Discipling the Undisciplined no. 8

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire” (Matthew 5:21-22). I want to be really clear on this before we move ahead to the next part of the sermon. Jesus says “you shall not murder” and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgment” in repetition of the law given to Moses way back in the Tanakh. God made sure to outline that commandment and it appears in both versions from the scroll of Exodus that I mentioned earlier and later, “You shall not murder” (Deuteronomy 5:17). BUT a lot of folks don’t think Jesus meant what He said because I see a lot of excuses for why folks should be allowed to murder by Christians. Those reasons mainly focus on service to Babylon and protecting our life and stuff. So, did Jesus mean what He said? Did God really mean “You shall not murder” when He gave that commandment to folks that then decided to murder folks all over the pages of The Bible? Well, I think that depends on the lens with which you read The Bible and that is what gets folks confused.

One of the main parts about being a Christian that is often overlooked is the repentance of our mind. Repentance is literally changing our mind. And that changing of our mind should reflect in a change of how we act. Folks needed to change their mind about how they looked at the Kingdom of God. If you read through the Gospels, it is strikingly evident that the disciples did not understand what Jesus was talking about. It took them a long time to get what He was laying down about the Kingdom of God. It took a long time because even though they were walking with Jesus and doing awesome things with Him and through Him, they had an Old Testament lens of how things were supposed to go. They fully expected the Messiah, the Christ, to work on Babylonian terms and set up an earthly nation. They expected a warrior that would bring justice to the people of Israel and restore it through violence. And a lot of folks still read The Bible and Jesus that way today. They still have a lens of Old Testament expectation even when the glaring example of Jesus is right there next to the Tanakh in stark contrast. 

God meets people where they are. God can do great things with people that have a bad understanding of Him. God can do great things with people that have no understanding of Him. God doesn’t need me to understand Him to work out His plan. I want to understand Him. And that means I have to change the way I think about a lot of things. For me it isn’t so much the Babylon creep of murder BUT it is always the heart of anger. I used to get angry when Jesus was misrepresented. And I still have some of that anger within me when folks do not seem to be able to change their minds about murder. When I can see too much of Babylon creeping into their Christianity and making it into Christendom, it disappoints me. This especially disappoints me in folks that have been listening to the same stories and studying the same teachings that I have studied and come up with a multitude of excuses for justifying killing another image of God, another person that God formed with His hands and gave breath. It really breaks my heart every time I have to justify, to Christians, that Jesus taught forgiveness and, despite or because of His power, suffered and forgave us. He gave us The Way to get back aligned and at one with God through Him. 

BUT I still have to change the minds of folks that think murdering folks is okay given a certain situation or some responsibility to Babylon. I have to change my mind about things too like getting angry and judging folks. We all have things we need to work through and that is why following Him is a process that lasts a lifetime. And I know that the way I approach His words are important in allowing them to shape me or not. I can hear what He says or I can choose to do it my own way. And I have had enough of doing it my way. So I chose to start doing things His Way.   

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence” (2 Samuel 22:2-3).

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH

Discipling the Undisciplined no.6

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks 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).  So here Jesus sets up what He is about to teach by connecting it to the law given to Moses and the words spoken by the prophets. So, what Jesus is going to do in this sermon does not get rid of all those things that existed prior to Him BUT to give some better clarification as to what was happening. And that is why what follows is clarifying some of the points made in the Tanakh. Let’s start with the law in its original form. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:2-17). And those are the commandments given in their original form. And Jeus wants us to obey those commandments in His Kingdom. 

So, we start out with God being in charge. He is the one God. And we don’t worship anything above Him. Next, we don’t make anything else that we worship. And then we don’t misuse the name of God. And finally, we take a day to reflect on his awesomeness. Those seem rather simple. Keep God at the center of our worship because He is worthy of praise. He created us. He created everything. He is in charge. Makes it rather an easy concept to make sure I place Him where He belongs at the center of my thoughts and the recipient of my love and obedience and respect. This is His house. We are His children. We need a rest. So, none of these commands are anything out of the ordinary. We are made in His image so additional images would be just unnecessary. Good so far? Superb.

Now let’s continue. Honor your father and mother whether they deserve your respect or not. That might be a little difficult but I think most of us have good or decent parents that are not monsters so that isn’t much of an ask. Now we get heavy. Do not kill people. Seems rather basic. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Both of these are about taking things that are not yours. Don’t bear false witness. So don’t lie about other people. And finally to go back to taking things, we shouldn’t even want the things other people have. So the jealousy and greed of those things are out too.

So, the laws there are rather basic. Those are the laws Jesus has for us. Now let’s see what He does with that framework.

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH