euphemos

Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourself (Mark 12:31) and to love one another the way He loved us (John 13:34). How did He love us? More than Himself.

Jesus declares that our neighbor is not only those who share our faith, race, or class, but also as everyone who needs our help. This command to love one another as ourself is not merely a philosophical ideal. When the crowd asked John the Baptist what they should do, he gave very practical advice: if we have food or more clothes than we can wear at one time, we should share that with someone who has none. Our command is not only that we avoid cause harm, but also that we treat others as we would like to be treated. This is not merely one of the “cause no harm” standards that are so popular in our selfish culture; this is a “do good” standard, and it applies to everyone we touch.

Love between believers is so important that Jesus declares that it is the identifying characteristic of His disciples. Not our words, even when they are good, and not prophetic utterances or miracles in His name, but our love for the body of Christ. Paul encourages us to not only look out for our own interests, but also for the interests of others. That is a good starting point, but only takes us to the point of loving others as much as ourself. In Jesus, we see an example of loving more. I love how the New Living Translation captures this so well… “He made himself nothing“. By both word and action, Jesus taught that there is no greater love than to lay down our life for our friends. Paul punctuates the point when he instructs the Philippians to consider each other more important than themselves.

Jesus declared that we are his friends if we obey his commandments. If we are obeying His commandments then we are loving our neighbor as much as ourself. If we identify so closely with Jesus that His friends are our friends then we are laying down our life for the body of Christ. How serious are we about loving when it isn’t convenient, and when it is perhaps even painful?

Priorities Index

God has not spoken to me much the past few days, and I hate it.

I was depressed yesterday and could not bear the thought of praying. I have recognized that tendency in myself before. Instead of pleading for his presence, I withdraw. There could hardly be a more foolish response. I do not watch much TV, but I sat down last night with my love and we watched “America’s Next Top Model” and “American Idol” together. One of the wannabe models was released because she just didn’t have passion. Bo was low in the Idol vote count, and I was disappointed that he was too cool to care. It wasn’t until this morning that I realized that I am having the same problem.

I realized this morning that it is not primarily His guidance I miss, but His presence. His word promises that He will give guidance, and He has been faithful to do so. God rarely gives instructions in a time and manner of my choosing, but, in retrospect, His timing is always perfect. Jesus is my Lord, and he directs my steps, but it is my friend Jesus that I miss. I miss His warmth, His comfort, His whispered “peace, be still”, and His occasional “Rock on Brother!” The sad thing is that I miss it only because I have failed to ask for it.

We value most those things we have lacked. For the family who has lost a child, the promise that “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days” rings loudly. Of the promises in Isaiah 65, one is dearest to my heart: “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.” The Lord has taught me to thirst for Him. When I stop thirsting, He is kind enough to withdraw His presence until I draw near to Him again with my heart.

God has not spoken to me much the past few days, and it has been a blessing.

A lot of priorities are easy to set and hard to keep. Putting Jesus ahead of family is challenging to contemplate, excruciating to execute, and rewarding in retrospect.

The bad news is that Jesus says what he means. Luke (Luke 14:26 NASB) quotes Jesus as saying “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate(1) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” Matthew (Matthew 10:37 NASB) recalls it as “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

The good news is that Jesus means what he says. Jesus tells us “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29 NASB) When Jesus is first, we don’t suffer, we gain. The lad in John 6:1-14, had a few loaves and fishes to feed himself and his family. When he gave that to Jesus, he was filled, the multitude was filled, and the crumbs remaining were greater than the whole had been. When Jesus is first, our families do not suffer, they gain.

Do we value God enough to put Him above our family? He valued us that much.

Priorities Index

(1) See http://www.tektonics.org/gk/jesussayshate.html for comments on the word “hate” in this context. The summary version is that Semitic peoples tended to speak in hyperbole and to choose black-and-white language. Matthew has the right sense of the thing.

It is easy for us to dismiss idolatry as a sin for “primitive” cultures, but idols are not just ugly statues. An idol is anything that takes the place in our life that God has reserved for Himself.

As pleasure becomes our clay god, we are consumed even as we consume. Pleasure is an incessantly hungry god. The more we feed him, the hungrier he gets, and more is never enough. Without realizing that our hand-fed beast intends to devour us, we feed ourselves to him one hour at a time and wait in vain to be filled.

Idols of gold and silver destroy our souls more subtly. Worthwhile endeavors like work, service, and our childrens’ soccer games edge God out of our life. Driven by duty, guilt, and even love, these are idols that we polish and display proudly. We become a “Martha”, so busy doing that we neglect to be with the lover of our soul. Our golden idols crush the life from us with their inexorably increasing pressure.

Idols demand our all and give nothing in return. There is no time for work when we worship Pleasure, and no time for family when we worship at the altar of Work. When we place God first, we are filled to overflowing instead of consumed by our desires. We have time and energy enough for love, for work, and for pleasure. He pulls us out of the mire and sets our feet upon a rock. We have life, and we have it abundantly.

Priorities Index

In 2 Kings 3, we read the account of three kings and how God brought victory in a dry time. The short version of their story goes something like this…

Mesha, King of Moab, rebelled against Israel after Ahab’s death and refused to pay tribute to Jehoam. Jehoshaphat, King of Israel, Jehoram, and the king of Edom journeyed for seven day journey through Edom’s wilderness in order to strike the Moabites at their weak garrison on the border between Edom and Moab. The kings found a dry wadi where they expected water for their troops and animals. Jehoshaphat called for a prophet of the Lord, as seems to be his usual practice in times of trouble, and the kings went down to Elisha to seek his guidance. The prophet of the Lord instructed the kings to dig trenches and wait. At the time of the morning sacrifice, God sent water to fill the trenches they dug the previous evening, and the armies drank and watered their animals in the cool morning hours. The Moabites saw the rising sun reflecting red upon the water-filled trenches, gleefully assumed that the three kings had slaughtered one another(1), and ran out to spoil the battlefield. The rehydrated army slaughtered the Moabites.

God prepared  – Before they asked
God prepared his deliverance even before Jehoshaphat asked for help. Elisha was not along for the good company; he clearly expressed his distaste for the kings of Israel and Edom. Elisha was there specifically so that he could deliver God’s instructions. Am I where God can use me?

God provided – In response to obedience
First, the kings had to humble themselves to go down to the prophet (rather than summon him). Then, they had to believe the prophet and demonstrate that belief through obedience. Finally, they had to wait for the time God appointed. When they humbled themselves, asked, believed, were obedient, and waited, God provided. How are my humbling, asking, believing, obeying, and waiting skills? (argh… the waiting…)

God prevailed – When it was impossible
The kings spent the seven days looking for water as they marched westward through the Edomite wasteland. They saw no windblown clouds in the distance and smelled no rain, but the water came as promised, and it came from the wilderness to the east. God not only met their short-term perceived need for water, He also gave them a significant victory over their enemy. The Moabites were put securely under Israel’s thumb and prevented from striking against Judah. The kings had only their immediate need in mind when they asked for help, but God had the big picture in view. Do I believe that God can do the impossible, or do I limit Him to the merely difficult?

I am encouraged to stop being anxious because my heavenly Father gladly gives me good things when I ask Him, and He knows what I need even before I ask.

(1) It is unfortunate that those who should have been as brothers were so known for their bickering that an outsider was more inclined to believe that they had slaughtered one another than that God had done a miracle in their midst. It is also amazing that God even used their habitual and historical failings to effect His will.