{"id":8290,"date":"2005-12-25T01:04:23","date_gmt":"2005-12-25T06:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=8290"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:29:22","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:29:22","slug":"4659","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2005\/12\/25\/4659\/","title":{"rendered":"Good News! But, Are We Ready?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Stan Friedman<\/p>\n

CHICAGO, IL (December 25, 2005)\u00a0 – What Child is this who laid to rest?<\/em><\/p>\n
Herod was right, of course – the child was dangerous. Herod had never\u00a0 heard Mary sing or Simeon prophecy, but he knew.<\/p>\n
The teenage mother sang of the coming danger when the child, nestled in\u00a0 her womb, took his first breath on this terrestrial ball: <\/em><\/div>\n

(God) has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
\nhe has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
\nHe has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the\u00a0 humble;
\nHe has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away\u00a0 empty.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

When he beholds the baby, Simeon takes the infant in his arms. The\u00a0 prophet overflows with gratitude that had been waiting for decades. But\u00a0 then he says to Mary these words: <\/em><\/div>\n

This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of\u00a0 many in Israel,
\nand to be a sign that will be spoken against,
\nso that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed;
\nand a sword will pierce your own soul, too.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

We cannot think of Jesus’s birth without thinking about how he would\u00a0 grow, what he would do, and how he would die. The Pharisees did have it\u00a0 right, of course – the man was dangerous.<\/p>\n
In The Ragamuffin Gospel,<\/em> Brennan Manning writes: “It did not\u00a0 escape the Pharisees’ attention that Jesus meant to befriend the rabble.\u00a0 He was not only breaking the law, he was destroying the very structure\u00a0 of Jewish society. They all complained when they saw what was happening – he has gone to stay at a sinner’s house.”<\/p>\n
The Pharisees knew Jesus was upending the well-structured,\u00a0 taken-for-granted religious and civic culture. Of course, none of them – Herod, Mary, Simeon, or the Pharisees – knew the full implications of\u00a0 what they were saying. How could they?<\/p>\n
Today songs, hymns, and carols are sung in older churches and in\u00a0 emerging congregations with names like Quest and The Well, and at every\u00a0 church in between. In all of our churches, we will, of course, proclaim\u00a0 what Jesus’s birth means.<\/p>\n
Do we know what we are saying?<\/p>\n
How many of our church societies, our theological camps, and\u00a0 latest-greatest ideas will we let Jesus overturn? How much in our\u00a0 thinking of who Jesus is – the thoughts we take for granted – how many\u00a0 of them will we let him tear down?<\/p>\n
And renew.<\/p>\n
For this infant lowly came not simply to tear down, but also to build\u00a0 up. He says on more than one occasion in different ways that he has come\u00a0 to lift the humble, to feed the hungry, proclaim good news to the poor\u00a0 and set captives free. He came to the properly religious and says,\u00a0 “You’ve got it all wrong,” and to all who have it all wrong, he\u00a0 continues to say, “I’ve come so you can get it all right.”<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Stan Friedman CHICAGO, IL (December 25, 2005)\u00a0 – What Child is this who laid to rest? Herod was right, of course – the child was dangerous. Herod had never\u00a0 heard Mary sing or Simeon prophecy, but he knew. The teenage mother sang of the coming danger when the child, nestled in\u00a0 her womb, took […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGood News! 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