Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and, once again, we are hosting. The past two weeks have been filled with preparations of planning the menu, figuring out when to make everything, and how to arrange the table and chairs so everyone fits. I love this kind of stuff. I love getting great grandma’s china out and setting the table all pretty. I love baking pies, and having my house smell like fall spices. I love planning out my Thursday morning so I can accomplish all the last minute things, and I love browsing through all the Black Friday deals and trying to figure out if we need to go out this year. (Yes, we do.)

Hosting Thanksgiving brings back memories from my childhood of the preparation for 10 to 20 guests, and all the fun (I thought it was fun) of getting the house and food ready. I have found that I am not very sentimental about stuff, but I am sentimental about food – especially food that comes with such exquisite memories. Perhaps that’s why Thanksgiving and Christmas mean so much to me: the hard work of preparing was repaid with wonderful memories of the fun and laughter of the day itself. This year, I am thankful that we can once again host this wonderful meal and spend it with such wonderful friends.

This year, we have the opportunity to celebrate “Thanksgivanukkah” as the first day of Hanukkah is today! Hanukkah is not a story you will find in the Old Testament because it took place in the second century B.C. So, here is the story of Hanukkah in a nut shell:

In the 2^nd century B.C., Judea became part of the Seleucid Kingdom (Alexander the Great’s Greek Kingdom had been split into Ptolemaic and Seleucid factions). Antiochus IV Epiphanes later invaded Judea in 175 B.C. to regain control of the province from the priests. After winning the battle, Antiochus IV proceeded to loot the temple, stop all services, and in 167 B.C. he set up an altar to Zeus (yes, Zeus – the Seleucids were greatly influenced by the Romans, who had not yet taken over from them) in the Temple. He also ordered that pigs would be sacrificed on the Temple’s altar, thereby desecrating the altar and Temple itself.

When a Hellenistic (pro-Roman culture) Jew went to the temple to worship an idol that had been set up, Mattathias, a priest, killed him and initiated a revolt against the Seleucid Empire. After Mattathias’ death, his son, Judah, used guerrilla warfare to gain victory over the Seleucids. Two years after the desecration of the Temple, Judah and his brothers were successful in defeating the Seleucid monarchy and took control of Judea during what is known as the Maccabean Period. They rededicated the Temple, cleansed it, rebuilt the altar, made new vessels for the Temple service and instituted the Festival of Lights (Hanukkah) to commemorate this victory. However, there was only enough of the high priest’s olive oil found to burn for one night. This kosher oil needed eight days to be refined and prepared. The limited oil miraculously burned for all 8 days until the new batch was ready, and so an eight day festival was declared to remember this miracle. Now, every night of the 8 days of Hanukkah, the candles or lights on the menorah are lit to correspond with the number of days. The ninth light in the center is also lit to provide extra illumination. The menorah is usually placed in a central place in the home or by a window to remind everyone in the household and those passing by are reminded of this miracle.

Judah ruled Judea until 160 B.C. when he was killed in battle. His brother, Jonathan, the high priest took over, and later after being assassinated in 142 B.C., the last son of Mattathias, Simeon, ruled in his place. Simeon was murdered by his son in law, Ptolemy, in 134 B.C. who continued to fight for Judea’s freedom, but was sympathetic to the Hellenistic culture. This sympathy was a trait in all rulers after Ptolemy and facilitated the entrance of Roman general, Pompey into Jerusalem. In 63 B.C. Jerusalem and Judea came under Roman rule. In 37 B.C. Herod the Great, who was half Jewish and very Hellenistic, was installed as ruler over the area by the Roman Senate.

The Maccabean Period was seen by the religious leaders of Jesus’ time as a time of national and religious freedom from the oppression of their rulers. This story was recounted every year during the festival of Hanukkah and was as much a part of Jewish culture as the Indians and Pilgrims sitting down to the first Thanksgiving dinner is for Americans. Therefore, when the disciples asked Jesus in Acts 1:6, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” They are thinking back to the Maccabean Revolt and the brief freedom Israel experienced under its rule. The idea of national freedom had become such a centerpiece to their culture that it affected every aspect of their worldview. They would spend the rest of their lives learning that the Kingdom of God had both a physical and a spiritual aspect to it, and that they needed to wait for the physical, yet prepare themselves and others for the spiritual.

