MercyMe has a Christmas album with a song called Joseph’s lullaby…

It’s a song from the perspective of Joseph, Jesus’ father…
The lyrics are…

“Go to sleep my Son
This manger for your bed
You have a long road before You
Rest Your little head

Can You feel the weight of Your glory?
Do You understand the price?
Does the Father guard Your heart for now
So You can sleep tonight?

Go to sleep my Son
Go and chase Your dreams
This world can wait for one more moment
Go and sleep in peace

I believe the glory of Heaven
Is lying in my arms tonight
Lord, I ask that He for just this moment
Simply be my child”

There is a short instrumental portion that plays out and then the last verse sings,

“Go to sleep my Son
Baby, close Your eyes
Soon enough You’ll save the day
But for now, dear Child of mine
Oh my Jesus, Sleep tight”

A few years ago I wanted to write a Musical about Christmas… I never finished it… but I always pictured using this song to conclude the performance….

Picture this…

The whole story has just been told. Jesus has been born, everyone’s come to visit, the joyous music has been played, the curtain has closed… everyone is ready to leave… but the lights don’t go up.

Everyone is clapping and ready to begin a standing ovation…but they know that something isn’t right because the lights still aren’t going up…

The clapping starts to die and you can hear the curtain open again and all are quiet as they try to figure out what’s going on…

As the lights go up on the stage, you see Mary and Joseph sleeping on opposite sides of the stage and the manger in the center. The lights are low showing you that it’s night… and Jesus starts to whimper…

Mary: [a loud whisper] Joseph?
and before she can finish even saying his name… Joseph is jumping at the chance to have a minute alone with the Savior of the world…
Joseph: I’ve got Him, Mary…

Joseph gets up and picks up the baby Jesus and walks Him outside and starts to sing Him this lullaby…

“Go to sleep my Son…”

And during the instrumental… Joseph realizes Jesus is asleep and so he puts Jesus back in the manger and falls back asleep.

After the instrumental, though, there is still one verse… who’s going to sing?

At this point… I would have a man sing the last verse as the voice of God.

Can you imagine God… looking on the birth of His Son… and seeing His Son crying in the night… wants to sing Him a lullaby just like every other father… and God sings…

“Go to sleep My Son…
And Baby, close Your eyes,
Soon enough You’ll save the day,
But for now dear Child of mine…
Oh, My Jesus… Sleep Tight”

So as we near Christmas day… don’t get so sick of Christmas that you get sick of Jesus… Jump at the chance to spend a minute alone with Him… and remember… He is the Son of God… given to you.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

“Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light,
the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight…”

There’s not too much more time before we celebrate the day of His coming to earth…

Phillipians 2
” 1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!”

Mark 10:45
“…For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”"

He humbled Himself…

I mean seriously if anybody is somebody it’s Jesus right?

I mean He’s God! He deserves ALL glory… ALL honor… and ALL praise… and yet ALL He wanted to do… was serve.

It brings me to tears to think how much I am not a servant. I am not humble.

I am so proud.

I think I am something when I am nothing and yet Jesus considered Himself nothing when He was truly something.

I loved how Cliff reminded us last year that the angels came and told the shepherds that the Messiah was born. The shepherds… the smelly, nasty, morally depraved, unwanted, disliked shepherds heard the news before anyone else. And it was those people that shared it with everyone else.

I’m a shepherd… and you know what… just like the people didn’t rush to see Jesus because it was Shepherds telling them the news… there might be people that don’t want to hear from me that the Messiah has come… but we are to preach the gospel in season and out of season… (2 Timothy 4:2)… and Tis the season….

The light of the world… that lights our dark streets… lives within you and me… let your light shine before men so that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16)….

As I started to think about Christmas with the Longfellow poem… and began to pray that Jesus would come into the hearts and lives of those around me that don’t know Him as Savior and Lord… I began to ask myself… “Well what are you doing to help?”

I mean what about that Christmas Carol, “Go Tell it on the Mountain”? Are we going to tell it? Are we going to share the gift of love God gave to us in Bethlehem?

Let’s just try to put this in perspective for a minute…

For THOUSANDS of years the Jews were looking for the Messiah.

Not only is Jesus what they were waiting for… the story is so amazing!

