CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS - Herod

Herod the Great

One of the key players in the story of the arrival of God the Son on earth is King Herod. Although his part seems minor in the whole story and he is often overlooked I wanted to take a closer look at this man. The Bible refers to him as King Herod, history knows him as Herod the Great.

Herod was born in 73 b.c. to an Idumean man named Antipater and a woman named Cyprus who was the daughter of an Arabian sheik. Antipater became a political ally to Julius Caesar, for which he was rewarded with an appointment as regent and received the Roman citizenship in 47 b.c. He soon secured the appointment of his son Herod as governor of Galilee. 

In time despite his political savvy, Antipater was killed. But with some Roman help, Herod killed his father's murderer and was named king of Judea by the Roman Senate in 40b.c. By 37 b.c. Herod had crushed all opposition to his rule with Roman help. He was wealthy, politically gifted, intensely loyal, an excellent administrator, and clever enough to remain in the good graces of successive Roman emperors. He also patronized the Jews by directing money to their cities and towns. He remitted taxes on the people when the times where tight, and when a famine struck in 25 b.c. he melted down his own gold plate to pay for bread and other supplies for those who were in in need. The Jews never really accepted Herod because he was appointed as king by the Romans, yet he was not Jewish himself. Although his father had been a pious man and sincerely worshiped the Jewish God he was not Jewish so the Jews thought of him as impure and unacceptable as their king.

Caesar Augustus

Toward the end of his time as king he became suspicious to the point of paranoia of everyone around him including his own family. He executed his own sons, Aristobulus and Alexander, whom Antipater, his son by Doris, had accused of plotting to kill him. He also murdered his favorite wife Mariamne, her mother and later, his eldest son Antipater who was accused and convicted of having prepared poison for his father and executed. Before Herod died he gave orders to have the men of influence in the country arrested and brought to the hippodrome at Jericho and slaughtered as soon as he had passed away. He knew that no one would shed a tear when he died but he wanted to be sure that tears where shed when he died. His orders were not carried out and instead the Jews celebrated his death. Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor, who for years had confidence in Herod, finally acknowledged that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than his son.

When I think about the neurotic paranoia that Herod displayed towards the end of his time as king, the extreme to which he went to be sure his throne was secure, I have to wonder why God sent his Son when he did. Jesus could have arrived just a couple of years later and had the same impact. Maybe his father could have had cold feet and delayed the marriage for a season or two. Why did God send his son to the doorstep of a delusionally paranoid ruler? Of all the places and all the times Jesus could have arrived why at a time when the ruler of the region is likely to do whatever it takes to keep is kingship intact, including murder?

Upon reflection, I suppose God demonstrates that no matter how difficult the circumstances appear on the surface, no matter how unlikely the desired outcome seems, God is present in the difficulty and the darkness. When the angel appears to Mary, he says the baby who would be born would be called Immanuel, which means God With Us. God came to earth when times were tough so that humanity could feel his comfort in those tough times. God did not come when it would be easy, He did not come when he could have all kinds of fame and global name recognition through social media. He did not come at a time when there was some assurance that he would not face difficulties or challenges. He came in dangerous times, to no name parents, in a small hamlet of a town in an undesirable region.

All this so that you and I could know that no matter how small or seemingly insignificant we feel, and no matter how overwhelming the challenge may seem, God can say I know what it is like, I've been there. Whether it is cancer, or a pink slip, or another week of not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from the God of the Gospel is Immanuel. 

Jesus arrived at Herod's doorstep so that we could be assured that we won't go through anything that God himself would not also go through. Not only that, but He says he will go through it with us.

Just a Meandering Thought...

CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS - Magi

Lets take a look at these wise men who are mentioned in Matthew's edition of the life of Jesus. Only Matthew and Luke give us historical details about the birth of Christ. Matthew chooses to tell us about these strange visitors from the east, Luke chooses to leave that out but instead tell us about shepherds in fields nearby watching their sheep. One of the hints, by the way, that Jesus was not born on December 25th.

We know these men were astrologers of some kind and that Matthew refers to them as Magi. Now, hundreds of years before, there was a nation which grew into a short lived, but large, empire called the Medes. This empire stretched from the Indus River valley in the east (Pakistan today), to Anatolia in the west (Turkey today). This empire was made of of six tribes, one of which was called the tribe of Magi.

