Tag Archives: Sermon on the Mount

October 26, 2013 · 2:33 am

Why the healing? Why the miracles?

given on Sunday, October 20, 2013

         Jesus began his ministry reaching out to the people walking right beside him along the road.  The Sermon on the Mount set the foundation for his teaching, preaching, and healing.  Certainly Jesus had to teach his followers how to shift from living under the Old Covenant to living under the New Covenant.  He had to teach them what the New Covenant was, and he had to prepare them for the journey ahead.

The Sermon on the Mount is the first formal account of the teaching process, and it shifted to preaching as the crowd beyond his Apostles grew on the mountainside.  The curious, the Jews, the Gentiles, the wealthy, the poor, the craftsmen, the sick, the possessed, even the Pharisees were all crowded around listening.

Why did Jesus need to heal the sick, the possessed, and even the dead?  Why did Jesus perform miracles?  He already had this huge following and it was growing daily.  Why the healing and the miracles?

Beginning this study of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 4:23 introduces the story:

Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.

 

That verse lists the three different methods Jesus used—teaching, preaching, and healing.  The study notes from the Life Application Bible spelled out the purposes of each one:

Teaching shows Jesus’ concern for understanding, preaching shows his concern for commitment; and healing shows his concern for wholeness.  His miracles of healing authenticated his teaching and preaching, proving that he truly was from God.  (p.1651)

 

The healing had two purposes.  First he wanted to make sure that each one was whole—mentally and physically.  The healing made sure that those who believed were capable of living full lives demonstrating the Christian lifestyle that God wanted for his children.

The second purpose is to provide the new followers evidence of God’s power.  The people needed to see the work that Jesus could do in order to believe he was God.  The healings were instant, they were miracles that man alone could not perform.

The miracles begin with Matthew 8 as Jesus heals a leper:

8 Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. 2 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

 

Leprosy was a disease that ostracized the person from the community being forced to live with other lepers in a separate community.  There was no hope, no return to one’s family or community.  The lepers were left alone to die alone.

The fact that Jesus reached out and touched the leper was completely unexpected.  The scripture tell us that the healing occurred immediately.  The leper was told to go to the priest so he could see that he was cured or clean of leprosy, which was required by the Law of Moses, aka the Old Covenant.

The miracle cure of leprosy was clearly an example of how faith cured the man, but more importantly the healing bridged the gap between the people and the priests as well as between the priests and Jesus.  The healing made the man whole and it provided evidence that Jesus was God.

The list of Jesus’ healings and miracles is sprinkled throughout the New Testament.  The four gospels include the stories, but even the earliest disciples performed healings and/or miracles:

  • Acts 2:22, 43—Peter explains the miracles:
    • 22 “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene[a] by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.
    • 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.

 

  • Acts 19:11-12—Paul is accredited to have performed miracles, too:
    • 11 God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. 12 When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.

 

  • Acts 19:13-14–goes on to explain that the Jews who had been driving out evil spirits couldn’t:

 

  • 13 A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. 15 But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.

 

  • Romans 15:17-19—Paul is ministering to the Gentiles of Rome
    • 17 So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God. 18 Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. 19 They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit.[a] In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.

 

Paul’s letters to the Corinthians adds more understanding to why miracles were performed:

  • I Corinthians 1:22—who needed to see miracles
    • 18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”[a]  20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.

 

  • I Corinthians 12:10—spiritual gifts include miracles
    • 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[a]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.[b] 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,[c] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

 

  • II Corinthians 12:12—Paul explains what apostles can do
    • 12 When I was with you, I certainly gave you proof that I am an apostle. For I patiently did many signs and wonders and miracles among you.

 

As Paul’s ministry continues, his letters to the new churches continue to explain the power of God and how Jesus was sent to teach, preach and heal those who determine to live the Christian life.  He explains how the Holy Spirit is the power of God within each of us.  The Holy Spirit fuels the spiritual gifts within us.

  • Galatians 3:5—the Holy Spirit works through us to perform miracles:
    • 5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
    • 14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised[a] Holy Spirit through faith.

