December 26, 2023
By Rev. Dr. Scott N. Field
“…and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21 NLT).
Blessings to you, friends, in the Matchless Name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer!
Still bleary-eyed from your Christmas Day celebration, gifts, and feasting? Exhausted from a too-long To-Do list and a too-short calendar in which to get it all done?
Or maybe not.
Perhaps you marked not only a Silent Night, but also a silent Christmas day mostly alone. The fading memories of the past, the cherished people who are gone, the changing season of your own life, might have rendered your “Joy to the World” a little less exuberant.
And if you are a Methodist, as nearly all subscribers to the WCA Outlook are, there is one word that has been hanging over us throughout the past couple of years:
Disaffiliation
This disaffiliation season, whether you have disaffiliated, failed at an attempt to disaffiliate, tried to keep congregations and pastors from taking the disaffiliation exit, or have launched a new congregation of one sort or another because of the frustration with disaffiliation and denominations and who knows what else…it has all been, as our British friends would say, “a right hard slog.”
If you are part of a congregation that has made it through the disaffiliation process, of course, you are likely filled with anticipation about a fresh start in mission and ministry. You have put United Methodism in the rearview mirror and are heading into what you expect to be a future of fruitful and faithful ministry.
If you are a continuing United Methodist, a church member or pastor or administrator of some sort, I expect that the scale of change brought on by the unexpectedly large number of disaffiliating congregations is beginning to seem at least challenging if not overwhelming. Big plans for the future may have to wait until the dust settles and pressing adjustments are made.
If you are part of one of the Central Conferences of the United Methodist Church, you have been left wondering whether your voice will ever be heard, your desires ever fulfilled, your option of considering disaffiliation even allowed at all by the Powers That Be. You may be scratching around somewhere between hostility and hopelessness. By the way, the WCA’s Fair for Some Fair for All initiative is focused expressly to address your situation.
A Restorative Reminder
Recently, as part of an Advent devotional reading, I again came across a soul-renewing promise of Jesus. It is one of those bad news/good news statements of the Lord which is filled with the hallmark of both truth and grace.
Here’s a word from the Lord to steady our feet, clear our vision, and strengthen our resilience:
“Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b)
Did you get the adversative imperative?
“Despite the incontrovertible fact that the world is a place of trouble for all of us all the time, Cheer up! (Yes, I’m talking to you… all of you who are my followers). I’ve overcome the world already.” (Field Paraphrase Version).
Most of us don’t like to be told to “cheer up”. This is the English translation of a New Testament Greek word (tharseo). And, whether in New Testament Greek or today’s English, this common expression is largely useless; it seems to dismiss or avoid the anxiety, suffering, frustration, injustice, and despair of the person who is experiencing “trouble” of whatever variety. But when Jesus says, “Cheer up!”, he not only takes us and our situations seriously, but also, by his presence and power, does something about it.
I went rummaging around in the gospels and found myself surprised at the very serious situations in which Jesus directed someone to “Cheer up!” He said it (“Cheer up!”) to the paralyzed man he healed (Matthew 9:2), and to the woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding (Matthew 9:22), and to the panicking disciples in the storm-tossed boat (Matthew 14:27), and to the Apostle Paul, when it wasn’t clear if he would even get through the hearing before the High Council alive (Acts 23:11). In each of these situations, the Lord Jesus says, “Cheer up! Take courage!”
When we welcome the Lord Jesus into our lives through faith, when we experience the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, then we share in Christ’s victory, too. We continue to experience trouble, sorrow, evil, injustice, and oppression. But that is not the last word. The last word belongs to the Lord Jesus, who is strong to save. He said that though we regularly, maybe continually, experience “trouble” we have a living hope because he has overcome the world already. Check on 2 Peter 1:3-9 on the living hope we have.
Do you remember the gospel account of a blind man named Bartimaeus? (Mark 10:46-52 and parallels). He heard Jesus was nearby; he couldn’t help but hear it because there was a large crowd following Jesus as he entered Jericho. So Bartimaeus shouted out to Jesus. But many of the people in the crowd shouted back at Bartimaeus, “Shut up!” They were certain, I imagine, that the man was blind and that was just the way it was. Get used to it, right?
Apparently, Bartimaeus had more faith than the people in the crowd. He would not quit calling out for God’s mercy. Jesus stopped. “Tell him to come here,” the Lord said. And then the people said to Bartimaeus, guess what?
“Cheer up! He’s calling you!”
Bartimaeus’ sight was restored on the spot. Some of us have experienced immediate relief from our trouble, suffering, and anxiety. Many of us have not.
But I have it on the very best authority to say, whatever the trouble, suffering, or challenge we may be experiencing now or will experience in the year ahead, “Cheer up! Take courage! The Lord Jesus has overcome the world. We are always safe with him.”
It is more than a greeting among church-y people. It is an invitation to each and all of us: Expect God’s goodness and mercy every day in the Matchless Name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer!
CHRISTMAS BONUS:
If you want some fuel for your faith in the Lord Jesus, check out this video clip of SM Lockridge, Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego from 1953 to 1993. Really…it will lift you up!