Everyday Extraordinary - Jesus had Gas

This is from an idea I had for a book that would be called Everyday Extraordinary.  It is not intended to be disrespectful or to make light of the time Jesus spent on earth but rather to help the reader identify more with Jesus.  If pointing out the humanity of Jesus will help one person make a decision to follow the Everlasting Everyday Savior, then I have done my job.

I have been on several camping trips with no one but men. Some men camp in tents, some in motorhomes.  Some men eat pork and beans, others prepare gourmet meals.  The one common demoninator among these situations is a bond that unites men of every race, creed or color.  No matter what the socio-economic status of the men involved; when they are away from civilization, men stink.  Men burp too often... and they have gas.  No matter what era in history, men sitting around a campfire are certain to pass gas.

They will break wind.

They will cut the cheese.

In the immortal phraseology of King James; the men shall breaketh forth a mighty wind, and great shall be the stink with which it stinketh.

Jesus and the discliples were men.  They spent a great deal of their time walking from town to town in a hot, dry, dusty environment.  They were not often close to a shower.  Look now at their diet.  They probably ate alot of lentils.  Maybe some lamb stew with lentils.  Lentils with goat's milk.  Lentils with a roasted bird on a stick.  A diet like that is certain to make one gassy.

Now picture Jesus with the disciples sitting around a fire.  It probably started with James or John.  Why do you think they were known as the Sons of Thunder?  Then, Peter would join in.  Maybe Luke and Matthew were reluctant at first.  And soon enough, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, Son of God in human form, Creator of the Universe; Jesus would let one go.  By now, I picture all of the men laughing together, fellowshipping with that bond that all men share.  Perhaps someone would try to blame their gas on someone else; too bad for them that Jesus is all knowing.

Attributes of God - God is Righteous

We see many of the attributes of God reflected in humanity.  Righteousness however is an attribute that humanity does not seem to possess.  We are riddled with guilt from nearly the time of our birth.  We are selfish and violent.  If you doubt this, you need only visit a nursery school to be reassured of this fact.  There, you will witness children fighting over toys, over attention, and all too often fighting for reasons that do not seem to exist.  Stronger children often take toys from weaker children in a macabre survival-of-the-fittest display that is unfortunately reminiscent of the war-torn world that we live in.

Selfishness is the hallmark of the human condition.  Selfishness could be characterized as the polar opposite of righteousness.  Where selfish humanity is concerned with itself, righteous God is concerned with humanity, trapping Himself temporarily in the bonds of mortal flesh in order to free us from those same bonds.  In saving us, God commits the ultimate act of mercy by allowing us to choose to follow Him out of the failings of flesh and into the eternity that He has prepared or to continue on our own path that leads inevitably to an eternity solely in the company of oneself.  Apart from God, there can be found no joy, no companionship, no fellowship, just the horror of realizing an eternal separation from the source of all that is good.

It is worth remembering that it is not so much God sentencing people to eternal separation as allowing people to exist apart from Him.  A righteous God does not force us to love Him but gives us the choice to determine our own destinies.

Attributes of God - God is Omniscient

This is one of the easiest attributes to wrap a limited, human brain around.  Very simply, God knows everything; past, present, future, God knows.  God's knowledge of the future is the only troublesome point.  Many people equate knowledge of future events with the causation of future events.  In other words, the idea is that if God knows what will happen then He is responsible for what happens.  This thought is a shortcoming of beings that have a temporal existence.  We simply cannot conceive of an existence apart from time; God can.  Time is a dimension of the universe; God exists completely apart from the universe.  Before and after (from our perspective) the beginning and end of our Universe, God simply is.

Attributes of God - God is Omnipresent

This is a difficult concept to understand, to say the least; God exists in every corner of the universe at the same time.  In some way, you could say that God is as big as the universe.  Notice I did not say that God is the universe; as the creator of the universe, God exists independently from the universe.  As David said in Psalm 139,

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”

We know now that the universe is far more vast than David knew.  The bottom of the sea, the farthest shore, the entire expanse of the Earth are the merest slivers of creation.  This knowledge should put us in far more awe of God than David was.  How incredible is it that God should take notice of us at all; let alone desire a relationship with us.  How incredible for us to take advantage of this privilege.

Don't You (Forget About Me)

And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off?
Luke 18:7

What is justice?  This parable does not go into detail regarding what receiving justice meant for the widow who was pestering the “Unjust Judge”, only that he would make certain that she received it.  To answer my previous question, to receive justice is to receive that which is rightfully yours.  Given this definition, as a child of God what is rightfully yours?  Do You have the right to ask God to act as a genie, ready to do your bidding?  Do you have the right to be delivered from the hands of your enemies?  Do you have the right to live a long and fulfilling life on this earth?  No, you don't have the right to any of these things.  You do however have a right to receive one thing, death.

Suddenly, this verse does not sound so great.  In fact, I would just as soon not avail myself of this right any time soon.  As I have alluded to before, God's justice is not one of His attributes that is pleasant to dwell on.  Incredibly, God gives us a choice.  We can choose to be judged on our own merits, taking the consequences of our actions on ourselves or, option 2, we can choose to be judged on the merits of Jesus Christ, God's own beloved son.  Even more difficult to believe is the fact that though He was innocent, Jesus has already borne the consequences of our sin and lawlessness by dying a cruel death.

Clearly, demanding and receiving “Justice” is not the central point of this verse.  The most important point seems to be the fact that we are “His chosen ones” and that we should be calling on God at all times.  Though it is not necessarily just from His point of view, God wants us to bring our requests to Him.  God wants to hear so much more than just requests though.  If we correctly recognize our relationship to God, we should bring to Him not just our requests, but also our praise, thanksgiving and worship.

I may be wrong, but I believe that many of those who call themselves Christians, like me, possess prayer lives that are heavily biased towards requests.  This is not an unexpected state of affairs, as our problems often seem immediate while we are tempted to think of God as something that is remote.  This could not be further from the truth; the moment you truly seek Him, God is there.  God promises us that we will find Him when we see Him with all our hearts.  I pray that everyone who reads these words, myself included will seek God in this way.