Every Christian’s life has a spiritual trajectory. The same can be said of churches. The church in Thyatira had a serious problem which we certainly want to avoid, but the best compliment that Jesus pays them may well be that their last works are more than their first. That is the course we want our lives to follow.
In Pergamos persecution had already taken the life of one member of the church. The threats now had substance. The outward situation was precarious, but Jesus sees a greater danger for this church rising from within.
Why is it that not all Christians are joyful? Why is it that others seem to exude the most profound joy in the midst of the most trying circumstances? Paul addresses that very issue in the passage we are examining today. We might sum up his conclusion like this: Our joy in Christ will reach its peak only when we place our complete confidence in Him.
After a bit of unsettling reflection on the deadly day of shopping at a Long Island Wal-Mart (see previous post), I think there may be a loose relationship to another recent event – or rather, a category of events, which occur with disturbing regularity.
MSNBC.com
India stampede death toll passes 200
Dozens more injured as 12,000 celebrated key Hindu festival in Jodhpur
The Associated Press updated 11:40 a.m. ET, Wed., Oct. 1, 2008
JODHPUR, India – A Hindu temple official blamed an unruly group of pilgrims trying to get ahead in a line of worshippers for a stampede that killed more than 200 people and injured nearly 60 in western India.
Authorities were still working to determine the final death toll, but the number had already crossed 200, said senior police official Rajeev Dosat.
The disaster occurred just as the doors of the temple were being opened for worship at dawn for more than 12,000 people celebrating a key Hindu festival in the historic city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan state. … To see the entire original article Click Here
In India this is not a random, one off occurrence. Keep your eyes and ears open to world news and you’ll certainly see it in the headlines again. For example:
You get the idea. In India it happens at the temples where they worship their gods and goddesses. In the USA, where consumerism receives the kind of frenzied devotion normally reserved only for deities, it has begun to happen at Wal-Mart. Listen closely and you can hear Jeremiah’s distant, tearful prayer:
O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?
– Jeremiah 16:19-20 (NKJV)
Central Reflections 