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December 18,1991...The Portland Observer...Page 7
Portland Observer
RELIGION
Scripture o f the ViSeefc.
John 15-17
Jesus Spirit Became Flesh
BY MATTIE ANN CALLIER-SPEARS
M any, many, many years ago...
before the foundation of the world and
before life as we know it, there was the
WORD. The W ORD was God and the
W ORD was with God. The same was in
the beginning with God. All life sprang
from the W ORD. The Light that illu­
minated the darkness and the W ORD
are one. [St. John 1:1-5]
The W ord (Jesus) and the Light
(Jesus) was sent by God, the Father, to
be conceived in the immaculate womb
of a young, innocent girl named Mary;
who was betrothed to Joseph, a carpen­
ter. When the young girl found that she
was with child, after being told by an
angel, people in the town began to talk.
Joseph was skeptical for he knew he
had not touched her. “ How could this
be?” Joseph exclaimed! The angel, of
the Lord was surely b u sy -h e had to
explain this phenomenon to Mary and
com fort her. Then, he had to explain
this to Joseph and keep him from leav­
ing Mary.
They were married.
As the WORD grew in the womb
o f M ary, an angel appeared again, and
told Joseph to take his wife and flee.
They fled to a little town called “ Beth­
lehem .” They were m et with resis­
tance; for there were no vacancies in
any o f the hotels or boarding houses.
Joseph, slowly and cautiously, searched
and inquired. Mary was burdened with
child. Finally they found lodging in a
c attle’s stall.
In the meantime, all the heavenly
host o f angels were gathering for the
announcement, which was fast approach­
M
allory
C hurch
3908
NE
ing. A bright star appeared high in the
sky and hung over the place where
Joseph and his little wife came to rest.
Out in the fields, the shepherds were
keeping watch over their flocks.
Everybody, in the towns around and
about, was going about their business
as usual. They didn’t know that the
most perfect, the most royal, the most
precious and the most blameless per­
son to be bom of a woman, was, in
fact, being bom in their little insignifi­
cant city ...Bethlehem.
Why did God pick this town? Why
didn’t he choose Rome or Jerusalem
or Galilee? God had a plan. Every­
thing that happens on this earth is in
G od’s plan. Nothing occurs in i'
world that God is not aw are of.
Then...the W ORD became flesh.
The baby was bom! The angels, with
jubilant sounds, sang “ Glory to God
in the highest. Peace and goodwill to
all men. Joy to the world. The Lord is
come. L et the earth receive her K ing.”
Mary rested amidst the hay. She
wrapped her child in strips o f cloth
(swaddling clothes) and laid him in a
feeding trough filled with hay (m an­
ger). All o f this was supposed to hap­
pen. Because God ordered it. God even
told Mary what name togive hcrchild.
When Mary was yet with child, an
angel appeared to her. “ You shall bear
a son and his name shall be called
Jesus.
Jesus... Jesus! There is something
about that name. As the angels sang,
the shepherds looked up with am aze­
ment. The angels told the shepherds
where the baby was and what his ap­
of
C hrist
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Morning Worship
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M en’s Training Leadership
W om en’s Bible Class
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Evening Worship
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and bible study
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G race C ollins M emorial
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pearance would be like. “ You shall
find a baby, lying in a manger, wrapped
in swaddling clothes." The star shown
so bright and pointed the way for the
shepherds. The shepherds stopped what
they were doing and went with haste toi
honor the new baby Jesus.
Soon to arrive were three different
kings from three different countries.
With them, they carried treasures of
gold, frankincense and myrrh. They
came a great distance, following the
star, to worship, to bow down and to
honor the WORD which was now in
flesh appearing.
Herod, tire King, heard these tilings,
which were occurring in his jurisdic­
tion, and he was troubled. “ Who is litis
king they are referring to?” He was
very angry. He was so angry that he
ordered all babies from two years and
under to be killed -- Trying to get to
Jesus. Then Herod himself died. Al ter
his death, Joseph took his wife and
child, left Bethlehem and went to G ali­
lee to dwell in Nazareth. An angel had
appeared to Joseph in a dream and told
him that the ones who had sought to
take the life o f the young child are now
dead. Herod had attempted to bribe the
three wise men into telling him where
the baby Jesus could be found. He said,
“ Tell me also so that 1 may go worship
him .” He was lying and God knew it.
Those busy angels appeared to the w ise
men and told them to depart the coun­
try by another route, a way where they
did not have to pass through Herod’s
territory. Herod thought he was slick,
but God, who sits high, was watching
his every move. Oh yes! God had mis­
ter Herod’s number backwards and
forward. Isn’t that too bad that it has to
be like that.
There are some o f us, right now,
who are trying to pull slick moves on
God. And God just reaches down and
“ W hopp!”
The immortal became mortal. What
was spirit was now flesh. Why is it that
what seems small and insignificant to
man means so much more to God. God
has a way o f taking little things and
making a lot out of it. Just like the little
baby in the manger. Very few humans
actually knew of his birth, but the ones
who found out wanted to kill him. The
shepherds and the three wise men got
personal invitations to the baby shower.
God just does stuff and waits for us to
catch on. It’s that “ choice” business
that he gave to us. Sometimes I wish he
hadn’t given it to us because we just
mess up so much. St. John, chapter one
and verse ten says, “ He was in the
world, and the world was made by
him, and the world knew him not. He
came unto his own and his people
received him not. B u t-to a ll those who
did receive him, he gave to them the
power to become sons of God, even if
they would believe on his nam e.” For
there is power in that name.
W hile I was in New Orleans, the
pastor o f Second Zion Baptist Church
#1, Rev. Matthew McGary, said “ How
come God gave us this choice? H e’s all
powerful. H e’s all knowing. He knows
what we are going to do before we do
it. So...why doesn’t he just tell us what
to do? But, you see, if he did that he
wouldn’t be God. For — it is through
BY MICHAEL LINDSEY
Hannah was a victim of a social
system (polygamy) which pitted woman
against woman in the most intimate
family matters. Hannah’s rival, Penin-
nah, had children, which gave her im ­
portant status in the eyes of the com m u­
nity. But Hannah had no children, and
this signified (wrongly) that she was
neglected by her husband, and by her
God. The husband, Elkar.ah, demon­
strated his love for Hannah, but that did
not take the place of a s o n -fo r either of
them.
Hannah responded to the torment­
ing of Pcninnah with long earnest prayers
to the Lord, begging him to give her a
son and promising to give her son back
to the Lord as a servant of the Taber­
nacle. In due time, the Lord gave her a
son, Samuel, and she kept her vow to the
Lord. Samuel grew up to become a
powerful, righteous judge over Israel,
and the one who prepared the way for
King David to unite Israel under the
Lord.
Hannah did not fight the injustice of
her day with violence, or bitterness.
Instead she made a radical commitment
to her God, an unusual step which must
have challenged Elkanah as well, for he
could have prevented Hannah from giving
her child away. I believe God saw the
humble faith o f a godly woman, and was
pleased to exalt her in his Scripture by
making her a tool for great change in her
nation.
W hen Samuel was old enough to
leave Hannah and live in the Taber­
nacle, Hannah took him there and pre­
sented him to Eli the p riest-an d to the
Lord. She understood the radical nature
of sacrifice, something few of us in
affluent American really know.
Dean of North Portland Bible College
The texts fo r the Sunday School
lesson (International Series) fo r next
Sunday are I S a m u e l2 :l-10 (Hannah's
Song) and Luke 1:46 - 55 (M ary's Song,
also called the "M agnificat’ ’ from the
first word o f its Latin version). In the
midst o f the busyness o f the holiday
preparations, take time to read these
wonderful songs o f praise and reflect
on their message fo r the poor and rich
alike.
It’s no accident that we have two
different songs from the Bible as texts
this week. With Christmas less than a
week away, we ought to consider some
aspect of the miraculous birth o f Jesus
Christ in ourclasses. And with the other
songs we have studied this month, we
ought to include another song from the
Old Testament. But most interesting of
all: these two songs are closely related,
so much so that wc could call Hannah’s
song the model for M ary’s song, writ­
ten some 1200 years later.
The parallels extend to the lives of
two authors. Both Hannah and Mary
were humble women (which means
“ poor,” even for their times). Both had
a deep faith in the God of Israel, and
were looking for the blessed hope, the
coming of the Messiah to save his people.
Both women were mothers (Mary was
still expecting) whose children each
were conceived through the miraculous
intervention of the Lord. And both these
mothers of Israel (like Deborah before
them, Judg 5:7) were rather radical in
their understanding of G od’s work and
justice and righteousness in our society,
and to pray for the Lord’s intervention
in righting the wrongs o f the world.
M allory Avenue
Christian Church
D
i s c i p
l e
s
o f
C
h r is t
At this point, Hannah prayed a song
to the Lord, a song I believe she had
carefully prepared for the occasion. In
this song, certain truths can be dis­
cerned clearly. The Lord (Yahweh) is
unique, holy, and awesome (1 Sam 2:1-
2). He is totally in control of human
history, so no-one can boast in his own
success (2:3,6-8). And yet he loves the
humble and broken people, and he will
raise them up (2:4-5), but those who
think they can oppose the Lord will be
broken themselves (2:9-10).
Her song agrees with the rest o f the
Scripture, that our God “ mocks the
proud but gives grace to the hum ble”
(Prov 3:34; 1 Pet 5:5). This is true in all
times and cultures, and challenges be­
lievers today. Those whose greed and
arrogance led them to exploit the bank­
ing and real estate markets, those men
will be ju d ged-and some already have
been. The growing underclass o f our
society can claim the special protection
and love of the Creator of all things, and
his promise that he will raise them up.
Unfortunately, many o f the poor in
America today do not look to the Sav­
ior, because his church has often ig­
nored them . If we do not repent, we will
likewise be judged and humbled by our
Lord. And he will use some other be­
lievers to reach out with his love, to
those who need it mosL
M ary’s song of praise is better
known, but we usually do not pay atten­
tion to the later verses o f the song (Luke
2:51-55), which echo the words of
Hannah long before. Mary understands
that she had no human grounds for
exaltation: she was a poor young woman
in a Galilean town, betrothed to a very
poor but godly carpenter. God has ex­
alted her, and has given her a position
she would becom e one o f the
best known figures of all human his­
tory: “ behold, from henceforth all gen­
erations shall call me blessed” (2:48).
Mary sings praise to her God, for
she sees that her own exaltation is part
of the L ord’s great plan for history. He
will lift up the humble, but he will
“ scatter the proud,” even those who
harbor pride in their inmost being (2:51).
Human suffering is not part of G od’s
will for the world; he allows it for a time
to fulfill his purpose, which is far be­
yond our human com prehension. N ei­
ther is human pride, which leads to
exploitation of people throughout our
world.
But with all this, Mary sings o f her
faithful God, one whose promises to
Abraham and Israel will be fulfilled
(2:54-55), in the Person o f her Son, the
Lord Jesus. Those promises include the
establishment of a new world order, not
of human design, but of the promises of
God. Jesus called this “ the kingdom of
God,’’ the manifestation of G od’s right­
eous rule on earth. He described it as
being “ at hand,” but it would grow
“ like a mustard seed” till it “ filled the
whole earth” and fulfilled the prophe­
cies of Daniel and the other prophets.
Jesus likened the kingdom o f God
to a wedding feast (we might say a
“ Major party” today), in which the
rich guests were found unworthy—by
their own choice-and the poorest people
were freely welcomed.
I’m sure he first heard about G od’s
plan for humanity (in his human form)
from the lap o f his own sweet mother.
God cho«e the r i - \ t woman to bring his
Son to earth. He picked a real radical.
MT OLIVET BAPTIST
CHURCH
WE ARE MOVING
SUNDAY SERVICES
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Stone Tower Church,
N.E. Sandy Blvd. & 3Oth
Worship Services 8:00 A.M. & 11:00 A.M.
Church School 9:30 A.M. to 10:30 A.M.
Bible Study, Wednesdays, 116 N.E.Schuyler
10:30 A.M. and 6:30 P.M.
ArJclt/ieuv / /:&}
"Come to me all you who are
weary and heavy laden and I
will give you rest"
Theme: Whatever you're going to do
for the Lord, do it now
warned you over, and over, and over
again about the same thing; if your
head is so hard and you are just going
to refuse to do what God has instructed
you to do...Oh well! My scripture says
that God will just take his hands off of
you and just let you go and do w hat­
ever. And should you fall into this big
hole that God had been warning you
about and you w ouldn’t listen to his
voice...Oh well! I don’t even want to
think about it.
It’s just like it was when you were
little. Do you remember when your
mother or your grandmother would
tell you ‘ * N ow , don ’ t you keep sliding
down those steps like that. You’re going
to hurt yourself!” You remember? But,
you chose to ignore her. You contin­
ued to do what she told you not to do.
You see, she knew what was going to
happen before you did; if you contin­
ued on that same course. She thought
to warn you so that you w ouldn’t have
to feel the pain o f disobedience; but,
you made a choice. W hen you got hurt,
you ran to her. As you approached her,
she would stretch out her arms, cradle
you in her lap and proceed to tell you
why you got hurt. Following each point,
she would ask, "D o n ’t you remember
me telling you not to do that?” And
your response was a humbling, “ Yes
m am e!” Some o f us can’t be con­
vinced unless we feel the pangs o f the
consequence. Why?
Jesus came into this world that we
might have life and have more abun­
dantly. But man refuses to listen. Sweet
little Jesus Boy ...And they didn ’t know
who you wuz.
The Radical Truth About Hannah And Mary
God's Presence promises
Power through Jesus Christ In
Good Times and Bad Times
Pastor. Rev James C E Faulkner
challenges, trials, conflicts, pain and
sorrow that we become strong. If we
had it good all the time, we would
surely get bored. T hat’s just the nature
of man. If man didn’t hurt, he w ouldn’t
have a need to call on God. God is the
supreme being who brought this world
into existence. He is so awesome that
he can just wave h is hand and an entire
nation ceases to exist. He can speak
and the dead will rise. He can just
breathe on dry bones and they will
become alive. He can dip his finger
into the sea and turn it into blood. His
wonders never cease. So why Lord,
why do you let me choose?”
Jesus became flesh so that he could
gel a firsthand impression of just what
man was going through. I can imagine
God saying, “ Why are they so hard
headed? I’ve done everything for them.
W hat more do they want? There must
be something else.” So....he sent Je­
sus, an extension o f himself, to be
wrapped in flesh, to experience the
temptations, to feel the pressures of
the world, to laugh, to cry and then to
die. He who knew no sin...took on the
sins of the entire world, nailed them
(our sins) to an old rugged cross and
then returned from whence he cam e—
at the right hand of his Father in heaven.
From spirit to flesh and then back
to spirit. The Holy Trinity shall always
be intact: the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit.
The God we serve is not a God of
hard knocks; instead, he is a God of
compassion, a God of mercy, a God of
grace and a God of overwhelming
LOVE. However...if, after God has
9:45am
Sunday School
Radio Ministry each Sunday. 8:00 A.M.-KBMS
11:00am
7:30pm
M orning LUorship
Tuesday Bible
Study and Prayer
A Teaching Church With A Reaching Ministry
Dr. James E. Martin. Senior Pastor
Inter-racial Congregation
Denise P Bell. Pastor
Church Office 116 N.E. Schuyler,
I Peter hr.11
126 N.6. Alberta t Portland, OR 97211 + (503) 288-5173
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