The last words of Jesus that Matthew records are a command to His followers to make disciples:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"(Matthew 28:19-20, NIV).
Yet, is that the first priority of your church? Is it your first priority in regard to your involvement in the church? If it is not your priority, it’s probably not your church’s priority, no matter what the mission or purpose statement says. I think this scripture, along with Luke’s last words of Christ from Acts 1:8 indicate that everything that the church is and does should be targeted at making disciples. I’m afraid our churches do a lot of things that have very little to do with making disciples. Some traditional church programs probably began as means to bring people to a saving relationship with Jesus and help them grow in that relationship, but as the years have gone by the programs have become an end in themselves. Churches also are victims of what the military calls “mission creep.” By that, I mean the church starts with the very simple mission God gave it, but other things get added. For some, the unspoken mission becomes protecting the building, or reaching only a certain kind of people, or preserving the past, or even putting on a show.
Don’t get me wrong. I am amazed at how much many people do for their church. People give generously of their time. I applaud their efforts, but some of them work very hard at church doing things that don’t have anything to do with what Jesus said was the main thing. What do you do at church? Does it contribute to making disciples? Make a list of the ministries, programs and activities of your church. Are there any that don’t contribute to making disciples? Then why is the church doing them? Often the answer is, “Because we’ve always done it.” Churches are not very good at stopping things. Old programs that no longer make disciples need to be stopped to make room for new more effective ones.
There are a lot of churches that are declining. For many, the reason is that they have chosen to make other “churchy” things more important than making disciples. Christians get comfortable with churchy things and would rather do those things than do what is necessary to help people find Christ’s love and grow in it. A lot of churches are all for making disciples as long as they can do what they have always done. The truth is there is only so much time and so much money. If your church devotes only the time and money that is left after the church does all its churchy stuff to making disciples, it is probably not doing very much. Folks, Jesus said the point of the church is to make disciples. If that isn’t the point of your church, is it really a church?
Monday, April 16, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Is Your Church Flexible Enough to Survive?
It was sad to see. The church that my parents attended literally died. Largely, the people who made up this congregation got old and passed on to the next life. When they did, they left no one to pass their church on to. The church attendance had been dwindling for many years. I visited there about a year before the denomination finally pulled the plug. It was like I stepped into a time machine back to my childhood in the early 60s: the order of worship was just as I remembered, the songs we sang were the same, the choir had new robes, but many of the members were the same, the same nice lady still played the organ, and the same people (the ones who were still living) sat in the same pews. This churched thrived in the post WW II era. As the men who fought that war came home and started families they brought them to church, built a beautiful little building, and expected things to go on like that forever. The only place they went on like that was in the church building. The neighborhood changed as the children of those men grew up and moved to other parts of the city. Eventually, most of the old-timers moved out of the neighborhood, too. Because they loved their church, they would drive back to the old neighborhood each Sunday, but their children wouldn’t. Finally, the congregation got old and died off. When there were only a few of them left, the denomination stepped in and gave the debt-free building to another of their local churches to use as a satellite campus. Of course my 90-year-old parents and the other members were invited to continue attending, but everything changed and they couldn’t accept so many sudden changes. It was no longer their church.
A similar thing happened in another denomination in another state. The church grew down to ten attenders. Their congregational polity required that they vote to turn the building over to the denomination. It looked like they would make that decision so that the assets could be used by the denomination to build the Kingdom in the area. However, at the last minute the last 10 members voted to keep the building so that they could use it for a small group Bible study on Sundays. (There was no mention of reaching out to the community.)
From time to time, both of these churches had been challenged to make some changes that would help them stay relevant and reach people for Christ. Both churches went through a lot of pastors, some of them were incompetent, some of them had great ideas, but the congregation was stubborn. They wanted the church the way it was, and that’s the way it stayed. Their concern was pleasing the people they already had, instead of trying to reach those around them who needed the good news. It had not always been that way. At one time these churches worked hard to affect the world for Christ, but that was long ago.
On the other hand, there are churches today that are growing like crazy. Many new church plants struggle with facilities and meet for years in high school gyms, warehouses or abandoned big box stores. I know one new church which has yet to have its first publicly advertised worship service that already has a larger attendance at their Sunday evening sessions than the national average church attendance. They crowd into a small office.
What’s the deal? Why do many churches find themselves with a building and no people, while other churches find themselves with a growing number of people and a desperate need for a building? I have puzzled over this for years. It excites me to see people crowd in to make-shift church buildings because they want to hear the message of love, hope and forgiveness. At the same time, it breaks my heart to see nearly empty churches that seem to care only for self preservation and are not concerned about the deep spiritual needs of those around them.
I think I found the answer as I was reading in Mark. It has to do with wineskins.
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins" Mark 2:22 (NIV).
Jesus warned the disciples that their new relationship with him would not fit with the old temple religion of the Jews. Maybe it’s the same thing with some of our churches. They are only a little less into tradition and preserving the way things have been than were the Jewish authorities. Many congregations might well be as snobby about who is admitted to the “inner circle” as the Pharisees and Sadducees.
In Jesus’ day in Judah wine was often stored in wineskins. When the juice fermented to become wine, it gave off gases that stretched the skins. Old skins that had lost their elasticity couldn’t stretch to accommodate the process. They would break open and be ruined and the wine would spill out and be lost. I think this is the problem of many declining and plateaued churches. They have become too inflexible to accommodate the changes necessary to reach a new generation, so many are apparently being discarded. The great Bible scholar William Barclay commented on a similar passage in Luke: “No business could exist on outworn methods – and yet the church tries to. Any business that has lost as many customers as the church has would have tried new ways long ago – but the church tends to resent all that is new.” (It’s interesting to note that he wrote those words in 1953.)
The difference between churches and wineskins is that churches have a choice. They can choose to change. They can remain flexible. It all depends on the culture of the church. If the culture of the church is to be committed to the way things were, then no matter what the leadership does, the church gets old, and brittle, and eventually worthless to God’s plan to build the Kingdom. If an old church can maintain a culture that is committed to being a means the Lord uses to love people and bring them into His Kingdom, then it can continue to be a great beacon of His light in the world.
Sadly, even when declining and plateaued churches know they need to become flexible and make changes in a changing environment, they choose not to. Then, the only recourse God has is to make new wineskins (new congregations) that He will fill with his new wine (new believers).
What’s your church like? Is it an old wineskin—inflexible and no place for new believers? Or, is it willing to do whatever it takes to help new people become followers of Christ? How about you? How is your flexibility? How set are you in the way it has always been?
