Forward with Forgiveness in Ferguson
Let there be no more resentment, no more anger or temper, no more violent self-assertiveness, no more slander and no more malicious remarks, Be kind to each other, be understanding. Be as ready to forgive others as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you ~Ephesians 4:32
Forgiving is Forward Living
One of the sections of the Psalms that I enjoy is Psalm 103. The Psalmist describes the Lord as being compassionate, merciful, patient, and demonstrative with His “great loyal love.”
As you read the verses below, notice the ebb and flow as the author builds on the foundation he’s laid:
The Lord is compassionate and merciful; He is patient and demonstrates great loyal love. He does not always accuse, and does not stay angry. He does not deal with us as our sins deserve; He does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve. For as the skies are high above the earth, so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers. As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. For he knows what we are made of; He realizes we are made of dust.
Because the Lord is compassionate, merciful, patient, and He has a “great loyal love:
Why does God do this? It’s because it’s His character to do so, but there is another reason: He knows who you are—a fragile pile of dust. When you fail, God could sweep you up and toss you aside, but He is compassionate, merciful, patient, and He has a “great loyal love” for you.
On your own; in your frail strength; and in your confused wisdom, the best you can do is to make a mud pie out of your life. Then, when the storms of life come, you’re just a muddy mess. You’re like the prodigal son who wallowed in the pig pen of life and ate the swill and hog slop with the rest of the pigs.
But, like the prodigal, something wonderful can happen that will change your life. You can remember that the Father is compassionate, merciful, patient, and He has a “great loyal love” for you, and you can go home to the Father’s house: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. For he knows what we are made of; He realizes we are made of dust.”
Is the myth of Santa a riddle or a taradiddle? The contrasting stories I saw yesterday certainly paint different pictures of old St. Nick:
It seems that people have different opinions of the red-suited giver of gifts. Is he the demon or the delight of December? Is he charming or harming to our children. Is he innocent folklore or a fatuous troll?
A Pew Research survey released in December of 2013 found that Santa is not just a childhood fixation:
Frank Riga, emeritus professor of English at Canisius College, says the myth of Santa Claus can enhance creativity and imagination in children.
Our focus needs to be on more than Santa and enhancing creativity and imagination. A new survey (Pew Research) suggests that most Americans report a belief in the biblical Christmas story as historical events that actually occurred. Nearly 75% of Americans believe:
What will be your main focus this Christmas season? Will it be the red-suited Claus or the angelic clause?
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12
A Southern Gospel Revival is a band that I like. Ben Hester sings and plays guitar for this group, and he gives a fine performance of the song In the Sweet By and By.
As I was listening to this song this morning, it reminded me of an incident at the Kansas State Fair. I was watching a demonstration and closely listening to the fine-honed monologue of the salesman. As he finished his demonstration, he displayed a toothy grin and waved to us saying: “This is the end of our demonstration, so I want to say “bye-bye,” and I want to thank you for coming. Bye now!”
His use of the word “bye” was a clever display of linguistics and the subtle use of a homophone. On one level the crowd was thinking: “Gee what a nice man to say good-bye like that.” On another level, however, his message was, “I want to say buy-buy . . . buy my product now!”
I had a similar experience at the Home Show. There was a booth touting the warm feeling of fleece and the benefits of wool, and they even had a little pen with a ewe and her lambs. I smiled when I heard the salesman say: “Every ewe here knows how important it is to keep her babies warm.” The message he was sending was not focused on the “ewes” but the “yous” in the crowd—“You mothers want to keep your babies warm, so buy this fleece blanket.”
When Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome, he warned them of linguistics and liars and of people who would use “smooth words and flattering speech to deceive the hearts of the simple (Romans 16:18).” This verse has also been rendered as “enticing words” and “pious sweet talk to dupe unsuspecting innocents.”
I don’t have anything to sell, and I’m sending only one message: Bye for now, and take a minute or two to listen to In The Sweet By and By.
While watching the Kansas Jayhawks play basketball on Saturday, I became keenly aware of the intent and goal of each of the commercials on TV. They were designed to arouse a sense of dissatisfaction and an incensed desire.
The pitch lines may have been a little different, but the message was the same:
The more you believe the lies of the world, the more you will feel like somebody owes you some- thing. This breeds a sense of entitlement that can be the onset of resentment, and resentment and contentment cannot coexist.
