Have you ever considered what it means to have the mindset of Christ? Or have you heard the words in Paul’s letter to the Philippians and thought it’s just plain impossible to think like Jesus. I would like you all to give some thought this morning to what it would mean for you to think of yourself as Jesus thought of himself.
The first word that came to my mind immediately was that I would have to “change” my thinking. In fact it would have to take a change of heart. That word “change” is being tossed around a lot these days by the candidates running for president of these United States. But I don’t think they are talking about a change of heart to think of themselves like Jesus thought of himself, do you? No I think the change they are talking about is more worldly.
There is a song by Eddie Espinosa called “Change My Heart, O God” and it goes like this.
Change my heart oh God
Make it ever true
Change my heart oh God
May I be like You
You are the potter
I am the clay
Mold me and make me
This is what I pray
Change my heart oh God
Make it ever true
Change my heart oh God
May I be like You
Now if we all had a change of heart and our hearts were true and like Jesus’ heart what kind of change would we see here?
First, we have to decide in our own minds what Jesus’ heart was like. What was His primary concern as he walked all over Galilee, Judea, and Samaria? How can we really know Jesus’ heart?
I think that I would start by reading the gospels to see what they told about what he was doing when he was living among the people of Israel. What was he doing? He was teaching, he was healing, he was casting out demons, he was feeding hungry people, he was upsetting the religious community of his day, and he literally upset tables and through people out of the meeting place, the synagogue in Jerusalem. So what was Jesus’ mind like?
First I think we need to be certain what it was that he was teaching. Was it something worth believing and would it make the world a better place? What was Jesus teaching and is it relevant for us today?
Jesus was teaching the people that the kingdom of God was here right now and that there needed to be a change. He was preaching repentance, change of heart. He was preaching that God was love. He was baptizing people a symbol of the cleansing power of God’s love and forgiveness.
But Jesus wasn’t all about words. His life was an example of service to people who were at their wits end. They had been everywhere and tried everything looking for healing. And they came to Jesus to see what he could do. They received healing beyond anything they could ever imagine. Not only were their bodies and spirits healed but they found that by believing in Him their sins were forgiven!
Jesus didn’t just help one or two people here and there. No, wherever he traveled people were healed. And every town and city he came to the crowds were there waiting for him because word of his amazing powers preceded him. And he never failed to help those who believed. They were all healed.
But those who were skeptical and doubted and called him a blasphemer couldn’t be made whole. If there was no faith there was no healing.
So having a mind like Jesus means that you and I have to stop putting ourselves first. Having a mind like Jesus means that we are to be constantly looking for and seeking ways to help those who have tried everywhere else to get help and now have come to us as a last resort. What does that mean? I think it means whatever God has put into your mind right at this very minute. What he puts in your mind may be different than what he puts in my mind or they just may be identical. Wouldn’t that be something, God changing our minds and having us think of the same thing, would that be too weird?
What was that we heard Paul say, “If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.”
Friends, I think that means we have to be servants. We have to continually be aware to how God is working around us every minute of the day. We must be alert to the needs of people all around us and ready to answer the call to help when it comes.
Sisters and brothers, that’s what it means to be a church. Having a heart and mindset like Jesus probably means that we will have to change. But is that a bad thing? I don’t think so.
Our world all around us seems to be tumbling down, falling to pieces and we feel so helpless worrying about our savings and investments. Is there anything we can really do about it? Probably not much, but there is something we can do for the neighbor who can’t pay for groceries this month, or the family who is having marital problems, or the neighbor who just lost a loved one. There’s something we can do for them. That’s what Jesus did. He didn’t fix the national debt but he did heal them and feed them and gave them hope in a God who loved them. He set an example for the disciples and he is an example for us.
Friends, it’s not impossible. We can change. We can think of ourselves like Jesus thought of himself. We can share the love of Jesus Christ with our neighbors. Change is good and if we are honest with ourselves every one of us needs to have our hearts changed.
When God calls to your heart I hope your answer is yes but if it’s no at first I pray that it will change to yes later. God is calling all of us the change our hearts and minister to his children. God is faithful and will help us all to finish what he has called us to do.
Steve Green - He who began a good work Lyrics
He who began a good work in youHe who began a good work in youWill be faithful to complete itHe'll be faithful to complete itHe who started the workWill be faithful to complete it in youIf the struggle you're facingIs slowly replacingYour hope with despairOr the process is longAnd you're losing your songIn the night you can be sureThat the Lord has His hand on youSafe and secureHe will never abandon youYou are His treasureAnd He finds His pleasure in you
God loves you my friends, and so do I. Amen.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
It's Just Not Fair!
