Eternal Kisses for Bloodless Lips -- Waking up from the Death Slumber of My Sovereignty

“Jesus was a metaphorical theologian. That is, his primary method of creating meaning was through metaphor, simile, parable and dramatic action rather than through logic and reasoning. He created meaning like a dramatist and a poet rather than like a philosopher.” (Bailey, Intro to Parables)

The wholistic, love God with your heart, mind, soul approach that Jesus uses to teach brought to mind for me Point 1 of our first “chapter” in our trainee material.

Point  # 1 - Loving God is "central" to all life – (Family, Friends, School, Sports, Work)

Loving God is “central” to all life not only served as a good filter for me as I read Bailey’s bazillions of vectors into the parables.  Loving God is “central” to all life also personally struck a chord with me (and in me) that here at work, with my kids, in the community, out on the docks every moment, every movement, every rhythm, every word, every thought, every notion is best synthesized & understood by this phrase:  The kingdom of God must not be just ONE thing in my days. It must be EVERYTHING – PAST/PRESENT/FUTURE – ALWAYS! ALWAYS! ALWAYS!

With all this dramatist/poet/ALWAYS talk I submit these words written 15 years or so ago from lyricist Bono’s tune ALWAYS…..

“Get down off your holy cloud, always
God will not deal with the proud, always
Well if you dream then dream out loud, always
ETERNALLY yours…Always!”

I like these lyrics because they remind me that scripture calls us to “awake, oh sleeping one.”  

God is awake. God is real. To live with God is to live in reality.  To live is Christ.  

Outside of Christ I am asleep.  I am dead.  

This world outside of Christ and God is not teaming with life but instead is a giant tomb. A dark bubble of death.  

When I surrender myself always as eternally yours to my Lord, God, and savior I wake up from the empty, life-less dream of my own sovereignty.


For me all the parables (especially the unjust steward) hammered home this point –  

God is not a dream.  God is life  God is real.

Outside of Christ – I am a dream. I am dead. I am fiction. 


The parables invite me to intuitively and emotionally identify with authentic life and vivid reality. Each parable like a unique affectionate kiss from the one whose gospel isn’t that he came to condemn the world but will not stop kissing it – wakes me from death slumber to joyful vigor.

Paul captures this dynamic awakening for me in Ephesians 5 when he writes --

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper,rise from the dead,and Christ will shine on you.”

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