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Don't Lose Sight
Joe Killian • Aug 24, 2017
Last week's blog made it clear that I was a baseball fan so I have a confession to make. I did not watch my beloved Pirates win an extraordinary game last night. In spite of being no-hit into the tenth inning the Pirates won with a dramatic home run. And I missed it! I share this with you because instead of spending my morning time with God I allowed myself to get caught up in all kinds of negative stuff when I started surfing on my phone through the news stories. It was amazing to me how quickly I got caught up in what people were saying online about any number of topics. Before I knew it I was anxious and had to put my phone down and refocus on God. In this week's Gospel Jesus asks His disciples about what the people are saying.
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. Matthew 16:13-20
Jesus is not really concerned about who the people say He is. His intent comes through in the followup question to His followers. Peter hits a home run with his answer. "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Peter is not at all confused about Jesus' identity in spite of all the talk amongst the people. And Jesus affirms Peter's profession with an amazing profession of His own about Peter and his role in the Church.
My experience this morning reminded me of how easy it is to get caught up in all that is happening around us. Josh Harrison was the savior for the Pirates last night with his game-winning home run. We don't have to look very far in our media saturated world to find debates about who and what will save us from everything that ails us. This morning I got sucked into the news and it distracted me. I lost sight of the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Peter's profession is profound because it was the first of its kind. Have you professed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God? Recently? Publicly? We sometimes argue vehemently about everything from sports to politics. But how passionately do we profess our faith in Jesus Christ?
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.
Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently. First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard. My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.
