w for November 1st, All Saints Unbinding.

The following is a 10-minute worship for November 1st, All Saints Unbinding.  You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List or you may text 10w to 2828 to sign up. The song for the day is Break these Chains by Dakota Road from the CD, Break these chains.  Used with permission you can find this and other gifts for ministry at Dakotaroadmusic.com

10w for October 25th, Saints and Sinners, NL.

The following is a 10-minute worship for October 25th, Saints and Sinners, NL.  You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List or you may text 10w to 2828 to sign up. The song for the day is Child of the water by Dakota Road from the CD All Are Welcome.  Used with permission you can find this and other gifts for ministry at dakotaroadmusic.com

10w for October 25th, Reformation Sunday.

The following is a 10-minute worship for October 25th, Reformation Sunday. You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List or you may text 10w to 2828 to sign up. The song for the day is Baptized by the Jay Beech Band from the CD One Body Alive.  Used with permission you can find this and other gifts for ministry at baytonemusic.com

Opening Litany based on Psalm 46

Worship Leader: It is God who is our refuge and strength and our ever-present help in times of trouble, therefore we will not live in fear.  For even though the earth may give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, even if the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging, we will not fear. Our God is with us, our refuge and strength is ever-present with us. 

Congregation: In Revelation there is a river whose streams bring life and joy to the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High. God is within this Holy City, this dwelling place of God with us, and she will not fall. 

Worship Leader: God brings help to us at the break of each new day and though nations may be in uproar and kingdoms may fall God is still with us and ruler of all. 


Congregation: The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Come one and all and see what the LORD has done in our lives and in the lives of all the people of the earth. 

Worship Leader: The Lord brings wars to an end.  The Lord breaks the bow and shatters the spear destroying all the instruments of war, and then says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Congregation: We will exalt the Lord our God among all the nations of the earth, for the LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our strength.

Poem for Reformation Sunday John 8:31-36

It is not a matter of belonging

not a matter of doing

or doing better

Christ has come into this world

and saved us

and called us to be

the children of God

not to be saved

but

because we are

God has loved us

Christ has saved us

we are now called to run

and enjoy

and be

the children of God.

That’s Grace.

grace out

Sunday October 25^th, Jeremiah 31: "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD ,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,"  As the children of God we all come before the Lord in the fullness of who we are and are loved by the fullness of who God is.  All people will know the Lord and God will be the God of all people, from the least to the greatest.  We may know the Lord by different names and in different ways, but as the children of God, deep in our hearts we all “know” the Lord.  Look around you today and celebrate all the wonderful and not so wonderful brothers and sisters you have in this world.  Celebrate the different faith traditions, not just different forms of Christianity, but all the different faith traditions that worship God by so many different names and ways, they too are your brothers and sisters in the spiritual journey called life.  Then pray for them.  Let’s admit that we still live in a world where people of faith still fight with and try to destroy other people of faith and that is not the will of a God who created all and called it good.  So today, pray for those of other faith traditions, that the word of God’s grace may spread through them also.  

next week

Monday October 26^th, Jeremiah 31: "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."  We each come before the Lord with lots of baggage.  One of the biggest obstacles in our walk with the Lord is our inability or our unwillingness to see the garbage and therefore our unwillingness to accept forgiveness for the very thing that holds us down in life.  Sometimes that is because we don’t look deep enough.  Most often it is because we look with self-imposed blinders on.  For humans as well as business, self-regulation is just another name for not looking too deep.  What we lose in the process is the gift of the knowledge of our forgiveness.  We walk around weighted down with that bag of garbage slung over our shoulder saying, “what garbage?”  Our life is weighted down and we don’t even know it. But deep down we are aware of that bag of garbage but just refuse to acknowledge it.  God love us, and hates to see us suffer.  So bring your personal garbage to church, cast that sack over the communion rail and open your hearts to receive. This is the body of Christ, broken for you.  This is the blood of Christ shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this in remembrance of me….   Then dance down the aisle with your feet a little lighter and that weight off your shoulder, at least for now.   We’ll see you again next week.  

