Chapter Seven
“A Sword in the Soul” You don’t have to be Jesus Christ to get people furious at being exposed for what they are. Just living an honest, moral life will expose gossip in the office, corruption in government, racism in the neighborhood. The manger at Christmas means that, if you live like Jesus, there won’t be room for you in a lot of inns. (119) Have you ever experienced this type of rejection because of living like Jesus? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What might be some of the “inns” that don’t have rooms for Christ followers? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In our secular society today, non-Christians do not fear divine reprisal, but increasingly our culture also sees Christians as a threat to the social order. Traditional Christian beliefs are once again seen as dangerously intolerant, and some kinds of restrictions and exclusions may be in our future as well. So, the Gospel message brings hostility because it is seen – now as then – as intolerant. (120-121) What traditional Christian beliefs today are seen as intolerant? How are Christians to respond to those who feel the Gospel message is intolerant? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ But Simeon is saying that there is an offensiveness to Jesus himself, and in every time and place it will find expression, and anyone who identifies with him will be seen as offensive too. (121-122) If the very picture we see of Jesus in the Gospels is love, mercy, grace and forgiveness – just what is it that makes him so “offensive”? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ J.C Ryle writes: There are thousands of men and women who go to church and chapels every Sunday and call themselves Christians. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They are buried as Christians when they die. But you never see any “fight” about their religion! Of spiritual strife, and exertion, and conflict, and self-denial, and watching, and warring they know literally nothing at all. Such Christianity…is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded, and His Apostles preached. True Christianity is “a fight.” (124-125) J.C Ryle says True Christianity is a fight – which best represents you in this season of your life”? Why? ð I’ll watch the fight ð Push and shove ð Scuffle ð Trading punches ð Fight What other word might you use to describe “True Christianity? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Eight “The Doctrine of Christmas” In every other religion the founder points to eternal life, but because Jesus is God come in the flesh, he is eternal life. To unite with him by faith, to know him in love, is to have this life. Period, full stop. There is nothing else for you to achieve or attain. (130) What does “unite with him by faith” entail? According to your definition would you say you personally are united with Christ? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Can we describe our prayer lives as participating in rich communion with God? The incarnation, Christmas, means that God is not content to be a concept or just someone you know from a distance. Do what it takes to get close to him. Christmas is a challenge as well as a promise about fellowship with God. (136) What in your ordinary day to day life are you doing to get close to Jesus? Be specific. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How can the group of people that you are meeting with weekly help you? How can you help them? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Christian life begins not with high deeds and achievements but with the most simple and ordinary act of humble asking. Then the life and joy grow in us over the years through commonplace, almost boring practices. Daily obedience, reading and prayer, worship attendance, serving our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as our neighbors, depending on Jesus during times of suffering. And bit by bit our faith will grow, and the foundations of our lives will come closer to that deep river of joy. Don’t be put off by the ordinariness of the means of joy, for in that ordinariness is hidden the extraordinary riches of the Gospel. Don’t make the mistake that the world has always made. Instead remember: How silently, how silently The wondrous gift is given! So, God imparts to human hearts The blessings of His heaven No ear may hear His coming, But in this world of sin, Where meek souls will receive him still, The dear Christ enters in. 140-141) At this point in your life – regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey – after reading this book what is the one thing you need to stop doing, start doing, stop believing or start believing? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Chapter Five