The fact that the New Testament has references to healing and miracles in various situations, the closing discussion of why did Jesus perform healings and miracles must center on each one of us individually.  The cynics of 2013 continue to discount the stories of God’s miracles.  The years that have separated Jesus and his disciples and us have caused us to waiver in our belief.  We doubt miracles.  We become suspicious of healings that seem to have no explanation.  Paul was prepared for this and sent out a warning about this in Hebrews.

  • Hebrew 2:1-4—gifts of the Holy Spirit
    • 2 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. 2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. 3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? 4 And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.

 

Why did Jesus heal?  Why did Jesus perform miracles?  Healing was to assure that people were healthy or whole.  If a follower was not whole, how could he focus on Jesus’ teachings?  How could he stay God-centered or be able to live a faithful, productive life?  The miracles, the instant healings, the water turned into wine, Lazarus brought back to life all provided authenticity to Jesus claim to be God on earth.  Only God could do that, Jesus was man and God.

In our world right now, do we need proof that God is real?  Jesus knew we needed evidence that God is in control.  Jesus demonstrated God’s love right on earth in front of others, and the word of his work and his compassion spread.  Are we able to spread the word with confidence?  Are we able to see how God works through the spiritual gifts of each and every one of his children?  Can we accept our own gifts and work for the glory of God?

Remember the words of the hymn, “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy,” may it be our closing prayer:

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

weak and wounded, sick and sore;

Jesus ready stands to save you,

full of pity, love, and power.

 

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,

God’s free bounty glorify;

true belief and true repentance,

every grace that brings you nigh.

 

Come ye weary, heavy laden,

lost and ruined by the fall;

if you tarry till you’re better,

you will never come at all.

 

Let not conscience make you linger,

nor of fitness fondly dream;

all the fitness he requireth

is to feel your need of him.

Refrain

I will arise and go to Jesus;

he will embrace me with his arms;

in the arms of my dear Savior,

O there are ten thousand charms. (or miracles)

 

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October 5, 2013 · 4:30 pm

How did Jesus teach? The Beatitudes & The Last Supper

given on Sunday, October 6, 2013–Worldwide Communion Day

Scripture Base:  Matthew 5: 5-12 and Luke 6:20-23

Teaching and preaching seemingly follow similar methods and often the two careers seem to merge.  In fact, the training is very similar especially in classes concerning delivery of content.  The difference between the two careers is primarily the audience, as one might expect.

The Sermon on the Mount officially signaled the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  The audience was defined as the Jews, originally, but opened up to any interested person who was within hearing distance of this man.  Certainly the first notice taken of him was in the tabernacle where the Jewish rabbis were listening and interacting with him as a child even as a student.  Yet as early as 12, the scripture tells us that Jesus may have been more a preacher than a student.

Personally, I would love to learn more about this young man between 12 and 30.  Was his development typical or did he develop an aura of mystery around him causing people—family, friends, neighbors, even strangers—to start whispering about him in an almost fearful manner?

The stories of Jesus’ pre-ministry life are scanty at best, but I cannot believe that he was just quietly growing up and being trained as a carpenter.  I think there must have been a sense of calm and peace surrounding him visible in his actions and his eyes.  I think he was soft-spoken, but gifted at knowing the inner thoughts of others.

How else could one man, walking along the dusty paths along the Jordan River, up and over coastal mountains, in and along the village paths, call out the name of someone completely absorbed by the task at hand, and have them drop everything, walk towards him, and begin a journey without a thought!  I know there had to be a unique presence about Jesus.

The beginning of Jesus’ ministry is the Sermon on the Mount and the list of Beatitudes is recorded as the introduction to his teaching.  At the point he becomes aware of the large crowd growing around him and the Apostles, he shifts from preparing them for their new career to teaching and/or preaching to the curious onlookers.

What do the Beatitudes teach?  At the first reading, one might consider them to be riddles.  The words twist and turn, stating one thing, then flipping into another.  The wording is a cause and effect statement in reverse:  God blesses those (the effect) who did (the cause).  But then comes the concrete result—the Kingdom of Heaven is just one result.