A similar thing happened in another denomination in another state. The church grew down to ten attenders. Their congregational polity required that they vote to turn the building over to the denomination. It looked like they would make that decision so that the assets could be used by the denomination to build the Kingdom in the area. However, at the last minute the last 10 members voted to keep the building so that they could use it for a small group Bible study on Sundays. (There was no mention of reaching out to the community.)
From time to time, both of these churches had been challenged to make some changes that would help them stay relevant and reach people for Christ. Both churches went through a lot of pastors, some of them were incompetent, some of them had great ideas, but the congregation was stubborn. They wanted the church the way it was, and that’s the way it stayed. Their concern was pleasing the people they already had, instead of trying to reach those around them who needed the good news. It had not always been that way. At one time these churches worked hard to affect the world for Christ, but that was long ago.
On the other hand, there are churches today that are growing like crazy. Many new church plants struggle with facilities and meet for years in high school gyms, warehouses or abandoned big box stores. I know one new church which has yet to have its first publicly advertised worship service that already has a larger attendance at their Sunday evening sessions than the national average church attendance. They crowd into a small office.
What’s the deal? Why do many churches find themselves with a building and no people, while other churches find themselves with a growing number of people and a desperate need for a building? I have puzzled over this for years. It excites me to see people crowd in to make-shift church buildings because they want to hear the message of love, hope and forgiveness. At the same time, it breaks my heart to see nearly empty churches that seem to care only for self preservation and are not concerned about the deep spiritual needs of those around them.
I think I found the answer as I was reading in Mark. It has to do with wineskins.
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins" Mark 2:22 (NIV).
Jesus warned the disciples that their new relationship with him would not fit with the old temple religion of the Jews. Maybe it’s the same thing with some of our churches. They are only a little less into tradition and preserving the way things have been than were the Jewish authorities. Many congregations might well be as snobby about who is admitted to the “inner circle” as the Pharisees and Sadducees.
In Jesus’ day in Judah wine was often stored in wineskins. When the juice fermented to become wine, it gave off gases that stretched the skins. Old skins that had lost their elasticity couldn’t stretch to accommodate the process. They would break open and be ruined and the wine would spill out and be lost. I think this is the problem of many declining and plateaued churches. They have become too inflexible to accommodate the changes necessary to reach a new generation, so many are apparently being discarded. The great Bible scholar William Barclay commented on a similar passage in Luke: “No business could exist on outworn methods – and yet the church tries to. Any business that has lost as many customers as the church has would have tried new ways long ago – but the church tends to resent all that is new.” (It’s interesting to note that he wrote those words in 1953.)
The difference between churches and wineskins is that churches have a choice. They can choose to change. They can remain flexible. It all depends on the culture of the church. If the culture of the church is to be committed to the way things were, then no matter what the leadership does, the church gets old, and brittle, and eventually worthless to God’s plan to build the Kingdom. If an old church can maintain a culture that is committed to being a means the Lord uses to love people and bring them into His Kingdom, then it can continue to be a great beacon of His light in the world.
Sadly, even when declining and plateaued churches know they need to become flexible and make changes in a changing environment, they choose not to. Then, the only recourse God has is to make new wineskins (new congregations) that He will fill with his new wine (new believers).
What’s your church like? Is it an old wineskin—inflexible and no place for new believers? Or, is it willing to do whatever it takes to help new people become followers of Christ? How about you? How is your flexibility? How set are you in the way it has always been?
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Finding Success
“Success: a favorable result; wished-for ending; good fortune” (World Book Dictionary)
Just about everyone wants to succeed at whatever he does. We want other people to think of us as successful and, more importantly, we want to think of ourselves as successful. Success by the standard of our society is elusive. Often it’s a sliding scale. For example, when I started in ministry in the early 1970s, a church with an average worship attendance of 300 was considered large, and I thought I would be a success if I was ever pastor of a church that size. I made it. I had the privilege of leading a church that grew from about 120 to a little over 300. Yeah me! But not really. By the 2000s, when our church had grown, the standard had changed. Three hundred is no longer considered a particularly large church. It’s often called middle-sized, and some people would consider it small. So, was I really successful. If success was accomplishing my goal to pastor a church of 300, then yes. But, if my goal was to pastor a large church, I failed miserably. If you ask me these days if I am a success, I will answer either yes or no depending on the kind of day I’m having. The point of this is to say that if we rely on society, or even ourselves to define success, very few of us will ever be secure in knowing ourselves to be successful.
So how can you and I ever know success? Do we take our society’s standard, which is commonly seen on t-shirts, “The one with the most toys wins?” That goal leads to frustration, because someone always has more than you.
Or you can do what I did and set your eyes on a goal, then work hard to reach that goal. That may work, unless the goal line moves or is not precisely defined. Beyond that is the truth, that reaching your goal may well lead to a let-down as you think that perhaps your goal was too small, or you don’t know what to do after the goal is reached.
The other possibility is to live by God’s standard for success. Jesus gives us the clues we need to discover God’s standard of success. We find this in “The Parable of the Talents” found in Matthew 25:14-30. Jesus told of a man leaving for a long journey who trusted three of his servants with money (talents: <$1,000) according to their abilities. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and one to the third servant. When he returned, he congratulated the five/ten talent man and welcomed him to share the master’s happiness. It was the same for the two/four talent man. But, the one talent guy was rebuked by his master, stripped of his talent and sent away.
Here is God’s standard of success: Use what God has given you to do what God has assigned you to do. He expects you to produce fruit in keeping with your gifts. Notice that the reward for the two/four talent servant was the same as for the one with five/ten talents. That’s a comfort to me. I have to do my best, but I’m only expected to do my best. My best is my best. Someone else may be able to do better, and others may not be able to do things as well as I can, but that should be neither here, nor there to me. I just have to be the best me I can, and use what I have for the Lord.
There are then two keys for my success:
1.) I must know what God’s assignment is for me.
2.) I must do my best to complete that assignment.
Whether or not others think of you as successful, and whether or not you think of yourself as successful is not really important. The important question is: How successful are you by God’s standard?
Jesus went a step farther. He not only gives us God’s standard of success, but He also tells us how to act as we strive and achieve that success. He said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all" (Mark 9:35). To illustrate this principle, He washed the feet of the disciples. We are to be accommodating, helpful, and humble to others as we seek to fulfill our assignments from God. Arrogance may be the mark of successful people in the world, but it’s not to be so in the Kingdom of God. We are to be marked, as was Jesus, by our humility.