The prophets of old told where He would be born (Luke 2:4-7), how He would be born (Luke 1:34-35), from what family He would be born(Matthew 1:6, 2:13, and Luke 3:31-32…)

Isaiah 7:13-14
“Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. ”

Isaiah 9:6
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ”

Isaiah 11
“1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist. ”

Jeremiah 33:15
“‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.”

Micah 5:2
“”But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”"

The Messiah has been born! In Bethlehem! He is the shoot from Jesse! He is from the line of David! He is Jesus!

Go tell it on the mountain! Over the hills and everywhere! Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!

So in my worship class this morning I learned that Advent has started. The season of Advent takes place during the four Sundays before Christmas.

This evening I started thinking about Christmas and what it all means. This has been happening to me around this time for the last 3 years.

I think of the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” The poem talks about how he’s heard the bells and how they are singing of “Peace on earth, goodwill to men!” But upon hearing the carols he says to himself, “There is no peace on earth, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.”

It feels like that sometimes…

I mean, honestly, I look around and I’ve got friends who have family that are needing serious surgery while other friends don’t have part of their family this year and sometimes I just want to cry and say, “What in the world is going on, Lord!? Why did you allow this?! Why is it like that?!”

And it’s not wrong to ask God these questions… it’s not wrong to lament! I mean look at Psalms!

“Why, O LORD, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? ”
Psalm 10:1

And if you’re anything like me you just want to fix everything you just want to heal the sick, you want to comfort those in need. And the problem is that we don’t see the whole picture. We only see what’s right in front of us. In those moments we are forgetting that God is there even when we don’t feel like He is.

The psalm continues by saying in verse 14, 17-18…

“But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless. ”

You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.”

I love that… He hears us… He’s listening all the time… and He’s encouraging us, “in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.”

What did Jesus say?
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33

In Jesus we have peace… in this world we will have trouble… but take heart!
He has overcome the world…

Longfellow’s next verse says,

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”"

So in the coming days… we’ll be celebrating the coming… the birth… of Messiah Jesus.

Let’s prepare for His arrival… let’s plead with the Savior and ask for Jesus to enter the lives of those around us that may not know Him as Savior yet.

“O Come, O come, Immanuel…”

Where are you?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?
There’s no way of knowing…

You’re here, then you’re there
You’re all over the place
You’re blowing my mind
Which is starting to race

But I’m here! Don’t you see me?
I’m finite, I’m dumb!
I don’t have all the answers
Ev’n on the tip of my tongue

Are you listening? Are you hearing?
Are you looking at me?
I don’t like this here place
I don’t like what I see

You’ve brought me here just to take me right back?
Are you kidding? Are you serious?
Lord, what’s up with that?

I haven’t been perfect
I know that full well
But this emotional torture
Sure feels like it’s hell

I’m angry at all the people around me
I look at myself and I see that I’m drowning
The lies that I’m hearing
The morals I’m seeing
It’s causing my heart to be hard and it’s bleeding

HEY, YOU! YES, LORD, YOU!
UP THERE IN THE SKY!
I KNOW THAT YOU SEE ME!
THAT YOU HEAR MY HEART CRY!

It’s so hard to be angry at the One that I love
Especially when I know that you’d give me a hug
If I’d ask…

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart”
I know that, and know that right now, Lord, I’ll start

I’m casting my cares completely on You
To be honest it’s because I don’t know what to do
I know that I should have ran up to you first
But it’s hard to kill pride and still drive your own hearse…

Ok, Lord, I’ve ranted like Elijah and Job,
I’m ready to listen, I’m ready to know
I’m quiet, I’m still, am I patient? — not sure
I’m trying, while eyeing, every letter of your Word

(if you have the song… listen to it before you read this!)
Death and All His Friends

All winter we got carried
Away, over on the rooftops,
Lets get married
All summer we just hurried
So come over just be patient
And don’t worry

and don’t worry…

No, I don’t wanna battle from beginning to end
I don’t wanna cycle of recycled revenge
I don’t wanna follow death and all of his friends

I can’t pretend that the music of this song doesn’t speak to my heart. The soft singing of a husband trying to console his worried wife; beautiful piano accompanied by the soft electric guitar… it’s like mercury. When it touches your ears it seeps into your soul…

