A few weeks ago I was praying about what to talk to my Youth Ministry kids about during our Sunday night Youth Group program. What is it that they need to hear? What does God want to speak to them? There is so much to say, but being new to the parish, and not knowing where any of these kids are in their faith I felt God was telling me to stick to the basics.
When time came I told a story of a kid I will refer to as Brandon. Brandon had gotten into a lot of trouble throughout his life: drugs, alcohol, abusive behavior, jail, the list went on. One day Brandon came to talk to me and he was really upset. He began to tell me why he was a bad person, not worth anything, a waste of humanity. Brandon sang a very depressing song about himself, and I did not want to hear it. I stopped him and asked, “Brandon, do you know that Jesus loves you?” A confused look came across Brandon. The type of look your puppy gives when he doesn’t understand your point and emphasizes his confusion with a slight tilt of the head to the side. I asked Brandon once again, “Do you know that Jesus, the King of the universe, loves you? Do you know that He died for you so that you may become His son? That He, before the world was created, already had you in His mind and you…are…precious to Him?”
Something clicked...Brandon began to cry against my chest.
There is a great scene in the Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian movie where King Edmund is reading out to the usurper King, Miraz, a declaration of war from his brother, the High King Peter. After King Edmund finishes reading his brothers declaration Miraz refers, very respectfully, to King Edmund as “Prince Edmund.” King Edmund corrects Miraz by saying, “I am King Edmund. My brother Peter is the High King, but I am also King.” I love this scene because Miraz, representing all that is evil calls King Edmund by a royal title, but this is not his true title. Being a Prince is a very noble and good thing, but not if you are a King. To be called a ‘Prince’ when in reality you are a King is a cheapening of who you are.
What happened to Brandon is what happens to all of us—we forget who and what we are. The Bible and the Church tell us very clearly that we are kings and queens, sons and daughters, a chosen people of the most High King Jesus Christ. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Brandon was not living like a King. Somehow, through the sins of his life, Brandon slowly forgot who and what he was, and one day woke up something he was not. See the devil, as this movie portrays so well, knows who and what we are and he hates it. Satan wants to make us live below our true capacity. Sometimes he can influence us to live as peasants very easily, but sometimes he can only get us to live as princes or princesses. Either way that is not the title that has been given to us.
This is so basic to our faith. If we cannot recognize our dignity, our royal position in the Kingdom of God now, then it will be very difficult to see ourselves in heaven; which will lead us to continue to live lives that are below our royal title of Kings and Queens.
We are Kings and Queens, sons and daughters of the most High King Jesus Christ. This is not some nice little concept that ‘churchie’ folk say to make us feel good inside. It is a reality, a reality most of us so easily forget. We must recognize and embrace this, because there is nothing worst than a Queen or a King living life like a Court Jester.
1 comments:
Great post Leo. I'm studying for a Pentateuch midterm, and coincidentally, right before I read your blog post, I saw in my notes a quote from Elie Wiesel: "The most important word in Jewish religion is remember." Leon Kass remarked that Egypt always remains a possibility for the Jewish people throughout the Old Testament. Why? Because Egypt, slavery, happens whenever the Jewish people forget who they are. That is why remembering is so important.
Of course, remembering is important in Christianity as well. Remembering, as in "Do this in remembrance of me." In the Semetic mindset, remembering is not just recalling a past event, but rendering the past event present for us. (The Jew says, "The Lord rescued *me* from Egypt, He spared *our* houses). This same notion passes over into the Christian act of remembrance, the Eucharistic Sacrifice, where we not only remember, but participate in the act--the Paschal Mystery--that gave us our identity as Kings and Queens, members of the household of the King of Kings.
Anyways, I'll pray for your ministry and your kids.
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