The final downfall of Babylon the Great is spread across numerous chapters of the Revelation of John.  This is fitting because Babylon has been the metaphorical and literal enemy of God’s people for hundreds of years.  Babylon was the source of the greatest exile the Kingdom of Judah ever knew.  When it swept in and conquered an area, it not only defeated their military, it deported the brightest and the best of its people, absorbing them into its culture, and then replaced these people with foreigners, diluting and eventually destroying the very cultural foundation of the defeated nation.  In this way, Babylon not only defeated the nation, it destroyed it forever.

Israel survived because of God’s hand in returning a pure remnant from the exiles deported to Babylon.  This remnant returned and reinstated Jewish culture.  But not before Babylon was labeled the Great Harlot, the Great Enemy.  And so as we approach the end of the bible, it is fitting that we should see a protracted look at the end of Babylon the Great.

But not only was Babylon the literal enemy of Israel, it became the metaphorical enemy of everything Yahweh in the world.  This passage from Revelation about the downfall of Babylon is not just about the fall of the Empire, but the fall of all things “not-Yahweh”.  Satan, the final battle, all humans standing opposed to God’s ways, all are part of Babylon the Great, and all fall before the coming of Yahweh.

This is what we have to look forward to.  This is the future, folks.  If you don’t believe it, then you don’t believe scripture and you have to ask, “on what am I basing any of my beliefs?”  If you do believe it, then take heart for this is the fall of all we stand against in this world.  This is the fall of hatred and bigotry, of lies and gossip, of murder and slavery, of torture and abuse, of selfish motives and egocentric thinking.  This is the end of anything that is not Shalom, not “the way it’s supposed to be,” the way of Yahweh.

Haggai reminds us that all success and failure, wealth and poverty, rise and decline is God’s.  It is not a universal fact that if we gain wealth it is because we have pleased God, nor if we lose wealth is it a sign that God is angry with us.  For far too many millennia people have taken success, theirs or that of others, as a sign of God’s favor, but defined success apart from God’s will.  This is an oxymoron that has caused no end of grief.  And it seems to be encouraged by passages such as this.  But that is not the case.

It is true that God watches over His people, and it is true that He will bless those who follow Him most closely.  But that blessing does not mean wealth, or power, or health.  These things can just as easily be a curse as a blessing, depending on our perspective.  And our perspective is not God’s perspective.  Let me give you an example: how many stories are there of people winning a huge lottery jackpot only to proclaim that it ruined their lives?  I have heard this scenario far more often than the opposite, that the lottery made their life worthwhile.

God’s blessings are those things that draw us closer in our relationship with Him.  Often that means a suffering of some kind rather than what we consider blessings.  When we are “blessed” in the human sense, we usually assume that we are better than others, that we are capable of helping ourselves, or that we no longer need others.  Never is our prayer life, the core of our relationship with God, stronger than when we are in deep need.

Haggai says that to refuse the calling of God is to curry His disfavor.  But I think rather when we obey God’s calling, He will bless us with more and more need to rely on Him, growing our relationship with Him.  But do we dare test this?  Do we dare follow if it leads not to wealth and happiness but to failure and helplessness, even if that will bring us closer to our goal of a relationship with God?

Well, it’s here.  Christmas Day is here.  It’s a day of stables and mangers, of shepherds and angels, of carols and celebration.  On the actual Christmas Day, there was no celebration of Jesus’ birth.  There was little food, no presents (no, the wise men didn’t come until later), and no decorations.  But we’ve been making up for it ever since!  Our celebration today is just a small part of the full party that God has thrown for thousands of years, and we get to be a part of it!

Jesus’ birth was so momentous that it split time in half, BC and AD.  In this tiny baby, God changed everything.  Gone was the legalism of the OT law.  Gone was the hopelessness of trying to live the perfect life and failing again and again requiring yet another sacrifice to pay for those sins.  Gone was the fact that we couldn’t see God lest we die.  Gone was the old..

And in came the new!  Now we could not only see God and live but we could touch Him, and listen to Him, and laugh with Him.  Now we could live with purpose and mission, with direction and hope.  Now we could literally follow Him and do what He did.  And when we failed, we found grace and forgiveness.  Now Jesus was here and life would never be the same again.

So as we celebrate today, remember that we are just a small part of the celebration, but an important part at that.  Like one fan at a football game, we are just one, but we are part of the whole.  And our celebration today added to all the celebrations happening around the world, and then those added to all the celebrations happening across the years… and we’ve got ourselves a Party!!  One worthy of celebrating all that happened that first Christmas day.

So Merry Christmas, everyone.  May your celebration be a big as you can make it, remembering that it is so much bigger than just us.

Well, it’s here.  Christmas Day is here.  It’s a day of stables and mangers, of shepherds and angels, of carols and celebration.  On the actual Christmas Day, there was no celebration of Jesus’ birth.  There was little food, no presents (no, the wise men didn’t come until later), and no decorations.  But we’ve been making up for it ever since!  Our celebration today is just a small part of the full party that God has thrown for thousands of years, and we get to be a part of it!

Jesus’ birth was so momentous that it split time in half, BC and AD.  In this tiny baby, God changed everything.  Gone was the legalism of the OT law.  Gone was the hopelessness of trying to live the perfect life and failing again and again requiring yet another sacrifice to pay for those sins.  Gone was the fact that we couldn’t see God lest we die.  Gone was the old..

And in came the new!  Now we could not only see God and live but we could touch Him, and listen to Him, and laugh with Him.  Now we could live with purpose and mission, with direction and hope.  Now we could literally follow Him and do what He did.  And when we failed, we found grace and forgiveness.  Now Jesus was here and life would never be the same again.

So as we celebrate today, remember that we are just a small part of the celebration, but an important part at that.  Like one fan at a football game, we are just one, but we are part of the whole.  And our celebration today added to all the celebrations happening around the world, and then those added to all the celebrations happening across the years… and we’ve got ourselves a Party!!  One worthy of celebrating all that happened that first Christmas day.

So Merry Christmas, everyone.  May your celebration be a big as you can make it, remembering that it is so much bigger than just us.

The decorations are up, the tree is fully trimmed, the presents are wrapped and the family is gathered.  Everything is ready and we all kind of mill around, not doing anything in particular because we are anticipating all that is to come.  For the Larson family that means a worship service with our friends at LCC, then our annual Christmas Eve fondue followed by unwrapping the gifts from each other and the California family.  Then it’s back to church for the later service which is just different enough to be a new service.  It’s one of the most fun and anticipated days of our family year.  But with everything ready to go, we pass the morning uneasily, checking and rechecking on things, passing the time, and just waiting.

I wonder if this is part of the feeling I get sometimes about life and the church.  Sometimes it feels like we’re just milling around, trying to see what else we have to accomplish before the Big Day.  Not finding much, we take on individual tasks and ministries, but really we’re all just waiting.  We’re all waiting for the day that Jesus returns.

Today is the last day of Advent, our season of waiting.  I think it’s fitting that we begin the liturgical year with Advent, with waiting.  Jesus is coming, and so we wait for it.  And while Advent is about waiting for Christmas, it’s also about waiting for Jesus to come again.

I hope this unease we feel with the world around us is about that.  We’re ready for Jesus to come, and so we just have to wait.  And waiting is uneasy work.  What if we forgot something?  What if it doesn’t go as planned?  What if…  So it’s good to know that we await a God of grace and mercy, of joy and hope, of purity and unity.  And when He comes, the unease and waiting will be over and Real Life will begin.  I can’t wait!