Being a new parent makes one thing immediately clear: You’re life is not your own.  Everything in your life is reorientated to accommodate the needs of the new, largely helpless, child you are charged to care for.  One cannot simply carry on with life as usual.  Instead, what is demanded is a full time commitment to the responsibilities of this new relationship.

It should not be too quickly overlooked that Jesus chose to enter into humanity as just such a helpless child.  What is further significant is that Jesus was Lord in that humble state.  His Lordship was not something He grew into, but something fully part of His identity, even in the manger.  This is no coincidence, but rather a fundamental statement about the nature of the kind of Lord He was and what kind of kingdom He was inaugurating.

When Mary and Joseph began to tend to the immediate needs of baby Jesus, it was most certainly they did as the expected obligation that their relationship to Him demanded.  Yet I think we can also assume that, above all, they were motivated by love.  They served and cared for Him because they loved Him.  Their duty to Him, while defined by a formal role and relationship, was fueled by something far greater than duty: affectionate and passionate love.

In the same way, Jesus calls us to submit to His Lordship.  His role and relationship over us is clear and unquestionable, yet we follow Him- not primarily as duty- because we love Him.  King Jesus rules a kingdom fueled by the affectionate and passionate love of a bond far deeper than political, religious or even familial allegiance.

Christ is born!
Rejoice!

Previous Post – Sexuality, Desire & Cheap Fidelity

The good folks over at ChristiansInContext.com are running an exciting Advent Giveaway Event.  My new book, “The Cost of Community: Jesus, St. Francis & Life in the Kingdom” is among the great titles being given away.  Here’s the info from the site:

4 days. 41 books. Somehow we made the math work. So begins our Advent Giveaway. (Stay tuned, the prize packages will get larger as we get closer to Christmas. Be sure to subscribe via RSS feed, Reader, or email so you don’t miss a day of the giveaway!)

Today’s book is Earthen Vessels by Matthew Lee Anderson from Bethany House Publishers. I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing this book already and am pleased to kick of our giveaway with it.

From the review: “While Christians should arguably have a higher view of the body than most, the average evangelical theology of the body often remains unexamined and merely reactionary towards cultural trends and spiritual concerns. Matthew Lee Anderson challenges the unexamined and reactionary in his surprising new book Earthen Vessels.”

For a complete list of prizes and rules, click here. You can enter using the PunchTab app below. RSS readers will need to click through to the post to see the widget. Good luck!

Check it out & spread the word.

Previous Post – Ministry in the Upside-Down Kingdom

With all the excitement with the release of my new book, “The Cost of Community: Jesus, St. Francis & Life in the Kingdom” (Likewise Books/IVPress), I didn’t want to miss telling you about two other book projects that I have had the privilege of contributing to.  As it happens, they are both debuting mid-November.

“Waiting For The Light: An Advent Devotional”

This exciting volume, edited by Christine Sine, Ricci Kilmer & Susan Wade, brings together a collection of devotional reflections by various authors.  Christians of all traditions are discovering the value of taking time in the days that lead up to Christmas to break away from the consumer frenzy of our culture and prepare their hearts and minds for the coming of Christ. This resource responds to this desire. It is more than a devotional, it is a complete guide to the Advent and Christmas season, providing liturgies, weekly activities and daily reflections to equip and nourish us all through the season.  Each week of Advent focuses on a different theme:

Week 1: preparing

Week 2: seeking or expecting

Week 3: waiting

Week 4: becoming

The theme for the twelve days of Christmas is incarnation  Each week begins with a prayer or liturgy that incorporates the week’s theme. in other activities that may help you and your family focus more meaningfully on the these seasons of the liturgical year.

Pre-order it here.

“Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship”

In the last half-century, a growing number of North Americans have been smitten with an Anabaptist-Mennonite vision of church and mission. Often coming from outside the Mennonite mainstream, they’ve formed communities with others of like mind and sought to live out their radical faith. But in the process, they often bump up against the institutional church that has housed the radical vision for generations. The stories and reflections offered in Widening the Circle explore that creative tension. The result is a rich showcase of Jesus-centered discipleship-windows into what the future church can look like.

My contribution to this book explored the intersection of the Franciscan and Anabaptist traditions, examining where each tradition compliments and challenges the other.  I cannot wait to see this book get out there.

Pre-order it here.

Previous Post – Wendy McCaig Interview

In her annual tradition, Christine Sine is hosting a series of Advent Posts at her blog.  I am pleased to be among those who contributed.  This post was different from me, both to consider and to write.  It was first posted at the new (and excellent) Missional Monks site:

An Advent Reflection

The Christmas season stirs in us all kinds of sounds, images and memories. For me, one of the longest held is the picture of Sunday School kids in bathrobes with towels on their heads acting out the Christmas story. Angel proclaiming His birth to the shepherds, the wise men presenting their priceless gift and the gentle baby Jesus lying silently in his bed of hay in a quaint and perfect manger. A narrator would read the story out loud from the script as parents and grandparents diligence recorded the whole thing on film and video to be watched again later. Yet one aspect of the story often gets glossed over. Sure, it might get a quick reference in narration, but I have never seen it meaningfully engaged or even remotely attempted to be acted out. Which scene am I referring to? The massacre of the Jewish babies under Herod’s command. Definitely not family friendly!

And yet, Matthew’s Gospel does not shy away from such details…

To read the rest, check it out here.

Previous Post – Introverts In The Church Released

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed;
the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.

He has mercy on those who fear him,
from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,

Casting down the mighty from their thrones
and lifting up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.

He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
to remember his promise of mercy,

The promise made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

The beauty of Mary’s Magnificat always moves me, especially in this Advent season as I consider Christ’s entry into Creation as man and prepare for His promised return.  When I realize that Mary was a very young women, most likely in her early to mid-teens, I am humbled by her willing obedience.  When I consider that the circumstances of her pregnancy would call into question her very virtue- a charge of which the consequences in that time and culture were dire- I am awed by her courage and faith.  And when I consider that she bore within her the fullness of God made flesh, I am admonished and challenged in my own righteousness.

As I consider our vocation and our identity as Christ’s Body, I realize that we too are called to carry the fullness of God within us.  We are filled with His Holy Spirit so that we can be united together as the Body of the same Christ who was born to Mary those millennium ago.  Where Mary carried in her womb the incarnation of the Messiah, we are called to bear out together His incarnation together in our bodies as His Church.  The gravity of this truth brings me to my knees.  What a wonderful and terrible privilege!

Christ has indeed chosen us as His Body, therefore we must be dedicated and submitted to the Spirit of God within us.  Like Mary, we are called to lives of faith, courage, sacrifice, humility and love.  The womb of our heart must be a throne solely for the King of Kings alone.  He will not share His Lordship with any other.  And so all other lords must be put the Cross and extinguished so that the Risen Lord alone remains.

Who are the lords of our heart that seek to share the Lordship of Christ in our lives?  What keeps us from letting God’s fullness within us give birth to His Kingdom in and through our lives?  What are we going to do to give Christ not merely pride of place, but exclusive place in our hearts?  And when- WHEN- are we going to do it?

“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” -Joshua 24:15