Just about everyone wants to succeed at whatever he does. We want other people to think of us as successful and, more importantly, we want to think of ourselves as successful. Success by the standard of our society is elusive. Often it’s a sliding scale. For example, when I started in ministry in the early 1970s, a church with an average worship attendance of 300 was considered large, and I thought I would be a success if I was ever pastor of a church that size. I made it. I had the privilege of leading a church that grew from about 120 to a little over 300. Yeah me! But not really. By the 2000s, when our church had grown, the standard had changed. Three hundred is no longer considered a particularly large church. It’s often called middle-sized, and some people would consider it small. So, was I really successful. If success was accomplishing my goal to pastor a church of 300, then yes. But, if my goal was to pastor a large church, I failed miserably. If you ask me these days if I am a success, I will answer either yes or no depending on the kind of day I’m having. The point of this is to say that if we rely on society, or even ourselves to define success, very few of us will ever be secure in knowing ourselves to be successful.
So how can you and I ever know success? Do we take our society’s standard, which is commonly seen on t-shirts, “The one with the most toys wins?” That goal leads to frustration, because someone always has more than you.
Or you can do what I did and set your eyes on a goal, then work hard to reach that goal. That may work, unless the goal line moves or is not precisely defined. Beyond that is the truth, that reaching your goal may well lead to a let-down as you think that perhaps your goal was too small, or you don’t know what to do after the goal is reached.
The other possibility is to live by God’s standard for success. Jesus gives us the clues we need to discover God’s standard of success. We find this in “The Parable of the Talents” found in Matthew 25:14-30. Jesus told of a man leaving for a long journey who trusted three of his servants with money (talents: <$1,000) according to their abilities. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and one to the third servant. When he returned, he congratulated the five/ten talent man and welcomed him to share the master’s happiness. It was the same for the two/four talent man. But, the one talent guy was rebuked by his master, stripped of his talent and sent away.
Here is God’s standard of success: Use what God has given you to do what God has assigned you to do. He expects you to produce fruit in keeping with your gifts. Notice that the reward for the two/four talent servant was the same as for the one with five/ten talents. That’s a comfort to me. I have to do my best, but I’m only expected to do my best. My best is my best. Someone else may be able to do better, and others may not be able to do things as well as I can, but that should be neither here, nor there to me. I just have to be the best me I can, and use what I have for the Lord.
There are then two keys for my success:
1.) I must know what God’s assignment is for me.
2.) I must do my best to complete that assignment.
Whether or not others think of you as successful, and whether or not you think of yourself as successful is not really important. The important question is: How successful are you by God’s standard?
Jesus went a step farther. He not only gives us God’s standard of success, but He also tells us how to act as we strive and achieve that success. He said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all" (Mark 9:35). To illustrate this principle, He washed the feet of the disciples. We are to be accommodating, helpful, and humble to others as we seek to fulfill our assignments from God. Arrogance may be the mark of successful people in the world, but it’s not to be so in the Kingdom of God. We are to be marked, as was Jesus, by our humility.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
What if Bad Gets Worse?
For a lot of people these past few years have been very difficult. The unemployment, underemployment, and foreclosure stats all testify that there is a lot of pain in our society. Compared to the third world, most of us still have it pretty easy, but compared to what was, these are hard times for many. These difficulties have blindsided some Christians. They were led to believe that accepting Christ was like a free ticket to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. They were told that all their troubles were over when they decided to follow Jesus. Too bad they didn’t read the Bible. Jesus didn’t make any guarantee of an easy life. Instead, He told His followers to take up the cross, and follow Him. There are many examples in the Bible of people dealing with hard times. From Joseph, to Moses, to Ruth, to David, to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to Jesus himself, the Bible shows people who struggled and overcame. I think the ministry of the Apostle Paul demonstrates vividly what to do when bad gets worse.
1.) First of all keep praying. Don’t let your broken heart break your relationship with God. Reassurance and encouragement come in prayer when we listen to God and understand the role we play in prayer. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) He is God (the boss), and you aren’t.
2.) Keep up your strength. Be sure to guard your body in emotional times. Many upset people fall into a devil’s triangle of reacting mentally to stress by falling into depression, and then reacting physically to depression by becoming ill, which then increases stress, and the triangle starts over again. An example of Paul keeping up his strength is found in Acts 27:33-36.
3.) Keep on trusting the Lord. Work hard to keep your focus on God, and remind yourself of His Lordship. Then, keep remembering your role in your relationship with Him. You are a redeemed sinner who has chosen to serve the Lord who has rescued you from sin, from your own wickedness and from Satan. If you get the roles right in your mind and heart, God will give you hope in the midst of hard times. (Check out Romans 15:13.)
4.) Let God work, which means you will have to be patient. The Lord, being the boss, works on His timetable, not yours. Sometimes, it feels like He has forgotten you, but He doesn’t forget. Be assured that He is on your case. Think how long it took for things to work out for Joseph in Genesis. In the end, Joseph was able to say:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).
You need to get out of His way, and expect Him to work in your situation. Watch out, because He may not do what you thought He would do.
5.) Accept the outcome and make the best of it. Whatever happens, keep trusting God, as Paul said:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 - NIV).
God’s view is bigger than yours. His perspective gives Him a much longer and broader understanding than you can have. You have to believe that He has your best interest at heart even when your immediate circumstances would tempt you to doubt that. When bad gets worse, hang on and determine to go on from here with God. Hang on, not in desperation, but with hope. Know that God loves you, has a plan, and you have not been forgotten. Your future may not go according to your plan, but if you trust God and hang on, things will work together for good.
1.) First of all keep praying. Don’t let your broken heart break your relationship with God. Reassurance and encouragement come in prayer when we listen to God and understand the role we play in prayer. (I Thessalonians 5:16-18) He is God (the boss), and you aren’t.
2.) Keep up your strength. Be sure to guard your body in emotional times. Many upset people fall into a devil’s triangle of reacting mentally to stress by falling into depression, and then reacting physically to depression by becoming ill, which then increases stress, and the triangle starts over again. An example of Paul keeping up his strength is found in Acts 27:33-36.
3.) Keep on trusting the Lord. Work hard to keep your focus on God, and remind yourself of His Lordship. Then, keep remembering your role in your relationship with Him. You are a redeemed sinner who has chosen to serve the Lord who has rescued you from sin, from your own wickedness and from Satan. If you get the roles right in your mind and heart, God will give you hope in the midst of hard times. (Check out Romans 15:13.)
