pondering Christmas...a few days late, i know ;)

truly he taught us to love one another

his law is love and his gospel is peace

chains shall he break

for the slave is our brother

and in his name all oppression shall cease

familiar song?

"Oh Holy Night" is one of my favorite Christmas carols! My sister and I used to dance to this song at church in our Christmas play often growing up. yep, dance. we aren't pro dancers to say the least but for some reason we gave it a try ;)

I can't even fathom how many times i have seen these words printed on a hymnal in front of me or projected onto a wall during a worship service.

But, this year these words have hit me quite differently, different than they ever have before. unfortunately, over the years, this familiar song has become all too 'familiar'. so commonly sung and hummed that the words i am actually speaking have gone unnoticed by my heart and mind. How did I just mindlessly read over these lyrics year after year... well, this Christmas they have come alive to me in a whole new way.

I sang this song for the first time this Christmas season about 3 weeks ago in our prayer time at work. As I sang the words unconsciously, my voice suddenly stopped at the line, "chains shall he break..."

chains.

my mind quickly traveled to the stories I have heard over the past 3 months while working with IJM (international justice mission). exposure to these stories have quite honestly changed my life forever. stories of slaves in India, freed. stories of tiny 5 year old girls who were bound in brothels, freed. stories of vulnerable women in Africa regaining their property and belongings that were ripped away from them by those more powerful than themselves.

chains.

my mind sat still on the thoughts of my chains. how grateful i am that i do not have physical chains on me right now. i could not once even begin to imagine myself in that situation. that is a world so far from mine...why God placed me here in this body in this place in life--i cannot quite fully answer. yet, indeed a form of chains exist in my life. how tightly my selfishness bounds me at times. how my desire for the pleasures of this world controls my mind and body. how sometimes i feel so wrapped up worry and negative thoughts that i feel constrained and consumed.

but then He came.

Emmanuel, God with us.

Chains Shall He Break...

it was as if i had never heard this line before, and it made me want to scream and shout and dance all at the same time!

he HAS come. he HAS freed me. and he IS presently releasing captives and the oppressed from their literal physical chains today as well--i've heard their stories first hand!

The spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

familiar words?

these are words Jesus quoted in Luke from the prophet Isaiah. This was the very beginning of his ministry, some of the first words he spoke out loud. I must have read these words or have heard them read aloud a multitude of times, yet, unfortunately they have become a little too familiar to mean much of anything. they hit me quite differently this Christmas. When thinking about Christmas, of course I think about Jesus...

HOW he came.

in the body of a vulnerable newborn baby. in a filthy barn filled with animals and horrid smells. he came to be WITH us. to be near us. to be beside us. to be flesh, like me and you. to walk the streets we walk. to be a God that knows our struggles and our pains. to be a God who can relate with every aspect of our lives. to be a God that does not stand far away from the chaos of this world but he brought himself close. he came to the dirtiest, stinkiest, lowliest place. he came humbly without pretense. he came through his creation. he was concieved inside of his creation Mary. he came to be IN us, to work THROUGH us.

he came to be Emmanuel, God with us.

WHY he came.

Jesus makes this so obvious. Sometimes the devil lies to me and tells me that God is an awful communicator. Perhaps it might be easy to believe that the God who created the moon, the stars, all the galaxies, the oceans, the wonders of the world, your newborn baby, my lungs, the forests, the billions of blades of grass, and chocolate oatmeal no-back cookies (!)...perhaps this God is lacking in communication skills.

no way! he is a wonderful , splendid communicator. unfortunately, i am an awful listener. or rather, i choose not to listen. but He speaks. and i think these first words speak why

he came.

to proclaim good news to the poor.
to proclaim liberty to the captives.
to recover the sight of the blind.
to set at liberty those who are oppressed.
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor forever.

he came to give us LIFE ABUNDANTLY. (john 10:10)

i am learning so much right now about WHY he came. i admit, it perplexes me greatly. it is basically insane to think that God came here. He came here to give me life? Life is made up of so much: physical, spiritual, emotional...and he came to give us abundance in each area of life.

i am asking him to reveal to my heart again Why he came. i am asking him to re-open my eyes to the story i have heard since i was even an unborn child in momma seyberts womb. this story of him coming can become all too familiar and that familiarity can rob me of so much. the answer to this question is so important to me. because if we are living our lives to look like Jesus (..right?) then the reason he came, is possible the reason we exist as well. we are trying to look like him, act like him, speak like him, embody God to the world (...right?).

so why am I here?

why are you here?

why did WE come into this world? maybe to be in the chaos.... to be with people in the midst of the pain of life. to be the hands and feet of Christ to those around us. God has come inside of me as a believer for a reason. he has inpregnanted me, much like he did Mary.He is in me. i should break some chains! I should release some prisoners! i should go to the places that might be dirty and stinky and lowly and small and not popular or prominent. maybe i am here to proclaim liberty to those living in captivity (both physical and emotional)...

hmmmm o dear all these thoughts about the deep questions of life...just roll with me

and go eat some chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies while you ponder :)