Tanks at Christmas:
Prehn, Roger H
CHRISTMAS TANKS THE sound of the army tank rumbling down the street was deafening. Coming near the end of the parade, it was seen by many to be the highlight of the day. As the tank rolled along...
...The crucified Christ now rules wherever there is forgiveness...
...A parade with Santa Claus and elves and high school marching bands and one lone army tank-it all seemed so paradoxical...
...ROGER H. PREHN (The Rev...
...We live under His sovereign authority, catching a glimpse and participating in His Kingdom...
...With him there is peace and wholeness, with him there is glory and authority...
...When the tank passed a church, the cannon aimed directly at the church...
...We who follow Christ the King are called upon to be peacemakers...
...At Christmas we worship the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the King of heaven and earth...
...We live in the meantime, in hope and expectation...
...What a strange combination...
...We are invited to be agents of healing and reconciliation between husbands and wives, between neighbors, between parents and children, and between nations...
...given and shed for the forgiveness of your sin...
...The organizer of the local parade was not moved by criticisms of the use of military power...
...It's called the Holiday Parade but it's really to open up the Christmas shopping season...
...you are forgiven...
...Christ the King will have command, when all the other kings and kingdoms have passed away...
...While the rulers of this world find security and strength in the arms of military weapons, the King of Kings comes to us born in a stable and crowned with thorns and placed on a cross...
...That looked like defeat, though nothing short of the miracle of victory...
...I'd get eighteen tanks if I could...
...In history classes we learned of the pharoahs, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Charlemagne, the Czars, and Hitler...
...Matthias Lutheran Church in Greensburg, Pennsylvania...
...peace be with you...
...But, for the Christian church, there is One who will rule forever...
...As the tank rolled along the street, the soldiers inside delighted the onlookers by swinging the tank's cannon around the tank...
...Whose kingdom will rule...
...One began to wonder...
...Roger H. Prehn is pastor of St...
...We are called upon to bear the burdens of the sorrowful and the forgotten...
...Our Lord and King will come some day in full honor and glory...
...Kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers are only temporary fixtures in the course of events...
...Christmas and a tank...
Vol. 110 • December 1983 • No. 22
