LOVE GOD.....LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.......FOLLOW CHRIST

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?  Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.                      Matthew 22:36-40

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth.  Follow Me, He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.                                         Matthew 9:9

The Lord gave two statements in the two verses mentioned above.  The first in response to a question.  The second as a command to a tax collector.  The first was stated to a respectable member of the Jewish community, in fact one of the most respected, a Pharisee.  The second was stated to a hated member of Jewish society, in fact there wasn't much worse than being a tax collector, it was considered worse than being a gentile pagan.  Though said in different contexts, these two statements reflect much of the heart of the ministry of Jesus. 

Jesus was creating a new community.  But in many ways it was not new at all.  The command to love one's enemy had its root in the Law (Exodus 23:4-5) and is suggested in the text that says to love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18).  The concern for those outside of the Jewish community didn't originate in the ministry of Jesus either, it goes back to Exodus as well (Exodus 22:21 and 23:9).  Jesus said that he did come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17).  He rebuked the Jewish leaders who had kept the smaller matters of the Law, but had neglected the more important matters of the Law (Matthew 23:23).  He told them in the same sermon that they were behaving just like their forefathers who had killed the prophets (Matthew 23:29-32).   The prophets of the Old Testament had come rebuking the Israelites of their day for neglecting their covenant with the LORD, and now God's own Son had come doing the same thing to the Israelite leadership of His day.  Just as they had treated the prophets, they would also treat the Son (Matthew 21:33-46).  As He stated, the Kingdom would be taken from them and given to a people who would produce fruit.  That new people is called the church, new but in some ways not new.  Membership in that new community is extended to all who will do just as Matthew did, follow Him.

Time to make some football predictions:

College First

Big East Conference- Louisville

Atlantic Coast Conference- Virginia Tech

Southeastern Conference- Florida

Big Ten Conference- Ohio State

Big Twelve Conference- Oklahoma

Pac-Ten Conference- Southern California

NFL:

NFC East- Dallas

NFC North- Minnesota

NFC South- Tampa Bay

NFC West- Seattle

NFC Wild Card Teams- Washington, Carolina

AFC East- New England

AFC North- Cincinati

AFC South- Indianapolis

AFC West- San Diego

AFC Wild Card Teams- Denver, Jacksonville

I'll make no predictions about the National Championship or the Super Bowl, I'll wait until the Bowl season and the playoffs and see how off my predictions are.

DANIEL 6:16

So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions, the king spoke, saying to Daniel, "Your God, whom you serve continuously, He will deliver you."

Daniel 6:16 NKJV

Here is a story familiar to every Sunday School child.  Daniel is thrown into the den of lions.  What usually isn't as well known is that Daniel was probably an old man when this happened.  The pictures usually picture a young man.  The king had issued a decree, upon the advice of his wicked advisors, that anyone who petitioned another man or a God other than the king was to be put to death.  Daniel had been in the habit of praying, facing Jerusalem, thrice daily.  The new law did not change him.  It did however change his legal status so to speak.  The king did not want to give Daniel the death sentence, but he had no choice because the law could not be revoked, even by the king himself.  In the verse above the king tells Daniel that his(that is Daniel's) God would deliver him.  Interestingly this pagan king seemed to have more faith in the God of Israel than most in Israel itself did.  Jesus would make the same comment about the response of gentiles to him in the gospels as compared to the response from his own countrymen.  But, how did the king know Daniel's God would deliver him?  Perhaps he had heard the story of Daniel's three friends when faced with their own death sentence under Nebuchadnezzer.  Perhaps he heard the story of the handwriting on the wall that had foretold his own conquest of Babylon.  But perhaps it was Daniel's lifestyle and example in front of the king.  It was one thing to pray three times daily when it was legal, but quite another thing when it brought the sentence of death along with it.  Daniel's faith was obviously genuine.  The scripture also tells us that the king's evil advisors hated Daniel but could find nothing that he had done wrong, which is why they had the king make the decree that he did.  Daniel lived a pure and holy life, which bore witness to the God to whom he prayed.  Daniel's religion didn't end when he exited the church so to speak.  To quote one old country preacher, he had the using kind of religion, not the meeting house kind.  It has been said that a Christian's life may be the only Bible some people ever read and the only sermon they will ever hear.  What are they reading and hearing from you? from me?  As Saint Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the Gospel........use words if necessary."