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This tribe was a priestly tribe in the same way that the tribe of Levi was to the Jews or that Druids would were to the Celts. They were very educated having spent a lot of time learning about the natural world, including medicines, herbs and the movements of the cosmos, and how they might foretell impending events on earth. These men were soothsayers, interpreters of dreams, philosophers, naturalists and would have been highly regarded members of society.

Astrology, one of their specialties, was a widely known and used approach to telling ones future. Reading the cosmos was a science to these men. We do not know what brilliant star the Magi saw but whatever it was the message interpreted was compelling.

And of course, as everyone in the ancient world knows, the best astrologers came from the east. If you were going to have some one read the stars for you, you wanted an astrologer from the east, because those westerners don't know what they are talking about.

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This message impelled them to journey hundreds of miles across varied terrain for what what likely several months into the territory of a neighboring empire (which was hardly ever neighborly). They carried supplies for the journey, they carried money so they could resupply along the way, they had animals to carry the supplies and money, they had extra men to help them keep track of all the supplies and the animals carrying the supplies. And of course with all the animals and supplies and men to help with everything they would have drawn some attention to themselves so they would likely have had some armed security to help to protect them on their journey as well as money and supplies for those men too. Not to mention the expensive gifts that were being brought to honor this new born king.

We don't know exactly were they left from but if we were to place them in the center of the region where the Median empire was, that would put them in the middle of modern day Iran just south of the southern tip of the Caspian Sea. IF they left from there (modern day Tehran) and followed the trade routes, their journey was likely around 2,000 miles. That is a long distance to travel to honor someone who is not one of your own people and will not be your king. If you estimate the amount of time it would take to make that journey you could say that the Magi likely saw the star in the east around the same time that the angel appeared to Jesus' parents.

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Keeping all this in mind, I wonder... Why? 

Why the long journey? 

Why Magi? 

Why not wise men from the country Jesus was born in? 

Why not wise men from the Jews?

What is God telling the world by making this announcement to men who don't believe in the Jewish God?

Why not someone that others would believe?

This says something about the way God does things. We can ask why God did not announce to the the Jewish people the arrival of their Messiah; except, he had been speaking to them through the prophets for hundreds of years in the Hebrew Scriptures. In fact when the Eastern wise men arrived and asked where to find this king, the Jewish wise men knew exactly where to look, Bethlehem. 

The Magi traveled upwards of 2,000 miles to meet this newborn King, the Jewish scholars would not travel the six miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to even see if it was true. 

Herod was so concerned that this newborn King might take over his rulership and his Kingdom that he ordered all baby boys in and around Bethlehem slaughtered. He did not understand the kind of King that Jesus would be or the kind of Kingdom that he would establish.

I guess what I am saying is that according to Matthew's edition of the the birth of Christ, the wrong kinds of people are hearing about Jesus. What is worse they are taking action. The ones who have the Bible memorized and can quote all kinds of verses to you, they end up being the ones who miss the whole point. Matthew is telling us that God chooses the most unlikely people, the people that most others would overlook. God chooses the J.V. kinds of people, the second stringers, the ones who get ruled out, the ones who sit by themselves at lunch, even those who like country music. God did not announce his arrival to the Roman leaders or the Jewish leaders, but to astrologers who did not even believe in the Jewish God.

What does that say about who should be in your church?

What does that say about how God speaks to us?

What do you think that says about what God things about you?

The God of this story invites people no one else invites... He wants the people most of us don't even consider... this God says that even you are invited into His story... You don't have to have it all figured out to have a spot at His table...

This God invites you with all your questions, and your doubts, and your bad theology, and your bad taste in music (if you like country)...

Just a Meandering Thought...

CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS - Joseph

As Christmas approaches I am drawn to reflect on the characters in the birth narrative of Jesus. I wonder what must the events of the Christmas story have been like for the ones who lived it. What would the shepherds have felt seeing the sky fully illuminated by an angelic choir. The wise men from the east, whose reading of the stars told them a king was born, would have had a fascinating story. Mary gets a lot of attention this time of year, for obvious reasons - she carried God in her womb. But, I start by wondering about Joseph, Jesus' step-father.

There is one verse in Matthew's edition of the events that stands out: chapter 1 verse 19. 

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Joseph was a righteous man but can you imagine committing to marry a woman who had become pregnant with a child that was not yours?! He was a man who was conscientious about his faith and about God but can you imagine marrying a woman who was known to be unfaithful? If Joseph had married her he would have been tacitly admitting his own guilt, because if you marry a pregnant woman it is not because she is carrying someone else's child, it is because she is carrying yours. 

