Brown's Daily Word 12/30/14

   Praise the Lord for this Holy Season of Christmas.  Praise the Lord for the beautiful and melodious songs of Christmas.  I asked the congregation last Sunday what were some of the special elements of the Christmas celebration that they like.  One person said, "Music".  Indeed, all the timeless carols and the classical Christmas oratorios are among the finest parts of Christmas.  We praise the Lord that all our children and grandchildren were able to come "Home" for Christmas.  The House was full in every way.  I wanted to sing with our granddaughter Ada, who is 3 years old, "There's a Song in the Air".  She knew the words and sang along.  The songs of Christmas are so special that It is hard to put away the songs of Christmas so soon after the Christmas event. 

    I realized only recently  that the Christmas songs of the Bible are all -- and only -- in Luke's Gospel.  The first two chapters by Luke are a marvelous eruption of music, of glad songs of praise.  Elizabeth sang the joy of the Beatitude (Luke 1:42) --- "blessed" (Luke 1:42-45), expressing the joyful situation of those whom God favors.

 

    Mary responded with the incomparable Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).  Her song turns on four  themes: 1. Praising God for what He has done including His blessing upon Mary (Luke 1:46-48); 2. Declaring the power, holiness, and mercy of God (Luke 1:49-50); 3. Affirming God's sovereignty (Luke 1:51-53); and 4. Recalling God's mercy to His people Israel (Luke 1:54-55).

    Zechariah, at the loosing of his tongue, broke forth with the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79), praising God for remembering His oath to deliver His people.

    What then can compare with the Glorias of the angelic host echoing over the Shepherd's fields (Luke 2:14)?

   In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus is presented as  the Promised One, the Anointed One, the One who comes to redeem humanity, who altogether identifies with our  humanity.  Majesty came down to be with us in the midst of Mundane.  In the commonplace of man's everyday, our Lord God delights to break through, declare, and relate Himself to His creature. 

 

    No Gospel event shows this more vividly than that which holds the fifth Gospel song, known as the Nunc Dimittis, the song of Simeon.  There is no mention of an office, recognition, or special influence.  Simeon was merely a man who lived "in Jerusalem," " -- the center of Jewish religious corruption.  There was little true religion in Israel when Christ was born.  The doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees had spoiled that.  Yet there "in Jerusalem" was a man who lived as one of God's true ones, Simeon.  He was a common man, it seems, but he was "righteous and devout and the Holy Spirit was upon him" (Luke 2:25).

    Simeon was a man of great hope, "looking for the consolation of Israel," the consolation that would came through Messiah.  He marshaled to himself all the promises of the Covenant.  He anticipated them.  Simeon's was no empty expectation.  The Holy Spirit upon him had given him special assurance.  He would see the Lord's Christ before he died.

    The Temple was undoubtedly a familiar place to Simeon.  He must have gone there frequently.  On that day, however, especially that day, "moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts" (Luke 2:27).  It would have been exciting had the Holy Spirit somehow let Simeon know he would see Messiah that day, but the Bible does not express this.  Yet, the events of that day were clearly not accidental. Mary and Joseph, as faithful Jewish parents, brought their first-born son to the priest to conform to the Law.  They brought their offerings without apparent special feelings or awareness.

    The commonness of the event is clear.  Other parents with their babies were there.  It was probably a noisy, even congested scene of milling and hurrying people.  Nothing indicated Joseph, Mary, and their Son were special.  There was nothing intimate to the setting.  It is likely that it occurred in the open court of the women, beyond which Mary could not go.  The parents must wait there for the priest to come and receive their offerings.  So it is in that very ordinary, yet particular moment the Spirit moved upon Simeon.

    Simeon by the Spirit recognized Him - the Messiah.  Remarkably, Mary without hesitation gave her baby into Simeon's arms.  All was so ordinary, so natural, so common.  At the same time it was so extraordinary, so particular, so supernatural. It was all by the directing power of the Holy Spirit.  The church historically knows this psalm as the Nunc Dimittus, the Latin translations of the first two words, "Now dismiss...."  "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word."

    Simeon broke out in praise, announcing: "Mine eyes have seen..."  Simeon saw Salvation!  Though all the Christmas psalms rejoice that salvation had come, none is so grand and far-reaching as the song of Simeon.  Even Zechariah failed to grasp the breadth and consequence of what God was accomplishing in Christ.  He had sung of the God of Israel, of the "horn of salvation" for the house of David (Luke 1:69).

    Simeon too earnestly had looked for the "consolation of Israel" (Luke 2:25).  He had known it would happen in his lifetime and he rejoiced in his own salvation and for Israel's (Luke 2:29-30).  He went on to say, "Thou has prepared [thy salvation] in the presence of the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel". (Luke 2:31-32)

Standing there in the courts of the Temple, Simeon beheld the Savior of those who could not go further in.  The "glory of Israel," yes, but the Savior of the Gentiles also, hope for all the world!  Simeon could receive no further word.  All his desires were satisfied.  His only request was, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; For mine eyes have seen thy salvation...."

     Praise the Lord that in 2014 we once again celebrate the Gift and the birth of Jesus.

    May we live and enter 2015 expectantly.  "Jesus has come."  This holy season -- and in every season - "May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

In Christ,

 Brown

http://youtu.be/ZuZX2e493r8

Brown's Daily Word - 12-23-14

Joy to the world!

 

    Praise the Lord that we get to celebrate the birth o our Lord and Savior one more time.  We get to worship.  We get to give.  We get to sing.  We get to receive.  We get to participate in this majestic and glorious event one more time.  We are getting ready for gatherings and fellowship and, best of all, for worship.  Those of you who live in the area join us in one one of the Christmas Eve services:

    4:30 PM  Wesley United Methodist Church. Candlelight  Christmas Eve service.  Yancey Moore will be leading music at the Organ and Piano.

   7:00 PM Union Center United Methodist Church. Candlelight Communion service.  Betty Phinney will be playing organ.  Our daughter Laureen will be accompanying at Piano.

   10:30 PM  Union Center Union Center United Methodist church.  Candlelight Communion service.  Aric Phinney will be at the piano.  Grant Degarmo and Mary Haskel will be leading the singing.

  

    Thank you for your Christmas love  and grace extended to us through your prayerful greetings and thoughts and Christmas greeting cards.  We have been blessed.  The Advent season has been to us truly a season of hope and blessing.  Praise the Lord for He invades this world with His Truth and grace. 

