[Mcgregorpage] McgregorPage 521, Pentecost 15, Sept. 17

[rmcgregoralbq at aol.com]

Pentecost 15, September 17, 2006

Proverbs 1:20-33 or Isaiah 50:4-9a
Ps 19
James 3:1-12
Mark 8:27-38

The Meaning of One Free Act

“Self-actualized” emerged in the past generation as an ideal and term 
of praise.  It conjures up the image of a person who “keeps his head 
when all around are losing theirs,” who “marches to the beat of a 
different drummer,” who belies the obvious fact that most of what human 
beings do is conditioned from beyond themselves.  Is this idea of 
self-actualization merely an expression of arrogance, or is it a 
yearning for a real possibility?

James warns that the tongue is conditioned from beyond the kingdom of 
God and is certainly beyond the control of its owner.  Yet he counsels 
control.

The Psalmist praises an environment obedient to God within which the 
human being is conditioned.

Wisdom chides the person who could have chosen wisdom.

Isaiah speaks for the person who refuses to be conditioned by an evil 
environment.

Jesus lives and teaches a life conditioned by obedience and 
self-sacrifice.

Luther thought of the human will as a horse with a rider.  The rider is 
either Christ or Satan.  That is how self-actualized he thought people 
could be.  B. F. Skinner, too, would snort at the notion, but maybe 
there is more to it than existentialism made simple.  Maybe there are a 
few times and a few ways that we can actually define ourselves over 
against the world, over against our environment, even over against our 
very natures. “He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to 
them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and 
take up their cross and follow me.’” (Mark 8:34) Taking up the cross is 
the negation of all claims on our lives other than the claim of Christ. 
  It is the setting of one’s face, as of flint, toward the reign of God. 
  It is an act of will and a bestowal of grace.  It is perhaps the only 
act available to humanity that could claim the term 
“self-actualization.”  Thank you, father Luther.

Victor Frankl died at age 92.  In the Nazi concentration camp he found 
within himself that which was not conditioned by the world and set his 
face toward it like flint.  He survived and survived to tell the world 
the relationship between choosing and meaning in life.  Jesus offers, 
not just to his disciples, but to the whole multitude a life that has 
meaning -- to be his follower.  In offering this life to all and 
sundry, Jesus implies that his listeners have the power to make that 
choice.  It is a self-actualizing choice made possible by the grace of 
God.  It is the choice of unassailable meaning, to be conditioned by 
the cross rather than the world.

May these thoughts strengthen you.

An Open Letter to Fellow Pastors
>From Roland McGregor, United Methodist Pastor
 (an e-mail service)

[See Web Page address below for a Children’s Message coordinated with 
these lections.]

http://www.webspawner.com/users/ChildPage/

Multiple Sermon Starter Essays are available at
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      --Copyright 2006, Roland McGregor, all rights reserved—
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