Everybody Loves a Freebie

We were looking for a place for a meeting that had both coffee and food. There is one place that we like, but it is usually closed when we want to go there, and this day was no different. So as we drove past that coffee shop, I remembered seeing a place on Google maps not too far from there which had the English name "Coffee Slow & Steak Sloth."  The Thai name listed on Google maps (เชื่องช้า-สโลว์บาร์ (กาแฟสด)) translates "Slowly Slow Bar (Fresh Coffee)." Google maps also showed a photo of the front of the restaurant which said "Coffee & Steak." Armed with this information, we decided to try it, but had no idea what to expect.

The Wooden Plates Were Marked With Another Version of the English Name:
Steak-Sloth Slow-Coffee

The main dining area was open on three sides. On the one wall, they had placed some rustic signs, some in Thai and some in English.

Rustic Signs on the Wall

I was particularly drawn to one old sign for a garage. I'm not sure what one would have had to pay for, because the following services were listed as free:

    -  Beer & Ice
    -  Flats Fixed
    -  Oil Change
    -  Advice



Everybody likes a freebie. I think of all the advertising where they have the word, "Free!" in big letters to get your attention, but then you have to get close and read the fine print to find out if what they are offering is actually worth your effort. One sign I've noticed in various places around Kamalasai has the word, "free," (in Thai). The sign is posted by a well drilling outfit and goes onto say that if they don't find water when drilling for a well, you don't have to pay. It does not say whether they may refuse to drill a well it the local groundwater map does not show any groundwater. Or if you have to pay if they find water, but the water is too salty to use for anything. I'd be sure to ask about those things if I were to call them.

Well Drilling - No Charge if it Comes up Dry
In other words, "nothing" is free

At Christmas, we celebrate the ultimate freebie. God saw that we humans weren't good at much besides making things worse. Even when our intentions were good, we often ended up missing the mark. Our sins and karma kept catching up with us. So God decided we needed a Christmas present, long before the word Christmas was ever coined. This Christmas present had two aspects to it. First of all, God thought we could use a better idea of what he is like. Secondly, God wanted us to have a way to be free from the power of sin.

Matthew, quoting Isaiah 7:14, writes
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel”   (which means, God with us).
(Matthew 1:23 ESV)

God with us. If we want to know what God is like, we just have to look at the life of Jesus. Jesus said, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9 ESV)

About thirty years ago, someone came up with the idea of Christians wearing rubber bracelets inscribed with WWJD, meaning What Would Jesus Do. The idea was that if we wanted to know how to behave in any situation, we should look at the life of Jesus. This was actually a great idea, except that people were a bit selective in how they applied it. We looked at Jesus through our personal and cultural filters and made our decisions based on that. After all, we wouldn't want behaving like Jesus to cause us too much inconvenience or make us change our behavior too awful much.

But when Jesus came, it was a great inconvenience to Him. Here he was, a participant in creating the universe with God the Father, and now He has to put all that God-power aside for 30 years while he comes to earth as a newborn child and grows up until he is mature enough to be received as a teacher by human standards. And he had to deal with all the issues that come with having a human body. One of our famous Christmas carols talks about the baby Jesus that somehow "no crying he makes." Really! Somehow I don't quite believe that. After all, he was a normal baby that needed to nurse at his mother's breast. And while in one circumstance, Jesus quoted Old Testament scripture about man not living by bread alone, He did actually eat bread and fish. And I'm sure His mother made him eat his vegetables, too.

In coming to earth, Jesus was able to show us and teach us what God is like. He modeled for us the perfect way to live. He taught us about the Kingdom of God and what it takes to be a citizen of that Kingdom. But just as important was what he accomplished at the end of his earthly life, which leads us to the next point.

The second part of Christmas had to do with freedom from sin. The angel Gabriel, while explaining to Joseph what was going on with his fiancee, said to him,

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
(Matthew 1:21 ESV)

Jesus put it this way, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:34-36 ESV)

Pau mentions that this freedom means not being considered someone's slave, but instead, we are like their children. In this case, we are childen of God.

Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son or daughter, and if you are his child, then you are also an heir through God.
(Galatians 4:7 CEB)

A bonus that come with this freedom from sin is another great freebie, eternal life. Paul puts it like this.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23 ESV)

Jesus made this gift possible for us by offering up his life as a sacrifice for our sin and karma. Jesus endured a brutal death so that we might have an abundant life. "I came to give life," Jesus said, "life that is full and good." (John 10:10 ETRV)

So, this Christmas, if you want to give me a gift card for beer, tire repairs or oil change, that's great. But the best Christmas gift ever is eternal life in heave that we have because Jesus came to dwell with us on earth that first Christmas day. It's the ultimate freebie.

A Christmas Symbol

What is the symbol of Christmas? A Christmas tree? Santa Claus? A snowman? A stocking? A manger scene? An angel?

On the first Christmas there were shepherds abiding in the field—at least that's how the King James Bible puts it. Some modern translations render it like this: "there were shepherds living the fields." (Luke 2:8) Anyway, there are a bunch of men hanging out, perhaps sipping wine out of goatskins telling stories of heroic sheep rescues from lions and bears and such. Or maybe they're telling of close encounters with vipers. But then the darkness is suddenly broken. An angel appears, and the glory of the Lord shines around them. It's an awesome light, enough to scare a bunch of men, toughened by years of protecting sheep from the hazards of the wild. This angel tells these men that a Savior has been born and is lying in a trough filled with hay in nearby Bethlehem. "Go check it out for yourselves," the angel suggests.

Glorious Light.

Meanwhile, in a country far to the east, a group of nerds is hanging out together. Rather than trying to impress each other with their acts of bravery, perhaps they are sipping wine out of goatskins while playing brain games to see who is the smartest. When, suddenly, up in they sky they see a star shining perhaps a bit more brightly than usual. This is not your ordinary star. Or perhaps it is just an ordinary star with extraordinary meaning. Somehow they knew that the appearance of this star meant that a new king of the Jews had been born.

Starry Light.

About a month after the Savior-King is born, Joseph and Mary bring Jesus into Jerusalem to present him at the temple. While they are there, they run into an old man named Simeon. God told Simeon that he would not die until he saw the Messiah—the Christ. And then Simeon sees baby Jesus and God tells him that this infant is the One. Simeon breaks out in praise:

Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
  according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
  and for glory to your people Israel.
Luke 2:29-32

The Savior-King is also Messiah/Christ

Light of revelation to the Gentiles.

About 30 years go by, and we don't hear much more about the light. But then John the Baptist makes his appearance, followed by Jesus. After Jesus is baptized by John and passes his wilderness exam, He begins his ministry with an announcement. He quotes the prophet Isaiah, written some 750 years earlier.

The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
  the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
  the people dwelling in darkness
  have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
  on them a light has dawned.
Matthew 4:15, 16

A Light that dispels the darkness.

Later on, Jesus tells us more about who He is. He says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV)

A life-giving Light.

By believing in Jesus, the light of the world, people become children of light. Jesus said, "While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” (John 12:36 NRSV)

Eventually Jesus ascended to heaven, but He didn't want people to be without light. He called on his followers to take on His role of being light to the world. He said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world," (Matthew 5:14 ESV)

The apostle Paul reiterated this, "that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Philippians 2:15 ESV) And again he says, "For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness." (1 Thessalonians 5:5 ESV)

And the way we are to light up the world is by loving people. The apostle John writes, "Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling." (1 John 2:10 ESV)

Light, then, seems to be an appropriate symbol for Christmas, and love the demonstration of that light. I'm not saying we throw out the Christmas tree or cease putting up longer and longer strings of lights (though it might be environmentally friendly to do so). But if we decorate our houses and fail to love one another, we miss putting up the true symbol of Christmas. For the mark of Christmas is not so much what shines out of our windows, but rather what radiates from our hearts.