To Be Motivated by God is to Imitate God

I was struck again this week by Paul's instruction to the Ephesians--"Be imitators of God..."  But what seized me all the more this round was how the imitation should work itself out.  The aspect of God's character he immediately highlighted was love.  This is the first item he has in mind that we should imitate.  But this is no easy, cushy, cotton candy or erotic kind of love.  What we are called to imitate is a love that does not consider self-exaltation, self-preservation, or worth of the recipient.  A little whiteboarding leads us quickly to that conclusion.  How does your love for others need reoriented today?

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The phrase, "God Motivation" proposes the idea that God Himself ought to be the ultimate reason for every activity of any disciple.  An unpacking of this, followed by 100 devotionals from the Scriptures, serves to develop an understanding of what it means to do all because of One.

Conversational Mood Swings

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:1-2).  Jesus sounds at first like the ultimate killjoy in this account.  Imagine walking with some friends this [oh-please, please, please-come-quickly] spring, looking up, and mentioning how beautiful the blue sky looked only to have have somebody say, the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood (Joel 2:31).  That would be a bit of a conversation stopper.  With all social niceties aside, Jesus went on to tell them about the coming end of the world as humanity knows it.  He had a short three years to build into His disciples the type of perspective that would launch them into a hot passion for God's glory and gospel--a passion that would lead to their persecution, martyrdom, and establishing of the global church.  He clued them in to the seriousness of troubles ahead by informing them that only those who endured to the end would be saved (V. 13).  The fact of life for most of us today is that we've got it pretty good--lots of creature comforts, a huge network of acceptance of our Christian values, and (as far as we can tell) a hopeful road ahead.  To be sure, these are gifts, and we should be thankful for them.  For a break in the middle of a couple hours of reading in my riveting Hebrew grammar text last night, Gen and I streamed an episode of "Duck Dynasty."  "I'm really enjoying this new TV," I said.  It was a nice 22 minutes of refreshment, and ended with a typical Robertson family prayer before a meal...good stuff.  But I was reminded this morning that I need to experience that enjoyment while also hearing Jesus's interrupting words so that I long for ultimate refreshment in Him at the willing expense of countless temporary ones.  It was a nudge I needed and one that hopefully strengthens you too. 

Stamped

Jesus to His disciples: 
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35)

The command for disciples to love one another is not an abstract idea that we need to figure out how to do.  It is quite to the contrary.  Jesus spent His ministry showing love to His disciples, discipling them in love.  They were to love one another in the ways that He had loved them.  This fully formed love was one that always told the truth, that repeatedly served, that continuously prayed, that regularly corrected, and that diligently protected.  And so, in the ways that Jesus loved His disciples, all brothers and sisters following Him are commanded to model their lives after His love: as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  The result would be that others would see the stamp of Jesus on our lives and identify us with Him.  And so, to the Originator of the love we show goes the ultimate attention and honor.  For Christ's sake, we joyfully love!

Prayer Chair

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.' For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
(Matthew 6:5-15)

Are you a good pray-er?  You know what I'm talking about.  When you pray in front of a group, do people reflect on those words and think, "Wow, she's got the prayin' skills!"?  Here's a better question: Do you ever want them to think those things?  Let's be honest; whether we're a bit self-conscious praying in front of others or have it down to a beautiful science, we sometimes lose track of Who it is that we're to be engaging.

First, that's why Jesus says to pray in a quiet little room--a place where only God is and nobody else...a place where we can grab a prayer chair and connect with the King.  It's not that He's against praying in groups (He did that with His disciples before meals and the disciples gathered together to do it after He ascended).  He's simply emphasizing that prayer isn't for show.  Everything that He says in this passage reinforces that fact...

Second, He tells His listeners that it's right to keep in mind the big/main things as we pray.  "God is great.  This is His world.  He's our Provider.  We need His forgiveness and protection.  We need to forgive."  There are other things, given our life situation and circumstances, that are going to fit into that grid as we pray, but those rocks of truth about God's nature and our need are what it should all come back to.  We don't need to wander or aimlessly drift in our prayers when we have anchors in place.