LUKE 6:9

Today being 6/9 I thought I would look at a 6:9 in the Bible.  In Luke 6:9 it says "Then Jesus said to them "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?"  NIV

This poses some interesting thoughts.  Jesus was about to heal a man with a withered hand and it was the sabbath day.  To some of the Jews of His day it was unlawful to do any work whatsoever on the sabbath including healing someone.  Religious rules had gotten in the way of doing good.  It is easy to throw stones at the Pharisees for their attitude in this situation, but it is an attitude that is still among us.  We would like to help, but church rules and regulations and traditions stand in the way.  We can't do what we think would please our Lord because the rules say no no.  Rules and restrictions are there for a reason in most cases.  Usually it involved a response to a particular situation.  Perhaps at one time someone took some food from the church, suppodedly to give to a hungry family, and traded the food for some drugs.  So now the church doesn't allow anyone to take food without approval by a committee, conference, and a lot of other red tape.  That rule was put into place for a good reason.  However, that rule may get in the way of doing something needful. 

It may be a good idea for churches to re-examine some of their rules and regulations from time to time to see whether they are still useful or if they are hindering the work of the Kingdom of God.

WHAT WE SHOULD LEARN TO SAY II

I DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS

I'm not real certain I even have all the right questions.  This is another tough statement for some people to make.  However, one who can learn to say "I Was Wrong" can learn to say this without much difficulty.  The former admits error, the latter only admits ignorance.  If a person will not admit that he is wrong, he is in effect saying that he is always right, hence that he has all the answers.  Perhaps one of the reasons this is so hard to say is that followers tend to expect their leaders to be experts.  Ignorance or even uncertainty are seen as signs of weakness.  We want strong leaders, not weak ones.  Imagine if you will the two following scenarios:

First a candidate is running for national office.  I will call him Mr. Smith.  "Mr. Smith," asks an interviewer "what do think is the solution to the problems in the Middle East?" "I don't know" responds Mr. Smith.  "Well, what should be done about medicare and Social Security?" he asks.  "I don't know that either." mr. Smith replies.  "Well" the interviewer says rather crudely "what should be done about the budget deficit?"  Mr. Smith replies "I'm not real sure about that either."  "Boy" the interviewer throws his hands up in the air, "you are pretty ignorant about these matters aren't you?"  "Yes" Mr. Smith says, "that is one thing I am certain about."  I think we can rest assured Mr. Smith isn't going to Washington.  If he had given a bunch of quick one-liners that were good soundbites maybe the voters would think he was decisive and might vote for him.  If he had given a real complicated answer to each question the voters might think of him as very intelligent and vote for him.  But an admission of ignorance or uncertainty will likely not net him many votes come election day.

Second, a church is interviewing a potential pastor.  I will call him Mr. Johnson.  "Reverend Johnson, what do you think of women serving as ministers?" asks one man.  "I really am not sure of that." he responds.  "Well, do you think that the gift of tongues is still in effect today?" asks another.  "That's hard to say, because that is a complicated issue." he replies.  "Well, what about the end times, what is your view?"  asks one other member of the church.  "I haven't reached a definite conclusion on that either."  he replies.  Rev. Johnson will probably not have his name on the church sign any time soon. 

I think we would all do well to desire leaders who know their own limitations.  Ones who know that they don't have an answer for every problem and that sometimes they don't even really know the exact nature of the problem. 

We would also all do well to remember that we don't have all the answers and that there is only one who does.  We need to forget our pride and place our faith in the one who does have the answers rather than in ourselves or anyone else.