LESSONS FROM A BED OF STRAW Part 3: Joyous Love

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One of my favorite Christmas movies is The Family Man with Nicholas Cage and Téa Leoni. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it or haven’t seen it in a long time, here’s the basic premise of the film. A very successful and wealthy Wall Street executive (named Jack) goes to sleep one night in his own bed but mysteriously wakes up the next morning as himself but in a different house with a dramatically different life. He goes from being a single, career-driven city-dweller with so much wealth that he can buy whatever he wants to a married father of two living very modestly in the suburbs. One minute Jack is the CEO over a huge company with sweeping international influence and the next moment he is a salesman in his father-in-law’s tire store. At first, he is terrified and hates leaving behind his lavish lifestyle, but once he experiences what true love feels like from a devoted wife and two adoring kids, he realizes that his priorities and desires have been all wrong.

Every time I watch this movie, which admittedly is almost every year, I’m always freshly fascinated by what Jack is willing to give up at the end of the film. Spoiler alert: Unlike many Christmas “fantasy” movies, Jack doesn’t miraculously get what he wants at the end of the film. The real miracle of the story is the transformation of Jack’s heart to the point where he desperately desires sacrificial love over power, prestige, and all the money he could ever want. Giving up himself for the benefit of others becomes more appealing to him than receiving all that his old lifestyle had to offer.

I’m sure the Hollywood writers didn’t set out to illustrate Psalm 37:4 when they crafted The Family Man script, but the truth of that verse swirls in my mind over and over when I think about Jack’s choices. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Jack’s self-centered, self-pleasing choices were transformed by receiving sacrificial love. What a perfect Christmas message to ponder when thinking of what Jesus offers us, starting with the manger in a dank, dirty stable. While there is no movie, novel, or analogy that could truly help us grasp the kind of love that would compel a king to give up his splendor in order to wrap himself in the rags of common humanity, this story comes pretty close. In his wealthy life, Jack only let the finest Italian suits touch his exceedingly toned and pampered body. In the glimpse he was given as a father, Jack was rapidly developing a “dad bod” and wore a cotton-poly blend sales shirt with his name embroidered on the left pocket. I’m sure you get the picture. The dad version of Jack working at the tire store couldn’t afford a tailored suit (there’s a poignant scene about that in the movie), nor a gym membership, much less have the time for it.

But now try to imagine what Jack gave up on a much, much grander scale… a heavenly scale. One minute Jesus was walking on streets of gold and the next he was beginning a long journey on a dusty road to a destination called Calvary. Since before time began, He had been dwelling in endless perfection and unfathomable beauty, and He chose to subject Himself to abject poverty in unrelentingly harsh conditions. Most shockingly, He chose sacrificial love to the point of death over inexhaustible pleasure in the presence of God the Father. As Hebrews 12:2 puts it, He chose to suffer beyond anything you and I could possibly fathom for the “joy that was set before Him.”

But that’s because the joy that Jesus was focused on, is vastly more than we can possibly fathom. And what’s even more astounding is the faith, belief and trust in His Father that Jesus demonstrated while He was enduring the difficulty of his time — and eventually His brutal death — here on earth. Jesus knew the joy that waited on the other side of the cross and triumphant resurrection — was us. You and me. We are His joy. He lived and died solely that our union of joy might be complete in the Father. Being with us forever and abiding with us here in our hearts was worth everything He had to give for us. In John 15:10-11 Jesus said, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” This concept is repeated in 1 John 1:3-5 where it says that the message of Jesus was given so that our joy may be complete.

As a king on Wall Street, Jack could’ve never imagined changing a stinky diaper in the wee hours of the morning, yet he eventually came to realize that all the sacrifices and discomfort of being a father were worth it for the joy of loving his children. Even more so, imagine the love our Heavenly Father lavishes upon us, His children, through the birth and eventual sacrifice of Jesus. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 3:15-21 that when we offer Jesus a home in our hearts and learn to trust Him, He empowers us to not only grasp how long, how high, and how deep God’s love is, but to also share that love with others at a level that will exceed our wildest dreams and expectations. When we allow the Spirit of Christ to complete His work in us, we become Christmas miracles ourselves.

A week from today Christmas will be over. But after the torn wrapping paper is wadded up and tossed in the recycle bin… after the last bit of ham is eaten… and after the last house guest goes home, will you and I remain unchanged? Will there be anything different about us other than a few additional pounds that need to be run off on the treadmill after New Years? My blog post for next week is already written and it’s entitled “The Day After Greatness,” and ironically, God laid it on my heart to write it before today’s post. I think that’s because He wanted to remind me that the big events, the holidays, the mile markers of our lives, are not destinations in themselves. They are steps on a journey with Him and none of them is without purpose. None of them is a carbon copy of the last one that requires us to only go through the motions. Absolutely none of them is ordinary unless we allow them to be. When we take the time to honor, celebrate, and meditate upon the birth of sacrificial love, we cannot help but to be changed — no matter how many times we think we’ve done it before. John 1 tells us that the Word became flesh in a manger so that the Word could one day live in us. The Word is God. The Word is Jesus full of grace and truth. Scripture is the God-breathed Word that gives us life. The Word is alive in us. If you haven’t already, read John 1:1-17 again several times. Read it aloud. Read it in several different versions, like The Message. Ask the Word to fall fresh upon you this Christmas and then rest. Really rest. Breathe and let yourself receive the joy, awe, and wonder of what only Jesus can bring.

Questions for Further Reflection

• In what ways do you think happiness differs from the kind of joy Jesus came to make complete in us? What do you think God might be prompting you to change in order to experience this kind of joy?
• How have you seen God change the desires of someone’s heart in miraculous ways? What desires in your heart do you wish He would change? Are there any that you are not willing to release if He asked you to give them up? In what ways can you delight in Him this holiday season?
• Ponder how John 1 defines what the Word is. What aspects of its description confuses you? Encourages you? Make a few notes about your reaction to reading that passage and spend time in prayer asking God to help you grasp how long, how high, and how deep His love is for you.​

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