Rise, the Woman's Conquering Seed

The news on December 1, 2006 included a report that the city of St. Albans, West Virginia had decided to include in its holiday display a scene of a manger, a star, shepherds, camels and a palm tree. Missing because of concerns over “the separation of church and state,” according to an Associated Press report, were Mary, Joseph and the baby. The park superintendent who apparently ordered the unpopular omission argues that this is not “technically” a manger scene.

I can agree with him on that. What is a manger scene without Jesus? You can have your bath-robed herdsmen and your incandescent spotlight. But what kind of centerpiece can you have in a crèche without a Savior who is Christ, the Lord? Do you shine the light on the camels? The palm tree?

Stories like this irk traditionalists because they think secularists in our nation are trying to take away the familiar things we hold dear. But is liberal tampering with sentimental traditions the greatest reason to bristle at a baby-less manger scene? People might be just as angry if they tried to ban something of less consequence, like church spires over fifty feet tall or Easter egg hunts.

I make this contrast because I even wonder how many professing Christians understand why Jesus has to be at the center of Christmas. It is more than a story, you know. I fear that many treasure Jesus like they treasure drawing a “Get out of Jail Free” card in Monopoly—only this card says “Get out of Hell Free.” If the baby in the manger merely serves to stir my memories of flannelgraph stories or comes to serve my man-centered theology, then I take his removal personally. I might even start a war over it. The nerve of those liberals and secularists!

But if the baby in the manger set the aside the worship of angels to die and absorb in his body the full wrath of the Father that I deserve, his omission mainly sickens me rather than makes me angry. It is not only a reminder that I live in a world that fails to treasure Jesus, it is a reminder that I have also sought satisfaction in lesser treasures than Jesus. The people he came to save are not only those of European descent who go to church. The people he intended to rescue come from every tribe, tongue and nation and include liberals, secularists, Muslims and other enemies of God like me who can only find an end of the enmity by grace.

Maybe I get angry when I hear “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” at Walmart because it takes attention away from my own idolatry. It is a lot easier to question what happened to the plastic Jesus in the public park than it is to wonder why he has been replaced by a ballgame or a TV show or a good novel in my home.

9 comments:

  1. Hey what's happening here has this blog dried up and is in danger of blowing away? I thought your sermon in Sunday was excellent and I really wish that I had the ability to explain God's sovereignty when friends are experiencing an "Chirpy day". I would like a DC of that sermon if I may.
    In Him
    Paulette

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  2. GRRRRRRRRRR. that would be a CD* ty Paulette

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  3. Sorry about the blog. The dog ate my homework…The Democrats won control of Congress…I’ve been sick, er…lazy.

    I'll try to start posting again with some regularity. My counseling schedule is heating up, so I have plenty of thoughts to spill.

    I have sent you a monstrous mp3 file of the sermon on the sovereignty of God from Sunday that you may be able to burn to a DC :)

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  4. Quick question: Here at school they seem to have a very great dislike for anything that is "reformed." They also seem to unfailingly connect it with covenant theology. Is it connected? What for instance makes Piper reformed? Is he a covenant theologian? What would you classify RLB as right now? Are we in a transition of sorts? Why do they bristle at anything that even hints of reformed theology--like may of Piper's books? : )

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  5. Betsy,
    I'm not sure where you are attending school. Many are anticalvinistic merely because they have been told by some one that it is a cult and that a loving God just can't be like "that". Here is a link that may be of some help to you in understanding covenant theology. It is a video that you will have to wait to down load and Brandon does mention a few books you could read. The video does give a fair overview. http://blip.tv/file/65099
    Hope this is a help.
    In Him
    Paulette

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  6. Reformed theology is essentially what springs from a high view of the Bible. The five solas of the Reformation (sola scriptura, solus christus, sola gratia, sola fide, soli deo gloria) are not merely Calvinism, but the logical result of God-centered theology. Certainly the TULIP is the logical result of the same theology IMHO.

    As far as our church is concerned, you might say we are discovering the natural methodology that springs from our theology. We have not changed our dispensationalist doctrinal statement, but the content of the exposition of Romans, particularly chapter 11, has moved some of us, myself included, to take another look at Dispensationalism's radical distinction between Israel and the Church. I wonder how you can be grafted into something without being part of it.

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  7. Greetings from a fellow far north Reformed Baptist pastor (although in the far more civilized state of Michigan) Came across your blog from a link on the Calvinist Gadfly. I am a recently called pastor (six months) and wondered if you could direct me to what you use for teaching youth and elementary aged kids. We are an SBC church, so by default we use Lifeway material, but much of it is pretty fluffy stuff. Any suggestion would be much appreciated!

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  8. Hands down I recommend Great Commission Publications (www.gcp.org). You will have to baptize parts of it, but the Sunday School curriculum and the Kids' Quest Catechism Club provide a strong, God-centered approach to Christian Education. Bible memory work is from the NIV, which we considered a good point.

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  9. I checked out the website, and it looks great. I ordered the samples for all the grades to check out. It looks like the Christ focused material I am looking for. So much of what passes for youth ministry material has it's focus on entertainment and self-esteem, not on the One who saved us. Thanks!

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