Great ADVENTure

This week, we’ve talked a lot about how the Bible is one big story.  But what story is it actually telling? 

And what are all those parts and pieces?
How do they all come together?
How does Eve come into play? And Mary?
And what about those kings and prophets you mentioned?
And Advent?
What does that have to do with Baby Jesus in a manger? 
And Christmas? 
And for us today? 

I’m glad you asked. 

And I’m equally as glad for creative and talented people who come together to tell this story better than I ever could in a concise and simple way.  That’s what the folks at The Bible Project have done with this little video.  It’s not a Christmas video, mind you.  But it is about Christmas.  And it is about Easter.  And it is about a time to come.  Watch…

 

Nine years ago.  Nine.  My world changed. 

An unsuspecting friend invited me to a concert that would change the way I saw everything in the Bible.  And if you’ve ever heard my story, it changed my life forever.   

This concert takes place during the Christmas season each year, and for the past eight years.  Eight.  I’ve attended in some way.  In person is preferable, but last year I was desperate and watched it via livestream. Tomorrow, I will see it for the ninth time in person.  GLORY!  I look forward to it every single year. 

It is important for you to know that while this concert takes place during Christmas, it is not a Christmas concert in the traditional sense.  It is a bunch of ridiculously talented and humble singer songwriters who join together each year to sing the Behold the Lamb of God album from start to finish. 

Andrew Peterson starts the concert each year by reading the section I posted yesterday from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. The musicians then proceed to transform seemingly ordinary Bible stories…

stories that I’ve heard a million times…
stories that I heard as a child and read an adult…
and weaves them into a seamless story about the coming of Christ.

It’s amazing.  It’s beautiful, and it’s true!

Having the Bible explained in that way was like God taking me up in a hot air balloon and slowly adjusting my eyes so they began to focus on a beautiful painting.  A painting filled with magnificent hues that highlighted each stroke pointing to Jesus – a painting that took 55 generations and 2,000 years to complete.  A painting that tells one story across 66 books and over 31,000 verses. It’s the most beautiful painting I’ve ever seen.  I fell in love with God that day.

For me, every year Christmas begins when I hear the familiar beat of the opening drums, and Andrew Peterson’s melodic voice singing…

Gather ’round ye children come
Listen to the old, old story
Of the power of death undone
By an infant born of glory
Son of God
Son of Man…

Excerpts from this post first appeared in (Re)thinking Christmas:  Music. 

Imagine – if you will – a writer has an idea for a book.  They’ve chosen a number of writers to compose it but they are not told the theme or topic of the book.  The writers cannot communicate with one another or know what the other person is writing.  They have no computers and no phone and can only travel by walking.  At the end of a specified period of time, the writer gathers all the writings and puts together the book.

What are the odds this book would make any sense?
What are the odds that it would be similar in nature?
What are the odds the book would have parts and pieces that point to one another without contradiction?

Impossible.

A similar book was written and sits, mostly unread, on shelves throughout America.

The Bible was written by 40 authors over 1400 years.  Many of these authors did not know each other; did not live in the same generation; had no means of communication; and traveled mostly by walking, camels, and donkeys.

Put together, their stories tell one big story.  They compliment one another and do not contradict.  It is miraculous and is thought by the world as untrue, irrelevant, un-factual, a fairy tale, unbelievable, simple-minded, or offensive.  Even those who read it often see it as outdated, choppy, or confusing.  But it isn’t.  It is the most beautiful story ever told.

The Bible is most of all a Story.  It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure.  It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne – everything – to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!

You see, the best thing about this Story is – it’s true.

There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story.  The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.

It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story.  And at the center of the Story, there is a baby.  Every Story in the Bible whispers his name.  He is like the missing piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.”  – The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

If God – who is the Author of our faith – continues to write His story in each of our lives, let’s wait in awe with great expectation as He reveals himself to us.

Want to catch up on the Great ADVENture?  Click here.

Many of my friends have posted this image on Facebook.  This strikingly profound art is the work of a sister from Our Lady of Mississippi Abbey.  It depicts the origin in the fall of humanity brought forth through Eve and the redemption of Christ brought forth through Mary.  What a wonderful visual of the redemption story.

And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” –  Genesis 3:15

“For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed….for he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.” – Luke 1:48; 55

You can find the poem that goes with this image in Christmas cards here.

While we are waiting in great anticipation, it is easy to lose hope.  Maybe this is where you find yourself.

When we start to lose hope, we can act out of desperation.  When we are desperate, we make bad decisions.  Need an example?  Open the Bible and start reading.  Chances are you won’t get far until you find a story of Israel’s bad choices motivated by desperation.

Their Savior was coming, but they lost their yakhal.  They lost their hope.

This past Sunday, the first candle of Advent was lit in churches across the globe to remind us that there is always hope no matter how desperate our circumstance.

“…It’s God’s past faithfulness that motivates hope for the future. You look forward by looking backward, trusting in nothing other than God’s character.” – Hope/Yakhal Study Guide, The Bible Project

 

Yesterday, we defined Advent as “the arrival“.  When we know something, or someone, is coming, we await with great anticipation. From Creation to the Fall… From the Fall to the Law… From the Law to the judges… From the judges to the kings… And from kings through the Prophets… all of Israel was waiting for God to come.

They were waiting for God to be with them. They were waiting for Immanuel.

Almost two thousand years ago, a poet wrote a seven verse poem. In 1851, John Mason Neale took that poem and penned what we now know as O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

Read the below verses slowly, letting the rhythm of the words rise and fall with the tune in your mind. Then, turn the volume up (way up), sit back, close your eyes, and enjoy The Piano Guys musical interpretation at the end.  I hope you are as blessed as I was by it.

O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.

O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.

O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.

O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death’s abode.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.

O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.

O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.

Source:  Hymnary.com