“Mary’s Faith” You and I have been trained by our culture to not believe in the supernatural. As we saw earlier, as a Jewish woman, Mary had been trained by her culture to not believe that God could ever become a human being. So, though they are different, the barriers she faced against belief in the Christmas message were every bit as big as the barriers you may be facing. And yet a combination of evidence and experience shattered those barriers and she came to faith. That is exactly the way it works now. She doubted, she questioned, she used her reason, and she asked questions—just as we must today if we are going to have faith. (82) What do you believe are the biggest barriers to having an authentic faith? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mary’s faith happens in stages. Christian faith requires the commitment of our whole life. Yet few go from be uncommitted to being fully committed in a single stroke. What does the process look like? It can look very different for different people. (83-84) On a continuum from being uncommitted to fully committed where would you place yourself? What has your “faith process” looked like? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ But if you have never stood and looked at the Gospel and found it ridiculous, impossible, inconceivable, I don’t think you have really understood it. (85) Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ If you think Christianity is mainly going to church, believing a certain creed, and living a certain kind of life, then there will be no note of wonder and surprise about the fact that you are a believer. If someone asks you “Are you a Christian?” you will say, “Of course I am! It’s hard work but I’m doing it. Why do you ask?” Christianity is, in this view, something done by you, and so there is no astonishment about being a Christian. However, if Christianity is something done for you, and to you and in you, then there is a constant note of surprise and wonder. (89) In full disclosure – in your Christian walk is there a constant note of surprise and wonder or has your walk become mundane and/or ritualistic? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Christianity is not another vendor supplying spiritual services you engage as long as it meets your needs at a reasonable cost. Christian faith is not a negotiation but a surrender. It means to take your hands off your life. (93-94) Describe what it looks like to you to “take your hands off your life”? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Six “The Shepherds’ Faith Remember that there is more than one way to express your hostility to God’s rule. The irreligious person explicitly asserts his or her independence from God: “I want to live any way I want to live!” But the religious person much more covertly asserts his or her independence from God. The religious person says: “I am going to obey the Bible and do all these things, and now God has to bless me and give me a good life.” This is an effort to control God, not trust him. When you obey God in order to earn God’s blessing and heaven, then you are, as it were, seeking to be your own savior. Both of these strategies are hostile to God. They don’t allow him to be either sovereign or your savior. (109-110) Once again – in full disclosure – In your life do you think your default setting is an effort to control God (intentional or not) or to trust God? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Christmas means that, through the grace of God and the incarnation, peace with God is available; and if you make peace with God, then you can go out and make peace with everybody else. And the more people who embrace the gospel and do that, the better off the world is. Christmas, therefore, means the increase of peace—both with God and between people—across the face of the world. (111) Is it possible to make peace with others without first making peace with God? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Now it all follows that, if you have a perfect relationship with the all-powerful, loving Lord of the world, you would have no fear at all. You would not be afraid of him or of anything else. That was the original plan for the human race. Do you see why there would be no fear? We fear rejection and failure, but if you were completely filled with God’s love, you would not care what people thought. We fear the future and circumstances, but if you knew God perfectly, and that he is good and in control, you would trust him. And you wouldn’t be afraid of death because you would know you would be with him forever. (112) There are 5 words above in bold – which of these do you fear the most? According to this passage if we are completely filled with God’s love and knew God perfectly, we could be free of this fear. Do you think this is possible in your life? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ And what about the greatest fear we have- of surrendering control? How can we trust him with our lives? The answer is that the little baby in the manger is the mighty Christ the Lord. So think, perceive, ponder. If the omnipotent Son of God would radically lose control- all for you- then you can trust him. And that should undermine your fear. (114) Do you agree with Keller that the greatest fear we have is surrendering control to the Lord? Why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ All texts in italics are taken from the book Hidden Christmas written by Timothy Keller Published by Viking Press Copyright 2016 Chapter Three