Mary brought shame and dishonor to Joseph and ruin to his reputation. In the middle eastern world of the first century, adultery was grounds for the woman to be stoned to death; a husband could have his wife executed for this. We are not immune to being talked bad about, or shamed in front of friends. Think about the headlines we have seen in the past year about someone who sought out revenge for one reason or another. We are not so far removed from the feelings that Joseph would have felt, betrayed by the one he loves. We've been stabbed in the back, we've been blindsided by harsh news that came from someone we were supposed to be able to trust. We have probably thought about giving that person or group of people a taste of there own medicine. "They hurt me this way, let's see how they like it when..." fill in the rest. The full weight of the law could have led to the stoning death of Jesus’ mother Mary, at the very least a public divorce would have shamed Mary and her family and she likely would have never married. We could not fault Joseph for taking that route if he chose to do so.  

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But Joseph was unwilling to expose her to the disgrace of public divorce, so he chose a quiet yet lawful way. I believe it is one of the reason's God chose Joseph to be a step-father to God the Son. Joseph finds a way to remain faithful to the rigidity of the law while expressing compassion towards Mary. I may have chosen to find some way to get back at the person who wronged me, who embarrassed me, who ruined my reputation - Joseph chooses to quietly divorce Mary and salvage her reputation. Ultimately he chooses to marry her, accepting the embarrassment and shame of a premarital pregnancy. He accepted the shame as his own even though he had nothing to do with it.

Can you imagine being a son, and hearing this story as you grow up? I seem to remember a story of a woman caught in the act of adultery, recorded in John's edition of the gospel. Jesus, just as his father, shows compassion and does not seek to embarrass her publicly. He stands with her in her shame and disgrace. Jesus looked beyond the circumstance to show a person is more than the sum of their choices, as did his father Joseph. 

Just a short time later Jesus would do it again... from a cross. The cross is where he remained faithful to the rigidity of the law while expressing compassion towards all humanity. He chose to accept the shame of death as a common criminal on charges that were not true to not just stand with us in our shame but to take our place. Jesus' journey to and sacrifice on the cross began with the courageous choice of a man named Joseph. A man who defied convention, who chose the harder road, and modeled compassion to a young wife and son who would go on to change world in the same way.

Just a meandering thought... 

BETWEEN Part 2

So you have graduated... big deal... There are apparently far fewer people out there who are excited about that fact than you thought there were. So how do you stay sharp in the time between receiving your diploma and receiving that invitation to the job you were wanting?

First, read BETWEEN part 1.

Second, here are the next three things I have decided that I need to work on. Three ways I can set some goals for myself without a real framework for setting goals. Blogger won't let me begin the numbering from "4" so I am going to have a chat with them about that...

1. Coffee Chat - Getting together once a month for coffee with someone who is in the field is a great way to do a couple of things. First, it helps you stay up to date with what people are doing in your field. Second, the more people know you are out there; the more ground your name covers, the better your chances of some who is hiring hearing about you. You just have to keep a couple of things in mind when you get together with someone. First of all, these guys (and ladies) are busy so don't waste their time. Arrive with a list of questions or talking point, but don't make it too long. Next the whole idea for this get together is for them to talk and for you to listen. Ask questions that are open ended and well thought through. Lastly, remember part of this time is for you to actually learn something, part of it is for them to catch a glimpse of who you are.
2. Be a student - there are all sorts of ways for you to continue to study and learn. Journals of various sorts, conferences, symposiums, and other gatherings are ways for you to continually grow your knowledge base.
3. Proficiency at one new skill - This is a chance for you to grow your personal skill set. It may be web design, photography, the culinary arts, whatever. Two things to keep in mind as you consider becoming proficient in one new skill. First, make it something you actually enjoy doing, or one of those things that you have always wanted to try but never had time to, or the resources to take on. You may need to take some time to save money so that you can purchase one important piece of equipment, but don't take too long and don't spend too much. Check out craigslist.com Second, try to make this something that is in some way connected to the field you are looking to get into.

Good Luck as you embark on these next three and hey, if you end up doing any of these let me know how it goes. I will be working on them as well, and I will let you know how it goes.

Just a few Meandering Thoughts...

