Next-Level Living

 

Galatians 6:1-10 - Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.

Make 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. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.

Don’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!—harvests 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.

So 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. Right 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.

Forgiveness and restoration, sharing burdens, taking care of the weak, resisting arrogance and comparison, focus on making a contribution, give back, In short do all the good you can and don’t worry about the rest. It will pay off

At the end of his letter, just before he makes drives home the point about the division of over Torah law (which will talk about tomorrow), Paul gives a healthy dose of what might seem to be unrelated bits of advice.  Work at forgiving and restoring those who have made mistakes.  Take care of each other, especially the weak.  Resist arrogance and comparison; they are both toxic.  Focus instead on doing what only you can do for the community.  Whatever skills and wisdom you have gained from others, be sure to pass it on to others.  Do good and trust that it will pay off.  This collection of prescriptions reminds me of John Wesley’s famous saying about doing good; “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

The thread that runs through all of these seemingly disjointed instructions is life is community.  You can hear Paul’s heart for the life of the little communities he’s writing to be healthy and vibrant.  To hear about the toxic divisions that have emerged among these people he loves is breaking his heart.  He’s trying to convince them that it doesn’t have to be this way.  The answer to resolving this is to raise their level of consciousness. 

                The default level of consciousness is to think about life as my life. Do I have what I need and/or want?  Am I happy?  Am I being treated fairly?  What is my opinion on a certain matter?  How can I solve the problems I am experiencing?  I could go on and on, but I’m thinking you get the idea.  My default consciousness is self-referencing.  Paul is calling the Galatians to adopt the next level of consciousness – a communal consciousness.  The questions we ask at this level of consciousness change.  What does the community need?  Are there people that are struggling that need our help?  What is the role that I can play in this community that is really needed right now?  Do we have unity?  What’s most important for us right now?  It is a shift from “I” thinking to “we” thinking.  It’s seems very subtle but the effect is revolutionary.  It’s also how Jesus lived and calls us to live. 

The majority of people in Jesus-centered communities that thrive have made this shift.  They think of individual resources as community resources.  They think of their time as belonging to something bigger than themselves.  Their fulfillment and happiness are found in life together.   Furthermore, they find that this is a more joy-producing and fulfilling life than was possible when they were living for themselves.   This next-level consciousness unlocks the beautiful combination of freedom and love for God and others.   

 

Questions:  Try to observe your thought life today.  What do you notice about the reference-point for the majority of what you think about?  What is the interplay between “I” and “We” consciousness?

 

Prayer:  Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer God, you have called us to life together with you and others.  Help us see how we may live into this way of being in the world.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the helpers today.  You can decide who those people are and pray for them.

 

Song:  Life Together – Geoff Moore & the Distance

Tough Love in Thessalonica

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 - In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.  For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.  We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.  For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.  Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.  And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

 

Last week when we were discussing Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, I mentioned that Paul addresses those who were not working.  Whether it was because they expected Jesus to return any moment or for some other reason, the problem didn’t get better.  Here Paul comes at the problem from a different angle.  Instead of addressing the inactive directly, he instructs the community itself that it’s time they deal the problem themselves.  The idle can ignore Paul hundreds of miles away, but they cannot ignore the people who are feeding them while they do nothing. 

This is an important teaching on life in community.  A community must be willing to hold its members accountable for their contribution to their life together.  It’s one thing when someone is helpless and unable to contribute; Jesus’s instruction is to take care of those precious people.  But the ability to do just that is eroded by people who can contribute and don’t.  They hamstring the mission. They diminish the capacity of the whole.  And Paul says that is unacceptable. 

We’ve lost that level of accountability in the church of today.  Paul’s instruction to Thessalonica is important for the 21^st Century church to hear.  We are entering a time in the history of the church when able-bodied and resourced but passive members of a church will be more and more a hindrance to the ability of a community to carry out its mission.  Not since Paul’s time has is been more important for a community to expect their community members to do all they are able to do to keep the mission going.  Resources and unpaid servants are becoming scarce.  We need everyone to do what they can.

So I humbly ask you these questions:

 

Questions:  In whatever community you count yourself a member, are you contributing all the resources that you can?  Are you helping the mission activities of your community as you are able?  Are you actively praying for your community leaders daily?  Are you giving witness to others about the good things God is doing through your community?