life and love

Tuesday October 27^th, Romans 3: ²¹But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  Two uses for the law, one is to help create an orderly society where people can go about their lives for the most part, two, is to convict us of our culpability in the sins of this world and drive us to the cross where we find forgiveness.  It is at the cross where we find Christ and forgiveness.  It is at the cross where we look around and there discover our brothers and sisters who we had thought were enemies.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus; it also comes through the faith of Jesus. It is a gift because even the ability to believe is a gift from God.  It is gift, pure gift, so leap for joy, rejoice, offer the gift to others, celebrate, pray and sing.  For the Lord has come and has brought the gift of grace, forgiveness, life and love for you and for all humanity.  

light

Wednesday October 28^th  Romans 3: There is no difference, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  We sometimes lose our focus on the word “all” in that all have sinned and fallen short part.  There is a human tendency to point to the other when it comes to the concept of sin and at least on the surface think we have done our job.  If we do acknowledge our sinful part the at least in the back of our minds we think that perhaps they have sinned just a bit more than we have.  In the realm of this world of self-help we find that we are all quite capable of, it, at least temporally helps us feel better. We find that the surface is at least clean. That is until we step into the light.  In the light, all our attempts at rationalization, scapegoating, and other means of self-help salvation are seen for what they really are, simply a wipe of the surface without getting any deep cleaning done.  In the light of Christ however, not only can they be forgiven, but more importantly we can also be forgiven.  And what we need forgiveness for most is thinking that it is primarily the “they” in this world that need to be forgiven.  Christ has come, welcome to the light.  

priceless.

Thursday October 29^th, Romans 3:  ²⁷Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. ²⁸For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.  Faith is a gift, pure gift.  Salvation is a gift, pure gift.  Seeing one another as brothers and sisters in Christ—priceless.  

free

Friday October 30^th, John 8:  31 Jesus told the people who had faith in him, "If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."    33 They answered, "We are Abraham's children! We have never been anyone's slaves. How can you say we will be set free?"  Hell is truth seen too late.  Hell is going through life hiding those bags of personal garbage in the closet hoping no one sees them.  In the process we are missing the opportunity of being free through the forgiveness that comes from Christ.  We all manufacture the ropes that bind us, the illusions that hold us down.  Most of the time what binds us is the tendency of keeping our head in the sand and not seeing the other in this world.  Some of the time our sin is looking around and not seeing what we don’t want to see, our participation in the sin we have created in the world around us.  These forms of blindness all bind us to the garbage in life.  Christ calls us to bring the garbage to the altar and throw it over the communion rail and give it to God.  Then you will be free indeed.  

salvation

Saturday October 31^st, John 8: 34 Jesus replied: I tell you for certain that anyone who sins is a slave of sin! 35 And slaves don't stay in the family forever, though the Son will always remain in the family. 36 If the Son gives you freedom, you are free!  Hanging onto the law, we all fall short.  Putting our trust in grace, we all have the freedom to live as a child of God.  Judging others is a way of invoking the law on the “them” of the world while not even seeing the judgment it pronounces upon ourselves.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used the words, you have heard it said of old, but I tell you……  He then would proceed to radicalize the law, to point out how futile it is to claim the law as the basis of your salvation.  Those who live by the law, live by deceit and the ones most deceived are themselves.  So turn to Christ and be free, and then you will be free indeed.  

10w for October 18th, Family Values, NL.

The following is a 10-minute worship for October 18th, Family Values, NL.  You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List or you may text 10w to 2828 to sign up. The song for the day is We’re Family by the Jay Beech Band from the CD One Body Alive.  You can find this and other gifts for ministry at baytownmusic.com

10w for October 18th, Top Gun, P21.

The following is a 10-minute worship for October 18th, Top Gun, P21.  You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List or you may text 10w to 2828 to sign up. The song for the day is Savior Like a Shepherd Lead us by Andra Moran from the CD Harmony Groove.  You can find this and other gifts for ministry at andramoran.com

Opening litany based on Psalm 91

Worship Leader: Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: who alone is my refuge, my place of safety; my God in whom I trust.

Congregation: For the Lord will rescue you from every trap and protect us from that which brings death. Our Sheltering God will cover with her feathers and shelter us with caring and protective wings. The faithful promises of God are our armor and protection.

Worship Leader: Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday for though a thousand may fall at your side or ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you for you are never alone. Open your eyes and see how those without the knowledge of God feel so alone at these times.

