Zechariah 8:1-23, Revelation 16:1-21, Psalms 144:1-15, Proverbs 30:29-31
Today is December 25th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is a pleasure and an honor as it is every day to be in your presence, but this is obviously a very special day. Today is Christmas day. And, so, all over the world billions and billions of people are celebrating the arrival of the Savior, the baby born to take away the sins of the world, the baby born to grow up to become the king of kings and Lord of lords, the baby boy that we are reading about in the book of Revelation who will utterly and completely annihilate wickedness from existence, and that story…that story began long ago and it became a part of the human story on the day that Jesus was born, the day we are celebrating now. So, may joy flood our hearts Merry Christmas.
Song:
Joy to the World
Joy to the world
Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing
Joy to the world
Joy to the world
Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy
Joy to the world, now we sing
Let the earth receive her king
Joy to the world, now we sing
Let the angel voices ring
Joy to the world, now we sing
Let men their songs employ
Joy to the world, now we sing
Repeat the sounding joy
Oh oh
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The light of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders, of His love
And wonders, wonders, of His love
Joy to the world, now we sing
Let the earth receive her king
Joy to the world, now we sing
Let the angel voices ring
So, on this Christmas day we will continue to take the next step forward because our relationship with the Scriptures, this is something that is an ongoing every day, always on, never off thing because it transforms us from within, and leads us to God. And the intertwined relationship that we have with God is an always on and never off thing. So, we’ve been reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week which is, of course, will do even on Christmas day. Zechariah…Zechariah chapter 8. Zechariah? That’s the first time I’ve ever said that that I can remember in all of these years. So, let’s stick with it. Zechariah 8:1 through 23 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, today is Christmas and Merry Christmas everyone and we’re celebrating with billions of people all over the world the arrival of the baby Jesus lying in a manger. And, so, we probably have warm hearts and depending on what time we’re listening, maybe full bellies. Around my house we have a big breakfast. So, that kind of starts early. And, you know, there’s probably garbage bags full of crinkled wrapping paper and, I don’t know, maybe…maybe we’ve got the nativity scene in our house or out on our lawn and it’s joyful and we feel full and it’s wonderful but…if I’m letting you in a little secret…usually…usually for me at some point in the day on Christmas I’m gonna feel the Christmas blues. And it’s hard to put my finger one. Like, it’s not…I’m not depressed. I’m happy. And I used to think well, maybe it’s the disruption of this kind of a day, it’s just a unique day among all days and so it’s just different. And, so, maybe I can’t find my moorings. But over the years, the more that I’ve thought about it, what I’m experiencing is like some sort of deep longing within. And it’s strange in the midst of the merriment that we actually really feel happy because of Christmas. And, so, it would confuse me for years and maybe you’re the same because this is a day where everything feels full and joyful. And, so, why is it is that something still feels missing when everything else is great and lovely and rejoicing. And then we can turn to the to the Scriptures, right? Like our reading from Revelation. Our reading from Revelation today discussed seven angels pouring out seven bowls of God’s wrath. And the destruction that’s described this is staggering. So, it’s hard to even fathom. So, its not exactly Christmas material, but maybe…maybe it gives us an explanation for this…this sense of longing…this sense that something still missing, because before the arrival Jesus, people had been anticipating a Savior, a deliverer. It was actually woven into the fabric of their culture. They had a deep sense that something was missing, that things were not exactly as they should be and that was part of their apocalyptic worldview, that the world was heading in a direction and a deliverer would come and make all things new. And we’ve discussed this lots of times and we’re seeing it clearly in Revelation. And we’ve been talking about the season of Advent. Some of us observe the season of Advent and that’s intended to help us embrace that longing because we find ourselves still with the same longing that they had. They were longing for a deliverer to come and the deliverer came. And, so we rejoice in the fact that Jesus came for us and we have that part of the story, but we still find ourselves with the same longing, waiting for his second arrival. And what we’re reading in Revelation is chilling, but what we’re reading is the ultimate destruction of every evil force set against Jesus, this is baby who came for us, this King of Kings came as a child. And, so, it’s not something that we should be chilled by or shudder in fear about. In order for this longing that kind of never really goes away and can find itself in our hearts in the most strange…strangest of times or places, like, even on Christmas day. In order for things to be made new as they should be, evil must be utterly destroyed and that is what we’re reading about in the book of Revelation. We’re reading about the fulfillment of this longing inside, right, the return of perfect shalom. So, if you find yourself like me at some point just kind of staring off and you’re surrounded by joy and loved ones but you’re staring off because something still feels like it’s missing, that’s, I think, normal. Things aren’t perfectly as they should be. But what we celebrate today is the only way they ever will be. And, so, with that light in our hearts, may we carry forward the spirit of Christmas bringing light and life and good news to all, and ultimately, my friends, my brothers and sisters to all things being made new.
Prayer:
Father, we come into Your presence with great humility, with hearts that are full, and yet hearts that are longing for all things to be made new. Oh, what a Christmas celebration that will be when we celebrate with You in Your presence when a new heaven and new earth have been born. And we are participating in the restoration of all things. So, we thank You Jesus for coming. We thank You God for rescuing us, Your children who were hopelessly lost and floundering and it’s not like we don’t still flounder, but You have given us a way, a North star, a way to be restored, a way to participate in the restoration of all things and the healing of our broken hearts. And, so, we rejoice this Christmas acknowledging that we’re longing for all things to be made new and they are, and they will. So, come Holy Spirit we pray as we continue to rejoice at Your arrival. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.
Announcements:
Alright friends, I’ll let you get back to what you were doing. I love you. I love you and having this moment to spend a part of Christmas with you is one of the great joys of life. I wish you the merriest of Christmases. I wish you nothing but joy and hope, which has been our word for this year and I wish this upon your entire families. Have a wonderful day.
I’m Brian. Merry Christmas. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.