Christmas Surgery
A few months back I was diagnosed with a medical condition that required urgent surgery. A date was set, then cancelled, then reset. It seemed like an eternity until the day finally arrived. The only benefit was that I was able to use to time to make all the arrangements so I could be off work for a few weeks although, in my mind, I was thinking that when I woke up from the surgery, the problem would be fixed, and after a short recovery I would be back to life as normal. It turns out, that’s not how most operations work.
What has any of this got to do with the season of Advent, which we are now in, and Christmas? Many centuries before the birth of Jesus, God diagnosed a very serious health problem with humanity, a heart problem that required radical surgery. However, in the hands of the right surgeon, this was a fixable problem. God said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
Our hearts had turned to stone when it came to the things of God. As we all know, a stone heart can’t pump blood. A stone heart cannot sustain life. We were dying. However, God would intervene directly in the person of Jesus. He advised us of this through his prophets. Several hundred years passed with frustrating slowness until the day finally arrived, the event we know as Christmas. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:2, 6).
Knowing what was coming, people should have been using the years of waiting to get themselves spiritually fit and healthy the operation. But most didn’t care. Because they weren’t prepared, the big day slipped by almost unnoticed. To many it was just the birth of an insignificant child, to an insignificant couple, in an insignificant town, in an insignificant country. In reality, this was the single most significant event in human history. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’)” (Matthew 1:23). God is now with us. Our hearts can be fixed.
That was two thousand years ago. Why isn’t everything different? Why don’t we feel new life flowing through our veins? Why isn’t the world a better place?
We probably all know people who, despite surgery which should have improved their lives, didn’t bother to follow through with the rehab and ended up getting no benefit. Like my own surgery, it takes time before the full benefits are experienced. It takes submitting to the greater knowledge and understanding of the surgeon. It takes compliance with prescribed medications and sometimes some significant lifestyle changes. Yes, Jesus has performed the operation on our hearts but have we done the follow-up. Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Mark 8:34-36).
Neil Percival
What has any of this got to do with the season of Advent, which we are now in, and Christmas? Many centuries before the birth of Jesus, God diagnosed a very serious health problem with humanity, a heart problem that required radical surgery. However, in the hands of the right surgeon, this was a fixable problem. God said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
Our hearts had turned to stone when it came to the things of God. As we all know, a stone heart can’t pump blood. A stone heart cannot sustain life. We were dying. However, God would intervene directly in the person of Jesus. He advised us of this through his prophets. Several hundred years passed with frustrating slowness until the day finally arrived, the event we know as Christmas. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:2, 6).
Knowing what was coming, people should have been using the years of waiting to get themselves spiritually fit and healthy the operation. But most didn’t care. Because they weren’t prepared, the big day slipped by almost unnoticed. To many it was just the birth of an insignificant child, to an insignificant couple, in an insignificant town, in an insignificant country. In reality, this was the single most significant event in human history. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God with us’)” (Matthew 1:23). God is now with us. Our hearts can be fixed.
That was two thousand years ago. Why isn’t everything different? Why don’t we feel new life flowing through our veins? Why isn’t the world a better place?
We probably all know people who, despite surgery which should have improved their lives, didn’t bother to follow through with the rehab and ended up getting no benefit. Like my own surgery, it takes time before the full benefits are experienced. It takes submitting to the greater knowledge and understanding of the surgeon. It takes compliance with prescribed medications and sometimes some significant lifestyle changes. Yes, Jesus has performed the operation on our hearts but have we done the follow-up. Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Mark 8:34-36).
Neil Percival