Magyar Egyház, 2004 (83. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2004-10-01 / 4. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 5. oldal Fear not. The Ancient Good Tidings Proclaimed to the People in the 21st century You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, life up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; Say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” (Isaiah 40:9) “Comfort my people,” “lift up your voice with a shout” and the bold message “fear not” - are divine imperatives addressed to the prophet, Second Isaiah, whose book is noted as the “Fifth Gospel” in the Bible. One of the historical re-readings of the text, the composition, Handel’s Messiah, contributed to a great historical popularity to receive the Gospel truth from the words of Second Isaiah. It is hard to imagine a more perfect, more appropriate actuality of the message: “comfort ye my people ...“bring good tidings” - so passionately communicating to all people in all ages and contexts. Just as the words of the prophecies worked in the eighth and sixth century BC, the same words spoke in the eighteenth-century controversy of deism and modernism. Handel’s selected text proved to be a perfect match of art and faith, an effective proclamation of the good news of God and a Protestant orthodox apologetic in defending the traditional Christian interpretation of Scripture. Today, good news is a most wanted life-giving message. It is needed for people in fear, insecurity, and distress. The prophet is aware of the situation of his contemporaries. He also knows the paradigm of the divine intervention that is going to be epoch-making “1 have heard their cry, I know their sufferings and I have come down to deliver them” (Ex 3:7-8). The faith of the fathers provides a key by which later generations can interpret their own experience. The prophet invites his audience to trust in God based on the powerful divine narrative about God’s coming salvation. The divine plan requires a daring faith to a new destiny more than survival. It aims at rebuilding Jerusalem - our Jerusalem is the Christian Church - and the destroyed communities as well as extending the salvation plan of God to all peoples. Out of the darkness of fear there arose a transforming message of deliverance, and of the recreation of the community. This community, first, has to revise its vision about God in sole sovereignty. (Isaiah 40:25; 44:6-8; 46:1-7). Then, a revised vision about themselves, is also needed. A new selfawareness is also to be developed. The pedagogy of brokenness, as dialectical theology assumes, finds new application in restoring human dignity in saving encounter with God. The remedy, the secret of finding a secure and fearless life, lies in taking on God’s military plan and his cast of the play. He, the Chief Command of the Heavenly Hosts leads his army for triumph. His military people, “the armed forces,” however, have to take on the “weapons” of the servant of the Lord (see Isaiah 42). Thus, the community of faith comes face to face with righteousness and compassion that is manifested in human experience as the God active to save the lost and to heal the broken. The Apostle Paul points to such an integrating when he recognizes the “living for others” and “dying for others” to be the self-image of Christian existence in the community (Romans 14:7-8; 15:1-3; Gal. 6:2). The newness of God’s advent lies in the willing self-giving of the servant which displays God’s call and a particular human response united to bring salvation to others in an ongoing mission of reconciliation by the atoning sacrifice of the Innocent One. The “Fear not” call assumes an awareness of the radical depths of human sin and a full acknowledgment of divine power and compassion. The remarkable inclusiveness of the salvation promise aims at proclaiming God’s universal sovereignty and envisioning our priestly service for the salvation of the peoples. (Isaiah. 42 ; 44; 49:1-6; cf. Ezekiel 37:27-28). May this Divine call awaken our faith, hope, and compassion at this Christmas season. May the revolutionary message, “fear not” keep challenging us to a growing in understanding of God’s mysteriously inclusive plan of salvation, “for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3.16) So be it. Amen. Rev.Dr. Eva Lukacsi Anti-Christmas Crusade Well Under Way This year's anti-Christmas crusade appears well under way, with the latest example involving a parade this weekend in Denver, Colorado. WorldNetDaily reports that the annual downtown Denver event known as the "AT&T Parade of Lights" will include Hindu and Mestizo dance troupes, a kung fu group, belly dancers, Santa Claus, and even a homosexual (GBLT) American Indian society. But an area church has been told it is not welcome because its members wanted to sing seasonal hymns and proclaim a "Merry Christmas" message on their float. The parade website claims the event organizers are "proud to present an International Procession to celebrate the cultural and ethnic diversity of the region." However, a parade spokesman declared that religious content such as the church group's message is excluded because it might be offensive to some parade attendees. Pastor George Morrison says this exclusion is all part of the "anti-Christmas agenda" that has crept into the parade and which is "robbing us." However, the Christian group has come up with an alternate plan. Morrison says members of his church will be walking the parade route an hour before the event begins, singing Christmas carols to people on the street. AgapePress