4.) Let God work, which means you will have to be patient. The Lord, being the boss, works on His timetable, not yours. Sometimes, it feels like He has forgotten you, but He doesn’t forget. Be assured that He is on your case. Think how long it took for things to work out for Joseph in Genesis. In the end, Joseph was able to say:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).
You need to get out of His way, and expect Him to work in your situation. Watch out, because He may not do what you thought He would do.
5.) Accept the outcome and make the best of it. Whatever happens, keep trusting God, as Paul said:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 - NIV).
God’s view is bigger than yours. His perspective gives Him a much longer and broader understanding than you can have. You have to believe that He has your best interest at heart even when your immediate circumstances would tempt you to doubt that. When bad gets worse, hang on and determine to go on from here with God. Hang on, not in desperation, but with hope. Know that God loves you, has a plan, and you have not been forgotten. Your future may not go according to your plan, but if you trust God and hang on, things will work together for good.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Let Your Light Shine – How should Christians confront the world?
The other day at Wal-Mart I
couldn‘t help overhearing this conversation:
First lady: “We have always home
schooled, but she will be starting 6th grade, so we are looking into
a Christian school. There is no way I am
sending her to Woodstock Middle School. I
don’t want her in that place.”
Friend: “Really, I would think
there would be a lot of opportunities there.”
First lady: “I just don’t want her
around that influence.”
Just then, on the other side of me
(where the mothers probably couldn’t hear the girls) I heard the friend’s daughter,
“You aren’t going to be at Woodstock?”
First lady’s daughter replied in a
tween girl’s haughty manner, “Of course, I don’t want to turn out bad like
you.” (There was no smile or giggle.)
This conversation bothered me for several reasons. First of
all, I hope that the daughters were friends and that the one girl was kidding,
and the other one took it as that. (However, nothing in either of their
expressions or body language demonstrated it.) That was disturbing, but I have
been around middle school kids enough to know that such insulting talk is not
an unusual thing to hear in that circle.
What truly disturbed me that afternoon was the attitude of
the “Christian” mother. She embodied v to me why the world is going to hell and
the church is so ineffective in its efforts to change that. Now, I don’t know
this particular lady, but the conversation I overheard reminded me of many
people I have known in the past. At one time in my life, I might have been
tempted to agree with her. I might even
have thought she was wise, but as I have grown older, I have come to a
different understanding.
Though churches are growing larger, the world gets no better
and could be said to be getting worse.
Things that shocked my parents’ generation, and even some things that were
shocking my “everything is all right as long as no one gets hurt” baby boom
generation, are now considered normal parts of life.
There is a strong temptation for Christians to seal
ourselves, and our families, into a fortress where we are not confronted by the
lost world. That would be nice and I
believe if we remain true we will be rewarded with the privilege of spending
eternity in a place like that. It is
called heaven! In the meantime, we have
an assignment. It entails making disciples of all kinds of people--people of a
different socio-economic stratum, opposing political views, and even those with
lifestyles that run counter to our beliefs. Instead of meeting those folks on
their turf and demonstrating the redeeming love of Jesus by the way we speak,
live, and love, we do our best to separate ourselves from the very people God
has assigned us to reach. Jesus’ teaching is that we are to be in the world,
but not of it. We must dare to be
different in the world. It is not God’s
plan for us to become a novel colony within the broader world, but to become salt
and light to that world - salt that melts cold hard hearts and light that does
a lot more than show them their error.
We are to be the light that leads them to the Savior.
Although I know that as I get older, I am considered more
and more eccentric, I didn’t think I was old enough, or quite eccentric enough
to get away with confronting that lady.
What I wish I had done is to start humming the old chorus, “This Little
Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let it Shine” as I stood there. This lady was not being light. She didn’t
care about being light. She just wanted to be safe and comfortable. That desire
to be safe and comfortable is thwarting the influence of the church and killing
many congregations. Now, my problem is not with Christian schools or home
schooling. My problem is with the mind-set
that limits the influence of Christians because the world makes us
uncomfortable. Now if the secular school
they were discussing was literally physically dangerous, I would encourage her
to seek a safer environment for her daughter, but I am pretty sure this
particular school is not like that. Her daughter, and their family could have
been the salt and light someone needed. On
second thought, given the daughter’s snotty statement to the other girl, it
might be better for the Kingdom to keep her with Christians and away from
sinners. I’ve changed my mind. Mom at Wal-mart, please don’t send your child to
the public school. With the attitude you and she exhibit you would give
Christians a bad name.
God bless you as you find ways to be salt and light in your
corner of the world!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Bill, the Innkeeper
Every year I hear folks complain that Christmas is so busy and rushed. I guess the only time Christmas isn’t busy is when you don’t have anyone to celebrate with, or anyone who is counting on you. Bill was one of those folks. He was making it through Christmas as a spectator, not a participant.
You could call Bill an innkeeper. He was an assistant manager at a fairly large hotel and he worked the front desk from time to time checking guests in an out: a modern day innkeeper. As Christmas approached, all the employees were asking for the day off. One of the maids even quit to make sure she wouldn’t be asked to work on the Holiday. Everyone who worked the front desk was hoping that they would not be the one stuck with the duty. In staff meeting Fay, the manager, said that she hated to choose someone, but that the hotel would be open, and while it was not going to be full, there were guests with reservations coming. Someone had to work the desk and be on call. She said that from midnight to noon they could probably get by with just one person. All the desk staff held their breath, each afraid he or she would be the one to have to go home and tell the family they had to work on Christmas. Most of them had children or grandchildren they wanted to be with. Bill knew he would not be asked because as assistant manager he could pull rank on everyone except Fay.
Before Fay could even ask for a volunteer, Mildred asked that she be excused because her son and grandchildren were coming from California. Nicole quickly said, “Well, I want to go see my parents at Christmas. I worked Thanksgiving when Mildred’s daughter came.” Chad said, “I need to be with my kids. My ex is going skiing with her husband and I get the kids.” Then, it all became a jumble of words, with a few tears, and Bill could tell shouts would come next. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled loud and shrill. Everyone startled and stared at him. The whistle had the desired affect—the room went silent. Bill said, “Fay, I will work Christmas. I have no plans and everyone else does.” Bill had only been in town a few months and was living in a one-room efficiency apartment. His parents were dead and his sister lived three states away. He was still reeling from a rough divorce. This Christmas was not one he was looking forward to. Thirty-eight years-old and on his own, he had hoped to have a kid or two by now, but his wife made it clear she did not want to be a mother. He found out what she didn’t want was to be the mother of HIS kids. Just last month he heard she had a son by her new boyfriend. Bill would work. It would give him something to do besides sit at home and watch sentimental old movies on TV. Besides, he could do that sitting at the front desk on a slow day like Christmas promised to be. Everyone thanked him, including Fay. He didn’t really want to be at work on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, but there wasn’t any other place he wanted to be either.