Breaking down each statement like that, certainly demonstrates the rewards outnumber the expected behaviors.  One new law erases the Old Law, primarily based on the Ten Commandments:  love your neighbor as yourself.  How you are to do that is outlined in the Beatitudes:

  1. Realize your need for God
  2. Mourn for one’s loss
  3. Be humble
  4. Hunger and thirst for justice
  5. Be merciful
  6. Be pure of heart
  7. Work for peace
  8. Do right even if others do not
  9. Stick to your beliefs even if others make fun of you.

10. Be happy

These are seemingly so simple that I am sure the change in one’s lifestyle during those ancient years really did appeal to the masses.  Remember that at this time the ‘good life’ was for those in power and for the priests in the tabernacle.

Which brings us back to the audience and Jesus’ teaching style.  If the tabernacle was so holy that only certain areas were open to the people, the working class, as we might know them today (or maybe we should call them the working poor class).  Add to that group of people, the ones living and working around the area that were not even Jewish, who were living outside of the Jewish faith.

Any speaker who can deliver a new idea with such success that the crowds start growing and growing into an unmanageable crowd who could only fit along the road on the side of a mountain, must be a gifted teacher and/or preacher.

The Sermon on the Mount was a beginning.  The crowds were curious, the tone was inviting, and promises sounded appealing.  Jesus was teaching these first followers methods to simplify their lives.  Following the Old Law was demanding and built upon fearful consequences.  Jesus’ message was different and provided hope to the masses.

For three years, Jesus continued walking the dusty paths, speaking to individuals, to families, to educated and uneducated.  The legal authorities were noticing a change in the communities, the priests were watching, too.  I even suspect that attendance during Sabbath services was diminishing, too.  Change was in the air!

In fact the change was also affecting the community’s daily business.  The legal authorities were becoming agitated, not to mention the Jewish priests.  The teaching and the preaching were not stopping, but the new followers enthusiasm became overshadowed by fear.   The movement grew but also became more secretive.  The crowds were closely watched, who was following whom was noted.  Still Jesus continued teaching, preaching, and healing with his following growing and growing.

As that Passover Week rolled around and three years of work was nearing completion (the Sermon of the Mount began Jesus’ career) now the Last Supper was going to close his earthly career.  The setting changes, the audience diminishes, and the seriousness of the gathering shifts to a tone of caution.

Jesus the teacher is now preaching.  He must reinforce his message and he needs his disciples to understand the importance of their role with each other as well as the newest followers.  He has taught, preached and healed without ceasing, but his time was ending.

Parents and teachers know that their role changes when children and students grow up and move on.  Jesus knew this too.  The promises shared in the Beatitudes would not be fulfilled if he did not complete his earthly job.

The Last Supper signaled the transition of teaching, preaching and healing from him to his Apostles.  And, as the Apostles hear the words we now use in the communion liturgy, they graduated with fear into new roles.  They were now to be the teachers, the preachers, and the healers.

Still, the setting and the tone of that final meal was filled with casual conversation, with laughter, with hope, with calm until Jesus commanded their attention and began explaining what was about to happen.  The clamor in the room stopped, the silence filled the room, and Jesus’ words filled the void (Matthew 26:21-24):

I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.  . . .One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me.  For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago.  But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him.  It would be far better for that man if he had never been born.

Shock, bewilderment, defensiveness, horror, disbelief, and fear:  the emotions at that moment are far different than the emotions of the crowds listening to the Sermon on the Mount.  The hope and the promises listed in the Beatitudes suddenly become just distant memories as Jesus’ prepares his handpicked Apostles for the final phase of his ministry.

The simple act of sharing a meal with those closest to you creates a bond of trust.  The Last Supper, also known as Communion or the Eucharist, does this for each of us yet today.  We symbolize that meal with Jesus each time we take the cup and the bread.  As we remember how Jesus’ spent three years teaching, preaching, and healing, we also renew that bond with God.

