This past weekend my wife (that is not her in the picture, I found that shot online), some friends and I went to Medieval Times in Toronto. It is a dinner show where you eat an “authentic” meal with your hands (no cutlery in medieval times) while you watch a tournament of knights on horseback. You cheer on your favorite knight while you drink “medieval Pepsi” and buy “medieval glow bracelets”. It is very cheesy and quite fun. One of the strange things is that the waitresses are called “wenches” and every time they speak to you they call you either “lord” or “lady” . This takes some getting used to. I can’t speak for everyone but being called “lord” is not something that happens to me everyday. I don’t know why but it made me uncomfortable. Maybe it was because our society is so focused on equality. Maybe it was because if I let someone call me lord I may have to call someone else lord.
As Christians we know we serve a lord. Or at least we say we do. I know I am constantly trying to put myself on the throne of my life. I get my focus off of His kingdom and I start to work on my own. When I know I should be praying
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. "
(Mat 6:9-10)
Instead I pray,
My name is great,
My kingdom come,
My will be done
On earth and I’ll worry about heaven later.
I don’t pray these words out loud or even explicitly in my mind but my actions show that sometimes this is the prayer of my heart. This is what happens when I lose sight of the real King. I start to think that the world exists for my benefit. Pride is the gate to the rest of the “7 deadly sins” . Likewise the last 9 commandments flow out of “you shall have no other gods before Me.” When I make myself lord I forget that Christian Horizons does not exist to fill my needs. I fall into the trap of thinking a good shift in a group home is a shift that is easy for me. I forget that I am there to provide service to my fellow members of His kingdom on His behalf. As Don Miller writes “The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is that life is a story about me.”
We somehow manage to ignore the all powerful being who deserves our service not only because he created us but also bought us back with His blood. The 10 commandments are prefaced by:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:2-3 (NIV)
As Christians we know we serve a lord. Or at least we say we do. I know I am constantly trying to put myself on the throne of my life. I get my focus off of His kingdom and I start to work on my own. When I know I should be praying
"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. "
(Mat 6:9-10)
Instead I pray,
My name is great,
My kingdom come,
My will be done
On earth and I’ll worry about heaven later.
I don’t pray these words out loud or even explicitly in my mind but my actions show that sometimes this is the prayer of my heart. This is what happens when I lose sight of the real King. I start to think that the world exists for my benefit. Pride is the gate to the rest of the “7 deadly sins” . Likewise the last 9 commandments flow out of “you shall have no other gods before Me.” When I make myself lord I forget that Christian Horizons does not exist to fill my needs. I fall into the trap of thinking a good shift in a group home is a shift that is easy for me. I forget that I am there to provide service to my fellow members of His kingdom on His behalf. As Don Miller writes “The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is that life is a story about me.”
We somehow manage to ignore the all powerful being who deserves our service not only because he created us but also bought us back with His blood. The 10 commandments are prefaced by:
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:2-3 (NIV)
He saved the Israelites from slavery. He has a right to be their lord. He saved us from the slavery of sin. He has every right to be our lord. He is all powerful and He is loving. Why would we not want him to be our Lord?
At Medeival Times there is a King that presides over the ceremonies. His has a big white beard, a booming voice and a grand costume. When my wife and I left the show we got on a bus to head home. The King got on too, wearing a baseball hat and a leather jacket. Our Lord is not like that.
Mark Wallace
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