 

Prayer:  God, give us sober awareness of ourselves.  Help us to become clear about what you would ask of us and what our community needs from us to thrive and be about your mission.  Give us the joy of knowing that we are part of something so much bigger and more important than ourselves.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who are struggling with a sense of debilitating loneliness.

 

Song: Are Ye Able - BuPyeong Methodist Church (The 74th Anniversary Service

Immanuel Symphony Orchestra United Choir)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcY-rMvCfGg

What are Firstfruits?

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 - But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings[c] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,  encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

 

In this second part of Paul’s second letter to Thessalonica, the Apostle circles back to a concern in the first letter – the Second Coming of Christ.  He assures this church that they have not missed the Second Coming.  There are specific things that need to happen before Christ returns and they haven’t happened yet.  I want to note that Paul’s list of things that need to happen is somewhat lost on us two thousand years later.  Paul had some very specific things in mind that he was looking to happen before Christ would return.  It is nearly impossible for us to take what Paul says in 2:1-12 and try and match it up to today’s events in an effort to predict Jesus’s coming.  That was not Paul’s intention in first century Greece and so certainly, it is not an appropriate use of this text two thousand years.  What we can take from 2:1-12 is the same thing Paul intended the Thessalonians to take for these words long ago;  we have not missed Jesus’s return.  That glorious event is still ahead of us. 

The other encouragement that we can take from 2 Thessalonians 2 is from the passage quoted above.  The fact that we have been trusted with the exciting knowledge of Christ’s Gospel and with the knowledge that Jesus will return is a privilege that we should never take for granted.  We are what Paul says are “firstfruits.”  Broadly speaking, “firstfruits” are what “prime the pump” for the work that is come after.  Firstfruits in Hebrew tradition were an offering that provided for the sustenance of Priests and the Temple.  In the early church, this practice morphed into the practice of the tithe, giving the first 10% of all income to provide for the work of the church.  Two thousand years later, this practice still persists;  the church is resourced primarily through the giving of Christian community members.

So what would it mean to say that “God chose [us] as firstfruits?”  It means that we who have chosen to follow Christ were first chosen by God to be the “resources” through which God’s work is done in the community.  It’s actually not much of a stretch to say that God has chosen us to be reinvested in his work so that the work is glorified through the very people God has chosen.  We are God’s “tithe” to multiply and provide for the work of the Kingdom.  I invite you to spend a few moments to think about yourself in this way. 

 

Questions:  How might my life be God’s way of providing for others?  Are there specific people or causes that I am feeling pulled toward right now?  Will I say “yes” to being used by God in these ways?

 

Prayer:  God, thank you for choosing us to become your sons and daughters.  Thank you for making us stewards of your message and outreach to others. Lead us to be faithful with all that you have entrusted with us.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the victims and Louisiana community where yet another mass shooting has taken place.

 

Song:  Live Like That – Sidewalk Prophets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r1lLYKdMLU

Do What They Say, Not What They Do

 

Do What They Say, Not What They Do

 

Matthew 23:1-12, NLT - Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,  “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.  So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.  They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues.  They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.]

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.  And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father.  And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.  The greatest among you must be a servant.  But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.                       

              

I first heard the phrase, “descending into greatness” used by former mega-church pastor Bill Hybels.  He was giving a talk on the last sentence of the passage above.  The irony of this now is so thick, I can hardly believe it.  Hybels is one of many high-profile leaders that were exposed and brought down by their inappropriate behavior towards women.  Hybels talk, “Descending into Greatness” is another example of what Jesus meant when he instructed the people to do what their leaders say, but don’t do what they do. 

How does one become great through service and humility? I think you already know.  There are people who are high in the ranks of people you and I admire precisely because of their humility and heart to serve.  Mother Teresa is revered as one of the great spiritual giants of all time, but she literally shunned having attention brought to her personally and she spent her life serving the “lowest of the low” in the filthy slums of India.  I think of my friend Fred (name changed to protect the guilty) who literally has spent every available day since he retired serving others. You could add names to the “Humility Hall of Fame,” but of course, that would defeat the purpose.  The crazy thing about humility is that when you have it, you’re the last to know.  But Jesus tells us how we get it – by refusing to exalt ourselves and by always looking to serve. 

