Violence and Jesus on the Cross at Christmas Shows

Manger Jesus is safe.

I think that’s why Christmas became more popular than Easter. That and free stuff under a fir tree.

Christmas and the image of baby Jesus are non threatening. Sure, we sing carols about how a King was born, but even a nominal Christmas/Easter church attender knows that he wasn’t a “real” king, he doesn’t have armies and a castle of stone with a moat. Jesus in the manger doesn’t make people uncomfortable. He is a cute baby in swaddling clothes. So warm and cuddly.

Jesus on the cross isn’t like that. That’s where he took the pain we deserved. It gets personal. Being born, that’s cute. Let’s eat cookies and sing carols. Being whipped to a bloody pulp and nailed to a tree to hang until you die, then turning the world upside down by coming back to life… all so you and I could once again be reconciled to the creator of the universe… Well, that’s a bit more. It’s not safe. It requires a reaction from us.

So I can understand why some people could have been disturbed by the depiction of Jesus on the cross, Jesus being whipped, bloody and hurting Jesus, in our recent Christmas production.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not “Passion of the Christ” level of blood and violence. It’s more TVPG violence. I felt comfortable having my sheltered, homeschooled 9 year old watch. I had my 6 year old close her eyes. We didn’t have the skill, time or budget to really recreate the horrible violence Jesus Christ suffered for each of us. We did a good job with what we had, and I was pleased with the final result of the footage. It’s took almost 2 hours to get the makeup done for the scourging scene. This cross scene is some of the most powerful imagery I’ve ever shot.

Lots of churches stop the story at Christmas with the wise men bringing their gifts. And I don’t fault them for it. That is the story of Christmas. Other churches tell the entire life of Christ. Because Jesus didn’t just stay a toddler getting some gifts from the Magi. He had a greater purpose. When sharing the gospel in Christmas productions you can talk about that purpose, or you can show it. We chose to show it.

I’ve been to a lot of church productions that put a guy in white shorts/loin cloth on a cross and we pretend that’s what Jesus looked like. It’s not. A cursory read of the biblical accounts would show you that’s wrong. A closer, more in depth look at the torture and execution methods of the day would shed more light on the gruesome visage of our savior, willingly dying on a cross for us.

I think people who are upset by violent reminders of what the Lord went through for us are mostly upset by being reminded of it, not about seeing it. I was “disturbed” by scenes of Mary in labor. My first reaction was that I wished we hadn’t included that. When I stopped to think about it, I realized it was because I don’t really think about the fact that Mary had a normal child birth for the time. It was the immaculate conception, not immaculate delivery. It made me uncomfortable.

People don’t want to come to a Christmas show to be made uncomfortable. They want the warm feelings and carols. But the story of Christ doesn’t stop at the manger, it ends with an empty tomb. The path from manger to tomb is disturbing. If we choose to show it, then we must choose to do so as accurately as we can. That means there will be some disturbing images, not for the sake of showing violence, but to remind us of what our salvation cost.

Advertisement

Petition

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.  And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’  For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man,  yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?  I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:1-8 ESV

 

I have to admit, I’ve struggled with the concept of prayers of petition. I’ve always fallen more toward the “God’s will” side of prayer than the “ask and receive” side.

Think about it. The God of all creation, maker of everything. The omniscient and omnipotent Lord of the universe is who we pray to. He knows what I need and want and will pray before I ever ask it. Why, then, do I need to ask anything? I always felt it was better to seek God’s will in decisions and circumstances than to ask for specific things. If God is good and just, and has a perfect plan for my life, ought I not seek that plan rather than try to figure out my own path and drop a couple prayers into some sort of divine vending machine?

But then you run into this parable. Right out front the reason it’s told is laid out: So you will always pray and not lose heart. It’s the story of a woman’s persistence over whelming a judge, who didn’t even fear God or respect men. But here is God, who loves us as opposed to a judge who tolerates us, will he not give justice? There is a similar story in Luke 11 about a sleeping neighbor’s bread.

It’s clear that prayers of petition are encouraged here.

Now, let’s not go crazy. Obviously God says no all the time. He won’t do something against his nature. He will often allow us to go through hard times for his purposes. He heals some, and allows others to die. He is God, we are not.

And many times when the Bible talks about asking and receiving, there is a second part of the concept that reminds us that this works not because God has to agree, but like John 14 says, we receive so “the Father may be glorified in the Son.” So don’t expect God to agree to give you a million dollars just because you add the words “in Jesus name” at the end of your request.

So let’s assume that you are asking something of God, something within the calling he has placed on you, something that could be within his will for your life. Something that will either bring him glory in itself or through some result of the request. Wouldn’t a prayer of petition like the widow’s be not just OK, be welcomed and encouraged?

But wait, If God knows my heart, and everything I will say before I say it, why do I need to pray?

It’s the act of praying, of asking for something that acknowledges that this thing is out of your power. You are bending your will to God’s. Prayers of petition aren’t about what God learns of our desires. They are about us learning to rely and depend on God for everything. Even if he says no.

So bow your head and bend your will. Do not be discouraged. Keep asking. Don’t lose heart.