God loves each and every one of us so much, that he came to this earth as Jesus to teach us, to preach to us, and to heal us.  The words of hope and promises delivered in the Beatitudes are as meaningful today as they were 2,000 years ago.

The rule, the one rule, simplifies our lives so much that we want to share it with others, too, because we know the difference it has made in our lives.  It is a rule that creates the Christ-filled lives we experience here on earth as well as leads to the promises of eternal life with God once our earthly lives are completed.

Thanks be to God for the gift of his Son and of the Holy Spirit as we live our lives to His glory.  May we be the Church, teaching, preaching and healing others so they may experience the grace and the love of God.

[At this time, join in the ritual of Communion.  Take the cup and the bread as a symbol of the bond between you and God.]

 

Closing Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, Jesus your son, and the Holy Ghost,

Thank you for the gifts you have given us

so we may join You in teaching, preaching, and healing.

We acknowledge our human weaknesses,

but we believe in your grace and your forgiveness.

Help us share that sense of hope found in the Beatitudes

with those who are lost and forlorn.

May our skills be instrumental in the transformation

of the lives of your children, young and old alike.

Through the sharing of the bread and the wine,

renew our bond, our commitment to You and to each other.

To Your glory, amen.

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October 5, 2013 · 4:26 pm

Teach, Preach, Heal: I can only imagine. . .

given on Sunday, September 29, 2013

Scripture base:  Matthew 4:23-25

Can you imagine what the side of the mountain looked like as Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount?  I can only imagine what it must have been like:

  • First, there was this man traveling along the road with a group.  They appeared to be in a deep discussion as they walked.  Apparently the walking made it difficult to finish the discussion, so the leader decided to go up on the mountain, sit down on a protruding rocks and the men gathered around him.
  • Secondly, as these men are discussing, other travelers noticed them and are curious.  These individuals begin collecting behind the original group, listening in.
  • Then someone starts whispering that this must be that guy Jesus who keeps talking in all the temples telling people to follow one law rather than all the ancient Hebrew laws.
  • Pretty soon, a younger kid jumps up and takes off to tell his parents whom he just saw and they should come listen.
  • Slowly the crowd just keeps growing, but the man and his friends keep talking until Jesus, the main speaker, realizes how large the crowd has become.  He shifts his talk to include all those sitting there on the side of the mountain.

What a scenario!  I can only imagine what the day was like and in today’s world the closest thing I have to compare it to are the crowds that swarm to the sports fields all over the countryside or maybe to the music venues when a star comes into the area for a concert.

I can only imagine!

The Sermon on the Mount is legendary as one of the most important life events of Jesus’ ministry.  Repeatedly the verses, the parables, the stories are referenced by almost anybody—preacher, parishioner, lay speakers, musicians, business speakers, writers, parents, and grandparents.  I can only imagine the number of references this sermon has had over the thousands of years in virtually every setting imaginable.

Why did this particular man and his message create so much attention?  I can only imagine what it must have been to sit in his presence and listen to him speak.  There must have been a sense of assuredness that he provided, a sense of authority, too.  His mannerisms and his body language must have invited anyone to listen.

I can only imagine these things because we have no evidence like we would today—no video records, no audio records, not even still photographs.  Yet in my mind, I have very distinct images recorded and preserved simply based on my own Christian upbringing and my own reading of scriptures, lyrics and study materials.  I have a pretty graphic set of images that are the base of my understanding, but it continues to be adjusted as I add more readings, more discussions, and more study.

As I began reading Matthew 5, I realized I needed to back it up a bit and read into the Sermon on the Mount.  The record of this event actually starts about Matthew 4:12 which explains his reason for traveling out of Nazareth and back towards Capernaum, his official residence:

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.  13Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—14to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah.  . . . 17From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

This may not seem to be important, but remember that John was Jesus’ cousin who had been preaching that Jesus was the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy.  John’s arrest signals that the authorities were beginning to pay attention to the subtle or not so subtle changes in the area.

Jesus was clearly a person to watch closely.  He was teaching, preaching and healing.  The talk was drawing so much attention that whenever he came into a village, the commotion disrupted normal daily activities.  He was calling men to drop everything they were doing and even leave their families.  These community pillars were suddenly changing their entire lives simply to follow this man.

Yet, the Bible leaves the reader a picture of how low keyed the movement was while creating the most dramatic story ever told.  In Matthew 4:23-25, the first phase of Jesus’ ministry is summarized:

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.  News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.  Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Three verses is all it takes to explain what a tremendous following Jesus developed in a short amount of time, possibly just a few months to a year.

I can only imagine how one individual without the assistance of the 21st century audio and visual communication techniques, could totally disrupt thousands of years.  The pattern of life was challenged and it was creating an entirely new life pattern.

Jesus stops along this journey on the side of a mount trying to explain to this group of handpicked leaders how to carry the message of change forward.  The methods really are no different than those we use today.  One leader emerges, a group gathers around him, and he begins teaching, preaching and healing: three methods to convey his message as well as prepare others to carry on without him.

I can only imagine Jesus as a teacher, a preacher, and a healer.  In my Life Application Bible’s study notes the scholars write:

Jesus was teaching, preaching, and healing.  These were the three main aspects of his ministry.  Teaching shows Jesus’ concern for understanding, preaching shows his concern for commitment; and healing shows his concern for wholeness.  His miracles of healing authenticated his teaching and preaching, proving that he truly was from God.  [the NIV, p.1651]

My personal view strongly aligns to Jesus the teacher simply because of my own teaching career.  But I can also imagine Jesus the preacher, too.  The profession is familiar to me; it is something I know.  Then there is the healer role.  My perception is based on experience with today’s medical profession—doctors, nurses and therapists.  How can we even come close to fully understanding the power that Jesus had?

As we begin looking at the Sermon on the Mount, keep in mind the three methods Jesus used to spread the Word.  I can only imagine the power he demonstrated because I see each of these methods in today’s world in a variety of settings with a wide range of individuals filling the role.  Never have I witnessed one person providing all three methods successfully.  The study notes unlocked the mystery of Jesus by connecting them.

First, I can imagine Jesus the teacher because I know that he was a student of the Jewish law.  He studied, he asked questions, he worked with the rabbis, and he had that innate quality of being a lifelong student but also of being able to share the ideas with others in a convincing manner.  He knew how to prove the message so that it was relevant to the listener of his time.

Can you imagine the best teacher you ever had, whether in school or out of school?  Can you identify the skills they had that made learning easier for you?  Did you notice that throughout your life, you have remembered the lessons from that teacher’s class better than any other teacher’s class?

Now, try identifying teachers today who are able to share new ideas with you in ways that you will remember them and use them.  I can go back in my memory and pick out a variety of teachers who really knew how to teach to me.  I picked up on their enthusiasm, I followed their demanding routines, I practiced over and over, I found places to apply the new information.  And now, I turn around and teach others.

I also can review the history found in textbooks to locate other teachers of note.  Sometimes they are quieter than others, but still the teachers I recognize as making a difference do have die-hard fans who pass on the knowledge to new generations of teachers.

And today there are still teachers who are making dramatic statements about how to live Christian lives (as well as how to teach).  For instance, I have referenced Howard Gardner, the Harvard professor known for his multiple intelligence theory, or Robert Marzano who demonstrates how to implement rigor and relevance into the classroom.  Teachers do flock to hear them teach the teachers.

Now, I can imagine Jesus as a preacher because I have listened to different preachers speak.  The typical pastor/preacher demands attention simply from the authority of the pulpit.  Jesus did not need a sanctuary with a pulpit, he preached from the side of a mountain because that was simply where he was.  He preached so the lessons could be preserved.

In today’s world, we do have profound preachers who use the latest communication techniques available to spread the word.  Auditoriums fill by the draw of their personal style.  The words used are not as new as some might think, they are from the Bible; but the message inspires the crowds as they have for thousands of years.