Bill arrived at work on Christmas Eve at 8 p.m. He decided to work half of Marcia’s shift so she wouldn’t miss the whole evening with her family. The hotel had very few guests. It wasn’t even 20 percent occupied. The restaurant had just shut down and none of the meeting rooms, which had been so busy with parties the last two weeks, were in use. Christmas Eve drug by. He watched “A Christmas Carol” and looked for “It’s a Wonderful Life”, but had to settle for some college choir singing classic Christmas carols. The lobby was deserted all evening. The guests came in and went to the elevator. One couple came to the desk because they needed an extra key. Two people stopped by to ask if the restaurant would be open on Christmas Day. It would, but not until 4 p.m. There was one security man on duty. Bill talked with him for about a half an hour, but later he was hard to find. Bill suspected that he was staying away, because he had been consuming Christmas cheer and didn’t want the assistant manager to smell his breath. It was what he had feared—a long, lonely night. He found a deck of cards and laid out a game of solitaire. Even that brought him down. His life was solitaire. About 2 a.m. he did the night audit, which kept him busy and made a couple of hours pass more quickly.
At 8:30 a.m. a man and wife and two kids came in carrying sound equipment, a box of books and some decorations. As the man walked by the desk on his way to the meeting rooms he looked over his burden at Bill and said a hearty “Merry Christmas.” For a moment, Bill was at a loss. He saw the man hurry back and forth taking stuff to the meeting room and looking like he knew what he was doing. It suddenly occurred to Bill that it was not only Christmas, but it was also Sunday. This must be that new church that had been meeting for the last several months in one of the ballrooms. He’d heard about it, but he had never been at work when the church met. The man parked his car and came up to the desk with what looked like a microphone stand in his hand. He said “Hi. I’m the pastor of the Hope Church that meets here. You got stuck with desk duty today. Mildred told me last week she was hoping not to be here today.” Bill said, “Yeah, she had plans, and I didn’t have any. So here I am.” The pastor said, “Well that was a nice thing to do, but it must be a bummer working on Christmas Day. Excuse me, I gotta go set up for worship.”
In about twenty minutes the pastor was back in the lobby to open the door and greet people. When no one was coming in, he stepped over to the desk and talked with Bill. “Expect a crowd today?” asked Bill.
“Don’t know, we usually have 80 or 90 people, but a lot of them are young families and I’m sure they have Santa on their minds today,” said the pastor. “I know my kids do.”
Just then a lady came in carrying a big sheet cake. When it was time for the service to start the pastor said, “Hey, if you can get away from the desk, why not come down to the service?” In a few minutes Bill heard the familiar Christmas carols. He couldn’t really be away from the desk, but he did slip down the hall where he could hear the singing a little better and still see the front desk. When the service was over the people drifted out, talking and laughing, and many of them took a moment to say Merry Christmas to Bill. Some of the men helped the pastor load all the stuff back into his car. Finally, the pastor’s wife and kids came by along with a few more people. The pastor’s little daughter had a paper plate with a big piece of cake on it. She said, “Have a piece of birthday cake.” Bill said, “Whose birthday are you celebrating? Is it yours?” The little girl looked puzzled and replied, “No, it’s Jesus’ birthday.” Bill felt a little embarrassed.
The pastor was the last person out. When he stopped by the desk he reached out to shake Bill’s hand, suddenly, Bill didn’t want to be alone. He asked the pastor what his plans were for the rest of the day. Then, he asked him how long the church had been meeting at the hotel, and how long he expected they would be using it? How many members he had? What was their denominational affiliation? Bill kept asking questions, even though he could tell the man needed to go. Finally, the pastor said good-bye and Merry Christmas and left. Bill felt rather foolish for talking the man’s leg off when he knew the man had family to attend to. It was just that the loneliness seemed to crash around him when the church people reached out to him.
The cake caught his eye. It was a big piece. Bill thought to himself, “How dumb am I? ‘Whose birthday?’” He found a fork and took a bite. As he was chewing, he noticed that someone had left a Bible on the counter. Just then the phone rang and it was the pastor asking about his Bible. He asked Bill to keep it there at the desk and he would pick it up later.
As he finished the birthday cake, he opened the Bible to the place that was marked by one of those ribbon bookmarks attached to the binding. He didn’t figure the pastor would mind him reading his Bible. It opened to Luke chapter 2 where it tells about the birth of Jesus in the Bethlehem stable and the angels appearing to the shepherds and directing them to go see the baby. When it said there was no room for them in the inn, he thought to himself, “They should have stayed here. We have plenty of room.” He came to the part where the angels said they had good news of great joy which was for all people. It stopped him cold. Suddenly, he realized his problem this Christmas. That was what put him in his funk. Sure, he was in a rough spot in his life right now, but he usually handled that okay. He knew that things would get better, but Christmas had brought him down, because it seemed to be for other people: for kids, and people with kids, for families with big meals to share. But the angel said the news of Christmas was for everybody. Was Christmas for him too? The angel went on to say that the baby born in Bethlehem was a Savior, Christ the Lord. The pastor had written a little note in the margin by the word Savior that said “rescuer” and by the word Christ that said “anointed leader.” Bill was going to have to think about this. Jesus was born to rescue people and be their anointed leader. If this news was really for all people, could that mean it was for a lonely man like him too? The shepherds believed it. Could he believe it? Maybe he would ask that pastor about it when he came by to get the Bible.
Slowly, the desk began to get active with phone calls and people checking out. No one could see any difference in Bill on the outside, but something was different inside. He wasn’t sure he believed it all yet, but for the first time in months he felt hope. And hope is just a short step from belief.
(Based on a real-life incident)
You could call Bill an innkeeper. He was an assistant manager at a fairly large hotel and he worked the front desk from time to time checking guests in an out: a modern day innkeeper. As Christmas approached, all the employees were asking for the day off. One of the maids even quit to make sure she wouldn’t be asked to work on the Holiday. Everyone who worked the front desk was hoping that they would not be the one stuck with the duty. In staff meeting Fay, the manager, said that she hated to choose someone, but that the hotel would be open, and while it was not going to be full, there were guests with reservations coming. Someone had to work the desk and be on call. She said that from midnight to noon they could probably get by with just one person. All the desk staff held their breath, each afraid he or she would be the one to have to go home and tell the family they had to work on Christmas. Most of them had children or grandchildren they wanted to be with. Bill knew he would not be asked because as assistant manager he could pull rank on everyone except Fay.
