A Light in Jerusalem ...

The modern American Christian community has long been fixated upon Jerusalem.  They seek the literal fulfillment of prophecies that would point to the end of all things.  So underlying political interests have always found an ally within the Christian community for support for Israeli longevity.  Hitler became nothing more than a catalyst for a “never again” philosophy, and a nation was born.  But it was not a deep and abiding love for our Jewish brothers and sisters that has maintained America’s support of Israel.  It has been political self-interest in a hostile region, and a twisted view of what prophecies may yet reveal themselves in Jerusalem.  But I would submit, modern Christians are looking for the wrong things, the wrong ways, and without the love that should truly motivate them.  What remains of anti-Semitism in this country is proof of that.  If the citizens of the world had held a deep and abiding love for our Jewish brothers and sisters in their hearts so many years ago; Hitler would have been nothing but a lunatic in a need of an asylum.  Instead quiet disinterest, apathy, and perhaps an active resentment for how Jesus was treated so many years ago, has led the world to witness systemic exterminations.  And now, even decades later, continued prolonging of the original conditions we swore would never happen again.  Quiet racism continues in our hearts, because the primary teaching of Jesus to love others, has never truly found a home there.

The city of Jerusalem has a vaunted history.  It was King David who conquered it from the Jebusites, and made it the capital of the burgeoning nation of Israel.  It was King Solomon (David’s son) who constructed the greatest Temple ever constructed for the honor of the true God.  David made the plans, and collected the materials, but it was Solomon who actually constructed it.  David was forbidden because of the blood that stained his hands.  When Solomon was finished, perhaps the greatest light ever known in history to that time then stood proud in Jerusalem.  But over the years, as hearts grew cold, and wickedness prevailed, that same city witnessed the executions of the very prophets of God, who modern Christians still look to for prophetic fulfillment.  And the city lost its light, to the point where the sacrifice of its own children replaced the sacrifices our God called for.  When abomination had reached that kind of zenith, Jerusalem was overthrown, conquered, and its people scattered to the winds and enslaved.

Generations later, Jerusalem was rebuilt.  The glory of Solomon’s Temple could not be replaced, but what emerged in Jerusalem was a light far greater.  The Messiah came.  Jesus Christ walked among us.  And now for certain the greatest light of all time walked within Jerusalem.  The glory not of earthly Temples, but of universal prominence, now walked those city streets.  But even then, hearts had grown cold, particularly in the leadership.  And so craving for control, lead to a betrayal of the Lamb of God.  And once again the capital city, heart of the nation, rejected the glory that had been sent unto it.  But this did not happen casually, or because God simply permitted it.  Quite the opposite.  God is never “content” just to see us choose evil, and then walk away.  Instead God turns over every rock He must, in the pursuit of our salvation.  If there is a chance, He will take it.  If there is a way, He will pursue it.  The greatest difference between us and God is found in the light illuminated in His heart.  When you examine His heart,  you find His love overflows the boundaries of His heart.  Whereas our love, is so small, it is barely measured in a trickle.  And once again the light is snuffed out.  But this is not the will of our God.  Luke talks about the heart of Jesus on this matter.  He picks back up in the 13^th chapter of his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why.

Beginning in verse 31 it reads … “The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. [verse 32] And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.”  Here at the outset, there is a threat against the greatest Light that would ever walk the streets of Jerusalem or the nation in general.  Herod was a vain ruler, who like every other man granted power, sought to keep his power absolute over the people.  And Herod was fine with killing anyone who threatened it.  But before we simply read this as Herod being a wicked man (and who of us is not), how is it different with any modern ruler of our age?  Oh sure, perhaps political murders are less common today, but political corruption has almost become the norm.  We expect it.  We see it and turn a blind eye to it.  When a politician is caught, we are seldom surprised.  If anything, we are surprised they got caught, not surprised at what they did wrong.  Men who are granted power, seldom are happy to relinquish that power, more often they want more, and will do what it takes to get more.  In Herod’s case, if that meant murder, he was fine with it.

But Jesus had a mission.  And He did not waste this opportunity to tell even the Pharisees the outcome of seeking His life.  Today He would cast out devils and do cures, and tomorrow as well, but on the third day, He would be perfected.  Behind every wickedness is the self-love that would motivate that wickedness.  It was self-love that molded Lucifer from the perfect creation of our God, into the pathetic creature of Satan, twisted, and full of nothing but evil.  That evolution, is undeniable.  And as we choose to embrace evil, and look away from Jesus to save us from it, we find ourselves on the same road as Lucifer, ever inching towards Satan, until the difference between us and Satan is imperceptible.  Even church leadership is subject to this phenomenon.  Think about it.  It was Pharisees and the Sanhedrin that became the sworn enemies of Jesus.  Jesus loved them.  But they hated Him.  Not because He was evil, but because they were.  Are we so certain we are different?  When we lose love for others, quiet evil is allowed to persist in our hearts, and the depths to which it will go, Hitler did not even define the bottom of.

Jesus continues in verse 33 saying … “Nevertheless I must walk today, and tomorrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. [verse 34] O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”  Again Jesus offers a veiled reference to what awaited Him in the capital city and heart of the Israelite nation.  Jesus knows that He travels towards His own torture and death at our hands.  He will be murdered by His own church, carried out as they would gladly betray Jewish blood into sadistic Roman hands.  And this is not new to our God.  When His people strayed, our God sent the prophets that preceded Jesus.  But those prophets often met the same fate Jesus was traveling towards.  They were stoned and killed as well.  Instead of breaking the hearts of His people that they might return unto Him.  His people became hardened to their own evil, even to the point where murdering the messenger of God, seems preferable than having to listen to that same message.

Are we any different here and now?  How often are you willing to hear the words of our Bible, when what it says runs counter to the pathway of your life?  What do you do when you discover this?  Do you put the Bible back on its shelf willing to let it collect dust and never touch it again.  So many do.  So many Christians look to find a grace that is content to permit sin, to excuse sin.  They do not seek a remedy for sin, only a justification for it.  We are content with forgiveness, but do not seek reform.  This would leave us looking to extinguish the light of Heaven itself were we given the chance, rather than have to face our inadequacies in the light of His divine mirror of Love.  Our evil today is no different than the evil that preceded us.  A different time, but the same disease.  A different people, and technology, and set of abilities, yet all content to misuse what we have been given until it becomes the method of our own destruction.  Few of us look at a message different than what is in our hearts and ask to have our hearts change.  Instead we ask for forgiveness and wish for God to wink at our sins as we have every intent to continue them.  And nothing has changed.

But what God wants is not this.  What God wants is to love us, like the love of a mother hen, who would bring her chicks under her wings where it is safe and warm.  It is the mother hen who puts herself between any danger of the world, and her baby chicks who reside under her wings.  This is what God wants.  He wants to love us, and nestle us under His divine protection and keep us in His very heart.  But then come the saddest words Jesus could utter: “and ye would not”.  Instead of looking for a warm safe place where we could be showered by the love of God, we look to stay away from that very place.  We don’t want to have our sins, and sinful desires, cleansed from us.  Instead we define ourselves by those very sins.  We falsely state that you cannot separate the sin from the sinner.  When in truth, our salvation is just that.  We are to be saved from “who we are”, from what we want, from what we do as a result.  Our very salvation was meant to be a gift to cleanse us from who we are, so that we are not ever forced to our knees again in repentance.  Salvation is more than just forgiveness.  That is only a beginning.  There is more, so much more.  There is freedom beyond your current imagining.  But do you run away from this, or are you willing to run towards it?

Jesus concludes this segment picking back up in verse 35 saying … “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”  What is the result of running away from the love of God?  It is a house left in desolation.  Not the desolation caused by the will of others, but by the choices we make for ourselves.  For love of self put in action destroys the happiness of others, and ultimately of ourselves.  And it is empty, it is void of meaning.  But there is another light on the horizon.  If we were to examine Jerusalem in the context of history we know of its greatness.  If we look to its future, it carries the honor of being the site where Heaven itself will descend and come to rest at the end of all things, when the earth is to be remade new.  But what of the intervening time?  What about now?  A stricter read of this passage would seem to indicate there is no role at all for Jerusalem until Jesus returns.  So much for all that hope around as yet unfulfilled prophecy.