The news this week has been mostly about the collapse of the stock market on Wall Street fueled by the fact that some of the major financial institutions were going bankrupt and/or were requesting bail outs from our federal government.
There has been much discussion by the news commentators and the candidates for president about where to point the finger of blame. One article I read this week put the blame where it probably needs to be and that is on greed. As Robert Samuelson put it, “…short-term rewards blinded them to the long-term dangers.”
So what does this have to do with today’s lessons from scripture? The lessons are about the grace of God. The parable about the landowner who hired men to work in his vineyards was all about a standard of grace that many find hard to accept.
Why should someone who didn’t work as hard or as long as the other get paid the same wages? It’s just not fair. Sounds like something we’d hear from our children, doesn’t it?
The confirmation class was playing a game last week where they received a word and then were asked to describe it either by drawing, word clues, or pantomime. One of the words was grace and the option was to use words to get someone to answer grace. Now how easy do you think that was? Believe it or not one of the class members came up with the answer. The clue was a free gift from God. I thought that was pretty good. I know that I couldn’t have come up with that answer when I was in 7th grade.
So how would you describe grace? I came across a saying that puts it this way: Just is getting what you deserve; mercy is not getting what you deserve; grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
God, we have all learned doesn’t do things by the ways of the world. He works to standards that don’t seem fair to us. Everyone who comes to him is accepted into the family of God no matter when they make the decision to accept Jesus as their Savior. The last received into the family is loved just as much as the first who came into the family. Doesn’t seem fair does it?
When Jesus came into our world the world had a hard time understanding his theology. A God who loved without reservation, who loved everyone so completely, who forgave sins and forgot the sins committed, and who cared as deeply for the lost and the least as much as he did for those who had everything was not the God they knew.
They understood a God who could be petitioned for wants and needs, a God who would give them what they asked for if they earned it or at least that’s how they saw it. They had gotten so far away from the kingdom of God that they just couldn’t believe there was anything free anymore.
The common person in Jesus’ day understood what it meant to work for their food and if they were lucky there might be enough left over to provide some other comforts for the family. But it all had to earned through hard labor. They understood hard labor. Everything they did was hard labor, nothing was easy.
And then Jesus tells this parable about the landowner and the day laborers who all received the same wage no matter when they came to work in the vineyard.
He paid those who were hired last first and gave them the exact same wage as those he had hired early in the day. Of course those hired first saw what the last workers hired got paid and they were quickly calculating how much their pay would be based on what these men had received.
Can’t you just imagine the whining when they received the same amount of money as the last hired? This isn’t fair!! In fact we have all probably used these very same words. It isn’t fair!!!
If they hadn’t seen what the others had received they would have been perfectly satisfied with their wage. The same things are still happening today. Someone gets the same compensation as we do and we “know” they didn’t do half as much as we did. And so we give them or our “boss” the evil eye.
Judging our value based on what others get or give will always lead to the “evil eye.” Our value isn’t based on others.
It’s a good thing for us that God chooses to love us with his all. Our God pours all his love out for each of us. It isn’t fair but it’s a good thing for all of us that God doesn’t do things by the world’s standards.
The prophet Isaiah said it well when he said, “For my thoughts aren’t your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”
That’s what grace is, an undeserved and unearned gift from our God. There is nothing we have done to deserve it and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, we can do to earn it.
So those who answer Jesus’ knock on the door of their heart on their death bed receive the same grace as those who have known the Lord and done his work many, many years. It isn’t fair but friends, it’s not about us. It’s all about God and his plan for the world.
The Israelites travelling in the wilderness didn’t deserve the free bread and meat that God gave them but he gave anyway. Paul didn’t deserve the many blessings God gave him but he received them anyway. We don’t deserve God’s love either but thankfully God doesn’t give us what we deserve. He is merciful and gracious and gives us the free gift of eternal life when we commit our lives to Jesus.
So what does all this have to do with the financial state of the world today and everything that’s been on the news this week? Friends, I don’t have to tell you the worlds a mess. And I would dare say that all of them have been caused by us. Our culture has become more greedy and fearful. We are all about getting and not so much about giving. We see what our neighbors have and we think, “Why can’t I have that?”
Some commentators might be telling us that the whole problem is the economy but I believe it has more to do with the morality of the world. Those who have much wealth are getting rich whether they make good or bad decisions. And the consumers and workers are the ones who suffer from all their bad choices.
Friends, God never promised us that we were going to be blessed with wealth and mansions. He did promise us eternal life. Eternal life is the good news and the promise is here today.
God sent his Son not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. All he asks is that we have faith and even our faith is grace.
It’s all God and not us. Don’t pay any attention to what your neighbor has. Don’t even think about whether it’s fair or not. Pay attention to what God is saying to you in his Word. Go there every day and spend some time with the Father as he gives you what you don’t deserve, his gracious love. And then go out and share it with someone else who doesn’t deserve it either.
…By grace you have saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Friends God loves you and so do I.
Receive this blessing of grace from God. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give your peace” (Num. 6:24-26).
There has been much discussion by the news commentators and the candidates for president about where to point the finger of blame. One article I read this week put the blame where it probably needs to be and that is on greed. As Robert Samuelson put it, “…short-term rewards blinded them to the long-term dangers.”
So what does this have to do with today’s lessons from scripture? The lessons are about the grace of God. The parable about the landowner who hired men to work in his vineyards was all about a standard of grace that many find hard to accept.
Why should someone who didn’t work as hard or as long as the other get paid the same wages? It’s just not fair. Sounds like something we’d hear from our children, doesn’t it?
The confirmation class was playing a game last week where they received a word and then were asked to describe it either by drawing, word clues, or pantomime. One of the words was grace and the option was to use words to get someone to answer grace. Now how easy do you think that was? Believe it or not one of the class members came up with the answer. The clue was a free gift from God. I thought that was pretty good. I know that I couldn’t have come up with that answer when I was in 7th grade.
So how would you describe grace? I came across a saying that puts it this way: Just is getting what you deserve; mercy is not getting what you deserve; grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
God, we have all learned doesn’t do things by the ways of the world. He works to standards that don’t seem fair to us. Everyone who comes to him is accepted into the family of God no matter when they make the decision to accept Jesus as their Savior. The last received into the family is loved just as much as the first who came into the family. Doesn’t seem fair does it?
When Jesus came into our world the world had a hard time understanding his theology. A God who loved without reservation, who loved everyone so completely, who forgave sins and forgot the sins committed, and who cared as deeply for the lost and the least as much as he did for those who had everything was not the God they knew.
They understood a God who could be petitioned for wants and needs, a God who would give them what they asked for if they earned it or at least that’s how they saw it. They had gotten so far away from the kingdom of God that they just couldn’t believe there was anything free anymore.
The common person in Jesus’ day understood what it meant to work for their food and if they were lucky there might be enough left over to provide some other comforts for the family. But it all had to earned through hard labor. They understood hard labor. Everything they did was hard labor, nothing was easy.
And then Jesus tells this parable about the landowner and the day laborers who all received the same wage no matter when they came to work in the vineyard.
He paid those who were hired last first and gave them the exact same wage as those he had hired early in the day. Of course those hired first saw what the last workers hired got paid and they were quickly calculating how much their pay would be based on what these men had received.
Can’t you just imagine the whining when they received the same amount of money as the last hired? This isn’t fair!! In fact we have all probably used these very same words. It isn’t fair!!!
If they hadn’t seen what the others had received they would have been perfectly satisfied with their wage. The same things are still happening today. Someone gets the same compensation as we do and we “know” they didn’t do half as much as we did. And so we give them or our “boss” the evil eye.
Judging our value based on what others get or give will always lead to the “evil eye.” Our value isn’t based on others.
It’s a good thing for us that God chooses to love us with his all. Our God pours all his love out for each of us. It isn’t fair but it’s a good thing for all of us that God doesn’t do things by the world’s standards.
The prophet Isaiah said it well when he said, “For my thoughts aren’t your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”
That’s what grace is, an undeserved and unearned gift from our God. There is nothing we have done to deserve it and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, we can do to earn it.
So those who answer Jesus’ knock on the door of their heart on their death bed receive the same grace as those who have known the Lord and done his work many, many years. It isn’t fair but friends, it’s not about us. It’s all about God and his plan for the world.
The Israelites travelling in the wilderness didn’t deserve the free bread and meat that God gave them but he gave anyway. Paul didn’t deserve the many blessings God gave him but he received them anyway. We don’t deserve God’s love either but thankfully God doesn’t give us what we deserve. He is merciful and gracious and gives us the free gift of eternal life when we commit our lives to Jesus.
So what does all this have to do with the financial state of the world today and everything that’s been on the news this week? Friends, I don’t have to tell you the worlds a mess. And I would dare say that all of them have been caused by us. Our culture has become more greedy and fearful. We are all about getting and not so much about giving. We see what our neighbors have and we think, “Why can’t I have that?”
