Author: Brett Spalding

I was just watching the Wheaton College Christmas concert and one of the songs really caught my attention.  Among the familiar hymns and carols was a poem by Howard Thurman presented a cappella titled “The Work of Christmas.” 

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the Broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music from the heart.

This poem reminds us that Christmas is not the destination.  When the 12 Days of Christmas ends and the season of Epiphany arrives, the celebration in not over, but just beginning.  This poem reminds us all that celebrating Christmas is really about what happens after Christmas is over. 

When the special services of worship are over and the carols have been sung, when the star in the sky pointing us to Jesus has been replaced by the Holy Spirit, when the family members have all returned home, when everyone is back to work, then we begin to truly celebrate Christmas. If Christmas is truly about celebrating Jesus Christ, then we have to follow his example; we have to do His work.   The work of Christmas is not returning the gifts or shopping with the gift cards or seeking to lose the extra pounds.  No, Thurman’s second paragraph, inspired by scripture, describes the work of Christmas;

“And He (Jesus) said to them, Go into the all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Matthew 16:15-16)

“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.” (Isaiah 58:10)

“Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors Him.” (Proverbs 14:31)

Prayer: Father, please open my heart to truly celebrate Christmas long after the 12 day celebration is over.  Enlighten me to the needs of those around me and to those who are lost.  I pray that you will open (you put in the name of a friend) heart to Jesus and His love and salvation.  May my words and actions in partnership with Your work in them cause them to come and be baptized and become a disciple.  I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen

One of my favorite songs is the gospel tune “Soon and Very Soon.”  It is a song of resurrection hope by Andrae Crouch.  The phrase which certainly professes Advent: “soon and very soon, we are going to see the King”, repeats three times before giving way to, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we’re going to see the King.”  This repeats and then the third verse states, “they’ll be no more cryin’ there, we are going to see the King.”  The fourth verse confirms, “they’ll be no more dyin’ there, we are going to see the King.”  When we think of the hope of Advent, our hope in Jesus Christ, the hope of our resurrection like His, these words describe what awaits us in heaven.

 These lyrics are straight from heaven and John’s vision in the Letter of Revelation; “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is among the people and He will dwell with them.  They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”(Revelation 21:3-4)

This is our hope, this is what we will know perfectly when we are resurrected to new life in heaven.  But what about today, what about while we are here? 

Crouch shares his feelings about God’s presence with us right now in the bridge of this song.  Most hymnals, most song books, do not contain the bridge.  We have sung this song before but not the bridge.  The bridge lyrics tell us that God provides for us now: “should there be any rivers we must cross, should there be any mountains we must climb; God will supply all the strength that we need, give us grace till we reach the other side.”  As the words suggest, we will face obstacles in this life, but we need to remember that God is with us, providing grace when we fall short of his standard and strength to overcome whatever life throws our way.

The bridge continues, reminding us of the Good News: “We have come from every nation, God know each of us by name.  Jesus took His blood and washed our sins, He washed them all away.  Yet there are some of us who have laid down our lives, but we shall all live again on the other side.”

I encourage you to do a web search, pull this song up, close your eyes and listen to it three, four, five times and allow the images of this song to flow through your heart and mind.  Read the words of Revelation 21:3-4 and know that God is with us now and has already made possible our resurrection to Him.  Our new home awaits; no more cryin’, no more dyin’, no more mourning, and no more pain. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we are going to see the King!

Prayer; Father, what a glorious picture you paint for us in Revelation, our home in heaven with no more pain, no more tears, no more mourning, and no more death.  Thank you for this song which allows us to sing Your praises, declare our hope in You, and proclaim Your Glory.  We look forward to seeing You, face to face, Hallelujah!  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

One year during Advent, our high school youth group put on a Leo Tolstoy play, “Where Love Is, God Is.”  Some of you might also know this short play as “Martin the Cobbler.”

The play is about a cobbler who had endured great tragedy in life.  He was happily married and he and his wife had many children, but all had died in their infancy, save one.  When the child was about three, Martin lost his wife.  He struggled and even thought of taking his son to live with his sister and their family.  He couldn’t think of life without him and together they found their way.  When his son was reaching his teenage years, he developed a fever and died.  Martin fell into despair and became angry with God for taking his only son.