The desolation Jesus speaks of here was not meant only to apply to Jerusalem, or to the sinners of His own day.  Desolation is the hallmark of any who choose to embrace sin, and look away from the gift of salvation Jesus offers.  It is the second half of this verse I find interesting.  You will not see Me, Jesus says, until the time comes when you will say, “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord”.  Blessed is he that comes.  You could argue that was the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  You could argue that is a reference to the second coming itself.  But what if Jesus is talking about you?  What if the light in Jerusalem is “you” who are willing to go, to live, in the name of our Lord.  There are Christians today who still live in Jerusalem.  They profess His name.  And if they are willing to love like Jesus loves, are they not still the light that remains in Jerusalem.  When a Christian can love his Jewish, and his Muslim brothers, as Jesus would love them still – is not that Christian a reflection of the love and light of God?  For light will always point to love.  It is only in darkness where love cannot be found.  Light will always illuminate love.

And beyond the borders of the city of Jerusalem.  What of the light meant to illuminate the world?  Between now and the end of all things the world craves the light and love of God.  Will you be willing to be a reflection of that light, or merely look to be its customer?  We cannot see Jesus again, until we find one who comes in the name of the Lord.  That messenger is blessed, as we are blessed from encountering them.  But what if it is you who Jesus is referring to?  What if Jesus always intended you to be a reflection of His light to the world around you in the here and now.  Are you willing to accept His ideas for your life, even if they come, at the loss of your own ideas?  So many of us think we have a plan for our lives.  We have desires we have so long pursued.  We have jobs, homes, and families, and count them all as among our accomplishments, instead of as blessings of the Lord.  But we then take His gifts and elevate them beyond the gifts they were intended to be.  We make our lives revolve around what we have been given, instead of around the transformative love of Jesus Christ.  We live for career.  We live for family.  But we do not really live for Jesus.  We simply squeeze Jesus in, when we have time, or find ourselves in time of need.  But our jobs, and our families are not His light, they are His gifts.

It is our love alone, a love reflected through the very Son of God, empowered by it, sustained by it, that could ever be the light of Jerusalem, or the light of the world around you.  The love for others, will be illuminated in your own heart and mind, as Jesus re-creates you back into His image.  And in so doing, you become a light to others, to point them back to the same Savior we all so desperately need.  I don’t know about you, but I want a place under the mother-hen-wings of Jesus.  As a baby chick, I know I need it.  And the last thing I ever want said about me, is that “I would not”, that I refused for the mystery of iniquity.  I want instead the good riddance of iniquity.  Let us live and reflect His love in such a way, that no matter where we are, we bless those who see us coming.  Let us be a light in Jerusalem once again.  There is no prophecy more powerful than that.  There is no promise more meaningful to you or the world around you than that.  It is in love where quiet racism finally disappears forever.

 

The Second Ever Gospel Country Music Song ...

Just a quick review from our last study; in order to be a “Gospel” song, it must contain a story element about the “Good News” of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps of His coming, or our Salvation, or our return to the home He has built for us.  In order for it to be a “Country” song, it must be an original.  Not something cooked up by analytics from a supercomputer, or voice corrected by a fancy studio mic.  Originals are not always in tune (sometimes by design), they may not be played exactly perfectly, but they do come from inspiration, that is from God.  The “Country” part happens because the artist is either from, or still lives in, a place long away from the beaten path.  Perhaps in the mountains, or just a long way away from big cities, where time seems to move slower, and priorities are centered around enjoying every minute of it, not trying to rush through a day in fear of the lack of finishing everything we were assigned.  It was in these conditions that Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave a song of praise, that would surely qualify as the first ever Gospel Country Music Song.  And for every beginning, there must be a continuation.

Now to set the backstory.  Zacharias was a priest by trade.  He was an old man.  He and his wife Elisabeth had been barren throughout their lives and well into their old age.  They were obedient to God, but their barrenness remained.  Those around them looked at this as a curse from God, designed to punish a secret sin.  It was a reproach to Elisabeth.  It was something she had to endure.  The gossips had a field day speculating what either she or her husband had done in secret to warrant this open curse of God in response.  It did not help, that both she and her husband prayed for a child since they realized a child was not coming their way.  They sought divine help, believing and hoping divine help would come.  But alas they grew old, and well past the age of childbearing years, then well past the age of interest or ability in sex altogether.  And still no child.  But what others saw as punishment, God saw as preparation.

