Salvation and the Preacher Man

Ephesians 2:4-7

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

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Can't no preacher man save my soul

"Barton Hollow" by The Civil Wars from the album "Barton Hollow" written Joy Williams and John Paul White

Here's a fact for people who don't understand Christianity and preachers who are too full of themselves: Can't no preacher man save any soul. I mean any soul. That's all there is to it, it's as easy as that.

The preacher man does no saving. Jesus is the source of salvation. It is by God's grace alone, shown on the cross, that we are saved. Salvation means nothing without faith. Without faith, salvation still means everything to God, but nothing to those without faith.

People expect some sort of magic or some such nonsense, preacher man gonna save (or try) to save a soul. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sometimes it's the preacher man who thinks something the preacher does is gonna save (or try) to save a soul. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Foolishness or ignorance or arrogance are the only things that give this lyric any sort of traction. There is nothing, nothing, that can separate us from God. But that's not because of our doing, it's because God won't allow it.

So go ahead, enjoy the old expression "God doesn't want me and the devil's scared of me" but know that's a lie and the only person who is fooled by it is the person who says it. No preacher man can talk you into your own salvation, but that's fine. God is still there and God with Christ raises us up and seats us in the heavenly realm, the eternal home of the Triune God. This is God's immeasurable loving kindness, it has nothing to do with us.

Let Me Be Your Everlasting Light

2Samuel 22:29

Indeed, you are my lamp, O Lord,
the Lord lightens my darkness.

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Oh baby, can't you see
It's shining just for you
Loneliness is over
Dark days are through
They're through

"Everlasting Light" performed by The Black Keys on "Brothers" by Patrick Carney and Daniel Auerbach

Light and darkness, two great themes. It seems that these are choices we are given to make, whether to pick the dark or the light, that's not true. We're born into from the dark into the light, but we don't always see the light--so we don't always look toward the light. The dark has real power, there's no denying that, but compared to the Light, in the end, dark has met its match. That's the issue, the light surrounds us, the light is everlasting, the darkness doesn't stand a chance, and still people live in the darkness of life without faith and grace.

"Can't you see," The Black Keys sing, "It's shining just for you." A life of love and peace and grace awaits in the light of God and God in Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit this love is present for us, within us now and forevermore. How can we be lonely in such a fellowship? The truth is we can't. The truth is we still do because darkness spills into our lives. It spills like a drip and it spills in torrents. It is in these moments that we most need to hear "Can't you see," The Black Keys sing, "It's shining just for you."

The light overwhelms the dark. It has never been any other way. Never. David knows great sorrow and great joy. He knows the love of a brother and the loss of that brother. He knows the loss of a son and the birth of the son who is Solomon. In all he sings laments and he sings thanks. He sings "Indeed, you are my lamp, O Lord, the Lord lightens my darkness."

The Lord is David's light in the darkness. David laments, but the darkness never has a chance. What a way to live.

What Your Life Can Truly Be

Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth,
    and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
    and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

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Shining star for you to see, what your life can truly be
Shining star for you to see, what your life can truly be
Shining star for you to see, what your life can truly be

"Shooting Star" recorded by Earth, Wind, and Fire written by Maurice White, Larry Dunn and Philip Bailey from the album "That's the Way of the World"

This scripture is another which is read during Epiphany. It could be seen as a reference to the risen light the wise men followed to Judah. When the light appeared the Lord rose. How's that for a wonderful image. They came together.

The world was dark, the world was covered in the darkness of time. Then the light rose and the glory of the Lord arose. When the Lord arose his glory rose along with him. As his glory rose the gentile, the pagan kings came amd met the young Lord Jesus. These men from the nations came to see his light. They came to see the brightness of his dawn. From there, they took his name back to their nations.

The hope to see what our lives can be is a multi-billion dollar industry. It's medical. It's psychological. It's physical. It's spiritual. Shining star for you to see, what your life can truly be.

What's amazing about this Grammy award winning song by Earth, Wind, and Fire is the way the chorus ends. As the song ends, the music begins to die out. The pieces of the band drop out a couple of instruments at a time. Shining star for you to see, what your life can truly be.