This Thanksgiving, many of us will sit down to an amazing meal, surrounded by friends and family, do some Black Friday shopping, watch football, and enjoy having a long weekend to rest and recover from that amazing meal,. But what do we really remember at this time? What is the underlying principle that we celebrate?

Love.

God so loved us that He allowed His son to be sacrificed so that we could be made free from the bondage of our sins (John 3:16). God gave us great value and worth and declared us to be not-guilty. He calls us His children, and graciously does not hold our sins against us, but gives us the freedom we need to learn to live righteously and humbly under His rule and authority. The early Christians were characterized by their devotion to humanity, and their insistent belief that all human life was of value. This led them to rescue babies that were left outside to die of exposure because they were unwanted, and care for both the Christian and secular sick when plagues swept through the cities, and all others left.

The pilgrims came to America looking for religious freedom, and the opportunity to establish a community devoted to the will of God. The Indians of the area did not see them as threats to their lives, but as newcomers to a place, and reached out in love and respect to help those who were so different from themselves.

This Thanksgiving, let us remember that we are truly children of God who have been given what we do not deserve at a price that we can never repay. Let us remember and thank God for those who are very different from ourselves, but who have also been set free by the death and resurrection of Christ both today and throughout history. I pray that we would all remember how richly we have been blessed, and that we would not take these blessings for granted, but forever rejoice and be excited about our life in Christ, and all he has called us to. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Psalm 68:19-20, God Who Bears our Burdens.

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
    who daily bears our burdens.

Our God is a God who saves;
    from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death."

Psalm 68:19-20

I’ve been pondering these words for two days now. Verse 19 really caught me off guard when I read it the other morning, “who daily bears our burdens.” I’ve been stewing on it and trying to understand what it means for God to bear our burdens, especially when most of my burdens are problems originating from my own sin.

The conclusion I have come to is that God knows our burdens and problems and worries and concerns, the things that keep us up at night, the things that gnaw at us all day long. He knows them, and he gives us the strength to handle them if we are leaning on Him. When we screw up or are rude, or get in over our heads in a particular situation, He knows and gives us the strength to take responsibility for our mess and to enter into redemption and restore relationships.

God walks beside us in this life because He is personal, omnipresent, and sovereign over each situation we find ourselves in. Therefore, He helps us to bear our burdens daily, because He is with us as we deal with our circumstances. He is there beside us, our silent companion, giving us strength to forgive, seek forgiveness, and admit our imperfections. His spirit indwells us and speaks truth to us. The question is, do we listen, and are we aware of His presence?

I’m still struggling with situations at work, and I am not always responding to them well. This means that I often find myself in a place of humiliation as I seek the forgiveness of others for my behavior. God calls us to do everything we can to live in peace with all people (Romans 12:18, Hebrews 12:14). This means accepting that we are at fault, and that sometimes to restore relationships with others and with God, we need to admit it and apologize. Not easy, but God is there helping us to bear this burden of shame, and cheering us on as we do what is right by Him – living at peace with others.

Psalm 68:20 gives us the reassurance that God will rescue us. Sometimes this is taken out of the context of the Scriptures though. God doesn’t just rescue people because they say, “rescue me!” He rescues them because it is His will to preserve those who are following Him and His will. Hebrews 12:14-15 says, “¹⁴Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” When we refuse to admit we are wrong we embrace bitterness and self-righteousness. Our righteousness can only come from God though, so refusing to admit fault and seek forgiveness from God and others leads us further away from God and holiness. But when we cast our burdens upon our Lord and Savior, confess our sins, and repent of them, we move back towards God and His holiness which brings us peace.

Of course sometimes this backfires on us. The person we are apologizing to isn’t willing to forgive, or insists on laying a guilt trip on us. This is where we need to lean on God even more and trust in His truth and word, and not the words of others. One of the pastors at my church said something during a sermon that has stuck with me for months now: “The One who made you, gets to define you. The one that created you gets to determine your worth.” When we are further hurt by someone, we must turn to God and allow Him to determine our value and give us an identity. These burdens are too heavy to carry alone, we need Jesus’ help and salvation to live in this world, and he does help, because he knows rejection, hurt, pain, and stress.

