Thank You

Genesis 3:22-24 (NIV)

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

1Corinthians 15:45-47 (NIV)

So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stiff all in the collar
Fluffy in the face
Chit chat chatter tryin'
Stuffy in the place
Thank you for the party
But I could never stay
Many thangs is on my mind
Words in the way

I want to thank you
falettinme
Be mice elf
agin

Thank you
falettinme
Be mice elf
agin

Dance to the music
All nite long
Everyday people
Sing a simple song
Mama's so happy
Mama start to cry
Papa still singin'
You can make it if you try

Sly & the Family Stone: "Thank You (Fallenttinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"

Ah, the fall. The moment after Adam and Eve were deceived into sharing the fruit of the vine and falling from grace. The horror and the pity, I like what George Burns said in the 1980's movie "Oh, God." Adam and Eve were just teenagers, they didn't have the savvy to take on the serpent. Oh well.

Then again, God knew all along that something would happen to gum up the works with creation. If it wasn't one thing it would be another and this is it, the biggy, eating the fruit of the tree of Good and Evil so they would know as much as God. Whoops, that does qualify as the biggy.

But since God knew all along that something would happen, something would have to change, he sent his Son. He sent his Son as the second Adam, the Divine Reset Switch so that all creation would be reconciled to the Creator.

In the beginning we were all living in accord with the Lord, but that changed. In Christ, it changes back. In this we are to say one thing, thank you.

Lord our God, Thank You Fallenttinme Be Mice Elf Agin.

Ash Wednesday's Rowdy Precedent

Fat Tuesday, Carnival, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras


1Corinthians 15:32

If with merely human hopes I fought with wild animals at Ephesus, what would I have gained by it? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh the Mardi Gras, the memories,
Of creole tunes that fills the air
I dream of Oleander's in June
And soon I'm wishin' that I were there

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans
Since that's where you left your heart
And there's something more, I miss the one I care for
More than I miss New Orleans

"Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans" by Louis Armstrong. This recording does not match the commonly found lyrics for this song. This version is from the 1956 Chicago concert.

Fat Tuesday, Carnival, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras--four different phrases pointing to one thing, one last blowout before Lent. In some places, Shrove Tuesday is a time to rid the household of fats and oils before Lent and it's focus on denial and pertinence. The main order of the day is a Pancake supper. It effectively rids the house of fats, oils and sugars, and bacon. In other places like Rio de Janeiro it's a bacchanalia that would make Hugh Hefner blush. Ah but New Orleans, New Orleans...

Louis Armstrong sang "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans." Wishin' that I were there... While Rio has a tradition that eclipses N'awlins, Americans do love le Quartier Français and Rue Bourbon, and who can blame them. That's a party. It's a party until midnight when the police clear the streets, when Mardi Gras yields itself to Lent.

Mardi Gras, where people take “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” as a personal challenge.

But with only human hopes, without a view toward the eternal, what is life? What is death? They are nothing. Nothing at all. Without God, with only human ambition, we are nothing. With only human meaning all Mardi Gras gives us is lust, gluttony, pride, sloth, and wrath. That's only greed and envy away from the Heavy Seven.

Well, I'm not going to say folks don't need a blowout from time to time. Though scripture has only bad things to say about drunkenness, especially as a way of life. Since Carnival can go from Twelfth Night to Mardi Gras, that's a bit too long for a party. But enjoy Mardi Gras. Enjoy the party. Have a flap jack. Enjoy a Hurricane, unless you can't handle your booze then don't. Just go people watching and have a wonderful time. But remember, Ash Wednesday is tomorrow, and that's a whole new ballgame.

That's what it means to miss the One I care for more than I miss New Orleans.

The Sting of the Reaper

1Corinthians 15:54-57

When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come on baby (Don't fear the reaper)
Baby take my hand (Don't fear the reaper)
We'll be able to fly (Don't fear the reaper)
Baby, I'm your man

"Don't Fear the Reaper" from Blue Öyster Cult's "Agents of Fortune" (1976)

Who is the one who calls us to come with Him? When it is our Lord Jesus Christ we enter into new life, eternal life.

Often when we think of eternal life, we think of length. To live eternal life is to live forever, often this life is spoken of as what comes after death, but eternal life is more than life after death. Better than life after death, it is real, true life that is had while living. Yes, eternal life is not just what comes later. The Lord intends us to live eternal life now.

As BÖC encourages us, we don't have to fear death with the One who gives us eternal life, but that is because we don't have to fear life anymore, not death. When we live our lives in the fullness of the Lord, what we experience is so much better than what came before it is difficult to compare one to the other.

When we live life in Christ, we live as a community. We live as God's people. We no longer seek power from one another, all we need we have. We no longer have to fear it all coming to an end because we live every day in the fullness of the one who created the day. Death loses its sting because we have no regrets for today when we live the eternal live on earth.

Yes, the eternal life of heaven will be wonderful. There will be peace and glory and worship beyond imagine. But we are not to live this life as if it is a weigh station to eternity. We are to live this life as a practice for eternity.

And while we will never reach that perfection, practice makes more perfect than living the life God does not intend for us.