This constant onslaught of “something must be bought” to find happiness and fulfillment or “the world owes you” is foreign to the thinking of the Apostle Paul:
Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit. For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either. But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that (I Timothy 6:6-8).
Notice the characteristics of contentment:
If want to hear the expression of contentment, take a moment to read Psalm 145. In the first two verses of this Psalm you’ll find the words “praise” and “bless” repeated. These are the words of contentment not resentment.
Here’s a thought to keep you thinking: “Many people lose the small joys in the hope for the big happiness ( Pearl S. Buck).”
When I walk down the street or press my way through a busy mall, it seems people are as adrift as a satin white snowflake that’s blown by a fierce wind. They participate in a vigorous celebration of an annual winter holiday that is a time of jubilation, but they have never experienced that infusion of joy that Peter described as being “unspeakable and full of glory (I Peter 1:8).”
Paul wanted the saints at Ephesus to embrace a joy-filled relationship with Christ, so he prayed for them to “have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19).
The joy and fullness of Christ is the essence of the incarnation, and as John said: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth . . . and of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace (John 1:14, 16).
When I observe people today, I wonder if their holiday happenings are a celebration of this grace and truth or an aberration of its substance.
When you look at the faces and into the eyes of the people you meet on the street: What do you see? Is it a lighthearted twinkle or a heavyhearted wrinkle? Is it the glad refrain of the fullness of Christ or is it the sad disdain of the world’s dullness?
What’s the difference between the two? Isn’t the incarnation the demarcation of wholeness and hole-ness? Christmas is a contrast between the love of God and the lack of the world. Paul captured this in his letter to the Colossians:
The joy, peace, and fullness that you hunger for will never be found in a neatly wrapped package beneath a tree: It is only found in the baby who was born on Christmas day.
When Jesus came to this world, it was not to address the peccadillo needs of a few, but to fill the chasm of sin that separated man from God. He did not come to just please the whims and fancies of the human race, but He came to pacify of the righteous demands of a holy God.
His coming was full of promise; yet, the people to whom He came rejected Him. John said:
He came into the world—the world he had created—and the world failed to recognize him. He came into his own creation, and his own people would not accept him. Yet wherever men did accept him he gave them the power to become sons of God. These were the men who truly believed in him, and their birth depended not on the course of nature nor on any impulse or plan of man, but on God (JB Phillips)
Whenever I read the verses above, I am intrigued by four words: “the power to become.” When people accept Jesus, not an idea nor a philosophy, but the person of Christ, they receive “the power to become” a child of God. This spiritual transformation is the real hope of the Christmas story.
At this time each year I see people go to great expense to decorate their house–to transform it from the ordinary ho hum to an extraordinary display of flashing lights; yet they still miss the meaning of Christmas. While they are willing to pay homage to a diorama of Christmas, they fail to worship the Christ of Christmas.
Longfellow wrote the words to the song I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. In the third stanza of the song, he stated the condition of mankind without Christ:
And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
As you celebrate Christmas this year, remember peace on earth is only possible because a piece of Heaven was born in a manger.
This is the time of year when the mystery of the Old Testament prophets is understood in the fulfillment of that pinnacle of prophecies—the incarnation of Christ. The birth of Jesus is the axiom of Christianity.
Today is Christmas day, and it is the day when the dignity of Deity was clothed in human flesh and was born in an insignificant manger. Today we celebrate the birth of the Magnificent Messiah and the Savior of the world, and we can truly sing, Joy To The World.
Merry Christmas!
I’ve always had a strong affection for books. Even when I was a child, I would ride my bicycle the dozen or so blocks to the library several times a week. It is this affinity for books that lured me into Barnes and Noble yesterday.
As I elbowed my way through the throng of seasonal shoppers, I wondered:
Celebrating Christmas without Jesus is like going to the goat’s house for wool—you might have the semblance, but you’ll never have the warmth.
One characteristic of the Christmas season that I really enjoy is the music, and one of the classics is O Come O Come Emmanuel. Whenever I sing the chorus of this song, it has the sound of a long-awaited hope that is realized and claimed: Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
As I think of this song, I think of three other sections of Scripture that contains the word “come.”
Isaiah’s use of the word speaks of repentance of sin and regeneration (salvation); Jesus uses it in the sense of a relationship; and, in the Revelation it speaks of our final redemption.
The story of Christmas is the gift of Jesus. He came to earth, so you could come to God. Listen to the words of O Come O Come Emmanuel, and focus on the hope, the invitation and the sound of victory in the word come.
insightbyseymour 