TCB
Pt. 1
Elvis was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948. Over the course of his career, Elvis, He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas.
Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards for 150 different albums and singles, far more than any other artist. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations with 3 wins from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received at age 36. Elvis died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977.
In 1992, the U.S. Postal Service announced that Elvis’ image would be used for a commemorative postage stamp. The stamp was released on January 8, 1993, with extravagant first day of issue ceremonies at Graceland. The Elvis stamp is the most widely publicized stamp issue in the history of the U.S. Postal Service, and it is the top selling commemorative postage stamp of all time.
Currently, there are over 625 active Elvis fan clubs worldwide.
However, Elvis didn’t succeed by himself. He was help along by some close friends that made up his band which he dubbed the Memphis Mafia and then later because Pricilla Presley didn’t like the mafia connection of the name he came up with the name the TCB Band. It was a four piece group made up of a piano player, drummer, bass player, and guitar player. However, TCB or Takin’ Care of Business was more than just a band name. It in fact was even more than just a slogan. Elvis had adopted TCB as his life motto. Elvis put this logo on everything including necklaces and rings that he handed out to close friends and confidants. He even had it painted on the tail of his personal jet. He had it painted on the walls of his TV Room. It is even on his tombstone.
These 3 simple letters drove his life. But these letters should also have significance for us as believers. Not because they were made famous by some legendary rock icon or even because of the extremely successful song by the same name. No these 3 letters speak to our roles as priests. Before I go any further let me stop here and remind you that of all the things you can be called as a follower of Christ, disciple, saint, and member of the body, brother/sister, and joint heir, perhaps the one that is the most accurate, descriptive and heavy with the weight of responsibility is the moniker of priest. Peter makes it very clear that this is who we are.
I Peter 2:9 – “9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”
Most of us never think twice about this passage and the demands that it places on us. We just quickly and glibly pass over this identifier with thoughts of white clerical collars and rosary beads, or silly little jinglish song roles over in our head, but no real consideration that this title places on us very specific responsibilities.
I want us to take a journey together over the next few weeks. I want us to journey back into the Old Testament and examine the daily jobs or duties of the priesthood because I think they still translate and speak to us today. I want to remind us that we have to be TCB. We have business that we are required to attend to on a daily basis as priest of the kingdom! I want us to look at two specific duties today.
TEXT: Leviticus 13:1-7, 9, 29-30; Deuteronomy 10:8
1And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 2When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it become in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: 3and the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and if the hair in the plague be turned white, and the appearance of the plague be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean. 4And if the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and the appearance thereof be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white, then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days: 5and the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if in his eyes the plague be at a stay, and the plague be not spread in the skin, then the priest shall shut him up seven days more: 6and the priest shall look on him again the seventh day; and, behold, if the plague be dim, and the plague be not spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean. 7But if the scab spread abroad in the skin, after that he hath showed himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again: 9When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest; 29And when a man or woman hath a plague upon the head or upon the beard, 30then the priest shall look on the plague; and, behold, if the appearance thereof be deeper than the skin, and there be in it yellow thin hair, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a scall, it is leprosy of the head or of the beard.
8At that time Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
1. The first duty that the priest was responsible for was to diagnose sickness.
Their job was to examine the folks around them and be aware and sensitive enough to see sickness for what it was. They were to determine how severe the sickness was. They were to prescribe remedy for the sickness. They were to act as physician to the sick. God’s go between. God’s means of brining diagnosis and healing. And didn’t Jesus reiterate that for his followers and for us?
Matthew 10:7-8 – “7And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give.”
And again in Mark 16:14-18 - 14Still later, as the Eleven were eating supper, he appeared and took them to task most severely for their stubborn unbelief, refusing to believe those who had seen him raised up. 15Then he said, “Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all. 16Whoever believes and is baptized is saved; whoever refuses to believe is damned. 17“These are some of the signs that will accompany believers: They will throw out demons in my name, they will speak in new tongues, 18they will take snakes in their hands, they will drink poison and not be hurt, they will lay hands on the sick and make them well.”
We have been instructed explicitly to diagnose disease and to bring healing! We are still obligated as priests to diagnose disease and sickness. The problem is that most of us don’t do this. Why?
I believe there are 5 reasons we don’t take care of business when it comes to dealing with other folk’s sickness.
a. We aren’t healed
Physician heal thyself. How can you heal someone when you aren’t healed? So many of us are so diseased and sick ourselves that we are unable to even think about or be aware of anyone else’s issue. We need to heal! It is time that we get whole ourselves. Churches are full of people who have been sitting in pews and chairs for years, but are no closer to healing than the first day they sat down there. Being exposed to medicine doesn’t mean you have accessed medicine! Just because it is in your house doesn’t mean you have taken it!
Healing is not a passive process! I will just sit here until I heal and then I will help others. You can die sitting right there. Have you ever noticed that those that were healed by Jesus pursued Him? They weren’t passive. Woman with the Issue of Blood chased Him down. Blind Man yelled his head off until he got Jesus’ attention. Parents of the dead daughter approached Jesus for help. What have you done lately to get well? Have you pushed through? Have you reached out? Have you made some noise?
Don’t buy the lie that time heals! Time only deepens. You must become active in healing. You must pursue your healing. How long will you sit here and continue to be sick?
