3,500 Years, and Still Trying!

If the original Shema (the basis for the Greatest Commandment) was written at the end of the Exodus (maybe the mid-1,400's BC) then Jesus would have spoken the greatest commandment (Mark 12:28-34) almost 1,500 years later.  The words are almost identical and express the unity and uniqueness of God (The Lord your God is one ... God alone) and that we are commanded to love God with our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength (all we have and all we are).  Jesus adds that we are to also love other people as we love ourselves.  He concludes that knowing and grasping (by following) this truth bring us 1) close to the kingdom of God and 2) into compliance with the totality of the commandments.  WOW!  What a statement to a people who had never been able to get even close.  How do we appropriate this truth?
First, lets state what Jesus is not saying.  He is not saying that we are to go back to the Hebrew law, the sacrificial system or the Jewish tradition.  We are specifically and repeatedly told that this is not Jesus' desire or direction.  He is not saying that we should love God by loving the Bible, the Torah or even Scripture, though we should love and seek the author.  He is calling us to a love relationship with God and with other people ... a relationship that is reflective of that taught, modeled and lived-out by Jesus.
He IS saying one other thing that is woven throughout the Gospels and throughout the writings of the New Covenant (the New Testament).  Jesus is telling us that those who follow Him belong to a different kingdom with a different way of doing life.  The kingdom of the world is confused and confounded by the presence of economic, religious, political, social and false kingdoms.  Each of these kingdoms have a ruler over them.  Respectively these would be money, power structures, kings/presidents/dictators, celebrities, and other humanly appointed authorities.  In His kingdom, the ruler is God (in the form of Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and He has chosen His people to be the agents of this kingdom here on this earth.  Our only power and authority comes from Him and our only allegiance is to Him.  Herein lies what I believe is the primary reason the Church seems so powerless in the world and so ineffective in bringing God's kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven."  We, according to Dr. Tony Evans, seem to believe that we can use worldly keys to unlock the doors of God's kingdom.  But God's keys are only activated for people who are sold out to His authority and to kingdom ways ... like loving God in completeness and loving people that seem unlovable ... people like us.  This is the greatest commandment because (I believe) it is the greatest key to God's kingdom ... so great that if we sacrificially and submissively apply this commandment I believe our lives, our church, our families and even our country will be forever altered ... toward God's will.  For in applying this commandment we become moved by God from the superficial to the spiritual and from the false to the real.  I don't know about you but I'm down with a life of God's power, God's Spirit and God's truth.  How about you?

What's First?

This weeks message is both distressing and hopeful to me.  The passage is pretty simple.  "seek first His kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well! (Matthew 6:33).  It is distressing because I can see the evidences of what we place first all around me. One great example of this is the current concern over the organized church that we have been co-opted by forces and appetites that are neither God-led or righteous.  Many congregations have fled poorer areas to set up shop in the places where affluence rules the roost.  We have been anesthetized by a barrage of slick Bible studies, amazingly orchestrated worship services, radio preachers that we can access at will ... and it all happens while we drive to the store, sit in our homes, worship in pretty snazzy buildings and rest in the comfort we are sure God desires for us.  I am not saying these things are necessarily bad or even ill-intended.  What I am saying is that right here in Walton County we have people starving for real and spiritual food.  The same is true in Montgomery where I served before coming to "the beach."  Less people are finding their way to a church and less people in the United States say they are part of a community of believers.  These are facts that are beyond dispute.  That's the distressing part.
So, what do we do and how can we respond.  I believe that we must first be willing to grasp solid Biblical food like this passage.  Sunday I'll tell you the Greek words and dazzle you with the knowledge of the use and context of this good word from Matthew 6.  But today, let's get serious about action.  Seeking is striving for something that we really want to attain.  If we believe what Jesus is saying and if we call ourselves Christ-followers then this passage is a start to take God seriously.  Go after His stuff first.  Jesus said that those who believe Him and are His true followers do what He asks.  He says, seek His kingdom first ... and His righteousness (not my works-based righteousness but Him).  How are you seeking?  Is Jesus coming to life in your life?  Are people mistaking your actions for those of those different people called Christians?  Does your time speak the word, Jesus?  Does your giving reflect God?  Is your computer seeking Godly-Googles?  Is your day spent worrying about things beyond your control or doing things God has commanded?  I believe these questions will tell us more than a thousand sermons.  If you are a serious seeker, become the salt and light you were made to be.  And just maybe, your life will take a turn upward!

As It Is In Heaven

One pastor called the Christian life "lived" prayers.  I like this image because if I had one desire for my life it would to be the answered prayer of God to someone or some situation.  In ministry there have been many times that people have told me I showed up or responded just after they had prayed to God for help.  I didn't have any clue about their prayer.  In many of these cases I wasn't even aware of a need.  Yet God somehow worked through a very inadequate person ... me.  I think this is why God has called us, the Church, to be the agents who are to bring His will "on earth as it is in heaven."  It's not that we are worthy.  It's not that we always do the right things or make the right choices.  I think it is a reminder that God desires a peculiar people called Christians to light their world with a little heaven.  I know this is a high calling but what higher authority could there be than God?  Who could have spoken these words more forcefully or more appropriately than our Lord, Jesus?
"Lord ... today may thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Here I am Lord, send me!"

Blessed

The term 'blessed' is one seldom used in the book of Matthew (where we will be looking into the Beatitudes this coming week).  As I look at this word in New Testament usage I am reminded of the vast difference between the word we use today.  If someone today says "I'm blessed" they usually mean that they are in a good financial or life situation where they have lots of creature comforts.  They have plenty of food, time for recreation, a solid bank account and a good house.  When we think of blessed I believe we most often think of material possessions.What does Matthew, writing to the Jews of his day say?
The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted are "the blessed."  Why is our list so different from the list Jesus talks about?
I think that it is because our values are upside down.  Jesus is constantly trying to turn our messed-up values, our self-focused lives, our quest for comfort and our lives in the direction of the cross.  The cross is God-centered and selfless.  The cross seeks God's plan instead of my plan.  The cross calls us to believe in blessings beyond our vision.  It is living other-worldly in this place of our sojourn.
So we sometimes take the hard road that isn't easiest for us because we pray we are making the right decision for our church. We are persecuted and insulted because we upset the status quo.  We are seemingly in a no-win situation until we remember that only one scorecard counts ... God's.
Today you will be faced with decisions.  Such is life.  Pray.  Listen.  Discern.  Invite God into your decision and be attentive to the fullness of His Word.  Then, do what is consistent with where God always leads us ... to His place.  You may feel poor in spirit, meek, and you might need to mourn loss of one thing so you can rejoice in the newness of God's plan.  You will probably be persecuted and rattled by the act of trying to bring peace to your situation.  But deal with life by being merciful to those who love you and those who curse you.  It is life in the Kingdom and in the end, Jesus is more than sufficient to lead you forward.  Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!