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I don’t know how many people listen to K-Love and perhaps too much? I have it on nearly 24/7 on the car radio. Today’s Gospel text had me starting to play Toby Mac’s hit—“Lose My Soul,” in connection to Jesus’ lesson to Peter and the other disciples about taking up their crosses and following Him.
Jesus’ illumines the true cost of
discipleship telling his disciples: “24...“If any want to become my
followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For
those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life
for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit them if they
gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
“No pain, no gain,” is once again an
element of that uncomfortable challenge to “walkin’ the talk, keepin’ it real—INSIDE
and OUT!” I’m not necessarily a fan of
rap music which Toby Mac’s Christian music is borderline to being... But that’s the whole point, being on the
fringe, borderline and in some senses unpopular is—the True heart of the Gospel’s
knowledge to impart to our ever growing spiritual identity through and for
Christ.
You have to love some of those cable
specials on the “History” channel; they’ll have everything from the history of
saddle shoes to moderately insightful “educational” series on “the real origin
of the Gospels” or “Who really is Jesus? And so on.
Last night’s special was around “the
Lost Gospels” aka the Gnostic Gospels.
Hearing the narrators, specialists, scientists, historians and so on
deduce the Christian movement purely through the lens of secular history was
really rather interesting!
Could in fact the Gnostic Gospels be
truly a part of a splintered faction of Christians who didn’t have enough “clout”
or “political advantage” to have their Gospels win out over Constantine’s
institutional-oriented canon? The
history channel ignores the heretical, theological challenges of the whole of
what Gnosticism threatened, but it did make you think.
Could Jesus been purely speaking to
burgeon our hearts to develop a “special” knowledge to the Kingdom of God? Some 1,500 years later Martin Luther and the
Lutheran movement defined the priesthood of all believers through seeing the
patterns of Grace and conversion knowledge in St. Paul’s writings. In short,
Luther heard and experienced or re-experienced St. Paul’s conversion-fed
knowledge being his great treatise on GRACE. GRACE is an all caps, “Hollywood”
sized-sign reality for those who have acknowledged their conversion experience.
The Living Word of God illumines the Truth of the Gospel being that we are all
called, we all experience in some form or another a conversion moment (coming
to faith—which in my case was profound) and we are all commissioned.
Taking on the challenge of living
into our faith has consequences. It is
hard work, it can be filled to the brim with rejection... Rejection coming from the world however, NOT
ever from God! The punishing parent of
the Old Testament challenges the last part of the sentence but so does Jesus’
perspective in the New Testament truly challenging us as well. There is no circumventing around the cross. This was not only true of course for Jesus,
but if we really own up to our reality as children of Grace, priests within the
priesthood of all believers, disciples—witnesses—our lives are to be lived
fully accountable to living GRACE. This is a heart+ head to the hands and feet
function of the disciple’s body. As
community it is to be a shared force, “Body” in the world but not of the world.
Speaking of being a witness—standing
up and being stretched spiritually into living your convictions in Christ
Jesus; how much have really we been exposed to about ISIS’ systemic “Convert or
Die” crucifixions of men, women and children in Syria? Syria of all irony, was the central hub of
the book of Acts beginning journey...
We have not seen on the news or
heard much at all about the rows of Syrian Christians lining the streets
crucified, holding firm their faith that they just cannot let go of... Do you hear some of the Gospel as well as (if
you know Toby Mac,) the song—“Lose My Soul?” Is the once, “Christian nation,”
turning an indifferent eye to the reality of “faith” still existing in the
world? These people didn’t want to
become martyrs persay but just the mere fact that they could not circumvent
their faith is an amazing truth that has been concealed out of power and
control by the media and government.
Let’s hear some of those verses from
the Toby Mac song in light of our own challenges of living into our faith: “Father
God, I am clay in your hands, Help me to stay that way through all life's
demands. 'Cause they chip and they nag and they pull at me, And every little
thing I make up my mind to be... America has no more stars, now we call them
idols, You sit idle, While we teach prosperity, The first thing to prosper
should be inside of me. But Christ came in range, we said yes now we changed, Not
the same, even though I made a fall, Since I got that call, no more Saul, now
I'm Paul. How do I sense the tide that's rising? De-sensitizing me from living
in light of eternity, How do I sense the tide that's rising? It's hypnotizing
me from living in light of eternity, (Lord what we gon do, We're relying on
you, all eyes are on you Lord, all eyes are on you, all eyes are on you Jesus.)
I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul, Don't wanna walk away,
let me hear the people say.”
He continues and concludes in a rap
that is more like prayer: “Lord
forgive us when we get consumed by the things of this world,
That fight for our
love, and our passion, As our eyes are open wide and on you.
Grant us the
privilege of your world view, And may your kingdom be, what wakes us up, and lays
us down.”
When
Jesus told Peter—23... “Get behind me, Satan! You are a
stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but
on human things.” He was challenging him to work on what his priorities should
be—living a life dedicated, woven and consecrated in Grace—loving neighbor
beyond measure and fighting only the spiritual battle within—guarding the turf
of your heart against Satan.
In the History channel special last
night, the historians said that Constantine had his newly formed team of
bishops go out and essentially persecute Gnostic Christians and destroy all
gnostic materials in order to unite his empire and create a state religion....
Little did he know that faithful monks and scattered gnostic Christians hid
many manuscripts in clay vessels that they would bury deeply in the earth or
literally take with them in their tombs so that they would survive.
Who’s to say concretely that perspectives
of the “true” Gospel of Christ Jesus were distorted or “off the mark” in either
party? This is a very human tendency to
divide... For both sides could and have gone into “the twilight zone,” of not
only missing the mark but destroying the heart “Knowledge” Jesus was truly
trying to teach us to develop and LIVE for the Kingdom of God!
Living into the reality of GRACE is
making every day spiritually led by the “church” in your heart and by the
fellowship experienced from the physical church as an empowering discipleship
training ground, abroad. I don’t want to
gain the whole world—I want to be a Pastor in it, out of devoted love and
commitment to Christ Jesus and live to give compassion, peace, mercy, kindness
and brotherly love to neighbor!
AMEN
A video link to the Toby Mac song—“Lose
My Soul.”
Sunday August 31st,
2014; 12th Sunday after Pentecost; Lect. 22; Year A; SOLA Lectionary;
Nicole Collins
Psalm 26; Jeremiah 15:15-21;
Romans 12:9-21 & Matthew 16:21-28
You tube sermon link: http://youtu.be/F8yMi5kAzas
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