Merry Christmas! Its Christmas Eve and the US Government appears to have passed legislation on Healthcare. Inevitably, this legislation is going to mean a tax increase for someone, somewhere. Legislation like this doesn't make money, it costs money, and well, someone is going to have to pay for it. Guess who it is? Y-O-U. So, tomorrow morning when you wake up, go ahead and thank your senator for the gift. But, kind of like when your kids buy you something for Christmas, you get the gift from them, but you pay for it also.
As I'm sitting here writing this blog, I can't help but think of the political times of 2000 years ago on the first Christmas. People back then want to be delivered from the political establishment of the time. They wanted a savior from their political oppression. The hope was that God would send someone to reestablish the throne of the King of Israel and rule. As the prophets had foretold- that 'the government will rest on his shoulders'.
When Jesus was born, I believe that was the excitement of His birth for some, because their mindset was that his arrival meant deliverance from political oppression. As time went on, and He lived his life, it became clear that the deliverance that He provided, was not from the political regimes in the form of an overthrow of the government.
The deliverance that Jesus provided was to reconcile man to God, and to provide us with the guidance to overthrow the government through our lifestyle of love and peace.
Who Jesus was and is was not who the people wanted him to be. They wanted something different. This Christmas, I'm sure that there are still people today that want Jesus to be something different to them than what He actually is- a Savior from our sins.
Here's the deal- there are many people out there that seem to believe that Jesus came as Santy Clause to hand out gifts to the good girls and boys, and coal (Hell) to all the bad girls and boys. They spend their days attempting to impress and court the big gift giver in the sky, believing that God sent His son Jesus to come and be our spiritual butler- to give us what we want when we want it. This is not the case.
Yes, God does answer prayer. Yes Jesus came to make our lives more abundant. But the celebration that we have today that commemorates His birth is largely centered around one primary mission- God sent His son into the world to pay the penalty of the sins of humanity so that we could have relationship with God once again.
That's the meaning of Christmas. No trees. No lights. No figgy pudding. God sent a Savior for us, so that we could spend eternity with Him.
Thank you God for sending us your Son. Today we thank you for that gift. We receive Him as our King and allow his government to rule our lives.
Merry Christmas
Matt
Let us remember JESUS is the REASON for the SEASON...and thankyou Congress for putting us deeper in debt...there are so many that can't afford health insurance now...What makes you think they can just because you passed a bill?
ReplyDeleteSo the prison's are going to be filled with poor people...but with all the benefits of being in prison, maybe we'll all be better off...big screen t.v's, food 3 times a day....education beyond high school...oh, yeah.....Thank you Congress.
Yes, THANK YOU congress for strapping my children and their children and their children with more crushing debt than they will ever be able to repay! Thank you sooo much! But the jokes on you. YOU think just because you say it is so on a piece of paper it will be so - do you really think you can pull money out of thin air? The inflationary affect of this legislation and others hasn't hit yet - but it will. And let me tell you - that is going to be a lot of fun. And the affect of pulling more and more money out of our economy in yet higher taxes on the rich (which eventually means anyone making more than minimum wage) - the very money that would have gone for jobs creation - well thank you for that too! I'm so glad God gave his only son JESUS for me. That's the only gift I can really be thankful for!
ReplyDeleteI have done that very thing... Given my children my own money for them to buy me a gift. I felt it would first establish in their very young minds that its good to give. As they got older they had to do a little job. The year after the jobs got a little bigger... But I knew I had to start very basic and the financial sacrifice was mine. It has taught my children generosity. We as a nation need to sacrifice on a basic level for the poor in our country. (Hey! Our faith teaches us to give to the poor.) Faith aside- virtue values teaches our secular people. Do we ignore the poor that cant afford health insurance? What is your solution to taking care of these people? Its a sacrifice and a burden for people like us.. But we cant ignore these people. So I will pony up the money for the gift under the tree, maybe take a few less trips to the donut shop, and HOPE for the best. Because I believe we are ALL children of God. Im glad that you and I are connected to the same cross, and someday we will dance in heaven together. You are a wonderful light here. I cant help but to think how wrong it was of you to use your wonderful blog as a political rant. Your first agenda was not Jesus Matt. :( and it was a lame segway. God will give us our portion and maybe we will collapse as a nation. These are uncertain times. Maybe we will need Jesus sooner to come save us from political oppression. Either way you and I both know its all part of his plan... So dont worry about the gift that you got that maybe you didnt need. Its good. Aside from your political rant, what a nice message. God Bless you and Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Amy! Well said.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking out both sides of her mouth, Amy fails to identify the actual rant portion of the alleged "rant." Is it untrue that taxpayers will pay for this? Of course not- taxpayers pay for everything the government does; the things we like and the things we don't like. Nonetheless, Amy finds a way to not just simply question the state of Matt's heart, (a poor choice in its own right) but to state it definitively(!) with her absolute knowledge that Jesus was not Matt's first agenda. The apparent agenda is the one Amy imposed on this innocuous Christmas post- the primary message of which was God's gift of Jesus- her ill-advised politicization of an objective, uneditorialized and otherwise factually accurate statement about cost increases having to be born by someone. (Accurate with the exception that "legislation" is only passed after the House Bill and Senate Bill are combined in conference, emerge as a single piece of legislation that will ultimately be voted upon and then signed into law by the President.) This is not a political blog- its daily message transcends politics.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Anonymous! Well said. Thanks for the "segue" back to the original purpose of the blog.
ReplyDeleteShould one not loose the vision Amy, and attack one who is doing God's Good among us? One whose ONLY AGENDA is to help other's and to spread the word of faith. He is so right with speaking up against the wrongs of humanity with boldness us Christians should be acting in. Are we turning into a communistic or Socialistic Society where God is not put front line as Matt has? I dare you to walk a mile in his shoes, carry his cloak, or even lift a word of hope and/or love to the poor in the Army of Christ services of this country.
ReplyDeleteWow! I can not believe what I am reading here. So much hatred for your country. I happen to like Obama and what he is doing to pull us out of the hole we have been buried head deep in from the past Bush adminitration. But, with all that said, I would never use a christian blog to ignite hatred, nor would I think a pastor would allow it. I feel Amy is correct with her comment. Why so much political rant? What would Jesus Do? What would JESUS say Matt? I don't know you and I don't want to judge you either, but I have to be honest this isn't good!! Let political parties lie where they are should lie, and let's not forget who we serve and what HE IS CAPABLE OF PROVIDING FOR US... Gift or no gift from the government. Really!!! I do not attend your church, but does this come from the pulpit too?
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