 

    In the story of "Chicken Little ", the chicken announces, "The sky is falling".  We have a more joyful announcement to make as we say to the world, "Jesus has come... and He is coming again".  All is well.  Come to Jesus and live.

 

    Sunita, Andy Gabe, and Laureen, all from Washington are coming home today. Jessica and Tom will be here at home on Christmas day.  Janice, Jeremy, Micah, Simeon, and Ada from Boston will be "Coming home for Christmas" on Christmas day.  Our "little India" family will come Christmas eve dinner.

 

   Praise the Lord for His Word.  Praise Him His mighty deeds.  Praise the Lord for His faithfulness.  Praise the Lord for the promise of  the Eternal city".

 

    To an open house in the evening
    Home shall men come,
    To an older place than Eden
    And a taller town than Rome.
    To the end of the way of the wandering star,
    To the things that cannot be and that are,
    To the place where God was homeless
    And all men are at home. G.K. Chesterton.

 

 

    For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6
" He is born the Holy Child"

 Brown

http://youtu.be/_f7jhk-IjDo

Brown's Daily Word 12/22/14

    Praise the Lord for this Holy Season.  We are almost there to celebrate the Christ event of Christmas.  The Lord blessed us with a soul full weekend.   Some of us attended  the Friday evening presentation of "Handel's Messiah" by the Downtown Singers of Binghamton.  It was splendid.  It was a treat.  We had the Living Nativity at Center Court of the Oakdale Mall Saturday from 5 to 7 PM.  The Lord blessed us and provided  for this presentation.  He provided the best site in the in the busiest of the shopping days before Christmas day.  He provided with two young families with babies to be the "Holy Family".   The babies took turns to be the baby Jesus. They were very quiet all through the presentation.  Yancey Moore played all the Christmas carols at the Grand Piano.  So many musicians came to sing the "Hallelujah Chorus" at 6:30 PM.  It was a " Holy Roar".  Praise the Lord for so many who stopped by... so many who participated.  We praise the Lord.  It was spectacular.  It was splendid indeed. 

    The Lord blessed us with his presence in His house yesterday.  The choir presented special songs for worship.  It was such a  blessing.  After the worship there was a church-wide Christmas banquet including lasagna, ham, and Indian curry as part of the menu, which also included all home made desserts.  I preached from Luke on Mary's magnificata.    The Lord chose  an unlike person to accomplish His great work.  He Turned The World Upside Down and right-side up again.   We read in Luke 1verses 51-55, —"He has performed, He has scattered, He has brought down, he has filled.”

    “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.” (51)     The coming of Christ means the end of all human boasting. It’s the end of vanity and outrageous ambition.     His coming means an end to insatiable greed and uncontrolled lust for power.     The mighty are brought down by the strong arm of the Lord.

    So it has happened across the centuries.     Proud and daring men lift their heads to challenge the Almighty, but he swats them down like flies.  What happened to Saddam Hussein?  What happened to Hitler?  What about Idi Amin?  What about Vladimir Lenin?  The coming of Jesus Christ means that God has set a moral revolution at work in the world, a revolution in which the workers of iniquity are eventually brought to justice.  The story  of the “Tower of Babel.” tells us how God works.  He lets the proud gather together and in their grandiose schemes, they plan to rise up to heaven.  God watches for awhile, he waits, he seems even to ignore, and in their temporary success they congratulate each other on their cleverness.  But God scatters the proud, and he does so suddenly.

    Proud men expect to take it all with them, but God crosses them up.  He breaks their bows.  He blasts their projects.  He brings them low.  He does it by the very counsels with which they thought to advance themselves.  “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.” (52)  Some talk about a  “reversal of fortune.” That’s what Mary is talking about as the coming of Christ brings about the greatest reversal of fortune mankind has ever known.  The proud are brought low and the humble are lifted up.

    What men call luck, Mary called the work of God.  When someone loses it all, we talk about bad luck.  When someone hits the jackpot, we say he had good luck.   This was not Mary's response.  She understood that behind a faceless mystery that many call luck stands God himself.  That which He lifts up no one can bring down.  That which He brings down no one can lift up again.

    John Calvin said, the princes of the world don’t understand this. They grow insolent, fat and lazy and greedy.  They indulge in luxury, swell with pride and grow intoxicated with power.  They soon forget that all they have comes from God.  To quote Calvin precisely, “If the Lord cannot tolerate such ingratitude, we should not be surprised.”

    “He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” (53) This is the most revolutionary part of Mary’s song. Not only does the coming of Christ upset the proud of this world, not only does it lift up the humble, but it actually means that the hungry are fed and the rich go away empty.

    When gospel principles are followed, the hungry are filled and the rich are sent away hungry.  What we have in America today has come about because of our Christian heritage.  It is the spillover from the Puritans and others who taught gospel principles of hard work, thrift, saving and investment.  It is the residue of an educational system that taught children to read by using the stories from the Bible.  It is the result of generations of believers who founded hospitals, sanitariums, libraries, colleges and universities.  In large part, the liberties we enjoy and the economic standing that is ours have come about because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Atheism, agnosticism and humanism could never produce what we have today. The gospel is the only hope for mankind—not only for his soul but also for his body, not only for the church but also for the world, not only for the individual but also for society.  When the gospel makes headway in society, there you will find peace, harmony, tranquility .

    Mary’s heart was filled with praise, because she knew the world would be a different place because Christ had come.  He pulls down the proud and lifts up the humble.  He fills the hungry and the rich are sent away empty.  Verses 54-55 bring us to the end of Mary’s song.  She concludes by praising God that in sending Jesus Christ into the world, God is keeping his ancient promises to Abraham. Jesus was born that way in order to send us a message about how God does business.  God is at home with the humble, the tired, the weak, and the lowly of this world.  He does business with those who fear his name.