Jesus says something else in this passage that is momentous that is very easy to miss.  The teachers of the law didn’t miss it for what Jesus said threatened their prestigious place in the world.  Listen to it again:

 

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.  And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father.  And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.  

 

Jesus says to us here is basically that you don’t need religious leaders anymore to tell you what to do.  No titles.  Nothing that exalts one over another.  No designated teacher.   Now, you have Me.  You know God because you know Me.  You are taught be God because you are taught by Me.  You don’t need to be “fathered” by a religious leader, because you are parented directly be God. 

                What is momentous about this is that our relationship with God no longer has to be mitigated through an intermediary.  With Jesus you now have a direct relationship with God.  It is this passage and others that form the basis for Quakers having no titled leaders among their ranks.  It is also this passage that has caused me discomfort at being called “Reverend.”  I obviously do believe there is an appropriate role for leaders in the community of faith, but what is clear to me from Jesus here is that it is not to grant others access to God or God’s blessings.  That’s Jesus’s job. My job is the same as your job – to serve humbly.  This is greatness in the Kingdom.

 

Question:  Who are the “giants” for you because of their humble and serving hearts?

 

Prayer:  God, give us humble hearts without us knowing about it.  Help us serve with a glad heart. Help to avoid putting anyone on a pedestal other than Jesus. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who provide service to you.

 

Song:  Tim McGraw - Humble And Kind (Official Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awzNHuGqoMc

“These Two Sons of Mine. . .”

 

“These Two Sons of Mine. . .”

 January 31, 2022

Matthew 20:20-28, The Message - It was about that time that the mother of the Zebedee brothers came with her two sons and knelt before Jesus with a request.

“What do you want?” Jesus asked.

She said, “Give your word that these two sons of mine will be awarded the highest places of honor in your kingdom, one at your right hand, one at your left hand.”

Jesus responded, “You have no idea what you’re asking.” And he said to James and John, “Are you capable of drinking the cup that I’m about to drink?”

They said, “Sure, why not?”

Jesus said, “Come to think of it, you are going to drink my cup. But as to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business. My Father is taking care of that.”

When the ten others heard about this, they lost their tempers, thoroughly disgusted with the two brothers. So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”

 

                You can hardly blame James’s and John’s mother for asking that Jesus elevate her sons to places of honor.  I imagine every good mother wants to see their children excel and most parents see their children as more exceptional than others.  Further, I also want to note that the brothers’ character is not in question here; even Jesus acknowledges that they will also be faithful to the end as Jesus himself will. 

However, the mother’s invention on her full-grown sons’ behalf drives a wedge between James and John and the other disciples.  I can almost feel them cringing as she asks Jesus the question.  They know this isn’t going to go over well with their peers and that worry is confirmed when the other ten disciples are up in arms.  This provides a teaching moment for Jesus about position and power.  What the mother was asking for was for her sons to be given positions of prestige.  Jesus answer is that prestigious positions work differently in the Kingdom of God than they do in the world in which we live.  Greatness in the Kingdom comes from submitting to serve others the same as a slave would do.  Jesus not only teaches this, but His disciples are about to see Him live it out to the ultimate extreme.  He will submit to death instead of staging a takeover – a takeover that He is completely able to execute.  Two thousand years later, the church acknowledges and teaches that it is in Jesus’s submittal to “making himself nothing” (Phil 2:7) that displays His greatest power.  The most powerful force in the kingdom is humble service.

This bears out in my experience.  When I think about the most impactful people in my life, they are not world-renowned leaders, best-selling authors, and star athletes/actors.  They were people who served me as if I were someone more special than I am.  Some of them, to be fair, actually held positions of influence (teacher, pastor, coach etc), but their service to me wasn’t offered from that position, Their interest in and care for me would have been the same even if they didn’t hold the position.  In my mind, they rank higher than the President of United States.  This is the greatness alludes to and you can achieve it regardless of position.  Making the position the goal is to seek to take God’s job for our own.  This is a hard concept to fully grasp, which is why we hear Jesus talking about it multiple times in Matthew’s gospel.  Ultimately, He shows us what it looks like. 

