Thursday Theological Threads

  Christmas songs have been playing on the radio since November 1st. So I have a question for you: Have you had enough of George Michael yet? “Last Christmas I gave you my heart / The very next day you gave it away / This year to save me from tears / I’ll give it to someone special.” George isn’t the only one who sings about love at Christmas. Do you know what the #1 song in America is right now? It’s Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”  These songs take ideas of romantic love and togetherness and wrap it up into Christmas package and put it under the tree. ‌ Why do you think they put romance into Christmas? I think it’s because we have a fundamental need for love. Brene Brown says, “Human beings are hard-wired for love and belonging.” If you’ve ever felt love, you know how true that is. And if you’ve ever been rejected, you know how much that hurts—because we’re not getting the love and belonging we need. ‌ Ultimately, that’s what we want from God. We want lov...

  It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas, so let’s start with a Christmas song: “I feel it in my fingers / I feel it in my toes / Christmas is all around me / and so the feeling grows . . .” ‌ Do you know that one? It’s the one Billy Mack sings in Love Actually, a Christmas movie I love. And one of the reasons I love it is because of the opening monologue Hugh Grant gives:  “ Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals at Heathrow Airport. General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there—fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge—they were all messages of love. If you look for it, ...

  Before she was your favorite judge on American Idol, she was a cheerleader for the LA Lakers, and she had some #1 hits in the ‘80s. Let see if you remember this one by Paula Abdul from 1988, it starts with “He’s a cold hearted snake / Look into his eyes / uh-oh / he’s been telling lies.” So why do we start with that song? If you remember last week, we read about John the Baptist calling the people a “brood of snakes.” (That’s a bunch of baby snakes.) It’s not good to call someone a snake. It’s an insult. ‌ And right before Jesus hits the scene, the Baptist is getting people ready for the coming of the Messiah. And the Baptist called them snakes, hypocrites. You know, those people who talk a good game but live another way. Kind of like those people who believe in budgets and being responsible with finances but massively over-spend during this season. ‌ John the Baptist begins his ministry by calling people out. Last week, you heard him telling us to repent. So, let me ask you: Did...