We can’t diagnose anyone else until we are healed!
b. We are too caught up in ourselves
We can’t help anyone else because all of our focus and attention is on us. Have we forgotten the command we have been given as priests in Galatians 6?
Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. 3If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. 4Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. 5Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. 7Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!— 8harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. 9So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. 10Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
When is the last time you noticed the person sitting around you and their pain? Their issue? The devastation? We get so caught up in our own plight and our pain that we fail to recognize those around us who need help. Stop just a second and look at the people around you. I know they look good. I know they clean up nice. I know they are smiling right now. But have you taken the time to look past the shallow smile to the real pain of their life? Or are you so caught up in your own life that you are neglecting your duty as a priest? TCB!
c. To be able to diagnose you have to get close to people
Most doctors refuse to call in a prescription without what? Seeing you first. Too many of us don’t fulfill our duties as priest because that requires getting close to people. We have become professionals at building walls. We keep people at a distance. We hold them at arm’s length. Don’t let anyone get too close. Keep everything on a surface level. Don’t let them see me sweat. Don’t let them see the real me and I don’t want to see the real them.
We would rather call it in. We don’t want to get too close. I am calling you to TCB. Get in people’s lives. Get close to them. Let your walls down!
Follow Jesus, the great High Priest’s, example that we find in John 1:14 – “14The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” He came right to where we live. He grafted himself into our lives. We must do the same. If we are to TCB and be able to diagnose we must get into people’s lives. We must show them we care. We must take an interest in them. In order to be able to properly diagnose people you have to get hands on with them. You have to get involved in their lives. You have to see where they live. You have to let your guard down.
d. We don’t fulfill our duty because we are afraid of contamination
I don’t want to touch their sickness because I might catch it! It might rub off. It might get me. How weak are you?
Notice that the priest had to deal with the most deadly diseases of their time and yet there was no mention of fear or contamination! We must deal with our fear and realize that no weapon formed against me shall prosper, greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world, if a snake can’t hurt you and a poison can’t kill you what do you have to be afraid of? Their addiction won’t stick to you. Their habit can’t overtake you. Their sickness can’t infect you. Get your hands on them. Quit being afraid of the sickness when the sickness is supposed to be afraid of you!
e. We don’t fulfill our duty because we are afraid that someone will ask us for a remedy/solution/or answer.
See the duty of the priest wasn’t just to diagnose. The priest was also supposed to help find a remedy! Too many of us won’t diagnose because we are afraid we will be asked how to fix what is wrong. And we aren’t sure that we have the answer. How do I deal with this addiction? How do I kick this habit? How do I get over internet pornography? How do I get out of debt? We don’t want to be asked the hard questions because we don’t know that we have the answer.
However, what we must recognize is that our second duty as a priest carries with it the answer to these questions! If we would take responsibility for our second duty then we would be able to diagnose and produce the needed remedy.
2. The 2nd duty of the priest was to transport glory!
I read to you out of Deuteronomy the assignment of carrying the Ark of the Covenant which was the place of the manifest presence of God fell to the priests.
I declare to you today that there are multitudes of people that surround you on a daily basis that need answers, need solutions, need remedies. What they need is to be exposed to the glory of God.
No sickness can stand in his glory. Cancer succumbs to his glory.
No addiction can survive his glory.
Pornography pales in his glory.
No habit can withstand the power of his glory.
Language is swallowed in his glory.
Poverty is broken in his glory.
Racism is crushed by his glory.
But I can also remind you that the lesson of David’s debacle. You remember in 2 Samuel 6, David tried to carry the glory on the new cart and it brought death. After the judgment he went back and discovered that moving the ark required priest’s who were able to transport the glory.
We have been called to be transporters of God’s glory. We have been called to be transporters not hoarders.
The reason most of us have no answers, no remedies, no solutions is that we don’t seem to have the ability to transport the glory that we experience in our services into our neighborhoods. We seldom get the glory out of this house to our house!
I would declare to you today that the reason we are inept at transporting glory because we are inept at living holy!
The priests that were called to transport glory had to be holy. They had to live pure. They had to be consecrated and set apart. It wasn’t enough to just hang out in the glory, worship in the glory, they had to apply the glory to their lives.
If we could ever get the glory from our auditorium into our Honda accord we could produce change around us!
But in order to fulfill our duty as a priest we must live up to the priest standards. We must live holy again! We don’t shine because we sin!
We can’t carry glory when we are hands are full of secret sins. We can’t transport health when we are hiding hell.
Ask Uzzah what happens when you try to transport glory without holiness. It will produce judgment and death rather than remedy and life. Our lack of holiness produces a reproach on the Gospel. We can share no light, no remedy, no solution until we live above reproach!
TCB!!! Get your life holy so that you can once again become a transporter of His glory. You must be a carrier!
I remind you was after David went back and consecrated the priests, made sacrifice and worshipped that they were able to transport the glory effectively.
I am calling you consecration again.
I am calling you to sacrifice again (a lifestyle of fasting, laying things down willingly, inconveniencing yourself).
I am calling you to worship again. Not go through the motions. I am talking about genuinely pressing into his presence. So that when you leave this house you will become contagious! So that you will have an answer. So that you will have a remedy. So that you will have a solution.
TCB – we have a job to do.
Prayer –
1. Some of you need to be healed.
2. Let walls down
3. Holy so you can transport glory