But when the last line is sung, there are no instruments. It's just the singers. The last three lines are done wonderfully and simply. But that last line, sung a Capella, takes away all of the gloss and all of the shine. It takes away all of the luster and all of the polish. Stripped down, it gives a real look at what the light of the Lord can really look like. Shining star for you to see, what your life can truly be.

Please Meet The Kings!

Epiphany


Matthew 2:1-6

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising,and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

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I have lots of friends that I can ding at anytime
Can mobilize some laughs with just one call
Like a bunch of lunatics we'll act 'til way past dawn
Sure we'll be rockin' 'til our strength is gone

Yeah, this beat goes on
And on, and on, and on

"This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" by The Kings from "The Kings Are Here" by David Diamond and Mister Zero

Where do we get "We Three Kings" from a tradition of "Wise Men?" It's obviously something lost between tradition and translation. It's important to someone somewhere but as for me not so much.  The history of the Wise Men is vast and mysterious. Scripture seemingly has them travelling together. Historians have them coming from different parts of the world. Again, this may be one of those times where the truth of the tale is deeper than the facts of the story. Leave this one to Matthew, not a textbook author.

At any rate, as the album title says, as the Holy Family must have heard upon their arrival, "Please meet the Kings!"

The arrival of the Kings, or Wise Men, or Magi is celebrated as the Feast of the Epiphany. Generally, an epiphany is a great realization. In this case, what we celebrate is the great realization of the birth of Jesus to the Gentiles. The Jews were told by the angels, the rest of the world was told by the word of the Kings. From these three Kings, from these Wise Men, the rest of the world began to get the first inklings that God is with us, Emmanuel.

As with the song, I am glad these Kings had friends they can "ding" at any time. They might have been thought of as lunatics. They found were told they would find God Incarnate in Jerusalem, and this beat goes on. They returned to their homes. They told many. Their words were all that was known about the Child who would be King until the time of the Acts of the Apostles. From the Apostles came others. From those others come us.  Let us rock until our strength is gone... This beat goes on!

The Hold of the Law

Galatians 3:23-26

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.

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Just hold on loosely
But don't let go
If you cling to tightly
You're gonna lose control

"Hold On Loosely" by .38 Special

For those of you who believe this story sexist, you're probably right, but the point is important.

There is an old story about a girl of dating age and her mother walking along a beach. The girl asked her mother "how can I keep the love of a man?" Her mother picked up two handfuls of sand. One she clenched in her fist. When she did the sand came out of the sides of her hand and between her fingers until her hand was nearly empty. The other hand she held loosely and most of the sand stayed.

Hold on loosely, but don't let go. If you cling too tightly, you're gonna lose control.

This is one of the ways laws work. When the law tries to hold too tightly onto control, what the law seeks to contain, control will invariably fall from the iron hand. We've seen it too many times. The best example is prohibition of alcohol. Prohibition was the law that set organized crime into motion in America. Since then, the hope to control alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, the sex trade, abortion and any number of other activities have only grown when made illegal.

In short, the law doesn't work when it comes to sin. It points out what the sin is, and from time to time can specify punishment, but in and of itself it can't end sin. The Law defines sin, but it can't end it.

This is my opinion, and it's bound to be long-term objective, but I believe it to be better to live so that we have no need for alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, the sex trade, abortion and whatnot than it is to try to control it.

Literally, in my opinion, it is better and ultimately more effective to work to end the need for abortion than it is to try to control abortion access by making it illegal. The need for abortion is bad, only by ending the need will we ever end abortion.

I'm not talking about solving the old issues, I'm talking about reframing the issues as the first step toward living the way God wants us to live.

Paul writes, "Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed." Aren't issues like alcohol, drugs, gambling and so on examples of how we are imprisoned and guarded under the law? We know it is illegal because the law says so. So the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came.

Paul continues, "But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith." We are saved by grace through faith. It is through God's good grace that we are saved, not by the law.

Yes, the 613 mitzvah, the 613 commandments of the Old Testament are important. They show us how to live, but they will not save us. They cannot save us. This is why we need Jesus, the Living Torah, the Law Incarnate. The law educates, but it is a guidepost, not a fence post. To God alone can we hitch our lives and beings.