Was Jesus an ugly man?

Was Jesus unattractive?  I mean if you saw Him walking down the street would you think, “That is one homely dude”?  My intent is neither to be disrespectful nor to cast aspersions at attractive or unattractive people.  My inquiry is not simply academic; I think this has bearing on the church in America.  Please allow me to braid together three threads and come to a conclusion for the church in America.

Thread #1 Beauty Bias

The concept of “beauty bias” says that attractive people by the very reality of their attractiveness have advantages over unattractive people.  In other words, a nice looking girl in minor distress is more likely to get help than an unattractive girl in the same circumstance.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfvcpHvitjY

As you can imagine, this creates a great many arguments from all sides.  Feminists, conservative Christians, evolutionary biologists, ad agencies, and those looking for a spouse have a profound interest in the subject.  

Thread #2 Setting aside privilege.

If we understand correctly, Philippians 2:5-8 teaches us that the eternal Word emptied Himself of all the advantages of being God in order to be the sin-bearing sacrifice that humanity needed and God’s justice demanded.  When we consider the incarnation we see that baby Jesus was born with few advantages.  Born into an oppressed people, into a family of limited means and into a family that had to make a lot of adjustments very quickly.  Of the first few years of His life there appears to be significant difficulties.  As I studied this, I turned to the suffering servant passage in Isaiah 53 and had to challenge something I had been taught all my life.  Isaiah 53:2 says:

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,


And like a root out of parched ground;


He has no stately form or majesty


That we should look upon Him,

Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him

I was always taught that this is a reference to Christ as He is enduring the tortures of the Passion and Crucifixion.  I discovered that nothing in the text states or implies that to be the case.  

I am no Hebrew scholar, so I turned to K&D (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary) to do the heavy lifting of the study.  Additionally, I turned to the help of a Hebrew interlinear Bible.  What I found was rather fascinating.  Look at four statements from verse 3: 

·      The word translated “form” is the word that described Rachel as beautiful in contrast to weak eyed Leah.  It also describes Esther and Abigail.

·      The word majesty can be translated ornament, splendor, or magnificence.

·      The next phrase could be translated “when we see Him, no beauty”; this word beauty was used to describe the trees of the Garden of Eden.

·      Commenting on that last phrase K&D says: He dwelt in Israel, so that they had Him bodily before their eyes, but in His outward appearance there was nothing to attract or delight the senses. On the contrary, the impression produced by His appearance was rather repulsive, and, to those who measured the great and noble by a merely worldly standard, contemptible.

Jesus appeared to be the kind of person that if you saw Him, you would not notice him and if you did, your conclusion would be that He was not worth noticing in the first place.  His appearance, rather than attract a following, may have turned people off.

To be continued. Next week: “Church Beautiful”

Wisdom, Trust, Football, and Life

One week from tomorrow the University of Alabama will be playing for another national championship.  One player who will not be playing for the Crimson Tide and could have, but is relegated to watching is Maurice Smith.  Coming out of high school, Maurice Smith was a 4-star recruit with scholarship offers from almost every major college.  Maurice committed to play for the Crimson Tide in the 2013 signing class.  After three years with Alabama and being on a national championship team, Maurice decided to be a graduate transfer and play his final season with the University of Georgia Bulldogs following defensive coordinator Kirby Smart to UGA.  Maurice was allowed to transfer after a bit of a summer controversy (more about that in a moment).  The Bulldogs had a somewhat disappointing season.  They were predicted to finish 10-2 and second in the SEC east division.  They actually finished the regular season 7-5, placing third in the eastern division and with a conference record that was tied by Kentucky.

For his part, in a mid-season interview, Maurice reported that he did not regret his transfer, but we might expect that response.  Over the course of the year he had three pass deflections, a sack, and a pick-six in UGA’s victory over Auburn.   To start on an SEC team is an accomplishment by anyone’s standards.  However, Smith is not a hot commodity when it comes to the NFL draft.  Which brings me to the point I want to make. 

Last August, Nick Saban was attempting to prevent Smith’s transfer and convince Smith to stay at Alabama.  At SEC media days, Coach Saban reported that he and his staff told Smith if he stayed at Alabama he would be a significant contributor this season.  Saban knows something about the attrition that all major college football teams experience and a player of Smith’s ability and experience would be a great benefit to Alabama. 

Smith’s mom was quoted in the AJC as saying, "The University is continuing to be resistant to any request to release my son. That's where we are. In [Saban's] mind, the best decision is for him to stay here. And he doesn't think anything other than that is best for the kid."  Let no one be mistaken, Saban’s motivation was not entirely altruistic; he was not solely thinking of Smith’s well being.  He was motived by both the interest of his team and the individual player.  However, Coach Saban did believe that Maurice Smith’s best choice was to stay at Alabama and play his last year with the Crimson Tide.

Six months after the dust up last August, Maurice Smith had played his last game as a college football player.  He played his last year on a team that was a bit of a disappointment and could be described as average.  He will not get the opportunity to play for a national championship.  He may be selected in the upcoming draft, but is not considered a top pick.

