The Jews were looking for a king to come romp the romans. They wanted a warrior to kick out their enemies and make the rich even richer. They wanted a politician that could unit and a military genius that could bring down wrath and revenge upon the enemies of Zion.
Instead God sent a baby... born in a stall surrounded by donkeys and sheep.
They expected a mighty warrior covered in gold and glory.
God sent a child born in filth and manure.
They expected someone which the powerful would bow down to. To whom the pharisees and sadducees would rally behind. Instead shepherds came to pay tribute.
At every turn God gave them the opposite of what they expected. Jesus came born into a poor family to a mother who had not yet wed. Born in a manger stall instead of in the halls of wealth. Forced to flee a mighty king and the swords of his men... A babe against the powers of man...
Who else to save mankind? Who else to change the world? Who else could walk in place of every man but this babe... this child born among the animal crap... But fully both God and man.
Merry Christmas. Thank you for sending your son.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
...Under the trash (A repost from Christmas 2006)
I have been nosing around the book of Ecclesiastes this Advent season. I have found a seeker, a man roaming through the world searching for the true meaning of life. I see a wise man exploring wealth, fame and all manners of earthly pursuits. In the end, what does he find? He finds that all things are empty without a relationship with God. All things under the sun are trivial without find what's above the sun.
It was a brief second in the Popmart set. It was a tiny moment with enormous meaning. It was a throwaway gesture in which the whole Popmart thesis is understood. Perhaps it was even the whole point of the U2 dissertation of the nineties. The band was cranking up the volume in "Mofo" when Bono came to the line "Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash." As he sang those words, he gestured his arm to the biggest TV screen in the world, that huge golden arch and the mighty lemon. It was almost just a shrug, but the illumination it threw out was as bright as every spotlight, special effect, or image Willie Williams was flashing up from the light desk. All of this paraphernalia the band had around it night after night for most of the nineties was trash. What was more important was underneath it all. The use of Baby Jesus could mean the genesis of this thought is in the commercialization of Christmas, when Jesus, the real meaning of the season, is lost beneath wrapping paper, tinsel, stuffing, and Santa Claus. But it is a picture of a general loss of meaning or hope or truth. As we glance across the horizon of the loudest and brightest culture in the history of humankind, is there any chance we might find in the midst of all the shallowness something deeper, something more precious, something more lasting? Is Jesus lost? Or can He be retrieved from the garbage?
p. 119
Steve Stockman
Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2
In the work of U2 we see the same seeking. We see the same yearning to find spiritual meaning in the world. The postmodern world is one filled with a choir of voices... none of which pause in honor of the others. It’s a mass overload of sensory overload. It’s easy to be lost… but this bewildering landscape of shopping malls, pop-up adds and sound bites also brings us to the same truth that the seeker in the book of Ecclesiastes finds… The promises of this world are hallow.
Again, it was the searching for Jesus under the trash. "Mofo," which kicked off the show, begins with that statement of intending to look for something to save hi soul and fill the God-shaped hole. The seeking will be done in a barren desert place... There are still no comfortable refuges in the life of this Dublin boy, but the search continues. The compass points have not changed even though he may be in the wilderness in some kind of Old Testament wandering. It is still that God-shaped hole that captures the thinking of his heart, soul, and mind.
p. 121
Steve Stockman
Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2
Modernism, logic, reason, invention, political truth, and rationalism all leave you empty in the chilling emotional desert of this world. We find real life, real peace, in the spiritual. Thank god, that God is a intimate god, that reaches down into this world and becomes personal. He hasn’t stopped calling out to you, even though you are lost in the barrage of holiday chaos. He is as present as ever, in the midst of the hustle and bustle, drawing you towards His truth and His light.
Merry Christmas… Make it a personal one. Do not forget the reason for the season.
It was a brief second in the Popmart set. It was a tiny moment with enormous meaning. It was a throwaway gesture in which the whole Popmart thesis is understood. Perhaps it was even the whole point of the U2 dissertation of the nineties. The band was cranking up the volume in "Mofo" when Bono came to the line "Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash." As he sang those words, he gestured his arm to the biggest TV screen in the world, that huge golden arch and the mighty lemon. It was almost just a shrug, but the illumination it threw out was as bright as every spotlight, special effect, or image Willie Williams was flashing up from the light desk. All of this paraphernalia the band had around it night after night for most of the nineties was trash. What was more important was underneath it all. The use of Baby Jesus could mean the genesis of this thought is in the commercialization of Christmas, when Jesus, the real meaning of the season, is lost beneath wrapping paper, tinsel, stuffing, and Santa Claus. But it is a picture of a general loss of meaning or hope or truth. As we glance across the horizon of the loudest and brightest culture in the history of humankind, is there any chance we might find in the midst of all the shallowness something deeper, something more precious, something more lasting? Is Jesus lost? Or can He be retrieved from the garbage?
p. 119
Steve Stockman
Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2
In the work of U2 we see the same seeking. We see the same yearning to find spiritual meaning in the world. The postmodern world is one filled with a choir of voices... none of which pause in honor of the others. It’s a mass overload of sensory overload. It’s easy to be lost… but this bewildering landscape of shopping malls, pop-up adds and sound bites also brings us to the same truth that the seeker in the book of Ecclesiastes finds… The promises of this world are hallow.
