Open Jail Doors

     My grandmother on my Dad's side told of the story about her father, Gottfried Gentsch who owned a bar/restaurant in Illinois in the late 1800's.   He had an unruly patron one night that he had to literally throw out of the bar.   When he threw him out, in his anger he said to him, "If I see you in here again, I will kill you!".    A week later that man was found dead in a ditch in the back of the bar.   My great-grandfather was arrested and tried for his murder.  Back in those days they did not have fingerprints, DNA evidence or security cameras to help clear him of this murder and so he was sent to the county jail.  The warden of this small jail noticed that this man was not like the other inmates.   My great-grandfather had been an elder of his church and read his Bible regularly and continued to do so in jail.   After some time (I am not sure how long) the jailer said to him, "If some night you wake up and see the jail doors open, just get up and walk out and don't turn back".   Later that week, he awoke in the middle of the night to see that his door was open and he walked out.   He came back and started his life over and re-married a woman named Linda Strammer who would become my great-gandmother.   Later (I am not sure how long) a man who was a member of their church admitted on his death bed to the murder of the man who my grandfather had been wrongfully convicted of killing.  

    I tell this story not just as a historical novelty, but as a lesson for all of us.  The largest and strongest prison in the world is not made with concrete and steel, but is from our own thoughts and feelings of guilt, fear and shame.  We feel trapped and, unlike my grandfather, know we deserve to be there.  So often people become trapped in their lives.   We look at them and know they deserve so much more but they continue to make bad choices.   They believe that this is their lot in life and there is no way out of it.  

    But Christ has come to tell us we are free to go and the doors are all unlocked. 

    Jesus said,

        "You shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you FREE!"

    What is that TRUTH?   Simply that God loves you and forgives you all of your sins because Jesus has already paid the price for you.  

    Jesus whispers to your heart to tell you, "The doors are unlocked now.  Leave and don't look back!"  For some, they will continue to sit in their cells thinking that this is all too good to be true and there must be a catch (maybe it's a trap!).  Other's will take the steps of faith to trust God and leave their cells behind.  

   God makes that offer to you today!  Will you leave or will you stay.  It's up to you.

 

Chasing Cars

 

    I will admit that this blog veers from my normal areas of writing as it pertains to a song that I heard on the radio that I feel has very deep meaning for men today.  I don't normally do song interpretation, but I feel called to do so for this one.

     The song is called "Chasing Cars" by the band Snow Patrol.   You have probably heard the song used in several movies and TV shows (Greys Anatomy for one).  Here is a link to it on YouTube:

         Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars (Official Video) 

     In my opinion, the song blends a perfect combination of lyrics, music and instruments to bring across an important message. 

     The song begins with a simply two "dull" notes played over and over by a single instrument.  This represents man living alone by himself.   It's simple but it's dull and boring.  Men tend to repeat the same patterns over and over.   Get up, eat, exercise, work, eat, work some more, eat, watch TV, play some meaningless games, go to bed....rinse and repeat.  

      The singer then begins with the following words:

We'll do it all
Everything
On our own

We don't need
Anything
Or anyone

     These are often the thoughts of many young men today.  This feeling that they are complete on their own and they don't need anyone else in their lives.  They can "do it all ... on our own".    It's a dull and empty existence that is devoid of beauty and meaning.  Many movies have been made on this premise and is the topic of countless stories.

     The song goes on...

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

     Now we hear two instruments playing and the music becomes slightly more meaningful and fuller.  He asks his girl to just lay with him and forget the world.   He has decided he needs someone to be with him, but he just wants to "forget the world".  He wants the relationship on his terms and doesn't want to move forward.  So often men settle for one-night-stands that go nowhere, but sometimes they open up them up to something more.  

     The song moves on....

