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On Monday of this week I was asked to attend a pastor’s meeting at the Pickaway Correctional Institute in Orient, Ohio. As I drove down the long gravel lane past the prison farm and the water/furnace plant, past the barbed wire and the dorms where the inmates live, my first impression was it did not look as big by any means, to the London Correctional Institute or as massive or overbearing as the Lucasville Prison in Lucasville, Ohio and naked, without guard towers and lights and a huge command center to enter.
As I stepped out of my truck the cold winter breeze hit me hard, as the prison sits in farm country and unless you are inside or in a vehicle there is no protection from the elements. As I walked up the sidewalk to the Administration Building where my meeting took place on the second floor there were inmates in the compound walking around in groups shivering from the cold as they watched me. Two inmates walked toward me and their eyes and faces looked cold, not because of the weather, distant and in their own little world with no expression which is a means of survival behind the prison walls.
As I looked several inmates in the eye, I wondered what someone might say if I brought them home for church on Sunday? I wondered if they would be shunned for what they had done instead of being accepted this new day?
I wondered how do you believe, how do I (a believer), explain the Advent Candles of Hope, Peace, Love and Joy and the birth of Jesus Christ to one who is struggling, one who is scarred? How do you do it? How do you do it?
Luke 1:26-38:
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village of Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. Mary was betrothed to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be frightened, Mary” the angel told her, “for God has decided to bless you. You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his kingdom will never end. Mary asked the angel, “But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will overcome upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s already in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”
Several years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go swimming in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water the little boy ran out the back door, leaving behind his sock, shoes, and shirt as he ran to have some fun. The little boy flew into the water, not realizing as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward him. His father (who was working in the yard), saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, the father ran toward the water and his son while yelling as loud as he could to his son. Hearing his dad’s voice the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim toward his father’s voice. It was too late for just as the little boy reached his dad the alligator reached the little boy.
From the dock the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator began to grab the little boy by the legs. Then began an incredible tug-of-war between the alligator and the little boy’s dad. One tugged for hunger of the flesh, the other tugged for passion of the one they love. An incredible of tug-of-war ensued that went back and forth, back and forth... as the alligator pulled with its mighty jaws and the little boy's dad pulled, holding on to his son with all he had. Then a farmer drove by and saw what was happening the farmer stopped getting out his shotgun and shot the alligator.
Well here we are, two days before Christmas!
HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING GLORY TO THE NEWBORN KING. MY LOVED ONES DIED, I LOST MY JOB; MY SPOUSE HAS LEFT ME CHRISTMAS STINKS. TELL ME WHAT’S SO GOOD I DON’T SEE ANYTHING GOOD I ONLY SEE BAH HUMBUG. HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING NO MORE SNOW FOR ME! HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING GO BUG SOMEONE ELSE!!
Have you ever felt like the little boy all excited to go on an adventure? Rushing out of your safety net, not thinking twice about it, trusting you’ll be fine only to find yourself being pursued and pulled by a deadly alligator. As you struggle for your life, scared that you are going to not only be in pain but drown... and it is such a helpless feeling. As we are entering the last Sunday of Advent there are many like the little boy who after weeks and weeks in the hospital by the grace of God, survived.
The little boy whose arms were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the alligator. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father where his father’s fingernails had hung on to his boy for dear life in an effort to save the one he loved with his own life.
What scars do you have underneath your clothes, underneath your skin... where nobody can see them, but you know they exist for you can feel the pain in your heart and soul? Scars from the past that you do not dwell on, but they are there within you as a reminder of where you have been.
On the first Sunday of Advent we lit the candle of Hope which I call the candle of Happiness, Optimism, Perseverance and Endurance. On the second Sunday of Advent we lit the candle of Peace, and on the third Sunday of Advent the candle of Love.
Many cannot find Hope, Peace or Love, for the scars of their life block their ability to feel the fourth candle of Advent which we light, the candle of JOY, which I call Jesus Oh Yes he is my Lord and Savior in their life. And in their pain all they can do is crawl deeper, while sarcastically stating, “WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE! YEAH RIGHT!!”
As I have reflected on my life, people I have met, read about and seen in movies, a question sticks in my mind. How do you believe when you have been scarred? When you have been hurt, abandoned, orphaned, loved, shattered after being pulled and tugged on in a struggle for survival... how do you believe anything that you cannot see? Anything that is not of this world.... How do you understand Christ's birth, let alone the Advent Candles and salvation?
We can sing all the Christmas Carols we want, have pretty wrapped gifts, and plenty food to eat and hot chocolate to drink but that doesn’t remove the scars from days past. The only thing that can remove the scars emotionally, is hope. You see the little boy was interviewed by a reporter about what he had been through and with pride the little boy told the reporter, “Look at my arms, they’re scarred because my daddy wouldn’t give up and let go.”
From the wisdom of the Apostle Paul, Romans 1:16-17:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.”
Paul was not ashamed because his news was the Good News about Jesus Christ, not the presents of this world that wait for us Christmas morning.
And that is the message of not 'Christmas' but 'Christ-mass', for Jesus is the reason for the season, not Macy’s or Target or any other name brand you may think of and or like.
The AD reads, TODAY ONLY SALE, 30% OFF! THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! Is this really your last chance or will there be more sales before and after Christmas and for New Years Day before and after? Think about it, in this world Lazarus no longer lives which is why we now shop at Macy’s but through Jesus Christ. in the Bible Lazarus came back from the dead. What’s your choice, this world or Jesus Christ? To walk around with scars invisible to the world that are not healed and dead or to have your scars healed by God the Father, who will not let go of you or me, through His only Son Jesus Christ born in a manger years ago and the key to our life and salvation?
...To walk around in your prison with eyes that are distant, expressions that are cold, lost and walking in circles like a pack of wolves, or to be alive and have joy in your heart?
JOY TO THE WORLD THE LORD IS COME! Let earth receive her king; Let every heart prepare room and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing. No more let sin and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; he comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.
What are you waiting on? The one-day sale at your local department store or the promise of eternity?
Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house not a creature was praying, not one in the house. Their Bibles were lain on the shelf without care in hopes that Jesus would not come there. The children were dressing to crawl into bed, not once ever kneeling or bowing a head. And mom in her rocker with baby on her lap was watching the Late Show while I took a nap. When out of the East there arose such a clatter, I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash tore open the shutters and threw up the sash! When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but angels proclaiming that Jesus was here. With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray, I knew in a moment this must be THE DAY!
The light of his face made me cover my head, IT WAS JESUS RETURNING JUST LIKE HE SAID! And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth, I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself. In the Book of Life, which He held in His hand, was written the name of every saved soul. He spoke not a word as He searched for my name; when He said “It’s not here,” I hung my head in shame. The people whose names had been written with love He gathered to take to His Father above. With those who were ready as He rose without a sound, while all the rest were left standing around.
I fell to my knees, but it was too late; I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate. I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight. OH IF I ONLY HAD BEEN READY TONIGHT.
Let us pray,
Father God on this the last week of Advent as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we be ready for His coming and celebrate with JOY in our hearts knowing that the best is yet to come. Amen.
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