One day a missionary from Martin’s home town visited his cobbler shop.  During their conversation, Martin poured out his heart and how he was mad at God and no longer wanted to live.  The missionary showed him kindness, but told him he had no right to be mad at God.  He told Martin that once he learned what it meant to live for God, he wouldn’t grieve any more.  He told Martin to buy a copy of the Gospels and read them.  Martin did.  Soon Martin was reading the stories of Jesus each night until his lamp ran out of oil.  The words sank into his heart and Martin began to find new purpose and joy in life.  One night Martin fell asleep while reading and he was startled awake to a voice that told him to look to the street for God would visit him tomorrow.

Excited, Martin woke up the next morning, lit a fire and put on a pot of soup, some porridge, and baked some bread.  Martin sat down to work, but he was distracted and found himself looking out the window.  As was his habit, he would look at people’s feet rather than faces.  He recognized people by their shoes and boots.  One of Martin’s neighbors came by shoveling the walk, he looked cold and Martin invited him in and they shared tea together.  Martin shared his story about God visiting and the some of the Gospel stories he’d been reading.  His neighbor then thanked him for the warm tea and the stories of Jesus that warmed his soul.

Martin sat down again to work and after a while a woman he did not know stopped by his window.  She was carrying a basket and had on summer clothing.  Martin heard a baby cry and immediately called her inside and told her to sit by the fire and get warm.  He set the table and put out soup and bread.  He played with the baby while mom ate.  Martin again shared his story of the promised visit from God and the stories he had been reading.  Martin then went and found a coat, boots, and an old cloak for her to wrap her baby.  She asked God to bless Martin for his generosity and told him she had to go.

Martin was hungry himself and finished up the soup and some of the bread and went back to work.  It was getting late and Martin was beginning to wonder if the voice was real.  Martin was interrupted by a scuffle outside.  A woman with a basket of apples and a load of sticks on her back was struggling with a boy.  Martin went out to calm things down and was told by the woman the boy had stolen an apple from her.  The woman wanted to call for the police, but Martin looked at the boy and told him to ask the woman for forgiveness.  Overcome with guilt the boy began to cry and beg the woman to pardon him.  She told Martin that the boy deserved a whipping and spoiling the boy would only cause more trouble.  Martin explained how this might not have been our way, but it was God’s desire to forgive.  Martin then asked what we deserved for our sins.  This caused the woman to become silent.  Martin then shared the story of the two servants who had great debt.  The woman bowed her head and sighed.

She leaned over to lift up her pack of sticks and the boy said, let me carry that for you, I’m going that way.  Martin watched as they walked into the darkness together talking to each other. 

Martin went back inside, a bit disappointed as the day was coming to an end and still not visit from God.  Martin lit his lamp, filled his bowl with porridge and sat down to read.  He thought he heard footsteps and asked who was there.  He heard the same voice as last night, it is I Martin, don’t you recognize me.  Martin turned and there stood his neighbor (snow shovel in hand), the woman and the baby, and the old woman and the young boy.  “It is I,” the voice said again.

”I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

 “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Has God visited you today, did you recognize Him?

Prayer: Father, forgive me when I haven’t recognized you.  Please come visit me again and again, I want to serve you, I want to welcome you.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

It is kind of ironic to choose the shortest day of the year to write about light.  Yes, I know, every day has 24 hours, but I’m talking about the shortest day of the year in terms of light.  While Peace, Hope, Joy, and Love are the individual themes of Advent; light is probably the greatest overarching theme.   The prophets often talked about light when referring to Jesus, as does New Testament scripture. Jesus said; “I am the light of the world.”

Isaiah writes (9:2): “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.  They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them.”

Darkness is often used to describe our sinful nature, our separation from God and light used to describe Jesus who shines through the darkness and overcomes the darkness.  Psalm 46:9 follows up on this thought: “You are the source of all life, and because of Your light we see the light.”

One of the things I have learned about light is that it needs to reflect off from something to truly light up an area.  If you shine a light straight up in the air, it doesn’t really light up anything.  Shine that same light in a 30×30 room and it lights it up; even more if the room is painted white. Have you ever noticed how much lighter is it with a blanket of snow? 