In their obedience, God selected them to be the parents of John the Baptist.  And to insure his birth would be a miracle, He selected obedient servants who longed for a child, and kept faithful to Him even when prayers went unanswered.  An angel, rather the angel Gabriel who stands in the presence of God, was dispatched to carry the excellent news to Zacharias.  But Zacharias was overwhelmed, and doubt crept into his mind.  He asked for a “sign”, forgetting that he was talking with Gabriel in the first place.  And so he was given his sign, in that he would not be able to speak, until all the things the angel had told him would come to pass.  Zacharias then was unable to speak for a little over nine months.  He had to rely on a writing tablet to communicate (picture a hand-held antique chalk board of sorts).  This was the state of him as Luke picks up the story in chapter one of his letter of the gospel.

Picking up in verse 59 is says … “And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.”  The place where they lived was up in the hill country of Judea.  A place so small it carries no name.  You can imagine in a place like that, everybody knows everybody.  And the entire region likely knew that Elisabeth and Zacharias were old, way too old for a baby, and had been barren their whole lives.  Having Elisabeth give birth, and Zacharias be mute throughout, were definitely signs from God, even the most remote hillbilly could understand.  And so with good intentions, people do what people always do, they try to help out.  Since Zacharias could not speak for himself, the town’s people just decided to do him a favor, and call the new baby boy also Zacharias, after his father’s name.  It was kind of a tradition to keep names in the family.  Kin liked recognizing kin by this tradition.  But tradition was not in line with obedience and Elisabeth knew it.

Luke continues in verse 60 saying … “And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. [verse 61] And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.”  Elisabeth was intent on obeying God.  The Angel had told them what to name the baby way back when he prophesied to Zacharias what would happen.  So Elisabeth would obey God, no matter what tradition said to do.  Are we different?  Do we follow tradition even when it conflicts with what we know to be right?  It is easy to say we follow all the Christian doctrines we know.  But are we able then, to love a sinner, even though that sinner does not deserve our love?  Jesus said to love our enemies.  Jesus loves His enemies (sometimes we are those enemies).  But we are too quick to judge our enemies rather than love them.  When the homosexual appears in our pews, we move away.  We do not want to be too closely associated with someone who is clearly “in sin”.  But that is not the definition of loving someone.  That is the definition of fearing someone.  And what is the basis for this fear?  Do we fear their judgment will rub off on us?  So my gay brother sits next to me, perhaps he should move away, because I am a secret sinner, maybe a theif, or liar, or gossip.  Perhaps the magnitude of my sins, far outweigh his.  If we are to compare “abominations”, is not my lying, and my gluttony, and my apathy for others – worse than his only one major sin.

Our tradition is to condemn my gay brother, in order that he knows he is “doing wrong”.  And then what?  Is this what you call love?  If I came to you, and under the influence of the Spirit, I condemned you for the 2 or 3 sins you did not know anyone else knew about.  And having condemned you, I walk away, and never offer care for you again.  Does my behavior constitute love in your eyes?  And what if you were struggling with those very sins I condemned you for.  Is your struggling made easier by my condemnation?  Is your misery made any better?  No.  All that I have accomplished is pouring salt in your wounds.  Then offering no comfort to you afterwards, no love of any kind, no reason to change that which I have condemned you for in the first place.  If my message to you is nothing better than “get perfect, then we can socialize”, I will have zero friends ever, in or out of the church, and of gay or straight audiences.  I should be able to truly love you without condemning you, and without encouraging your pain, but instead pointing you to Jesus every time (through my reflection of His love).  I should be able to truly be your brother no matter what you struggle with.  I should be there for you, and hope you are there for me as well.  We should lift each other up to Jesus in prayer.  This is what we are called to do, though our church traditions would have us judge and avoid, rather than love and encourage.