Some commentators might be telling us that the whole problem is the economy but I believe it has more to do with the morality of the world. Those who have much wealth are getting rich whether they make good or bad decisions. And the consumers and workers are the ones who suffer from all their bad choices.
Friends, God never promised us that we were going to be blessed with wealth and mansions. He did promise us eternal life. Eternal life is the good news and the promise is here today.
God sent his Son not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. All he asks is that we have faith and even our faith is grace.
It’s all God and not us. Don’t pay any attention to what your neighbor has. Don’t even think about whether it’s fair or not. Pay attention to what God is saying to you in his Word. Go there every day and spend some time with the Father as he gives you what you don’t deserve, his gracious love. And then go out and share it with someone else who doesn’t deserve it either.
…By grace you have saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Friends God loves you and so do I.
Receive this blessing of grace from God. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give your peace” (Num. 6:24-26).
Monday, September 15, 2008
Forgiveness
Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive a brother who sinned against him, “Seven times?” He thought that was more than generous since it was more than twice what the Law required. I think Peter was more than a little surprised when Jesus told him, “I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.”
There is some question as to what Jesus said whether it was seventy times seven or seventy seven times. The point that I think Jesus was trying to help Peter understand was that even if his brother sinned against him too many times to count he should continue to forgive him.
But what about the words Jesus said in verses 15-19? If your brother hurts you work it out between you and if that fails get another brother to go with you and try again. If that still doesn’t work go to the church and have them talk with him. And if that still doesn’t work he said to treat him like a pagan or a tax collector. Now that sounds to me like he should be shunned if he refuses to repent and seek forgiveness.
But then Peter asks his question and Jesus says to keep on forgiving forever if need be. I can understand Peter getting a little confused and frustrated with Jesus’ answers, can’t you?
I think Jesus wanted us to understand that we should never give up trying. After all God hasn’t given up on us. No matter how many times we fail and fall away from Him he forgets our past sins and forgives us again when we come to Him again begging for him to forgive us.
Forgiveness is something we have to carry with us all the time. In fact forgiveness should be put in our bag of necessities every day just like we put on clothes every day. We can’t get through one day without asking for forgiveness or giving forgiveness, sometimes or maybe most times, without being asked for it.
Friends, we have to forgive so that we may be forgiven. Every time we repeat the Lord’s Prayer we are reminded of that fact. “Forgive us our debts (sins) as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who sin against us).”
Why is it so important to forgive and/or be forgiven? What difference does it make to me if I forgive someone or I am forgiven? Let’s think about that for a minute.
Let’s say that every wrong ever done to me is put in this bag. I carry it around on my back every waking minute of the day and maybe even take it to bed with me. Every one of these wrongs is like a dead animal and they begin to rot but I still carry them around in the bag on my shoulder. I can’t let them go.
Now this isn’t a very pretty picture but consider this, the wrongs are decaying and they begin to seep through the fabric of the bag and soak into the fabric of my clothes. I still can’t let go of them. They are still too hurtful. And so eventually it begins to permeate my skin and if I don’t relieve myself of the burden soon my own body will begin to decay. This is an ugly thing to think about but that’s what happens when we can’t bring ourselves to forgive or to accept someone’s forgiveness.
We may not realize it but every hurt that we carry in the bag on our shoulders is preventing us from experiencing the love of God. Think how much easier our load would be if someone would just come along, take the bag from us, and help carry the bag with us, or how much lighter the load would be if we could just get rid of some of the load.
Friends, that’s what happens when we ask for forgiveness to those we have hurt or we offer forgiveness to those who have hurt us. It is such a relief to get that load off our backs. We often don’t realize how heavy the burden is that we are carrying when we can’t or won’t forgive.
Oh, it’s not easy. Sometimes it can take years for God to get us to release our hold on our anger, our hurt, and our hate but if we trust in God and pray to Him in our weakness for faith that is strong enough to believe in his power to forgive us, then it can happen.
Jesus said, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me (Rev. 3:20).” In Matthew Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Jesus is here for us. He is waiting for us to invite him into our hearts so he can forgive us. He is just waiting for us to hear his voice so he can come in and enjoy an intimate meal with us.
Too many of us are carrying around these bags of hurts when we could be relieved of them and allowed to experience the joy of being forgiven. Sometimes its not that we need to forgive someone else but we need to forgive ourselves for things we know we have done. Sometimes that is the greater burden we carry in the bags on our shoulders.
Friends, we can’t be judging each other and we shouldn’t be judging ourselves so harshly that we can’t see that Jesus is just waiting to offer us forgiveness. We all sin and will continue to sin. We all need to be forgiven. We all need to forgive. And what a joy it is when that happens.