Finally, I can imagine Jesus as healer only because I believe he is God.  The healing is the proof that Jesus is God.  Certainly we know that our medical personnel can aid in healing, but all too often we discover that the doctors do not know all.  Humans have limits; God does not.

This week the Vatican sent an emissary to Kansas to research Father Emil Kapaun.  First appointed to the Diocese of Wichita, he was a military chaplain whose stories of healing may validate his nomination into sainthood.  Jesus’ healings are recorded also as proof that he is God who is concerned for the wellbeing of all.

Today, right now, we need Jesus!  We need teaching, preaching, and healing in a world that ignores God.  We need teachers who know how to share the message with rigor and relevance.  We need preachers who bring the Word of God alive in our drained, worn out lives.  We need healing:  the kind only God can do.  Healing of our bodies, our minds, and our souls.

I can only imagine the profound impact the Sermon on the Mount can make on us today.  We do have teachers who impact learning, we have preachers who change the paradigm of religion, and we do experience healing through ministry of the medical profession.  Still none of them can compare to Jesus who did all three:  teach, preach, and heal.

Closing prayer:

Dear Omnipotent God,

Guide us to understanding as we strive to learn

Jesus’ lessons for living a faith-centered life.

Guide us to listen and to comprehend the sermons

through which Jesus shared his concerns.

Guide us to accept the stories of Jesus’ healing

as evidence of Your love for all Your children.

May we find new meanings, new ideas, and new hope

in the Bible’s scriptures.

May we grow in our own Christian faith

as we discuss and use the ideas each and every day.

May we share our understanding with others

so they may find the joy of living with You in their lives.

Bless each and every one present here today

as students, as followers, and leaders for You, dear God.

Bless those who cannot be present today

so they may heal whether physically, mentally or soulfully.

Bless those who have yet to meet You personally,

that they may find us serving as Your loving arms.  Amen.

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September 24, 2013 · 1:13 am

Are you a worrywart?

given on Sunday, September 22, 2013

How many times have we come together on Sunday morning bemoaning what has happened during the week?  Monday I stopped at the dentist office and started watching the news report about the shooting in Washington D.C.  The report was another horrendous violent act by one forlorn man shooting lunch-eating workers.  Why?

As I was getting the answer for my own question, I chatted with the receptionist about the horror of the day and even more.  The flooding in Colorado has been unbelievable.  The pictures and reports caused flashbacks to the 1993 flood here in Missouri, but this flooding was along the Rocky Mountains and its valleys.  The news said it was a 1,000-year flood—1993 was called a 500-year flood.

Let’s begin with a word of caution, though.  The events that we see on our nightly news are brought directly into our homes and can feel overwhelming.  The urge is to say the world is coming apart and God is about to destroy everything.  For many, the anxiety brought on by these news events creates a lifestyle of worry.  Individuals cannot look at the world without fear, and they become the worrywarts.

Another caution is also about reading the Bible too literally.  In the conversation I had at the dentist’s office, the receptionist wrote down a Bible scripture she wanted me to read:  2 Timothy 3.  She went on to suggest I should then read Titus.  I was curious, so when I got home lat, I opened up the Bible and read these scriptures:

3 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! [the NLT]

Those words could easily send fear through the hearts of Christians around this world, but Paul was warning the earliest Christians.  In fact, this book is the last letter Paul was able to write before his death, not Titus.  Reading through the study helps, 1 Timothy and Titus were written in 64 AD, during a brief time out of jail.  The second letter to Timothy was written in 66 AD, while in jail and shortly before he was executed.

The words from this scripture seem to parallel much of what we are witnessing in our 21st century world right now.  The list in this book sounds all too familiar.  In fact it would be so easy to create a list that was as unchristian or even worse right now in 2013.  For so many of us we could easily be lured to believe the end of the world was coming soon.

Those are the concerns, and that is why so many are becoming worrywarts.  Maybe I unintentionally fed worrywarts last Sunday when I talked about looking at how we serve.  With all these concerns, I looked for answers—again in scripture.   Reading on in 2 Timothy and Titus does improve the understanding; but turning back to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount,” (Matthew 6:28-30) worrywarts can find some assurance that as bad as things get, God is there to take care of everything:

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.

