There Will Never Be Another You

A few years ago some friends gave me 
a three day pilgrimage to 
the Sanctuary of Lourdes.
One of the things that happens every day 
is a procession with candles
in honor of the Virgin Mary.
The high time of the year is mid-August,
when as many as twenty thousand pilgrims
process at night fall.
I was there at that time,
and it was a pretty awe inspiring sight.
One night I went up to the top of
the Basilica and looked down on the procession.
And as I looked at the thousands of people
carrying their candles,
I began to have a conversation with Jesus.
"Lord, 
how do you feel about this?
Don't you think this smacks a bit of idolatry?"

After a moment,
the Lord quietly spoke to me.
"I love my mother."

Danny Silk said that the culture of the Kingdom of heaven 
is a culture of honor.
More than honor,
the Kingdom of heaven is a culture of celebration.
So often
we get the idea 
that if we give glory to a person
we are taking glory away from God.
God celebrates
every person who bears his image in the world.

In Luke 1
we are given an incredible window into how God sees people.
In the sixth month,
an angel named Gabriel
was sent from God
to a virgin 
who was betrothed to a man 
of the house of David
named Joseph.
And the virgin's name was Mary.

First,
the angel has a name.
God names even his angels.
What was the first thing God told Adam to do?
Name the creatures.
A name defines and describes.
Gabriel
means a 
Mighty Man of God--
like a Lord or a Master.
A powerful he man
alpha male type.
So God sends this 
mighty being to a 
young woman,
a virgin,
and she of course,
is afraid.
And the angel greets her.
Not like the other times angels greet people.
He does not start off with 
"fear not."
He starts off with "Χαῖρε"
"Chaire"
This is a salutation,
that would be used if one was addressing Caesar.
It's the way the soldiers addressed Jesus 
when they were mocking him,
"Hail, King of the Jews."
The mighty man of God
is sent from the presence of the Lord,
to a girl,
and he submits to her.
The greek is much more descriptive of her:
Hail, woman who is eternally graced.
Or one who is overflowing with grace.
It is one of two words in the New Testament that only occur
once in all greek literature.
The angel creates a word 
to salute this person who is royalty from heaven's point of view.
And she would later be celebrated more by her cousin Elizabeth.
All generations will call you blessed.

And she was blessed,
because out of her would come
the Messiah,
the Son of God.

The angel's greeting is over the top.
It is ridiculous.
It is lavish.
It is generous.

The Kingdom is the same.
So many of us think that the Kingdom of God
is a big pie
and if we take too much 
we are going to take something away from God.
And we also think that there is a limit
on what we can receive from God.
Jesus is up on the hill
multiplying bread
and fish
and we only take a tiny bit,
because there is not enough for everyone.

In the heart of God,
he created a woman
with the intent that she would 
be able to first
undo the curse of Eve
by saying yes to the angel.
And second,
have the grace to bear 
and mother
the Son of God.
And God from the beginning
sent an angel
and from the moment he met her
he honored and celebrated her.

In all these years of leading Belonging House,
I have encountered so many religious
Christians
who limit themselves.
They have been taught that to shine
and rise above,
and be talented,
was not Christian.
They thought to be fully who they were
in Christ
and who they were made to be
as professional artists and performers
was not Christian.
They held themselves back
and dumbed themselves down
and limited themselves.
And when someone gave them a compliment
they would respond,
"Oh that was all God,
that was just Jesus."
It was not me.

Thankfully,
I spent my formative art years
around heathens,
and I learned an important lesson
early on.
When someone pays you a compliment
you say "Thank you."
When you do good work,
people pay you.
This is a virtue,
it is called magnanimity.
It is one of the seven virtues,
that you would humbly
glow 
in the state of blessedness.
Blessed people are happy.
There is nothing good about
spiritual fakery
and pride couched in religious yaya.

Mary was special.
She was called to a special job,
and she succeeded.
And everyone of you,
just like Paul says to us in Ephesians 2:10,
is a unique masterpiece,
that was planned before creation,
and redeemed and restored in Christ
to do the unique work you were created to do
before the creation of the world.

You,
before the creation of the world.
You,
were created for a purpose,
and there is something in you,
that only you can do.

We are living in a brilliant moment.
The restoration of Notre Dame du Paris 
is a sign that this little dark age is coming to an end.
One thing is clear
we have a desperate need for Christian leaders
in the arts and culture.
Recent events have shown us
that so many Christians have simply 
kissed up to the various corruptions
in the church, culture, and academia
to have a name,
but they are not leading.
They are just Christian versions of the same 
dull, tired,
and failing ideas.
This idea of trying to cut up a pie
is not just about glory.
You are not taking from God's glory
if you fully walk in the calling on your life.
You are an expression of God's glory.
And when you are an expression of God's glory,
you can bake another pie,
and not worry about dividing up yesterday's pie.
There is more than enough.
There are more fish and bread
to break and multiply.

Glory,
honor,
celebration,
and blessing
are the heart attitudes the open up the heavens.

And Mary was confronted 
with heaven's perspective.
She was troubled by it.
She was troubled by the assignment,
but in the end,
she said yes.
So often I meet folks who say no when 
they are confronted by heaven's perspective,
and God's calling,
and all the wealth and riches that were put in them.
And looking "religiously acceptable"
meant saying no
and limiting yourself.

God is saying today,
take the lid off.
There are no limitations.
With God all things are possible.
There is something in you 
that only you can do.
God has given you unique abilities,
callings,
giftings,
and experiences.
There will never be another you.
It's okay to celebrate that and embrace that.
And when you do,
when you discover that embrace,
you can experience and walk in
the flow of God for your life.

And you can celebrate that in others.
God isn't threatened by candles at Lourdes,
or someone getting praise for a job well done.
God is getting greater glory,
as the things he made
work out the good plan 
he set in motion before the dawn of time.

Celebrate
and honor.