Third, Jesus drew out a certain portion of His example prayer that He knew we needed to give special attention to.  Simply because we get away to pray in a quiet place for that "just God and me" time doesn't mean we're not to have on our minds how we're doing in community life.  Christ knows the messiness of relationships and comes back to that component of His prayer: "You've got to be a forgiver!"  Our nearness to God is rooted in forgiveness and so is our fellowship with our fellow man.  We've got to remember that we will never have to forgive someone to anywhere near the extent that God has forgiven us.  It's as if Jesus was saying, "If you little sinner can't forgive that other little sinner, you can't begin to grasp (or have!) the forgiveness God offers you."  That's not to belittle anyone's pain over what's been done to them, but the statement should magnify the power of God's work in ripping out our utterly dead hearts that were carrying us to eternal destruction and replacing them with pure, life-carrying ones--that's what His forgiveness does.

Hypocrisy.  That's what Jesus warned against at the beginning of this miniature discourse and that's essentially how He ends it.  The call is toward authenticity.  If we're God motivated in our prayers and our personal relationships, that's what comes.  And so these too are among the words that Jesus says we're to build our lives on so that we're ready to stand strong in Him when the storm hits.

Beware of Dog

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.  Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
(Matthew 6:1-4)

Walking up and down the alley behind our house, you'll see a "Beware" sign or two.  We catch a glimpse of that word in such a context, take note of the dog running up to the fence the sign is posted on, and gladly stand back.  You wouldn't think of sticking your hand across the line because it could mean that you'd get pulled all the way in, or at least end up with a torn up mitt.  Well, we would do alright to adhere to the same word in the same way as we look at the Scriptures.  Jesus told His listeners to beware of the temptation to live uprightly in order to be held up high by others.  In fact, if we really thought about what He was saying, we would be way more concerned about taking to heart this instruction to "beware" than we would about putting our hand within reach of an angry dog--sounds crazy, but I'm being serious.

Sometimes Christians are scared to talk about working for rewards.  We like to say, "No, no, I do what God says simply because He says it."  Well, that's fine, but if that's all there is to it, why would Jesus give a warning against "holy showmanship" wherein He explains the consequence of such to be a lost heavenly reward?  He said it because we should be thrilled over getting to hear God say one day, "I saw what nobody else saw back then, and I'm so happy to grant this extra blessing to you right now because of it."  Trust me, He's not going to hand us "Good Job, Sport!" stickers at those moments.  Losing what will be a rich reward and replacing it instead with a self-exalting attitude that reminds heaven and earth of why Jesus needed to spill out His blood...that should simply kill us!

I tell ya, it's tough; I get that.  I'm rotten at living in such a way that shows all I want is God and what He wants to give.  Heaven seems far away and pats on the back are so very nice and so very right now.  But living for those is something that we should beware of.  They will never satisfy.  They will never come in all the right forms.  They are not what our hearts long for.  And when we start to find out just how true that is, unless we wake up, we're going to step further and further away from the God motivated life and into the land of empty pleasures and pursuits.  You better believe we ought to "beware of practicing [our] righteousness before other people to be seen by them. "  It's a double-loss if we don't--loss of heavenly reward and an eventual loss of our senses altogether.

Go bless the socks off of somebody today.  But be secretive...be stealthy...and anticipate amazing things one day from the hand of the One you live for.  Do you think He won't know how to give your eternal new body and soul the kind of rewards that make your heart sing and still result in exalting praise of His name forever?  Beware...and be happy.

Little Angel

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
(Matthew 5:43-48)

Jesus: "Keep your word."
Us: "Check."
Jesus: "No revenge."
Us: "Sigh...OK, anything for You, Jesus."
Jesus: "Love and pray for your enemies...and be perfect."
Us: "For real?!"

The thing about Jesus is that He always keeps pressing.  And praise God that He does, because I'm prone all too often to try and "be good" at what I think is the minimal level for the passing grade.  When I do that it's because I really still just don't get it.  I keep thinking that if I get a little better at the rules, if I'm a bit more disciplined, and if my doctrine becomes a little more pure, THEN I'll be more of a Christian than ever before.  THEN I'll be that perfect little angel people need me to be.  See the halo?  Talk about burdens to carry.  Didn't Jesus say that His burden for us was light?

