Church Bats

Sunday’s guest preacher had to cope with a bat flying overhead and a congregation of bat gazers.

Each unique moment becomes an opportunity to learn more about humbleness. With every event the humble person ought to ask, “How can I think and act humbly in this situation?” The quickest way to answer that is to determine if we are responding with selfish or selfless motives. If we are reacting selfishly then we are not acting humbly. If we are thinking about how circumstances are bothering me, upsetting me, inconveniencing me, worrying me, disturbing me, costing me, damaging my image, or making me look bad, then we will not be acting humbly. If we are thinking about how circumstances will affect others, harm others, discourage others, worry others, or humiliate others, then we may act out of humility. If, however, we act in a situation, out of concern for others, but hope to gain something for ourselves in the process, then our response is probably not going to be a very humble one still. It is very difficult to remove consideration for self from our thinking and acting.

As I sat in the audience completely horrified at what I was witnessing, my first response was to pray, “Please dear God, give that bat a massive heart attack. Now!” I then did that thing where you stare intently at the object of ire expecting your glare to work like a magnifying glass, causing the bat to burst into flames, or something. It didn’t. Next, I imagined myself running across the top of congregate’s heads like a China-man in “Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger” until I soared upward and snatched the bat out of thin air. It would be awesome if I could do something cool to fix our bat problem. It wouldn’t be very humble though. Living for Christ isn’t about being cool or awesome. It is about being a bond-servant for Jesus and loving those whom God created and loves.

In my desire to destroy the bothersome bat, I failed to recognize the flying interference as a work of wonder by Almighty God. An humble reaction to this unusual happening might be to absorb the sermon, while appreciating all God’s creatures to include the only one present with the gift of self-levitation. After all, if I destroy this distraction, what happens next week when I am the cause of the commotion? Humility involves valuing life regardless of how that life may interfere with my plans, my path, or my peace. Our pride wants to dismiss some life as unworthy of our love. Our humility enables us to reach out to the most detestable, despicable and distasteful lives around us, and care about them . . . even if they should fly over and poop on our head. That would be another opportunity to learn more about being humble.

Legend Of Babushka

Babushka is the Russian word for grandmother or “old woman.” There is a Christmas legend in which the main character is named Babushka.

One cold winter night in her house safe and warm, came a knock then a voice, “we mean you no harm.” She opened the door and invited in - some travelers on camels, three richly clothed men. They needed a moment to rest and retreat, and maybe a drink and a little to eat. Babushka welcomed them and while serving a small feast, she learned they were looking for a small town to the East. They told of a star that was leading the way to the place where a special baby king lay. The men were so grateful for Babushka’s great kindness, they invited her, “come, you can travel behind us.” Babushka did not want to leave her warm home, and the men journeyed on leaving her all alone. That night she grew sad dreaming of the baby boy. She decided to find him and bring him a toy. She got out of bed and she packed up her things, and set out on foot to find the three kings. She went through each village asking “where did they go?” as she followed the path of the men in the snow. Babushka travelled for weeks till she found, the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem town. But, the three men were gone and also the baby. Babushka went on searching, thinking soon maybe, she could finally deliver a simple child toy to the very special little baby king boy. Babushka still travels according to folklore, in search of the Christ child she longs to adore. In town after town, in each crib she peers, asking mothers and dads, “is he here? Is he here?” And with each child she finds, be they girl or boy, she leaves in their bed a little child’s toy.

The legend of Babushka is an interesting little fabricated story to explain why children get presents at Christmas. How sad to think that someone would travel through life and never know the Savior. How sad, also, to think that Christmas is only about children getting gifts. We do not have to seek for the Christ. He has come. He is here. Let us worship and adore Him. Let us receive Him as Savior and King.

The Birth Of Jesus

It feels a little like we are disrespecting God when we describe His humanness and humbleness at birth. God incarnate was intentionally incarnatized as a baby. We have a hard time accepting the unvarnished vision of that. Are you offended by the idea of the Powerful Potentate in poopie pants? I don’t believe God was offended. After all, He created the whole child-bearing process. He was born via the birth canal of a woman. He cried. He wet his swaddling cloths (definition: cloths intended for swaddling). And, yes, he passed gas and a whole lot more. I think we need to accept all of the birth stuff: nine months of womb life, labor pains, blood, placenta, dirty diapers, breast-feeding in the middle of the night, crying, screaming, goo-ing and cooing. Amazing! God with us. Jesus is born in Bethlehem.

