Christmas is not about sweetness or feeling good in the middle of winter. It is about rescue. Christianity is a rescue religion. Jesus came to save lost people, desperately needy people. The angel gave him that name before he was conceived so there could be no doubt about that. In his great book The City of God, the fifth-century bishop Augustine catalogues at some length the miseries of living as sinners in a world under sin (he also goes to great length to speak of God's kindness!). Then he writes that there is no escape from this life "other than through the grace of Christ, our Saviour, God and Lord. The very name Jesus shows this, for it means Saviour; and what he saves us from most of all is a life after this one which is more miserable still: an eternal life which is more like death than life."Death can be an eternal life with our without God. Christmas provides the assurance that we can live forever with the Lord. That is good news.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Christianity is a Rescue Religion
As Christmas draws near, it's important to reflect on what the holiday is all about. Christopher Ash in his book, Repeat the Sounding Joy, tells us that Christmas is about rescue; that is, Jesus was on a rescue mission!
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Pastor Wally visited us after visiting our church for the first few times. This was back in '99. It was a very interesting evening. I still remember a few of the things Wally said.
ReplyDeleteOne of them was the nature of proselytizing. Wally explained that telling someone about the Lord who is not called to be one of His people is like sitting someone's living room (as he was sitting in mine right then) when his house is on fire. You see it, but he doesn't. How can he not see that his sofa and chair and carpet are all in flames? You tell him, please, you need to get out of here, fast! But he looks at you like you have two heads.
I've always known my house is on fire. I had a different problem.