Yes, and it's not our job to have our walk with Him start that way and then work hard to make it heavy over time.  We forget sometimes our starting point which is what Jesus proclaimed as the single greatest commandment everything else was to flow out of: Love God with everything you've got (Deut. 6:5).  GET THAT FIRST.  It's the only way forward and the only sustainable course.  If we remember that and then see everything else Jesus says as a way of urging, "Here's what the God you're in love with looks like, and here's how you can love like Him," then we'll operate according to a swelling heart instead of according to religious expertise.  That's why Jesus could pray for His murderers' forgiveness.  That's why Stephen, when he was being stoned to death, prayed for the same.  That's how we can love our enemies (which might just be people we work with, see at holidays, or even sit across the pew from who seem to be begging for a good neck-wringing).  Jesus wants us to know what God's perfect love looks like so that we can have perfect love...not just the natural, reciprocal kind.

All this makes for a battle inside our souls; no doubt.  It is not easy to love well.  It's complicated to say the least.  But the cool thing is that we don't have to try and plan every detail of what it needs to look like in those tough moments.  We just need to devour more of God every day and hunger for Him in a way that kills us if we start to fall off the wagon and entertain ourselves with lesser things and find us insensitive to the needs around us.  We need to look at the cross that Jesus hung on and be astounded over God's love for us when we were still His enemies.  It's only then that the loving of our own will make any sense and start to flow.

God motivation over rule motivation.  That's another part of the rock Jesus gives us to build our lives upon.

Cliff Toss

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."
(Matthew 5:38-42)

I'll just be honest--I'm not a big fan of this passage.  I like those scenes in movies where the hero who has been harmed or taken advantage of gets to throw the villain off a cliff.  That's not revenge, it's just justice, right?

But how about real life, and how about flipping things around a bit.  We tend to think about ourselves as the ones under the oppressive hand of a bully we want to punch in the throat, and the passage is even written in such a way that speaks to the victim.  Think of those times though when you've been the mean one--physically, verbally...on facebook.  Aren't you glad when, after you've been an idiot and realized it, the offended doesn't come after you?  Aren't you thankful and humbled when, whether the one you smacked around does so consciously or not, he/she obeys Jesus and dismisses the offense (or is even kind to you)?!  It's nice to NOT get what you deserve in those instances--and we've all been in them plenty.  Denial of such just makes us arrogant or ignorant...not innocent.

Here's the deal: Jesus is always speaking to us in a way that challenges us to reflect His own humility, patience, kindness, generosity, and strength.  He was never out to take down the legal and state institutions that do protect the innocent and bring the wrongdoers to justice.  Those eyewitnesses who followed His teaching closely and then gave us the rest of the Bible make that very clear.  God is for, not against, the establishment of governing authorities in every society.  Neither is He against individuals appealing to those systems when injustices are at hand.  The "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" Biblical concept was one that was set in place so that order and peace would reign and "survival of the fittest" rule would be kept at bay.

Now to be sure, knowing these things doesn't necessarily make it easy in the moment to accept harassment instead of avenging it.  But it does give us the opportunity to ask ourselves the question, "How am I going to interact with others (especially the nasty others) in a way that most shines forth the character of Jesus and speaks to my love for Him?"  All we have to do is look at the cross for the right answer to such a question and see the Lamb who was silent before His accusers.

Again, Jesus later wraps up this mountain-top sermon by saying that His words provided a rock to build our lives upon.  It's painful, but how about we bank on God's much-need grace and work together to hammer in the meekness stake?  Ready...Aim...CLINK.

Pants on Fire

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil."
(Matthew 5:33-37)

"But you PROMISED!"  Such are the words of those who have had their hopes dashed by oath-breakers.  Sometimes they are spoken sadly, sometimes through clinched teeth of wrath, or occasionally with a chuckle after being taken hook, line, and sinker once again by the family practical joker.

We put a good deal of stock in promises that people make precisely because we live in a world of liars.  If you can get a guarantee or someone can get one from you, the promised feels he has the right to hold the vow-maker to her word.  It's a sad deal really, but what are you going to do?  Jesus' answer is quite simply, "be different; just be honest, plain and simple."  He looked at the people of His day (just as He would look at us now) and heard their absurd extra wording tacked onto half their statements of intent and reminded them of how silly they sounded.  Was heaven or earth or Jerusalem or one's own head going to hold the speaker to his word because he had mentioned their substances?  Or just how big do we think we are that we would presume any of those items might shift or change because we do or don't stick to what we say?  Just try swearing your way into spontaneous hair color alteration--not gonna happen.

