Woe to you...
- Luke 10:13
I realize this series is a walk up to Christmas Day. And to talk Woes isn't very Christmassy. But at its true heart, Christmas is not decorations, good will, warm feelings, or even family - though obviously all are good things. Christmas is Advent. It is The Coming. It is Emmanuel, the God who came to be with us.
As I read through the tenth chapter of Luke today it was the Woes that leapt out at me. I'll get right to the point, because again, I waited until the end of the evening to write. Here it is: Jesus stepped from the spectacular glory of heaven to a manger; splitting time, invading humanity, setting hell on its ear and bringing the Kingdom of Heaven crashing into the every day lives of people.
And most people missed it.
Some were dramatically aware. Healed lepers. Resurrected daughters. Seeing blind men. You get the picture. Even demons were aware - they begged to become waterlogged bacon.
But most people missed it.
Some were oblivious. Some outright rejected him. Others tested him, having a spiritually twisted mindset that they could somehow prove themselves righteous. Catch that: Trying to prove themselves more righteous than God in the flesh.
Woe!
I'll try to bring this home. What strikes me is not a pompous idiot who thinks he is somehow elite. There have always been and will always be those (sometimes in the mirror). Martha's story drives closer to the point for me. Here is the water-walking, dead-raising, demon-casting, 5,000-feeding, storm-calming, disease-healing, sin-forgiving, life-restoring King... In. Her. House. And she missed it.
She had good intentions (I think?). But they turned selfish. I don't mean to be too hard on her. Jesus wasn't. He simply and gently helped her understand the need of a prioritized heart.
I guess this is really the point (finally, you say): It is easy to miss Jesus. Some, it seems, miss him by a mile - the rejectors; the self-righteous elite. And some miss him by a whisper. But really, it doesn't matter which. To miss him is to miss him. Woe!
The good news? Christmas is a celebration of Advent. It is The Coming. It is Emmanuel, the God who came to be with us. He is here. He is close. Whether we feel a mile away or elusively whisper close. He is here. We simply need to turn... and sit (or fall) at his feet. And Woe! becomes Whoa!
God, Whoa! You really are here. That changes everything. It changes me.
For now...
D
The good news? Christmas is a celebration of Advent. It is The Coming. It is Emmanuel, the God who came to be with us. He is here. He is close. Whether we feel a mile away or elusively whisper close. He is here. We simply need to turn... and sit (or fall) at his feet. And Woe! becomes Whoa!
God, Whoa! You really are here. That changes everything. It changes me.
For now...
D
