Shalom M. Paul: Fleet-footed runners

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! Isaiah 52:7

“The Lord returns to Zion as the reigning king. The herald, who comes from afar, and the watchmen, who stand on the walls of Jerusalem, announce to one another the coming redemption that each will experience personally…the practice of sending a fleet-footed runner to deliver messages of salvation and victory is also found in 2 Samuel 18:19 “Ahimaaz son of Zadok said: ‘Let me run and report to the king that the Lord has vindicated him against his enemies.'” The first to see the runner is the watchman standing on the battlements: “The watchman on the roof of the gate walked over to the city wall. He looked and saw a man running alone” (2 Samuel 18:24).”

Shalom M. Paul in Isaiah 40-66: Translation and Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012) 390.

Today is Christmas Eve.

Later, we will go to church and sing our favorite christmas carols. “O Holy Night” is tops on my list. Then we will pick up a pizza (so we don’t have to cook dinner) and head home to watch It’s a Wonderful Life together.

My favorite scene in the movie is an obscure shot of George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) in his father’s office where the framed quote on the wall reads: “All you can take with you is that which you have given away.” Great generosity quote!

Why am I sharing all this?

These traditions have shaped my life and my family. They solidify our role, that is, why we are on this round ball called earth. We are messengers of the good news of our Lord Jesus. Sharing this good news is our greatest act of generosity.

Let us resolve to be fleet-footed runners so that all may experience personally the coming redemption.

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Isaiah 35:5-6

“These verses picture a transformation of the blind and weak…When God establishes his righteous king over his kingdom, there will be no physical or spiritual disabilities then. This transformational change will open the hearts that are closed, turn the lame into leapers, and enable the silent to shout for joy.”

Gary V. Smith in Isaiah 1-39: The New American Commentary, An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (Nashville: B & H Publishing, 2007) 580.

This text from Isaiah is another famous song in Handel’s Messiah. Isaiah envisions the transformational power of the ministry of the Messiah. But what, you may ask, does it have to do with God’s generosity and love in this final week of Advent?

In my extended family, I have relatives who have physical disabilities and others with spiritual disabilities. Perhaps you do too. While these challenges are beyond my power (and yours) to change and make right, they are no match for the Christ of Christmas. He can transform them!

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

“Not only is this undoubtedly the best known verse in the New Testament, it’s probably the most distorted verse, as well. Why? It is because people who love the apparent universality of this verse hate the undeniable particularity of it. The verse begins by saying something about the love of God and the object of God’s affection. God so loved…what? “The world.” Now let me finish the verse for you according to contemporary understanding: “God so loved the world that He gave His Son in order to save everyone in the world.”

Some people draw from this text a doctrine of universal salvation; they believe it teaches that God loves the world so much that He saves everyone. But clearly that’s not what the text says…John 3:16 says that God’s love is so deep and so profound, He sent His only begotten Son…He did not love the world so much that He sent multiple saviors. Yet our culture tells us that if God were really loving, He would have provided avatars galore—He would have provided a smorgasbord of salvation options so that everyone could practice his or her own religion, and He would not have been so narrow-minded and exclusive as to require faith in Christ alone…

Are you one who gets angry when he [or she] hears there’s is only one way to God? The question is not “Why is there only one way?” but “Why is there even one way?” The answer to that question is that God loved the world enough to create a way.”

R.C. Sproul in John (St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary; Ann Arbor: Sheridan Books, 2009) 44-46.

Christmas is a season when many of us see relatives and friends who embrace a contemporary view of salvation, that is, that Christ is one of many ways to eternal life. These people treat the “undeniable particularity” of Christianity as reflecting a narrow-minded lack of love. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The most generous thing we can do this holy-day season is to remind those with whom we celebrate Christmas that our joy is rooted in the love of God made known to us in the Christ child. Jesus is the greatest gift for all who believe, and the greatest gift that we can give others.

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:11-12, 29

“The sacrifice envisaged is not restricted in its purpose or effectiveness to the Jewish race. This Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world—that is, of all human beings without distinction, though not, as the Prologue has already made clear (1:11-12) of all without exception. this is God’s provision: Jesus is the lamb of God.”

D.A. Carson in The Gospel according to John (PNTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991) 151.

The one thing the whole world needed is the one gift God gave the first Christmas: the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. That’s love! Jesus is God’s provision for all who receive Him. Know anyone to whom Christ has come who has not received Him.

