Happy Christmas and New Year 2019

"Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."  This is what we read in the book of Luke 2:10. Is that great joy reflected in our lives and in our daily contact with others?  Or are we so enamoured with and entangled in this fleeting, failing, futile, finite earthly life that we have lost the great joy of anticipation of being in His presence. Let us keep asking this question as we celebrate the Christmas in different ways.

The birth of Jesus is a turning point of human history and there is nothing wrong to remember the Lord’s birth. But how do we do? Is it just to follow the western tradition, or are we projecting the truth from the bible? What a great news it might have been to those Shepherds when the angel came and said "Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people..."  Now, let us also look at our context too.  The world where we live is very strange in one way. We live in the age of information, or “digital age,” or “new media age.” The whole world is in our fingertip. Our uncles and aunties from Mugu can make a whatsapp call to their friends in California.  One of the most used online sources (dictionary.com) chooses “MISINFORMATION” as the word of the year 2018.  Our children are bombarded with the misinformation, which is mostly packed with false or inaccurate, especially that which is deliberately intended to deceive. We survive in the societies where truth does not have any more space. We live in the villages where whole set of good information is distorted and our children are trained up in confusion. The gospel according to Luke reminds us FOUR things about Christmas. Let us see what the Lord has stored for us to renew our hope in Him.

1.     Shepherds: The good news came to the shepherd first time, not to kings. The history says that the shepherds were disdained as lowly as you can think of. During the patriarch era, they were considered valued and honored in society. The following civilization then twisted and values and norms gradually shifted over the years.  Things turned to the different arena when Israelite came into slavery in Egypt. This profession had lost its dignity in society.  The rabbis considered them to be religious outcasts and their testimony was not admissible in court. (Utley, 2004). Whatever the case might be, the angel came to Shepherds with the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord hears the cry of his people disregard of our background and class.

2.     Fear: What a fear it might have been to the shepherds who were immersed with fear of society, culture, and context. In Contrast, the voice appears to them, “Do not fear”. Fear has caught us even in our lives. Our family, society, villages, nation are in deep trouble with fear of survival. Looking at our Nation, we do not know how the federal system will survive. We were desperate for the majority and we have got it. People are afraid of how things will move from here. Our daughters are not safe in our society. We cannot trust civil servant. The corruption is more rife than ever before in our country.  Of the 715 people who went to 15 government offices in Kathmandu and Lalitpur, 504 of them said they had to bribe the official to get their job done.  Out of 180 people who went to four Land Revenue Offices in Kathmandu, 140 were forced to bribe officials. (Sapkota, The Nepal Times, Dec, 2018)  What will happen to us tomorrow? We are burdened with our future? We are anxious how our children are going to be tomorrow? The message for the shepherd is to break all those barriers and turn it into freedom.  Christ was/is the hope for all. The hope of freedom!

  

3.     ALL: The question is about the God’s saving nature? Many a time we question in the Old Testament, saying, is the Lord for all!  Yes, He is. He speaks in Pentateuch. (Gen 12) His blessing will follow from Abraham. Psalmist keeps saying that everyone in the earth will praise the Lord. All castes, colors, ethnic groups and languages will praise the Lord. This is the golden thread that binds all. Even angels told to shepherds that the good news is to ALL.

4.     Peace: No man can earn or cultivate the peace. This comes from above. The Lord will add his peace which no one can ever earn. Knowingly the fact that we cannot do much to earn the peace, human beings are after it. We assume that materialism can feel the gap. Alas! It does not last for long. A billionaire industrialist Adolf Merckle committed suicide in 2009. He was once ranked as one of the 100 richest men in the world, with an £8.5 billion personal fortune. I can name the list of the high profiles who earned the wealth and status but their hearts were void. Who can fill that gap? The shepherds are glad to share the good news of peace. He is the Lord Jesus.

