The calendar says there are two more days to Christmas.

By the time some of you receive this, the cultural celebration may be past and I may be on my way to Israel, along with the Rigsbys and 44 students. We actually leave December 27, 2007 and will return January 20, 2008.

Your bulletin is stuffed beyond reason because this is the last one I can send you until we return, the last week of January.

If you are interested in following our whereabouts, there is a copy of our itinerary in your bulletin or you can download a copy here. If you are on our email list, I hope to periodically send an update during the month.

While the Rigsbys and I are absent, It will be our privilege to welcome Byron Siemsen to preach each service on the Lord’s Day. The original plan was that Dave and Carolyn Stewart return to lead the music portions, but they were unable to do so this year. In their place, Byron along with Shawn Sammartano will coordinate the music, accompanied by Elona Siemsen and Jeannie Leonard. We are thankful for the way God always provides.

Because I wasn’t able to copy a few letters last week, there are a few extra this time. I know you will want to read what God is doing in and through those we regularly pray for and support.

Bill Holeman had a nice article written about his and Joyce’s work in a publication that gets a lot of exposure in Kentucky. It would have been difficult to leave it out. I am so glad that Bill sent us a copy.

Being near the end of the year, it is a good time to evaluate how God might want each of us to get into His Word for the coming year. You may have read my short introduction about the “less-complicated” schedule in the bulletin. The simple act of reading the Bible yields much in our lives and I would like to encourage you to join me in reading the Scriptures, whether you follow this particular plan or not.

There are a few photos posted on the church’s website from the Rigsbys’ Open House. The direct link is here. Of course, you can always go to the website and access it via the “Gallery” tab (http://bellgardensbaptist.org).

I am sure there are a few other matters I have forgotten. Forgotten details they shall remain. I don’t want to end on business and mundane matters. Instead, ours is the privilege once more of gazing at the “babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger” “the Savior, Who is Christ, the Lord.” On this page is a copy of Bill Rice’s thoughtful meditation on the advent (advents?) of Jesus Christ, “He Came….”

…He came, indeed!

Stories have a way of being changed over time. Just ask any fisherman about their greatest catch (or former youth group members about their recollections). While the Nativity account in the Bible is straightforward and clear, it has been so often repeated with additional details these supposed “facts” are now accepted as true.

It is true that Caesar Augustus issued a decree that all the world should be taxed, requiring that everyone return to their ancestral home (Lk. 2:1-3). That means it is unlikely that Joseph and Mary traveled alone from Nazareth to Bethlehem. How did they get to Bethlehem? Often you’ll hear, “Mary rode on a donkey led by Joseph.” But, it is not recorded in the Bible that Mary rode on a donkey (Lk. 2:4-5).

Our version of the Nativity has Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem just as she is about to give birth. But there is no mention of a last minute or even a late night arrival in the Scriptures. In fact, the couple had probably been in Bethlehem for some days or even weeks. “While they were there, the time came for her to give birth” (2:6).

Who could have known that the phrase “there was no room for them in the inn” (Lk. 2:7) would become the pivotal line in the account and create a larger-than-life imaginary character? Yet, there is no innkeeper. Nor do we know, if he did exist, whether he was inhospitable or helpful.

In addition, the word “inn” is not the best translation choice here. In the two other places in the New Testament where this Greek word is used (Lk. 22:11; Mk. 14:14), the translation is “guest room.” Luke knew the Greek word for “inn” and used it in Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan taking the wounded man to a place where he could be given care (10:34). But Luke did not use that same word in connection with Jesus’ birth.

Luke tells us the newborn was “laid in a manger.” A general use of the word “manger” has become obsolete, except in the Christmas story. A “manger” isn’t a building, but the animals’ feeding trough. It is a slimy, insect infested, disease spreading container. Which begs the question, “which animals were present at Jesus’ birth?” Based on the text, we don’t know that there were any. There is no mention of a donkey, an ox, cattle, a lamb, or any other kind of animal.

Sometime that night the angels appeared to the shepherds. It is not recorded that the shepherds saw a star to lead them to the “manger” (Lk. 2:8-9). But, they heard the angel who announced the birth of Jesus. Then the shepherds heard the heavenly host praising God. Even here, we have not been as careful as we could be. Did the angels “sing”? Verse 10 states, “the angel said.” Verse 13 says “the heavenly host [was] praising God and saying.” The angels (and the Bible) neither tell us the date of Jesus’ birth, nor the time of day. The Scriptures do not tell us that Jesus was born at night, only that the shepherds were in the fields at night when they heard the angelic proclamation (Lk. 2:11-14).

