In putting everything under [him], God left nothing that is not subject to [him]. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to [him]. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation [Jesus] perfect through what he suffered.

–Hebrews 2.8b-10 (NIV)

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season, a time of self-reflection, repentance, and self-denial. Lent is a period of 40 days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday and today’s lesson points us in that direction.

Here the writer alludes to the promise of New Creation ushered in with Jesus’ resurrection but not yet fully accomplished. New Creation is God’s doing and it will culminate human history. It is a time when God will deal fully with the problem of evil and suffering, and end forever our alienation and separation from him. All this, of course, was accomplished by the death of Jesus in which he bore our sin and the penalty of our guilt himself so that we could be reconciled to God. It is a wonderful hope and promise but we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

Before we get to resurrection and New Creation, we have to deal with crucifixion and death–both Jesus’ and ours. We have to deal with the terrible burden of our sin and the alienation it causes, both between God and us and between each other. We are a sin-sick people who are incapable of fixing ourselves (as one of the confessional prayers in the Book of Common Worship says, “there is no health in us”). And so we have a God who abhors sin but not sinners, who from all eternity decided to deal with our sin decisively through Jesus, and who offers us the chance to have a healed and restored relationship with him.

And what must we do to receive this gift? Recognize our terrible plight, be willing to try to deal with everything in us (by the help of the Spirit) that keeps us alienated and hostile to God (and God to us), and accept the free gift offered to us in Christ. In biblical terms this is called repenting and having faith in Jesus respectively. (All this provides us with additional reasons to read the Bible.)

We know what this looks like on God’s part. We see the cross, God’s eternal symbol of his holy justice and love, and the Risen Christ who has inaugurated the New Creation, although not yet fully. So what will that look like on our part? Just this. Our faith will motivate us to follow Jesus and all that he demands. With glad and thankful hearts we will deny ourselves, take up our cross every day, and follow him. As Paul wrote to the Philippians:

[H]ave the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2.5-11).

This is what being a citizen of God’s Kingdom looks like. It consists of humble service to Jesus, in part, by our service to others. It means that we stop making ourselves the center of the universe and start making God our center. It means that we seek to bring about God’s Kingdom just the way our Lord did. We visit and heal the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, have compassion for the poor and work to help them alleviate their poverty, etc. There are a gazillion different ways to do this and you will have to listen for the ways Jesus wants you to be his Kingdom citizen. But the point is this. Being a Christian is not about introspective navel gazing. It is not about “finding self-fulfillment” (whatever that means). It is about humble and tireless service to others in Jesus’ name. It is about telling others about the Good News of Jesus Christ, both by our deeds and words, that our exile and alienation from God are over, something made possible only by God’s gracious act of mercy toward us in the cross of Jesus.

If, as the author of Hebrews writes today, we really do see Jesus, this is what we see. It is a life of loving and sacrificial service to Jesus and others. When we lose ourselves for Jesus’ sake (i.e., when we make Jesus the center of our universe instead of ourselves), then we really will find ourselves. Then we really will learn what it is like to be truly human.  It is hard work and it is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit living in us, but it will produce a joy and a sense of meaning and purpose that no New Age baloney (or any other “spiritual movement”) can produce. It is counter-intuitive, but it is true.

Lent is therefore a season that provides us with the opportunity to be a training ground for living the Christian life as Jesus calls us to live it. We start to learn to see Jesus and follow him by denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following him. It will be the hardest thing you ever have to do and there will be countless setbacks. But don’t worry. The God who loves you so much that he humbled himself and condescended to become one of us, and who died a terrible death so that you can live with him starting right here and now, will not let you fall when you stumble. Any God whose symbol of justice is the cross is not one to let you go very easily.

Keep your eyes on Jesus. You will have to if you want to succeed in living an obedient and righteous life because you will arouse the ire of the forces of evil and they will try to derail and destroy you. This, combined with your own fallen human condition, will present significant roadblocks for you. But take heart and hope because there is good news in doing so. Hear what Paul has to say about it.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. (2 Corinthians 4.7-11).