This is my petition: I need a job that allows me to provide for my family and still do what You have called me to do. I am going to be as persistent as the widow. I believe that you can give this to us, and you will.

Cultural Amnesia and Religious Freedom

[Begin Rant]
There are days I wake up and I just wonder, “Are you people crazy? Did you wake up and forget everything from the last thousand years or so? When did you develop cultural amnesia?”

I hear about news stories questioning evangelical adoption and threatening court martials for “Proselytizing” in the military, and I wonder if these people just stepped out of a cultural bubble. These are just a couple of recent examples, but this is a trend in America.

America has its problems, but we are still the greatest nation on earth. People literally risk their lives to come here. People kill themselves to stop our way of life. We are the land of opportunity, we are the land of the free.

This didn’t happen in a vacuum. Our culture developed over time and had lots of influences, and one of the big ones was the faith of our own people. I could list quote after quote of founding fathers, and point you toward different books that explore what the world would be like if Christianity wasn’t around, and tell you all the good things that came out of people believing in Jesus Christ. And I could disarm the critics by pointing out how many people were killed in the name of religion versus how many have been killed by people without religious belief. And we could go a couple of rounds debating the merits of faith in the public square.

But I don’t have to. Because good or bad, religion has been a major part of western civilization and a major part of the USA.

And look at how good we turned out.

Even if you hate organized religion, you have to admit that the basic tenet of freedom of religion hasn’t stopped America from becoming the greatest nation on earth. Even if you think that belief in God is the root of all idiocy, the USA still did OK.

So this new wave of vehement animosity about faith really bugs me. No one is making you believe in anything. No one is forcing your kids to believe in anything. So people talk about their faith? Get over it. You have the freedom to talk about whatever you believe, or don’t believe. Don’t want evangelicals to adopt kids? Go adopt all of them yourself.

What’s that? My religious morality is infringing on your new found moral code? You think the world would be even better if we would just keep our views to ourselves? Odd, I think it would better if irreligious people kept their views to themselves. You don’t like it when religious people campaign for laws that reflect their viewpoint? Tough. Welcome to a Democratic Republic. Don’t like the laws? Vote for people to change them. I’ll do the same.

This country was founded on freedom. It was founded on a lot of other things, too, but we can all agree that freedom is a huge part of our Constitution.

So, lets get back to that. Constitutional Freedom. And stop acting like we don’t have a past that includes freedom of religion. Stop using “tolerance” as a baseball bat to crush anything different from your view. Go live your life, and be free. And let religious people do the same.

[/rant]

Ministers of The Reconciliation

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 ESV

I was doing my reading in my new plan from the Youversion Bible App and I hit one of my favorite passages, 2 Corinthians 5.

I love this. God could have used anything, anything to spread the Gospel. But he chose to use us. WE are the ministers of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ. God chooses to work through us, to make his appeal for reconcilation to himself through us.

Want to know why I do the ministry work I do? Because we are ambassadors for Christ. I am a minister of reconciliation.

It’s Never Too Late

Almost two decades later, I got an email.

I was trying to move from Murfreesboro to west Nashville so I could be closer to the studio I was working in. I had been looking for a roommate, and found a guy who was also working in the music business. He was trying to move into Nashville from the Midwest. So, we got a two bedroom apartment.

Let me just say that things didn’t work out. It ended with him moving out without notice (taking his newly moved in girlfriend with him). That left me with 10 months on a lease that was double my budget. Needless to say, I didn’t have the nicest of feelings about him. I was able to move into a one bedroom, which was more than splitting a two bedroom, but at least I could afford it. And then we went on with our lives.

Fast forward almost 20 years, and I get an email out of the blue. It’s this guy, and he wants to know if I’m the guy he used to know. I really didn’t have a clue why he would be emailing,me, and was not keen on finding out why. I hadn’t thought about this situation for years. I was just as happy to let it remain in the distant past.

But, my wife who is wiser than me, encouraged me to write back. I did and got an unexpected reply. He had asked Jesus in his heart last year, and later gone into full time ministry. He just wanted to ask for my forgiveness for his actions back then.

Don’t get me wrong, I was mad back then, but that was a long time ago. It’s not something I dwelled on now. Still, it’s never too late to fix a broken relationship, and never too late to give forgiveness or receive it.

Simon and Conventional Wisdom

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. Luke 5:4-7 NIV

Conventional wisdom says that Simon, a fisherman by trade, should know more than Jesus, a carpenter and teacher, about how to fish.

Simon knows Jesus, calls him master. He’s probably thinking that this guy knows something about teaching, but not much about fishing. Simon and his fellow fishermen know how to fish. That’s what they do. They have been doing it all night. Conventional wisdom would say to go home and rest, and hope for a better catch the next day.

Yet, out of respect, Simon does as Jesus asks, although not without a bit of grumbling. And then has to call for help because the catch was so large.

When I read this I was struck by the thought that we often think we know how to do something. We know a lot about how things get done, and the circumstances that are needed to be successful. Conventional wisdom says we should do what we know.

If Jesus asked us to do something we just knew wouldn’t work, something that goes against conventional wisdom, would we do it?

Would you let down your nets?