I don't know
How to say
How I feel 

Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough

      The two dull notes are back but now the man acknowledges that he can't "do it all".   He can't put words to the feelings he is having. Men are so often unable to express their feelings and often give up by using those 3 same over-used words: "I don't know".  Too many men stop there and don't go further.   He realizes that this answer is "not enough" and he moves into a deeper relationship her.

     The song goes on...

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

Let's waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads

I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own

      He starts out again with the same empty request to just lie and do nothing, but now he wants to do more.  He invites her to do something with him (even if it has no purpose). He recognizes that life is moving on all around him, and he is getting older.  When we are young, we think we are immortal and have all the time in the world.  But when we get into our 20's and 30's we see that is just not so.  Time is short and getting shorter all the time.   He now wants to experience life in its fullest form.  He needs her to show him "a garden that's bursting into life".   This may mean he wants to start a family, or he just knows that life without her is empty and dull.  Women bring life and beauty into the hearts of men.  They make us think outside the box of our rigid thinking.   They open us up in ways we can never imagine.  Sometimes this opening shows us who we really are inside and where are failings are.  It is through this that he sees he "needs her grace... to find my own".   Men know they are not perfect, and we screw up over and over.    We are often our own worst critic and find it hard to forgive ourselves.   Her love for him overrides his imperfections and gives him grace.  That grace empowers him to have grace for himself that never had before.   Only in deep relationships do we have the opportunity to offer forgiveness and grace.  

    The song goes on...

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?
Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

     The music reaches a crescendo here.  It is full and makes the listeners skin tingle in excitement.  I can remember the end of my first date with my wife.   The exhilaration I felt I cannot fully describe.  As I drove home in my car back to my apartment I looked up through the frosted window at the sky and yelled, "Thank you God!  I am so happy now!  Thank you!".  I knew I had found my soulmate. 

All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see

I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all

     The singer has found his soulmate too.   He has given himself totally into this one woman and forgets all that was behind him.  He has forgotten his previous life totally.  All he wants to see is her perfect eyes.  Have you ever staired deeply into another person's eyes and then seen yourself in the reflection in their eyes?  That is how close he is now.  He is confused still.  As many men we will never fully understand the power women have over us.   The heart of a woman is a mystery only God can understand.  She is the "help-mate suitable for him" that he promised.  

     The song goes on...

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Interesting that the song returns to the same dull notes at the end.  Why? The reason is left up to the listeners interpretation.  Did the relationship end?   Was his love not returned?   Did she pass away?   Or did they need to start over again.   We don't know.

We do know one thing.  He is changed.  He has grown as a person.  He doesn't revert back to square 1 of thinking he can do it all on his own.  He knows he needs more than a career or money or fame.  He needs someone to love him. 

God's First Born

 Our modern culture often becomes a barrier to what God is trying to tell us.  We view stories in the Bible through our 20th century eyes and not through the eyes of the people who were writing the biblical accounts.  We focus on things that may be minor parts of a story because they touch a modern feeling or desire and miss the bigger more important message.  

   When we read the story of Jesus birth, we focus on Jesus lying in the manger and him starting out in "low estate" but miss the larger message God is communicating to us.

   The shepherds, the manger and the swaddling cloth are not 3 separate parts of the story. Instead, these pieces work together to communicate a much more meaningful message.

    Shepherding in Jesus' day was not considered to be a high calling career.  Their form of employment would be closely associated with garbage collecting of today.  But even though it was not a highly respected job, it was a very important job for the Jewish religion.  This was because their job was to provide the temple with sacrificial lambs needed for daily sacrifices.  God's law given to Moses required them to set aside the first-born male of every ewe. The law however didn't just accept any first-born male lamb either.  The lamb needed to be without defect.  It couldn't have a deformed limb, or be blind or have a hunched back.   To ensure the lamb was without these defects they had to be inspected by the priests.  This created a problem though because handling a newborn lamb would make the priest ceremonially unclean.  To work around this issue the priests would supply the shepherds with cloth to wrap the lamb in so they could physically handle them.  This cloth was called "swaddling cloth" and the lamb would often be wrapped in it and placed in the manger waiting for the priest to arrive and do the inspection.  

