Nowhere Man
I heard the Beatles sing "Nowhere Man" on the radio today. I thought it was kinda ironic, considering I had just been thinking about how commercialized Christmas time has become.
"He's a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody"
For many people, Jesus is the nowhere man of Christmas. He has been replaced by Santa Claus and credit cards. Christmas trees and pretty wrapped presents get more of our time and reflection than a Savior born in poverty and scandal.
"He's as blind as he can be
Just sees what he wants to see
Nowhere Man can you see me at all?"
I have a good friend that has two small boys. They decided this year NOT to put up a tree, any decorations, and not to give any presents except to those in need. It's not because they don't have the means to do all those things. They just wanted this Christmas to be one that focused ONLY on the Christ child. Do you think the two boys will remember this Christmas? How will it effect their friends that come over when they communicate what they are doing and why? I have a feeling those two boys are going to feel blessed when they are grown men and reflect on what kind of priorites their parents had.
"Nowhere Man, please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere Man, the world is at your command"
I'm not sure it has ever really connected with me yet how vulnerable Christ made himself when he came in the form of a baby. The God of the Universe, making himself totally helpless. The world had been at his command, and now as baby, it was in command of him. Have you chosen to make yourself that vulnerable? If not, get in line behind me. And yes, he DID know what he was missing.
"He's a real Nowhere Man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody"
Why not plan to connect with someone who thinks his or her hope is gone, that their life is headed nowhere, and let them see you have a different perspective? Maybe they will notice you don't pin your hopes and future on a "nowhere man" who has "nowhere plans for nobody", but that your hopes are in a loving father who plans his everyday around you......and them. After all, can you think of a better time of year to tell the story?
Nowhere Man may not be able to see them at all, but the baby that was born that Christmas day chooses to see them EVERY day, and waits with arms open wide for any who want to come to Him.
Nowhere Man or Everywhere Man..........which one will you give as a present this year?
8 Comments:
Good stuff DU, I need to think this way more...
Davit, my brother figure, this is great. I want to hear you present this to all of us at church.
Could be a top 5 Blog, my bro. The Beatles were pretty insightful with their lyrics...not sure they lived that way...kinda sounds like us, huh. Merry CHRISTmas.
KR
My father was and is a hard man, just to the right of the late Ira Rice, Jr. but there was/is an aspect of his character I will never forget. On his birthday we would make a big cake and meal and then take it to someone else; someone poor, needy, and not expecting it. In his honor, we have a rule: go into the closet and give away anything not used in the last six months. Give away one thing for every gift you receive. Never sell it, never give away trash. Simple things, but they are life changing when you try them.
Patrick, what a wonderful link to put in the family chain of the Mead family! Sounds like to me the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.
DU
David -- I really appreciate the heart behind this post. It sounds like the heart of Jesus.
Your comments about connecting with others is huge, especially this time of year. I know it's important all year long, that goes without saying, but hearts are much more open this time of year.
As Jesus gave of himself so graciously when he came to this world as a baby, may we be moved by his heart and give of ourselves this Christmas.
Thanks Jamie for your kind words of encouragement!
Come back often!
DU
Interesting ... when I was explaining the difficulty of reading spaceless, punctuation-free Greek to a class I was teaching a few months back, I used the illustration of the sentence JESUSISNOWHERE . Do you read it "Jesus is nowhere" or "Jesus is now here"?
(Now I'm leaning toward "nowhere"!)
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