Before Fay could even ask for a volunteer, Mildred asked that she be excused because her son and grandchildren were coming from California. Nicole quickly said, “Well, I want to go see my parents at Christmas. I worked Thanksgiving when Mildred’s daughter came.” Chad said, “I need to be with my kids. My ex is going skiing with her husband and I get the kids.” Then, it all became a jumble of words, with a few tears, and Bill could tell shouts would come next. He put his fingers to his lips and whistled loud and shrill. Everyone startled and stared at him. The whistle had the desired affect—the room went silent. Bill said, “Fay, I will work Christmas. I have no plans and everyone else does.” Bill had only been in town a few months and was living in a one-room efficiency apartment. His parents were dead and his sister lived three states away. He was still reeling from a rough divorce. This Christmas was not one he was looking forward to. Thirty-eight years-old and on his own, he had hoped to have a kid or two by now, but his wife made it clear she did not want to be a mother. He found out what she didn’t want was to be the mother of HIS kids. Just last month he heard she had a son by her new boyfriend. Bill would work. It would give him something to do besides sit at home and watch sentimental old movies on TV. Besides, he could do that sitting at the front desk on a slow day like Christmas promised to be. Everyone thanked him, including Fay. He didn’t really want to be at work on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, but there wasn’t any other place he wanted to be either.
Bill arrived at work on Christmas Eve at 8 p.m. He decided to work half of Marcia’s shift so she wouldn’t miss the whole evening with her family. The hotel had very few guests. It wasn’t even 20 percent occupied. The restaurant had just shut down and none of the meeting rooms, which had been so busy with parties the last two weeks, were in use. Christmas Eve drug by. He watched “A Christmas Carol” and looked for “It’s a Wonderful Life”, but had to settle for some college choir singing classic Christmas carols. The lobby was deserted all evening. The guests came in and went to the elevator. One couple came to the desk because they needed an extra key. Two people stopped by to ask if the restaurant would be open on Christmas Day. It would, but not until 4 p.m. There was one security man on duty. Bill talked with him for about a half an hour, but later he was hard to find. Bill suspected that he was staying away, because he had been consuming Christmas cheer and didn’t want the assistant manager to smell his breath. It was what he had feared—a long, lonely night. He found a deck of cards and laid out a game of solitaire. Even that brought him down. His life was solitaire. About 2 a.m. he did the night audit, which kept him busy and made a couple of hours pass more quickly.
At 8:30 a.m. a man and wife and two kids came in carrying sound equipment, a box of books and some decorations. As the man walked by the desk on his way to the meeting rooms he looked over his burden at Bill and said a hearty “Merry Christmas.” For a moment, Bill was at a loss. He saw the man hurry back and forth taking stuff to the meeting room and looking like he knew what he was doing. It suddenly occurred to Bill that it was not only Christmas, but it was also Sunday. This must be that new church that had been meeting for the last several months in one of the ballrooms. He’d heard about it, but he had never been at work when the church met. The man parked his car and came up to the desk with what looked like a microphone stand in his hand. He said “Hi. I’m the pastor of the Hope Church that meets here. You got stuck with desk duty today. Mildred told me last week she was hoping not to be here today.” Bill said, “Yeah, she had plans, and I didn’t have any. So here I am.” The pastor said, “Well that was a nice thing to do, but it must be a bummer working on Christmas Day. Excuse me, I gotta go set up for worship.”
In about twenty minutes the pastor was back in the lobby to open the door and greet people. When no one was coming in, he stepped over to the desk and talked with Bill. “Expect a crowd today?” asked Bill.
“Don’t know, we usually have 80 or 90 people, but a lot of them are young families and I’m sure they have Santa on their minds today,” said the pastor. “I know my kids do.”
Just then a lady came in carrying a big sheet cake. When it was time for the service to start the pastor said, “Hey, if you can get away from the desk, why not come down to the service?” In a few minutes Bill heard the familiar Christmas carols. He couldn’t really be away from the desk, but he did slip down the hall where he could hear the singing a little better and still see the front desk. When the service was over the people drifted out, talking and laughing, and many of them took a moment to say Merry Christmas to Bill. Some of the men helped the pastor load all the stuff back into his car. Finally, the pastor’s wife and kids came by along with a few more people. The pastor’s little daughter had a paper plate with a big piece of cake on it. She said, “Have a piece of birthday cake.” Bill said, “Whose birthday are you celebrating? Is it yours?” The little girl looked puzzled and replied, “No, it’s Jesus’ birthday.” Bill felt a little embarrassed.
The pastor was the last person out. When he stopped by the desk he reached out to shake Bill’s hand, suddenly, Bill didn’t want to be alone. He asked the pastor what his plans were for the rest of the day. Then, he asked him how long the church had been meeting at the hotel, and how long he expected they would be using it? How many members he had? What was their denominational affiliation? Bill kept asking questions, even though he could tell the man needed to go. Finally, the pastor said good-bye and Merry Christmas and left. Bill felt rather foolish for talking the man’s leg off when he knew the man had family to attend to. It was just that the loneliness seemed to crash around him when the church people reached out to him.
The cake caught his eye. It was a big piece. Bill thought to himself, “How dumb am I? ‘Whose birthday?’” He found a fork and took a bite. As he was chewing, he noticed that someone had left a Bible on the counter. Just then the phone rang and it was the pastor asking about his Bible. He asked Bill to keep it there at the desk and he would pick it up later.
As he finished the birthday cake, he opened the Bible to the place that was marked by one of those ribbon bookmarks attached to the binding. He didn’t figure the pastor would mind him reading his Bible. It opened to Luke chapter 2 where it tells about the birth of Jesus in the Bethlehem stable and the angels appearing to the shepherds and directing them to go see the baby. When it said there was no room for them in the inn, he thought to himself, “They should have stayed here. We have plenty of room.” He came to the part where the angels said they had good news of great joy which was for all people. It stopped him cold. Suddenly, he realized his problem this Christmas. That was what put him in his funk. Sure, he was in a rough spot in his life right now, but he usually handled that okay. He knew that things would get better, but Christmas had brought him down, because it seemed to be for other people: for kids, and people with kids, for families with big meals to share. But the angel said the news of Christmas was for everybody. Was Christmas for him too? The angel went on to say that the baby born in Bethlehem was a Savior, Christ the Lord. The pastor had written a little note in the margin by the word Savior that said “rescuer” and by the word Christ that said “anointed leader.” Bill was going to have to think about this. Jesus was born to rescue people and be their anointed leader. If this news was really for all people, could that mean it was for a lonely man like him too? The shepherds believed it. Could he believe it? Maybe he would ask that pastor about it when he came by to get the Bible.