Is it possible that Nick Saban knows more about college football than the coach at UGA, Maurice Smith, Maurice’s mother, any of his advisors and possibly anyone else alive today?  Very likely.  Maybe what was best for Smith was to stay at Alabama.  It might have been a symbiotic relationship that benefited them both.  The moral of the story is when you have the best expert in the world it might be wise to follow his advice.

I face that same issue daily.  I have an agenda for how I will live my life.  I have a plan in which I will set the agenda and try to find my own way.  But I really should listen to the guidance of the One who lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose in glorious victory.  I would be wise to follow His advice; He does know what He is talking about.

(P.S. I am not attempting to equate Nick Saban with Jesus, myself with Maurice Smith, or life with football.  I am a BAMA fan, but I ain’t stupid.) 

What the sinking of the Vasa can teach the American church.

King Gustav II Adolf reigned over Sweden and was one to the great military minds in European History.  Part of his strategy was to be the dominant sea power in the Baltic Sea.  Control of the Baltic would mean a vast sphere of influence for Sweden.  To this end Gustav II Adolf commissioned the construction of one of the greatest warships of that day, the Vasa.

The Vasa was to be built of the timber of 1,000 oak trees.  Her mast would be over 150 feet tall, with 64 cannons, and hundreds of painted and gilded sculptures.  The Vasa would be the most powerful, most beautiful ship on the high seas.  During the construction Gustav II Adolf order the addition of a second gun deck, just to add firepower.  This ship was a marvel to behold.  Her very presence imposed the will and the national interest of Sweden on all she encountered.

On August 10, 1628, the Vasa set off on her maiden voyage to assume her rightful place as the flagship of the fleet.  Within 30 minutes of the beginning of her voyage she sank within full view of the population of Stockholm.  The Vasa sank because she was top heavy and she was top heavy because her designers put everything into the ship, while forgetting the single most important thing a ship is supposed to do, float. 

This year we have seen a record number of churches closing on the Lord’s Day because it is Christmas.  This has created uproar in some places.  Uproars can sometimes be good if they force us to think through things and answer important questions about our faith.  While this is a wide-ranging debate, I want us to consider one of the factors a number of churches sited as the reason for closing on Christmas Sunday and a couple of its implications.

 

Many churches reported that it would be difficult or impossible to put on a Sunday service with so many families being out for Christmas Sunday.  One church reported that it would be unfair to ask volunteers and staff to work at the Christmas Eve service and then come back for Sunday service as well.  One pastor reported that it requires 145 people to put on a service.

While the American church has the highest level of programing and professional production in the history of Christianity, it is also true as never before the church is feeding the culture of ‘Me-ism”.  We have developed programs and presentations that are so professional that they rival secular business presentations.  We have out standing video productions, we have perfectly comfortable seating, and we have musicians that might make it in the recording business.  Those on stage are beautiful/handsome and just the right age (some churches will move people off the stage when the reach a given age).  We have become very good at meeting the needs, wants, and desires of this “me-focused” culture.  We are so in tune with making “me-ists” happy that if worship is on an inconvenient day we will cancel services to accommodate the masses.

While I understand, appreciate and in some cases can support being sensitive to culture, the church has become like the Vasa.  We are top heavy with a lot of really impressive looking stuff, but we are going to sink unless we return to the most important factor.

The church has forgotten the single most important thing, to bring glory to God.   Maybe we need to rewrite the old Christmas hymn, “I heard the bells on Christmas day” unless it is Sunday in which case everyone will be home opening presents and having family time.  

At Christmas beware of cheap knock-offs.

Every year at Christmas there are certain gifts that are all the rage.  For whatever reason, they are in extreme demand and equally short supply.  Into this vacuum comes the cheap knock-off; it looks like the real thing, it is available and affordable, but it is of inferior quality and in some cases it can be dangerous.

It seems that nothing is exempt from the knock-off artist.  Consider these examples:

·      Toy sales are big at Christmas and that means the potential market for counterfeit toys is rich.  (See the movie Jingle all the Way)  This past November authorities in Savannah confiscated 70,000 dollars worth of counterfeit toys that were headed for an Atlanta suburb.  Some of these toys were potentially dangerous; all of them were of inferior quality.

·      Electronic knock-offs are common all year round, but especially at Christmas.  EKO’s are so common that NASA has created a program to identify bogus electronics to prevent them from getting into the NASA supply.  A multi-million dollar satellite going down over a few cheap chips is not an option.

·      Fashion is a big market for cheap knock-offs.  From the flood of designer jeans in the 70’s to ultra high-end dresses today knock-offs can be very appealing.  Who wouldn’t want to give a $7,000 Rolex Submariner Watch, which you purchased for $20?  If you happen to go to Thailand you can visit the Museum of Counterfeit Goods.  I wonder if this is an educational institution or an R & D facility.

