What’s it all about, Alfie? 

A song . . . a 1966 movie.  And sometimes in my mind when I step back from something, ‘try to see the bigger picture, it is those words than run through my mind—‘what’s it all about, Alfie?’  Funny thing is—looking up the lyrics today, I see that they really are quite meaningful; we’ll get back to that . . . in the meantime, where have we just been? 

We looked at Jesus’ final night with his disciples-

How he pleaded with the Father to change what would be his lot,

            if there were any other way . . .

We stood in the crowd as he was mocked, accused, and then scourged,

            made to carry his own heavy cross-

We watched from afar as he languished in agony on Golgotha,

            until death mercifully relieved him.

We looked over their shoulders as the men prepared his tortured body

            for a proper burial … (proper---really?  After all that?)

And then there was silence.

That is, until . . . the grave could not hold him,

            Death could not defeat him, nor could the evil one have his way.

In triumph, Jesus, Son of God, was alive!

For forty days, he walked the dusty roads of Palestine; he spent time amongst his friends.  Jesus was quite different, though undeniably himself.  And then, from the Mount of Olives he vanished from their sight, and returned to his Father, leaving them with the charge to WAIT.  Wait, because the Comforter was coming.  Come he did—with power, passion, and life-changing impact.  And then that fearful, doubting band of eleven went out and changed the world. 

Think of it—‘remember Peter?  Last we heard of him, he had rejected Jesus three times, even though Jesus forewarned him that he would do so!   Ah man, Peter.  And then . . . he encountered the risen Lord.  And then . . . the Holy Spirit descended, and Peter preached like a man on a mission—[which he was!]--a man for whom there was no turning back.  And those listening to him would sell everything to know this Man that he preached about, to follow after the ideal he espoused.

Right there, in Jerusalem, the Christian church was born.  But don’t get me wrong . . . while it was passionate, consumed with spiritual ardor and brotherly love, those early Christians were under intense persecution from fellow Jews and their Roman oppressors.  Yet, in spite of it, the Church flourished.  In fact, Christians in China, Christians in India, Christians in Middle Eastern countries today, believe that Christianity flourishes in their countries because of the intense persecution the devoted must endure, not in spite of it.  And yet, many Christians are soft today—especially Americans.

As the church grew daily, our Lord appeared one more time to a traveler on the Damascus Road.  He personally confronted a pompous Jewish intellectual, and knocked him down, but only so he could see up, so he could see straight.  After Paul had three years of intensive one-on-one training in the desert, he became the first Christian missionary, and single-handedly took the love of Christ—the Gospel—into Europe, the Mediterranean, and even Asia.  In obedience, he fulfilled what Jesus had told his people to do—‘be my witnesses—to Jerusalem, (their home town), Judea, (the region), Samaria, (their enemies), and the outermost parts of the world, (to the world at large).’1  Shortly, we will rejoin his letter to the Romans.

So, ‘what’s it all about, Alfie?’  Well, the next line is,  ‘Is it just for the moment we live?’  No, the birth of a Savior, and his resurrection too, are proof that there is so much more . . . we were created by God, and invited into friendship with God. The notion of that is staggering—friendship with God!   The same God who ‘has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?  Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?’2   Does that give you any idea how BIG is our God?  Yet, he has your name and my name written on the palm of his hand … incredible!  Friendship with God – yeah, that’s what it’s all about, Alfie.

Christine

 

1 Acts 1.8

2  from Isaiah 40