Father in Heaven, thank you for sending Jesus to take away my sin, but not just mine alone. Show me the people in my life who have not yet received him. Give me the courage of John to urge people to “Look” to Jesus. Draw them to faith by your Holy Spirit, I pray. Amen

What I am saying is that as long as an heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:1-7

“As with the time set by the father for the maturation and inheritance for his son, so also with God. When the “time had fully come,” God sent his Son so that the inheritance could be had. The expression “fully come” is the completion of the “basic principles” of verse three. God sent his Son, and the Son lived under the law (though not under sin) so that he could absorb the curse of the law, exhaust the fumes of God’s wrath, and redeem those under the law. Once the Son had done this, the barrier was knocked down between God and people (and between peoples), and they could become “sons of God” (verse five). Their sonship is tantamount to governing the “whole estate” (verse one)…”

Scot McKnight in Galatians: The NIV Application Commentary Book 9 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995).

Why explore this text as we begin the last week of Advent which explores God’s love for us in the incarnation? It serves as the basis for our stewardship and our generosity. Let me explain.

When the time had fully come, God sent Jesus, who (as McKnight rightly notes) lived under the law but not under sin, so that He may redeem us and make us His children—His heirs to govern the whole estate. Now do you see it?

Our stewardship is rooted in His Advent (he came when the time had fully come), and our generosity is based on our position as His children and His heirs. Consequently, the inheritance is not a pile of money from God for us; it’s our place as His children.

Here’s how that shapes our stewardship and generosity: our generosity is no longer rooted in the basic principles of this world. The inheritance for us as heirs positions us to govern the “whole estate” that God owns in a manner that reflects His love and generosity. Get it?

We are the conduits of his love and generosity to the world! This is why Christmas is such a big deal in all of human history and related to our generosity.

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” Luke 1:46-55

“God reverses human status and perception: in a downward movement, he scatters the arrogant, pulls down the mighty, sends away the rich empty. But God also, in an upward movement exalts the lowly, fills the hungry, and takes the hand of Israel. Precisely such a reversal is announced by Jesus in his Beatitudes and woes (6:20-26), and is enacted by him in the narrative of his ministry.”

Luke Timothy Johnson in Sacra Pagina: The Gospel of Luke (Collegeville: OSB, 2006) 44.

As we reflect on joy this week in Advent, consider Mary’s rejoicing today in the section of Luke’s Gospel known widely as the Magnificat. She rejoices because Messiah will reverse everything that is broken in this world through God’s greatest act of generosity.

Know anyone whose life is just a mess, and who needs a reversal in just about every area of their existence? They need God to show up. That was Israel! God did it through Jesus then is still doing it today. Pray for them to experience a reversal as a result of the Advent of Jesus this Christmas!

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Luke 1:39-45

“John, we have been told, would be filled with the Holy Spirit even before birth and anticipate the coming of the Lord (1:15-17). Here is the purpose of the prenatal experience of the Spirit, embodied in his joyful leaping: Even from the womb he prophesies, implicitly transferring the designation of “Lord” to Mary’s unborn baby, recognizing in this baby the eschatological coming of God. The association of “joy,” already related to the advent of divine redemption in 1:14, with “leaping” encourages this reading of John’s act. The Spirit that fills him prompts his recognition and certifies for us the trustworthiness of his prophetic action concerning Jesus.”

Joel Green in Luke (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997) 95.

As we focus on joy this week, take a moment to consider the implications of Advent. “The eschatological coming of God” came after hundreds of years of waiting, and the way was prepared by a joyful prophet named John.

John’s mission was to call people to prepare for His coming. Such as task would require faith and the filling of the Holy Spirit. He performed it with joyful leaping. A generous response for us today would be to go and do likewise with God’s help.

Father in Heaven, fill us with faith and the Holy Spirit to exhort people to prepare their hearts and lives to make room for You: our Lord Jesus Christ. Empower us to do this with joyfulness as many want nothing to do with You. Amen.

On coming to the house, [the Magi] saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:11

“God invites the Magi and He invites you to see His Son and to joyfully offer your life as a worshiper…Worship involves joyful, affectionate, uninhibited praise. Like these powerful influential [Magi] in Matthew 2, we should be overwhelmed, bowing down in homage and humble worship.

