Your Children

. . . your children shall come back . . . 

 - From Jeremiah 31

The proper celebration of Christmas, if done according to the historical template, involves one day of sadness, and even grief. The Fourth Day of Christmas, the 28th, is The Feast of the Innocents. This is a day to remember the slaughter of all boys up to two years of age, in Judea, per the order of King Herod (who was aware of Messianic prophecies and feared his power may have to be surrendered to some kid). 

The 2022 generation is not able to reference, or emotionally access, this. Death is a part of life. Tragedy is all too prevalent in the lives of too many people, including our youngest and most innocent members. But people in 2022 run away from such thoughts, like half the population would scatter at the mere utterance: "covid."

Our generation spouts such platitudes as "you deserve to be happy." And our obsession with "life" and "safety" goes to such an extreme that our quality of life is lost. We become too unhappy and frustrated when things aren't perfect. 

They were far from perfect in 4 A.D. And they are not much improved today, if at all (some may argue we've never been worse off as a species. Our scientific advances simply mean that we know an awful lot. We know, maybe, too much, or more than we can handle).

When faced with inevitable pain or loss, in 2022, children are provided with "expert" counselors that will do whatever they do, but absent an essential awareness of the particular beliefs of the child's family, regarding death and eternal life. Jesus Himself drew children to Him. He did this even though He knew that, not too far hence, He would be seen hanging, horrifically and publicly on a cross. 

My background is this: Death is a part of life and you harm children by shielding them from it. 

Even the joy of Christmas, if observed correctly, has a component of horror and sadness. A remembrance of the terrible crime of Herod is in order. Remember it, for it must not be forgotten. People that crave power, like Herod (and many if not most of today's politicians) will do anything to hold on to their power. I'm sure the fake king of ancient Judea had all kinds of justifications for his wicked deed: To maintain order. To keep the people "safe," maybe from Rome. Or even, to uphold the requirements of the Mosaic Law. Whatever . . . 

In the end, the Jeremiah prophecy brings it full circle to happiness and fulfillment. As bad as things get, as horrific and violent our experience may become . . . our children will come back. 

Every good thing lost will be restored. And it will be held onto, even more desperately, as we have experienced life in the absence of good things. 

It's the hardest thing to do: To stay positive, even cheerful, in the midst of debilitating grief. We can do this because we know the ending. The most precious thing to us: our children . . . may be removed from us, forcefully and violently. They may be forced into (or even gently coerced) becoming something we do not recognize. They may be altered into an unhappy and impulsive creature, acting with the forethought of a beast acting on instincts - - - the direct opposite of an adult that had been raised in a proper and loving home. They may have been converted into something that cannot enter into the eternal kingdom of God. 

But our children . . . the ones that left us . . . the ones removed from us . . . will come back. 

There is hope for all of us. The Christmas message occurs in the context of a lost, broken, violent, and evil world. Out of such, we have the greatest gifts of all: peace, life, happiness, and love. 

Unless I See

Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.

 - From John 20

St Thomas the Apostle, apparently, was a man who followed the science. I have known many people like that. 

In fact, maybe most people I have known follow the science. They need evidence. They need proof. And they need the evidence to be persuasiveness, at least to themselves, if not to anyone else. And when ten of his friends insisted they saw the risen Lord, and that He was alive . . . that was not good enough for him. 

Christ's inner circle - the Twelve Apostles (now reduced to eleven) apparently did not operate a democracy. Ten witnesses were not enough. Thomas wanted proof. He was afraid that that the other eleven were merely spreading disinformation, or maybe misinformation, in reporting the impossibility of Christ being alive. He wanted proof. He wanted evidence. He wanted science. 

The account in John, of the testimony of The Ten versus the Science of Thomas is a compelling mirror to modern times. On the one hand, we believe in "democracy." We hold "democracy" as a sacred thing that is always at risk of being removed. We believe there might just be something to this idea that, if the crowd is doing it, we should want to do it too. 

But then we have the ones that want to be intelligent, practical, logical, but most of all, scientific. 

It all seems rather chaotic and incompatible, when viewed through the faulty lens of human eyes. 