 “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 is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

Confession

Confession. It is the best and easiest way to be free. It releases us from holding onto the wrong things, the things that burden us more and drive us deeper into the mud. Jesus said:

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 is light. (Matthew 11:28-30).

I confess that I have been carrying a burden that is too heavy for me to bear, but in my stubbornness and fear, I refused to lay it down. Becoming pregnant derailed me. I had become comfortable in my spiritual life, I was doing great physically, and I was healthy, skinny, and loving life. And then we got pregnant. It wasn’t a surprise, I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Suddenly I wasn’t great physically, I felt sick, lethargic, and tired. I didn’t want to go for a run, I didn’t want to do anything but lie down and hope the sick feeling went away. I didn’t know how to handle it spiritually either. I stopped praying and depending on God, and over the last six months, I crawled into a selfish little hole in the ground and became so critical of myself and my husband that it drove us both crazy. But I carried around this need to portray a perfect life. To make everyone thing that I had all my ducks in a row when really, those ducks were scattered.

Being pregnant has given me a shield. People ask how I am feeling and I tell them I am good. Not feeling sick, eating well, drinking well, feeling the baby move. Things are good. I don’t tell them that I am anxious as hell about everything, comparing myself to others and finding myself coming up short, and constantly wondering if anyone out there loves me. I have been chasing perfection in our home, in being pregnant, and in my work, and I am failing at it. A few nights ago, before finally falling asleep I wondered if anyone had ever felt like I did. And the next morning over breakfast I received my answer: Yes, David did.

David is not my favorite Bible character. He was a womanizer, murderer, absent parent, and yet for some reason he is still said to be wholly devoted to God, a man after His heart. I guess I always felt that a man after God’s own heart would be a bit more righteous, and would have made better decisions. I defined David by his actions, just like I felt other people were doing to me. I was a Pharisee at heart.

So, over my Cheerios I opened my Bible to Psalm 62. The last Psalm I had read was Psalm 61, so this was the next one on the list. I started to read:

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62: 1-2)

These words repeat in verses 5-6. In Hebrew, repetition means something. Things are repeated for emphasis and to point out that ‘this is really important’. Then I got to verses 7-8:

My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

This could have been written directly to me. When I became pregnant, and began to struggle, I didn’t grasp onto God, I turned to other things and held tightly onto those. I allowed the situations I was in, and the words and opinions of others to affect me, determine my value, and define who I was. But the truth is that my honor, value, and identity are determined by the God who made me. Only he has the power to say who I am because only He knows me completely.

I had defined David by his actions, and not by his heart’s desire for God. David didn’t falter in his faith the way I have – I’m sure he struggled, but he never let go of his hold on God.  

Psalm 62 goes on to say that all of us are fleeting, and are unable to assign value to ourselves and each other. Furthermore, God will reward us for what we have done. Not what we wanted to do. Not what we didn’t do. But what we do. So no one can stand and pretend to be better because their sins are different. God didn’t reward David’s sins, He rewarded his devotion and worship. Would God reward my worry and anxiety? Would God reward my faithlessness and independence from Him? I had been holding myself and others to an ungodly standard, and I couldn’t bear the weight of it any longer.

Then I turned the page to Psalm 63.

You, God, are my God, I earnestly seek you;

 I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you….

Because you are my help, I will sing in the shadow of your wings.

I cling to you; your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63, 1-3, 7-8)

This caused me to reflect and remember. What I really enjoyed about life seven months ago, was not my physique, or physical stamina, but was my relationship with God. The closeness I felt with Him. When I stopped seeking Him, I forgot His power, glory, and love. When I stopped clinging to Him, I lost His strong support in my life.

As I worked my way through these Psalms and confessed my sins, I began to once again feel free. The best way I can explain it is that for a while there, I felt fully centered and balanced and not as though I was falling to one side or another. I say that this was just for a while, because seven months of bad habits are not so quickly broken. That night at work, things were said and done that affected me again because I let them define me. And, once again, I had to confess that I had listened to the lies of others and the devil and not to the truth of God. And this will probably be ongoing for a while until God’s truth is engraved on my heart and mind because I have prayed it so often, that these lies cannot stand up to it.

Confession rewards us with freedom from the weight of sin, and because we are sinful beings, confession needs to be a way of life and a constant practice. We will never be free of our need to confess our sins until we are perfected in heaven.