A blessed 12 days of Christmas to you...pray with me that all the men we know and the ones they love are full of faithfulness and experience good health in these days and deep into 2011...
Our New Year's Mantra---"DOWN WITH JESUS!"
The world seems to shout sometimes a bit louder than the Church… "Down with Jesus,” they say…
People in our country jockey for sides…some saying that God is our problem and Christians aren’t helping bringing people together… it’s a difficult time for some to sort things out and so we hear from others, “Down with Jesus!”
Even some of our closest friends and family members shout out, “Down with Jesus,” as they try to make sense out of lost jobs, illnesses not cured, marriages that have fractured, etc and unanswered prayers covering a host of ”gimme” petitions and personal requests that even if God wanted to say “yes” to he would end up being in collusion with the most selfish of behaviors…
“Down with Jesus” … words that we hear and may even say ourselves from time to time, but words that cannot and will not rattle Jesus desire to bring abundant life to every one who would believe… and don’t worry…he’s used to it… he can take it… because the words, “Down with Jesus” have a whole different meaning to him than they do to his detractors and those who keep trying to discredit his work and proper place in history… in fact, they are good words for people like us in times like this…
Think of it this way… the time had come…all the angels in heaven, archangels, cherubim and seraphim shouted out … "DOWN WITH JESUS!!!” And so they lead the way…the advance guard sharing a message of the ‘new life’ God is bringing to his creation… announcers to Mary and Joseph that God was up to something BIG!
Then there is the Holy Spirit… preparing the way to calm the heart and mind of a young Jewish woman… “Down with Jesus”… words she would ponder in her heart…
And what transpired? “The Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out!” John wrote in his opening gospel sentences… “Down with Jesus“…yah, sure you betcha and watch out now as the best is yet to come…
Jesus did come down… and became one of us…IMMANUEL… “God-with-us“…EMMANUEL… God incarnate…God in the flesh…
Herod tried to snuff his young life out… “Down with Jesus!” The people of Nazareth tried to throw him off the cliff… “Down with Jesus… The Pharisee and Sadducees tried to do him in…“Down with Jesus… and when the mockers and scoffers of Jesus gathered at Pilate’s courtyard… the insisted… “Down with Jesus”… and the soldiers shouted… "down with Jesus” on his way to the cross…these were words he was already familiar with…words declared by the angels and archangels, words announced by his Father and words echoed by the Holy Spirit…words that reminded him of his purpose in life…GOD COME DOWN…giving up his crown…to die for sinners like us…
St. Paul wrote to the Romans….
“Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the Cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life – no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: 7 8 If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. 9 We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. 10 When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us.” – (ch 6:6-10)
Jesus came down more than once… he was present at the creation… with Elijah in the cave… he helped shut up all the lions mouths when good Daniel he did save… he walked with Moses and God’s people across the desert sands and he went down from the hillside after feeding a hungry multitude, he went down from from the mountain after sparring with Evil One and he went down from Judea to Jerusalem…
John reported it this way… “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth…”
So, down with Jesus can only mean… "up with US!”… down with Jesus can only mean grace for the world… down with Jesus.. the victory cheer that God has brought new life to his people …
So, the next time you encounter one of God’s detractors…and you hear... "down with Jesus,”… give ‘em a “hell yeah!” as it is the power of God that has come down to us and now lives in us that we would amplify God’s light and life in the world…
Brian
4 comments:
Good thoughts Brian. I have given this a lot of thought and have concluded that the leaders of the Anti-Christian movement are simply large egos who resent the strictures of a Christian life. Any Scientist worth his salt knows that Scientific knowledge is not Absolute. The first principle of Quantum Mechanics is that there is uncertainty in measurement and conception that cannot be overcome. They rest their faith in themselves and come to regret it at the end of life.
Phil, yes indeed. There is eternal power in 'mystery' and the more we discover the roots and genesis of each portion of each mystery, the more we realize that we know less and less. Thus, the foolishness of God will always be wiser than the wisdom of men.
Someday we will be able to see as God does and in the meantime we live deeply and boldly and the mystery of life that is his... bkg
Jesus would not have gone down this way. WHERE ARE THE MEN? WHERE ARE OUR MEN? As much as I hate the routine events of our political arena, and abhor jumping on a bandwagon of headline news, I cannot be silent! In Tucson, our heroes are a newbie, two elderly gentlemen and an old lady! Men of God would not have allowed it to happen to this extent. What about Psalms 23? One man, too old to get to the criminal threw his body over his wife, sacrificing himself. An old woman reached for the reload, and an old man grabbed the wrong hand. At least they tried. Matthew tells us that Jesus’ disciples were outnumbered by a ‘great crowds armed with the strongest weapons of the day.’ Yet as soon as they knew what was happening to their leader, one cut off an enemy’s ear, and I venture to guess, just like His righteous anger in the temple, though outnumbered, everyone was ready to fight, and WIN. This was one coward with a little handgun, in a law abiding crowd, with people standing right next to him. I submit; If God is for us, who and what can be against us? Jesus understood his fate and calmed the situation. What is our destiny? Are we going to allow America, and many other declared Communist or Atheist countries of this world to put our Jesus DOWN? To put down the way of life our for which our founders died. They fought bears and unholy slave traders, (who were fighting for their highest purpose food, money, power, and ultimate survival.) All so that we could worship the same God many profess to love, freely. Yet last weekend, most of them, even the conservative media, said ‘thank God,’ while only those incapable of acting with innate strength trusted Him for the Power to change events of this world. While I have several times, most of us will never face a gunman. What are we afraid of? The very same God that literally halted flow of a river, is the same God that gets us through the trials of daily life. Simple trials, your car broke down? You’ve got a flat? What about your young son or daughter, presented with a decision that will change their life forever? Have you allowed Jesus to be put down in your home to the extent she won’t realize He is standing right there at decision time? He was standing right there at decision time in Tucson. We cannot allow him to be put down in our homes any longer, so that our children won’t let Him get put down during while they are alone. Put on the armor of God awarded us in Ephesians and stand for something! Let’s move these mountains! “For nothing will be impossible with GOD!” Lk 1:37. ejh
EJ, your passion is noted! As much as you and I would like to wave our arms and have everything make a huge shift for the betterment of all, we will instead have to work vigilantly one man at a time and eventually until one more man becomes the tipping point for all the others to stand firm in ouir 'doing' and 'being.'
Keep being an advocate for standing on sacred principles... they matter as do we!
Brian
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