But in God's calculus, it all makes perfect sense. Democracy, in which the strength in numbers lend an air of credibility to an assertion, but that also insists upon the right of a single individual to dissent (which in turn can add depth to the original assertion) . . . coupled with science and rationality, which helps an assertion hold up to inquiry and challenge. You must have both. God's nature is not inconsistent with itself. It all works out. 

Thank God for Thomas - - - for his insistence that a thing be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt; and Thank God for the Ten, for their great bond to one another, and the powerful testimony born of the experience of many!

Obedience of Faith

 . . . we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles . . . .

 - From Romans 1

Why would a "loving God" have a preferred race of followers, that are His alone, simply because of the conditions of their birth?

Exactly. A loving God wouldn't do that, and didn't. And doesn't.

The average guy on the street, that knows even a little bit about cultural norms or basic historical references, will define "Gentiles" as being "not Jewish." While that is correct from a practical sense, it is not accurate in the true sense. 

When Paul talks about bringing the Gospel to "all the Gentiles," he actually means  - - - all of us. Every one of us. The entire world. All people. The total population of the earth, from the beginning of time to now. A loving God would not exclude anybody from the eternal opportunity. 

And He doesn't.

We often confuse "faith" with a lifestyle of doing whatever you want, because we are saved by our "faith." But notice the construction here "the obedience of faith." If we have faith, we will be obedient, because we are confident that our goodness, our righteousness, our charity, our purity, will pay off in the end. Unlike a whole swath of "evangelical" moderates in America, today, if we're obedient, we are going to do things that the rank-and-file of society (the dominant culture) hates. If you're obedient, you will approach purity, more and more over time. And the world hates purity. 

There is a church calling itself "Everybody's Church," because they welcome "everybody." But not the "everybody" that count in eternity, but the "everybody" that counts in faith. This Church indeed is open to "everybody," as defined by the prevailing culture. 

But this particular church would be decidedly hostile to a truly obedient believer, one that aspires to purity. Because, a person seeking purity will always on the outside of any group of people that accepts the defiant practice of impurity. 

Love versus purity. Grace versus works. Acceptance and tolerance versus righteousness. It's all a balance. A difficult balance. It's a balance that the world does not embrace today. 

Obedience goes and in hand with faith. Obedience puts you at odds with most of the world. But faith makes you accepting of all people and their faults. 

The season of Advent invites us all to reflect on these contradicting elements of the Kingdom of God, and by it . . . to draw closer to the One that understands all of it. 

Scattered

 . . . . he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

 - From The Song of Mary

Once again, we have another example of the recurring theme of all of Scripture: The poor have got it made in the Kingdom of God. The rich have quite a bit to worry about, in eternity. 

The birth of Christ is absolutely right in the pocket of every reformer in history. Every revolutionary wanting to throw off the yoke of oppressors; every social justice warrior in the 21st Century; every environmentalist; every health care activist; every agitator insisting that the wealthy "pay their fair share."

The words of Christ are life to the weary; justice to the downtrodden; wealth to the needy. 

And the return of Christ is the culmination of all of it. It will be quite a site. 

Conquerors always try to scatter their conquered. People are shoved off their land and then shipped out to places far, far away. 

But God, when He executes judgment on the world . . . will scatter the rich. The Christian message is one of the fair play of turnabout. 

And yet, the people that have the most to gain by wedding Christ's message, and the hope of Christmas, to their own righteous cause . . . turn away from Him. The one Final Solution to the injustice they see in the world, is Christ's second triumphant Advent. And yet they kick the same old tires, illuminating the same old worldly needs, absent the One Person that can correct all of it. 

The world is topsy turvy. Christ's natural allies try to go it alone. 

Still, the song of Mary rings through all of it. She was but a lowly servant. A peasant. Her faith, and her hope, made her blessed by all generations. She is revered through the ages. 

It's Christmas. And all will be well. 

Defend

He shall defend the needy among the people . . . 

 - From Psalm 72

Apparently, God does not believe that the poor are at fault for being poor. Or if they are somehow responsible for their condition, their ongoing poor treatment on the part of the well-off merits something be done about those wealthy people. 

The Psalmist does not name any conditions that must be in place, first, to justify God defending the needy. He defends them because they are needy. That is all. 

God promises justice as a comfort to the poor. Just the poor. That the poor require justice is evidence that something unjust has been done to them. 

