Loyal, OK

 
Pastor Leon Seaton

Life's Perspectives

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:8-14 (KJV)

An old Christmas legend tells of how God called the angels together for a special choir rehearsal. He wanted them to learn a special song that they would sing for a very significant occasion. The excited angels went to work on it. They rehearsed long and hard with great focus and intensity, for they loved to please God.

But every crowd has a few grouches, and some of the angels grumbled a bit because God insisted on a very high standard for this choir and this event.

After many rehearsals the choir improved in tone, quality and rhythm. Finally God declared them ready for the big event. Then He made a shocking announcement. They would only sing the song one time!

Imagine that! After all that work there would only be one performance! Why? The song was so extraordinarily beautiful and they sang it with precision! God just smiled and said, “When the time comes, you will understand.

Shortly thereafter God called them together. They were above a field just outside of Bethlehem. "It's time," God said. They were inspired by God’s joyful anticipation of their performance. Let me tell you, you would have been thrilled had you been there!

The angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will toward men." Then they understood… there would never be another night like this one, nor would there ever be another Birth like this one.

As the angels returned to heaven, God reminded them that they would not formally sing that song again as an angelic choir, but they could hum the song occasionally as individuals.

One mystified angel finally stepped forward and asked God why. Why could they not sing that majestic anthem again? They did it so well. It felt so right. Why couldn't they sing that great song anymore?

Listen carefully to the explanation… "Because," God explained, "My Son has been born and now earth must do the singing!"

So, we have to ask ourselves, have we been singing the blues, or do we sing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will toward men!”

Henri Nouwen told the story of a student who, many years after graduation, returned to sit in his old professor's office where so many questions had been answered and so many problems had been solved. When the student entered he told his professor that he didn't need anything, he came just to visit, to be together. They sat for a while in silence and looked at each other. One broke the silence by telling the other how nice it was to see each other. The other agreed, and then there was silence. Then the student said, "When I look at you it is as if I am in the presence of Christ." The professor remembers that did not startle or surprise him and that he could only respond with, "It is the Christ in you who recognizes the Christ in me." The student replied with the most healing words Nouwen had heard in many years. "Yes, Christ indeed is in our midst. From now on, wherever you go, or wherever I go, all the ground between us will be holy ground." Found at www.esermons.com

• Christmas produces a lot of feelings and emotions – some good, some not so good. We have some friends that work retail. Some of them tell us that working with the public takes all fun out of Christmas. One lady said, “Everyone wants everything to be free.”

• The store owners and investors are certainly feeling dismal this year because of the economic downturn. They probably feel like farmers do after a terrible wheat crop.

• Others may be discouraged because they are so far from their family members; some are ill. You know the list, and going down it only makes us discouraged, so we will quit doing that!

• The truth is that Christmas is just like any other day. (Did I say that?)  Christmas is a day that we have chosen to feel very happy about, and if it doesn’t go well we feel disappointed.

• In reality, every one involved in the first Christmas faced many problems. Mary and Joseph were criticized for having an illegitimate baby. They had traveled for several days to sign up for more taxation. When they got there they were exhausted and could not find a decent place to stay. Furthermore the baby came early.

• The shepherds had a thrilling moment when the angelic choir sang, but most folks did not like shepherds… they came to celebrate anyway. The wise men that came later had to travel for miles on camels. King Herod was scared silly when he heard a king was born. In his insecurity he had all the baby boys under age 2 killed in an attempt to kill God’s Son.

We just have to accept what is going on in our lives and make the best of it!

The late Bishop Gerald Kennedy used to tell a story about a census taker who was going door-to-door. He knocked on the door of a small, unpretentious house and was met at the door by a weary mother. "Lady," he said, "I want to know how many there are in this family." "Well," she said, "There's Johnny, Matilda, Reginald, Charles...." "No, no," he interrupted, "I don't want their names, just their number." With much indignation, she replied, "They ain't got no numbers. They all got names." Found at www.esermons.com

Let me tell you, as far as God is concerned, you ain’t got no number, He knows your name!

The following stories come from my experiences as a chaplain. These are people that you will not meet until you go to heaven. Names and places are changed. The stories are not intended to impress you with my abilities; I am just a servant of the Lord.

“Mary” is in her early 90’s. She has lost her vision, cannot walk very far, and really wants to go to heaven. She has served the Lord since she was 16-years-old. If you would say to her, “Mary, how are you doing?” she would say, “Not very well, and I am ready to go to heaven.” If you asked her what she wants for Christmas she would say, “I want to go be with the Lord.”

When I asked her if she wanted to receive Communion she responded, “Well, I’m a Baptist, you know.” “Yes, I know,” I responded. “I bought these communion supplies from the Baptist Book Store.”

We shared the scriptures on communion, then we talked about the gifts Jesus gives us, then we take communion. She thanked me politely. Then I shared the 91^st Psalm with her. Verse 16 says, “With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

“God has certainly blessed you with that verse, hasn’t He?” I asked.

“Yes, He has,” she replied.

I was puzzled. She still needed something, so I asked the Lord for help. Again she said, “I really want to go to heaven.”

Led by the Holy Spirit I said, “I understand that, but I think that as long as you are on earth you need to be a blessing to those around you.”

She was not impressed. “How am I going to do that?” she asked.

“Mary, your faithfulness blesses me. You have been faithful to your church for 41 years. You have been faithful to your family. You always have something good to say about God. You bless me every time I come.”

That is when the light came on. She thanked me several times for coming.

The second lady we will call “Elizabeth.” Elizabeth is in her 80’s and has lung cancer. She had a very rough life. She had 4 children and raised 3 of them. The fourth one, a daughter, she let her husband keep when they got a divorce.

Elizabeth loves her snuff… she has to live with a daughter – the one she let her husband raise. Unfortunately the daughter she lives with could not see that her mom gave her up because she knew that she could not raise her properly.

Now we have two women living together with lots of anger and hate between them. Both feel trapped. On our first visit Elizabeth and I talked about God‘s love and the fact that He does not expect us to be perfect. We talked about accepting ourselves just as we are… and accepting God’s forgiveness. We reviewed the plan of salvation… then we talked about being thankful even when we do not feel like it.

After that I had a long talk with her daughter “Janice.” Janice was there when the doctor told her mother that she was dying of cancer. Elizabeth had told me, “They say that I have cancer, but I don’t. It’s just indigestion.”

“How can my mother be in denial?” asked Janice.

“Because being in denial is a safe place. God allows us to ignore things so we will not be emotionally exhausted as we face our own mortality.” I then suggested that she just determine to love her mom as she is and not try to change her.

When I returned two weeks later I suggested we have communion together. It was a sweet experience. The Holy Spirit had been busy healing the relationship. We talked about God’s goodness and God’s ability to heal… but we have to forgive.

The other reason I share the stories is this. Please consider taking home some communion supplies and having communion with your family.

"The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.'  In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."  1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Christmas Eve, 2008