This is one of those examples where we humans have failed to recognize what's sometimes called the "spirit of the text."  In other words, yeah, the people looked back at the ancient writings of Scripture and saw that God told people to be honest and to look at those specific times where they had made some kind of declaration outside of casual conversation that warranted a consideration of the weight such words carried.  But clearly what He was NOT saying was that a certain portion of our daily vocal expiration was fair game for later denying at our convenience.  Quite the contrary.  The emphasis throughout the Scriptures, regardless of situational context is: Say what you mean and mean what you say.  If you don't do that, the indictment is, "Liar, liar, pants on fire."

Jesus says that living for Him means that part of the rock we're to build our lives on is the slab of straight-up honesty.  People should look at us and see the opposite of shadiness.  Christians ought to be the most trustworthy people on the planet, come wind or high water.  How are we doing?  I swear on the grave of my great grandaunt that I'll do better...wait...no I don't.

Getting Goodness

It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
(Matthew 5:31-32)

We're pretty good at wrongly defining goodness.  We look for ways to get around what is best, what is most honoring to God and others, and try to find a rule that we haven't broken in order to make the things that we do appear to be good.  But that's not how goodness works.  Goodness looks toward improvement.  Goodness looks toward blessing.  Goodness doesn't ask what it can get away with but instead what would be most gracious toward all.  Goodness doesn't take what is a huge thing of great disruptive consequence and make it small because it can do so given some loophole in the law.

Jesus took a look at the marriage situation of His day and saw how people didn't look at this union in at all the right way.  Men loved that they had an out through something Moses had written long ago--something he had written which, Jesus tells us elsewhere, was put down because people's hearts were hard...not because he was rewarding them for understanding God's intentions for husbands and wives.  God in His kindness has always taken care of the woman.  Yes, He has held her responsible for her actions just like He has done with every man, but because there have been men who have always wanted to abuse their strength or authority, He has put protections (like certificates of divorce) in place so that abusers could not continue to merely kick wives that they didn't like out to the curb.  To be fair, these things may have at times protected men also when their wives were found unfaithful, but it seems that Jesus in this case is more upset with the men of his culture who were wrongly understanding Moses' (and God's) intentions.

What Jesus wanted to make clear was that a guy who gave his wife a piece of paper (just because he could) that said something to the effect of, "You can marry somebody else," the slate wasn't clean.  If sexual immorality wasn't part of the equation, the divorced woman was put in the awkward and terrible place of seeking another man to provide for her while, in God's eyes, she still belonged to her first husband.  Any subsequent marriages would be seen as adulterous.

This is such a messy subject in our culture (even church culture) today and everyone has their own story of why their situation ought to be the exception.  And, the reality is, we ALL need buckets of grace to dump on one another no matter who we are or what we've done.  But one of the points that we don't want to miss in looking at passages like this one is that we shouldn't make small things that God says are large and of profound consequence--things like divorce.  If God Himself is our motivation for why we joyfully persevere through life and jobs and child-rearing and marriage, then we will not look to make our own standards of goodness and look for loopholes that help us gratify twisted desires.  We'll instead yearn that His love fill our hearts and our way match the way of Jesus.  We'll take His words and build the structures of our lives on them, setting down anchors deep. 

The Sinking Corner Post

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.  (Matthew 5:27-30)


You know that house that Jesus says we're all building...that one that is either being built on the storm-ready rock or on the shifting sand?  Well, imagine a house that just has one corner set into that mud or sand and the rest on the rock.  What will that mean for the house?  At first, it might be OK.  The strong foundation under most of the house might make the less stable corner pretty inconspicuous.  But then what happens when a big gully-washer comes?  That corner post starts to sink or lean and the strain put upon the rest of the house causes other things to bow or crack.  Or maybe there's not even a big storm that comes through, but you notice that over time that corner ends up receiving the responsibility of a piano placed in it--piano's are heavy but they're not a big deal if everything is solid underneath.  Well, over time, that corner begins to sink, the roof starts to pop, and eventually a supporting beam of the house splits.