If you dig deeply enough, you may find that almost anybody that has done well in this life, has probably gotten that way due to injustice. The wealthy person has had to look away from wrongdoing, tolerate unethical actions by people in authority, kept silent in the face of the poor treatment of the less fortunate. 

People are human. They love their families and don't want to lose their jobs. 

Scripture says "There are none that doeth good. No, not one."

If you're wondering where you fit into that characterization of humans as bad, look no further than the crimes and injustice with which you are complicit, by virtue of being employed by people, or organizations, that somewhere have committed wrong, in pursuit of profits. 

The needy . . . all needy . . . may rejoice this Advent season, and all year long. One of Christ's objectives as King is to put Himself between the poor and the wealthy, take the shots intended for them . . . but then set a table fit for royalty, and dine with the needy as guests of honor. 

But notice: The Psalm also says that the King's Son comes with righteousness as well as justice. 

Righteousness. That's another matter entirely. And another reason to rejoice!

House

Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house. 

 - From Deuteronomy 26

Thanksgiving Weekend is upon us, here in 2022. It is Wednesday afternoon. I have had a leisurely day, so far, of taking my time on emails and overall relaxing. I will take a jog shortly. The weather is beautiful. 

For the first time in years, I have a holiday that feels like a holiday. I have just completed seven days in a classroom, as an actual, real teacher. Granted, my job is not permanent yet. But my day off today is a real one. It was preceded by a full day of work: eight hours framed  by a one-hour commute, both ways. I leave in the morning, when it's dark. Shortly after I arrive home in the evening, it's dark. This is more like the normal day experienced  by most people. 

Holidays, or "Holy Days" should be consciously realized as a taste of eternity. We should be mindful of this. Your reflections on a holiday should be: God's eternal kingdom is like this. 

But, only the good parts. Those moments that we wish will last forever, will, one day (one eternal day). And if we think that would be boring, after a while, there are still countless other moments in our lives, that we would like to relive over and over and over again; that we would like to last forever. And we will have forever to re-experience as many of them as we want. 

Or perhaps we will want to make some new adventures for ourselves, in Eternal Eden.

There is a lot to unpack in today's verse. I've danced around all of it, with my whimsical ponderings. Suffice to say: Holidays are a big deal, way more than we know. They should be thought of as a taste of eternity. We are supposed to celebrate. We are supposed to have already provide from our blessings, assistance to the truly needy. We should particularly remember those that serve us, while receiving little pay (teachers, pastors, artists, non-profit professionals). We should open our homes to strangers in our midst, including aliens from other lands. And it should occur within the confines of our house (that's another topic, for another day).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Reconcile

. . . God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things . . . 

 - From Colossians 1

If God can reconcile humanity to Himself, then all things are reconcilable. The word "reconcile" refers to a bringing together of people that had been in dispute. It also has a financial application. We talk about reconciling bank accounts with other records, like journal entries are sales receipts. 

At any rate . . . when something is reconciled it means there is a happy ending to what had not been so happy, before. 

What a great illustration of God's love, and His plan! Things are pretty bad right now, in 2022. They're out of balance. In the world today, two people can be looking at exactly the same thing. One person sees devastation and pain; the other sees a necessary means to a better end, that could not be realized without the pain. (This is how a person can imagine that high inflation, that causes people to draw deep from their savings, is actually not that bad).

The legal justification for a divorce is probably most commonly: irreconcilable differences. I've always felt like this is why Christians should not get divorced. If you believe that God can reconcile anything, even humanity to Himself, then you have to have some faith that your measly little irreconcilable difference is worth resolving. Life is short. Eternity is never-ending. There comes a time when we are living forever, in an eternal moment. We will look back, surely, and conclude "It wasn't that bad. Why didn't we just stay together?"

Look at the world today. All of our troubles, and all of our evils, all boil down to our resistance to reconciliation, with each other, and with God. This is because we are children in adult bodies. 

It will please God when all things are reconciled. 

People that love strife and turmoil are not going to like Eternity. It's a pretty happy place, where there is no such thing as a politician that calls his opponents "Nazis," "racists," "fill-in-the-blank-phobes," and "fascists." 

That is what it means, to reconcile.