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Who Inspires You?
Joe Killian • Jan 25, 2018
The Winter Olympics are almost here and I'm excited. While I love the competition I especially look forward to getting to know the athletes and their life's journey to the Olympics. I just read an article about Maame Biney, a 17 year-old American speed skater who is expected to do great things in PyeongChang, South Korea. She was asked about how her life has been different since she qualified for the Olympic team. Her response, that her new-found fame has been overwhelming, made me think about this week's Gospel.
Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!" The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, "What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee. Mark 1:21-28
It is important to recognize that the conversation in this passage is between Jesus and the unclean spirit. It is the voice of the spirit that speaks to Jesus acknowledging who He is, "the Holy One of God." Those that observed Jesus driving out the demon immediately change their impression of who He is. As the story continues Jesus' fame spreads and the crowds surely follow.
The question we need to ask is, why did they seek out Jesus? There surely was a level of fascination that accompanied Jesus' "performance". What draws us to Jesus? Is it what He has done for us? Or is it our hope that He will do something astonishing for others we love? What should we be focusing on?
To me the draw of the Olympics is getting to know the people who perform sometimes astonishing athletic feats. I love the response that Maame Biney had to the question of being a role-model. "I don't think of myself as a role model because I'm 17 years old and still a kid. But that's amazing, and I hope to inspire everyone to go for it." Maame knows who she is. Jesus did too. Knowing 'the Holy One of God' is what should inspire us all. "Go for it!"
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.