  In Christ,

  Brown

http://youtu.be/aUe7kW0aZP0

Brown's Daily Word 12/19/14

    Praise the Lord for this Friday, only 6 days before Christmas.  Indeed there is song in the air.  Those of you who live in the area join us for our weekly Television outreach this evening at 7 PM on Time Warner Cable channel 4.   A group of us are  making our annual pilgrimage to hear "Handel's Messiah", presented by the Downtown Singers.  This is a treat for me.   I have attended this powerful and glorious performance for last  28 years.  We are blessed  to have this presentation in  our area. 
    Praise the Lord for the  eternal and never changing Good news of Christmas.  In the world of flux and change the Good News of Christmas is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  We, as human beings, feel that the world around us is accelerating rapidly, that our world is moving forward at a cyclonic rate of change. It is as if this world of ours is a giant gyroscope, twirling, swirling, whirling into its future.   In the midst of it all the Christ of Christmas is the unchanging, eternal, ever present. 
    I read the  story about Robinson Crusoe when I was a young  teenager.  Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked and left all alone, stranded on an island.  He wandered around that island for days, weeks, months and he knew he was alone on that island.  One day, however, he noticed a footprint in the sand and that footprint was not his own.  Immediately, Robinson Crusoe knew instantly that he was not alone.  Someone else was on that island with him. The story of Robinson Crusoe is the discovery that he was not alone on that island but that someone else was with him.
    Similarly, Christmas is a story of how Jesus  left a sign that we are not alone on this island called Earth, that Christ has left his footprint, indeed God's footprint, in the sands of time so that you and I will know that we are not alone on this island called Earth.  At Christmas, we have received a message from God, a sign from Jesus Christ, that we are not alone and that the Christ of Christmas, has left us a footprint in the sand to assure us that we are not alone. 
    One of the faithful servants of Jesus, Dave Ring, will celebrate his first Christmas in  heaven this year.  Dave used to remind us, "Grass withers, flowers fade, but the Word of our Lord endures for ever".  The Word of God. The story of God putting his footprint into the sands of time.  Christmas is the story of God’s intimacy, of  God’s closeness, and nearness, a reminder that He is “with us”.  Christmas is the story of God’s closeness, so close that a Christ child is born in our hearts, so close to us that we can see God’s footprints in the sands of our lives.  We see the signs of God’s presence all around us because God leaves his footprints all around us. 
    The Good News of Christmas is proclaimed and celebrated around world once again this year of our Lord 2014. The Christmas story will be the same and the words of that eternal story will continue to be sacred: “It came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world was to be enrolled.  And everybody went up to be enrolled, each into his own city. … For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you, you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”   As we look for signs in our lives, the sign is that we will find the babe, the Christ, the Presence of God wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  And suddenly, there will be a multitude of angels and you will join them in singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace on earth.”
    That eternal story will continue to be told in the year 3000 AD.  This story will read, will be read and will be proclaimed and will be proclaimed in the year 3000 AD if Jesus tarries that long.  The prophet Isaiah said, “All people are like grass and all beauty is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers.  The flowers fade.  But the word of the Lord, the story of the God becoming a human being, that story will last forever.  Amen
In Christ,
 Brown
http://youtu.be/7HItFqKBAQE

Brown's Daily Word 12/18/14

Praise the Lord for this day.  We are just a week away from Christmas day.  The world is preparing to celebrate  the birth of the Lord of lords and the King of kings and angels and, best of all, the Prince of peace. Here in the Southern Tier the Downtown Singers are preparing to present the historic work, "Handel's Messiah", on Friday and Saturday evenings at the Binghamton High School Auditorium.  We are preparing the presentation of a Living Nativity on Saturday from 5-7 PM at Center Court at the Oakdale Mall, with a rousing rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus at 6.30PM.  Come, share, and rejoice.   The adversary is busy disrupting the celebration of Christmas around the world and around the corner, yet we have the good news and we declare with confidence, "THE LAMB WINS".  Let all join in prayer and praise that the confused world, the hurting world, the frantic world might hear the Good News of Great Joy which shall be to all people. 

 

    Plan to attend Christmas worship services wherever you might be this Sunday morning.  Plan to give generously, for the Lord has given us His Son.  Plan to visit  someone, for it is the season of visitation, the season of giving, the season of celebration, the season of songs, the season of jubilation.  Christmas is full of joy and holy fun.  Younger children think about all of the fun things they'll get. Older children tend to think about all of the fun times they've had.  Christmas is a time for memories: looking back with signs of joy and some longing, and looking ahead to all of the precious moments to be made.  It's always the right time to pause with Mary, focus heart and mind and soul on Jesus as the reason for the season, and softly sing as we pray, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

 

     When I think of Christmas I think of celebrating my early Christmases in the rustic village  in Orissa , India where I lived with my family.  We each received just a set of new clothing for Christmas, and feasted on special Christmas cakes and special Christmas rooster.  It was very simple, unadulterated yet profound, and very sacred.  I remember playing soccer after morning worship and Christmas dinner with my family, a dinner that was shared with all the Hindu neighbors who came uninvited.  We could play soccer all afternoon, and  the temperature was in the 80s  and sunny.

 

    My wife was born and raised in New York.  For her snow was part of the ideal Christmas day.  She prays for snow on Christmas Eve and on Christmas day and for her birthday on the 11th of January.  After living for 40 years in the region I have grown to appreciate snow.  Every time it snows, I feel good, even if it's just a flurry or two.  Snow reminds me of God's grace.  When it snows, all of the potholes and ditches and dirt and garbage and scars of the world are covered.  That reminds me of how God's grace through faith in Jesus covers all of the potholes and ditches and dirt and garbage and scars of our lives.  Of course, the snow melts and gets dirty and all of the potholes and ditches and garbage and scars are exposed again. But then it snows and covers them all over again.  That's why Christmas snow reminds me of  Jesus' love, grace, and forgiveness that cover us again and again and again.

    When I think about Christmas I was reminded of a funny story of Walter and Milton the cockroach.  When Walter started working for the largest corporation in the world, the personnel director said he would have to start at the bottom and work his way up.  So Walter found himself in the basement of the corporation's headquarters building in the mailroom.  Walter liked his job, but often daydreamed about what it would be like to be a junior executive, vice president, president, or even chairman of the board.  One day, as Walter was busy collating the mail, he heard tiny footsteps in the corner and noticed a small cockroach creeping around. Just as he was about to step on it, he heard a small voice scream: "Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me!  I'm Milton the cockroach.  And if you spare my life, I promise to grant all of your wishes."  That sounded like a pretty good deal to Walter.  So he spared Milton the cockroach's life.

