Monday, December 5, 2011
265 - The Holiday Above Every Holiday, Part 2
Spirituality Column #265
December 6, 2011
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)
The Holiday Above Every Holiday, Part 2
By Bob Walters
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name … Jesus … Jesus Christ is Lord …” – Philippians 2:9-11
Awhile back I worked with a guy whose dad, who bankrolled the business, would occasionally forget or grossly mispronounce names of people I figured he (the dad) probably knew. Not to their faces, of course, but in conversation.
The guy once pulled me aside and explained, “When dad screws up a name, it means he doesn’t either like, trust or respect that person, or they’re expendable. He does it intentionally.” One day from around a corner I heard the dad refer to me as “what’s-his-name?” and knew it was time to move on.
So how do we treat the name of Jesus Christ? Do we forget it? Ignore it? Fear it? Trust it? Share it? Respect it? Love it? Make an effort to understand it? Make an effort to hide it? Find it expendable?
How we treat the name Jesus Christ, or any name, reveals much about our relationship with that person, place, or thing … or God. We can be assured that God knows our names, numbers the hairs on our head, and that the only thing God doesn’t remember about us is our sin, because the blood, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ – God’s son – covers those sins.
God also knows whether, in faith, we name Jesus Christ as our Lord.
There is unimaginable power in the name of Jesus Christ – the power of life, the power of forgiveness, the power of adoption, the power of knowledge, light, truth and eternity. The very power of God. As humans we tend to want the power to fix the “light and momentary” pains and troubles of this temporal, fallen-world, but that is truly nothing compared to the power of God in His eternal Kingdom.
This is all basic Sunday School stuff, which leads us to the wider cultural net of systematically taking the name of Christ out of Christmas.
Nowhere in the New Testament does it say Christ wants a holiday or a festival or a feast in his name … in Christ’s name we are forgiven for all time. Amen. We must confess Jesus Christ as Lord, all the time. Amen. Jesus Christ is in our hearts, all the time. Amen. How can any holiday be any more special than “all the time”?
The truth is … it can’t. But removing “Christ” from “Christmas” is an attempt to remove the name of Christ from public view …and that’s a likeable, trustworthy, respectable name that is – eternally – not expendable.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com), author of “Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary” tweets at @CommonChristian.
December 6, 2011
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)
The Holiday Above Every Holiday, Part 2
By Bob Walters
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name … Jesus … Jesus Christ is Lord …” – Philippians 2:9-11
Awhile back I worked with a guy whose dad, who bankrolled the business, would occasionally forget or grossly mispronounce names of people I figured he (the dad) probably knew. Not to their faces, of course, but in conversation.
The guy once pulled me aside and explained, “When dad screws up a name, it means he doesn’t either like, trust or respect that person, or they’re expendable. He does it intentionally.” One day from around a corner I heard the dad refer to me as “what’s-his-name?” and knew it was time to move on.
So how do we treat the name of Jesus Christ? Do we forget it? Ignore it? Fear it? Trust it? Share it? Respect it? Love it? Make an effort to understand it? Make an effort to hide it? Find it expendable?
How we treat the name Jesus Christ, or any name, reveals much about our relationship with that person, place, or thing … or God. We can be assured that God knows our names, numbers the hairs on our head, and that the only thing God doesn’t remember about us is our sin, because the blood, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ – God’s son – covers those sins.
God also knows whether, in faith, we name Jesus Christ as our Lord.
There is unimaginable power in the name of Jesus Christ – the power of life, the power of forgiveness, the power of adoption, the power of knowledge, light, truth and eternity. The very power of God. As humans we tend to want the power to fix the “light and momentary” pains and troubles of this temporal, fallen-world, but that is truly nothing compared to the power of God in His eternal Kingdom.
This is all basic Sunday School stuff, which leads us to the wider cultural net of systematically taking the name of Christ out of Christmas.
Nowhere in the New Testament does it say Christ wants a holiday or a festival or a feast in his name … in Christ’s name we are forgiven for all time. Amen. We must confess Jesus Christ as Lord, all the time. Amen. Jesus Christ is in our hearts, all the time. Amen. How can any holiday be any more special than “all the time”?
The truth is … it can’t. But removing “Christ” from “Christmas” is an attempt to remove the name of Christ from public view …and that’s a likeable, trustworthy, respectable name that is – eternally – not expendable.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com), author of “Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary” tweets at @CommonChristian.
0 comments:
Post a Comment