As I thought about light and reflection, a C.S. Lewis quote came to mind: “We are mirrors whose brightness is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us.”  When we look at this in light of our faith in God, our creator, we could easily substitute the word sun with Son in that quote.  Jesus has called us to be partners with Him in His ministry, and one way to look at that partnership is to be a mirror.  We are to be a mirror that reflects the image, the light of Jesus Christ in the world. 

Take some time to focus today on how you can reflect Christ’s light to others and then make a plan to do just that.

Prayer: Father, You are my light in a world where darkness can easily close in on me.  I thank You for Your Word, which is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.  Help me to be a reflector of that light to others.  I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.  

Carol Bechtel, one of my seminary professors writes about Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 in her book, Life After Grace.  She quotes a Robert Frost poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay.

Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. 
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief, so dawn goes down to day. 
Nothing gold can stay.

The author of Ecclesiastes (in Hebrew, simply “the Preacher”) would have been comfortable with this poem.  Life is progression; “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) When we read these verses, it can be very easy to want to live in the positives and ignore the negatives.  As Bechtel points out, we are happy to dance, laugh, and embrace; but mourning, weeping, and not embracing…

As I have learned from “The Preacher” and as a preacher, there is a time for everything.  I’ve sat by the bedside of many who are about to be called home; yes there is a time to be born and a time to die.  I’ve sat with two families who celebrated a birth the same time they were mourning death of a beloved believer.  Together we rejoiced at both. These are the moments that bring us closest together to each other and to God.  

I’ve come to know through my gardens and many dogs I have dearly loved and spent hours upon hours with; there is a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to plant and a time to uproot.  Few things are more difficult than making that decision to have a pet put down.  It is a little easier to cut down tree and replant or dig up a bush and replant, but still a sentimental decision when that tree or flowering bush has meaning, perhaps given to you by someone.

I’ve learned as a preacher and from “The Preacher” that there is a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to build and a time to tear down. In churches often times this accompanies a time to search and a time to count as lost.  The most difficult part of this is knowing (discerning) from the Holy Spirit, when to apply one or the other.  We do not have the full understanding of God, so at times we will make mistakes or people will perceive us to have made mistakes.  That is part of the journey, part of each individual season of the church and of life.

One thing I am learning, slowly though, is to be joyful in every circumstance.  I’m learning that the joy is in the journey with God, in all of these seasons.  The joy isn’t necessarily in achieving a goal, but in the serving together to seek a goal.  The pain, the hard work, the sacrifice, the uncertainty, the small wins, the big accomplishments are what brings us together, allows us to trust each other, and more importantly to trust in God’s providence, wisdom, and will for us.  I’m also learning that when mistakes are made, we tear down when we should have built up, God can and will use our faithfulness for good. 

God has planned a season for everything and I’ve learned to enjoy the late fall of life as much as the spring of life.  God’s plan for His Glory!

Prayer: Father, thank you for the seasons, those in which I struggle and find grief and those that are easy and happy.  Allow me to recognize the joy in both and be content in the understanding that I do not have your wisdom.  I do not need to know why things happen all the time.  Thank you for providing me a church family to go through these seasons with.  I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

For those of you who have a good memory this may sound somewhat familiar from last year’s December Crossroads…

I’m kind of on a theme here of Christmas Specials.  All of us have watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. There are two scenes where they go to the “island of misfit toys.”  Toys that are broken, missing something, a “train with square wheels,” a “Charlie in the Box,” a “bird the swims,” or a “cowboy who rides and ostrich.”   

Every time I watch this, I can’t help but think at some level, we are all misfits in need of rescue.  We all have our problems; some  lack patience, some have addictions, some are judgmental, etc… we all know where we fall short of God’s standard in Christ.  The truth is, all of us are sinful and in need of rescue.  God knew this and He sent his Son, Jesus, to rescue us.

Like the toys, we have a tendency to want to distance ourselves from misfits. Do we avoid the people we identify as misfits; do we keep them at a distance?  Do we “place them on an island” by themselves?  Everyone on this earth does that, with the characteristics defined differently for each person.

These toys also had the problem of looking down on themselves, who would want to play with us? So they banished themselves to an island.  Just like the toys, we even think of ourselves this way. We sit in church and focus on our flaws rather than our gifts.  We think we know what the “perfect Christian” is and we lose sight of what we have to offer. 

We think we can’t sing – we can’t praise God because we don’t have perfect pitch – because we don’t have a great voice (It doesn’t matter – just ask anyone who has heard me sing)… Make a joyful noise to the Lord!!

