. Joni’s words reminded me how much we daily take for granted.

It amazes me how a simple thing like eyebrows can be so  exciting.  My eyebrows are coming back along with eyelashes and about a half inch of hair on my head.  But it is the eyebrows that excite me the most. 

Cancer changes your priorities a bit, doesn’t it? Last year at this time we had no idea what 2006 would hold. But thanks to the prayers, love, and encouragement of the body of Christ and the comfort and strengthening of the Holy Spirit we have made it this far. Joni continued her thoughts.

It has been a long and difficult journey but God has so richly blessed me and provided for all of my needs and then some.   My energy is beginning to return and it feels so good not to be tired all of the time. 

I love this time of year and I am thankful I can help with the decorating and festivities that go along with the season even though it is toned down from past Christmases.  I am studying Romans in my Bible study.  In Romans 5:3-5 there is a progression from tribulation to perseverance to proven character to hope.  I know I have  experienced tribulation and perseverance through the operations and grueling treatments.  My prayer is that all of this  has also produced proven character for the Lord and I know He has given me hope.  There is joy in tribulation in that it proves that God is faithful and He will never leave me.

All of these qualities and eyebrows too? How blessed am I? This is going to be a great Christmas. Tribulation and perseverance has brought us even closer together. Our Christmas prayer is the hope of many more Holidays together. God is faithful and He has not left us…not for an instant.

Last night the lovely Mrs.Burchett and I enjoyed a wonderful night of music with Michael W.Smith, the Dallas Symphony, and hundreds of our closest friends. Michael’s Christmas Time Tour 2006 is fun, inspiring, touching, and glorifying to God. See it if you have a chance.

Michael W.Smith has more musical talent in one hair follicle than I have in my entire body. And I confess that I entertained a bit of envy in the early part of the concert. I always wanted to be a musician but I just didn’t want to commit to that whole practice and hard work thing. Right after I moved past my talent deficit envy I happened to notice, really notice, something that happens at every concert. At the end of a stirring song a stagehand quietly and efficiently moved onto the stage, set up two microphones, and left without fanfare.

And it occurred to me that his small role in this gigantic production was enormously important. The next event was Smith reading the Christmas account from Scripture as a musician accompanied his narration. Because of the unnoticed stagehand the transition was seamless and the effect was powerful. No one applauded the stagehand. He might have felt unappreciated. He might have envied the acclaim that Michael W.Smith receives. He might have noticed that the audience applauded the arrival of the first chair violinist and the conductor. He might have wished for the rousing applause reserved for the other vocalists and the instrumental soloists.

But I kept thinking about the stagehand who carefully set the mikes in exactly the right place. I thought about the dozens of unseen technicians that made a magical evening of music happen. Incredibly vital people who did their jobs without a single moment of public adoration. God always sees the stagehand that humbly does his part. God values the technician who makes the music happen without personal recognition. I believe that God would view that stagehand’s seemingly insignificant contribution as being just as important as the people in the spotlight when that small role is offered with worship.

Paul used the body as a metaphor for how every part of the body of Christ is vital and valuable. In his letter to the Corinthians the Apostle writes about the distribution of spiritual gifts.

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”  In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.

I realize that I am prone to say it is all about Him and then get upset if no one notices me. So who is it really all about? If my service is for Him I am confident that God takes note. Should it really matter if anyone else does? I am the first to confess that such notice is nice and appreciated. But should it really matter?

If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

I am not always glad when another part of the body is honored. How quickly I forget the unmerited gift of grace. If we really comprehended what that meant would we ever question what is in it for me? As I meditate on that today I pray that I will choose to praise God and be content even if He asks me to be the anonymous stagehand that no one ever applauds.

Next week will be a fun week of reminiscing as the TV Land cable channel unveils their list of the 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catchphrases. It was nostalgic to review the list and remember my season of life when a particular quote or catchphrase was popular. I don’t have a strong recollection of Joseph Welch telling Senator Joseph McCarthy that “he had no sense of decency”. Perhaps that was of little interest to a fourteen month old baby. And not having a television in the family home might have been another factor. We didn’t join the TV revolution for a couple of years until we were sure it was going to “catch-on”.

But I can remember most of the others on this list. I am embarrassed to recall that I quoted many of these on a far too regular basis over the years. But I guess I was not alone.

“Danger, Will Robinson” (Robot, “Lost in Space”)
“De plane! De plane!” (Tattoo, “Fantasy Island”)
“Elizabeth, I’m coming home!” (Fred Sanford, “Sanford and Son”)
“Heh heh” (Beavis and Butt-head, “Beavis and Butthead”)
“How you doin’?” (Joey Tribbiani, “Friends”)
“I know nothing!” (Sgt. Schultz, “Hogan’s Heroes”)
“I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV” (Vicks Formula 44 ad)
“Is that your final answer?” (Regis Philbin, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”)
“What you see is what you get!” (Geraldine, “The Flip Wilson Show”)
“Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” (Arnold Drummond, “Diff’rent Strokes”)
“Would you believe?” (Maxwell Smart, “Get Smart”)
“Yada, yada, yada” (“Seinfeld”)
“Yeah, that’s the ticket” (Jon Lovitz as the pathological liar, “Saturday Night Live”)
“You look mahvelous!” (Billy Crystal as Fernando, “Saturday Night Live”)
“You rang?” (Lurch, “The Addams Family”)
“Well, isn’t that special?” (Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, “Saturday Night Live”)

Nearly all of those catchphrases have lost their cultural relevance except as memories of TV seasons past. The definition of “catchphrase” at dictionary.com is “a phrase, as a slogan, that comes to be widely and repeatedly used, often with little of the original meaning remaining”. The first thing that popped into my brain was a catchphrase that Christians use every Christmas season.