Hang on to your hats. Following Jesus will be the best thing you can ever do for yourself and for God’s broken and hurting creation. Follow Jesus and keep your eyes on him so that you have the needed power to live as God intends and created you to live. Start your training this Lenten season and rejoice in God’s great gift to you in Jesus.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

–John 1.1-5, 14, 16-18 (NIV)

Scripture reminds us constantly that no one can see God and live. How, then, can we ever hope to have a relationship with God if we have no hope of ever seeing (knowing) him? What is impossible for humans is not for God. Take today’s passage, for example.

In his magnificent prologue, John reminds us that Jesus is God become human and this immediately alerts us to the fact that all of a sudden the unknowable becomes knowable. While mortal and finite humans cannot possibly hope to comprehend the immortal, infinite, and eternal God, the good news is that God has shown mercy on us and condescended to our level so that we can get to know him. Want to see what earth is like when God comes to rule it? Look at Jesus’ life and ministry. Want to hear God’s truth? Listen to Jesus’ teachings. Want to find out how to live life the way God intends for you? Watch carefully Jesus’ interactions with all kinds of people. Want to find out how to deal with evil and sin? Watch Jesus in action, especially on Calvary. If Jesus really is God-become-human, then it makes perfect sense that he really is the only way to the Father because he gives us our only chance of really knowing God.

John reminds us too that the initiative for our relationship is from God, not us. We seek him because he sought us first. We love him because he loved us first, and this is primarily because God became human in Jesus and lived among us.

Can you not love a God who has done everything possible for you to get to know him and love him? Jesus is the culmination of God’s eternal rescue plan for humanity. He is God himself. Jesus provides us with concrete examples of how God intends for us to live. By his death we are rescued from our sins that perforce separate us from our holy God. And as the writer of Hebrews reminds us, even now we have our Risen and exalted Lord interceding for us. Jesus hasn’t gone to heaven to chill out or become meaningless in our lives. He has gone to heaven to assume is rightful place as Lord and ruler of the universe, and in doing so we are assured that he is for us, not against us, provided we accept his gracious invitation to life.

None of this, of course, makes us immune to the hurts and heartaches of life. But now everything is different because in Jesus we have a real chance to get to know God and his will for us. There is hope, purpose, and real meaning when we choose to follow Jesus because in doing so we are confident that we are following the very example of God himself. And as John reminds us today, despite darkness’ best attempt to quench the light, God’s light in Jesus will not be extinguished, which means for us a real hope that we will not be overcome by all that can go wrong in God’s fallen world.

If you are looking for real hope, meaning, and purpose for you life, here it is. His name is Jesus and he invites you to follow him.

[Jesus said] Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

–Matthew 7.13-23 (NIV)

Well now. Here’s a cheery little passage from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, don’t you think? This is one of the “difficult passages” from Scripture that confronts us on a regular basis. I doubt if passages like this have ever played well to audiences, but they especially do not in today’s post-modern world. We don’t like to even think of the dreaded possibility that we might be shut out from God’s presence forever. It is a terrible thought and it should be.

Before I go any further, let me be clear about one thing. I do not know for sure what happens to those who die outside of Christ nor is it my place (or anyone else’s) to make definitive pronouncements on the eternal destiny of folks who are not Christians. It is, however, my responsibility as a Christian minister to do my best to be faithful to Scripture, even when it is uncomfortable to do so. The fact of the matter is that the NT does not hold out much hope for those who die outside of the Lord. That is the reality, like it or not (and most of us don’t like it at all). Hence, I must acknowledge this awful fact while still holding out hope in the great mercy and love of God. Whatever is the fate of those who are not Christians, I leave to God’s good judgment and will.

So what are we to make of today’s passage? How are we to reconcile what Jesus says with a loving and merciful God who invites all to come to him and live? A quick look at the various commentaries shows that commentators are not in agreement over how to understand or interpret the small gate/narrow road part of today’s passage. But if we take the passage in its context of Jesus telling us how to live Kingdom lives, I think there are some insights to be had from the text.

