He Lives in You: The Lion King

The Lion King is a fun movie for me.  It came out just weeks after Paul and I started dating.  His first gift to me was the soundtrack. 

We have since seen Lion King: The Musical three times--it's amazing.  The song "He Lives in You" (only in the musical, not movie) captured me.  Here is a YouTube video of the song, mixed with scenes from the movie.



I listen to the musical's soundtrack now and then, and several years ago, I realized that song would be great for a sermon.  (Note: this realization came long before I realized I was going to be a pastor for real.) 

For Mother's Day, I did pulpit supply at a few small churches, and re-worked a sermon I did on Isaiah 43, using an illustration from Disney's Toy Story about the exile.

A few weeks ago, I got asked to do pulpit supply for Father's Day, and I kind of thought, "Well maybe it's time to put that Lion King sermon together."  Toy Story for Mother's Day; Lion King for Father's Day.   But then I changed my mind, thinking I'd just preach from the lectionary, because that really helps me grapple with important Scripture.

So, I went to the lectionary, and surprise, Galatians 5:20 says, "...it is Christ who lives in me."  Ta-da!  Lion King it will be!  And I am still forced to work on a piece of Scripture that is extremely challenging--the translation is really hard and the Reformation did a doozy on it.  (Sorry Luther fans.)

Our identities are not defined by the boundaries we put between ourselves and others.  Instead, your identity/being is in Christ.  (To the pastors and seminarians reading, please note I'm in a Tillich class right now too.)  Crazy how it all comes together.

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