    Walter's first wish was to get out of the mailroom and be a junior executive. Milton granted that wish.  Next Walter wanted to become one of the vice presidents of the corporation.  That wish was granted too.  As a matter of fairy tale fact, Milton the cockroach kept granting every one of Walter's wishes until Walter was finally elevated to be chairman of the board, on the top floor of the headquarters building, of the largest corporation in the world.  Now everybody looked up to Walter and he was very happy.  Ever so often, Milton the cockroach could hear Walter saying to himself: "I am Walter.  Everybody respects me.  Everybody knows I'm in control. I'm at the top.  No one is bigger or better or more important than me."

    One day as Walter was sitting behind his desk and daydreaming about how important he had become, he heard footsteps on the top of the roof.  When the sound of the footsteps suddenly stopped, Walter decided to investigate.  What he found was a little boy who was on his knees praying.  By this time, as you can imagine, Walter had become quite impressed with himself and his position as chairman of the board of the largest corporation in the world.  So he asked the boy, "Are you praying to Walter?"  "Of course not," said the little boy with a smile of innocence.  "I'm praying to God!"  Walter responded, "Why are you praying to God?  I'm chairman of the board of the largest corporation in the world.  What can God do for you that I cannot do for you?"  The little boy replied, "God made me and God saved me."

    Walter didn't know what to say.  Very disturbed by this turn of events, he sent for Milton the cockroach as soon as he got back to his office on the top floor of the headquarters building of the largest corporation in the world.  "I want to be like God," Walter told Milton.  So Milton the cockroach granted Walter's wish and Walter went back to the mailroom in the basement.

    That's what Christmas is all about.  God works out His serving ministry in the mailrooms of life.  God comes down to our level to show us how to move up in life and eternity.  It's a gift.  The Babe of Bethlehem.  Jesus, our Lord and Savior.  He makes us want to sing softly as we pray with Mary, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

    All of the fun things and fun times of Christmas remind us that the greatest gift of God Himself was Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  That's why we've got all we want for Christmas through Him.

In Christ,

 Brown

http://youtu.be/9bJX0d9JmFQ

Brown's Daily Word 12/17/14

     Praise the Lord for this Wednesday, just a week away from Christmas Eve.  We will meet for our midweek gathering at 6 PM this evening with a very special meal.   We will be looking at Isaiah chapter 40.  We wish a very happy and Joyful Chanukah  to our Jewish brothers and sisters.  We will keep praying for the Peace of Jerusalem.

    Our Choir will meet at tonight at 7:30 PM for a special Practice for this coming Sunday.  Praise the Lord for the signs, sights, songs, and sounds of the season.  Praise the Lord for the people of Jesus all around the world who are celebrating in diverse ways and methods, in songs, giving, worship, serving, and receiving.  Praise the Lord for the cantatas, concerts, dramas, and plays focused on Jesus and His birth.  In Cyprus and as we flew by way of Paris, we saw many signs of Christmas.  In Orissa, people are preparing for many days of celebration, culminating in Christmas.  Here in the Southern Tier the Downtown Singers are preparing to present the historic work, "Handel's Messiah", on Friday and Saturday evenings at the Binghamton High School Auditorium.  We are preparing the presentation of a Living Nativity on Saturday from 5-7 PM at Center Court at the Oakdale Mall, with a rousing rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus at 6.30PM.  Come, share, and rejoice. 

    In the midst of preparations for Christmas around the corner and around the globe we have violence and bloodshed in Pakistan, Sydney Australlia, Yemen, and the Middle East.  I knew a beautiful young girl who is now grown up. She became a teacher, Sunday School teacher, and a member of the worship band of her church. She loved the Lord and she loved her neighbors.  She was found dead Monday morning after she failed to show up for school.  We pray for her mom and dad for the Lord to comfort them.  "Comfort ye, Comfort ye my people saith your God".    When we see the world that has gone insane we get angry and disturbed.  Martin Luther put it bluntly in his Table Talk: "If I were as our Lord God . . . and these vile people were disobedient as they now be, I would knock the world into pieces."

    Luther got a little carried away, so praise the Lord that  Luther was not God.  God is not  grouchy, standing solemnly aside, staring at us with a cold, ruthless gaze. He is not some kind of cosmic despot who plays favorites with one nation, one race, one political ideology, and comes smashing down on others.  He is not One who likes only good people and checks off those who are bad.  God is a loving Father.  He engages himself in our predicament, endeavoring to counter our own self-destructive bent with the gift He has given us in Jesus Christ.

     "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" (John 3:16-17).  St. Augustine expressed the love of God by saying, "God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love."  That's a universal love!

    We have all seen detective movies where hounds were used to track down the fugitive from justice.  The bloodhound has an amazing capacity to pick up a scent and follow through the greatest difficulties to find the object of its quest.  Francis Thompson, a British poet who lived during the last half of the nineteenth century,   was a man whose ill health early in life drove him to opium addiction.  His poverty set him to selling matches and newspapers along the street.  Later in life he experienced the love of God in a personal way, giving his life to Jesus Christ. He wrote a poem, telling about the divine pursuit of the human soul.  He described God as "the hound of heaven."

    The Christmas message is not merely one of sentimentality about little baby Jesus.  It is a rugged, tough message about the God-Man who walked the face of this earth, was nailed to the Cross, who bore the heavy weight of sin, who was buried, who rose from the dead in victory over your sin and mine and who now offers us a gift which we are invited to receive.  To receive the gift is to inherit the Eternal life.

Eternal life is a whole new dimension of life. It is right here, right now, as well as forever. Eternal life functions in time and above time. It is in this world and in the next world. Eternal life is literally "God life now and forevermore."

 In Christ,

 Brown

http://youtu.be/q5n6X9sUznI

Brown's Daily Word 12/16/14

   Praise the Lord for the signs, sights, songs, and sounds of the season.  Praise the Lord for the people of Jesus all around the world who are celebrating in diverse ways and methods, in songs, giving, worship, serving, and receiving.  Praise the Lord for the cantatas, concerts, dramas, and plays focused on Jesus and His birth.  In Cyprus and as we flew by way of Paris, we saw many signs of Christmas.  In Orissa, people are preparing for many days of celebration, culminating in Christmas.  Here in the Southern Tier the Downtown Singers are preparing to present the historic work, "Handel's Messiah", on Friday and Saturday evenings at the Binghamton High School Auditorium.  We are preparing the presentation of a Living Nativity on Saturday from 5-7 PM at Center Court at the Oakdale Mall, with a rousing rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus at 6.30PM.  Come Share and rejoice      As a young boy for me Christmas was a time of surprises and things that take our breath away.  In fact, all of life can be.  Most of us measure our lives by the breaths we take.  Perhaps it would be better for us to measure our lives by the breaths we miss.  It is during those times of amaze­ment and astonishment, when suddenly our attention is carried away, that God catches us by surprise.  It is He who takes our breath away.
    The Biblical narratives about Advent and Christmas are pregnant with surprises.  The Lord loves to surprise us.  Our Lord is the Lord of mystery and wonder.  He can invade our routine and carefully orchestrated lives and surprise us.  When we walk with the Lord and serve Him He loves to surprise us.  Often we live in the world of mundane and the ordinary.  Then the Lord comes to us and interposes Himself, His plans into our lives.  We are surprised.  Our breath is taken away.  We say it is the "Christ Event".  WOW! 
    This is what happened to Zechariah and Elizabeth.  They were good people.  The Bible says, "Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord" (Luke 1:6).  That is the profile of a very religious person.  They went through all the right motions.  They obeyed the Law.  They were faithful in worship.  They prayed fervently to God.
    It is possible sometimes, to settle into such a reli­gious routine that God has a tough time getting our attention.  Jesus Christ, the very God of the universe, is an active observer of all that is going on in this world and particulrly in our lives.  He knows our every thought.  He observes our yawns.  He knows our fears.  He is concerned about the health problems, financial needs and deep, aching loneliness that mark the existence of some.  You name it and He is aware of it, and He wants to meet us  at our point of need.  He wants to surprise us with His joy.  The Bible records that Zachariah and Elizabeth, faithful servants of the Living God were childless..   Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed for a child.  Despite this, how stunned they were when their prayer was answered, not in their timing but God's. 
    Let us not be stunned when God answers our prayers.  I can look back and document time after time when God has been faithful.  I can also describe to you many occasions on which God simply has not answered my prayer in the way I want­ed it answered. 
    Zechariah was a clergy person.  He was a paid religious professional, faithful in carrying out the functions that were assigned to him in the temple worship. Apparently, he wasn't accustomed to hear­ing the Word of God as it applied itself in a highly personal way to himself.  How tragic it is when we see a person who should be noted for their faith in the Lord, stumble in disobedience. When God, through the Angel Gabriel, spoke specifically to Zechariah, Zechariah became confused.  He doubted.  He spoke back these words, "How will I know that this is so?  For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years" (Luke 1:18).  Gabriel answered, "I am Gabriel.  I stand in the pres­ence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.  But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur" (Luke 1:19-20).
    Sometimes God has to use severe meth­ods to get our attention.  There need to be times of reflection and contemplation.  I love the  segment of the Roman Catholic Holy Orders which are referred to as the "contemplatives."  These monks, such as Thomas Merton, take vows of silence. Some of us would benefit from at least periods of silence, times in which we stop our talking, our ceaseless babbling, so as to drink from those deep, cool, refreshing springs of spiritual water, which the Lord yearns to provide.
In Jesus our Lord.
 Brown
http://youtu.be/mlIThmTNg9w

Brown's Daily Word 12/15/14

Praise the Lord for this season of wonder and the season of miracles.  Alice and I love this season.  We love the sights and sounds.  We love the celebration.  We love the worship that is the center of the season.  Our people gathered at Wesley Saturday evening for celebration and fellowship.  He blessed us in His House yesterday.  We went out caroling last night, singing joyful carols of Christmas.  The group took packages of homemade cookies and Christmas pastries to be given to the families.  After the caroling we all gathered at the Church Fellowship Hall joining in impromptu sharing.  It was a great blessing.  Today we picked our 2014 Christmas tree; it was 11 feet tall and very big.  I had to trim down from the top.  Now there is a small place for the angel.  The tree is aromatic and gorgeous.

     Today our daughter Laureen is celebrating her birthday.  We praise the Lord for Laureen.  I remember the day she was born.  One of the distinct feature Laureen was born with were her long fingers.  I "prophesied" then and there that Laureen would be a great piano player.  Laureen has grown to love Jesus and worship Him and play piano in a way that honors Jesus.

    Praise the Lord for the Christ of Christmas who transforms people.  He transforms Scrooges into born again men, who are both generous and joyful.  Christ still transforms people today at times through the witness of His people.

    While working as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune, Lee Strobel was assigned to report on the struggles of an impoverished, inner-city family during the weeks leading up to Christmas.  A confirmed atheist at the time, Strobel was mildly surprised by the family's attitude in spite of their circumstances:

The Delgados—60-year-old Perfecta and her granddaughters, Lydia and Jenny—had been burned out of their roach-infested tenement and were now living in a tiny, two-room apartment on the West Side.  As I walked in, I couldn't believe how empty it was.  There was no furniture, no rugs, nothing on the walls—only a small kitchen table and one handful of rice. That's it.  They were virtually devoid of possessions.

In fact, 11-year-old Lydia and 13-year-old Jenny owned only one short-sleeved dress each, plus one thin, gray sweater between them.  When they walked the half-mile to school through the biting cold, Lydia would wear the sweater for part of the distance and then hand it to her shivering sister, who would wear it the rest of the way.

But despite their poverty and the painful arthritis that kept Perfecta from working, she still talked confidently about her faith in Jesus.  She was convinced he had not abandoned them.  I never sensed despair or self-pity in her home; instead, there was a gentle feeling of hope and peace.

    Strobel completed his article, then moved on to more high-profile assignments, but when Christmas Eve arrived, he found his thoughts drifting back to the Delgados and their unflinching belief in God's providence.  In his words: "I continued to wrestle with the irony of the situation.  Here was a family that had nothing but faith, and yet seemed happy, while I had everything I needed materially, but lacked faith—and inside I felt as empty and barren as their apartment."

    In the middle of a slow news day, Strobel decided to pay a visit to the Delgados. When he arrived, he was amazed at what he saw.  Readers of his article had responded to the family's need in overwhelming fashion, filling the small apartment with donations.  Once inside, Strobel encountered new furniture, appliances, and rugs; a large Christmas tree and stacks of wrapped presents; bags of food; and a large selection of warm winter clothing.  Readers had even donated a generous amount of cash.

