Coconut
Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2005
- Messages
- 4,663
There was a short play written sometime ago. Some of the language
in it is a bit dated. It is called "The Long Silence."
Listen to it;
"At the end of time, billions of people were scattered
on a great plain before God's throne.
Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some
groups near the front talked heatedly - not with cringing shame, but
with belligerence.
`Can God judge us? How can He know about suffering?' snapped a pert
young brunette. She whipped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed
number from a Nazi concentration camp. `We endured terror…beatings…
torture…death!'
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. `What about this?'
he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. `Lynched for no crime but
being black.'
In another crowd a pregnant school girl with sullen eyes. `Why
should I suffer? she murmured, `It wasn't my fault.'
Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such
groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering
he permitted in his world. How lucky God was to live in heaven
where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or
fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had
been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty
sheltered life, they said.
So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen
because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a Negro, a person from
Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In
the center of the plain they consulted with each other. At last
they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, He must endure what
they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced
to live on earth - as a man! Let him be born a Jew. Let the
legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult
that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to
do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face
false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a
cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.
At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then
let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he
died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.
As each leader announced his portion of the sentence,
loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people
assembled.
When the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long
silence. No-one uttered another word. No-one moved. For suddenly
all knew that God had already served His sentence."[1]
God does know human suffering. God has entered into
humanity. Jesus is God taking on Himself human muscle and blood and
bone. He knows humanity's suffering. Not merely in an intellectual
way, He knows it. Oh how glad I am that He does! Our God is unlike
any other supposed deity of any other religion on the face of the
earth!
A man named Edward Shivitoh was struck through World War
I by the horror of the war. He wrote a poem. I will read three
stanzas. The poem he entitled "Jesus of the Scars"
If we had never sought, we seek thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-marks on thy brow,
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the scars.
The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by thy scars we know thy grace.
The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.
Buddha sits with his little half-smile. He is
completely detached from you and your suffering. And Allah, an
image of power and might and viciousness, not sharing our suffering,
completely detached from us and our experience. You name the god
(little `g' not capital G), you name the deities of any religion on
this earth, any superstition, any spiritual thinking, and you cannot
find the Creator who became a part of the creation. You cannot find
the God of Light who takes upon Himself human flesh and suffers with
us. You cannot find that God, except right in this Book. There is
no other God like this. The majesty of deity united with the
weakness of humanity. This is our God. This is our God and to Him
we sing, to Him we bow in worship, to Him we give our lives.
as posted in Canada For Christ
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canadaforchrist/
in it is a bit dated. It is called "The Long Silence."
Listen to it;
"At the end of time, billions of people were scattered
on a great plain before God's throne.
Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But some
groups near the front talked heatedly - not with cringing shame, but
with belligerence.
`Can God judge us? How can He know about suffering?' snapped a pert
young brunette. She whipped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed
number from a Nazi concentration camp. `We endured terror…beatings…
torture…death!'
In another group a Negro boy lowered his collar. `What about this?'
he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. `Lynched for no crime but
being black.'
In another crowd a pregnant school girl with sullen eyes. `Why
should I suffer? she murmured, `It wasn't my fault.'
Far out across the plain there were hundreds of such
groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering
he permitted in his world. How lucky God was to live in heaven
where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping or
fear, no hunger or hatred. What did God know of all that man had
been forced to endure in this world? For God leads a pretty
sheltered life, they said.
So each of these groups sent forth their leader, chosen
because he had suffered the most. A Jew, a Negro, a person from
Hiroshima, a horribly deformed arthritic, a thalidomide child. In
the center of the plain they consulted with each other. At last
they were ready to present their case. It was rather clever.
Before God could be qualified to be their judge, He must endure what
they had endured. Their decision was that God should be sentenced
to live on earth - as a man! Let him be born a Jew. Let the
legitimacy of his birth be doubted. Give him a work so difficult
that even his family will think him out of his mind when he tries to
do it. Let him be betrayed by his closest friends. Let him face
false charges, be tried by a prejudiced jury and convicted by a
cowardly judge. Let him be tortured.
At the last, let him see what it means to be terribly alone. Then
let him die. Let him die so that there can be no doubt that he
died. Let there be a great host of witnesses to verify it.
As each leader announced his portion of the sentence,
loud murmurs of approval went up from the throng of people
assembled.
When the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long
silence. No-one uttered another word. No-one moved. For suddenly
all knew that God had already served His sentence."[1]
God does know human suffering. God has entered into
humanity. Jesus is God taking on Himself human muscle and blood and
bone. He knows humanity's suffering. Not merely in an intellectual
way, He knows it. Oh how glad I am that He does! Our God is unlike
any other supposed deity of any other religion on the face of the
earth!
A man named Edward Shivitoh was struck through World War
I by the horror of the war. He wrote a poem. I will read three
stanzas. The poem he entitled "Jesus of the Scars"
If we had never sought, we seek thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-marks on thy brow,
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the scars.
The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by thy scars we know thy grace.
The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.
Buddha sits with his little half-smile. He is
completely detached from you and your suffering. And Allah, an
image of power and might and viciousness, not sharing our suffering,
completely detached from us and our experience. You name the god
(little `g' not capital G), you name the deities of any religion on
this earth, any superstition, any spiritual thinking, and you cannot
find the Creator who became a part of the creation. You cannot find
the God of Light who takes upon Himself human flesh and suffers with
us. You cannot find that God, except right in this Book. There is
no other God like this. The majesty of deity united with the
weakness of humanity. This is our God. This is our God and to Him
we sing, to Him we bow in worship, to Him we give our lives.
as posted in Canada For Christ
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canadaforchrist/
i enjoyed it. thanks for sharing. 