The husband recounts how he fell so fast for his wife…

All winter we got carried
Away, over on the rooftops,
Lets get married…

But then he recounts what happened after they did get married…

…All summer we just hurried…

But then he wants things to change, he wants things to be better…

So come over just be patient
And don’t worry

The problem is I couldn’t sing that to Jesus though because I’m the one who needs consoling. I’m the bride. It’s not like He ever let life get between us, I did. But I want to sing a song to Him… so if I was to sing the song I might recall how I fell so hard for Him…

“O Savior, Jesus, carry
Away covert sins and false gods,
let’s get married”

But just like Coldplay writes, after we got married I, not Jesus, I, got carried away by life’s busyness…

“O, Savior, life’s so hurried”

But my husband is loving and caring…

“You say, “Come over, just be patient, and don’t worry
O, come over, just be patient, and don’t worry”"

But the whole sound and feel of the music changes mid-song right?

No, I don’t wanna battle from beginning to end
I don’t wanna cycle of recycled revenge
I don’t wanna follow death and all of his friends…

It’s like the singer is trying to show/tell his wife, “Hey listen, I don’t wanna fight you… but I do wanna fight for you.” He doesn’t want to have an emotional death…

And I want to say the same thing to Jesus… but instead, I don’t want to have a spiritual death…

The last line of that song, “…I don’t want to follow death and all of his friends!” It just stuck with me. I couldn’t shake it. I kept singing that out to God, “God, I don’t wanna follow Death and all of his friends!” (and Death has so many friends… Proverbs 14:12)

But instead of battling against God I’m going to battle sin so that our relationship can be that much more intimate…

“Know that I’m gonna battle from beginning to end
I don’t wanna cycle recycled sins
I don’t wanna follow death and all of his friends…”

And the truth is I don’t…

Maybe you feel me on this song… maybe you want to tell your bridegroom that you’re gonna fight to follow Him all the days of your life. You’ve busied your life but you wanna change things… maybe you can sing to Him this song from your heart… if the music speaks to you the way it speaks to me… these might be the lyrics that you need to sing to your spiritual husband… and that’s why I decided to share… I hope God blesses you through these words…

O Savior, Jesus, carry
Away covert sins and false gods,
let’s get married
O, Savior, life’s so hurried
You say, “Come over, just be patient, and don’t worry
O, come over, just be patient, and don’t worry…

and don’t worry…”

Know that I’m gonna battle from beginning to end
I don’t wanna cycle recycled sins
I don’t wanna follow death and all of his friends…

Jesus…. I don’t wanna follow death and all of his friends… I want to follow you…

Lonely in a sea of people
Yet (like Jesus) I look for a lonely place to pray.
I find silence ‘neath the steeple,
But I’ve kept silent for more than days

It’s not just the silence that I seek!
It’s silence that (al)’lows this heart to speak!
To yell and scream and whisper cries,
To YHWH, God, my Adonai.
To YHWH, God, my Adonai.

Can You hear me in my head?
On my knees or in my bed?
My eyes are welling up with tears
That fall and drown my heart with fears

Demons lurk, they’re on the chase
To hold a mirror in my face.
So all that I can see is me
Alone, afraid, in misery,
Aghast, ashamed, at what I see

Amidst the silence, now You speak,
“My son, why do you look so weak?
Upon your life, my love I’ve poured
And rid you of the chains you bore.

“Drop that burden Satan hurled
Take heart! I’ve overcome this world.
Destroy the veil! Restore your sight!
My son, for you I’ll always fight.”
Oh God, my God, You’re always right…

It’s a funny feeling leaving your family, you know?

On one side I’m so excited to be at Indiana Wesleyan University because I get to study the thing I love… Adonai!! And the people here have been so kind! They helped me get my stuff in my room, they came in and introduced themselves (not that I remember all of their names but I’m working on it!) and it was really sweet.

On the other side though, I’m truly grieving. My family literally just left but I already feel wounded from it. I love my family so much and I’m blessed to be so close to them.

We sang a song at Lighthouse last Sunday called “Mystery” and it has a line that just keeps running through my head…

“Sweet Jesus Christ my sanity…”

And that’s what He is to me right now. He is my sanity. My rock. When everything around me is a whirlwind of change and heartache, He is my fortress… the one in whom I take comfort.

