salt-shaker.blog

Last post I explored the arrival of an expected person in a totally unexpected way which included spirit beings, astronomical direction, and the noticeable absence of worldly pomp and circumstance. The very God Who spoke the cosmos into existence adopted human form with clandestine understatement. Think of expectantly leaving that hill as shepherds, worshipping a baby overlooked by dignitaries, and then going back to the sheep and routine living. Could they ever forget those angels? That experience? One would think they would be forever changed. If they had been young enough then, would they have recognized the carpenter’s son thirty years later? The baby now a rabbi and healer, there probably would have been joyful recounting of that angelic admonition: “Do not be afraid! Listen, I bring you glorious news of great joy which is for all the people.” Anticipation had blossomed into actualization. The beautiful baby was now the herald of God’s kingdom – born to become the entrance into it at His sacrificial death. This too will fly in the face of human reason and logic – the life-giver crucified in shame and agony. Were any of the shepherds there? Perhaps.

What about the three years He went about teaching and doing good? If I were a surviving shepherd I would hope that I would be filled with curiosity and gone to hear Him. What message would the cosmically heralded King announce? He spoke of another kingdom. His preaching, healing and miracles gave hints of its superior ways. Trusting Him made you eligible for eternal life, following Him made you fit to live it out. But His message also invited His followers to take up a cross – a despicable shameful symbol of the day. Public connection with Him would ultimately induce the scorn of a world that missed His identity and despised His unorthodoxy.

They would have seen crowds flocking to hear His gracious and challenging words, marveling at His miracles, seeking to benefit from His obvious power over the laws of nature, and gaping at His authority over the not so glorious spirit beings that plagued them. One wonders how these people could have been clamoring for His execution (or at least standing silently by) such a short time later.

Maybe all we have to do is look inward to find the answer. Many who are reading this have, like the shepherds, experienced a powerful interaction with the kingdom of God. We have sat at Jesus’ feet like Mary, we have been healed in our hearts (or bodies) like so many in the Gospels. We have experienced hope that defies our circumstances. But little by little Jesus becomes common, familiar, then sometimes perplexing and disappointing. At times He feels distant and oblivious. Finally He seems untrue to His promises. We were promised a Savior but instead there is crippling tragedy, shattered relationships, insurmountable failures, and rampant injustice. We lose conviction, we falter in praise, but fearful to depart we settle for religion. Or maybe that’s where we started – it has just been a lifestyle all along. From there it is easy to shout ‘crucify!’.

If one is truly a disciple, a Jesus follower, a serious believer, then you are a threat to the kingdom that presently prevails on the earth. You can expect opposition from lying spirit foes. Your inbred addiction to self rule insures resistance from within. The way of living Jesus calls you to is counter cultural, so expect condescension from without. Besides all that, God allows us to suffer so we can reign. Jesus has been where He calls us to go. Now is not the time to be offended at Him. We must honestly and unflinchingly evaluate our reservations and create pathways for Him to access every part of us. He promised a narrow difficult way – ministry often promises prosperity in one form or another. No wonder we are reluctant about discipleship.

Make it your aim this year to serve the real Jesus, the only One Who has the words of eternal life. Face your doubts and disappointments. Rehearse and release them to your only source of help, healing, and hope. Follow the Good Shepherd. Listen for His voice. Make the devil curse when he realizes you are awake each morning. “If you are not dangerous to the powers of darkness you are dangerous to the church.” Porphyrios, a renowned Orthodox Christian monk

“Eternity is worthy of this way.” David Zach

shalom