It’s like putting on clothes that have just come out of the dryer smelling all clean and fresh and light. That’s what its like to be rid of the stinky, smelly bag of sins we carry around on our backs every day.
Let go of them and be forgiven. Jesus shed his blood and died so that we could be forgiven. He made the ultimate sacrifice for us when he was nailed to the cross. Friends lay your burdens today at the foot of the cross and know that God loves you and so do I.
Thanks be to God for his grace and forgiveness. Amen.
There is some question as to what Jesus said whether it was seventy times seven or seventy seven times. The point that I think Jesus was trying to help Peter understand was that even if his brother sinned against him too many times to count he should continue to forgive him.
But what about the words Jesus said in verses 15-19? If your brother hurts you work it out between you and if that fails get another brother to go with you and try again. If that still doesn’t work go to the church and have them talk with him. And if that still doesn’t work he said to treat him like a pagan or a tax collector. Now that sounds to me like he should be shunned if he refuses to repent and seek forgiveness.
But then Peter asks his question and Jesus says to keep on forgiving forever if need be. I can understand Peter getting a little confused and frustrated with Jesus’ answers, can’t you?
I think Jesus wanted us to understand that we should never give up trying. After all God hasn’t given up on us. No matter how many times we fail and fall away from Him he forgets our past sins and forgives us again when we come to Him again begging for him to forgive us.
Forgiveness is something we have to carry with us all the time. In fact forgiveness should be put in our bag of necessities every day just like we put on clothes every day. We can’t get through one day without asking for forgiveness or giving forgiveness, sometimes or maybe most times, without being asked for it.
Friends, we have to forgive so that we may be forgiven. Every time we repeat the Lord’s Prayer we are reminded of that fact. “Forgive us our debts (sins) as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who sin against us).”
Why is it so important to forgive and/or be forgiven? What difference does it make to me if I forgive someone or I am forgiven? Let’s think about that for a minute.
Let’s say that every wrong ever done to me is put in this bag. I carry it around on my back every waking minute of the day and maybe even take it to bed with me. Every one of these wrongs is like a dead animal and they begin to rot but I still carry them around in the bag on my shoulder. I can’t let them go.
Now this isn’t a very pretty picture but consider this, the wrongs are decaying and they begin to seep through the fabric of the bag and soak into the fabric of my clothes. I still can’t let go of them. They are still too hurtful. And so eventually it begins to permeate my skin and if I don’t relieve myself of the burden soon my own body will begin to decay. This is an ugly thing to think about but that’s what happens when we can’t bring ourselves to forgive or to accept someone’s forgiveness.
We may not realize it but every hurt that we carry in the bag on our shoulders is preventing us from experiencing the love of God. Think how much easier our load would be if someone would just come along, take the bag from us, and help carry the bag with us, or how much lighter the load would be if we could just get rid of some of the load.
Friends, that’s what happens when we ask for forgiveness to those we have hurt or we offer forgiveness to those who have hurt us. It is such a relief to get that load off our backs. We often don’t realize how heavy the burden is that we are carrying when we can’t or won’t forgive.
Oh, it’s not easy. Sometimes it can take years for God to get us to release our hold on our anger, our hurt, and our hate but if we trust in God and pray to Him in our weakness for faith that is strong enough to believe in his power to forgive us, then it can happen.
Jesus said, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me (Rev. 3:20).” In Matthew Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Jesus is here for us. He is waiting for us to invite him into our hearts so he can forgive us. He is just waiting for us to hear his voice so he can come in and enjoy an intimate meal with us.
Too many of us are carrying around these bags of hurts when we could be relieved of them and allowed to experience the joy of being forgiven. Sometimes its not that we need to forgive someone else but we need to forgive ourselves for things we know we have done. Sometimes that is the greater burden we carry in the bags on our shoulders.
Friends, we can’t be judging each other and we shouldn’t be judging ourselves so harshly that we can’t see that Jesus is just waiting to offer us forgiveness. We all sin and will continue to sin. We all need to be forgiven. We all need to forgive. And what a joy it is when that happens.
It’s like putting on clothes that have just come out of the dryer smelling all clean and fresh and light. That’s what its like to be rid of the stinky, smelly bag of sins we carry around on our backs every day.
Let go of them and be forgiven. Jesus shed his blood and died so that we could be forgiven. He made the ultimate sacrifice for us when he was nailed to the cross. Friends lay your burdens today at the foot of the cross and know that God loves you and so do I.
Thanks be to God for his grace and forgiveness. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)