BETWEEN Part 1

Not too long ago I walked across a distinguished looking stage, with a group of distinguished men and women sitting on it, all wearing distinguished robes and caps... I was wearing one too. I received a very official looking folder in which will go a very distinguished piece of paper that I will likely later put into a distinguished looking frame.  I spent a lot of time and a lot of money for a graduate degree and I loved every minute of it but now... reality is setting in. I suppose I am experiencing what a lot of graduates are experiencing whether bachelors or Masters... how do I find a job that is a good fit for my interests, training, experience, and passion?

I wish I had an easy answer but it seems to vary depending from field to field. But these are not "meandering thoughts" on how to find your dream job, instead these are my ideas on what to do in the time between finishing your education and landing that dream job. 

I have been asked, "what are your plans now?" or "what goals do you have for yourself?" To be honest it is hard to set goals when there is no real framework in which to set goals. What do you try to achieve, how do you improve your performance what do you shoot for when you are still looking for a job to perform in?

To help me answer these kinds of questions I have put together a list of nine things I (and anyone really) can work towards in the time "between" times. Now, I share with you how we can navigate the time between ending one chapter in our lives and beginning another; how we can "improve our performance" by setting measurable and attainable goals. These are the first three I came up with. ( I was hoping to get a nice round number like ten, but nine is what I am stuck with. If you have an idea share it with me.)

My goals for the time between times:

1. Steward my Opportunities - I may get occasional opportunities to work on some projects that are directly connected to my area of training and education. I need to make the most of those opportunities and use them to showcase what I can do. I need to do my best work here. These chances are where I get to demonstrate who I am and what I am about.
 
 
2. Stay at the Cutting Edge - Identify ten thinkers and writers who are at the cutting edge of my field and read everything they write. This will keep me at the forefront of the thinking and conceptualization in my field. I will have a grasp on the direction and the depth of my area of expertise.  
 
 
3. Remain Relevant - Find ways to use basic skills in my field in what I am doing right now. I need to know a few things that I can do now that I will also need to be doing years from now. I am in sales now so talking with people and developing a rapport with them is one of the things I need to continually work on.
    

Just a few meandering thoughts...

My next three will be coming soon...

RAMP

Have you ever heard the saying, life is not fair? Sure, we all have. "The Vagabond Road" is a video of some thoughts and reflections on the idea that life does not always offer us an exit ramp when we need one. What do we do when we find ourselves in places we never expected to end up? What do we do when the road we are on leads us some place we never intended on going.

I will let the video speak for itself but after watching it share your thoughts with me as I would like to do this sort of thing more but would like to do it in such a way that you will want to watch them.

SELECTED

You remember fourth grade kickball right?! You wanted to play but you also wanted to be picked first, or at least be among the first picked. You definitly did not want to be the last one picked becuase at that point the captain did not pick you, he was stuck with you. It was not about being picked last it was about being wanted least. Speaking of being picked I had jury duty recently.

As I walked to the main entrance of the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in South Boston I noticed a few news cameras set up outside waiting for some news worthy people to walk in or out. No one moved when I walked by.  I spent some of the day in a large room in the courthouse waiting to see if we would be need to serve our fellow citizens as a juror. I won't go into the details of the of the cases that were seating juries, but sufice to say at least one carried national attention.

The jury room is a bit different from the fourth grade kickball court. Not only do you want to be picked last but you would be happy to not be picked at all. Now, I did talk with a few people who actually wanted to sit on the jury just to see what it was like but for the most part you could tell by the expression on the peoples faces that being on a jury was the last thing they wanted to do.

I think playing kickball was about being wanted - being seen as valuable. Jury duty is about just that, duty - something you have to do not something you get to do. People want to be seen as valuable and the way you do that is by asking them to help the team. Asking people to give of themselves and recieve nothing in return (other than the satisfaction of serving their country and their fellow citizens in serving justice) seems like it is asking a lot from people in our individualistic, and task driven culture. Serving in this way inhibits us from accomplishing the tasks we would rather be doing. 

 

I have to admit I am one who is too busy, my excuse is family and full time grad school, professors who won't hold off lectures just for me. I remember enjoying being picked in the first couple of rounds for kickball but I was relieved when I was told I could not serve on this session's jury.

We want to be selected becuase someone sees value in us, not becuase everyone elses excuse was better.

What does it take to be selected for who we are and not  for the service we could potentially provide?

Just a Meandering Thought...