What happened?  There was a corner in the wrong place, "doing" the wrong thing, slowly taking the whole house down with it.  What needed to be done?  That corner needed to literally be removed--that's right; no more square house.  Now that process would not be an easy or convenient one.  It would mean setting braces on that rock foundation to hold up the walls attached to that corner.  And it would mean building a new wall with two new corners set on solid ground.  It's going to look funny at first, but over time, as the builder establishes that house in other ways and maybe even constructs an addition on the other side of the home--a side where there's plenty of rock to build out onto--some will begin to look at it and say that it's a work of art and that it's the kind of home they would like to visit and model some of their own construction after.  The owner might take them through and show them the old cracks and strains...the "scars" in the home from when the house had that bad corner so that others could learn from that mistake and see the wisdom in cutting that corner away, challenging as it was at the time to remove it.


Jesus told his listeners that it was better to perform an amputation on one's life than that to let what was damaging set the entire course for one's eternity.  With Jesus, it was always all or nothing.  He pointed to the Word of God, and as He lived it out and filled it in, said, "Going all in with Me is worth the loss of life and limb."  Be careful here...remember that lust or greed or anger are all matters of the heart and don't have to lead to their physical actions of fulfillment like adultery or theft or murder.  The heart is enough to cause that sinking corner that destroys the life.  Wrap the arms of your heart around Jesus.  Set your feet upon His.  Cut away anything that keeps you from doing so.  May He be behind every motivation of your heart today.

Commandment Number 6

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.   (Matthew 5:21-26)

"Commandment number 6 of 10?  Oh, I'm good there.  Finally something easy from Jesus; I don't plan on murdering anyone anytime soon."  I wonder if people of Jesus' day had those similar thoughts because I know they're present day ones.  We all like to know of those areas where we're doing OK on the righteous-ometer.  But then about every time we start to get comfy, Christ takes things and pushes them into us a little further.  He drives what was out in front of us on an ink-stained page right on in to our hearts, telling us that things like anger and insults are murderous as well.  Jesus did this because we needed it done to us.  He didn't come so that we could find out that we were obeying a law or two; He came so that we could have rich and full life in Him which meant pulling out the gunk inside.

Just a moment or two of really thinking about it brings us to that place of listening more intently with the realization that, yes, being stirred up in our hearts with bitterness toward others is poisonous in nature.  It's poison for our own soul and literally hellish in the end.  But then we would have to agree that it's highly impractical as well because holding onto it with some proud and puffed up spirit on the way into a court room may end up being our ticket into a place like prison!  Sometimes Jesus did this with His message; He took the outward consequence of an inward issue to show just how much we needed heart surgery.  The reasoning in this case goes like this: You might go to prison for ever...because you wouldn't humbly make things right with your fellow man...because you have a murderous heart.

But then in the middle of this whole deal Jesus says something to Christians today, ones that might be just like you and I.  He tells us we're not hunky-dory with Him if we're not clean with others.  We can't go about our churchy activities at the "alter" when things are a mess with our neighbor.  Even if there are things hanging there that we don't feel we've done wrong or that we're holding onto stuff against them, He tells us that it's so important we have clean relationships with others that we should approach someone who we sense has something against us--things are to be just that fresh and clear.

So there it is again.  Jesus gives us words for the rock-like foundation we're to build our homes/lives on.  The one who seeks to have God and His way as the motivation for all things in life needs the heart change He calls for and offers through the One preaching this mountain-top sermon.

Just Add Water

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:17-20)

I'm not one to do a lot of cooking.  If it's going to happen, it will probably take place during breakfast since the preparation for that meal tends to take the least time and the fewest brains...or maybe I just do breakfast so that it plays out that way.  Take pancakes for example.  I know you can make them from scratch, but I'm more of a "just add water" kind of a guy.  That's pretty cool.  Somehow everything that pancakes are supposed to have in them (maybe eggs, flour, oil, milk...vitamin B12?) is already in that dry whitish stuff.  The needful materials are there and you wouldn't want to pull any of them out because it was put together to have the water added.  Without it, you're not going to have pancakes.