    Can we celebrate Christmas with hope, joy, peace and love? We do not need Santa, or Christmas tree or even do not require much of the show-up which sometime puts a pressure on the one who cannot afford. Let us make the Christmas where our brothers and sisters gets an opportunity to know the Christ. Please remember, the Christmas is not found in the Bible, Christmas tree is not found in the Bible. Santa does not have space in the Bible. What we have in the Bible is about the Love, Peace and Joy of our savoir. We all can create culture from the Bible without Turkey’s Santa, or Europe’s Christmas-tree.  Let us celebrate the birth of our King!

Immanual; God With Us

A few days ago, I was speaking to a group of people about the Christmas. I was surprised how we Nepali friends have understood the Christmas. Many a time, it is just a replacement of our previous festival. It sometimes becomes a burdensome to some families who could not afford to buy new clothes, jewelery, or food items during the Christmas. This is because they did the same in their previous days, buying new clothes, new food. Sometime, we become constrained by society and culture. Sometime we try to adopt all those styles and methods what the west follows. I call it as ‘passive burdens’. This even compels them to take a loan from others, and that becomes a burden to the family for a long time.

What does the Christmas mean to us. What does it tell to you and me? We looked at the word “Immanuel” and pondered about the Lord. "Immanuel" is a Hebrew word meaning "God with us" and expresses the wonder of the incarnation, that God "became flesh and made his dwelling among us" ( John 1:14). Would not it be an exciting to the world, that the Lord of majesty wants to dwell among us. By the way what does it mean when we say ‘God with us.” It certainly gives us the confidence that we are together with the Lord. The Christmas is a reminder to us that we are not alone in our journeys. The Immanuel walks with us together, stays with us, counsels us. No matter which caste and color do we come from, no matter what language group do we belong, He is with us. It breaks all those barriers, and this is the beauty of Immanuel.

Let us look at it from the other side of story. You might be familiar with the word ‘Reputation.’ The Webster’s defines it as, ‘the common opinion that people have about someone or something.’ This is what the most people care about: what others think of them. It is everything to do what we are known for, negatively or positively. Now it is exactly opposite with the Lord. He disregarded reputation all together. I think, only someone who is divine could actually do it. The crazy thing is that most of us only care about what others think of us and disregard what God says about us.

Are we willing to sacrifice our reputation, our pride of what we are doing, pride of our culture, or it may be our civilization, our languages? Having all of the glory and majesty, if the Lord could become ‘Immanuel,’ how-much more we as his children have to think… God With Us.

The Christmas Story: Have you got a place in the Inn? (Part-3)

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in anger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7

        It’s good to keep yourself in plan and prepared for the future. Our culture is not as such that we keep ourselves into schedules. We, Asian are much flexible, and there are both pros and cons of it. I have been learning on this as it makes the life more comfortable and effective too. The bible is very clear and transparent about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The innkeeper did not have a place for Jesus’ birth. 

        His birth was anticipated for hundreds of years ago. Different prophets forecast the truth that the savior would be coming. His birth would be so significant that the history would split into AD and BC. You and I would be dated in the birth of Jesus Christ. Yet he did not have room when he came to the earth. The innkeeper missed the opportunity. If Jesus had been born in one of his rooms, probably he would have made it like the Emirates palace, putting sign of the birth of Jesus on the front gate. He would have got a lot of fortune out of this. He missed all those possibilities just because he did not get a room for Jesus then.

         Now, how does it relate to our daily lives as we are close to the 25^th December? We are busy in our daily routine with lot of activities. Do we still have a place for the Lord Jesus? We spend our time and energy for the things of this world which is going to pass away. How much do we invest into the things which are everlasting? Jesus is still wanting to born in our life. He is still looking a room in our family. He is still looking a room in our social relationship. He is still looking a room in our nation. May we give him a room where he could make the mess right.

