Two thousand years ago the Romans had an iron grip on their Empire. Because of this the world at that moment was at peace. Outside the little town of Bethlehem some shepherds were watching their flocks. Suddenly…the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were very afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Just a few hundred years ago survival was harsh.  It is difficult to imagine a time when there were no roads, supermarkets, convenience stores, cars, indoor plumbing, iPods, the Internet, and so on.  By today’s standards a hundred or perhaps even fifty years ago may seem primitive or still part of the “pioneer days” of days gone by.  My most vivid memory of the rigors of childhood survival was bringing in the coal, splitting wood for kindling to start a fire, or spading up the ground so dad could plant a garden (isn’t it ironic that as soon as us kids were grown dad purchased a garden tiller).  “Thankfully” we had indoor plumbing as I shudder to think of jotting out to the outhouse in winter when nature called!

He was the youngest of eight sons.  Born into a large family comprised of eight sons and two daughters he was at the bottom of family pecking order.  His family was farmers and ranchers by trade as were his forefathers before them.  It was hard work yet the boy was loved and cared for by his older siblings and grew into a handsome young man.  He was given the responsibility to keep the herd and became diligent in his duties as he loved his father and sought to please him as any child would.  The clouds of war came and all the available young men of the town were called to action; but he was too young to be of much help (or so most people thought) so he was exempted from serving.  As chance would have it there was a lull in the fighting and his father—well stricken in years—sent him to the front to see how his brothers fared and to give their captain some provisions.  The young man faithfully carried out his father’s orders and found his brothers in the trenches and distributed the provisions as he was instructed.  As he stood in the trench gazing across no-man’s-land he was shocked and appalled.  There had been a lull in the fighting for the past forty days.  No doubt the weary soldiers were grateful for the respite from battle but their nerves were worn to a frazzle.  For forty days they had waited for the coming attack and onslaught from the enemy; because every morning the enemy would cheer and catcall them challenging them to come out of their trenches and fight.  However today, unbeknownst to the combatants, a decisive battle was to be fought and history was to be made. 

He was born the sixth of eight children. His father was a distinguished neurologist and a professor of neurology and psychiatry and the director of a psychiatric clinic. His mother was a daughter of a Countess by marriage.  Religiously, his family was not notably devout.  He was very athletic and played such games as tennis and chess with zeal.   It was expected that he would follow his father’s footsteps into psychiatry; yet he surprised and dismayed his parents when he decided by age of fourteen to become a theologian and later a pastor.  When his older brother told him not to waste his life in such a "poor, feeble, boring, petty, bourgeois institution as the Church", the teen replied: "If what you say is true, I shall reform it!"

He hailed from a small city—Kerioth; situated in Judah fourteen miles south of Hebron and sixteen miles west of the Dead Sea.  His family was of ordinary stock, no nobles or men or ‘renown’ in his family tree.  Yet this obscure man from this little known city was chosen for a mission.  If successful in his undertaking his name and work would be forever remembered and immortalized.   Unfortunately he failed and fell by the wayside.  Yet in his failure he did achieve fame and his name would forever be remembered as a synonym for traitor—Judas Iscariot.  So abhorrent is the name Judas that most parents in America wouldn’t think of naming their child Judas. 

Think of five of the most influential people in history whose life’s work is still being felt today? Who did you pick? Jesus was probably the first name you thought of right? Perhaps you added to your list the apostle Paul, Moses, Martin Luther, John Wesley, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus, Albert Einstein, Johannes Kepler, and the list could be endless. My list of five would be Jesus, the Apostle Paul, Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Thomas Jefferson!

As the man stood to speak, people noticed he was dressed in black, wearing white gauntlets and the usual crepe around his hat.  He looked much older than his 54 years.  His appearance at this most important event was almost an afterthought by the event organizers; he had only received formal notice 17 days before the scheduled event requesting his presence and participation.  He was not the key speaker—that honor belonged to a man more worthy than him—so he had to be content--relegated to a minor role; it was requested that he offer a “few appropriate remarks” at the conclusion of an important dedication ceremony.  This request, if made today, might be equivalent to the tradition of inviting a noted public figure to do a ribbon-cutting at a grand opening.   Regardless of the reason for being there, at 6' 4" tall he was an imposing figure.   His face was weather-beaten, coarse, deeply grained, and dark. His hair was coarse and black, and his eyes were small, gray, and deeply set.  His neck, though strong, was long and his lower jaw was long and heavy.  His many years of hard farm work and wood chopping gave him unusually large and powerful muscular hands and arms, back, and shoulders. 

Recently I traveled south of the border by ship to visit Mexico.  The last time I traveled outside of the U.S. I was serving in the U.S. Army in Germany (which was quite a few years ago).  One of the first things I noticed was how many Mexicans could not understand what I was saying and I was speaking perfect Indiana English!  Then I quickly noticed it was a lot hotter there than Indiana.  I was not overly concerned for my security because I observed that many Mexican police wear bullet proof vests and carry machine guns and the Mexican Army also patrolled the streets with heavy weapons.  

Yes you heard it right—Pastor Curtis went green!  No he wasn’t making an environmental statement. You may recall he challenged the congregation months ago to fill up the church Easter Sunday. If attendance reached 200+ he would die his hair green! On Easter Sunday we had 196 people in attendance: just 4 short of the goal!  Several congregants expressed their disappointment at being so close.  Pastor Curtis recognizes over the past months the effort congregants have put into getting new people and inactive members to church.