Born is the King of Israel!!

(The First Noel)
Silent Night - Christ, the Savior is born
Joy to the World, the Lord is come!
O Holy Night! For long lay the world in sin and error pining until He appeared!
Good Christian Men Rejoice, Yeshua HaMeshiach is born today
O Come, O Come Immanuel [Immanuel means 'God with us']
And ransom captive Israel who mourns in lonely exile here until the Messiah appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel SHALL come to thee, O Israel.
O Come Thou Rod of Jesse, and free thine Own from satan's tyranny. 
O Come Thou Lord of Might, who to thy Tribes, on Sinai's height 
In ancient times did give'st the Law, in cloud, and majesty, and awe.

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, "Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test." And Isaiah said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:10-25)

O Come All Ye Faithful - Come, let us adore Him! 
O Jesus forevermore let THY name be adored - Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing. 
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Somewhere along the way, Christmas has become an idol.


An IDOL.  And what is the very thing that God repeats over and over throughout the scriptures?  You shall have NO other gods, no idols, before the Lord, for He is a jealous God (in His great love for all of humanity) and wants all of our worship, praise, attention, and devotion.  The words in these carols, usually on repeat on at least one radio station in every city, have become white noise. But LOOK at the depth of their HOPE and promise!  Their prophecy and testimony!  Yet we're slowly replacing even these with songs about beautiful trees and decked halls, figgy pudding, the wait to find out from Santa Claus if we've been good enough this year.  Even giving to others and altruism can be an idol if done without Jesus as the source of that service (Matthew 6:1).


This itself inadvertently turns humanity toward a 'works-based righteousness', contributing to the Western world's individualistic and self-success mantra. As if Santa, or any individual, could be the Judge over all and giver of blessings or curses?  But as the original mission of Saint Nicholas (a follower of Jesus) to give to children and the poor became popularized, with a poem by Clement C. Moore titled "Twas the Night Before Christmas" appearing in 1822, Santa Claus became the ideal mascot of the season. Soon featured in large advertising campaigns, his gift-giving turned Christmas into a mission to find the 'perfect gift' rather than remembering there can only be one Perfect gift. When I was in China this fall, I noticed a number of Santa figurines and soon found this to be the gateway figure to the slow westernization of China - it seemed they truly understood Christmas to be a celebration of Santa Claus. 

I recently came across this verse in Romans 1:2-23: "Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man."

Christ is a word taken from Hebrew signifying Messiah - the One that was foretold throughout scripture, and who the Jews waited and prepared for expectantly as they received words from their kings (David) and prophets about a coming redemption from persecution and exile. The promises were given specifically to the Jews directly from God.  The Gentiles/Nations did not even know to look for a Messiah (Romans 9-11), a Savior, not realizing unless they looked to Israel (who was to be a "Light to the nations", Is. 49:6) that they were considered lost from the Creator's purpose for His creation. 


This is just another beautiful part of salvation into life as God created it to be: in communion with Him, given in grace and love.  A salvation given from God that began on the Holy night that Jesus was born into flesh.  Jesus, who was with the Father from the beginning of time already as the plan of salvation [Genesis 1:26, Elohim is the plural form of "El = God", though the 'Lord is One' (Deut. 6:4)...the incredible mystery of the holy Trinity!].  Jesus, the promised Messiah to the Jews, to the world, and Savior of the expanse of humanity. All wrapped up that first night, covered in strips of cloth in a bed of hay, in Bethlehem ("House of Bread") outside of Jerusalem. A humble beginning and a humble end, 'meek and mild' but NOT powerless, for meekness is simply the Might and power of God controlled by His love and patience as He waits for Creation to know her Creator (John 14:8-11). 


How humbling that is to me, and how desperately I need to wake up and go to bed with this understanding pressing on my heart. I am the first to confess that I LOVE (love love) the Christmas season and all of its traditions - decorating, music, cookies, giving and receiving gifts, the wintry air, family - and I am so prone to be swept away in the magic that commercial empires have crafted. Yet someday all of these treasures will be gone. Even the frailty of life is obvious to me this season as I watch friends' parents die of cancer or families in this land torn apart by hopeless conflicts in the name of 'peace'.  


I don't want to be left with a huge handful of dust and a small pinch of heavenly gold (Matthew 6:19-22) when I am kneeling before the throne of my Lord.  I pray that my my treasure lies in the manger, and that my heart is given wholly to my beloved King - the King of Israel, and the King who is coming again, soon, to finish the good work He began that night in the manger to restore the earth!