J's Cafe Nette

Archive for December 19th, 2007

A few years ago, my wife and I attended a conference at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich., which focused on music and arts in worship. One of the presenters was Dennis Dewey, who has a passion for oral presentations of the Bible.

His methodology makes perfect sense, because the Bible—scripture—was always read to people until relatively recently, before the printing press (and literacy) made the Bible physically accessible to everyone. If I remember correctly, Dewey said to take note of how some passages seem repetitive, possibly because the text often lends itself more to oral presentation than written presentation.

During the weekend conference, we were given a copy of the following, which I think is magnificent. We always seem to think of the warm and cuddly baby Jesus and how indescribably wonderful a gift He was. But how often do we reflect that the gift of the baby Jesus culminated at the cross?

This is meant to be spoken aloud, performed during a service or Christmas play—or Easter play, which would be equally apropos. Enjoy, and have a merry and blessed Christmas!

ONE: In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. (This was the first enrollment when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)

TWO: Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. I will therefore chastise him and release him.”

ONE: And all went to be enrolled to their own cities. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

TWO: But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave sentence that their demand should be granted. He released Barabbas, the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, whom they asked for, but Jesus he delivered up to their will.

ONE: And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered.

TWO: And when they came to the place which is called the skull, there they crucified him, and two criminals—one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

ONE: And she brought forth her first-born son and wrapped him swaddling cloths…

TWO: And they cast lots to divide his garments.

ONE: …and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

TWO: And the people stood by, watching.

ONE: And an angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were filled with fear! But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for, behold, I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people. For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

TWO: But the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others! If this IS the Christ of God, God’s chosen One, let him save himself!”

ONE: And this will be a sign for you…

TWO: And while the sun’s light failed, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!”

ONE: ….You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths…

TWO: Then Joseph of Arimathea took down the body of Jesus and wrapped it in a linen shroud…

ONE: …and lying in a manger.

TWO: …and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb.

[PAUSE, as the tellers switch stories]

TWO: And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and earth peace among people of God’s favor!”

ONE: The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid, and returned and prepared spices and ointments.

TWO: When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened that the Lord has made known to us!”

ONE: And on the first day of the week at early dawn they went to the tomb.

TWO: And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

ONE: And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb! But when they went in, they did not see the body!

TWO: And when the shepherds saw the babe lying in the manger, they made known the saying which had been told them concerning the child.

ONE: While they were perplexed about this, suddenly, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel, and they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? Remember how he told you when he was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise?”

TWO: And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds had told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.

ONE: And they did remember his words, and, returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest!

TWO: And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them!

ONE: But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

– Composed by Luke’s Community/Rearranged by Dennis Dewey, 1995

(If you pass this on to anyone else, please include the credit line!)

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What do you think of when you think of Christmas? Lights, trees in your house, wreaths, gifts, meals, family time?

We traditionally have all these symbols at Christmas and spend gads of money so we can buy gifts the recipients don’t really need and we could give to them all year long without a holiday.

To the kids it’s Santa and the reindeer, school vacation and excitement on Christmas Eve to see what kind of haul they will get this time.

To some it’s a culmination of a year’s worth of shopping and hiding for the big day.

How many think of what Christmas really is? You don’t get gifts when you tell the story of God made flesh and born of a virgin, come to earth to save us from our sins and eternal spiritual death. But if you believe it and accept Jesus as the Messiah you get the Greatest Gift of all: eternal life and fellowship with God Himself.

Christmas and Easter are so holy we actually celebrate both in Christian churches of any denomination.

Some people think they have never sinned, but fail to understand that when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit they passed along a gene in every person’s DNA that was labeled “Sin and Eternal Spiritual Death”. Every person except for One.

Today it’s trendy to say anything to do with the Bible is fiction written over 2,000 years ago and not applicable today and certainly not proven science.

It’s strange, though, that when one studies the Bible he or she can follow the thread from the Old Testament prophesying the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ to the New Testament showing exactly how it all came about just as the prophets wrote.