It's always a little awkward to transition from breakfast foods to the Savior and King of the world but here goes.  Jesus tells us that the law and prophets--all the Old Testament parts of the Bible--are fulfilled or wrapped up in Him.  It's as if everything that was put down on paper was made for Him to step in and give it substance and meaning.  He made it clear that trying to get rid of or pull out any little bit of it was strictly prohibited because in the end it shows us who He is, why He's essential, and just how far we were from being able to do exactly what had to be accomplished for us to have any hope at all.

Now granted, we need to be careful as we think through what exactly Jesus means when He says we're not to relax one iota or dot from the law.  Are we supposed to impose the dietary rules again?  Should we start killing animals at the alter once more?  No, that's what the Pharisees did (and way more!), and Jesus says we've got to be better than them.  What we have to do is to see Jesus in the iota's and the dots, filling them out in the way that water does to pancake mix.  Pulling Jesus (or the water) out of things isn't the way to obey the laws.  Jesus came to be a game-changer, giving meaning and substance, and making perfectly useful the perfect instructions that were written--instructions that were not going to give us what we needed UNTIL He came and gave it the shape and the finalization that was necessary.

Really, this passage makes one of the biggest cases we have for the necessary imputation of Christ's righteousness (I know, now I've gone from pancakes to imputation...bear with me).  Jesus says that we've got to be better than the really, really, tediously "good" Pharisees who had down exceedingly well the fine points of the law stuff.  See, what Jesus is saying here and makes even clearer elsewhere is that if we don't have Him (and His perfection) in us, we don't have what we need.  If God doesn't look at us and see righteous Jesus, we're toast, because what the religious people of the day spent gobs of energy on wasn't enough.  If you don't know Jesus (or have been ignoring His awesomeness lately), just call out in faith, lay down your self-strengthened striving, and watch Him fill out your life and change you like water in pancake mix.

Yes, these are among the mighty words that Jesus says we're wise to build the "houses" of our lives upon.  Make Him your motivation for life today and watch how He gives new meaning and zest to the mix.

Upside Down Batteries

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.  You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."  (Matthew 5:13-16)

Imagine sitting down to one of those great meat and potato meals--no frills, just wholesome hearty goodness all over your plate.  But as substantial and nourishing as one of those dinners is, it's also one of the first kinds that you're going to smile at (what...so I smile at my meals...sue me!) and reach for the salt to add that flavor that really puts the food right where it needs to be for the overall taste that it's otherwise lacking.  You start sprinkling it on and out comes...sand.  Sad day.  Oh, sad day.  No more smiles.  The salt shaker gave every indication that it was ready to deliver as you picked it up, but no such luck.

Or how about this?  You're on a camping trip trying to navigate your way at night down the trail between the outhouse and your site.  You ask your companion for the flashlight he brought as you lead the way, but upon receiving it, when you try to turn it on, it gives you nothing.  Puzzled, you look to your friend who says, "Oh, it works, I just put the batteries in upside down to save the juice."  Brilliant.  (Then, if it's a mag-light at least, you know where to swing that puppy.)

Unsalty salt and hidden light...that's what Jesus speaks out against as He continues talking to those who have followed Him up the mountain.  He wanted to let them know that it's no good having something wonderfully helpful that you basically treat as worthless.  Nobody benefits because nothing good is spread--this is the tragedy that our lives become if we have the truth of the saving gospel and don't share it or act out from it as it "salts" and lights up our own lives.  If Jesus is our everything, if He is the salt in our shakers, the Energizer batteries charging our lights, and the wind in our sails as we head through our day, that's simply going to change things.  People are going to notice, and when they do, Jesus says that this is such a spectacular thing because more glory ends up being given to the Father.  Loving self-sacrifice becomes our way, the sweet and ripe fruit of the Spirit starts getting enjoyed by those around us as it oozes out of our lives.  Salt and light is spread.

Again, these are among the words that Jesus says, if we keep them, will make us like the wise man who built his house upon the steady, anchoring rock.  So what's coming out of our shakers?  If God is our fuel and motivation, it ought to be the salt that makes the meal.

Funeral Giggles

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
    “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:2-3)

Jesus loved to take conventional thought and flip it upside down.  I suppose the abruptness that was often used as He did such was in part for effect--it's a great way to get peoples' attention and He was the best Teacher of all time, after all.  (I've only copied the first couple verses of this section, but you can read verses 2-11 to get the fuller picture by clicking here.)

