Yesterday was Rosh Hashanah, and we went to a Messianic Church that meets in Newton. In addition to the shofar, it was a pretty awesome time. Garrett gave a message that went straight to my heart, and hinted more and more toward solutions that I have been really searching out for a long time. I have had a longing for a heritage or some sort of ethnic roots to discover and claim. I feel often ashamed that I am just a mutt of Europe- an American. A white American. Garrett was speaking, in short (very short), of the connection between the nation of Israel and the Church. Israel is Chosen by God, but he questioned: for what? He believed it was for the goyim- for the nations OUTSIDE of Israel. They were given the law and 'access' (if you will) to God in order to bring it to all nations. He described the nation of Israel as this very specific, physical entity that has lasted through every hardship (the Holocaust, and others) as a testimony of God's promise and faithfulness. The nation of Israel must still exist today as a testimony for Christ- to show that Christ really is the messiah. If Israel was a deceased nation, (like the Hittites, for example) the Bible would seem much more irrelevant; God's promise would seem unfulfilled. So, as Israel is a physical nation, the Church as a formless (meaning non-physical) entity; it is the fulfillment of Jesus' command to go out into the world and baptize and to "teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you" (Mt. 28:20). Garrett pointed out that this was like a new Sinai- but instead of the law given to Moses to give to Israel; the new order of things was given to the disciples to share with the world. He mentioned a story about a man that he met in Israel who was riding his bike across the country. He came to Garrett and said he had to ask about Yeshua. He (the biker guy) said that in his travels he had seen so much anger in the country, so much tension between people; except for one community that he came upon: where Jewish and Arab children were playing together, and the families were living together. It was because they were believers in Christ. The Church crosses every boundary and barrier: ethnic, gender, socio-economic, language, political, EVERYTHING. And it occurred to me: I am a Christian. That is my history, and my heritage. I am a part of a multi-cultural nation, having a connection of heart with millions of people. I had never thought of it in that way before.
Thus, my revelation.
so, happy new year.
perhaps, I will begin to feel differently now.
You're a door-without-a-key, a field-without-a-fence
You made a holy fool of me, and I've thanked you ever since
If she comes circling back, we'll end where we'd begun
Like two pennies on the train track the train crushed into one
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on another note: http://www.delish.com/food/food-articles/largest-cupcake-duff-guinness?GT1=32003#
sorry, but that's the best he could do? ugly cupcake.
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