Captivated

At this time of year, captivation comes to its climax. In the 20th century, families were enthralled with the lights presentations put on at store windows presenting toys being sold, creating tiny consumers within that generation. More so than ever before, 21st century individuals are being captivated by what is sold around them. The next thing to buy and receive is a constant battle as Christmas comes faster and faster every year.

With COVID affecting our world, the shipping companies are working 'round the clock to appease the awaiting customers. With less people in store, online shopping has become the next best thing (and certainly the easiest way) to do our Christmas shopping.

The last thing we really need was for consumption to get easier.

And I love receiving gifts as much as the next person. And I love giving gifts. And as a created being, I am naturally born to consume. But after a short discussion with my grandparents tonight, the tendency is to overconsume. We have become like hedonists (if we weren't already so) and we expect more than is reasonably sustainable.

The one thing we Christians have struggled to sustain is not our idolatry (for that is what our culture is participating in) but our captivation with Christ.

So let this be a reminder to you all...

There are very few words that can quickly express all God is, excluding those which God has given us in his word. Perhaps we are overwhelmed at the thought of attempting to describe God. No, we cannot put him into a box. But isn't the fact that he is incomparable enough to satisfy? The fact that he came as a baby into this world, knowing full well he would die in his thirties for the elect that hated him should invoke some sort of contentment in this season.

But it doesn't.

Each year, as Christmas comes increasingly quicker, I lament my own feelings of nonchalance for the season. Even gifts under the tree, while exciting, never seem to be as fulfilling or magical as they were as a child. Perhaps the maturing and shedding of some innocence and naievity call for such a feeling. But I rarely see this feeling as a blessing as I have come to see it as now.

My discontent with the season gives me all the more reason to be captivated not in lights, or train sets in 1940s department store windows, or the expected snowfall 6am Christmas day, but the incarnate God, God the Son, the man Jesus Christ.

When I read about Him in His word, I am not always captivated by this beauty. I do not always feel fulfilled in who he is, or everything he has done. But I retain the elation in my hope: one day I will be with him in complete satisfaction, joy and contentment. Seeing Him now is great, though I may not always feel it. Seeing Him then will fill my heart to overflow completely.

I think the greatest gift for Christmas would be to feel a greater satisfaction in Christ than I do right now.

In the words of the hymnwriters...

My grandmother came across a reference to an old hymn in James Boice's sermons on Hosea. She asked me to read it, so I read it aloud. I think I read it quicker than I would usually for fear of producing tears. I never could find the hymnwriter myself, but Indelible Grace has modernized the hymn and may be worth listening to. See the words below, and reflect on them:

Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him?

Is not thine a captured heart?

Chief among ten thousand own Him;

Joyful choose the better part.

Captivated by His beauty,

Worthy tribute haste to bring;

Let His peerless worth constrain thee,

Crown Him now unrivaled King.

Idols once they won thee, charmed thee,

Lovely things of time and sense;

Gilded thus does sin disarm thee,

Honeyed lest thou turn thee thence.

What has stripped the seeming beauty

From the idols of the earth?

Not a sense of right or duty,

But the sight of peerless worth.

Not the crushing of those idols,

With its bitter void and smart;

But the beaming of His beauty,

The unveiling of His heart.

Who extinguishes their taper

Till they hail the rising sun?

Who discards the garb of winter

Till the summer has begun?

’Tis that look that melted Peter,

’Tis that face that Stephen saw,

’Tis that heart that wept with Mary,

Can alone from idols draw:

Draw and win and fill completely,

Till the cup o’erflow the brim;

What have we to do with idols

Who have companied with Him?

If you aren't overcome with emotion, don't let that discourage you. Poetry speaks to me more than it does some other people. But if you are struggling to be captivated by the beauty of our father, just consider the imagery in these verses.

The references made to various Biblical characters in the seventh verse of this hymn come from various sections of the New Testament. "'Tis that look that melted Peter" refers to Luke 22:

"And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly." (Luke 22:61-62)

"'Tis that face that Stephen saw" refers to Acts 7:

"But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep." (Acts 7:55-60)

And "'Tis that heart that wept with Mary" comes from John 11:

"Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept." (John 11:32-35)

Can we see how beautiful our God is, right from these various verses?

The beauty of God

I was recently reading Hosea for myself. To be honest, despite their seeming lack of appeal to many, the minor prophets are perhaps some of the greatest books of the Bible to see the balance of God's grace and mercy and justice play out in pure holiness, righteousness and perfection. Hosea was one of these books. The absolute misery and melancholy intertwined in the matchless imagery of God's words present a kind of sublime beauty.

I have never enjoyed hearing people finding beauty in the mess. We tend to have this undeniable awe and reverence for the pain of our world. As I call it, we find beauty in the mess. However, the beautiful redemption from that pain comes from the Lord. When we are captivated by this beauty, we become more satisfied than ever before.

Hosea 14 says this:

"O Ephraim, what have I to do with Idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit" (Hosea 14:8)

From here, we find the hymnwriters inspiration, especially for a line in the eighth verse of his hymn. Earlier in the passage, Hosea says:

"I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them" (Hosea 14:4)

If that isn't a public display of affection that might promote true satisfaction, I don't know what is. God's mercy and grace after a book about justice. I think there is much reason to be captivated by his beautiful traits.

Conclusion

This Christmas, you may find yourself caught up in thoughts of discontentment. You may find yourself spending more time trying to fill that void of dissatisfaction with the world with stuff, or people, or memories or events. But life will never work to your advantage when you push out the very author of life.

Whose authorship creates the most wondrous story of your life.

You see, its a tale of great tragedy and perfect redemption. Where the damsel (or duke) in distress is redeemed by a perfect savior. Where the hero always wins the victory. Where the pain and discontent come to a close and the desire for beauty find its satisfaction.

And the beauty of God becomes more than you ever dreamed, because one day, that dream will become a reality.

So "What have we to do with idols, who have companied with Him?"