Slowly, the desk began to get active with phone calls and people checking out. No one could see any difference in Bill on the outside, but something was different inside. He wasn’t sure he believed it all yet, but for the first time in months he felt hope. And hope is just a short step from belief.
(Based on a real-life incident)
Saturday, December 10, 2011
An Uncertain Christmas – A Certain Faith
We were a daddy and his little boy jostling down the interstate in a 24-foot U-haul truck. It was our third day in the truck which held all the family’s belongings and also pulled our car. The tired tow-headed five year-old, Jarad, tried to sleep, but the ride was just too rough. It was another story for his cocker spaniel. The dog was fast asleep on the hard floor as the boy struggled in the seat. After watching the dog sleep blissfully for a couple of hours Jarad made the dog trade places with him. Soon the dog was fast asleep on the more comfortable truck seat and Jarad was still wide awake on the floor.
I chuckled softly at Jarad’s predicament. It was a laugh at his expense, but I needed to laugh at something. There was not much that was funny about moving the week before Christmas. I was sad that my little five year-old was missing out on the usual Christmas traditions because we were on the road. Sadder still, was the reason we were moving. My sweet wife, Tina, who had long suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, had been fighting an infection for months and no matter what the doctors had tried, it would not go away. It just got worse. She hadn’t been able to walk for a long time; in fact, it was a terrible struggle for her to even get out of bed. Nothing the doctors had done had helped. She appeared to be dying at the age of thirty. I was taking Tina home so she could be near her parents in her last days.
Everything had happened so fast. Tina’s illness had forced her to stop working and I was embarrassed that I didn’t make enough money pastoring a small church to support my family without her income. The church said they couldn’t pay more and they refused to let me work outside the church. I felt I had no choice but to pursue another kind of work. As I started looking for a job, Tina grew worse. Her mom came out to California to help again. My angel of a mother-in-law had spent sixteen weeks at our house in the last year. She was a huge help, but it wasn’t fair for her to be 2300 miles away from her husband the rest of the family in Indiana.
Since we were selling our house, to reduce our debt load, it occurred to me as I watched Tina struggle, that there was nothing holding us in California anymore: I had resigned from the church, and soon we would be out of our house. Since I had to look for a job and a house, there was no reason it had to be out there. Tina needed to be with her family back in Indiana. She needed their emotional support and so did I. I also needed physical help taking care of her, and Jarad.
My parents, who lived in Kansas, traveled to California to help us pack and load the truck. Because she could not have tolerated the four day trip by car or in the moving truck, Tina flew out on the foggiest, dreariest night of the year. The next day, Jarad and I climbed into the truck and headed out with my parents following in their car.
Our plan was to spend the third night of the trip at my folk’s house. The next day they would follow me on to Indiana for as big of a Christmas celebration as we could muster at my in-law’s farm. Everyone was trying to be hopeful, joyous and helpful, but everyone also knew the sad reason for the move.
As we drove a popular song titled “Stand By Me” was broadcast on the radio time and again. The lyrics were of a man promising his loved one that, no matter what happened in life, they would be safe as long as they faced their hardships together. As I drove I would look at Jarad and we would sing it together. I was desperately hoping he might realize, whatever was ahead for us, he could count on me to be with him and uphold him.
It turned out to be a pretty rough trip. When we were going through Albuquerque, New Mexico snow started falling. It was just a few flakes at first, but within a few miles the snow became heavy, after a few more miles, it turned into a blizzard. We passed no towns for a long way, so there was no place to stop or turn around. I had never driven a big truck pulling a car in weather like this. Getting behind a big rig, I copied whatever the driver in front of me did: slowing down as we crested mountains, and carefully trying to keep going straight on the way down. It took four hours to go the fifty miles to the next town and a motel.
My mother took ill in the bad weather. It was not possible for her to continue past their Kansas home, another disappointment in a season of disappointments. After my father and I got Mom settled in her bed, Dad reminded me that the church I attended as I was growing up was presenting its outdoor “Living Nativity” and suggested that I take Jarad to see it. It was a good idea; maybe it would be one special thing in a fouled up Christmastime.
Walking into the church parking lot holding Jarad’s hand brought back wonderful memories of being part of that church and participating in the “Nativity”. This particular presentation was more than a tableau. Actors played out the Christmas story to a beautifully narrated and orchestrated twenty-five minute recording. When I was a youth, I participated heavily in all aspects of the production. As I held Jarad in my arms and watched, my heart was taken up by the familiar Christmas story in a new way. I identified for the first time with Joseph, the one male part I had never played. I was dealing with a lot of uncertainty that Christmas, and it occurred to me that the first Christmas was pretty uncertain for Joseph. Both Joseph and I found ourselves in towns that we no longer called home. Neither of us was happy about the way he was able to provide for his wife. Joseph’s wife gave birth in a stable. Mine was in the midst of moving at time of great suffering. Neither Joseph nor I knew what was going to happen next. Things worked out for Joseph because he trusted God, and God had a plan. I began to realize, that even though nearly everything in my life was uncertain I had to believe that God had a plan for me too, and I needed to trust Him. Whether Tina would live or die, I didn’t know. How I would provide for my family, I didn’t know. But I had given my life and my future to the Lord years before at this little church. Suddenly, I was reminded by the Christmas story, which was coming to life before me, that God would be faithful and that He would not forget my little family. In the midst of an uncertain Christmas, I found a more certain faith.
The next day Jarad and I (and the sleeping dog) jostled on down the road to a new life. Before long “Stand By Me” came on the radio, and Jarad and I again sang with the record. This time I sang it with a new assurance that, just as I would stand by my son in scary times, I, too, had a Heavenly Father standing by me on this uncertain Christmas.
Things didn’t straighten out right away, but the hope in my heart had been reborn. By the following Christmas, things were nearly back to normal. After ten surgeries Tina’s infection was finally cleared up and her health was slowly improving. Our house in California sold in February. After several months of unfruitful job searching, I was asked by my denomination to do something I had always dreamed of doing: begin a new congregation. Christmas that year found me back in the pulpit, my wife doing well, and my son making new friends in his kindergarten class. One thing was certain, God had been standing by us the whole time.
