12-25
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Today is the top of the mountain day. The day this has all been about. The celebration of the King.
RULERS
They all start out as babies.
Every one of them pooped their pants, learned how to crawl and speak. Nothing about their entrance into the world was different - except perhaps how much money or governing authority their parents had.
Rulers come and go.
Many rulers and managers lead to just have power - not to lead.
How do you lead well?
To lead means you’ve either already been up ahead, or are not afraid to be in front of the group you’re protecting and guiding.
To lead in darkness is difficult.
If nobody can see - then you may not really be sure where anyone is going at all.
This morning I was watching my grown babies sleep before the hustle and bustle of the day began. Parenting is tough, but amazing. It’s the most important leadership role that costs as much as it does spiritually and financially.
If my kids were ever afraid of the dark - I didn’t push them out in front of me to figure it out. No. I either walked in front of them - or turned on a light so they could see. Maybe I knew the pathway to the kitchen - or maybe I just wanted their eyes to see there was nothing to be afraid of.
They have grown up now - not as afraid of the dark, know their way around the house, feel safe, and know where the light switches are.
It doesn’t make me want to not want to still walk in front of them, hold their hand, turn on the light. I want to guide them and keep them small - but they have to grow up and new darkness and light will continue to present themselves to them.
I hope I’ve led them well.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
At my former job every few months we'd have an “all hands” meeting. It’s supposed to be a meeting for the rulers to go over where we have been, and envision and rally us around where we are going.
If the leaders said “follow us to new territory. We are inventing things that didn’t exist before. We will be going to places unexpected” - if we didn’t have trust and belief in their leadership - we wouldn’t follow, support or go.
Be a leader people want to follow, not have to follow.
If someone told you your new CEO was a baby, who right now was laying in a feeding trough, born in a stinky barn to a teenage unwed refugee
would you trust and believe that in 33 years he would change the entire world?
That he would cause the day to be split into AM and PM?
Or that calendars would be split into BC and AD?
That he knew about the business before it even existed, knew what was happening now, will happen, and forevermore?
That he would guide the people with compassion, care, love, but also a very keen eye above things we could not even understand because somehow he had already seen those things?
No. I venture to say we would not believe or follow. We think we know it all. But then what if you could zoom into the future and see that it was all true. What if you could zip to the past and see that a book was already written about all of it but that you’ve just been to busy to read it?
What if a baby was born, lived, loved, died, and promised to come again. What if the baby was here before the world began and will be here when the world as we know it will end. What if the baby was God.
That’s the type of ruler I want to know about. That’s someone I want to follow and believe in. That’s someone I know believes in me too.
JESUS
Many reject Him still today. And yet if you just read only one book in the entire bible (John) your eyes could see more clearly that Jesus isn’t a ‘religion’.
Jesus is
the Good Shepherd, the way, truth, and life.
He is the light of the world.
He is a wonderful counselor, a mighty God, an everlasting Father, and a prince of wholeness and peace.
Nothing He said or did was not the way God wanted Him to be.
But first He had to be born into this Earth in order to lead it.
Jesus came into a dark world.
Mary was afraid.
Joseph was afraid.
Zachariah was afraid.
Herod was afraid.
Angels guided all of them except Herod - he didn’t want light. He wanted power.
The Angels came as light to all but Herod. Even as light to shepherds and wise men. They first said to each of them - do not be afraid - they came with instructions of what was happening, what to do, where to go, what to expect.
The people trusted, believed, followed, and found it to be true.
It’s not so easy today.
We don’t have step by step instructions. We wander around trying to find the light switch ourselves or just stubbornly say it is just as easy to walk around in the dark. People don’t want to ask for help for fear they will look less qualified or equipped - when actually these things Help us learn and grow faster.
(That’s a tip for all you parents who try to put together toys and appliances today without reading the enclosed instructions).
Think about this:
How many kings started as a baby? All of them.
How many kings were born to a peasant? Maybe only one.
What if He’s who we’ve been waiting for?
What if His earthly birth wasn’t His first time knowing about earth?
How many Kings have stepped down from their thrones and abandoned their lavish castles?
How many kings became a commoner to see what we see from how we see it?
How many gods have poured out their hearts - and their blood - all of it - to romance a world that is full of confusion, violence, darkness, hatred, sadness?
How many fathers would sacrifice their one and only son in one of the most gruesome and horrifying ways - just so we wouldn’t forget, and so we could know how much he loved us?
How many kings just want us to love them back?
Only one.
Only one king did that.
And He did it for me and for you.
ALL OF US.
Even those of you who don’t believe it.
He came for you and me.
Today we celebrate that a baby was born across the seas.
The baby grew up.
He came here to free us of this world.
And He’s coming again.
Christ the savior. Emmanuel. God with us.
Mas Cristo
More Christ
May He fill us today
Joy to the world. The Lord has come.
Let all of the Earth - all of it - receive her King
Let every heart prepare room for Him as He rules the earth with truth and grace and wonders through His majestic love.
Merry, merry Christmas.
May you be filled with love, laughter, and among your gifts - a Remembrance Of “The Partridge in a Pear Tree”
Songs:
Downhere https://youtu.be/DmGfaEtVWvA
Zach Williams https://youtu.be/AyIN0kh7_Q0
David Crowder https://youtu.be/8uY7W1kYlX4
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