Just as the mother of Moses hid her son so he wouldn’t be killed by Pharoah’s men, so did Joseph and Mary flee to Egypt to escape the death sentence placed on the heads of all boys under the age of two by Herod, who was afraid this King of the Jews was going to take his throne.

We think of Mary and Joseph as being homeless and Jesus being born homeless when that is not the case at all. They had a home in Nazareth, but a decree went out by Caesar Augustus that all men would return to the city of their birth and register and pay taxes. It was on this trip that Mary gave birth. They were homeless only in the sense that all the hotel rooms were full and they took refuge in a kind man’s stable, where she gave birth to the King of Kings.

Everything the prophets wrote about Jesus came true down to the tiniest detail.

Isaiah wrote that He went as a lamb to his shearers and spoke not a word when accused. He wrote that by His stripes we are healed.

He did have stripes on His body, you know. It wasn’t the sanitized version of crucifixion we have always imagined until we actually saw a depiction of it in “The Passion of the Christ”.

Yes, I knew He was beaten, I knew He had a crown of thorns placed upon His head, I knew He willingly lay down and had the nails put through His feet and wrists (it had to be the wrists or the hands would have torn and defeated the purpose of execution), I knew He gave the care of His mother to John, and I knew He cried out when the Father turned His back on Him as He became sin for you and for me. I just never imagined how extremely horrible it was. But, remember, He came down off that cross and went to the grave but only for three days. He lives even now!

Good Friday and Easter are the reasons we celebrate Christmas. It was to die and rise again that He stepped into space and time. He committed no sin, but became our sin that we might have the fellowship with God the way He intended it before Satan successfully tempted Eve.

Yes, by His stripes we are healed and by His blood we are sealed—forever if we just accept Him on His terms as a child would do. Accept by faith He is the One and only begotten Son of the One and only God Who died that we might have eternal life and fellowship with this God Who loves us so much He gave His most precious Only Begotten Son because He was the only Perfect Lamb Who could take away the sins of the world.

You can’t reason God; you have to believe as a child believes, only this isn’t a fairy tale and the consequences of not believing are eternal.

I honestly believe that when He was on that cross He looked down through the ages and saw you and me as individuals. Why couldn’t He? He’s God.

So enjoy the gifts and relax from the shopping and just think of what Christmas and its companion holy day are all about, because without one we couldn’t have the other, and without either we would be eternally separated from God.

We don’t deserve His love and we still sin because we are human, but our goal is to accept Him as our savior and try to walk in His footsteps. We won’t completely succeed until we are physically with Him for eternity, but it’s so much better than believing everyone who doesn’t believe will have their heads lopped off. That’s only physical, and what He offers is spiritual.

For some strange reason some people, most people, will not choose Jesus over Satan and will be doomed to eternity in Hell, where the physical punishment won’t be as bad as the mental anguish of knowing they could have prevented it and could have had fellowship with God. They will see those they loved in Heaven while those they loved will not be able to see or remember them.

This is because God gave us all free choice to decide for ourselves. It’s not what He wants and the Bible says that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God. For some that confession will come too late.

I wish you all a Happy Birthday to Christ, the Messiah still rejected by His own people. One day, soon I hope, they will see He is the King God promised them, and you will too if you haven’t already.

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As performed by Perry Como.

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Former President George H. W. Bush responds to this,

“Well, the first thing she intends to do, because you can do this without passing a bill, the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again,” Clinton said in response to a question from a supporter about what his wife’s “number one priority” would be as president.

with this:

In a statement sent to CNN Tuesday afternoon, former President Bush’s chief of staff Jean Becker said that he “wholeheartedly supports the President of the United States, including his foreign policy. He has never discussed an ‘around-the-world-mission’ with either former President Bill Clinton or Sen. Clinton, nor does he think such a mission is warranted since he is proud of the role America continues to play around the world as the beacon of hope for freedom and democracy.

“President Bush is excited about several of the excellent Republican candidates running for president, and looks forward to discussing their candidacy once the Republican nominee is determined.”

The first story appeared odd at best upon first reading and thanks to President Bush 41, it has now been clarified.

Why is it I am not surprised?

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