18 Days Until My Head Explodes, Or Devotions to Prepare Us For Christ’s Coming
December 6, 2024 – 18 Days Until My Head Explodes, Or Devotions to Prepare Us For Christ’s Coming
“And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” Matthew 8:23ff
Cranky Reverend was searching for the perfect ornament to place on the Cranky Tree, and here is one of his finds: ET holding flowers. Now, if you were born after 1999 you have no idea who this is – so Google the movie ET and you will find out. Anyway, ET is trying to phone home, but all he has are those flowers he brought back to life and brought along to the Christmas party. I guess flowers are the gift that keeps on giving, and if you are ET you do not have to ever buy another vase of flowers – you can keep bringing these back to life.
Of course all ET wants to do is return home – so ET should just put the flowers down and buy a cell phone? Oh wait, there were no cell phones in the 80’s when this movie came out. Sure, he can make a universal device that will contact the cosmos using the MacGyver-esque contraption of a record player and other bits of tube, tape, and bubblegum. Look, he is an extraterrestrial being — he can’t mock up a cell phone to get a response from “home”? Really? I thought life from the cosmos was supposed to be “intelligent”?
This text from Matthew gives us an interesting response to Jesus’ teaching, miracles, and calling to follow him. In verse 27, after experiencing Jesus calming the storm, the disciples say to one another, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” Their question just highlights how little the disciples know about the true essence of Jesus. For all they know Jesus is another ET who might one day fly into the heavens on a “fiery chariot” like Elijah.
Of course Cranky Reverend (CR) wants to know how you would respond if you ran into ET carrying flowers coming out of the grocery store? You most likely would respond in the same way: “What sort of being is that – and why is he carrying flowers?”
What burns Cranky Reverend’s coffee beans these days is the fact that more people believe in ET than there are people who believe that Jesus was G-d – or that there is any G-d at all. What CR wants to remind you of is if you believe in ET, than you have to believe that someone or something created ET – and that someone is G-d.
So we may not know why ET is carrying the flowers – perhaps he has a date. But we all have a date with our creator – that day when we will leave this earth for good. So perhaps we should stop complaining about everything and begin working on our relationship with G-d through Jesus Christ. After all, G-d doesn’t need anymore cranky people in heaven.
Pastor Dave
The "Frowning Glory" 
