The Savior Reigns

"Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns"

That is our hope and ultimately our Christmas calling: To let the Savior reign in and through us.  To let the salvation that we have experienced in Jesus’ coming make a difference for Christ in every place where God has placed us in this world.  This is Christmas faithfulness, Christmas stewardship. 

What should we do about this?  Mostly believe it.  Most of us are convinced that this whole Christmas thing is nothing but a giant hell-for-heaven transaction for human souls.  We think that the good news boils down to nothing more than getting our personal tickets punched for a one way ticket to heaven after we die. 

But I hope you are beginning to understand that the Gospel is far more than that.  God did not come to this earth to rescue us from earth, to take us out of earth, to swoop us all to heaven, God came to earth in Jesus to transform all of creation, all of heaven and earth into the new creation, the new eternal home, the peaceable and wonderful kingdom of which we get mere glimpses now in the midst of the frailty and fallenness of our day. 

If you want a practical step for something to do, then consider an advent spiritual disciplines that helps you practice letting the Savior reign through you to all of our frail creation:

Give your dog a big bone for Christmas.  Try to be nice to a cat for Jesus’ sake. 
Plant flowers, or work in the garden.  Pull a big weed or pick up trash as an act of devotion to the King of all the earth.  Surf and sing a carol while you do, ski a mountain slope and listen in your heart to the “sounding joy” from all of nature, take a walk, breathe in the cool air and pray for God’s will to be done in the whole creation, starting with your very life.

Hold the hand of someone whose body is giving out and remind them that they will soon be clothed with a new body.  Visit someone who can’t get outside and bring them a Christmas poinsettia. 

As you are considering your end of the year Christmas giving, send an extra Christmas gift to World Vision to support their work in Louisiana, Mississippi, Pakistan, South East Asia.  Or give an extra Christmas gift for our next Malawi mission team, who will travel next spring to bring good tidings to our friends who have felt the ravages of the drought that was just beginning when we were there last year. 

But mostly, continue to allow Jesus to work in and through your lives in every sphere of life so that the joy of Christmas is stretched through all the world wherever there is need.  And the next time you sing Joy to the World, thank God for the coming of Jesus and how broad and vast are the "wonders of his love." 

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found.

Comments

[David M. Smith]

”Give your dog a big bone for Christmas. Try to be nice to a cat for Jesus’ sake.
Plant flowers, or work in the garden. Pull a big weed or pick up trash as an act of devotion to the King of all the earth. Surf and sing a carol while you do, ski a mountain slope and listen in your heart to the “sounding joy” from all of nature, take a walk, breathe in the cool air and pray for God’s will to be done in the whole creation, starting with your very life.”

Hi Tod,

Are you saying we can act in accordance with the Gospel in ways that don’t involve relationships with other humans? I never expected to read such radical theology on your site. Haven’t you heard that orthodoxy is irrelevant in modern times? What will happen if word of this gets out to the rest of the Christian community? You better be very, very, careful. If people start becoming more content with their own lives, I’m blaming you.