Congregation: If we make the LORD your refuge and the Most High our shelter, no evil will conquer us; no fear will come near our home for we will be surrounded by angels who will protect us wherever you go.

Worship Leader: They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. The LORD says, “I will rescue all whom I love and will protect those who trust in my name.

Congregation: The Lord says that when we call the Lord, the Lord will answer. “I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation,” declares the Lord.

poem based on 21st Sunday After Pentecost Mark 10:35-45

With each crashing wave along the shore

The water swirls

Around the outcropping of rock

Slowly eating away at its structure

Until

It consist only of the sand

Moving

And reshaping itself again

With the help of the waves

Along the beach

Smooth and gentle to walk on

Each grain

Once a part of a great structure

Now toppled by time

So too with the great structures

Of this world

Once powerful protectors of separation

Supported on the fears

Of those it is intended to serve

Only to end up

In time

A pinnacle

Surrounded by the sands

Until it too topples by its own weight.

In Christ there are no pinnacles

No outcroppings that stand above all others

Only the sands

Washing upon the shore

Supporting one another. 

victims

Sunday October 18^th, Isaiah 53: ⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  Handel Messiah comes to the point of near perfection in presenting this text. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5LriRAk5to) It real life, the drama continues.  In spite of all our attempts to save ourselves as the expense of others, in the end, it is Christ, often looked down on, and trodden upon in the form of the poor huddled masses, that saves us. After all our attempts, after all our destruction of one another for the sake of our own advancement, it is Christ, and Christ alone who saves us.  What we have rejected and replaced with all our anxiety is the joy of the journey.  Look to the down trodden, especially the ones you are trotting upon, for they are the presence of Christ for your journey with Jesus today.  Walking with Christ is walking with the victims of yesterday’s journey with an eye towards tomorrow’s community.

closes our eyes

Monday October 19^th, Isaiah 53:  ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The scape goat was the one on which the sins of a tribe or village were placed and then the goat was sent out into the wilderness where it was fair game for the predators.  Such an example is used to foretell the coming of the savior.  On him, On Jesus, was laid the sins for us all because after all of our bravado and desire to be in control, we could not do it.  Salvation is a gift, pure gift.  Seeing our sin opens our eyes to the gift of forgiveness, the gift of life we receive.  Closing our eyes to our own culpability closes our eyes to our salvation and the shining love that has come into the world.   Closing our hearts to the other in their time of need of grace has the same effect as closing our eyes.  In doing so we shut ourselves off from accepting the love of God. 

You are called

Tuesday October 20th,  Hebrews 5:  4-6No one elects himself to this honored position. He's called to it by God, as Aaron was. Neither did Christ presume to set himself up as high priest, but was set apart by the One who said to him, "You're my Son; today I celebrate you!"  In our baptism, we too are set apart for service in the Kingdom.  You are mentioned by name and then the congregation joins in; we welcome you to the Lord’s family; we receive you as a fellow member of the Body of Christ and worker with us in the Kingdom of God.  We are the collective voice of God saying, You are our child, whom we love; with you we are well pleased, and with you we will journey through life together, brothers and sisters in Christ. We welcome you as a fellow sojourner as we live out God’s calling for our lives at this time through our combined ministries at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church.  You are called by God…. Now what is God calling you to do?

rule one

 Wednesday October 21^st,  Mark 10:  ³⁵Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."  ³⁶"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.  ³⁷They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." Have your kids ever come to you with a similar question?  If they haven’t yet, they will.  When it happens, try not to laugh.  I wonder if Jesus had trouble not laughing.  We want you to do whatever we ask!!.  Yah, Right.  In the end our vision of a vending machine god will fall by the wayside.  But even now many preachers put forth the vision that with the proper prayers, proper lifestyle, proper giving, it can all be yours….. and if you act now, it will be given to you by grace……  Those trained in neither theology, logic nor basic skill of understanding often fall for it.  In the end, they too are all saved by grace, not because of, but in spite of their efforts.  Rule number one… God is in charge.  Rule number two… read rule number one.  