Again, it was the searching for Jesus under the trash. "Mofo," which kicked off the show, begins with that statement of intending to look for something to save hi soul and fill the God-shaped hole. The seeking will be done in a barren desert place... There are still no comfortable refuges in the life of this Dublin boy, but the search continues. The compass points have not changed even though he may be in the wilderness in some kind of Old Testament wandering. It is still that God-shaped hole that captures the thinking of his heart, soul, and mind.
p. 121
Steve Stockman
Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2
Modernism, logic, reason, invention, political truth, and rationalism all leave you empty in the chilling emotional desert of this world. We find real life, real peace, in the spiritual. Thank god, that God is a intimate god, that reaches down into this world and becomes personal. He hasn’t stopped calling out to you, even though you are lost in the barrage of holiday chaos. He is as present as ever, in the midst of the hustle and bustle, drawing you towards His truth and His light.
Merry Christmas… Make it a personal one. Do not forget the reason for the season.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Looking for Baby Jesus... (A repost from Christmas 2006)
MOFO
U2
Looking for to save my save my soul
Looking in the places where no flowers grow
Looking for to fill that God shaped hole
Mother...mother sucking rock and roll
Holy dunc, spacejunk coming in for the splash
White dopes on punk staring into the flash
Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash
Bubble popping sugar dropping rock and roll
Mother...mother sucking rock and roll
Christmas time, a time when you see everyone at the stores buying last minute gifts for every person on their list. Everyone has a little religion around the holidays. Even the most stone cold heart says an occasional 'Merry Christmas.' We pack our front yards with lighted displays that stress that we are in the Christmas spirit. We have Santa's on the rooftops and we play catchy Christmas carols on the radio. But never forget during this time of tinsel string and blinking lights that underneath all the glitz and glamor of the holidays is a miraculous story, the story of a child in a manger, of a king sent for poor shepherd and commoners, of a God so caring that He'd become lowly to save ordinary folks like us. That is the heart of Christmas.
It might take a moment, but this year, take a moment, if only for a moment, and look for baby Jesus amongst the holiday trash. If even at a red light, look for Him for He is all around. Christmas with out the CHRIST is just a mess!
Grace and peace this holiday season!!!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
long silence
So I haven't blogged in a while. Life gets busy... things get crazy. You have problems with life and love and your words disappear.
That's the deal. I cut ties with someone that had been very very close to me for a long long time. I would like to say it was easy but in truth it might have been the hardest thing I have ever done. Even now when things get bad I find myself reaching for my cell considering pushing that emergency button... But I have closed that door and must look forward.
I could pour through poems and verse and let my heart explode on this blog as it has here before... but the truth is, I was just ready to move on. I wanted something different. And that requires ending an old chapter and starting a new one.
I played my old songs at a Thursday night service. It went well. I am alive again. The old music still works... The words come out, the Spirit flows, lives change. It was ME that was broken. It was my heart that grew timid and cold. Now I feel the burning fire again and want my guitar to be like a sword imbued with the Living Word of God whirling through the darkness and penetrating the heart of man.
I can't do this when my mind is in a whirlwind of love sick drama. I can't do this when I feel ran under the hooves of a passing army. I cannot do this until I set Jesus as my center and push back the other voices to the outer reaches of my ears.
I have limited the noise and look now for fellow solders that are willing to fight the good fight with me.
I will not be silent any more.
That's the deal. I cut ties with someone that had been very very close to me for a long long time. I would like to say it was easy but in truth it might have been the hardest thing I have ever done. Even now when things get bad I find myself reaching for my cell considering pushing that emergency button... But I have closed that door and must look forward.
I could pour through poems and verse and let my heart explode on this blog as it has here before... but the truth is, I was just ready to move on. I wanted something different. And that requires ending an old chapter and starting a new one.
I played my old songs at a Thursday night service. It went well. I am alive again. The old music still works... The words come out, the Spirit flows, lives change. It was ME that was broken. It was my heart that grew timid and cold. Now I feel the burning fire again and want my guitar to be like a sword imbued with the Living Word of God whirling through the darkness and penetrating the heart of man.
I can't do this when my mind is in a whirlwind of love sick drama. I can't do this when I feel ran under the hooves of a passing army. I cannot do this until I set Jesus as my center and push back the other voices to the outer reaches of my ears.
I have limited the noise and look now for fellow solders that are willing to fight the good fight with me.
I will not be silent any more.
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