What an awesome God we have, amen? I mean, think about it! There’s you over there and me over here; you’re dealing with one thing while I’m sorting out something else and yet still… through all of this madness of prayer…

He’s listening.

He’s listening to me.

He’s listening to you.

We have His full attention.

His eyes are fixed on yours. He’s seeing each tear that falls from my heart.

Isn’t that wonderful? It IS wonderful! It’s awesome… He’s awesome.

You’re awesome God… thanks for listening.

His love is deeper than the ocean and more vast than the stars in the sky.
His anger lasts for only a moment but his mercies are new every morning.
His faithfulness is incomprehensible.
His promises are always fulfilled.
His holiness no one can withstand.
His eye is always watching you, you never leave His sight.
His ear hears every prayer.
His nose smells the incense of worship from the broken and contrite.
His breath brought Adam to life.
His arm is not too short to reach from heaven and catch you when you fall.
His hands are big enough to hold each and every one of his children; strong enough to not let you wiggle out, yet gentle enough to not let you slip through His fingers like sand.
His finger brought the calamities against Egypt.
His ways are higher.
His son was sent to rescue you from death and destruction.
His spirit lives within you.
His light shines in the darkness.
His word is a lamp to your feet.
His word is hidden in your heart.
His salvation is by grace.
His love is everlasting.
His name is above every name.
His name is ADONAI.
and you are…

His friend.

So 40 has just begun… for us.

I’ve been reading this book called Red Moon Rising that talks about a 24-7 prayer movement that is sweeping across the world and I’m so glad that we are choosing to seek God in this way.

I’m doing the daily Nehemiah devotional and the first day really hit me. At first I was almost let down by the fact that we were only doing the first 4 verses. But then something really caught my attention…

Nehemiah’s reaction to the the news that he heard about his people.

He mourned, he fasted, and he wept.

Weeping.

I know another famous person who is known to have wept.

Yeshua (pronounced “Yeh-SHOO-ah” meaning Jesus).

Weeping. Weeping out of sadness.

It’s rare, but there are times, when I’m alone, where I might cry because of how angry or upset or hurt I am by what someone has done to me. But there aren’t many times I can even recall of me weeping and especially for something that hasn’t personally affected me.

I think that our country has this “suck it up” mentality. And to the things that are truly gut-wrenching, a selective blindness.

When I start to look at the world around me and scratch the scales that shield my eyes from the hearts and feelings of my friends and coworkers… it starts to break my heart.

There’s a story in this book Red Moon Rising that talks about a guy who’s sister is anorexic to the point that she’s 70 lbs. and is 27 years old. She has arthritis and is going through menopause 20 years too early. She isn’t a Christian, either. He made a confession to his friends that were all helping with the 24-7 prayer that he hadn’t prayed for his sister yet in the prayer room (and they had had their room for a while). He said he loved his sister, wanted to pray for her, believed in prayer, believed in God, but that it hurt him to pray for her because he began to feel so sad.

Cliff talked about intercession a couple Sundays ago.

Praying and interceding and empathizing with the world around us. Taking things to God that some people won’t take themselves.

And let me make myself clear… empathy is not sympathy.

Sympathy is pity. Sympathy is like saying, “Wow, isn’t it sad that people are dying all over this world because they don’t have food?”

But empathy…. empathy is an ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Empathy isn’t saying… empathy is doing. It’s putting yourself in someone’s shoes and walking around for a while. The empathetic would fast for days (it might only take one!) and feel what hunger feels like and instead of saying, “Isn’t that sad?” they might cry, “Adonai! I have seen what it is like to hunger, and felt the pains and strains it puts on my day! Bless those who are going without tonight so that their children can eat! And bless those who can’t even give to their children!”

Jacob and Esau wept when they met after years of separation. Gen 33:4
Joseph wept when he made himself known to his brothers (so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and Pharaoh’s household heard about it!) Gen. 45:2
Naomi and her daughter-in-laws wept. Ruth 1:9
David wept. 1 Sam. 20:41
Nehemiah wept. Neh. 1:4
Yeshua wept. John 11:35

That is just a short list of people who wept… and I wanted to show how many men of God wept.

So I guess the next thing to say, which will swiftly end this blog is….

“mY/our turn.”