Jesus is the reason for the season.

Has that become a catchphrase for followers of Jesus? Before you send the angry email let me disclaim that I completely agree with that statement. Without the miracle of Jesus coming to this planet this holiday is just another excuse to sell stuff. There is, to state the obvious, no Christmas Day without Christ.

But there is an inherent danger in this season. It is easy to get caught up in the battle for Christmas and forget that the best defense of Christmas is to represent Christ. The power of Christmas Day is when His followers unite to be the very hands and feet of Jesus. To give and love and comfort those who need it. That is when people see that Jesus is the reason for the season. It is important to stand up for cultural rights. But the birth in Bethlehem that changed history was not about winning court battles. It was about changing hearts. I still love the King James language that describes the birth of Jesus.

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. Matt 1:23 KJV

May God be with us. And may we really demonstrate with our love, grace, and deeds why Jesus is the reason for the season.

Truth can be so annoying. If annoying truth was a Jeopardy category it might look like this…

“I’ll take Annoying Truths for $100, Alex.”
This famous preacher said,  “Give me five minutes with a person’s checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is.”
“Who is Billy Graham? I’ll take Annoying Truths for $200, Alex.”
This missionary to India said, “You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving.”
“Who was Amy Carmichael, Alex. I am getting very uncomfortable with this topic so let’s take “Sins that make you worse than me for $100.”

Money is an uncomfortable topic for followers of Jesus. One anonymous writer noted that a lot of people are willing to give God the credit, but not too many are willing to give Him the cash.

Twenty-six years ago a man in Kansas City made a choice to give away the cash. It was a choice that changed his life and the lives of thousands more. The Associated Press reported that for the next 26 years, a man known only as Secret Santa roamed the streets every December quietly giving people money. He started with $5 and $10 bills. As his fortune grew, so did the gifts. In recent years, Secret Santa has been handing out $100 bills, sometimes two or three at a time, to people in thrift stores, diners and parking lots. So far, he’s anonymously given out about $1.3 million. It’s been a long-held holiday mystery: Who is Secret Santa? But now, weak from chemotherapy and armed with a desire to pass on his belief in random kindness, Secret Santa has decided it’s time to reveal his identity.

He is Larry Stewart, a 58-year-old businessman from the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit, Mo., who made his millions in cable television and long-distance telephone service. While Stewart has also given money to other community causes in Kansas City and his hometown of Bruce, Miss., he offers the simple gifts of cash because it’s something people don’t have to “beg for, get in line for, or apply for.”

His epiphany happened just before Christmas in 1979. His circumstances were dire. For the second year in a row he had been fired just days before Christmas. He admits that he was wallowing in self-pity when he learned that giving returned an inexplicable joy. That simple discovery changed him, the entire city of Kansas City, and beyond. Let’s pick up the story as Stewart was nursing his wounds at a drive-in restaurant after getting fired once again. He describes that December day in his own words.

“It was cold and this car hop didn’t have on a very big jacket, and I thought to myself, `I think I got it bad. She’s out there in this cold making nickels and dimes,”‘ he said. He gave her $20 and told her to keep the change. “And suddenly I saw her lips begin to tremble and tears begin to flow down her cheeks. She said, `Sir, you have no idea what this means to me.”‘

Larry Stewart was deeply touched. He decided to go to the bank that day and took out $200, then drove around looking for people who could use a lift. That was his “Christmas present to himself.”  He’s hit the streets each December since. Now, his mission is bigger than handing out $100 bills. Stewart wants to speak to community groups about his devotion to kindness and to inspire others to donate their time and money. “That’s what we’re here for,” Stewart says, “to help other people out.”

Larry Stewart has learned the reality of money and possessions that was eloquently expressed by author Thomas Fuller. “Riches enlarge rather than satisfy appetites.” 

As a follower of Christ I think Stewart has it half right when he notes that we are here to help other people out. The religious scholars asked Jesus what a purpose driven life should look like.

“Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?” 
Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”   Matthew 22 The Message

During this Christmas season I am challenging you to join me in trying Larry Stewart’s experiment. Go buy yourself a gadget or outfit or bauble. Note the reading on the joy meter. Then go give money to a desperate Mom trying to make ends meet. Or give some cash to an elderly couple who can’t pay the heating bill. Deliver a Christmas gift to children who would not receive gifts any other way. Then see which action has given you real joy. Was it acquiring more stuff or meeting real needs in the lives of others? Larry Stewart has learned that lesson. And the world is a better place because of the revelation he experienced on a cold December day twenty-six years ago.

Pray about what you can give this Christmas. Remember that Larry Stewart started small. I pray that you will receive the kind of joy that has driven the Kansas City “Secret Santa” for twenty-six years. The chance to witness the surprised joy of a person receiving an unexpected and much needed gift. Kind of like salvation, isn’t it? That is the gift that Jesus brought to Bethlehem two millenia ago. And that is another gift we should be eager to share this season.