"Brokenness"
sounds vaguely like a new word coined for the situation like Steven
Colbert's "Truthiness." What's he's really saying here: "This crappy
world we're living in can be changed if we just keep mandating
one-man-one-woman marriages. And go back to the Fabulouse50s." He
doesn't mention the very high rate of divorce among Fundamentalists
(sssshhh! it's a secret!)
On that silent night -- His first in this new world -- the Messiah's arrival was heralded. But this special birth announcement wasn't shared with the country's elite, but with her excluded.
Yes, the kings did come, but it was the shepherds who first made their way to that primitive throne. They were summoned to Bethlehem by choirs of angels from the hills, where they were tending their flocks by night. To the people of Palestine, these men and boys were the least important of the Roman Empire .
The three
wise men are portrayed as kings, perhaps to hide the fact that they
were illegal aliens. And the shepherds were downgraded. Maybe they
weren't much in the Roman Empire, but shepherds were important in
Israel: shepherds were guardians of a very necessary and valuable
property: sheep. Why did Jesus preach that we should go after the one
stray lamb? Simply because it was too f*ckin' expensive to lose!
But it was to these simple peasants that the heavens proclaimed peace on earth, goodwill to men.
Great Caesar Augustus in Rome was not bidden to come to the stable. Even he, who was worshiped as a god, wasn't given the privilege of seeing the holy infant. But three wise men were brought from afar. They followed a star in the sky until it led them to the place where the Christ child lay.
Caesar
Augustus, as with all Caesars after him, was made a god, but few people
actually took it seriously and worhipped him as one: regicide was
commonplace at the time and Roman senators and Centurions knew that
gods couldn't be killed. Perkins is really referring to our own Barack
Obama and the adulation he first received when he became President.
When King Herod, whom the Romans had chosen to rule over Judea , heard from the wise men that a child had been born, one who would rule over His people, Herod ordered his soldiers to find that child and take his life. To protect Herod's power, every baby boy less than two-years-old would be slain. In God's providence, even the slaughter of those innocents could not prevail over the Chosen One. Joseph and Mary were warned by the Angel of the Lord and they fled into Egypt , taking the baby with them.
Why two
years old? Did it take the wise men (down-graded from kings) two years
to reach Herod? They didn't have a GPS? And after the birth, who's
right, Matthew or Luke (who stated that they went instead to Nazareth)?
Notice that Perkins in all his wisdom doesn't explain why God
sacrificed all those infants. The narrator, of course, wanted to make a
correlation to the Passover before The Exodus, but Perkins knows that metaphor would go way over the heads of his readers.
The Lord God might have sent a fiery chariot to spirit Jesus away. He might have provided a great bird or a giant fish. He might have drowned all of Herod's men or visited them with a plague. Instead, our Father in Heaven entrusted the infant to Mary and Joseph, a mother and a father. The baby Jesus was protected- and the Scriptures fulfilled: The Messiah would come out of Egypt .
Perkins' imagination gets the better of him with giant birds and fishes. The bird I can understand, but a giant fish?
Where was it supposed to take them? On a Disney Cruise? The flight to
Egypt being an important part of the Nativity, Perkins makes it into a
FAMILY outing, getting in a covert dig to gay adoption.
To us, the ancient story has a terribly modern ring. Powerful rulers determined to do anything to preserve their power -- even promoting and funding the shedding of innocent blood . Earthly kings worshiped as gods. Peace proclaimed on high while violence stalks the streets.
This is
Perkins' biggest pitch. "Look how rotten the country has become:
Planned Parenthood, a socialist dictator, and liberal pot-smokers have
ruined it!"
But out of all of this is the greatest message ever given to man: God is with us. The miracle is that He didn't just come down from His heavenly home thousands of years ago. He comes today -- to live with us, suffer with us, and- praise God -- to save us.
At the end of an overwhelming year, we can take comfort in the fact that this helpless baby, who came in relative obscurity, will soon return as a triumphant Savior that no one will miss! He won't just be a King among kings- He will be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords ! And unlike the men of this world, He will reign forever and ever! I pray that we all embrace the simplicity of the season and rejoice in the Love reborn each day. From everyone at FRC, we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
1
1
