Birthday Cake for Jesus

Okay, it's time for a little transparency. This Christmas I baked my first birthday cake for Jesus. I felt just as silly baking it and singing around it as I thought I would. In fact, the entire experience was not the Christmas celebration I had anticipated.

I've never been on board with the idea. My literal mind could never seem to accept it. Jesus is eternal, therefore, no "birthday." You don't serve birthday cake at a baby's birth; Christmas might be best celebrated with blue bubblegum cigars or diaper trees. And shouldn't the one having the birthday be able to enjoy cake? Jesus doesn't eat the cake -- overweight, overindulged Americans do! But, I had decided I would do it as a way of re-enforcing the point of Christmas: God come to earth as a babe to save mankind. Then, one of our littles asked if we could bake a birthday cake for Jesus. "Great, she's into it. Anything for the kiddos, right?"

Christmas Eve we returned from church, sat down to a deliciously noisy family dinner. While dishes were cleared, we called the rest of our family overseas and collected some of the excitement of their Christmas Day. Then, it was time for cake. I got out the dishes, feeling as though, sooner or later I'd have to reel some of the older folks at the table back in with a gentle scolding, "Oh, stop! It's for the littles. I let you have your fun." Not a creature was stirring. Not one sarcastic comment left anyone's lips.

Candles. Just how many candles do you put on Jesus' birthday cake? He's eternal! Even if you're counting mortal years, there'd be no fitting that many candles on this cake. I settled on one and lit it. The lights were dimmed, the cake was placed in the midst of our family, and everyone sang. Everyone sang! Well, thank You, Jesus. That went well. I plucked the single candle from the cake and started slicing.

The following evening, as the house settled into quiet, Scott and I began to revel in the wonder and memories of the previous twenty-four hours. "I really liked the birthday cake thing. That was cool," he said. Really? "Yeah, I though it would be kind of weird, but it was cool. And I think all the kids were into it." I was dumbfounded. Sure, I hadn't heard any objections, but liked it?

A couple days passed, and the time came for Christmas ham to be made into soup and birthday cake to be parceled out and frozen. I unwrapped the colorful treat and noticed something -- a single hole through the icing, where the birthday candle had stood. Jesus came to die. His wrists and ankles pierced as He allowed Himself to be nailed to a tree, the punishment of the cursed. His heart pierced by a Roman sword. I fought back the tears. This "Christmas" celebration turned my heart to the cross. The place where it all began for me. My slate was washed clean. My heart was made new. Redemption was purchased -- for my life, for everything this world dumps on me, and for everything at which I fail or fall short. The place where I was healed and hope was restored. Where the Seed was given up to die that His life in me might flourish and bear fruit for all to see. The place where my victory masqueraded as Heaven's defeat, where the way things appeared to human eyes did not come close to what was being done for me. The place where a "silly" chocolate cake could bring glory to a King.

Happy birthday, Dear Jesus! Happy birthday to you!

Hope Deferred

What would it take for you to have hope?

We all have moments of uncertainty. The moment we are having has lasted more than a year so far, with no end in sight. It could emerge as the 'do-over," the second chance we have, on occasion fantasized about, or it could end in crushing disappointment and an unimaginably painful severance. "How will this all work out? Should we ___? Best not to plan too far ahead. Don't spend that money just yet. Don't make that promise until we are sure." This place in which we've been stalled tests our faith and our relationship. It changes the way we live and pray and plan. The things that frustrate and give Scott pause are not always the same things that frustrate and inhibit me; some days I am comfortable and cruising right along, while he is struggling, and vice versa. We are challenged with praying through our own fear and skepticism as well as understanding and interceding for each other's. There is not a facet of our lives that has not been tested or put on hold. The overall scheduling and paperwork can be daunting, and following our Monday through Friday routine is physically and mentally exhausting. Our fairly sizable home can seem cramped and cluttered pretty frequently. And, while it may not be the "how" it is definitely the "what" I always wanted! But, even this far into our journey, we still have no indication how all this will turn out. I have never encountered the unresolved and unknowable at such an intensity and for so great a period of time as I have in this season. And I am sure we are not alone.

Years ago I read a devotional written by a woman who had a miscarriage in her second trimester. Her child had died, and with him, the expectation and wonder of her very first pregnancy. Some time later, she believed she was pregnant again. They waited to do a pregnancy test. They waited to tell others. They waited to make any purchases. They waited to enjoy it. "Don't get your hopes up. Proceed slowly just in case." The depth of her reservedness reflected the depth of her grief. Her second pregnancy was overshadowed by uncertainty when it should have been crowned with joy. Months and months of holding her breath, were finally brought to an end by the first breath of a new life. But the joy and thankfulness of a second chance were lost until that very last moment.

Isaiah 43:18 says, "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old." Not that we shouldn't remember all that God has done for us, the times He has rescued us, or all He has rescued us from, but we should never dwell on those things, stay in the places He has called us out of. God is God of the new, of progression and redemption. God is always working to improve things and create beauty from ashes. The "do-overs" He grants us are opportunities for hope, not cause for trepidation. A second chance is not a time for us to tread lightly or fearfully. New experiences that may resemble former setbacks or suffering are experiences we need to confidently, expectantly embrace in Jesus' name as His redemptive work.

Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Seems to be something any child can understand, huh? If the thing we hope for is delayed, we are sad, but when we get what we want we are joyful. But it's much more than that. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick..." If we choose worry over hope, if we would rather walk in fear instead of hope our heart will become sick, weak. A sick, weakened heart will eventually fail. "...but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." There is only one true Hope (1 Timothy 1:1), only one Inheritance of which we are guaranteed (1 Peter 1:3-6), and a single Desire of our heart that will never leave us disappointed or unfulfilled (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Our Lord Jesus Christ is our immediate, eternal hope in which we can rest every moment of every day. He brings life and healing to the world. He redeems and makes new. Even when the "glorious unfolding" is long in coming. Even when it is one holding pattern after another. Even when the cold grey skies of Winter never seem to break to allow even a glimpse of the sun.

No matter how this chapter will end, we will have an ah-mazing testimony when we are finally able to speak (just one more frustrating "hold" this time has placed on our life). Until then, we will walk in the present and eternal hope of Jesus Christ, our heart's desire.

All For Love

What is the chief end of man?
Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

There is no other catechism I remember quite as well as that one. Our main function, our primary goal is to glorify God and to walk in the benefits of a life joined with His. Not one day. Not as soon as... Glorify Him today. Enjoy Him today. Heaven on earth. And isn't that what this season is all about? Heaven come to earth. But why?

I was contemplating the wonder of it all the other morning. I'm going to ask you to forget that God submitted to human authority, laid down a life of splendor and royalty in exchange for cloth diapers, and came to a place where He would face daily egregious wrongs committed by men toward others for over thirty years. His heart breaking for His people, but His hands restrained for the greatest good of those people. God came to earth to die.

Luke 19:10 says, "...the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." To find the lost (Rom. 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."), to seek out and call those given over to the influence of sin, and to save them (Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."). How was that to come about? Matthew 20:28 says, "...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." He gave His life as a ransom; He laid down His life that you and I could live to glorify and enjoy Him forever, today.

We can't begin to imagine the glory God is due. We require our children to respect us because of our role as parents and because of their need to respect authority their entire lives. We expect our teacher or employer to give us the credit we deserve for a job well done. We -- hopefully -- pay our bills when they come due for the services or products we have been allowed to use. Expectation. Entitlement. Those words are not at all foreign to us and yet, who could imagine all God is due?

The Creator of the Universe. The Great I Am. The Alpha and Omega. The Way, the Truth and the Life. Jehovah Jireh. Who can measure His worth? Who could possibly do enough, say enough, sing enough to offer up all the praise He is due. No one. Which is why God acts in such a way to bring glory to Himself. (This tally by John Piper is a pretty diverse account of the ways God has brings glory to His name.) And there is no wrong in it. If your coworkers were all sent home day after day, and you were expected to pick up the slack, would you do it for free? You would want the honor you are due. Does your wife always get her way? As a spouse and partner, you want the respect you are due. And God is due all glory and honor for He created all things, and they are permitted to exist because He allows (Rev. 4:11).

But was His own glory the motivation for what took place in Bethlehem long ago? Forgive me if you've heard this before, but "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). It was for love. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." 1 John 3:16 tells us, "By this we know love, because He (Jesus) laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." Love was the motivation for God coming to live and hunger and weep and work with mankind; love was the motivation for His death just a short time later.

God the Son was glorified; God the Father was glorified. In birth and in death. Luke 2:13-14 the story of Christ's birth, recounts "a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest...'" As Judas left to betray Him, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him" (John 13:31). But if not for love, what would bring glory? It is the magnanimous deeds of one which causes their story to be told throughout the ages. It is selflessness that draws people into lasting, intimate relationship with another. God gained the glory He is due, but it was because of an incredibly loving act -- God, coming to earth for us. Emmanuel.

The Christmas Dresses

It fit like a glove. It was bright red, and soft, and may have been the first in a young girl's memory. The Christmas dress. An unremarkable woman's attempt at bringing some hope to a bad situation. The smile on the young girl's face was tentative. They barely knew one another, and pleasing the other was something they were still learning to do. But as their exchange continued, trust emerged, and they began to leave the thrift store with their purchase.

"Where did it go?"

"What?"

"Where did it go?! The dress. The red dress that was hanging right here!"

"I just bought it," the unremarkable woman replied.

"Oh, no! I just paid the lady for it! I was buying it for a little girl who needs a family. My church and I are trying to give her a good Christmas."

The unremarkable woman and the young girl exchanged glances. They had family. They were family. And they handed the bright red Christmas dress over to the little girl with no one but strangers.

"Please pray for this little girl," said the lady with the Christmas dress.

And they did. The unremarkable woman and the young girl.

"We heard what happened with the Christmas dress," said others. "We'd like to give you this."

The bag was bigger than the young girl. Two perfect Christmas dresses, two beautiful pairs of shoes, and more hope than the unremarkable woman could ever give a young girl. A sweet indulgence crafted by the One who knows each sparrow that falls and faithful servants who obeyed His voice.

Merry Christmas to all!