What a relief!  Worrywarts all over the world need to hear Jesus’ words of assurance.

Granted, saying we have nothing to worry about is somewhat a ‘Pollyanna’ view.  We certainly cannot just sit back and not do anything, not try to do the right things, to live a Christian lifestyle, or work to help others.  Paul spoke to Timothy trying to assure him, to prepare him for his continued ministry once he was gone.  Jesus was trying to prepare his followers for handling the evils of the world in which they were living.  The masses following him were hungry for his teaching.

The words from Matthew 6:25-34 sound like a guarantee for a life when times were extremely difficult.  Hear those words of promise:

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.

Can you just imagine how those words sounded to the people crowding around Jesus there on a mountainside?

Do these words provide us the very same sense of relief?  If we sit down to the nightly news and hear of one more tragedy, can we turn to the words in Matthew and experience a release from worry?  Can we share these words with the other worrywarts we know in our own world in an effort to relieve them?

Our role in today’s world is no different than it was for the earliest Christians who were taught by Jesus himself.  Our role in today’s world is to lead others to know that with God nothing can be against us.  We do not have to feel as though all the bad things happening are because God is missing in our lives.  Or even more, the bad things are not because God is punishing us.

The entire Sermon on the Mount provides Christians today as much training as it did the first Christians, the ones who were still Jews or Gentiles not realizing the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy had happened.  We need to take some time to focus on those very basic lessons for us in an effort to lesson the worry that seems to consume us.

I am one of the biggest worrywarts I know.  I have struggled to keep my life moving forward rather than give in to the negative experiences I have confronted.  And, just like eating too many sweets, when I try to change my bad habits, I can make mistakes.  But, I never give up.  Jesus tells us that we simply must believe and to turn over our worries to God.

Turning over our worries is not turning our backs on the causes of worry.  God asks us to follow the one commandment: to love one another.  Anything we can do to maintain that one law is our responsibility.  For every single human we can reach and turn into a believer, we take one more step to transform the world.

We may not be able to prevent all the evil in the world, but we can wrap up the evil in prayer, turn it over to God, and do what we can to keep the evil away from our Christian foundation.

When we begin to feel the negatives in the world wearing us down, we need to look around us carefully and see the good that still exists right there along with the bad.  We are to look for the proverbial silver lining in the clouds, and then reveal that silver lining to others.  If we share the good with others, we can defend ourselves from evil.

Each one of us has the potential of being a Christian leader.  Each one of us can model the lessons Jesus taught us from the mountainside.  Each one of us can read the scripture to renew our own understanding of God’s grace.  There is nothing to stop us from talking with others, just like the receptionist at the office, and sharing the confidence we have in God.

In casual conversations, rather than dwell on the negative, look for the positives.  We do not have to take the evil reports and accept them as today’s new standards.  We have a job to do:  share!  Share the good news with others you meet along the way.  Be prepared with a verse or two to share with others.  Model a worry-free life to family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers.  Use the words without guilt.

Look at Paul’s words to Timothy as he concludes his warning of all the trials that may confront him in his ministry–2 Timothy 3:10-11, 13-14

10 But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance. 11 You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured.  . . . 13 But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.  . . . 14 But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.

Worrywarts, let those worries go!  Christians, remain faithful to God.  Then watch carefully as evil looses its control over our world.

Closing prayer:

Dear Master Teacher,

Over and over we are challenged by evil.

We feel our joyful selves draining dry.

Open our memories to the words Jesus taught.

Remind us that worry is an enemy, too.

Help us keep worry from controlling our lives.

Help us defend ourselves while helping others, too.

Help us to see God’s glory amongst the troubles.

Then fill us with joy as we release our worries.

Then let us share with others the wonder of God’s grace.

May we all do all we can for other worrywarts

so they can find the excitement of living

in God’s world now and forever.  –Amen

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