mud wresting with a Muslim friend (as told my David, Bono and me)

Today's Readings; Psalms 40, 54, 51, Deuteronomy 10:12-22, Hebrews 4:11-16, John 3:22-36
We fed the seniors in our neighborhood and then later I called bingo in the afternoon. As I was leaving I had the most intense conversation with a Muslim I have had in my life. The guy is a casual friend and I like him alot. I've been hoping and praying to have this kind of talk, but I just got blind sided. He knows I''m a priest and that we had a dinner for Fat Tuesday for the folks in town.
"Let me ask you, is Saint Patrick and Mardi Gras the same man?" Excuse me? "In Portuguese or another language they call Saint Patrick Mardi Gras, he is the one who killed the snakes, yes?"
It would take a number of pages to land that plane, but we talked about Patrick and faith and Jesus and then I asked him about Cairo and his perspective. "The Muslim-Christian conflict is a made-up one in Egypt that was propagated by the government years ago. We do not care if you are Christian or Muslim" he told me. "We are not so different, our books are not so different, we believe in the great prophets...I have to believe in Jesus, or I cannot be a Muslim. He was a great prophet". So I asked him about Christ's (and God's) proclamation of him being God.  My friend taught me that he had learned that these were added verses. I learned much about his faith that half hour.
But, I asked, if Jesus was not God, how could he rise from the dead?
"Oh, he did not die on the cross, that was someone else. Jesus the prophet was taken up to heaven. God would never allow His prophets to be treated like that. He protects his prophets!"

I listened and prayed while he spoke. I was respectful and not looking to jump in. I was privileged to enter into a world view in a way I could never have learned from a book. Of course I disagree with it. See, we are completely different he and I, when it comes to our faith and our Holy Books. And the difference is the Cross. It was, and still remains the stumbling block that keeps many who seek after God from finding Him.

But the cross was there and it is for us. Psalm 40:1-4 gives us some insight into it's power today. It was in the deepest depths that Christ was pulled from. He entered into it, into our sin and lives, and was then exalted to the highest place in heaven. Because of this, many will see and fear God, and put their trust in Him. It is the same in our lives. When others see where we were and where we are, they will see and put trust if God.

The world needs to see the cross for all it was. The world needs to see the shame Christ endured. And we need to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work. We need to let God wrestle with His people in the mud.

So let me ask you,  how would you respond to a faithful person who says to you "God always protects His prophets".  If God allowed Jesus to endure what He did so that others would see it, how do you respond when God "apparently" does not protect you?
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