Ruminations on Sheep

Dec 11, 2008

By Peter Heath

I live in a Middle Eastern (Muslim) country, and currently I have 12 days off work due to National Day and Eid Al Adha celebrations.  We enjoyed the National Day fireworks from the roof of our apartment building (45 minutes of dual-source synchronized fireworks!).  And then we put ear plugs in so we could go to sleep with all the young guys driving/honking//backfiring till 3 AM on our street.  We remind our kids that this qualifies as a cultural experience!

Eid Al Adha is the Muslim festival that comes at the end of the Hajj (required journey to Mecca) and about 6 weeks after the end of Ramadan.  It also commemorates Allah providing a ram so that Abraham didn’t actually have to sacrifice Ishmael.  (That is the Muslim take on it.)  Muslims normally slaughter and eat a sheep as part of the festival.  In years past, apartment staircases here have run red with the blood of slaughtered sheep, but now residents must take their sheep to authorized slaughter-centres that are set up for the occasion.  (Sort of reminds me of polling places appearing and disappearing over elections.)  So, a couple of days ago, i discovered a sheep in the parking lot of my building!  Didn’t take too much imagination to figure out what was going on.  This morning, Mr Sheepy was gone, and it looked like the short-term owner took the legal route on preparing his meal.  Fortunately for Mr. Sheepy, he didn’t have any clue what was waiting for him.  Sort of reminds me of many of my friends.

Like my hockey buddies (yes, ice hockey).  A couple of nights ago, HockeyGuy turned to me on the bench and says “I think Jesus showed us the ultimate example of humanity.”  I pulled out my CS Lewis Handbook and replied that Jesus claimed to be God, so either he was loony or else he was/is God.  Either way, you can’t take the “great man” approach.  HockeyGuy basically said to me “I don’t think the I-am-God stuff matters.  I just like the Great Moral Man stuff.”  Must be that post-modern mindset kicking in, i guess, that someone can pick and choose what they like or dislike about Jesus and totally ignore the rest.  Or is that just human nature?  Isn’t that what the Gnostics did so very long ago?  Anyway HockeyGuy, who *is* a good guy, doesn’t believe he needs a Saviour and misses out on Jesus as the Eternal Sacrifice.  Hmmm, kind of reminds me of all the Muslims i know…

1 Comment | Church History, crucifixion, Gospel, heresy, theology, work of Christ | Permalink
Posted by peterofarabia

Vicarious Worship

Jun 7, 2008

Michael PowellEclectic Christian welcomes guest blogger Michael Powell. Mike is the associate Pastor at our church and preached on Sunday about the relationship between Christ and Worship. This was a topic which I had been interacting a lot about recently in various blogs, and a thought that an abbreviated version of what we heard on Sunday would make an excellent contribution to the topic. Here are Mike Powell’s thoughts below:

How can we be sure that the worship we offer to God is genuine, authentic, or acceptable? When I was in high school, I thought a lot about this question. Working at camp during the summer, the staff would have morning devotions every day, and our time together would include sharing from the Bible, prayer and singing. As we sat around in the staff lounge during our time of worship, I would often wonder if I was truly connecting with God. I was surrounded by others who gave off the impression that they were, for lack of better terms, “in the zone” or spiritually centred. And as I compared myself to them, I often felt that my offering of worship was inadequate – that I was missing something. When I brought this up with one of my mentors at camp, he told me that I should try not to compare myself with others, but to focus on my own offering of worship. He also said it was entirely possible that the people I deemed as “closer to God” were actually thinking the same thing about me.

In essence, no matter who we are, any worship that we offer to God is going to be broken, lacking, wanting, imperfect. We’re human and even the most sincere offering of worship may be wrought with selfishness. It’s not uncommon to engage in worship simply because it makes us feel good. Once we come to this understanding – specifically, that anything we present to the Lord as an act of worship is in and of itself unworthy – doesn’t it make you wonder? Why bother coming before God in worship day after day, week after week, if the very best that we can offer is insufficient? Should we carry on solely because we feel it’s expected? Because we’ve been taught that it’s the right thing to do? Or because we feel obligated? Moreover, if our own self-offering is imperfect, how can God – who is holy – welcome us into his presence during worship at all? Read the rest of this entry »

Comments Off | work of Christ, worship | Permalink
Posted by Eclectic Christian

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