It is free

Thursday October 22^nd, Mark 10:  ³⁸"You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"  ³⁹"We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, ⁴⁰but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."   Yes the kingdom will be ours with all its glory, grace and grandeur.  It is free, but it is not cheap.  It will cost you your ability to have life solely on your terms, but in the end what you get is life, real life.  It comes as a free gift of God and comes with a life of service.

Power down

Friday October 23^rd, Mark10:  ⁴¹When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. ⁴²Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³Not so with you.  I sometimes think the ten were indignant because they thought James and John had gotten to Jesus first with a request they all had in mind.  We live in a power down world.  But the counter cultural ministry of Jesus came to bring us a grace down world.  Power down structures send the blessings up to those at the top and the responsibilities down to the victims at the bottom.  The Grace down world of Jesus sends the blessings down and the responsibility up.  It may seem counter intuitive, but it is the definition of love.  

heaven

Saturday October 24^th, Mark 10: Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  The trouble with Gold is that whoever seeks the golden parachute may find out it doesn’t open, and takes you down with it.  The Glory of God is that whoever opens themselves up to the grace of God finds it does open and takes you up to heaven with the wind of the spirit.  Gold or God, your choice.  

10w for October 11th, Shema, NL

The following is a 10-minute worship for October 11th, Shema, NL.  You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List or you may text 10w to 2828 to sign up. The song for the day is Your Touch is on us by Dakota Road from the CD Break These Chains. You can find this and other gifts for ministry at dakotaroadmusic.com

10w for October 11th, Camel Needles, P20.

The following is a 10-minute worship for October 11th, Camel Needles, P20.  You can listen on the flash player below. You now also have the option of receiving these notices each week and on festival days by signing up for the 10W constant contact email list on the right side of the 10W blog where it says "Please Join our Email List or you may text 10w to 2828 to sign up. The song for the day is I Was Hungry by Dakota Road from the CD All Are Welcome. You can find this and other gifts for ministry at dakotaroadmusic.com

Opening Litany based on Psalm 90

Worship Leader: God, it seems you’ve been our home long before the mountains were even born, before you brought earth itself into being.  Since before time and past the end of eternity, You are God! 

Congregation: Remember who you have called us to be and don’t send us back, dust to dust.  You are the God of time itself, deal with us patiently. 

Worship Leader: We get it.  Compared to what we are called to be, created in your image, we have not amounted to much more than a blade of grass.

Congregation: Your anger and expectations are far and away too much for us.  Sometimes we feel we are at the end of our rope. I’m sure you feel the same.

Worship Leader: Yet, I also remember more than just the frown on your face.

Congregation: Though, through the span of our years, we may disappoint and fall short of what you have called us to be, there is more to you than anger.  You are after all the essence of love.

Worship Leader: Teach us to live wisely and well. We long for your return, fearing not judgment, but the calling of your grace.

Congregation: when we see your love, we will skip and dance all the day long.

Worship Leader: Let your servants see what you’re best at— the ways you rule and bless your children.

Congregation: And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do.

Poem based on 20th Sunday after Pentecost Mark 10: 17-30

Give me a lever long enough

and a place to stand

and I can move the world.

I can do it,

I have figured it all out

on paper.
There are only two problems,

no one has a lever long enough

and there is no place to stand.

No Place To Stand!

And I shudder at the thought

of limitations.

I have been able to do it all

before.

I have run the race well.

Only to come to this point

on the edge of nothingness,

and everything.

And I find the sign

--(All things)

road closed,

can I fail now

After all I have done

--(are possible)

by myself?

--(with God)

Caymans

Sunday October 11^th, Amos 5: The LORD said: ¹⁰You people hate judges and honest witnesses; ¹¹you abuse the poor and demand heavy taxes from them. You have built expensive homes, but you won't enjoy them; you have planted vineyards, but you will get no wine. ¹²I am the LORD, and I know your terrible sins. You cheat honest people and take bribes; you rob the poor of justice. ¹³Times are so evil that anyone with good sense will keep quiet. The mantra in the U.S. since Reagan has been to cut taxes.  For the most part this has meant large tax cuts for the wealthiest among us, and small tax cuts for the middle and poor among us.  But, life goes on.  Things happen and services are provided.  In the long run, the result of the cut in taxes is that services to the poor are cut, jobs for the middle class have been shipped overseas and the top half of one percent of the nation is better off than ever before, at the expense of everyone else.  We are in an Amos world and the economic difficulties we face and the fight to stop any attempt to solve the issue is but a piece of the puzzle.  While the top of the 99% fight the bottom of the 99%, the one percent at the very top laugh all the way to the bank in the Caymans.  It is a world ripe for Jesus.  

