"This will be a sign for you; you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth lying in a manger" (Luke2:12)
The headline on Twitter read: " UFC Champion Ronda Rousey named as a
person who will change the world" For those not in the know, UFC stands
for the Ultimate Fighting Challenge". It is the premier organization
that oversees Mixed Martial Art competitions. For those further not in
the know Mixed Martial Arts consists of striking and grappling
techniques. One can win by being ahead on pints or a knockout just like
boxing, or if ones opponent submits and taps out (either tapping their
opponent or the ground several times).
And Ronda
Rousey is at the top of the heap. She is the first women's champion. She
is undefeated in her fights. Her mother was a champion competitor in
Judo. Rousey herself is not only a national champion in Judo but also
won a bronze medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was one of, if not
the first, US Woman to medal in the sport.
When you
are first in a sport, and can maintain a high level of success fame and
fortune come your way. That's just how it is. Ms. Rousey enjoys
lucrative endorsement deals, appeared as a coach in a popular television
show and will be in a movie this coming summer.
And
I certainly wish her all the best. She is an entertaining fighter. I
like to watch her fight. But world changer? I suppose you can make a
case that she has opened a path way for other women in her sport. But
world changer? I wondered how someone who fights for a living and
bread and butter move is to bend other people's arms into unnatural
positions can change the world. It makes me wonder if we have either
lifted the power of athletes and athletics to a too high position or if
we have lowered the bar of what it would take to truly change the
world. Probably a little bit of both.
We have a
tendency to believe those who are famous have some sort of mysterious
power to actually effect and change the world around us. Many years ago
it was fairly common to see movie stars address congress because they
had played a certain role in a movie. If a move dealt with an issue
congress was debating you could rest assured that the star would be
there to testify. Of course it's absurd, but hardly anyone batted an
eye Why? They are famous therefore they can change the world. And we
certainly do this with athletes as well.
I also
think we have lowered the bar as to what it means to change the world.
Almost any technology that comes out is touted as something that will
revolutionize and change the world (Segway anyone?). I don't question
that much technology has changed the way we do certain things in the
world. But has it really changed the world? We haven't even begun to
look at if those changes are good or bad.
The
problem of course is that while people and things can change a part of
the world, people fall out of popularity and some day pass away. every
technological advance becomes old and useless at some point. And yet we
still seem to have a hope that the world can change. We have a dream
that eh world can be different. Where will we find someone who truly
changes the world?
We find Him, oddly enough in a
manger over 200 years ago. There in that dirty stall the Incarnation was
witnessed. God laid aside His heavenly glory and was born into the
world. Jesus of Nazareth. The Messiah, the Christ, The Son of God. The
Lamb who would take away the sin of the world. He would receive no
lucrative endorsement deal and would be abandoned by his friends a few
short hours before His crucifixion. His death destroyed the power of
sin His resurrection that first Easter morning destroyed the power of
death. Anyone with a relationship with Jesus can live a life free from
the power of sin and the fear and power of death. That's world
changing.
But consider how small it began. Oh
momentous to us as Christians. But the birth of Jesus went unnoticed by
those who lived in Rome. Why most of the good people of Bethlehem
missed it as well. While we get caught up in what happens on Good
Friday, I doubt many beyond Jerusalem and Judea took notice when Jesus
was crucified. The Romans crucified a lot of people.
Its a good reminder that When God sets out to change the world, its not
always noticeable by the powers that be. Its not usually done by those
in power or by the celebrities of the day. And yet God sues them to
change the world every day as he continues His work of redeeming our
world. Who are the world changers today? Not the star athlete, but the
volunteer who gave up four hours on a Saturday night to ring bells for
the Salvation Army. Its eh child who buys an extra toy to give to a toy
drive. Its the parent who read a Bible Story to their children last
night. It's that dear saint who has taught Sunday School for the past
thirty years and never had a class of more than five kids. It's the wife
who prays for her husband's salvation. Its the husband praying for his
wife as she leaves for deployment over seas to serve her country.
Every day you and I have the opportunity to change the world. Everyday
we are given a chance to share the incarnation of Jesus with someone.
Please don't pass them by because you think either the gesture is too
small, or you are too small in the grand scheme of things. If Christmas
teaches us Scythian it teaches us that God often changes the world
through the smallest moments.
In Christ,
Rev. Dr. Brian Jones <><
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