Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

– 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (ESV)

“The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Aren’t you glad God brings newness into our lives? Even to rebellious outlaws like we were, reconciled to God through Christ, who for our sake was made to be sin so that we might become the righteousness of God!

I’m praying that I can become more of an ambassador for my King in 2006. I’m not even sure I know what that means, but this scripture tells me that’s what I am – I have been entrusted with the message of reconciliation.

I hope I live that out better next year than I did this year.

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”

– Isaiah 40:1

I don’t have much to say, other than what this verse has just spoken to me:

Comfort to the whole earth. The King has arrived.

Comfort to those who are poor. Your King is among you, is one of you, and he calls you blessed.

Comfort to those who mourn. Your King mourns with you. He weeps over the nation; he weeps because of the unnaturalness of death and corruption. He weeps for our desperate state.

Comfort for the guilty. Your King brings forgiveness of sins. He is not ashamed to be seen with you. He is your friend. And your sins he takes upon himself, and they are no more.

Comfort for those who are lame, blind, deaf. Your King comes with healing in his hands. He is not afraid to touch you, or to breathe the air you breathe. He has come to make you whole.

Comfort for the lonely, for loneliness is a crushing weight for many during this season.

But our King has come, and he has come to be with us, and to give us family and brothers and sisters and friends and, most importantly, his beautiful presence. You are his beloved.

Immanuel is here.

Comfort, comfort my people!

From James S. Robbins’ excellent recount of Christmas in 1864 comes this backstory to Longfellow’s poem I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day:

Far to the north in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reflected on the day, and Christmas days past. The season had held no joy for him for the past three years – not because of the war, but the tragic death of his wife Fanny in the summer of 1861. She was the love of his life, and they were splendidly happy, but on July 9, 1861, while sealing a letter with paraffin, Fanny dropped the match on her summer dress, which burst into flames. Henry heard her screams and ran to her, trying to help smother the fire and burning himself severely in the process. Fanny died the next day. In December 1862, Henry noted in his journal, “A Merry Christmas’ say the children, but that is no more from me.” He spent December 1863 helping nurse his son’s wounds; Lt. Charles Appleton Longfellow, who had run away to fight for the Union, was severely wounded at the battle of New Hope Church, Virginia, and Henry had rushed south to bring him home. The following spring, Longfellow’s lifelong friend Nathaniel Hawthorne passed away unexpectedly n his sleep. These had been difficult times for the poet; but sometimes it is only through great adversity that the promise of hope makes itself felt most strongly. Longfellow began to write:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day,

Their old familiar carols play.

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of ‘peace on earth, good will to men.’

I thought how as that day had come

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along th’ unbroken song

Of ‘peace on earth, good will to men.’

And in despair I bowed my head:

“There is no peace on earth,” I said,

“For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of ‘peace on earth, good will to men.’ ”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men.

Till, ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

The poem was put to music by Jean Baptiste Calkin in 1872, and became the familiar carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Amen. God is active and alive in our world, and his plans will not be deterred. He has come, the Prince of Peace, to dwell among us, to be our Immanuel, our Savior.

I’m praying that we will all hear that message this Christmas, and that the joyful bells of our quickened spirits will ring the news. He is born!

Merry Christmas!

Bob over at Gratitude and Hoopla has kicked it into high gear lately, coinciding nicely with my Christmas Season writer’s block of the past few days (which hit me in ironic synchronization with a nice compliment Bob recently gave me on his blog regarding my Christmas posts).

His latest offering, reproduced in full here: What Child Is This?. Read this, meditate on it. It’s good.

Into this fallen-down, broken-backed, misused world came you, a pure and simple child. Your coming caused the rage of kings and the trembling of ancient empires, while the meek, the weak, the hurt and hardened, stumbled into the flickering stable of your birth and fell to their calloused knees. No one understood quite yet; you’d set a mystery in motion, and questions were the order of the day. “What child is this?” is all that anyone could say. Now many years have passed, and we have seen much evil and much good since that still moment under an unlikely star. What child is this, destined to pierce humanity’s heart? What child is this, the glory of God in a thimble of flesh? What child is this, servant of a thousand-million sinners? What child is this, born to change the destiny of men and shut the mouth of the accuser? This is the one who put off every particle of power, took on the form of new-born, that light might dawn in a dark world. What child is this? The gift and the Giver all in one. Long foretold, now come. Yes, the time of fulfillment has begun. The day has dawned, after a long night. Come, all you faithful, worship and adore him!