Green Pastures and Still Waters
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You have probably heard the phrase, “What are you waiting for, Christmas?” It is used to express impatience in any number of situations including, but not limited to, being behind a car at a traffic light when the light turns green. By the time you get this blog, it will be approximately 25 days until Christmas. If you have been waiting until Christmas to do something, your days of procrastination are about over! Christmas is a good time to talk about waiting. The Jews had been waiting a long time for their Messiah. He didn’t come like they thought He would and He didn’t do what they wanted, but He did come, and the effects of His incarnation are reason enough for eternal celebration. Over the next four Sundays we’ll be addressing this theme focusing some attention on the “already and not yet” Advents of Jesus Christ. In other words, we’ll rejoice in the fact that He has come and we’ll rejoice in the fact that He is coming again. Christians debate the timing and nature of His return but all Christians believe this; Jesus Christ is coming back and it won’t be a mystery when He does! So, if you have been waiting to live in obedience, to commit your life to Christ, to invest in His kingdom and to be a gospel witness; what are you waiting for?
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Lord willing, on Sunday, we’ll get to the heart of Paul’s defense of his teaching to the intellectuals of Athens. They were not antagonistic but neither were they, what we have come to refer to as, “seekers.” They were merely curious. They were trying to figure out how to deal with life and the mysteries we experience and were therefore looking for answers. Of course there is nothing wrong with looking for answers and God gave us a brain so we should use it! However, at some point we’ll have to get beyond answers. I don’t mean an existential leap into faith but I do mean that we will never get enough answers if that is all we’re after. There are going to be questions that remain unsolved but this simply cannot be an excuse for refusing God. Here’s why. We not only have an intellectual problem in that we fail to understand the world around us as we wish; we have a moral problem that needs to be addressed. It’s not our lack of mental capacity that keeps us from God, it’s our sin! Our rebellious nature is what keeps us from God. But, because He loves us, He has made a way for that problem to be cared for. He took care of it Himself! God has “spoken” in these last days by His Son. Jesus died for our rebellion and rose from the dead victorious over death. In this great sacrifice and victory, Jesus the Messiah has opened the way to life with God. There will always be mystery to life, in fact, the mystery is what should draw us to Him. However, there does not have to be any mystery about how to enter relationship with and grow in the knowledge of the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. God commands all people everywhere to repent; in other words, to change their minds about who He is, who we are and how we can be right with Him. We thank God for His provision in Jesus Christ our Lord! He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE!