angels

Our Special Muslim Friends

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Last year we moved from a house along a busy city street to a planned community. We miss the hustle and bustle and choice of Latino, Asian and Italian food, but we are happy to live in a neighborhood where the people next door aren’t moving in and out every six months. We were also pleasantly surprised to learn that at least two of the other families on the street were Evangelical Christians like us.  What we didn’t expect was to learn that the nice people who lived right across the street from us were Muslim. Now that almost eighteen months has passed since we began to unpack our boxes I have come to some startling conclusions.

The first surprising thing is that even though our Christian neighbors like us and we get along fine, it is the Muslims who are the easiest to talk to.  Secondly they not only greet us with friendly smiles and small talk but also loaned us their pressure washer so we could clean our driveway. Then Christmas rolled around and guess who came to give us a beautiful tin of cookies at Christmas? You got it! What a blessing that our Muslim neighbors are now our Muslim friends!  All of this has made me stop to reevaluate how Jesus looks at our Muslim neighbors all over the world .

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:10-12 KJV

If the angels were sent to Bethlehem today they would be probably waking up Muslim shepherds. Stranger still is that this idea is more than okay with God. Notice how in the story from Luke there was no special guidance given to the angels. They were not directed to find only folks who attended synagogue regularly. Instead they were sent to people who would be willing to have a conversation and do something about the news. Then consider the message itself. God sent a message of “Great joy…for all people.” Who better to send a missive on joy to than some shivering shepherds who had to stay up all night watching stupid sheep!  Last of all God decided on people who He was certain were going to tell others. Christmas was not some sort of top secret “For your eyes only” communication. If God wanted to keep Christmas quiet He could have gone to the high priest or some of the higher ranking members of the Sanhedrin. They would not have agreed with the good news for everyone part of things so they probably wouldn’t have told a soul. But instead God chose shepherds and a carpenter and strange wise men from Persia to show His love to that night. Since the first Christmas the angels have passed on to us their job of good news telling. Maybe we should ask ourselves who God might be wanting us to tell tonight!

Angels Watch

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See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 18:10 ESV

When a wolf watches a flock of sheep they see a desirable target and a good opportunity to exploit. But to the shepherd  those sheep are precious and worth defending and worth being cared for. The Bible tells us that God sends his angels to watch especially over the small and weak because He is the Good Shepherd.    KIMG0874

Our Father sees behind nursing home walls,  He aches for children who are abandoned and He longs to shelter the tiniest babies as He knits them together in their mothers’ wombs. To our consumer culture,  these seem to be of little use, beyond whatever economic advantage that could be gained from them. But to God they are of infinite value.

So why not make plans to make a difference right where you are? The holidays are on the horizon; and I know at the nursing home where I serve there are lots of opportunities to serve. Or in your community you may be able to donate gifts that are given to foster children at Christmas. (We know this is special because our son has four). Or you could seek out your local maternity center. God has blessed all of us with so many different ways to allow the light of the love of Jesus to shine. The small things that we do for God’s little ones may not seem like a lot; but they matter more than we know. It is never too late to  start. Remember angels are watching; and they are sending back new reports to God every day!

What Will We Give?

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And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.  Matthew 2:11 KJV

 At Fort Knox in Kentucky the U.S. government stores over 9 million pounds of gold bullion. As you can imagine this is one of the most secure facilities anywhere on the planet. That gold has been there for over 90 years. Nothing more has gone in and nothing has been taken out. That is the way things are with the treasures of this life. They are kept under lock and key and rarely used. But at the birth of Jesus Christ things changed if only for one night. Men who had saved up immense riches risked everything to bring them to Bethlehem.

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They risked their lives on the dangerous and difficult journey from their far homeland. They willingly risked the wrath of King Herod whose soldiers were standing by ready to descend onto the helpless village. But nothing of their treasure, nothing of their comfort or safety mattered to them on that evening. All they could see was the star they had followed standing over the place and the opened their treasures and worshiped Him!