Luke continues in verse 62 saying … “And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. [verse 63] And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.”  So the well meaning crowd decides Elisabeth must be a little bit tetched.  You know, from being so old, and just having a baby.  Perhaps she was getting a visit from the hormone fairy and was not in a right state to make a decision this important.  No one in the well-meaning crowd ever imagined she was simply obeying the will of God.  They did not ask that.  They did not assume that.  They just decided to overrule her crazy by asking the dad what he would want to do.  And here the devil tempts Zacharias with ego, to name his miracle baby after himself, rather than John.  Who ever heard of John anyway?  Zacharias is a much more elegant name, one on long tradition and family roots.  What is in a name before God either?  Couldn’t God be with this baby no matter what we call him?  It’s not like the presence of the Holy Spirit depends on what name you carry.  And Zacharias would have known that.  But instead, against ego, and against tradition, Zacharias sides with his obviously tetched wife and writes - call him John.  Zacharias too was determined to be obedient to God, no matter what the well-meaning crowd thinks.  And his response in chalk shocks everyone there.  This was an answer nobody expected.

Luke continues in verse 64 saying … “And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. [verse 65] And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. [verse 66] And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.”  It was at this precise moment that the mute condition disappears.  Zacharias is restored to his normal speaking condition.  And the first words that leave his tongue are a praise to the Lord.  He did not have to say that.  No one forced him.  But obedience has led him to an overwhelmed heart, full of joy, and gladness, and thanksgiving.  Catering to his ego would not have led here.  He might have carried silent pride in a son of his own name, but obedience has led him instead to an exuberance nothing else can match.  And he is beyond grateful.  It is this state of beyond grateful, that should constitute our moments we call “worship”.  When our tongues can no longer be silent for the praise and thanks we long to give, that is worship.  It is not the repetition of our songs, or an appointment we hold on a weekly basis.  It is when our obedience leads us to the joy God would have us experience.  And the miracles of this exuberance lead all the local country folk to hold these events in their hearts around the life of John.

Then the second Gospel Country Music Song was ready, and this one with the addition of prophecy as well baked into the poetry.  Luke says it begins with verse 67 … “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,”

[verse 68] Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

[verse 69] And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

[verse 70] As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

[verse 71] That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

[verse 72] To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

[verse 73] The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

[verse 74] That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

[verse 75] In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

[verse 76] And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

[verse 77] To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

[verse 78] Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

[Verse 79] To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Again I wonder if there was music with this, what it was like.  I wonder if Zacharias belted out an acappella hymn such as the world had never seen to that point.  After all it was the Holy Spirit behind his praise, his prophecy, and his music if it was there.  Once again this did not take place in some famous theatre filled with patrons of the arts.  Nor did it occur in Jerusalem at the Temple of God in front of worshippers there to be close to God.  Instead it occurred in the hill country.  It occurred up in the mountains, with country folk there to hear it.  It occurred where the Holy Spirit overflowed.  This was the beginning of the life of John the Baptist.  And though we do not know much about his childhood, Luke gives us a glimpse of what John did to prepare for his ministry in verse 80 saying … “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.”

I wonder, does it take us to be in a literal desert, to escape the traditions of men, in order to hear the voice of God.  The normal training for a “holy man” was not offered to John.  He was not schooled in the best schools Israel had to offer.  He did not follow the traditions of following in his own father’s footsteps and becoming a priest in the Temple at Jerusalem.  He broke both those traditions.  Instead, he spent his time eating locusts and honey.  His clothing was hand made of skins from animals he probably hunted or encountered already dead at the edges of the desert.  He likely lived in caves to shelter him from the sun’s burning heat.  And all the while he prepared.  He prayed.  He conversed.  He was filled with the Holy Ghost, and when he was finally introduced to Israel, his ministry came with the power of Elijah and moved the hearts of the people such as they had never been moved before.  The Holy Spirit had found a venue that was prepared to be led by Him, rather than to assume he already had the answers, as priests and leaders in the faith often do.  Tradition was not to be his teacher, God was.

A second ever Gospel Country Music Song, to predict and prophesy, the intensity of a ministry that would lead to repentance, even if it came only out of the desert and isolation.