    But it wasn't the gifts that shocked Lee Strobel, an atheist in the middle of Christmas generosity.  It was the family's response to those gifts. In his words:

As surprised as I was by this outpouring, I was even more astonished by what my visit was interrupting: Perfecta and her granddaughters were getting ready to give away much of their newfound wealth.  When I asked Perfecta why, she replied in halting English: "Our neighbors are still in need.  We cannot have plenty while they have nothing.  This is what Jesus would want us to do."

That blew me away!  If I had been in their position at that time in my life, I would have been hoarding everything.  I asked Perfecta what she thought about the generosity of the people who had sent all of these goodies, and again her response amazed me.  "This is wonderful; this is very good," she said, gesturing toward the largess.  "We did nothing to deserve this—it's a gift from God.  But," she added, "It is not his greatest gift.  No, we celebrate that tomorrow.  That is Jesus."

To her, this child in the manger was the undeserved gift that meant everything—more than material possessions, more than comfort, more than security.  And at that moment, something inside of me wanted desperately to know this Jesus—because, in a sense, I saw him in Perfecta and her granddaughters.

They had peace despite poverty, while I had anxiety despite plenty; they knew the joy of generosity, while I only knew the loneliness of ambition; they looked heavenward for hope, while I only looked out for myself; they experienced the wonder of the spiritual, while I was shackled to the shallowness of the material—and something made me long for what they had.

        Or, more accurately, for the One they knew.
—Lee Strobel, The Case for Christmas (Zondervan, 2005)

    Perfecta knew the words of God declared in Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

    While I have been in the ministry for the last several decades I have seen our Lord  perform miracles.  I've seen angry, bitter people discover the healing power of forgiveness; I've seen hopeless marriages restored; I've seen the wealthy young rulers of this day discover more joy from giving away their money than they had in making it; I've seen people healed of diseases; and I've seen people with the same diseases discover the joy of the Lord in the midst of dying.  I can share that  the next leg of the journey is better than the last.  Thanks be to Jesus.

In Christ,

 Brown

http://youtu.be/yAyplzXmjVE

Brown's Daily Word 12/12/14

     Praise the Lord for the gift of Advent and the Christmas season.  Alice and I frequently go the Mall for our evening walk in the winter.  The mall is decked and decorated wonderfully.  It is full of joyful shoppers and, best of all, joyful children.  During this season of seasons various musical groups present Christmas concerts  in the mall.  One of large groups with full orchestration was presenting their concert yesterday.  It was brilliant.  We will be presenting the Living Nativity on Saturday the 20th of December  from 5 PM to 7 PM.  We will be singing all Pure Christmas Carols. Yancey Moore, one of the gifted Musicians, will be leading at the Grand Piano.  We will sing the "Hallelujah Chorus" at 6:30 PM. We" are inviting  all musicians to join for singing the Hallelujah Chorus, " Flash Mob" style.  Please come.  If you do not come , the Lord might forgive you BUT we will not.( Just Kidding).

    Yesterday while walking in the mall I heard  the song, "Last Christmas I gave you my heart"  When I looked I saw a young girl of perhaps 5 years singing with a big smile...  ... "This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to some one Special".. I said to myself, "Let us give ours Jesus this year ..  He is very Special."

    I have been once again reflecting on the words of C.S. Lewis" Always winter…but never Christmas."  Try to imagine that for a moment.  Always winter…but never Christmas.  In the land of Narnia, as C.S. Lewis described it in “The Lion,the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” winter has not seen an end for a hundred years.

    How awful indeed would it be to have 100 years of winter, but no Christmas.  In the story Narnia was once a lush and beautiful land, but evil had reared its ugly head in the character of the White Witch.  Her reign of terror keeps the land in eternal winter. 

    C.S. Lewis knew a thing or two about evil and a reign of terror, since “The Chronicles of Narnia” were written not long after the end of World War II, in the lingering shadows of Nazi tyranny and oppression.  Living in Europe, C.S. Lewis saw that first hand with echoes of his experience reflected in the reign of the White Witch in his stories.  It is a reign of terror, indeed, where secret police whisk away suspected traitors who are never seen again, where fear and intimidation keep those who hope for freedom underground…sometimes literally, where the pervading sense of hopelessness, darkness, and despair are captured perfectly in just five words: Always winter…but never Christmas.

    Yet, even in the midst of the terrible, long winter, there remained the faint whisper of an age-old prophecy, which brought hope to the people gripped by the terror of oppression and darkness. 

    Even in the darkest of times in Narnia, there was hope.  Even in the darkest hours of the Nazi terror and oppression there was hope.  Even in the darkest moments of our lives, when we are gripped by the winter of our situation, there is hope.  Words of hope have no doubt echoed in similar situations throughout the ages.

   In our world today there is a diabolic oppression against Christians around the world.  Christians are crucified, brutally murdered, forcibly converted to Islam, "The Religion of Peace".  Children are beheaded because they refuse deny JESUS  Many Christians are denied basic human rights.    We can hear it in the hearts of those who long for peace and freedom.  For seventy years Communist ruled over the Soviet Union.  For the Church in the USSR it seemed like a very long winter.  The church waited for the long-expected Jesus.  He came with truth and grace.  The communist regime collapsed without the shedding of any blood.  It all started to happen during the Advent season in 1989.  

Once more the world and the church are facing the terror of the enemy all around.  Many are longing .. Many are anticipating.. Many are expecting.  To us the words of prophesy come afresh and anew: “Comfort, comfort my people, speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for.  Every valley will be raised up, every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground will be level, the rugged places plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,and all flesh shall see it together.”
    When C.S. Lewis writes about it being “Always winter…but never Christmas,” he was not just describing the reign of the White Witch, or echoing the tyranny of Nazi Germany, but our human experience.  Until the birth of Jesus Christ, sin kept humanity tightly in its grip.  It was God’s intent in sending Jesus Christ, not to end political or cultural tyranny, but as Paul writes, to set us free from the power of sin and death.

    The harsh realities of our world don’t take a break during this time of the year.
At Christmas Jesus came to a world that was cold and bleak, just as He comes to us in our darkest, most difficult times and points to God’s eternal promises of love, forgiveness, and comfort.  Then at Easter Jesus gave His life for us, and in doing so broke the power of sin’s winter and brought new life, just as he offers new life to each of us who would put our faith and trust in Him.