At the end of the passage, Jesus reminds us that we are recognized by our fruit. In God’s economy, it doesn’t matter what we say; it matters what we do, and as we have seen before, our faith must always lead to obedient action. As Jesus reminds us at the end of today’s passage, many will meet him on the day of judgment and be rejected because they did not bear the fruit of faith in their mortal lives.

This, then, is one way we can understand the small gate/narrow road passage. The small gate/narrow road can be understood as obedience to Christ’s call to holy living, a manifestation of a saving faith in him by grace. Given the sad plight of the human condition, this life of obedience is not easy for any of us. Living as citizens of the Kingdom goes against our natural proclivity to make it all about ourselves instead of loving God with all that we are and as a result loving our neighbors as we do ourselves. Any Christian who takes her faith seriously understands this. The process of denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Jesus is hard work! In fact, it is impossible if we attempt to do it without the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

No wonder, then, that many simply avoid trying to live an obedient life. Being a disciple of Christ is hard work and it is costly. It demands everything we have. It demands that we live disciplined lives. It demands that we stop making life all about ourselves and start making it all about serving God and others. Many of the Church Fathers recognized this truth as well. Augustine, for example, wrote frequently about the challenge of overcoming the boredom that can come with living a good life. He observed that it is hard enough work to put to death our fallen nature and if we are successful, then we must fight the boredom of living a good life! What a deal!

Ah, the human condition. Don’t you just love it? But that seems to be the plight of our fallen condition.

Seen through this lens, then, it is not unreasonable to view the small gate/narrow road of obedient living as one in which many will prefer not to travel, a fact made easier when we consider that we often have a very hard time keeping our eye on the prize. It is a rare athlete that can keep his end goal constantly in mind and strive to excel by doing the hard but necessary things in training to prepare him to win the contest.

Moreover, many of us simply prefer to ignore or not think about the consequences of our decisions. For example, how many teenagers really think about getting emphysema or lung cancer when they take up smoking? How many of us ignore the warnings of health professionals and continue to pollute our bodies with food and drink that are not good for us over the long haul because we have not yet begun to suffer their deleterious effects? Let’s face it, we are creatures of instant gratification, at least here in the West with all of our instantaneous technologies, and that makes it difficult for us to keep the necessary Big Picture perspective.

The road to life is indeed narrow and the gate small, but this is not because of a stinginess on God’s part or because he is an unloving God or wants to exclude us (see especially Revelation 7.9-11 in this matter). No, I think in many cases, the road is narrow and the gate is small because we choose the easy way out, even when it is to our terrible detriment.

But choose we must and the stakes are never higher. How we decide for Christ literally is a matter of life and death–eternal life and death. As I said at the beginning of this reflection, I do not know for certain what happens to those who die outside of Christ. But I do know this. Those who die in Christ know their destiny. They know where they are going because they have put their whole hope and trust in Jesus. They have seen his cross and the empty tomb. They have his Spirit living in them, helping them do the difficult work they are called to do, and they bear his fruit because he lives in them.

If the Gospel is true, if Jesus really is the one and only way to the Father as he claimed–and I believe with my whole mind, heart, and soul that he is and that the Gospel is true–then it is an exceedingly unloving thing on the part of Christians not to confront the sad and profoundly mistaken notions of false teachers and prophets on this matter. Far from being intolerant and bigoted, our passionate advocacy for the Gospel is quite the loving thing to do for those who will likely be lost without coming to a saving faith in Jesus, and it is essential for those of us who fervently pray each day that none may be lost.

The road to life is indeed narrow and the gate small, but that is primarily about us, not God. For those who put their full hope and trust in Jesus and allow him to live in them and transform them into the beings he created them to be, that road, while narrow, leads to the wide open arms of God. Being a Christian is not easy, especially if we attempt to give it more than lip service. But the rewards are staggering in proportion to the cost of being Jesus’ disciples.

