Walking as Sons and Daughters in the Age of Fulfillment
From the Mecca of Mormonism Salt Lake City, Utah This is Heart of the Matter SHORT! Where we are learning together how to walk as Sons and Daughters in the Age of Fulfillment. And I’m your host Shawn McCraney Show 6s King of Pain Taped November 8th 2020 Aired November 9th 2020
Again, our HOTM Short Shows, airing on Monday nights, are insights based in the Word and Life rather than much reference to the Word itself. And I want to talk to you tonight about PAIN – emotional, psychological, physical.
Years ago when I was in the throes of personal turmoil, there was a song by Metallica I really resonated to – it’s titled, Until it Sleeps. The video for the song, which is truly masterful and I cannot see it (which I rarely do) without tears, is a video representation of the tryptic piece of art called, In the Garden of Earthly Delights by Dutch painter Hieronymous Bosch, accompanied by the ever talented Metallica. In decades past, my heart wrenched in direct association to the anguish represented in this song and its video depictions of the shame, guilt, pain, embarrassment, and anger over sin; of the relentless badgering of the flesh to succumb to its ways, and all the pain that came about as a result.
Pain of Sin and Redemption
See, prior to Christ, and even in our Christian infancies, the pain of our sin and flesh can be all consuming to someone who will allow their consciences to work – and as a seeker, I did not barricade my mind from my actions – I felt every ounce of shame but often subconsciously. But this pain of guilt and shame allowed me to ultimately also recognize not only the total need for a savior, and I am not in the least ashamed to admit this, but it also allowed me to see the need to grow in the Spirit as a means to offset the very natural tendencies for sin within me. The depictions both of Hieronymous Bosch and Metallica cut deeply into my soul, making me wonder, “Why these demons had chosen me? I didn’t want their grip or greed but I could not turn from its gruesome grasp – and so I was literally living, like the Gadarene demoniac, chained to spiritual, soulful, often physical pain.
And then I actually met Jesus who paid the price for me. And I entered into the early baby walk of a Christian. I want you all to know, who love the Christ and have received him by faith but are still facing the feted grip of sin in your flesh, that as you grow, and as you allow Him to reign over you, that in time, through patience, the pull and reign of your shameful flesh will abate and fade. No, you will never lose contact with its grip completely, but the grip will loosen, and it will not govern you forever.
Embracing Spiritual Growth
The flesh will sleep, in time, for longer and longer periods in your life – I promise. So, cling to Him, and fill your mind with His word by faith. I was recently rowing on a machine (something I do six days a week) and was listening to music to encourage my flesh to see the row through, and this Metallica Song came on. The opening lines rang into my head:
Where do I take this pain of mine. I run but it stays right by my side
Interestingly, I found zero resonation to the words relative to my sinful flesh. I did not find in the least myself commiserating with Hetfield about shame and sin and guilt for my sinful ways. However, I did find myself, without trying, resonating to the tune spiritually. In other words, I found myself wondering (along with the song) what to do with the constant pain of being His, of living in a world that does not generally care for Him, of the pain of having very few people on earth who care or understand the pain of dying to self, and of choosing him over the things of this world. And I realized that no matter which way a seeker is going to live in this world – by their flesh, or by allegiance to Christ the King, the ultimate result will always be pain.
As a fleshly sinner it will be pain through guilt, shame, and the darkness that envelopes us as we dive deeper into sin. But as a Son or Daughter it will be pain by alienation, the loneliness of self-mortification, and the abandonment of family and friends who
Understanding Pain in the Christian Life
do not comprehend the passion that runs deep. I am not sharing this to bum you out. I am sharing it because it is true, and I want to both prepare you for the reality of it, and let you know that you are not alone.
He is with us – all the way. That is his promise. And He is where we take all the pain.
Christian Life and Pain
So where a Christian life of sin or the Christian life of a Saint will both amount to pain, he is there and we are not alone.
(beat)
Community Engagement
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