    Peterson paraphrases from Psalm 147: “He breathes on winter, suddenly it’s spring!”

Like the words of the hymn (poem) by Christina Rosetti:

    What can I give him, poor as I am?
    If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb.
    If I were a wise man, I would do my part.
    Yet what I can, I give him…Give my heart.
In Christ,

  Brown

http://youtu.be/z6yevmluq2M

Brown's Daily Word 12/11/14

       Praise the Lord for this wonderful season of Advent and Christmas that is celebrated around the corner and around the globe.  When I was young boy growing up in a remote village in India, I recall the joys of waiting for Christmas. While growing up we did not have electricity, there were no telephones, cell phones or ipods.  There was no television where you can watch Christmas movies beginning at Thanksgiving and all through the month of December.  I recall listening to Christmas stories.  My dad, my mom, my grandpa, and my uncles told us the Biblical stories of Christmas.  There were also times they told us the fairy tales.  We did not have any books with fairy tales so these  stories were passed down to us through oral tradition.

     As a young boy I thought that the Christmas story was a beautiful fairy tale that turned out to be very true.  In a way this is the story of a Mighty prince who becomes pauper so that when we receive Him we become Royal princes and princesses .  

    Søren Kierkegaard, famous Danish theologian, told it this way.  There once was a mighty king who from a distance fell in love with a humble maiden.  He was a mighty king!  Every statesman in the world trembled in awe of him.  No one dared speak a word against this king, who could crush nations with his power.  Yet the heart of this mighty ruler melted with love for a humble maiden.  Oddly enough, it was his kingliness which tied his hands.  If he brought her to the palace, crowned her head with costly jewels and bedecked her in royal robes, of course she would not resist, because no one dared resist him.  But would she love him?

    Of course, she would say she loved him, but would she truly?  Or would she live with him in fear, privately grieving for the life she left behind?  Would she be happy at his side?  How could he know her true feelings?  If he rode up to her cottage in the forest accompanied by an armed escort, with bright banners flying, that would overwhelm her.  He did not want a cringing subject; he wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden, and to let their shared love cross the gulf between them.  For it is only in love that those who are unequal become equal.   So the king clothed himself in beggar's rags and slipped unnoticed through the palace gates.  He walked the roads. He tilled the fields.  And later in a marketplace, still in his tattered clothes, his hands now calloused from rough work, he bumped into her and introduced himself.  Then he wooed and won the hand of this servant girl.  On their wedding day he whispered in her ear, "My dear beloved, you are now a queen."  And they were wed in royal splendor, and lived blissfully ever after as King and Queen.

    That is the fairy tale of Christmas. The King of Heaven fell in love with his bride, the church, and humbled himself so that he might win her love.  Christmas, in a sense, is a fairy tale so, like a fairy tale, it takes place in magical land of time beyond time.  In the real story of the Christ child, there isn't a chimney (for Santa to slip down).  The best fairy tales take place at night though in the church we usually meet in the bright light of day.  But that baby was born at night.  The angels serenaded from heaven at night.  Joseph had his dream at night.  So John wrote in his gospel that the Christ boy came as a light into our darkness.  As Simon Tugwell has pointed out, in Jesus God was pursuing us in our night, so when we tried to run away we ran right into his arms.

    Though it seems like such a fairy tale, what brings us and millions of other people together this season is not make-believe.  The incarnation of God in human flesh — in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth — was an historical event.  The book of Hebrews describes the Lord of all enthroned in glory: radiant as a diamond, every angel eye was on him.  But then the Lord of all looked down and saw the suffering and pain and heartbreak of our world.  He saw that the terrible diseases of sin and selfishness had broken out and overtaken his beloved creatures.  Knowing the cost of his coming, that in our twisted-ness we would certainly reject the God of light, out of love for us he came anyway.  He came so that tonight we might receive him by faith and have among us and within us the life of God, the eternal indestructible life of God's own spirit.

    Sometimes it seems that in this world we are caught in the bad part of a fairy tale, surrounded by the darkness and evil forces, and there's no way to get out of our trouble, no hope that we will ever break out of that darkness.  Every time we turn on the news, we are bombarded by stories of murder, terrorism, madness and mayhem.  We feel small, insignificant, and helpless, and the darkness seems impenetrable.  Yet, in fairy tales, creatures are ultimately transformed into what they truly are.  The ugly duckling becomes a great white swan, the frog is revealed as a prince, and the beast is transformed by Beauty's love.  At Christmas, my friends, you and I undergo an almost magical metamorphosis into what we always are but sometimes forget to be: children of God.  We are all, in fact, characters in the greatest story ever told. James Patrick has likened the church to the characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Ring trilogy: out in the world, moving among the forces of evil, surrounded by darkness on all sides, and yet triumphant.

    I read about a Christian family in which there is a four-year-old daughter named Kylie.  Like many other little girls, Kylie wants to be a princess.  After all, she has heard the fairy tales and knows how beautiful princesses are.  One day she asked, "Mommy, can I be a princess?"  A lot of parents would have said, "Someday" or "Maybe," but Kylie's mom is a very smart woman.  Without blinking, she replied, "When you believe in Jesus, you're already a princess."  Silence suddenly engulfed this talkative little four-year-old, because the answer made perfect sense. Of course God would make her a princess.

    In the same way, you and I are sons and daughters of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  Though we live as flawed people in this flawed world, as someone has said, we are ragtag royalty.  We are princes and princesses.  It is written in John 1, "As many as received Him to them He gave the power to become the sons and daughters of God."

In Christ,

 Brown

http://youtu.be/71NCzuDNUcg

Brown's Daily Word 12-10-14

    Praise the Lord for this Wednesday.  It is going to be a snowy day here in the Southern tier of New York.  We will not meet for our Wednesday evening gathering today.  The choir will not meet either.  It is beginning to look a like Christmas every where you go.  

    Praise the Lord for the way He prepared the way for the Birth of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Our God is the Lord of History.  History is His story.   He orchestrates His divine plan and purposes according to His perfect will and design.  Shakespeare wrote that "all the world's a stage," and Luke 2:1-4 details how God set this stage for His grand and glorious Christmas production!  In fact, more than seven centuries before we come to the scene of Jesus' birth, the prophet Micah told us that the setting would be Bethlehem.  When we consider that God was making preparations for the birth of Christ, we have to think about the message of the prophet who said, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth …" (Micah 5:2).  