If you have not done so already, sit down and carefully consider the cost of pursuing your current course in life. Where is that road leading you? Are you going to end up where you want to be? This isn’t a game nor do we have any indication that we will get a chance to change our minds and course of action once our bodies have died. In whom or what we put our trust really is a matter of life and death. Let the thought of living apart from God forever scare the hell out of you–literally.

But don’t stop there because fear (not the kind of reverent fear about which the Bible speaks) is not something on which to base a relationship with God. Let the thought of living in God’s presence and enjoying his company starting right here and now bring you the wondrous joy and peace that will inevitably come from embracing his gracious offer of life in Christ, and then give your life to him, now and forever. And after you have done so and discovered the wisdom and joy of your choice, be eager to share the gift of life with your friends and neighbors. Talk about a win-win situation!

I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.

I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

–2 Corinthians 11.1-4, 21b-12.10 (NIV)

Over the past several days, we have examined various characteristics of Kingdom living, those things that disciples of Christ do in obedience to his will and commandments, not because they have to but because they want to. They want to obey Jesus because they know this is pleasing to the Lord they love. And as we have emphasized repeatedly, Kingdom living is the primary way we manifest our faith in and love for Christ because faith and love always express themselves in action.

Today, I want to present a case study in Kingdom living and faithful discipleship. It comes from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians and in the passage above we can see many of the characteristics of Christian obedience. The text is powerful and speaks for itself, and I will offer only minimal commentary on it other than to provide a context for you to read it.

Apparently after Paul had established the church at Corinth, a group of Judaizers had intervened and tried to persuade the Corinthians that Paul was not a real apostle, that his message to them about Jesus was wrong, and that because he lacked extraordinary rhetorical skills and was not impressive looking his message really couldn’t be believed (for an up close and personal look at this battle between Paul and the Judaizers, check out Paul’s letter to the Galatians). Moreover, Paul’s opponents apparently tried to persuade the Corinthians that Paul was trying to exploit them financially by taking up a collection for starving Christians in the Jerusalem church. The Judaizers apparently sought to convince the Corinthians that those collections were really going into Paul’s pockets.

So here we see Paul defending himself and his behaviors when he was with the Corinthians in person. From it we can reasonably infer that Paul had worked very hard not to make his mission work about himself but rather all about Jesus. Paul didn’t boast about himself to the Corinthians because he knew the Gospel was not about Paul, but rather about Jesus.

If you don’t take anything else away from this reflection, take this lesson and learn it.

We note too the humble and obedient attitude that runs throughout this passage and forms the basis for it. Unless we are ready to dismiss Paul as either a lunatic or a masochist (or both), the hardships that he endured for the sake of spreading the Gospel are simply remarkable. Paul did not let anything stand in his way when it came to him telling people about Jesus. In fact, he boasted about his hardships and wore them as a badge of honor! Paul knew who was his Lord and who was the servant, a key attribute of Christian humility that leads to faithful obedience in Christ.

And then there is that poignant story about the thorn in Paul’s flesh–whatever it might have been–that resulted from him having an ecstatic experience in which he caught a glimpse of paradise that awaits believers in Jesus. It is nothing short of remarkable that Paul would revel in his physical weakness and suffering so that the power and presence of Jesus living in him would be strengthened. Here is a man who clearly knew his place and loved his Lord with everything he had. This part of the text is worth our extended reflection, contemplation, and prayerful meditation because in it is real power to meet any difficulty that life throws at us.

After his initial appeals, Paul stopped asking that his suffering be removed. Instead Jesus helped Paul understand that Jesus could use Paul’s sufferings to slowly make Paul become more like Jesus. And this should make sense to us. Our Lord himself reminds us that whoever will follow him must deny himself and take up his cross. Jesus modeled those very behaviors for us and here we see that he demands Paul do likewise.

