My Jesus Syndrome

 

My Jesus Syndrome

Revelation 1

Colossians 1:15-19

John 1:1-18

 John 13: 13-14 “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Syndrome: a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality or condition

     As reported, President Roosevelt would not shoot the little bear when he was on a hunting trip.  So today we have Teddy Bears.  They have become cute, snuggly things our children take to bed with them.  My dad chased a bear out of our camp while we were on canoe trip near Canada.  At the Ely, Minnesota city dump they used to work as scavengers.  I saw a man shoot a grizzly bear on YouTube. Horror stories can fill the papers as campers have met these ferocious beasts on hiking trails.  Bears kill people.  Teddy would be more life-like if they drew red fangs on him.

     Do we put the fuzzies on Jesus as we do Teddy?  In our recent push for the Church to know Her savior as their personal God, have we softened Him up?  Little Jesus stays in the manger as our children remember Him this way.  The terrible image of Revelation 1 is not shown.  John fell down and with good reason.

     If Jesus were soft, a malady of ills would follow.  A syndrome of symptoms would stem from such a poor understanding.  Oh, He is our big brother conqueror who will come to our aid, but what of the other days of the year?

     Jesus said to know Him as Lord.  We are to confess Him as Lord.  We are to understand His power to create everything and hold all things together.  To get snuggly with Him takes extreme understanding.  I recently got a new boss.  All is ‘ok’ if we have one understanding.  He is my boss.  I call him sir.  If he says ‘jump’, I say how ‘how high?’  Once we have this relationship, then we can kid around knowing he has the ultimate say.

     Do I kid around with Jesus?  Certainly!  We laugh together.  I kid and tell the Father that if He was a good father, He wouldn’t let the food burn on the stove.  Sometimes I walk out my house door and yell up in the air, “Hey, I didn’t order rain!”  We can joke.  He is Lord.  Yet, there are other times I cautiously approach His thrown in prayer becoming aware of His ‘bigness’ and my ‘smallness.’

     He is the God of lightning, tornados, hurricanes, and what Elijah saw from his cave’s mouth.  God can rent rocks then melt them to flow.  He is a terrible God demanding respect even from His children.  When I know He gives spankings, the mushy syndrome of milk toasty discipline is driven far from me.

Hebews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”

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