Rites of Passage ................ Parables 349

December 22, 1992

Every culture around the world indicates life changes with activities called rites of passage. For instance, while some cultures simply rub the newborn with salt, we celebrate childbirth with gift giving and baby showers. We also send our children out on that important first day of school and mark the end of their formal education, again with gifts and ceremonies. We have initiation rites for new positions of employment and retirement parties, and more gifts, at their end. The last passage is marked the same way throughout the world — by funerals.

Christmas calls to remembrance one particular rite of passage, a celebration of one moment in history when the Son of God left a solid, secure home at the request of His Father and entered this world in the same way we did, as a helpless baby. Babies are dismayed by birth; the womb is warm, dark, safe and comfortable but the world is cold, very bright, dangerous and discomfiting. For Jesus, there was an added shock; before developing in a human body in Mary’s womb, He had lived in heaven.

Even though we know very little about heaven, we can be certain it is a perfect place to live where no one ever feels alienated. There, the Son of God and reigned over all creation and shared the glory of His Father, but this earth did not greet Him with angelic worship or welcome the brightness of His presence. Instead, just prior to His birth, His earthly parents were compelled to go to Bethlehem only to find when they arrived there were NO VACANCY signs all over town. The only space left for Jesus to be born was a stable and He, who had been accustomed to heaven’s incense of prayer and praise, was introduced to the world amid the smells of manure and the noises of bleating sheep. Some celebration!

Besides no room in the inns of Bethlehem, there were no formal birth announcements, no cards to family and friends from a proud new mom and dad, and no baby shower. His Father did send a host of angels with a singing announcement, but it was heard only by a few simple shepherds. Some wise men eventually arrived bearing gold, frankincense, and myrrh, beautiful yet not particularly useful gifts for a young toddler.

From birth on, Jesus’ rites of passage were never quite normal. When He was thirty years old, He was baptized and ordained into ministry but in the first rite, a voice came from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” and after the second one, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to fast 40 days and be tempted by the devil.

Later, as He began to minister to people, Jesus was dismayed even more by sin and death’s power to destroy lives. Shortly after weeping at a friend’s funeral, He faced the full reality of that power Himself when the sin of the world, sin He did not commit, was placed on Him. After He paid its awful price, He Himself experienced that last solemn ritual.

But wait, there were two more rites. One came after three days when He rose from the dead. The next occurred a few days later after He told His disciples to go and tell the world what happened and said goodbye; before their eyes, He ascended into heaven.

As we remember this Babe who endured the shock of birth and celebrate it by giving one another gifts, remember He also tasted the horror of death — so He could celebrate by giving us the gift of life.

Culture Shock .............. Parables 267

May 15, 1991

Ordering in a restaurant is risky -- if the menu is in a foreign language. Shopping is confusing -- if the price tags are in currency other than dollars. Finding an address is perplexing -- if the streets have unpronounceable names. Culture shock happens, even on vacation!

Culture shock happens in the church too. Even exploring the Christian faith can be frustrating -- if the terminology is bewildering. Anyone who is new might be afraid to ask the meaning of some words that older Christians use all the time. Here are some examples:

LOVE OF GOD: not an emotion but a love that has no conditions or strings attached. It is expressed by sacrificial giving. God loves people because He is love, not because we are loveable. His love is an “everlasting love” that cannot be earned or deserved, only rejected. We reject it when we sin...

SIN: any thought, words, or deeds that violate the laws of God or His holy nature. (Holy means free from sin and without fault.) The Bible says: “There is not a just man upon earth, that does good and sins not (Ecclesiastes 7:20). That is, everyone is guilty...

GUILTY: the condition before God of anyone who sins, regardless of whether or not they know it, or feel bad about it. “For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet offends in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Romans 3:19 says everyone is “guilty before God.”

CONDEMNATION: God’s justice demands that sin be punished. “The wages of sin is death...” (Romans 6:23) God cannot be holy and still allow sin... but He still loves us and wants us to be in a right relationship with Him.

GRACE: The love of God expressed through unconditional kindness towards sinners. It can be rejected or received through faith. Both grace and faith are gifts freely given by God. “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). This faith is in Him and in His Son, Jesus Christ: “...looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...” (Hebrews 12:2).

FAITH: Trusting, relying on, believing in -- all to the point of acting according to what is believed and trusted. That is, faith is not a static “I know so” thinking but an active “because-I-believe-I-will-obey-God” lifestyle. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). When such faith is placed in Jesus Christ, believing He died for their sins, was buried and rose again from the dead, the sinner discovers he has been redeemed...

REDEMPTION: The activity of buying or redeeming, such as a slave from its master. In the Bible, it means the action of God that sets people free from the power of sin that controls them and their destinies. This purchase was made by God with the blood of His Son. In other words, freedom from sin’s power comes at a high cost. His blood also purchased our justification...

JUSTIFIED: The action whereby God declares a person free from sin before Him. He can pronounce the sinner NOT GUILTY (even though he is guilty) because the penalty has been paid. Then He works to remove the sin so it no longer governs the sinner’s life.

BORN AGAIN: When a person has FAITH in Jesus Christ and is redeemed and justified, they also have been given new life. They are spiritually re-born. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

SAVED: Sinners who receive the life of Christ are rescued from sin’s condemnation. Christ took the punishment we deserved when He died on the cross, setting us free so we can enjoy a forever-friendship with God.

This is only a basic dictionary of “Christenese” but it gives enough to know what is necessary to become a child of God and a citizen of His Kingdom.