The shepherds and the wise men did not visit Jesus at the same time as is commonly depicted for convenience. The shepherds saw the Baby Messiah in the evening, after his birth. The wise men arrived at a house(possibly) some 6 to 12 months after the birth of Jesus. We don’t know that there were three wise men because the account in Matthew 2:1-12 doesn’t indicate how many there were. There could have been only two. There could have been more. “Three” wise men is often assumed since three types of gifts were given. So much for the song, “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” They weren’t really “kings,” but “magi” or astrologers eager to discover some truth by reading the stars. They were “Oriental” in a general sense, but in reality they were Middle Easterners. There weren’t necessarily “three.” Nor do we know if they were “wee.” Other than that, it’s a pretty good song.

Matthew continues his narrative of the Nativity with the escape to Egypt, the massacre of the innocent children, the death of Herod, and Joseph and Mary’s safe return to Nazareth with Jesus (Mt. 2:13-23). Unfortunately these portions of the Nativity account are little known, since we have narrowed our interests to the events of one night. About that night there is one more inaccurate Christmas tradition to expose. There was no drummer boy (pa rum pum pum pum).

I imagine by now you are thinking, “if we follow the Nativity story without all our favorite “inconsistencies,” the wise men wouldn’t come out until June, the animals, if any, would be in a pen behind the manger stall, the “shepherd’s” star wouldn’t be anywhere near the manger and the angels wouldn’t sing. There wouldn’t be anything left…except, the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.”

That’s right. Eliminate the cruft and all we have (or need) is Jesus…The Word Who became flesh and blood…born of a woman and born under the law. God with us became flesh like us and at just the right time, He came for us!

The shepherds were careful to praise God for what they had been told and then witnessed for themselves “as it was told to them.” (Lk. 2:20). “The church…is charged with witnessing to the gospel and remembering to the world the birth of Jesus” as truthfully as we can and, as often as possible, in a pleasant and winsome manner.

“I am going to teach you a lesson this week. Are you listening?”

“Uh-mmm, uh, sure. What is it?”

“I will show it to you when you read Second Corinthians. There! Stop! Look at that again: ‘But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.’ Do you understand?”

“Well, not exactly. What does this have to do with Christmas? I really have a lot to do, you know. I need to finish shopping. Then, there is the trip. And, why do I get so many phone calls and unexpected visits when I am at my busiest?”

“That word, ‘simplicity,’ that word here means ‘singleheartedness.’ Don’t allow your life to be drawn away from me by anyone else…. You’re as fidgety as a three-year-old! We’ll talk about this a little later.”

“O.K., later sounds good, see ya!”

Thursday, afternoon
“Here, read this article I had you download off the internet Tuesday.”

“If you don’t have time for unhurried, long-lasting time with Jesus, your life is not only too busy and too complex, chances are you are being deceived. Paul wrote of this concern to the Corinthian Christians when he said, ‘But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 11:3).”

“Now do you get it?”

“Oh, hi! Were you talking to me? That was a great article. It even had the same verse you told me about earlier this week. I sure learned a lot!”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am talking to you, but I can tell you didn’t learn a thing. Paul wrote so that a believer’s devotedness would be ‘undivided’ and ‘unspotted,’ you know, ‘simplicity,’ ‘simplicity.’”

“Ah ha!, I see! ‘Simplicity.’ Wait…are you trying to tell me something?”

Saturday night
“I think I got it. You’re upset because the world moves into chaotic mode this time of year, when we are supposedly remembering that you came to earth, and became a man, ‘the Word become flesh and tabernacled among us’ and all. But instead of thinking about that event, everyone is frantically moving from store to party to occasion thinking about all the things they need to do and the ones they forgot to do, and no one has time for you. Is that it?”

“I’m not upset…”

“Am I right!?! I can’t believe I figured this one out! I’ll have to make sure that we emphasize that “reason for the season” this Sunday.”

“I’m not upset because of the world. I’m not…”

“You want me to remind everyone to spend time with you, right? Wow! This will be great because no one will see it coming. They won’t know what hit them, because this verse doesn’t even come from the Christmas passages.

“I am not upset because of the way the world has responded…just you. Are you listening to me?”