This reminds us in a very powerful and poignant way that Jesus can use even our suffering to help shape us into his very likeness, i.e., our Lord is powerful enough to turn the bad in our life into good. But we have to be humble enough, trusting enough, and obedient enough to let him do his transformative work in and through us.

Here, then, is what real discipleship looks like. This is what Kingdom living is all about. It starts with a deep love for Jesus and the prerequisite humility to allow our Lord to live and work in us so that he can eventually (think a lifetime, not in terms of hours or days) help us become just like him. Kingdom living is about having a real passion to share Jesus with those who do not know him so that they too can benefit from having a life-saving relationship with him. We share Jesus both by our words and through our charitable and selfless deeds offered in loving service to others (even our enemies), so that they too can get to know Jesus and be transformed by him. Kingdom living is not about ourselves. It is about love, service, obedience, discipline, and self-denial. It is about putting Jesus first and foremost in our lives and allowing nothing in this world to stop us from telling others about God’s Good News in Jesus. We see Paul displaying all of these essential characteristics in the passage above.

Kingdom living means suffering and self-denial. But it also means that we live life with purpose, meaning, and the power of Christ–and the joy that inevitably flows from having him live in us. Kingdom living means putting to death our fallen nature (not to be confused with our core personality, which Jesus never violates). But it also means gaining life, real life, the kind that results when we have a real and intimate relationship with the Lord of this universe. It is life that not even the death of our mortal bodies can destroy. Kingdom living gives us hope and our lives a present meaning. It also gives us the promise of a wondrous and glorious future. Paul knew this and it changed his life. He was sure of his future because in his mortal life he knew the One who had guaranteed eternity for him. What are you waiting for?

A charitable and thoughtful discussion about the classic Christian teaching on hell in the context of looking at Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins. I believe in the classic Christian doctrine of hell but have personally wondered if living in the direct presence of God would not be hell to a soul that is inherently and irrevocably hostile toward God. Think of having to spend eternity with your worst enemy. Not exactly my idea of heaven.

From Christianity Today online.

Make no mistake: there is a lot at stake in the discussion of unbelievers’ eternal destiny. But surely we can do better than to prejudge (before reading the book!) or condemn by labeling (“Universalist!” “Liberal!”). The issues raised will not go away by dismissing them as irrational or unfounded or malicious. Love means to believe and hope all things, and that means our first instinct should be to assume good motives by those announcing “new” theological solutions to longstanding conundrums. Maybe they love God as much, if not more, than we do! Maybe they have as much, if not more, passion to win the lost to Jesus!

This is not to suggest that frank, honest, theological exchange should not take place. It should! But traditionalists need to marshal arguments and not ad hominems. The same goes for the innovators. Some gadfly theologians are notorious for tweaking, even mocking, traditional evangelical doctrines; they delight in scoring cheap shots against received orthodoxy. All well and good, for tradition needs to be tweaked for its own good. But when challenged, these critics often refuse to engage their challengers, and instead suggest that they are rationalists trapped in a modernist mindset and not worthy of engaging!

Read it all.

[Jesus said] no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

–Matthew 6.24-34 (NIV)

In today’s passage from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is reminding us that we must all decide on what will be our main priority and focus in life. Whether we make a conscious decision on whom or what to follow, we will still decide because we inevitably move to worship and serve something or someone. By choosing not to decide, we have made our decision. The question, then, is this: Will the master whom we have decided to follow bring us life or death?

It is a firm biblical principle that we will all serve someone or something. It seems that we were created with the DNA to worship, and sadly all too often who or what we worship isn’t God. Don’t believe me? Just consider, for example, the Academy Awards and look at the reaction of some of the recipients of Oscar.

Furthermore, it is a biblical principle that we cannot serve more than one master. We not only see examples of this in Scripture, but we also see this principle illustrated in our daily lives. Look at the workaholic who neglects everything else for the sake of his work. Or consider that busy schedule of yours that runs you ragged, leaves you exhausted and bedraggled, and prevents you from doing some of the things you would really like to do but cannot because you can’t find the time or energy. We can indeed only serve one master.

