Brown's Daily Word 3-17-09

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. The Lord gave us a wonderful weekend. It was full of His grace and faithfulness. On Saturday evening Laureen, Alice, and I attended a wonderful concert by the Binghamton Philharmonic at the Forum. We were given Orchestra Circle tickets, courtesy of friend Aric. The concert focused on classical Celtic music. The concert featured an amazing Celtic fiddler...WOW!
This weekend, we also watched some NCAA College Basketball games as part of March Madness. Binghamton University, where Alice and Sunita did their graduate studies, and where Laureen obtained her nursing degree, advanced for the first time into the national tournament. To the utter joy and amazement of Jessica and Laureen, Binghamton is playing against Duke on Thursday - double the reason to watch the game.
The Lord blessed us with a wonderful day in His house on Sunday. Better is one day in His House than a thousand elsewhere. We began the day of fellowship and worship with our monthly men's prayer breakfast at 7 a.m. Shawn Rosenbarker gave his testimony, how the Lord has rescued him and transformed his life. It was both powerful and moving. Shawn is one of the young men born and raised in our church. He and his wife are involved now in the life of the church in worship, fellowship and witness. Alice preached at Wesley, on the wedding at Cana. I preached from John 2, the cleansing of the Temple. The title of my sermon was, "The Not so Gentle Jesus". This meditation is a part of the message I shared Sund.
The following passage is quoted from the last chapter of C. S. Lewis's, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader".
At the end of the world, where the Narnian sky meets the earth, Edmund and Lucy climb out of the Dawn Treader and begin to wade southward along the beach. But between them and the foot of the sky there was something so white on the
green grass…they could hardly look at it. They came on and saw that is was
a Lamb. "Come and have breakfast," said the Lamb in it’s sweet milky voice. Then they noticed for the first time that there was a fire lit on the grass
and fish roasting on it. They sat down and ate the fish, hungry now for the first
time for many days. And it was the most delicious food they have ever tasted. "Please, Lamb," said Lucy, "is this the way to Aslan’s country?" "Not for you," said the Lamb. "For you the door into Aslan’s country is from your
own world." "What!" said Edmund. "Is there a way to Aslan’s country from our world too?" "There is a way into MY country from all the worlds," said the Lamb; but as he
spoke his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he
was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light from his mane. C. S. Lewis used the two Bible images for God’s Messiah – a lamb and a lion. The lamb is easier to love. The lamb takes away the sin of the world. The Lamb is gentle, meek and mild, without blemish, soft, and cuddly. It is the lamb that hosts the marriage supper at the last day, and the Lamb lights the city of God, eliminating the need for the sun and moon. The Lion, on the other hand, is ferocious. Of the 150 times that the Bible uses “lion” or “lioness,” none refer to a gentle or friendly relationship. The words “angry” and “Jesus” would seem to never belong together according to contemporary ideas of God. One writer even suggested that theevent recorded in John 2: 13ff is a gross exaggeration, saying, “Catching up some of the reeds that served as bedding for the cattle, he twisted them into the semblance of a scourge, which could hurt neither man nor beast. He did not use it.” This is not the way that the Scripture records the event. No! Men and animals were driven from the temple, tables overturned, coins flying everywhere. In Mark 3:5 it is recorded that Jesus stared at the crowd “with anger.” In Matthew, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they are like whitewashed tombs, a brood of vipers, snakes who will not escape being sentenced to hell. In Revelation 6, we read of the effect the final judgment has on those who do not worship and follow Jesus, “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’” (Revelation 6.15-17). We domesticate God when we refuse to believe in the anger of his Son. But notice the cause of his anger. His anger is directed at those who would keep people from finding his kindness and compassion. Jesus is not angry at those who confess their need, who call out for help, who cry aloud for mercy. He is angry at the Pharisees who say they have no need, and he is angry at the priests who prevent people from finding true grace. Jesus became angry when looked at the greed and covetousness taking place in the temple courtyard.
He becomes angry today when he sees the greed and covetousness in the hearts of mankind, in our culture, in our economic systems, and in our banking systems. He is angry when He looks at the crookedness of our political leaders. He is angry when He looks at the exploitation of the vulnerable by the powerful . He is angry when our schools become a breeding ground of ignorance and violence. He is angry when He sees the random violence and pervasive godlessness in our culture. He is angry when we become consumed by the drive for pleasure and leisure... by blatant hedonism. He is angry when we become the idol worshippers, and steeped in idleness. He is angry when we are driven by the celebrity culture. He is angry when we become rebellious against His will and purposes. He is angry when we become the seekers of pleasure than seekers of His Kingdom and Holiness.
The Lamb is a Lion – but for those who come to him for mercy and find him as meek as a lamb.
In His Mercy and in His Majesty,
Brownhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N95ULMexSvU