Do Muslims & Christians worship the same God? + Jesus' birth defies expectations.

Theological Thursday

Do Christians & Muslims Worship the Same God?

This is NOT the topic I intended to write about, but it is a topic that has been on my mind a lot. Events of this past year have certainly made it difficult to keep this topic far from my thoughts &, I dare say, from the thoughts of many others.

• It may be a knee-jerk reaction to condemn all Muslims for the actions of Islamic extremists, but terror invites knee-jerk reactions, even if it does not justify them.
• This issue has become so politicized that it becomes difficult for a child of God to balance love of country for love of neighbor.
• We are instructed by our Savior to love our neighbors &, in particular, our enemies. It has become too easy to consider all Muslims our enemies because of the actions of Islamic extremists. 
• That may be the root of a sincere desire to grasp at the mistaken belief that Muslims & Christians worship the same God, especially when the secular media promotes this heresy.
• This is part of a larger heresy--one that has been around forever, namely, that all religions basically worship the same God. We do not.

As I pursued my "quiet time" this morning (12/31), I followed a link off of "A Slice of Infinity," the daily on-line devotion hosted by RZIM *. It led me to an article written by Nabeel Qureshi, a former Muslim & "New York Times best-selling author of "Seeking Allah, Finding, Jesus." ** The name of the article is

Do Christians & Muslims worship the same God? [Check out the link. Please.] I strongly encourage you to read it. I do not think you will find this man to be a "hater." Rather, I think you will find his essay to be very even-handed, very thoughtful--a real attempt to help Christians & others understand the theology of Islam in contrast to the theology of Christianity regarding this issue.
* Ravi Zacharis International Ministries
** This is a book review that I have not read yet.

This is what I set out to write about today

Some scripture to consider from Philippians

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death--even death on a cross!
      Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place & gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven & on earth & under the earth, & every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11

We Celebrated Christmas Eve One Week Ago

Well, I hope you celebrated Christmas Eve. And not as a secular holiday, but as a true celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord & Savior.

Because of my own personal circumstances over this past year, I found myself during the season of Advent, leading up to Christmas, & during these actual 12 days of Christmas, really focusing on some Old Testament prophesies, plus the Christmas narratives in the New Testament, in a way that I haven't really focused before.

Christmas in our culture begins not just on Black Friday. Now the first trappings of Christmas actually are visible pretty quickly after we celebrate(?) Halloween. Christmas displays set-up in stores . . . Christmas decorations appear on houses . . . Christmas carols begin to play in the background of our holiday shopping stops . . . Santa Claus in his myriad manifestations begins to show up @ malls & other locations, enticing children & their easily beguiled parents [OK, grand-parents, too--guilty as charged!] to make photo-memories [& spend money], often including scenes of children crying in terror @ being thrust onto the lap of "jolly old [AND strangely costumed AND long-haired AND bearded AND almost always at least a little obese *] St. Nicholas.
* It would appear as if I'm looking to take a speck out of someone else's eye when I have a beam to take out of my own eye, metaphorically speaking. **
** Which I am allowed to do, because I was an English major.

Oh, & Christmas decorations start showing up in our churches usually before Christmas Eve, too.

Don't get me wrong! I love all the trappings of Christmas--the songs, the carols, the lights, setting up Christmas decorations @ home . . . TRUE CONFESSION TIME:  I do NOT like Christmas shopping, which is consistent w/my general loathing of shopping of any kind.

But as I get older, wiser [at least I'd like to think so], & especially this year during the holiday ["holy day"] season, I find myself ever reflecting increasingly on another side of Christmas.

That other side is the humble, lowly nature of so many Biblical prophecies . . . so many humble, meek, & lowly circumstances of the birth of the almighty Savior of the Universe.

• "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over Israel . . . " Micah 5:2a [Over 700 years before Jesus' birth, God uses a prophet whom we know little to nothing about to prophesy the exact location of the Messiah's birth. No "great company of the heavenly host" made this startling announcement!]
• "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:  The virgin will conceive & give birth to a son, & will call Him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14 [A prophecy by a "major" prophet. Now that's more like it! But wait . . . A son conceived by a virgin? A prophecy followed by an interval of 700 years?]
• "In the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledge to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her & said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.' Mary was greatly troubled at his words & wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive & give birth to a son, & you are to call Him Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, & He will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; His kingdom will never end' . . . 'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May your word to me be fulfilled.'  Luke 1:26-33, 38 [An angel makes the announcement. So far, so good . . .  but to a young virgin? Not part of the royal family? Living in Nazareth, not Jerusalem? Nazareth was not exactly a large red dot on the map.]
• " . . . an angel of the Lord appeared to (Joseph) in a dream & said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, & you are give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins' . . . When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him & took Mark home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave Him the name Jesus."  Matthew 1:20b-21, 24-25  [Another angelic announcement . . . to another young peasant in Nazareth, not Jerusalem? A son of David, but also not a member of the royal family?]
• "So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house & line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledge to be married to him & was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, & she gave birth to her firstborn, a so. She wrapped him in cloths & placed Him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them."  Luke 2:4-7  [Although the hometown of David, Bethlehem was a small, afterthought of a village, apparently lacking even a historical marker . . . Crowded because of the census, otherwise sparse in population, sparse in people's thoughts & imaginations. Certainly not a place for a baby like this to be born when Jerusalem was just a relatively easy stroll to the north. And his parents laid him in a wooden, feeding trough for animals? In today's culture, someone surely would have made a contact with social services.]
• "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, & the glory of the Lord shone around them, & they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah. This will be a sign to you:  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths & lying in a manger." Luke 2:8-12  [An angel announces the birth of Jesus to . . . shepherds? Keeping watch over sheep? On a dark, Judean hillside? Why no announcement to people of importance? People living in palaces or at least mansions. That would seem more fitting for one who will "save His people from their sins."]
• "So they hurried off & found Mary & Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, & all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things & pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying & praising God for all the things they had heard & seen, which were just as they had been told." Luke 2:16-19  [Shepherds, probably dressed in less than elegant garments, probably not smelling the best having spent much of their time in the pastures with their livestock, boldly enter town to search for the Messiah. And find Him! And then they are the first who apparently glorify, praise, & provide testimony to the birth of the Christ child. Probably not testimony on the level of professional, seminary-trained preachers that we would expect . . . And did I mention that they were shepherds?]

My conclusions

I'll try to keep this brief, since this post has already gotten out of control.

• Prophecies of the Messiah were made on God's terms, not humankind's expectations.
• The birth of the Messiah took place on God's terms, not humankind's expectations.
• The Christ child was born into the world in the most humble of circumstances, save for a glorious announcement made by angels . . . but made to shepherds in the most unlikely of places.
• Jesus' birth was completely in keeping in the nature of one who was born to "save His people from their sins," i.e., one who was born to die on the cross.
• Lutherans, of which I am one, focus on a theology of the cross, * not a theology of glory.

* This is a Wikipedia source, but it includes Martin Luther's teachings re:  the "theology of the cross." In my humble opinion, that excerpt is "orthodox."