42 years of life where Christmas is celebrated all around me the same day of every year. But this year is unique. Another year on the islands but the first year of enjoying this social noisy holiday on the relaxing beach where the azure waters make their rhythmic lapping and the hair waving breeze feels just right. Exactly what's needed away from the hair raising dense city chaos....and where there's a slight culture break.
We've licked our lips and breathed in anxious wait to return to the same spot we enjoyed nine months ago for the first time for Spring Break. A week of brain lulling relaxation seemingly LONG overdue. Many silent moments of where the brain can hear itself remember the true essence of his sovereign grace and love which sustains us all for truly one purpose which is not that of ourselves.
Thank-you, Lord, for this much needed R&R. Maybe.....just maybe the rightness of this thing called Christmas will come more into focus and understanding. For at this moment, all I see is love of materialism....as in love of worldly things. Worldly temporal pleasures which cannot be taken with us to eternity no matter how much we try to convince ourselves otherwise. All that mixed in the seemingly shadow placement of the essence of Christ's birth.
I struggle to understand how the peak of materialism (where anxious crowds line the department store exteriors to grab and run off with the seemingly best deals in mass stampeding behavior) sheds the Gospel light on God's greatest gift to mankind: freedom from the bondage of sin the birth of his Son who will be sacrificed for all. How does it teach discipleship in the more seemingly warped adaption of materialism other than to grossly excuse it? I don't know. I feel plagued by this puzzlement. Is the puzzling and struggling a sure sign that there is a disturbance of what the church should be versus what it is instead?
I'm not one of those that believes trees decorated for the holiday season are evil, that Christmas cards and Christmas caroling are evil, that stressing to socially please friends and family with parties and festive meals is evil. I wouldn't say that Santa is Satan. We don't have to look for evil in every nook and cranny. But is it really necessary to argue and obnoxiously yell (in attitude) that CHRISTmas is all about Christ and openly rebel (in unChristlike behavior) against the world that would like to penalize us for putting Jesus into our cause for celebration? Just a curious thought.
I'm becoming more and more convinced that the Bible [God] is actually quite clear on the best way to celebrate the birth of his Son and it doesn't involve worldly materialistic indulgence. I know the Bible never specifically says we should celebrate the birth of Christ on any designated day of the year. Nor do I read rebuke against it. But because Jesus is in every page of the Bible the wisest and truest way to celebrate the birth of Christ is to carry out the purpose of his birth. Go into all the world and share the entire Gospel story to those who have never heard and with those that are searching. That's his call for you and me. The the Old Testiment patriarchs, prophets and priests didn't have the whole picture of what was to truly come. They had but a small picture. That's why they found it so hard to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was who he claimed to be. He didn't arrive and free them according to their expectations. The disciples didn't understand it all until after Jesus' ascension. But you and I have the whole picture. We see prophesies proclaimed in the Old Testiment and prophesies fulfilled in the New Testiment. We HAVE THE WHOLE PICTURE. The WHOLE GOSPEL story to share. We have everything we need to go and make disciples just as Jesus commanded. Is this not truly the BEST way to show our gratitude to him? This is our daily self sacrificing command given by the one who gave himself for ALL of mankind. No one is unworthy of hearing the Gospel because, according to him, EVERYone is who he desires to save.
Though I still feel ill equipped to do that which I highly regard in others who daily practice the true essence of sharing the Gospel to those who have not yet heard. This heart still houses many sin laden side effects. Many dysfunctional valves and many life threatening holes. This flesh is undoubtedly weak and out of righteous position. But he didn't tell us to do this on our own and in our own flesh. He sends his Holy Spirit on our behalf. To help us, strengthen us, provide for us....and ultimately equip us to make disciples and make him known to those who have never heard in all the world.
But, understanding and grabbing hold of that is not as easy and fun as materialism and all the festivities that come with it. I get it. I'm human too. It's not easy. It's hard work. And as a missionary, "hard work" doesn't really begin to describe. My experience doesn't begin to scratch the surface of what hard work really is in sharing the Gospel. I believe there are plenty of other missionaries who have endured far more, sacrificed far more and suffered far more for the sake of the cross. But this here is where God called us and our family for the time being.
So, we got to Mindoro island Christmas Eve morning. It didn't seem like Christmas Eve. It seemed like any other rainy day. The exit Port of Batangas and the entry port on Mondoro were riddled with cash enthusiasts from baggage helpers to ferry ticket sales persons to environmental fee collectors.....etc. Just bit of culture. But we got to our vacation lodge and relaxed a bit while Mike went up the mountain to grab a few groceries for lunches. Enough for 8 days worth. The room came with breakfast and supper would be out.
Christmas Day felt like any other day. Yet, Mike is very much of the brought up idea that Christmas Day is sacred so we had a private family devotions on the beach in the morning. It was beautiful. Each kid shared their favorite family Christmas. We sentimentally rested on the possibility that this is Dylan's last Christmas with the family after he flies off to Texas for school this summer. We all prayed for him, God's provision for his college education and the rest of his future out from under mom and dad's roof. The rest of the day was more play in the ocean, sand and rain. No Christmas Eve candlelight service, no Christmas Day service, no big Christmas dinner slaved over, no Christmas tree, no hour of gift unveiling....none of what had been the American tradition for decades for us. None-the-less it was beautiful. Tropically beautiful.
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