 

Question:  Other than Jesus, who in your life has shown you what the greatness of humble service looks like?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, thank you for your example of humble service.   Show us the way to follow your example in the opportunities that will come our way today. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time thanking God for putting the specific people in your life that have helped to make you what you are today.

 

Song:  Lord I Lift Your Name on High – Hillsong Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0nn8QT2-VQ

What Do WE Get Out of It?!

 

What Do WE Get Out of It?!

 January 26, 2022

Matthew 19:27-30, The Message - Then Peter chimed in, “We left everything and followed you. What do we get out of it?”

Jesus replied, “Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”

 

                I have obviously never met Peter, the disciple of Jesus, but I love him.  He often says what I think I might want to say in the same situation.  The only difference is that I generally only think the Peter says without ever getting the words out of my mouth.  Peter evidently doesn’t have the filter that I do and I honestly love him for it. 

                Take the exchange above between Jesus and Peter.  Jesus has just told the rich young man that, if he wants to receive the kingdom, he needs to give up his wealth.  Peter hears this tough teaching and realizes that he and his compatriots have actually done what Jesus asked.  They weren’t rich (except possibly Matthew), but they left what livelihoods they had.  Most of them had families at home while they wandered around Israel with Jesus.  So Peter, realizing this, blurts out, “What do we get out of it?”

                Had I been there, I would have thought what Peter said, but never said it.  But I’m glad Peter did, because it provides Jesus a great moment to affirm and reassure his most committed disciples.  It also allows us that same affirmation and assurance.  Whatever we have given up to follow Jesus has been noticed.  “Yes, you have followed me,” Jesus says.  Jesus sees the sacrifices, whatever they may be for each of us.  Further, He promises that whatever you and I have left behind, it pales in comparison to what you will receive.

                In a lot of ways, I already see this in my life.  I have, on occasion, thought about how my life might have been different had I chosen a different vocation.  Most of the time, it’s seems impossible to imagine.  I might have made more money, but I’m not sure.  I’m not sure how my family would be different, but I am sure the difference would be night and day.  My guess is that we would have settled in one place and stayed there instead of living in a dozen different places over the years.  Yes, things would have been vastly different even though I struggle to imagine the details.  In the times I have indulged these musings, I always end up with the same conclusion.  I may have given up some possibilities to answer God’s call, but when I think of all that I’ve gained, it hardly seems like a sacrifice. I don’t regret the decision one bit.

                I am aware that my experience is not universal.  I have had colleagues over the years that have deeply regretted following the path that has me so grateful.  I’m also aware that my sacrifices seem so insignificant to those of the disciples for which Peter speaks up.  I am aware that, right now, there are Christians who are being tortured and killed because they decided to follow Jesus.  Jesus has already kept this promise to me, but He will make good on the promise for everyone who follows Him.  The decision to follow Jesus is always the best investment anyone can ever make.  As we watch Peter grow into his calling through the rest of the Gospels and other New Testament books, we see Him live into Jesus’s promise.  A mere fisherman becomes the central leader in a movement that numbers in the billions today.  The Catholic church reveres him as the first Pope. 

                The stories for the rest of the disciples that day vary greatly, but history has shown that Jesus kept the promise to them as well – some of them while they still walked the earth and all after they were martyred.  The bedrock takeaway from this story is that the life Jesus invites us to is one that does require us to say goodbyes to things that, in many cases, seem very difficult to give up.  However, the promise is that, compared to what we will receive in this life and the next, the sacrifice is minimal.  I need to remind myself of that from time to time.  Maybe I’m not the only one.

 

Questions:  What has it cost you to follow Jesus?  What would have been the cost if you had not chosen that path?

 

Prayer: God of provision, your call to follow and serve you requires us to leave things behind.  Help us realize and trust that it is the best decision we can ever make.  Help us catch a glimpse of the great things ahead of those of us willing to trust you.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the thousands of persecuted Christians across the Globe.

 

Song:  Lord, You Give the Great Commission – arr. Foster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZU1jpAu79Y