Sunday. August 16, 2020
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The Forfeited Life
He called the people and his disciples to him and said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. What gain, then, is it for anyone to win the whole world and forfeit his life? And indeed what can a man offer for his life? For if anyone in this adulterous and sinful generation is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels”.
Discipleship, inversion, angels, and trust in God: these are the themes we have visited this week. Today Mark reminds us that in order to follow Christ we must look for goodness in reversals; we must welcome God’s message and the messengers themselves for they bring us God’s presence. And we must rely on God for all that we are and all that we have, for God accompanies us always and everywhere.
God says: I know that I am most visible to you when you are ill, frightened or broken-hearted. I understand this for I created you and I created the world, and I understand the hold that the world can have on you. I know that you welcome me when I come to you in a version of myself that matches your expectation and that I startle you when I arrive in a way that makes you uncomfortable. I understand your reluctance to open your arms to me for I created you and I created the world. I understand that you rely more on your senses than you do on me. Yet still I ask that follow me for I created you and I created the world. I rejoice each morning with you when you turn to me in prayer. I sing with you at noon when you remember me and call my name. I celebrate with you each evening when you return to me in thanksgiving . . . for I created you and I created the world. And I ask that you forfeit all for me so that you might know my peace . . . the peace that the world cannot give.
Discipleship is hard-earned and well-worn. Inversion can be anticipated and yet still surprising. God’s angels are constantly with us yet they frequently go unseen. Trust in God brings a new way of life and a guarantee of eternal peace. Let us thank God for the grace and blessings bestowed on us this day and all days.
The Noontimes 