Each statement begins with a "blessed" and is followed up with a statement of why such an attitude or practice is a blessed one, often by pointing to what such positions yield either in this life or in the life to come.  Verse three is but one example of this.  Jesus says that it's a blessed thing to be poor in spirit.  That seems an odd thing to say because who at any given moment wants to be lowly or the one who feels "underneath" things deep down in their soul and in need of help?  But if you're listening to the Savior say this and looking to Him to be that help, there's exciting news: you get the kingdom of heaven.  That's right; you receive an inheritance in which you will come out light-years ahead of where you dwell on this earth as one "poor in spirit."

Really what Jesus is doing with these verses is building within us a different kind of excitement.  It's one that challenges us to quit striving to be on the top in this world, seeking victory in things that last only for a little while.  He says instead that it is a beautiful and happy and blessed thing for us to live with an anticipatory quietness inside that, even when things are the pits on the outside, still bubbles out to produce that kind of over-the-moon grin that you can't quite wipe down...that kind that creeps up at funeral when you get the inappropriate giggles and just need to look at your feet in hopes that you'll hold it together.

That's where things start with the God motivated spirit.  Those are the words that we need to hear from Jesus, the One who's being and words are the foundation on which we must build our lives if we want to survive the storms.  Meditate on "the blesseds" today.

God Motivation and the Mountain Climber

Jesus was a mountain climber...with a purpose.  He didn't use grappling hooks or get ready for His climbs by doing one-finger pull-ups or even ascribe to Captain Kirk's reason for such ascensions when asked why he climbed ("because it's there") .  He instead gathered a group of unlikely disciples and took a hike with them up a steep hill where He would be in view of a large crowd that was interested in what He had to say.  Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him (Matthew 5:1).  Many have heard of this speech that He gave, this "Sermon on the Mount" as we call it.  It takes up the better part of a few chapters of Matthew's gospel account and includes in it everything from beautiful and comforting words to ideas that rattled the established religion of the day to concepts that still stir up controversy in the church.  It is used to call Christians to an unbelievably high standard of righteousness through phrases like be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (5:48) and is used by some to justify their own sin and get people to leave them alone through the quoting of, judge not, that you be not judged (7:1).

Whatever we do or don't know about Jesus and however familiar we may or may not be with His words, the sermon on the mount should have a profound effect on us.  If it doesn't--if we dismiss them as archaic or scoff with rolling eyes--we will discover in the end that the joke is on us.  My plan in the review of each section will be to hold it up against the very end of Jesus' discourse and ask myself and anyone who might read the post, "What are we building on?"  Jesus ended His sermon in this way: Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it (7:24-27).  Rest assured, the rains, floods, and winds will come.  Will we stand in the end?  That all depends on the foundation our lives are built upon. 

God Motivation and the Love Slap

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
(Hebrews 2:1-4)

Just prior to the words here, we're given the second "Jesus is better" lesson--Jesus is better than the mighty angels.  Because this is true, the argument then follows that the message Jesus brought is heftier than everything else in the Old Testament.  It's not that what Jesus taught was in opposition to what was written there; in fact, it carried right along with it and even reinforced all that was before.  It's simply that the whole deal is tied up in Jesus.  He fulfills it, gives it all its intended meaning, and adds a weight to it that makes the truth of the Scriptures that much more substantial, bringing a new hope for a great salvation.

The author was likely writing to people who already had an appreciation for their Bibles.  They took God's Word seriously and saw that to do otherwise was foolishness.  Sin was punished; God was a righteous God of justice.  And then Jesus came and brought before their eyes a new flavor of grace, mercy, and love--things that they didn't have as complete a picture of before.  When He left, His message continued through the apostles, and their words were confirmed through the amazing things God did among them to reveal that they were not acting on their own.

Why then was the author of Hebrews concerned for his readers, giving them a warning not to ignore or drift away from the message of salvation that Jesus brought?  I think the answer is simple--that's what we're tempted to do when we get slapped with grace-filled love.  "Oh, God is no longer into the justice and punishment thing?!  I get it--cool!!"  For whatever reason, what tends to happen once we realize we're a bit "safer" is that we decide it's OK to start ignoring God and arranging our own lives instead of holding on tightly to our magnificent Savior, saying with delighted exuberance, "Just say the word, Jesus, and I'm all over it!"  Somewhere that cry of our heart gets lost.  And somewhere along the way we forget that the big and final Judgement Day really is a coming reality, a prophesy that's as true as all the other ones that have been fulfilled, as true as the ones that told us Jesus was coming in the first place.  As we hear and receive the message of salvation that came through Christ, God should all the more be our motivation for all that we think, do, and say.     