·      Medication is big business for the fakers.  In some places up to 30% of antibiotics and a full half of antimalarial drugs are fake.  While a bigger problem in the third world than the U.S., we have our share of phony drugs.

·      Food products are faked and many times we never know it.  In 2008, Chinese-produced milk was infused with melamine resulting in the death of six children.  Catfish is sold as Grouper, Tilapia sold as Red fish and soybean oil sold as Extra Virgin olive oil.  During one auction at Christie’s, it was discovered that 106 out of 107 bottles of wine were fakes. 

When it comes to counterfeits the most dangerous we face at this time of year is the counterfeit Christmas.

Christmas is about Family.

Christmas is the joy of giving.

Christmas is the joy of getting.

Christmas is for celebration without any designation of what is celebrated. 

Several years ago my family had season passes to Silver Springs Park, one of the great Florida tourist traps.  During the winter season the park had fewer visitors, so they hosted special events to heighten attendance.  One of these was a Christmas concert series with about a half dozen choirs and musical groups performing music of the season.  Under a canopy of Florida Live Oaks strung with white Christmas lights and in temperatures dipping into the chilly upper 60’s (bitterly cold for central Florida) it was designed to be a beautiful and heart-warming evening.  Except for one cheap knock-off.

A school performed a selection of songs they called, “Have a Cool Yule”.  The boys wore matching Polo shirts and dark sunglasses, the girls wore Santa or elf costumes with hems well above the mid thigh and all the students wore Santa hats.  They sang a number of secular holiday songs, all arranged with a fast tempo and a heavy beat to aid their choreography.  The selection seemed to express that this was the season to fan the flames of greed, or romance, or infatuation, or perhaps lust.   The music was well rehearsed and well sung, but when their set was over there was no joy.  There was no purpose to the season; it was a façade wrapped around a wisp, insulating a farce.   That concert broke my heart and angered me.

In The Last Battle the dwarves have been thrown into a stable and from there they could go to the great, free, open country, but they huddle in the straw and manure.  There, Aslan spreads for them a glorious banquet of all the finest of foods and drinks, but they perceive it only as a bit of a turnip or the leaf of a cabbage.   Having the potential for all, they settle for little.  In this Holy season, let us never eat a turnip off a stable floor rather than the banquet of our King.  May we never exchange the Glory of Christmas for something as rank and small as a Cool Yule.

May God Bless you with a heart that seeks, eyes that look for, and ears that listen to the new chapter that began in the Nativity of our Lord Jesus. 

Merry Christmas

Why keep Christmas?

With all the commercialization, gluttony, avarice and vice that has corrupted the celebration of Christmas is it still worth the trouble?  Maybe we ought to rename it commerce day, recognize that it is nothing more than an economic stimulus scheme and be done with “Christmas”.  Why keep Christmas?

We must keep Christmas so that we do not forget to remember.  What is at stake in remembrance is nothing less than the eternal destiny of our souls.  A fall from grace maybe difficult, but it is possible and from apostasy there is no return.  The very beginning is not the wrong action, not the indulgence in any of the seven deadly sins.  That is the midway point; that is the end of the beginning and the starting point of the end. 

The beginning of the beginning is in the forgetting.  Forgetting makes it easy for me to imagine grace as a license to sin.  Forgetting makes it easy to occasionally worship at the altar of lesser gods.  It allows me to replace loving obedience with dead ritual or think cold knowledge is a substitute to love God with my whole being.  In forgetting there is familiarity with God, but no longing for Him.

That is why I must make remembering the priority.  I must remember that I am called to love and serve, to faith and works.  I must remember that holiness is more than only the rejection of evil, but also the embracing and engagement of righteousness.  In remembering we are doubly protected, pulled away from the evil that lurks in the dark places of our heart, drawn toward the higher life our Father would see us live. 

That is why we need the rituals of remembrance.  That is why God gave to His chosen people seasons of feasting and days of fasting.  That is why we need moments and mementos of recall.  That is why we need a season to recall the waiting for and the occasion of the incarnation.  That is why we need a season to revisit the garden, the cross, and the empty tomb.  That is why I need the season of the church year and the morning moments with the Bible.  Not because I earn some merit of favor.  But so I don’t forget.

Better men than I have forgotten.  They forgot their place, their commitments their calling.  David forgot and the moment of passion cost him years of misery and a heart in agony.  Moses forgot and his moment of pride became jail bars through which he could see the Promised Land.  Gehazi forgot and he changed from prophet- -heir-apparent to leprous outcast.  Peter forgot and the sound of a rooster sent him crying into the night with the sound of his own curse ringing in his ear.

I am entirely fickle; it is easy for me to forget the challenge of the morning devotion before I have settled into the workday.  The only answer for such a capricious heart is reminders, daily, weekly, hourly-constant reminders.  

I need Christmas to help me remember.  Even in the gratuitous commercialism, the inanity of secular traditions and the blatant appeals to my base nature I need Christmas.  I need to remember that, “God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son.”