S -
"And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For
what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits
himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of
Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of
the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will
not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”" (Luke
9:23-27 ESV)
O -
Shame is a very powerful force in human life and culture. Jesus addresses this head-on as it relates to
his person and to his words. Does this
shame dynamic apply to all of Jesus' words or only some of them? Religion picks a very small portion of his
words to connect with this direct statement about shame. Jesus makes no such limitation. All of his words are included. Many will want to identify with the shame of
his cross but ignore his words on daily needs and provision (Matthew 6:24-34),
money and greed (Luke 12:13-34; 16:13-15) and on loving all and judging none
(Matthew 7:1-6; Luke 6:37-42; John 15:12-17) to cite a few. The result is that we are taught
to be ashamed of many of his words under the guise of good stewardship,
practical living and how earth really works.
Aren't these the very issues he calls us to deny ourselves to? Anyone means everyone. Whoever includes all. His metric is simple and clear: "For
whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my
sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world
and loses or forfeits himself?"
A - The term
for shame (ἐπαισχύνομαι) has
as its root the action of disfigurement. This is how I can know if I’m ashamed of his
words or not. Am I believing/living his
words or altering them (disfigure) to accommodate me trying to keep or save my
life? Either I will succumb to the shame
of culture (religious and secular) and disfigure the words of Jesus or I will
believe and live them … shamelessly.
I'll need heaven's help to refuse the shame. The beauty is that heaven is near and stands
ready to help.
P - Lord
who is life,
I choose to lose … so you
will find. Thank you for clear words
about earth so we can be empowered by heaven.
I accept this assignment according to love. I admit that you are life and your words lead
to life. I also admit that I am little
and weak and vulnerable to shame. Thank
you for refusing to be ashamed to call me brother. I love you back and welcome your
irrepressible life and power unto no shame!
Yes according to Jesus,
Steve
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