My son, the Christian?!
APPENDIX: The Tale of Two Hotels
Now pay attention, I'd like to tell you a story. On the face of it, it is the story of
the struggle between two hotel owners, but, as you've probably guessed
(otherwise, what is this story doing in a religious book?) it also carries within
itself a second story. This is the story of God and His dealings with mankind.
First a word of warning - this story has been written to help you get a broad
understanding of the tremendous story of our salvation, it is not to be dissected
for deep inner truths! If you want these then you're more likely to find them in
the pages of your Bible, which I would encourage you to read. But first read my
little story. As you read each part be mindful not just of the story itself but of the
italicised heading.
PART 1 : Conflict in the hotel (Rebellion of Satan and his angels)
There once was a very old and very rich man. He owned a huge hotel and
lived there with his son and best friend. He was also a good man and was kind
to his staff, an army of hundreds who looked after the hotel, prepared the
rooms, cooked and did all of the chores necessary for the smooth running of
such a place. They were preparing for an influx of a very large party of guests
who were expected very soon and who would be staying a very long time in the
hotel. The owner called all his staff to a meeting, in order to discuss the
situation and plan accordingly. There, he gave out tasks to his staff in
accordance to their rank and skill. Unfortunately his head steward was
unhappy with the jobs that he had been given to do and, having found a group
of like-minded people who were similarly discontented, organised a rebellion
against the owner. This drew short shrift and the rebels were immediately
sacked and asked to leave the hotel.
PART 2 : The first guests (The fall of man)
Soon the first two guests arrived. They checked in at the hotel and enjoyed all
of the comforts of this high class establishment for quite some time. Then one
day, while they were walking through the grounds they were met by the
ex-chief steward, who, pretending to be a staff member, proceeded to tell them
lies about the hotel owner. The outcome of this was that these two immediately
checked out and were never seen again. It seemed that this episode had
disastrous consequences as none of the other guests arrived as planned. In
fact the hotel subsequently stayed empty for quite some time. But the hotel
owner was, as I said, a good and kind man and none of his remaining staff
were sacked during this lean period.
PART 3 : A rival establishment (The sinful life)
Meanwhile the ex-chief steward, now calling himself a hotel owner, had opened
a rival establishment down the road and it was in his hotel where the missing
guests were to be found. His hotel was a lot cheaper than the other one,
though it was very badly run and its staff, the erstwhile rebels, cared little for
the welfare of the guests. Occasionally guests from the other hotel would visit,
see the squalid surroundings, and tell the poor unfortunate guests about the
better place down the road. But more often than not they were ignored,
apparently the other place was too costly for them and, anyway, they preferred
the cheap short-lived pleasures here to the luxury and rewarding environment
of the other place.
PART 4 : Infiltrated! (The call of Abraham)
Now let's return to the first hotel owner. Let's give him a name, we'll call him Mr
Lord. Mr Lord had a plan. His every desire was for his guests to return, not
because he needed the money, because he was very rich. In fact he wasn't
going to charge them money for their stay, that never was his intention - it was
just another lie of the ex-chief steward (who we'll now call Mr Lucifer). Mr Lord
had been keeping an eye on Lucifer's guests and decided to have a word with
one of the families, the Judah family. One night one of his staff broke into
Lucifer's hotel and found the room of Mr Judah, the head of the family. After a
short word with him he brought him back to Mr Lord's hotel for a lengthier chat
with Mr Lord. Out of this chat an agreement was made between Mr Judah, on
behalf of his whole family and Mr Lord, on behalf of his hotel. From that time on
the Judahs were always to be reluctant guests at Lucifer's hotel and Mr Lord's
hotel started receiving their first guests, usually, though not always, from the
Judah family, though there was never a large number.
PART 5 : Rebellion! (The life and death of Jesus)
After many years it was time for Mr Lord to execute the next part of his plan.
This was to be personally a very costly plan but, he knew, a necessary plan to
ensure that all of his rooms would be filled for a very long time. For the
purposes of this plan he needed to send his most trusted advisor, his son
Emmanuel, to Lucifer's hotel, in the guise of a member of the Judah family.
