A Knight’s Tale
I talked about being bad at math in a recent sermon. What subject was my favorite…history. So, I thought it only fitting to share one of my favorite weird historical facts in today’s devotion. Ready? It’s a common childhood fantasy to at one point or another dream of becoming a knight. Sword and noble stead, ready to ride off and conquer the countryside. We have such a romantic picture of it. A polished squire walks in and kneels, the lord or queen commands them to kneel, gently taps a sword to both shoulders and tells them to arise, gives them a kiss on the cheek….and then slaps them HARD across the face…wait…you didn’t know about that last part? The historian Ramon Llull writes about the service and he emphasis this last part. The blow serves two points.
- Itis to reinforce the dominion of the one doing the knighting over the new knight
- It is to remind the knight that they are swearing an oath to may come at a great cost and require sacrifice.
And that got me thinking about our life as a Christian. Upon entering the faith, we enter into the service of another. We take up another’s banner and we carry forward proclaiming its victory. We acknowledge that our Lord reigns, the once and always King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. We worship a God without peer. And that is really a great encouragement.
Because being a Christian requires an exchange. I give my Old Adam, my sinful nature over to Christ in exchange for salvation, but service to Christ means I also have a number of things I have to set aside.
Much like that slap a knight takes; I am called to take the abuse of this world. I am called to lay down my “right” to justice, and to place vengeance into the hands of my Lord.
I must set aside my own interests and look to the betterment of the kingdom. Paul tells us, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” , so we should think of others and their interests. This is especially true as Jesus condenses the law down into the two commandments: Love God and Love your Neighbor. Through these commands we express the heart of God.
Perhaps the hardest things I must give up are my own prejudices. I must see every person I come across as a fellow member of creation. Whether I agree with them or not; I must see them as a God’s child. Because they are, they just may not know it. The disciples struggled with this…again and again and again … Just as we must submit to the world’s justice, we must refrain from being quick to place judgement. This is hard. I am challenged by this as well. I have to set aside my need to be great and acknowledge that Jesus came for the sick. I was one of those sick. And now through His grace I am sent out into the world to bring the Good News that is the Gospel.
Submitting yourself to another is hard. It means we have to repent of our sins and seek to change, to conform, our lives to his teachings. It means I have to set aside my world views, my ideologies, what I want and think I need, my judgements, my insecurities and worries…my idols…
Everything.
It is all His anyway.
And, in giving away everything I gain immeasurably more through the Grace of a God that loves me.
So, I have to ask, what are your struggles? And how can your brothers and sisters in Christ, your fellow knights of the cross help you? That is what we are here for.
Lifting you up in prayer today, pray for me.
-Pastor Dan