    `The Lord of history caused Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem in the Lord's timing.  As De Boylesve states, "Augustus, while sending forth his edicts to the utmost limits of the East, little knew that on his part he was obeying the decrees of the King of kings."  God's direction is evident even in the movement of the population.  Caesar had thought to feed his pride and eventually fill his coffers through this census and taxation process, but God was using this to get Mary and Joseph where they needed to be.  W.H. Van Doren wrote that "to locate an infant's birth, 60 millions of persons are enrolled."  God prepared a world and set the stage for His Christmas production.

    God prepared the woman for the first Christmas.  Some of the most amazing aspects of what God was doing in preparation for the first Christmas pertain to a young lady named Mary.  We are reminded in Luke 2:4-5 that Mary was espoused to Joseph.  The espousal involved a period of nearly one year in which there existed the commitment but not the cohabitation of a marital relationship.  It was a time when the couple focused upon their preparation and purification for marriage. Mary and Joseph had not lived in the same household, nor shared the intimacy of marriage, but by the time Jesus was born there was both a mother and a stepfather who were together called "the parents" (Luke 2:27).  In His providential preparation, God saw to it that this would be no single-parent household.  Then the single most important aspect of all this Divine preparation is highlighted as we are reminded that Mary was expecting, for Luke 1:5 says that she was "great with child."  When Mary was told that she would have this son, she said, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34).  Who can understand the miracle of the conception and the incarnation of Christ?  Surely Mary could not, but somehow the Holy Ghost came upon her and the power of the Highest overshadowed her (Luke 1:35).

    The Lord indeed prepared "the way" for the first Christmas.  I love the Christmas carol, "Away In A Manger".  The Lord God, who became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, prepared the Christ child — "the way" in a manger.  God prepared a way of deliverance in the person of Jesus, "For," as the angel said unto the shepherds, "unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).  That Christ was a Savior tells us that He was literally, a deliverer Who has given us rescue and safety through His great salvation.

    Furthermore, in the person of Jesus, God prepared a way of delight.  The angel said to the shepherds, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10), and this word "joy" has the idea of cheerfulness and a calm delight.  God made a way for us to know Jesus and, through knowing Jesus, subsequently to know joy.  Jesus is our deliverer and our delight.  He is God's glorious gift for you and for me.

    Had Almighty God not intervened in human history and made preparation for that first Christmas in every detail, there would be no holyday, no hope, and no joy to the world. I'm glad that God prepared and orchestrated the entire event and that, in the fullness of time, He brought forth His inexpressible gift in Jesus wrapped up in the swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger.  Praise the Lord that we have a direct access to that gift.

In Christ,

 Brown

http://youtu.be/6mRkOvbCUkU

Brown's Daily Word 12-9-14

    Praise the Lord for the season of waiting. . . the season of longing. . . the season of expectations.  "O come O come Emmanuel".  "Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus".  As we wait in Christ we have the "sure and certain hope".  This hope does not disappoint us.  The long-expected Jesus came in the "fullness" of time and He will come in Glory and splendor in His time.

 

    Samuel Beckett’s play, entitled "Waiting for Godot", is a satire on the human condition.  As Beckett sees it, humanity is waiting for Godot, or God, to come and save them, but he never shows up.  Their waiting is in vain, for although they have been repeatedly told that God is coming, he never has, and never will.  The characters in the play are told to wait for Godot, for he might come tomorrow.  So they continue to wait in their dreary existence.  The only prop in the play is a dead tree.  The implication in all this is that there is no God and no Savior.  Life, according to Beckett and his fellow Existentialists, is absurd.  There is no ultimate meaning to existence, and so we have to create our own meaning, without artificial props like a belief in God.  The tradition of God coming to earth to save humankind is very strong so that it pervades our thoughts and conversations.  Beckett wants to dismantle this belief for us.  He believes that many people live their whole lives waiting for God to show up, but their waiting is in vain.

    However, the futility of life apart from God is more than evident in the play.  The characters are pathetic and they contemplate suicide several times, even though they cannot even find the emotional energy to carry it out.  For people like Samuel Beckett all this talk of waiting in hope is foolishness.  God is not going to show up. We have been deceived, so what we should do is stop expecting God to show up. That way we won’t be disappointed when he fails to make the scene.  Interestingly enough, Beckett wants people to give up waiting on God, but he never offers anything in its place except despair.  Some people become apathetic as the wait goes on.  They don’t care anymore.  Some lose faith.  Some become bitter, angry and hostile toward God.

    None of this is new.  The apostle Peter wrote to the people of God saying, “First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised?  Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’  They deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.  Let us not, however, forget this one thing: "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. . . The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare."  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought we to be?  We ought to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat” (2 Peter 3:3-12).

    There will always be those who believe it is futile to wait for God, but they deliberately forget that he has already come.  He came to the Garden of Eden.  He came in the person of Jesus, and he will come again.  In fact, God comes to us many times throughout our lives if our hearts are receptive and our eyes are open.  

    Henri Nouwen wrote a book called "Sabbatical Journeys", in which he wrote about some of his friends who were trapeze artists, called the Flying Roudellas. They told Nouwen that there is a special relationship between the flyer and the catcher on the trapeze.  This relationship is governed by important rules, such as “The flyer is the one who lets go, and the catcher is the one who catches.”  As the flyer swings on the trapeze high above the crowd, the moment comes when he must let go.  He flings his body out in mid-air.  His job is to keep flying and wait for the strong hands of the catcher to take hold of him at just the right moment.  One of the Flying Roudellas told Nouwen, “The flyer must never try to catch the catcher.” The flyer’s job is to wait in absolute trust.  The catcher will catch him, but he must wait."

    Nouwen wrote, “Waiting is a period of learning.  The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.”  Waiting is not a static state; it is a time when God is working behind the scenes, and the primary focus of his work is on us.  

 

    I love Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of Romans 8:24: “Waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother.  We are enlarged in the waiting” (The Message).  We wait expectantly.  God is busy bringing about his full plan for the world and for us.  In his perfect timing he will birth that plan. The Bible says, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4).  Before it was time, the birth of Christ would have been premature, but when the time came, nothing could hold him back.  When it is time for Christ to return, nothing will be able to hold him back.

In Jesus .

  Brown

http://youtu.be/fAGE1Es8IPs