In today’s passage, Jesus cites several examples of this, including our pursuit of money, food, drink, and clothing. It isn’t that our Lord is against these things. In fact, he tells us that God knows we need all of these things and indeed provides them for us. No, what Jesus is getting at here is the fact that the things of this world, especially money, can serve to distract us from focusing on our relationship with God and others. When we worry, for example, about having enough money (or what might happen to our money if we do have enough) we are focusing on money and not our relationship with God. We do likewise when we focus on any of the things of this world, e.g., power, security, sex, personal or political agendas, prestige et al.

Implicit in all this is the fact that when we focus on the things of this world we are essentially admitting that these things are more important than God because we are spending our time and effort on these things for their own sake. Worse yet, we are tacitly admitting that we must provide for ourselves, that God cannot or will not provide for us. In biblical language that is called sinful human pride and that will always put up a wall between God and us. When that happens we are stopped dead in our tracks. This doesn’t mean we are to sit back and wait for God to drop everything in our laps. Life doesn’t work that way. We have to roll up our sleeves, get busy, and use the gifts and talents God gives us. But we should be focusing on what God wants us to do and be, not on the material stuff of life.

Why? Because nothing in this world can bring us life or raise us from the dead. We might think money, power, sex, security, prestige, and materialism can bring us meaning and fulfillment but we are desperately mistaken. It is an illusion and if we are honest with ourselves we must admit that this is true. Don’t believe me? See how important any of your stuff is the next time you lose a loved one to death or fall seriously ill yourself. Will you really be thinking about your goodies as you lie on your deathbed? Only a living and vital relationship with God can bring us life, meaning, purpose, and security. Only obedience to God’s will for us will ever make a real difference for us in terms of living a life full of meaning, purpose, and joy.

As always, I am not suggesting that this makes us immune to life’s hurts, heartaches, disappointments, and sufferings. Rather, when we love God, have faith in him, and seek to be obedient to his will (think here Jesus’ Summary of the Law–love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and show that love to him, in part, by loving others as you love yourself), we will find that he gives us strength, wisdom, and grace (or whatever is needed) to deal with all that life throws our way. And when things are going well for us, we will discover a great joy and satisfaction by living our lives in obedient service to God and others.

But here’s the catch. You will never discover the truth in all of this until you take the plunge. You cannot be a passive observe in God’s Kingdom. You cannot talk about being part of the Kingdom. You have to live as though you love God and want to be part of his Kingdom through your obedience to him, and there are some very specific demands made on each of us if we are to do that–personal humility that recognizes God to be Creator, humble service to others, self-denial of all that interferes with our relationship with God, love, obedience to the Lord, mercy, charity, and a host of others.

God created you to have a relationship with him. He wants you to have the kind of relationship that the Creator has with his creatures. He wants you to focus on doing the things necessary to help you grow in your love, knowledge, faith, and trust in him. That means you will have to make the spiritual disciplines a priority in your life. It means you will have to take time each day and spend it humbly with your God. It means you will have to make obeying his laws and following his will for you the main priority in your life.

None of this means you shouldn’t work or have a family or plan for your financial future or enjoy the good things of this life. Following God and obeying him is never an either/or proposition in terms living your life. Rather, this means making the conscious decision to follow God first and then ordering everything else in your life in submission to his will. You let God determine how you prioritize your time, not your boss or your schedule or anything else.

And if you think God wants you to be destitute or in want all the time, you don’t know God at all. Yes, he will ask you to get rid of the things in your life that are harmful or destructive to you, but that is for your own good and to your benefit; you must trust God enough to believe he knows better for you than you do. But God is a generous and wonderfully loving God who wants his creatures to live and enjoy life as he intended, and meaningful and purposeful living is always about quality relationships, not stuff.

Regardless of where you are (or are not) in your relationship with God, consider these things and if you haven’t done so already, take the chance and ask Jesus to help you start living in ways that are pleasing in his sight. You will spend a lifetime doing so and it will be hard more often than not because there are forces of darkness that are arrayed against you and don’t want you to find real life in Christ (Ephesians 6.12).

