…those who want to save their life will
lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the
gospel, will save it…Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed…
Mark 8:35,38
-today's message is from my sermon Playful, Powerful Words,
September 16, 2012:
Jesus
uses the words that he nearly always uses to describe himself: “Son of Man.” This is a title with which the disciples would be familiar.
It appears in numerous places in the Hebrew Scriptures and has a wide range of
meaning that encompasses the fullness of the human/divine relationship.
By
calling himself Son of Man instead of Messiah, Jesus places himself among not
above humanity. He offers his own
life as the example and says follow me. And in doing so he shows us how to be
truly and fully human - which also means claiming the divine spark within
ourselves.
This
is the “life” we discover when we loose the “life” we perceive as separate from
God, and thus separate from one another, and all of Creation.
In other words, how can we be fully
human, how can we live as we were created in the Divine Image, if we are
ashamed of being human?
The
life we give up and the life we gain can be put this way: We can see ourselves
as fallen creatures unworthy of Divine love, or we can claim life as God
infused humanity by following Jesus and living his words.
Ultimately,
I think Jesus ends up saying, whoever we say he is, whatever words we use to
describe him, will determine who we say we are.
And
the words we use to describe ourselves, determine the words we use with others,
which ultimately determine the life we live.
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