The end of this week (Black Friday) marks the beginning of the Christmas season for many. (Though the big-box retailers had stuff out before Halloween, can you believe it!?!) For our culture, this season is a time of Joy. We gather for feasting and presents and the delighting of children. And despite the growing chill and occasional snow, it is a time focused on warmth and comfort.
Some people have noticed that as the joy of Christmas becomes more and more about our comfort, it becomes less and less about Jesus. Maybe that’s because the true Joy of Christmas is pretty far removed from the current joy dreamed up in Hollywood studios, corporate board rooms, and advertising agencies. Take a look at Simeon’s story when he met a month-old Jesus and his family at the Temple:
25 Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.[a] 27 He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law, 28 then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master,
according to your word, in peace;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared before the face of all peoples;
32 a light for revelation to the nations,
and the glory of your people Israel.”33 Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him, 34 and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. 35 Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Luke 2:25-35 WEB
This story really begs the question, what is the Joy of Christmas? Simeon was led by the Spirit, even showing up at exactly the right time on the right day to speak these words that were the culmination of his whole life. The Spirit did not reveal a gift for our comfort wrapped in a perfect bow. Instead, the Spirit revealed Jesus as a salvation that would dramatically change the world. It would begin with God’s people, and it wasn’t going to be fun or warm for everyone: “this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.”
The Spirit is speaking words of Judgement here against all that stands against God’s rule as King. The Joy of Christmas, for Spirit-led people has to do with celebrating that God isn’t going to leave our broken, wicked world alone. He’s going to save it, and that involves raising to glory some people and things and knocking down from pride other people and things. Christmas Joy doesn’t celebrate the coming of Santa to fulfill all our materialistic dreams because we are all good little boys and girls. No, it celebrates the King coming to realize God’s dream of his Kingdom in a world of rebellion and dysfunction so twisted it will always speak against the sign of Jesus.
Then as now, this Joy in Judgement should begin with God’s people. Even as we gather and celebrate and give gifts of Comfort and Joy, we should allow the Spirit to lead us into a deeper and more serious agenda: the agenda of salvation. The true Christmas story was a family discomforted for the sake of saving the world by childbirth in a stable and a refugee flight across borders to avoid political violence. In solidarity with this Christmas Child, we should be willing to be discomforted by the Spirit for the on-going work of salvation. We should let the Spirit cause the rising and falling of all the people and things in our lives and in the church by whether or they align to this Joy of salvation.
Are you ready to enlarge your meaning of Christmas Joy? Can it go beyond boxes and bows and twinkling lights to justice and righteousness and the redemption of human depravity? The first gift of Christmas was big enough to be about this — that’s why kings traveled halfway across the world to give gifts to Jesus in the first place.
A Place to Start
When it comes to Joy in Judgement, a good place to start is with these words of Jesus:
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
8 “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.
John 15:1-8 WEB
These words are part of the 2024 Dwelling in the Word (John 15:1-17) for the Lancaster Mennonite Conference, one of the two conferences with which Camp is associated. We picked this passage to soak in for an entire year because of its centrality to the Kingdom of God. It’s a great passage to finish the year with. As we think about King Jesus coming as the true meaning of Christmas, how is the health of our own vine? Allow Are we connected to the life-giving flow of Jesus? Does our branch need pruning; is the Spirit ready to trim some things? Are we bearing much fruit?
As the year wraps and we get ready for 2025, here are some resources to help in the process of asking these questions:
Exponential offers six assessments to evaluate the individual and church fruitfulness. Each take about 30 minutes and will help leaders think about the difference between subtraction, addition, and multiplication discipleship practices and culture.
BECOMING a Level FIVE Multiplying Church FREE EBOOK
Exponential also offers this free e-book (or buy a print version) written by three of the leading practitioners of church multiplication. The book explores what it means to be a multiplying church, the dynamics that stand in the way of multiplication, and practical advice about transforming church culture to become a missional movement.
Using Fierce Evaluation to Create Mercy Space
In the NYC LMC District, we’re using The Journey Map to think about spiritual journey for both individuals and communities (like churches). The first position on the map is Mercy Space — creating space for the spiritual journey of others. Often, this process requires a great deal of fierce evaluation since most of us live lives with little room for new people and practices. By really looking at how well our lives align with the agenda of Jesus and the Kingdom, we can ruthlessly prune everything that isn’t bearing Kingdom fruit to make room on our vine for God’s harvest.
We’re definitely taking a look at this at Camp — especially as it has to do with young adult development and our entire Summer Camp ministry. This past week, on a call with urban camp leaders across the country, Dr. Rob Ribbe shared about the young adult crisis from his research into world-wide Christian Camping. The solution: re-aligning camping towards a Jesus-based discipleship movement that multiplies itself in the young adults discipled to make disciples of children. We’re going to be working as a team to evaluate our program in light of this:
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