Have you ever heard: I’m afraid to share my faith because I don’t know enough and someone might ask me a question I can’t answer, I’m not comfortable speaking in public (Moses anyone), I know I’ll make a mistake…  Just love them and pray for God to open their heart to Jesus.

The truth is, we are all broken, we all have our faults and God knows this.  God wants us not to be paralyzed by our faults, but to use them to show others the way to Him.  Each and every one of us is critical to the functioning body of Christ and capable of reaching someone for Jesus because of what makes us a misfit.

Drop the misfit feelings and allow God to mold you; allow God to take all your perceived flaws and shortcomings and use them for His glory.

Prayer: Father, what a blessing to know you love us even with all our faults.  Thank you for opening our hearts to Jesus and the Good News in Him. Awaken us to see that You love us and see right through our faults, for Jesus has washed us clean.  It is His name we pray, Amen.

With Christ’s Love, Your Misfit Pastor!

Patricia F. Wilson writes in her book Quiet Spaces: “Dear Jesus, during this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head – where I must go, who I must see, and what I must do.  In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time… I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them.”

As I read this quote I was drawn to two passages that talk about quiet, stillness, and rest.

Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.”

It is often difficult in the midst of chaos to quiet the thoughts in our head.  It is difficult to stop and pray for God to provide the order to the day when we know all that we have to accomplish and we think we can’t possibly take 10-15 minutes to stop and ask God to order things for us.

Something  very calming happens when we do take time to pray, especially before the busiest of day; the pressure seems to fall away.  The deadlines are still there, the to-do list is still there, but the bedlam surrounding it seems to fall away knowing that God will put things in order.

Prayer:  Father, please calm my heart today and throughout Advent.  Help me to build a habit each day of turning that day over to you so together we can accomplish everything you wish for me to accomplish without added stress and worry in my life.  Help me to not be anxious, but to give everything great and small to you.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

We have all, well… most of us anyway, have read Dr. Seuss’ “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.” At the end of the book, the Grinch comes in on Christmas Eve night and he steals all the presents, the Christmas Trees, the decorations, and all their food.  He takes it back to his lair thinking that he had stolen Christmas.  After all, without the presents, the decorations, and food for the feast, there can be no Christmas. 

Do we ever fall into that trap, thinking that there can be no Christmas without the presents and the food for the feast?  What if we woke up on Christmas Day and found our presents stolen and our fridge and freezer empty?  Or would we be like the Whos from Who-ville? 

As the Grinch is basking in his glory, looking down on Who-ville, having stolen Christmas, he waits to hear the screaming and the wailing from the people when they find everything gone; especially the tree in the center of town.  And then “he heard a sound rising over the snow, it started in low and then it started to grow.”  The sound wasn’t sad, it was merry!  The Grinch was confounded, the whole town of Who-ville was singing.  He hadn’t stopped Christmas at all…  When I think about this book, I’m drawn to Habakkuk.

The prophet Habakkuk writes (3:17-18): “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, thought the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in my God and Savior.”

Habakkuk wrote this passage shortly after the Babylonian invasion.  It was an extremely traumatic and hopeless period for Israel.  The Assyrian army had already destroyed several cities, killing many. All the places where Israel found security and measured their wealth and power were destroyed; livestock, crops, and food stores were all destroyed.  Places of worship had been ravaged; the temple and with it the articles of worship taken as plunder.  Those not killed were taken into exile. 

It is just during this time of hopelessness that Habakkuk writes, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in my God and Savior.”  For Habakkuk, for the faithful in Christ, and, yes, The Whos in Who-ville; we are reminded that wealth and presents do not make Christmas, nor do they determine our joy.  Each joyful day dawns with the Light of Christ.

Prayer: Gracious Father, help us to see clearly Your Glory.  Allow us to be humble and gracious in those times of plenty and faithful and joyous in times of want and grief.  Help us to see your absolute sovereignty in our lives and find peace, hope, joy, and love in You.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

With Christ’s Joy, Pastor Brett

How many of you have watched the movie “Hoosiers?” It is about a small school in Indiana (equivalent to a class D school in Michigan) that wins the state basketball championship.  Keep in mind, for years Indiana had one champion, there were not four champions based on school size like Michigan.  There was not a lot of hope for little schools until Milan High School (the real Hickory Hoosiers) won it all, defeating the much larger Muncie Central.  The coach did everything he could to convince them that everything was the same; the height of the basket, the length of the free throw line, etc. Then before the game started the local pastor read the story of David and Goliath, hoping to provide the boys encouragement and hope.