God Motivation and the Prophet Smasher

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
(Hebrews 1:1-3a)

Familiar to those who have read the book of Hebrews is the concept that Jesus is better.  As jobs, functions, or roles and the people or beings that fill them are looked at, the spotlight is shined on Jesus, and the author proves that nobody can hold a candle to Him.  Jesus vs. whoever = Jesus the Victor.  That is what is going on right from the get-go in this letter.

Prophets (like Malachi and a score of others) carried God's message to people who needed challenging, encouragement, rebuke, warning, insight, direction and anything else that God wanted to communicate.  Our Bible is chuck full of information that He delivered to us through the utilization of prophets as His mouthpieces.  Praise God for the prophets!  But then something happened, something that many of the prophets talked about happening: the Father used a different mouthpiece and His name is Jesus, God's Son.  The scorecard for the prophets isn't really given here because it didn't need to be.  They were blades of grass that were born, flourished for a short time, and then returned to dust.  Again, we're thankful for them, but that resume isn't all that impressive.  How about the scorecard of Jesus?  What's so amazing about Him? 

For one, He's got everything.  He's the Son that all things we see (and don't see) belongs to.  God the Father didn't just open the door to the garage and show Him some amazing wheels that were to be His.  He instead pulled back the curtain to the cosmos, said, "Here ya go" and then folded up the curtain and handed that to Jesus as well.  Secondly, Jesus as God's Messenger didn't just walk onto the scene, get invested in by the Almighty for a season and then receive this amazing everything as if it was a surprise barrel of loot.  In the beginning of it all the Son was like the magnificent prism of light that the Father shined His glory through and exploded everything into being.  He sorta didn't really do that with the prophets.  Thirdly, although the prophets (and all of us really) are meant to increasingly show things of the beautiful character and nature of God, Jesus actually was/is Him, reflecting Him perfectly so that we not only got a true message about God when He came to earth, but the embodiment of the message itself.  And finally, it's a teeny little thing, but if Jesus quit thinking about me, this computer, you, or the existence of everything that was, is, or ever will be, it would all immediately come to nothing--it all holds up because of His say-so.

Jesus is better than the prophets and the message that He carries is so much more magnificent for all those reasons.  As the God motivated mind would try to wrap itself around all that, it needs to move itself quickly to the place of worship.  There's nowhere else to go.  Praise God that He provided Jesus, the more excellent Messenger...and so much more.

God Motivation and the Middle Step

“Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’”
(Malachi 3:13-15)

Though it's a little less conventional than the other exchanges, I nearly forgot about the final question God's people had for Him in the book of Malachi!  The LORD was displeased with their words that testified negatively about His character and ways of operation in the world.  The things that the people were frustrated about are similar in nature to what we may struggle with.  In looking at how events play out around us, in seeing that "doing good" doesn't always yield immediate amazing results and that "doing bad" sometimes seems to advance people, we might wonder about what that says about who God is.  Why doesn't He hand out hugs and spankings in direct accord with the proper and profane?  And if He doesn't do that, what good does it do to be good at all?

What is striking about this exchange is that God does not give a direct answer to those struggling with these things.  After this passage, what we see some of them doing instead is pausing after their wrestling, talking things through with one another, and coming to the conclusion that they needed to take all that God had revealed about Himself during this time of Q&A and run with it in faith.  They had to say, "We don't have every answer to everything we have questions about, but we see how we've been foolish, how God has been wise, and how we must trust Him."  A very interesting thing happened then.  The LORD spoke of these people with great favor and promised that there would come a time where the distinction they sought between the righteous and wicked would be evident once more (3:17-18).  First came the revelation of the character of God, then came the faith of His people, and finally there was a fuller display of God's purposes and ways.  That middle step is the step where God motivation has to show itself--it's where trust in Him must be fleshed out.  It comes by His grace as all good things do, but it's also where the call for self-abandonment rings out, begging for an answer.  Don't trip over the middle step.