"The World is Broken."

     "The world is broken." One of my former students posted this quote Friday. I don't know if it had anything to do with the events that unfolded in Connecticut earlier in the day, but it certainly fits. What other response could you have to the senseless spilling of so much innocent blood?

     We do, in fact, live in a world that is broken. Here is something to remember, it has been broken for a long, long time. It has been broken since the Garden of Eden, when man decided he knew better than God. A perfect world was ruined by man's disobedience. Because of that act of defiance, we live in a world where despicable, evil things happen and we are left to wonder why.

     This is nothing new. Go back to the Old Testament, in the book of Habakkuk. Things were bad then too. Habakkuk was wondering why God was seemingly unconcerned with the state of the world. Here is Habakkuk's plea:

 "God, how long do I have to cry out for help

    before you listen?

How many times do I have to yell, “Help! Murder! Police!”

    before you come to the rescue?

Why do you force me to look at evil,

    stare trouble in the face day after day?

Anarchy and violence break out,

    quarrels and fights all over the place.

Law and order fall to pieces.

    Justice is a joke.

The wicked have the righteous hamstrung

    and stand justice on its head." (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

     God's response was two-fold. He told Habakkuk that things would get worse before they would get better, but they would get better. In chapter 2, verses 2-3 we find,

"And then God answered: “Write this.

    Write what you see.

Write it out in big block letters

    so that it can be read on the run.

This vision-message is a witness

    pointing to what’s coming.

It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!

    And it doesn’t lie.

If it seems slow in coming, wait.

    It’s on its way. It will come right on time."

Even when things seem at their worst and that God is nowhere to be found, take comfort in those words. Help is on the way and it will come right on time. In fact we celebrate the coming of God's answer this month. God's response to this broken world was to send His Son to provide meaning to a confused and lost world.

My Favorite Christmas Song

"O come, O come Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel"

     I love Christmas music. From Thanksgiving until New Year's, sometimes longer, it is all I listen to. "O come, O come Emmanuel" is probably my favorite Christmas song. I really like the way it sounds. In my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. 

     As I was trying to think of something to write for this blog, the words to this song kept running through my head and it started me thinking. What kind of Christmas song talks about ransoms? Ransoms are usually associated with crimes, how is that Christmasy? To ransom means to redeem from captivity or bondage by paying a demanded price. Amidst all of the decorations and parties and gifts, we forget why Christmas really happened. We forget why Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, was sent to this Earth. We were being held captive by this world and a price was demanded for our release. That price was God's own Son. Jesus was sent to this world to purchase our release from the bondage of sin and death. He paid that price by laying His life down for ours. We can never forget that without Good Friday, Christmas is meaningless.

     So enjoy all of the things that come with the Christmas season, but don't lose sight of the real reason for it all. We were held captive by sin and Jesus willingly paid the ultimate price to purchase our release.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,

Who orderest all things mightily;

To us the path of knowledge show,

And teach us in her ways to go.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free

Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;

From depths of hell Thy people save,

And give them victory over the grave.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer

Our spirits by Thine advent here;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,

And open wide our heavenly home;

Make safe the way that leads on high,

And close the path to misery.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,

Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height

In ancient times once gave the law

In cloud and majesty and awe.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,

An ensign of Thy people be;

Before Thee rulers silent fall;

All peoples on Thy mercy call.

O come, Desire of nations, bind

In one the hearts of all mankind;

Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,

And be Thyself our King of Peace.

This is an instrumental version of the song, but it is my favorite. The artist is Casting Crowns and the video is from the movie "The Nativity Story".

   

In vs. For

     With the explosion of social media it has become common for people to give a daily report of what they are thankful for during the month of November. People are thankful for family, friends, jobs, pets, and a whole list of other things. I think this is a great idea and it is always good to reflect on the blessings you have, but I think as Christians we are called to more.

     It is easy to be thankful for things like family and friends and the things in our life. The Bible urges us to go deeper than being thankful for things, we are to "give thanks IN all things" not just FOR things. Giving thanks in things isn't always easy to do. Life has a way of putting us in circumstances where we probably don't feel very thankful. Paul, the author of this admonition, spent a lot of his life in jail and in fear for his life, and yet he tells us to give thanks in all things. In one instance he found himself in chains in front of King Agrippa pleading for  his life. Rather than bemoaning his situation he boldly proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ and tells the king that he wished everyone could be in the position he was in minus the chains. Here he was in jail and on trial for his very life and he was thankful. He was thankful, not for the chains, but in his God. When your focus is on God all other things pale in comparison. Our little problems are insignificant when seen in the glory of God.

     There are a lot of things I am thankful for and some I am not, but I am thankful in all things.


Have a Happy Thanksgiving.