Christmas by Firelight

Well hello again, Dick Foth, Christmas Eve 2020. Welcome back to known stories to make sense of it all. One of the great stories of the last hundred years in my mind is the story of Billy and Ruth Graham. Billy Graham, who spoke to more people personally and publicly about Jesus than any other person in history, is well known. Obviously, his wife Ruth, mother of their several children, was not as well known, but an elegant, classy lady if I can put it that way. And I take that just from what people have said about her and what I've read about her, born of medical missionary parents in China. She ended up going to high school in what is now North Korea. And then later, Met Billy at Wheaton College in Wheaton Illinois. But back in 1977, which would be by my calculations 43 years ago, she put together a book of poetry and prose. And she starts in the forward simply by saying, these are hers. The poems in this book could well be termed the footprints of a pilgrim. Although they span nearly half a century of living, beginning with the thirteen-year-olds impression of the ever-present graves in China, through high school and Korea, college in America, early love poems, marriage and motherhood, and on up to now, they are not by any stretch of the imagination all autobiographical. Many were written concerning people or situations about which I felt deeply. Her closing line of the forward is, if they are a mixture, well, that's life. The collection of poetry is called sitting by my laughing fire. Ruth Graham went to be with her Lord in 2007. So it's been a while. But this is the opening piece of poetry that's written at Little Piney Cove. I think this is in the mountains of North Carolina in 1973. And since I'm sitting by a fire here in my living room, I thought it'd be appropriate. Ruth Graham writes, sitting by my laughing fire, I watch the whitening world without, and hear the wind climb higher, higher rising to a savage shout. And on my hearth the logs smile on, warming me as they slowly perish. They had been filled by axon saw while fellow trees were left to flourish. But what was spared by axon saw by some unspoken crew of law was being harvested without by ice and wind and savage shout. And on my hearth the logs smile on. I think it'd be safe to say that Billy and Ruth Graham, these iconic people, gave themselves to the work of Jesus in this world, amidst all the upheaval, all of that going on. They brought messages and a message of hope. They were givers. There's probably no better verse in the New Testament in scriptures to capture giving than what we call John 3, 16. Now John the gospel writer wouldn't have called it that because they didn't have verses and chapters back then. It would be hundreds and hundreds of years before there would be verses and chapters. But John 3, 16 many of you might know it and others of you may have heard of it. For God's soul of the world that he gave his only unique son that whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life. Christmas is about the birth of that Jesus. And so around the world it's celebrated in lots of different ways. But with the same intent to focus on him and capture his heart. If you were in the back country of one of the Hawaiian islands, you might have heard that verse or you might hear that verse even today. This way, this one of my favorite translations of John 3, 16. And it's into Hawaiian pigeon. This is what it sounds like. Hope I get the accent somewhat decently. God when gets so plenty love and a low off for the people inside the world that he went send me his one and only boy so that everybody that trusts me know get cut off from God but get the real kind life that stayed to the max forever. I just I love that. I love how it sounds. I love how it feels but what I love most is the truth of what it means to give. I have a favorite anecdote or story actually that I give you as a gift this Christmas Eve. It's about a kid in a poor section of town in a major city in America standing by the door to a drugstore and a man drives up in a classy state of the art Mercedes Benz all decked out got all the parts everything and he gets out and the boy is just eyeing those wheels. He's just eyeing that car and the gentleman sees it and he clicks it, locks it comes around the back of the car steps onto the sidewalk and the and the boy says cool car mister. He said well thank you son. Appreciate that. He said where'd you get that car mister. He said oh you probably won't believe this but somebody gave it to me. He said say what? He said somebody gave it to me. He said who would do a thing like that. He said well my brother gave it to me and the boy got somber for a moment looked at the man back at the car look back at the man and said oh wow mister that's the kind of brother I'd like to be. For God so loved us all that he gave. God bless you have a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.