Amos world

Monday October 12^th, Amos 5:  ¹⁴If you really want to live, you must stop doing wrong and start doing right. I, the LORD God All-Powerful, will then be on your side, just as you claim I am.  ¹⁵Choose good instead of evil!  See that justice is done. It would be nice to think that the top one percent could liberate themselves from their addiction to greed, and in the process, liberate the rest of the world from the hold poverty has on them, but it has never happened that way.  It is always up to the victims to liberate the oppressors on their way to liberating themselves (http://www.pedagogyoftheoppressed.com/).  There is more than enough so it seems for the idea of the “American Dream” to flourish for the majority of people.  Unfortunately we have been sold on a vision of an “American dream” that is only sustainable for a very very few at the expense of all the others.  During the time of Amos, the ones at the top were doing quite well and resisting any attempt to allow justice, as the Lord sees justice, to flourish.  In the end it didn’t work out so well for those at the top or for those at the bottom.  The question is: are we heading down that same path?  Are we in need of our Amos to point out the insanity of our ways?  Even then, would we listen?    

listen

Tuesday October 13^th, Hebrews 4: ¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.  It would be nice to be able to point fingers, but in the end we are all accountable, and woefully lacking, before the Lord God Almighty.   A two edged sword is able to see the wrong in others and point fingers, but at the same time it also exposes the deceit in us.  In the process, we see more of us than the other.  Through the gift of the spirit when we look at others what we see is the face of Christ.  The gift of foreknowledge is not for the few, but for all.  And the gift of foreknowledge is to be able to say “OOPS, in capitol letters as we look into our lives honestly, and to accept the grace of God in the humility of the lower case.  Nothing is hidden in the eyes of the Lord.  If that doesn’t give pause, you are either not living or not listening.  

Here I am

Wednesday October 14^th, Hebrews 4: ¹⁵ This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.  I don’t like Hebrews.  It is way too works oriented for me.  But it does contain some of the best one liners in scripture.  Through Jesus, we are understood, accepted and forgiven.  Through Jesus we can come before the throne of God and say Here I Am, I can do no other.  

shackels

Thursday October 15^th, Mark 10: ¹⁷As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  The question itself betrays the problem.  What must “I” do to be saved?!!!  As if “I” and “do” have anything to do with salvation.  Jesus does give him a way to be aware of his salvation, and an invitation to become a part of the process, as well as a part of the community of God.  Alas, in the end it was too much to give up.  What are the shackles holding us to this world???  What must we jettison in our lives in order to see and accept the forgiveness given by the love of God in Christ?

open eyes

Friday October 16^th, Mark 10: ¹⁹You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" ²⁰"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." ²¹Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."   Ahhhhh, so that is what we must jettison, our concept of making it to the top on our own and our inability to see, or care about the victims along the way.  This election season has opened the door wide to the rich young rulers of our world.  Most even claim to be men (very few are women) of god.  And what you hear is not one word about those at the bottom who are holding up their fantasy pyramid.  Go sell everything and give to the poor and follow Jesus is the word of God.  And all we seem to hear is “Look, there is a poor person who doesn’t deserve what I work for.”  I don’t care about the 99%.  In a finite world there is only one way for the rich to get richer and that is for the poor to get poorer. Jesus calls us to an opposite vision.  But what would the neighbors think if we started to care about them?  Open the eyes of my heart Lord!!!  Sing it!!

Camel eye

Saturday October 17^th, Mark 10: ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." ²⁶The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" ²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." In the ancient cities, there was a small door in the large gate that entered the city.  It was called the eye of the needle.  It enter, one had to unload all his belongings from the camel or camel herd and pass them through to the other side to someone he didn’t know.  Then in order to enter himself, he had to bow his head to come through, exposing himself in vulnerability to others.  So it is with us entering the Kingdom of heaven.  First get rid of all your stuff and then enter fully at the mercy and grace of others.  O that we would learn to live life that way….!!!!