He has continued to do so. In the years since then, Tina finished college with a degree in education. She has recovered to the point that she is no longer considered disabled. After working several years on my staff as children’s minister, Tina now edits a children’s ministry magazine, writes an on-line children’s church curriculum, has authored ten books, and teaches and encourages children’s workers all over the country. Although she still battles rheumatoid arthritis, it hasn’t stopped her. The jostled little boy, Jarad, is an all grown-up and the father of twins. He serves as Lead Pastor at a church not far from Chicago. Tough times will come again, but they won’t be uncertain times because God has blessed us with a certain faith.
I chuckled softly at Jarad’s predicament. It was a laugh at his expense, but I needed to laugh at something. There was not much that was funny about moving the week before Christmas. I was sad that my little five year-old was missing out on the usual Christmas traditions because we were on the road. Sadder still, was the reason we were moving. My sweet wife, Tina, who had long suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, had been fighting an infection for months and no matter what the doctors had tried, it would not go away. It just got worse. She hadn’t been able to walk for a long time; in fact, it was a terrible struggle for her to even get out of bed. Nothing the doctors had done had helped. She appeared to be dying at the age of thirty. I was taking Tina home so she could be near her parents in her last days.
Everything had happened so fast. Tina’s illness had forced her to stop working and I was embarrassed that I didn’t make enough money pastoring a small church to support my family without her income. The church said they couldn’t pay more and they refused to let me work outside the church. I felt I had no choice but to pursue another kind of work. As I started looking for a job, Tina grew worse. Her mom came out to California to help again. My angel of a mother-in-law had spent sixteen weeks at our house in the last year. She was a huge help, but it wasn’t fair for her to be 2300 miles away from her husband the rest of the family in Indiana.
Since we were selling our house, to reduce our debt load, it occurred to me as I watched Tina struggle, that there was nothing holding us in California anymore: I had resigned from the church, and soon we would be out of our house. Since I had to look for a job and a house, there was no reason it had to be out there. Tina needed to be with her family back in Indiana. She needed their emotional support and so did I. I also needed physical help taking care of her, and Jarad.
My parents, who lived in Kansas, traveled to California to help us pack and load the truck. Because she could not have tolerated the four day trip by car or in the moving truck, Tina flew out on the foggiest, dreariest night of the year. The next day, Jarad and I climbed into the truck and headed out with my parents following in their car.
Our plan was to spend the third night of the trip at my folk’s house. The next day they would follow me on to Indiana for as big of a Christmas celebration as we could muster at my in-law’s farm. Everyone was trying to be hopeful, joyous and helpful, but everyone also knew the sad reason for the move.
As we drove a popular song titled “Stand By Me” was broadcast on the radio time and again. The lyrics were of a man promising his loved one that, no matter what happened in life, they would be safe as long as they faced their hardships together. As I drove I would look at Jarad and we would sing it together. I was desperately hoping he might realize, whatever was ahead for us, he could count on me to be with him and uphold him.
It turned out to be a pretty rough trip. When we were going through Albuquerque, New Mexico snow started falling. It was just a few flakes at first, but within a few miles the snow became heavy, after a few more miles, it turned into a blizzard. We passed no towns for a long way, so there was no place to stop or turn around. I had never driven a big truck pulling a car in weather like this. Getting behind a big rig, I copied whatever the driver in front of me did: slowing down as we crested mountains, and carefully trying to keep going straight on the way down. It took four hours to go the fifty miles to the next town and a motel.
My mother took ill in the bad weather. It was not possible for her to continue past their Kansas home, another disappointment in a season of disappointments. After my father and I got Mom settled in her bed, Dad reminded me that the church I attended as I was growing up was presenting its outdoor “Living Nativity” and suggested that I take Jarad to see it. It was a good idea; maybe it would be one special thing in a fouled up Christmastime.
Walking into the church parking lot holding Jarad’s hand brought back wonderful memories of being part of that church and participating in the “Nativity”. This particular presentation was more than a tableau. Actors played out the Christmas story to a beautifully narrated and orchestrated twenty-five minute recording. When I was a youth, I participated heavily in all aspects of the production. As I held Jarad in my arms and watched, my heart was taken up by the familiar Christmas story in a new way. I identified for the first time with Joseph, the one male part I had never played. I was dealing with a lot of uncertainty that Christmas, and it occurred to me that the first Christmas was pretty uncertain for Joseph. Both Joseph and I found ourselves in towns that we no longer called home. Neither of us was happy about the way he was able to provide for his wife. Joseph’s wife gave birth in a stable. Mine was in the midst of moving at time of great suffering. Neither Joseph nor I knew what was going to happen next. Things worked out for Joseph because he trusted God, and God had a plan. I began to realize, that even though nearly everything in my life was uncertain I had to believe that God had a plan for me too, and I needed to trust Him. Whether Tina would live or die, I didn’t know. How I would provide for my family, I didn’t know. But I had given my life and my future to the Lord years before at this little church. Suddenly, I was reminded by the Christmas story, which was coming to life before me, that God would be faithful and that He would not forget my little family. In the midst of an uncertain Christmas, I found a more certain faith.
The next day Jarad and I (and the sleeping dog) jostled on down the road to a new life. Before long “Stand By Me” came on the radio, and Jarad and I again sang with the record. This time I sang it with a new assurance that, just as I would stand by my son in scary times, I, too, had a Heavenly Father standing by me on this uncertain Christmas.
Things didn’t straighten out right away, but the hope in my heart had been reborn. By the following Christmas, things were nearly back to normal. After ten surgeries Tina’s infection was finally cleared up and her health was slowly improving. Our house in California sold in February. After several months of unfruitful job searching, I was asked by my denomination to do something I had always dreamed of doing: begin a new congregation. Christmas that year found me back in the pulpit, my wife doing well, and my son making new friends in his kindergarten class. One thing was certain, God had been standing by us the whole time.
He has continued to do so. In the years since then, Tina finished college with a degree in education. She has recovered to the point that she is no longer considered disabled. After working several years on my staff as children’s minister, Tina now edits a children’s ministry magazine, writes an on-line children’s church curriculum, has authored ten books, and teaches and encourages children’s workers all over the country. Although she still battles rheumatoid arthritis, it hasn’t stopped her. The jostled little boy, Jarad, is an all grown-up and the father of twins. He serves as Lead Pastor at a church not far from Chicago. Tough times will come again, but they won’t be uncertain times because God has blessed us with a certain faith.
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