Once there, Emmanuel had to travel through the hotel (it was an extremely
large hotel, though not as large as Mr Lord's hotel) and tell as many guests
(particularly the Judahs themselves, who seemed to have largely forgotten
their forefather's agreement) as he could about his father's hotel. This he did
and he did well. He told the guests how much nicer and cleaner it was and how
the owner and staff would look after them a lot better. He also told them that it
would cost them nothing to live there and that, in fact, it was where they should
have gone in the first place. At first his mission was a success and many from
the Judah family changed accommodation. But things soon became sour as
Lucifer saw through the plan and ensured that the majority of the guests,
including many from the Judah family, turned against Emmanuel. He was
thrown out of the hotel and into the wilderness. For a couple of days nobody
from either hotel saw or heard from him. Both Mr Lord and Emmanuel's few
new friends wept for him.
PART 6 : The tide changes (The Resurrection and the birth of the Church)
Then suddenly and out of the blue Emmanuel appeared again, in Lucifer's
hotel, to a few trusted friends. He stayed with them for a short while and spoke
much to them before leaving for the last time, returning to his father's hotel.
From then on his friends, all Judahs, acted as if new life had been breathed
into them. And from then on the trickle of defecting guests became an
ever-increasing flood. Mr Lord was delighted and immensely proud of the work
done by his son, Emmanuel.
PART 7 : A fight back (Persecution of the Jews)
But from then on Lucifer became like a man possessed. He prowled through
the hotel, seeking out Judahs. He couldn't kick them out, lest they go to the
rival hotel that was, by now, receiving new guests at an alarming rate. In this he
was successful, as very few Judahs left his hotel for Mr Lord's establishment.
He achieved this by creating a wedge between the Judahs and the other
guests. Through his cunning, and aided by his staff, he turned the other guests
against the Judahs. The other guests started plotting against them, verbally
attacking them and generally being very rude towards them. They even
claimed to honour Emmanuel Lord, saying that all that they did was in memory
of him. All of these actions forced the Judahs to look within themselves for
comfort. They stuck together in small groups and tried not to mix much with the
other guests. And one thing that they never even contemplated was to escape
to Mr Lord's hotel - who wanted to go to a place inhabited by people who hated
them! It was bad enough where they were! And, anyway, the last person they
wished to meet was Emmanuel Lord, the traitor!
Mr Lord and Emmanuel grieved heavily at all of this. Although they were happy
about their new guests they were painfully aware of the suffering of the Judahs,
their chosen friends. Emmanuel was urging for a new visit but held back
because he knew that this would provoke a final confrontation with Lucifer,
which will have dire consequences for those still in Lucifer's hotel at that time.
Lucifer also knew this and had no illusions as to what his fate would be as a
result of that meeting. So he stepped up the persecution of the Judahs. He did
this because he knew that Emmanuel would not return until the Judah family
formally invited him. And the more he persecuted them, by stirring up trouble
with the other guests, the further away that day would seem! He was sure he
could keep this up forever, if need be!
PART 8 : Confounded! (Preparations for the return of Jesus)
But Lucifer was unprepared for the activities of Mr Lord's trusted friend Mr
Comfort. Mr Comfort was a quiet chap and always preferred to work behind the
scenes. He was the person who looked after the administration side of things,
who facilitated the movement of guests to his hotel. Mr Comfort was now given
a new mission. This mission, like the early ones, was just to the Judah family.
This mission was so secret that details are not available but, suffice it to say, it
started to bear fruit. Many Judahs saw the light and booked their rooms (with
the help of Mr Comfort) in Mr Lord's hotel. On their arrival they were met by the
open welcoming arms of Emmanuel, as if welcoming a long lost son.
Lucifer was furious and he stepped up his nefarious activities even more. But
to no avail. Mr Comfort was always one step ahead of him and, what started as
a trickle of defections from the Judah family, soon became a stream.
Emmanuel started to prepare for his return ...
CONCLUSION
And so ends the story. I hope you caught the thrust of it and benefited in some
way from this approach. The basic idea was that the first hotel was the place of
God's blessing (Garden of Eden, Kingdom of God, Heaven) and the second
hotel was the World, ruled over by Satan. There were possibly one or two facts
in the story that were new to you, particularly concerning the relationship
between the Church and the Jewish people. My reasoning is that the
persecution of the Jews at the hands of the Church since the 4th Century AD
had nothing to do with the true faith but all to do with the activities of Satan, the
enemy of all God's purposes. I also put forward the idea that the return of
Jesus is connected to this conflict, and is in fact the cause of it - Satan realises
that Jesus will only return when the Jews reach a significant stage in their
history and therefore he does everything to ensure that this stage is never
reached by attempting to wipe out the Jewish nation by using every means at
his disposal, including the State Church.