Do we ever feel like an underdog in life?  Do we ever get the feeling that we are not equipped to do something or others have given up because they don’t see us as equipped?

The Bible is loaded with these types of stories and people; unlikely heroes God uses.  One only has to look David, Ruth, Joseph, Moses, Noah, Abraham, and one of my favorites, Gideon. We know and see them after the big win, but we rarely remember them before.  God chooses and uses people the world often looks past.

So, let’s look at Gideon.  When the Lord called him to save Israel, Gideon replied: “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel?  My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father’s house.” (Judges 6:14-15)  No one expected much of him, sounds just like David whose father didn’t even bring him into the house for the prophet Samuel to consider to anoint as king.

Gideon is the least, not just the runt of the litter, but the runt of the least litter.  When God promised to be with Gideon, Gideon still wanted proof from God (read Judges 6 & 7) before he would step out in faith.  At this point one can’t help but wonder what God saw in Gideon; the only response I can give is the same thing God sees in us, FAITH!

God sees what we too often don’t see, both in ourselves and others.  God has great hope in us, even when we don’t have confidence in ourselves. 

Last week in worship we lit the candle of HOPE.  Let us look at all these unlikely Biblical heroes and know that there is great HOPE for us when we humbly and courageously and even cautiously follow Him. 

Prayer: Father, through Your Holy Spirit living in us, show us the way of Hope.  Encourage us, empower us with Your strength.  As we read stories about Gideon, Ruth, David, Moses, and others; take us back to when they were not confident so we can see how You worked in them. Give us hope Father to see ourselves and others as You see us, heroes You want to use.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

There is a story about two men riding a tandem bicycle. They were ascending a long steep hill. After great effort, they finally reached the top of the hill and they stopped for a minute to catch their breath and get a drink.  The front rider turned around and said, “That was one tough climb.”  The second rider replied, “Sure was, had I not kept riding the brake, we might have slipped backwards.”

Do we ever do that in life?  Do we ever look at circumstances and solutions differently? 

I laugh at the picture of one person straining at the pedals and the other straining at the brake, both thinking they are doing the right thing. 

We face challenges in life with our spouses, our co-workers, our friends, and our family.  We often look at these challenges differently.  Some people when faced with challenges want to peddle right through them, looking up toward the goal ahead and willing to take a chance to make it happen.  Yes, we might find ourselves straining, we might even lose ground, or worse yet crash. Those thoughts cause some people to apply the brakes, not wanting to take the risk for fear of slipping backwards. The struggle is this, if one is always applying the brakes, one doesn’t get very far or it requires the person in the front to work three times as hard to make things happen. 

Our faith is like that too.  While everyone often shares and desires the same goals; when facing the hill or perceive obstacle, some peddle while others hit the brakes.

Jesus faced this uphill climb; sometimes the disciples wanted to hold him back.  Remember Peter who recognized Jesus as being the Messiah and Jesus called him the rock upon which He would build His church.  The next minute Peter was holding Jesus back, saying that Jesus must never endure suffering and death.  Peter didn’t realize that Jesus was going to have to endure the cross on the hill in order for salvation to come.  Peter wanted to hit the brakes, but by faith Jesus went to the cross knowing it was the only way.  Peter couldn’t see God’s plan, he only saw the cross.  The same thing happened with Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration; Peter didn’t understand what was happening and wanted to build three tents and just stay there, but Jesus knew there was much to do.

This is the Christian faith, it requires action.  The church did not grow without sacrifice, we know that from Jesus and the work of the disciples. 

Prayer: Father, we are grateful that Jesus strained at the pedals overcoming our sin.  Thank you for the example of the disciples who after being taught, encouraged, and given the presence and power of the Holy Spirit did the same.  As we prepare to meet Your Son, help us to take our feet off the brakes.  Father, forgive us when we make you merely a co-pilot in our life, for you must be the pilot always.  Help us to follow your lead in the front of the bike and pedal with you from the rear.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.