    So here we have Jesus, God's first-born son, lying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling cloth and visited by the shepherds.   The message to the Jewish people of that time would have been unmistakable.  Here is Jesus, God's sacrificial lamb without defect who takes the sin of the world away.  God wastes no time making his message clear to us. 

  One final thought must be made here.  Jesus being wrapped in cloth previous used to wrap unclean baby lambs would make Jesus "ceremonially unclean" from head to toe.  God wastes no time separating his son from him having him jump into our filth. As the writer in Hebrews says, "He who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we might obtain the righteousness of God"

 

Abra Cadabra!

     For thousands of years words were thought to have magical powers.  Magicians for example would use the words "Abra-Cadabra!" before pulling a rabbit out of a hat or doves flying out of handkerchiefs.     Witches would use mysterious poetry to cast spells and hexes on people.  

    Words do have a lot of power.   The written word is still one of the most influential tools we have today.  While modern videos have the ability to communicate ideas as well , as does audio presentations, there is still something compelling about reading the words off a page.  Maybe because its been around longer than the other mediums or maybe just because it requires more mental facilities to accomplish that it has a longer lasting and more deep impression on us. (It is because of this I still prefer to write my ideas out rather than create video-blogs).   The written medium has another advantage over the other mediums.  That advantage is hearing the words written in our own voice and not in mine.  Right now, as you read this blog, you are "hearing" this blog in your head in your own voice as if you were the one speaking it.   This makes the written word even more personal as these words of mine become your words too.

     God's word has even more power.  His word can give life and it can take it away (he created it).  In Genesis God says "Let there be..." and there it is in all its glory.    Jews have always held that God's "word" is one part of God (while is Spirit and Creative force are distinctly different). This is why John in his Gospel writes "the word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth".  Jesus is that Word of God.

    When Jesus calls his disciples he simply says, "Follow me!" and they follow.  This is not to say they had no choice in the matter (they did).   They could decide to not follow Jesus, but they could not decide TO follow Jesus.  His word makes things happen.  When Jesus cleanses the 10 lepers he simply says, "Be clean" and they are clean.   When the storm threatens to drown them in the boat Jesus simply says "Be still" and it happens.  When he calls Lazarus from the grave he says, "Lazarus come out!".  No fancy poetry.  No Abra-Cadabra.  Just commands. 

    When Jesus is later asked to heal the synagogue rule's daughter, he comes to the house to find she is already dead.  When he goes into the room he speaks to the girl in Aramaic "Talitha Koum!" (which means 'little girl arise').   Why did Jesus choose to use Aramaic rather than Hebrew?   I think it is to show the disciples that there is nothing special or magical about Hebrew.   He shows them that his words are powerful no matter what language they are spoken in. This may have been as a teachable moment to Jairus as well,. As Jairus was the local synagogue ruler, he would be well versed in Hebrew and possibly think that there is something special about his people's historical language. 

    When the Bible is translated to another language it has as much power to save and transform as it did when it was first penned in Hebrew and Greek.  It doesn’t matter if it’s German, French, Spanish, Russian or Chinese, Gods’s spirit can touch the souls of those who read it  The medium is not important. The source is what is important. 

   When Martin Luther initiated the Reformation in 1520, he would later go on to translate the Bible from Latin into the language of the people , German   He did so because he believed God’s  word should be read by everyone and not just priests   Many of his day felt that this was heresy as God can only speak in Latin   Later, Lutherans moving to the US were hesitant to leave behind their German language and heritage but were forced by WWII to adopt their new country’s main language   They too may have been caught up in the notion that German is somehow more holy than English too  

    We must not let the medium be the message in the church  we must always keep the Gospel as the message and not worry about how God chooses to communicate it  it may be online   It may be an iPhone Bible app   It might even be a rap song   

     God’s  word is powerful in any language!