We give to Christ the extravagant offering of our lives, everything we have and everything we are. We lay it down before Jesus and we do it joyfully. He is the King [symbolized by the gift of gold], and we see his royalty, His deity [depicted in the gift of frankincense] and His humanity [celebrated with gift of myrrh], we’re compelled to shout and sing about His great worth.

After God sends the Christ, then He sends the church…At the beginning of Matthew the message to the nations is clearly to come and see the King. And at the end of Matthew, Jesus tells His disciples to go and spread the kingdom to the nations. More specifically, “Go…and make disciples of all nations” (28:19).” Joyfully offer your life as a worshiper, and then passionately spend your life as a witness.”

David Platt in Exalting Jesus in Matthew (Nashville: B & H Publishing, 2013).

Platt aptly sums up the response for the reader of today’s Gospel text: “joyfully offer your life as a worshiper and then passionately spend your life as a witness.”

Practically speaking, the aim of Advent is to experience the Messiah so that we live differently in the new year as His messengers. Our worship transforms our witness.

As a result of your worship of Christ this Advent, what is one thing that will change in the way you spend your life as a witness in the new year?

After they had heard the king, [the Magi] went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:9-11a

“The star guides them to Bethlehem. This is the first time the star is actually said to move. The text leaves open the question of whether or not it had so moved previously. If it had not this could explain why the Magi had managed to get only as far as Jerusalem. They may have seen the star above Israel and assumed that its ruler would be born in the capital. But regardless of how much the star had traveled, its motion here seems to require a supernatural event…What the Magi recognize as divine guidance fills them, literally with exceeding great joy. They find the mother and child and prostrate themselves before him in worship.”

Craig Blomberg in Matthew: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of the Holy Scripture (NAC; Nashville: Broadman, 1992) 65-66.

We have neighbors that my wife is convinced “are searching” (somewhat like the Magi) and so I am praying for “divine guidance” specifically for them this morning. Know anyone like that?

Father in Heaven, you often reveal yourself to pagans who are searching. Do it this Christmas! By your Holy Spirit, open their eyes to see that your “divine guidance” can lead them to Jesus and the exceeding great joy that is only found in Him.

Without “divine guidance” we’d all be lost, and we’d have no joy. I am convinced that “divine guidance” that leads us to Jesus and exceeding great joy is one of the greatest reflections of God’s generosity toward us.

Father in Heaven, don’t merely guide searching neighbors, family members, and friends to joy this Christmas. Show us the way too, so that with them we may worship the Christ child this Advent season.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though 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 God my Savior. Habakkuk 3:17-18

“More than “toughing it out” or “hanging in there” Habakkuk would be “joyful” in the God of his salvation. Habakkuk exhibited the kind of relationship with God which enjoyed the divine person more than the things he could do for the prophet.

He put God above the fray of life, rejoicing in him and worshiping him regardless of the circumstances. The words for ‘rejoicing’ here represent strong emotions…His choice of them here underscores his resolve not merely to rest in the Lord’s will through everything that would come to pass but to rejoice fully in his saving God…

In a world which sees almost everything in economic terms, believers need to consider the profundity of Habakkuk’s faith. Though the words things in life happen, believers need a faith which depends on the God of the universe and worships him as the true Lord of life.”

Kenneth L. Barker in Micah, Nahum, Habakkuh, Zephaniah: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture (The New American Commentary; Nashville: B & H Publishing, 1998) 376.

This week of Advent our focus is joy. This is joyfulness is rooted in a deep relationship with God, that transcends the circumstances of life, and few characters in the Scriptures exhibit this better than Habakkuk. More than 600 years before Christ, though his world was filled with violence and turmoil, he determined to proclaim that “the righteous will live by faith” (cf. Habakkuk 2:4).

What does this have to do with generosity? Let me explain.

Barker astutely comments that the world sees everything in economic terms. That comes from enjoying the things we get from God more than God. At Christmas, it sounds like this. People often ask: “What did you get for Christmas?” What if we, instead, choose to ask a different question: “How did you grow deeper in your relationship with Christ this Christmas?” If He is our focus, rather than the things He provides, it changes everything. So I leave you with three questions today.

How are you growing deeper in your relationship with Christ this Christmas?

How is your relationship with Christ shaping your perspective on our world and the circumstances of life?

What correlations do you see between your relationship with Christ and your generosity?