The terribly vulgar and incredibly stupid Ricky Bobby in the movie Talladega Nights explained to his complaining wife, “I like the Christmas Jesus best and I’m saying grace. When you say grace you can say it to grown up Jesus, or teenage Jesus, or bearded Jesus.” He began his prayer at dinner, “Dear Lord Baby Jesus.” No Ricky Bobby. When you pray, you must pray to the risen Lord. It is upon His authority as the one who paid the price for our sin through his death on the cross, and rose from the grave conquering death, that we who receive Him as Savior and Lord, have the privilege of addressing the Father in His name. As long as we understand that, we can muse over Ricky Bobby’s “tiny infant Jesus” prayer. After others at the table interrupted his prayer, he started over with this: “Dear Baby Jesus, in your golden fleece diapers with your tiny little balled-up fist.” After another interruption, he tried again: “Dear 8 pound 6 ounce newborn, infant Jesus . . . don’t even know a word . . . just a little infant so cuddly, but still omnipotent. . . . Thank you for all your power and grace, dear baby God, Amen.”

Blasphemous? In the context and spirit of the movie, I would call it very distasteful. But, as a child of God who is awed and amazed by the humility of the birth of God’s son, I choose to enjoy the playfulness of it. Almighty God, whom I love with all my heart, became a baby in the same painful, rude, traumatizing, yet wonderfully exciting family experience that you and I had. The writer of Hebrews tells it like this. “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)

The Humble Season

Christmas is a very humble season. It is a time to gather all of our family around us and celebrate the blessings of kinship. We go from celebration to celebration to enjoy our children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents, uncles and aunts. There is merry laughter (I would say gay laughter but . . .). We have warm fire places and cold drinks. Life is good, just like the very first Christmas when Mary and Joseph and Jesus, . . . and sheep, . . . and those persons who didn’t have room, . . . and maybe a sheep dog . . .

It is a very humble season. I love Christmas. I put strings of lights on the house, in the yard, and on the tree. My wife and I drive around the neighborhoods to see lots of houses with red, green, blue, white, and red, and green lights and stuff. There are light-up reindeer, and wreathes, and Mickey Mouse, and Winnie Pooh, and light-up manger scenes that remind us of that first Christmas when Mary and Joseph and Jesus had . . . a star . . . and maybe a lamp . . . and light in the window of that inn . . .

The humble season of Christmas is expressed with gifts. I remember one year getting a toy shotgun and rabbit that ran on batteries. It was great until the rabbit ended up on the floor furnace. But, Christmases are made up of memories of special gifts all wrapped up in beautiful paper and ribbon. Lots and lots of present getting and giving is what makes Christmas special, just like that first Christmas when the wisemen brought the baby Jesus some great gifts, even if they were about a year late, . . . and just before all of those babies were killed.

Maybe the most humble moment of Christmas is when we set aside the “twas the night before Christmas” and pick up the Bible; when we get still and stop thinking about ourselves to listen to someone read from Luke chapter two. “When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.” It is when our eyes become misty upon hearing again the wonderful story of God’s great love, and for a brief moment we can’t see the lights and the gifts and even family members next to us, but only see Christ, that the humble season of Christmas is filled with real joy, and The Light, and the greatest gift ever.

The Christmas Story

What Christian characteristic is most celebrated in the Christmas story? There are three.

Joy: “I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.”
Peace: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men.”
Love: “For God so loved the world that He sent His Son.”

It is about these three that all the Christmas songs, cards, sermons, and decorations celebrate.

What Christian character is least celebrated at Christmas? Humility
What Christian character is most represented? Humility
What Godly characteristic is most evident? Humility

Philippians 2:3-8 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Jesus was not born in a prestigious town.
His mother and father were not high society.
He did not enter the world in robes of purple.
He did not carry a jeweled scepter.
He did not come to us in gleaming glory.
He did not burst on to the scenes of history riding a white horse.
He was not escorted by the wealthy or powerful.
He did not achieve, acquire, triumph, or climb the ladder of success.
He had no long life to leave a legacy.
When taken to court, no high priced lawyers defended Him.
When sentenced he received no leniency.
His death was not heroic, daring, or noble.

He was born
In a little town called Bethlehem,
To a virgin,
And a carpenter,
In a cave,
Surrounded by hay and stars,
And welcomed by shepherds.
Later welcomed by a few unknown wisemen from a foreign country.
For His first birthday soldiers killed all the male babies two years old and younger.
He grew up as a redneck from Galilee,
Became an itinerate preacher,
Surrounded himself with fishermen and outcasts,
And was on the public scene only briefly.
Ultimately, His followers deserted Him.
Liars and schemers had him arrested, tried, and convicted.
He was publicly whipped and beaten mercilessly.
While waiting his execution, he was rideculed and rudely mistreated.
He was forced to carry the instrument of his death through the streets.
He was hung as a criminal on a cross.
Even while dying, he was mocked and tormented.

Humility was evident from the Godhead, to the manger, in Galilee, in His gospel, entering the Golden Gate, in the grape juice, in the Garden, in the synagogue, at Golgotha, and the grave.

1 Peter 1:18-19 "Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ."

That which purchased our salvation was humble blood, offered humbly upon a cross, by God who humbly stepped away from His throne to humbly express His unconditional love for sinners, through an act of humble sacrifice, providing the price for sin which his holy character required.