The Christmas Story: Gifts (Part-2)

It’s been almost fourteen years of my Christian walk that I am celebrating the Christmas. For Nepali Christians, it is a very auspicious occasion as we get time to get-together, and meet friends, and even opportunities to make outreach events during this occasion. A part of the Christmas celebration that we do in Nepal is an adopted method from outside. Some of my friends may not agree with me. Well, we do how we had been taught. Christmas carol is one of the most used methods of celebrations. Recently I got news that Federation of National Christian Nepal have planned to do a motorcycle rally during the Christmas occasion. I wonder what they are going to do with that rally as Nepali people are really tired and exhausted due to the regular bandh and strikes, and roads are continually disrupted due to unhealthy political games from our leaders. I would suggest that they can review on their decision of motorcycle rally and do something different that speaks to wider community about the Christmas.

Christmas is celebrated as a remembrance of the birth of the Lord Jesus. He came to this earth and sacrificed his life for the remission of the sin for many. What do we do during birthday programme? We usually bring gifts and give it to the birthday person. My question is what we are giving to the Lord as this birthday belongs to the Lord. Have we ever thought on this? The Bible tells us that those wise people did not give Jesus their leftover gifts rather it was so precious and significant. “They bowed down and worshiped hi. They opened their gifts and gave his treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11)

Now what are you going Jesus during this Christmas?

1.      Trust: Its voluntary stuff and the lord would not force you to give it to him unless you voluntarily give. Your trust on him is the most valuable gift that you could ever give. May this Christmas be the time where we can rely for everything unto him.

2.      Priority: Make the Lord as your first priority. Let him rule the first in every sectors of our life. Be it is our relationship, finances, schedules or interest. That would be the best Christmas gift that you could ever give it to the Lord.

3.      Heart: You heart is what you love the most. What if the Lord requires your heart? Would you be willing to give it to the Lord as Christmas gifts? He does not require your money or finances but the heart which is very precious to him. He needs that precious stuff to make it more beautiful and sparkling.

4.      Share the News: He gave himself to the world so that others could get him as we have got him. He wants people to know him from their heart. There would not be any more joy than the one gets to know him.

May the Lord help us to celebrate this Christmas so that we can honor and praise him from everything that we have!

The Christmas Story; Speculating or Seeking (Part-1)

Few days ago, my pastor introduced a wonderful ‘Bible’ app, and I installed it in my android. Such a wonderful stuff that I could ever have! I could install all those favorite Bible versions including ‘Nepali’ and some other regional languages as well. One of the benefits that you could get in Bible app was the series of devotional contents. There are many important lessons where one could meditate, store it in device, or share it to friends if it is worth sharing. I have chosen the Christmas story for my devotion. I wish I could put that stuff into Nepali. Due to some of technical limitation, I am just blogging some of my blessing and inspiration into English only.

 One of the interesting scenes from the Christmas story is about the Wise Men! These wise people were seeking Jesus. The thesis lays here- They were seeking Jesus! Some people say that there are two kinds of people in life when it comes to truth: Speculators and Seekers. Speculators may guess and think they know God. They may love to argue and discuss, having full of preoccupied thought in mind. Their guessing does not really let them to know the truth. On the other side, seekers ask question and study to know the truth. They can go to any extent in order to know the truth. God loves seekers. (Deut 4:29) Seeking is not just spending time. Let us look at the text from the book of Matthew 2:1, “When Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.” They were willing to travel to any length in order to find Jesus. Jesus was born in Bethlehem which is just about 10 kms from Jerusalem. During those days, Jerusalem was the centre of the intelligence, mind and thought. People used to come to Jerusalem from all over the places in order to learn ideas and thoughts. However, none of those learned men and women ever dared to seek the truth. Look at the text closely; people from outside of the land, wise men from a completely different land and culture came to seek Jesus. 

All those people in Jerusalem and nearby areas missed the Truth, including Herod and those so called business and religious leaders. Yes, you and I could also miss the truth even though He is right in our midst. We need to be cautious! Are we seeking to know the truth? Or we are just speculating? But the wise men did it. They were seeking the truth thought it cost them a lot and, finally they found it. They gave up everything for this mission. What is our motive in our journey to find the truth?