“The Fathers of Jesus” An Intellectual Watershed Everyone’s path to faith is different, as we will see later in this volume. But I have known many people who have discovered that once they wrestled with and understood the incarnation, it became far easier to accept the rest of the teachings of the New Testament as well. (45) What was your path to faith? Who were the key players? OR would you say you are still looking for “the path”? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It is a Personal Crisis Either he is God or he isn’t-so he’s absolutely crazy or infinitely wonderful. The modern world however, is filled with people who say they believe in Jesus, they say they understand who he is, but it hasn’t revolutionized their lives. There has been no crisis and lasting change. The only way to explain this is that, contrary to what they claim, they haven’t really grasped the meaning that this is “God with us.” (46) What is it about “God with us” that causes crisis and revolutionizes our lives? Is this true of you? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It is a Great Hope A God who was only holy would not have come down to us in Jesus Christ. He would have simply demanded that we pull ourselves together, that we be moral and holy enough to merit a relationship with him. A deity that was an ‘all‐accepting God of love’ would not have needed to come to Earth either. This God of the modern imagination would have just overlooked sin and evil and embraced us. Neither the God of moralism nor the God of relativism would have bothered with Christmas (47) Neither the God of moralism nor the God of relativism would have bothered with Christmas – what do you think that means? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Jesus is With Us The message is ‘If Jesus Christ comes into your life, you are going to kiss your stellar reputation goodbye.’ And this is just Matthew 1. When we get to Matthew 2, Joseph will see that having Jesus in his life means not just damage to his social standing but also danger to his very life. What is the application to us? If you want Jesus in your life, it is going to take bravery. (56) If you want Jesus in your life it is going to take bravery. Would you say your “bravery quotient” is more Richard the Lionheart or the Cowardly Lion? Why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Courage to Give Up Your Right to Self Determination When you come to Christ, you must drop your conditions. You have to give up the right to say, ‘I will obey you if . . . I will do this if . . .’ As soon as you say, ‘I will obey you if,’ that is not obedience at all. You are saying: ‘You are my adviser, not my Lord. I will be happy to take your recommendations. And I might even do some of them.’ No. If you want Jesus with you, you have to give up the right to self‐determination. Self‐denial is an act of rebellion against our late‐modern culture of self‐assertion. But that is what we are called to. Nothing less. (58) Currently, in your life would you say Jesus is more adviser or more Lord? Why do you think Jesus wants nothing less than full lordship? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Courage to Admit You are a Sinner If you think it takes courage to be with [Jesus], consider that it took infinitely more courage for him to be with you. Only Christianity says one of the attributes of God is courage. No other religion has a God who needed courage. (61) Is this a new concept to you? What do you think about it? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Four “Where is the King?” The Threat of Christ’s Kingdom In religion we try to tame God, seeking to put him in our debt; we do many things, so he has to bless us in the ways we want. Read Romans chapters 1 through 5. You will see Paul is claiming that religious people are just as hostile to the sovereignty of God as the irreligious. They just find religious ways to express it and hide it. (70–71) Christians are just as hostile to the sovereignty of God as the irreligious they just find religious ways to express it and hide it. Can you think of examples? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Where’s the true King?’ That question is the most disturbing question possible to a human heart, since we want at all costs to remain on the throne of our own lives. We may use religion to stay on that throne, trying to put God in the position of having to do our bidding because we are so righteous, rather than serving him unconditionally. Or we may flee from religion, become atheists, and loudly claim that there is no God. Either way, we are expressing our natural hostility to the lordship of the true King. (71) Where’s the true King? That question is the most disturbing question possible to the human heart. Agree/Disagree __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Getting Out of Denial No one is really neutral about whether Christmas is true. If the Son of God was really born in a manger, then we have lost the right to be in charge of our lives. Who can be objective about a claim that, if it is true, means you’ve lost control of your life? You can’t be. (72) Read Matthew 10:39. How does this verse and the above statement challenge you? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Weakness of Christ’s Kingdom Over and over again God says, ‘I will choose Nazareth, not Jerusalem. I will choose the girl nobody wants. I will choose the boy everybody has forgotten.’ Why? Is it just that God likes underdogs? No. He is telling us something about salvation itself. Every other religion and moral philosophy tells you to summon up all of your strength and live as you ought. Therefore, they appeal to the strong, to the people who can pull it together, the people who can “summon up the blood.” Only Jesus says, “I have come for the weak. I have come for those who admit they are weak. I will save them not by what they do but through what I do. (76-77) Is this statement more of a challenge to you or more of a relief? Why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ All texts in italics are take directly from the book Hidden Christmas written by Timothy Keller. Copyright 2016 |
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