Who among us can survive this firestorm? The Message

God loves to surprise us.

He will not be molded into our own image.

The wise men, who brought their gifts to baby Jesus, expected a ruling King. Everyone did. But Jesus did not live up to expectations.

Instead of assuming His rightful role as king, Jesus befriended outcasts and then died so we would have a ticket to his Kingdom.

He will not be who we expect.

Christian culture, at times, loves to accentuate certain parts of the message and neglect other parts of the message.

Our modern sermons are full of speech about the love of God.

And so it should be.

If humans could grasp even a drop in the waterfall of God‘s love for us, and pour out this love from our overflow, we would enjoy more cultural heaven on earth.

But God is often fuller and greater than a culture chooses to see. In the same way, there is an analogy of blind men who describe an elephant. One describes the ear, one describes the leg, one the tail, etc. No one person can grasp the fullness of the elephant in this metaphor.

The ear of the elephant, or for example, the consequences dished out by God our Father, has been preached frequently in former epochs. The sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God preached by Jonathan Edwards, in 1741 feels like a different religion from the sermons that we listen to.

But this sermon was a catalyst for a global spiritual awakening.

Perhaps the sermon was a piece in the puzzle that helped that generation understand more about who the true God is?

Our culture doesn’t want to talk about God judging us. It doesn’t easily fit into our modern worldview.

God is the Father of love.

Because He is the Father of love, He is also the Father of consequences.

It’s the child he loves that God corrects; a father’s delight is behind all this. The Message

And if we are, potentially, living in a season of consequences for our actions being played out within our culture, then how do we live in joy before a holy God?

The way forward, the way of joy in the presence of a holy God, is to seek spiritual thirst, honesty, and surrender. These three attributes will be discussed in the next post (maybe not the VERY next post because we need a funny post soon. All of this end-of-the-world natter would get me down if I actually re-read what I wrote . . .

Are you allowed to joke when you’re talking about the end of the world? Maybe I should edit these posts? . . . Nah too much work. . . )

Ahem . . . back to a serious topic . . .

Lord help us be aware of the times that we live in. Help us to long for your rebuke as a wise child seeks correction from a loving father, we pray. After a moment of stillness, consider asking God how he may be calling you to awaken our culture, both outside of and within the church.

Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer’s just around the corner. So it is with you: When you see all these things, you’ll know [the Son of Man is] . . . at the door. The Message