From the cradle to the cross to the coming again
Linda Krieg
It’s
interesting about how easy it is to find cutesy pictures like this of Christ in the cradle. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. Guess no one thought I wanted reality in my photo, not a sweetened and cleaned up image. There were no free images
to portray the first step of my theme here-“From the cradle…”. A sermon I listened to recently started me along this path of thought. I’d already been down the pathway of “From the cradle to the cross,” or something of that sort, but somehow I’d failed to
fully journey on to the amazing joyous return of Christ for his own in my cogitations of Christmas.
Because Christmas is closely tied to the homegoing of my husband on New Year’s Eve (1981), it has become more important than ever for me to fully focus on Christmas truths rather than the culture of this holiday in today’s world. It’s not the beautiful lights and displays nor the gifts piled under the tree, but the fact that God sent his own Son to be born as a human baby, so that he could live as man in this sin-soaked world. Only death can pay the wages of sin. Just as the totally blemish free lamb dying for sin represented the death that Jesus would die to pay for my sin, he, too, had to live a totally sin free life for his death to be payment. When God raised him from that grave, it proved his acceptance of that payment, ensuring Jesus’ promise to return for his own would also be fulfilled. Maranatha, may it be soon!
As we wait, several of you have mentioned my slackness in communication these past few months. First, it’s only been 2.5 months. Okay, okay, that is still a lot longer than it should have been. Thankfully, there is nothing new here with me-my quiet, fairly isolated, fairly boring life continues along its way-and that’s good, right?
There was one Siawi letter that made it to my inbox (copied and sent by email through the kindness of a missionary in Wewak). It was from a young fellow (young being relative, I suppose, since he must be at least 30 years old), son of one of my fellow Siawi widow friends. He was telling me of her recent death and how he and his two brothers reacted to it.
First you have to understand Siawi cultural reaction to death. Not only is there weeping and wailing; but food taboos, withdrawal from church and the public, and fear of the now wandering destructive spirit quickly fall into place. Well, those would have been the “normal” reaction, but Yakobu assured me that he and his brothers didn’t follow that norm. No, they were sure of how Yemoni’s spirit was behaving, and it wasn’t wandering around in the jungle nearby, just waiting to cause havoc with their hunting or accidents to happen to them. No, their mother is safe in her Lord’s presence, and while her sons are grieving, they are also rejoicing for her.
Not only that, but Yakobu assured me that he had not stopped attending church or serving there. Nope, contrary to all expectation, instead of withdrawing from society with all the cultural norms in place, he was fully participating in church and village life. While that doesn’t sound that big of a thing to our western viewpoint, it is huge in the Siawi one. Praise God with me for the confidence and peace he has given us his children, whether we be in Siawi, the USA, or wherever spread about on this globe!
Christmas is part of God’s glorious message to the world. May the message of the angel at Christ’s birth resonate throughout the Christian world and be reflected in and through our lives: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11 ESV) May we never just skip over the meaning of Savior, Messiah, and Lord-yes, he is the Son of God, but the Son sent to die for our place, paying fully the wages we earned to, so he can be Lord of our lives and ruler of heaven and earth.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support for both the Siawi folks and for me. Satan will continue to buffet and try to pull them (and me) away from God’s will and plan for our lives. May we all stand strong, reflecting God’s love and truths to this sin-soaked world! Until he returns, may we be lights upon the hills where God has placed us, providing illumination of the pathway to that narrow gate to opens to eternal life.
Safe and secure in His hands,
Linda
Linda_Krieg(at)ntm.org
232 Brazil Court, Sanford, FL 32771
Ethnos360 Hdqts: 312 W 1st St, Sanford, FL 32771
