{"id":87,"date":"2013-12-08T17:10:17","date_gmt":"2013-12-08T17:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=87"},"modified":"2013-12-08T17:10:17","modified_gmt":"2013-12-08T17:10:17","slug":"god-willing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/2013\/12\/08\/god-willing\/","title":{"rendered":"God Willing"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an earlier entry I wrote about the song \u201cHave yourself a merry little Christmas,\u201d and its underlying assumption that the world is governed by \u201cThe Fates.\u201d\u00a0 (\u201cThrough the years we all will be together, if the Fates<\/span> allow.\u201d<\/i>)\u00a0 In writing it I discovered that the words \u201cif the Fates allow\u201d were actually a replacement for \u201cif the Lord allows.\u201d\u00a0 This brings a whole new angle to the debate, especially in the light of the change that we are seeing from Christendom\u2019s BC and AD to the post-Christendom BCE and CE.\u00a0 Originally, the song emanated from a Christian worldview, but the lyrics were changed to eliminate the Christian dimension because some people felt it was offensive.\u00a0 And maybe it is offensive to some; the idea that \u201cthe Lord\u201d might not allow something we hold dear.\u00a0 Let us see\u2026<\/p>\n

Christians understand \u201cthe Lord\u201d is the God of the Bible, variously described, including Jonah\u2019s phrase, \u201cThe God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land\u201d (Jonah 1:9) and God\u2019s own words recorded by the prophet Isaiah (46:9), \u201cI am God and there is no other.\u201d\u00a0 Being humble before such authority is surely entirely appropriate.\u00a0 In the Bible book which bears his name, James (who describes himself as \u201ca servant<\/i> of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ\u201d) encourages his readers to be humble before God and chastises them for being arrogant in their boastful planning.\u00a0 He writes, \u201cWhat is your life?\u00a0 For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.\u00a0 Instead you ought to say, \u2018If the Lord wills<\/span>, we will live and do this or that.\u2019\u201d<\/i> (Jas 4:14-15).\u00a0 It is from him that we get the phrase, \u201cGod-willing,\u201d and it is this<\/span> idea which is being expressed in the original lyrics of the song.<\/p>\n

Of course, we don\u2019t hear people say, \u201cGod-willing\u201d as much today as was once the case.\u00a0 This almost certainly says something about our society and is entirely in keeping with the change from AD to CE.\u00a0 Like the people to whom James was writing, we have grown proud, believing ourselves to be masters of our own destiny; we rely not on God, but on our money, our talents, our connections or our reputation to open doors for us and provide us with our every need.\u00a0 In our so-called enlightened society, The-God-of-heaven-who-made-the-sea-and-the-dry-land has become at best an after-thought, and at worst, a swear-word.\u00a0 We behave, not as servants of God like James, but as if we were gods ourselves \u2013 with the right to do just as we please.\u00a0 No wonder we find offensive the idea that \u201cthe Lord\u201d might stand in our way and confound our plans. \u00a0How dare he?\u00a0 Just who does he think he is?<\/p>\n

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus to Mary; a child born of a virgin, exiled to Egypt and raised by his adoptive father in the line of King David.\u00a0 He made the blind see, the deaf hear and the lame leap.\u00a0 Powerful men plotted against him, a friend betrayed him and false witnesses accused him.\u00a0 Soldiers gambled for his clothes, he was mocked, beaten and crucified, though not one of his bones was broken.\u00a0 Buried, he was raised to life on the third day.\u00a0 All of this was prophesied in advance through the word of God<\/i>.\u00a0 Who then is the Lord?\u00a0 He is the one who knows the end from the beginning, so we should approach him in great humility.\u00a0 Yet Christmas also shows that He loves us deeply: \u201cChrist Jesus came into the world to save sinners\u201d (1 Timothy 1:15) \u2013 good news indeed, even for arrogant hearts!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an earlier entry I wrote about the song \u201cHave yourself a merry little Christmas,\u201d and its underlying assumption that the world is governed by \u201cThe Fates.\u201d\u00a0 (\u201cThrough the years we all will be together, if the Fates allow.\u201d)\u00a0 In writing it I discovered that the words \u201cif the Fates allow\u201d were actually a replacement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,18],"tags":[21,16,50,23,19,24],"class_list":["post-87","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cultural-comment","category-gospel","tag-christmas","tag-easter","tag-gospel","tag-humility","tag-jesus","tag-sovereignty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hwwchurch.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}