But the rewards far surpass the hassles and battles you must fight. You will be embarking on Kingdom living that not even your physical death can stop. And when you are doing Kingdom work, you can rest assured that you are living in the very Presence of God, now (indirectly) and for all eternity (directly). You have the very blood of Christ and his Holy Spirit living in you as testimony to this wondrous and jaw-dropping truth.

[Jesus said] be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

–Matthew 6.1-2, 5-6, 16-18 (NIV)

You have to love Jesus. Never one to be really concerned about outward appearances and certainly not impressed by human showboating and sham (just check out Matthew 23 if you don’t believe me), our Lord always cuts to the chase and tells us to be concerned most  about our inward motivations and desires. Why? Because we are thoroughly corrupted by our fallen nature. It is the sad and devastating effect of the Fall.

For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person (Mark 7.21-23).

In today’s passage from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds us to be vigilant about who it is we are really serving because in the Kingdom’s economy, it is never about outward appearances but rather about who’s your Daddy.

Notice in these passages (I used some from yesterday’s lectionary as well as today’s), our Lord tells us to examine our motives for doing what we doing. Who is it we want to impress? Do we want the praise of our fellow humans or do we want God’s praise? Do we want to advance our own shabby personal little kingdoms or do we want God to have all the glory? How we answer these questions makes all the difference in God’s economy. He is not at all interested in our efforts of self-aggrandizement because they must result in our continuing alienation and separation from him, and that is heartbreaking to our Lord. Instead, God is interested in us recognizing who our real Daddy is (helpful hint: it ain’t us or our futile agendas) so that we can begin to really live.

Notice too that Jesus throughout assumes that we are engaging in spiritual disciplines and doing acts of righteousness. He doesn’t say if you pray or if you give to the poor or if you fast. No, he says when you pray or fast or give to the poor, then do it for God’s glory because you love him and want to obey him. Do it because you realize, albeit imperfectly, the great gift you have been given in the cross of Jesus.

When our motives are right and our heart (in biblical terms heart refers to both mind and emotions–it is our core personality) is in the right place, we will also discover how tremendously freeing it is for us. We no longer have to worry about being a slave to what others think. We won’t be marching to the tune of some other drummer, tunes that are almost always fickle and transient (what have you done for me lately?).

But when our heart is fixed on loving and serving God, and being obedient to him, we never have to worry about whether our efforts are pleasing in his sight because we know they always are. If you doubt this, read again (or for the first time) the story of the widow’s offering. God’s heart is wonderfully beneficent and gracious, and he never, ever rejects that which we offer to him out of love and a desire to please him.

Now can God use our gifts and works even if he is not the Daddy we are trying to serve? Can he use our shows of ostentation to bring about good? Of course he can. But that begs the real issue here: Who’s your Daddy? If you care at all about living a life of purpose and meaning, you perforce must answer this question. If your daddy is the things of this world and popular opinion and praise, you will ultimately end up being terribly disappointed because people and their praise are quite fickle and even if they are not, they must ultimately die. We cannot find real meaning to life through self-absorbed navel gazing or self-serving behavior. If you don’t believe me, take a peek at the sad spectacle of Charlie Sheen and ask yourself if you’d like to be in his shoes.

On the other hand, if you set your mind and heart on loving and enjoying the One who created you and gave himself for you in a terrible and costly act because he wants you to live and enjoy life as he intends for it to be lived, you will not ultimately be disappointed because God does not change nor does he die. When you engage in the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting, you are taking on the necessary fuel to go out and allow God to use you to help him bring about his Kingdom here on earth. This doesn’t mean you will not experience setbacks, failures, and/or heartache and disappointments. You will. In fact, Jesus reminds us that the world will hate you because you love him (John 15.17-19). But ask yourself this. Who can give you life and raise you from the dead? Who can promise you the hope of New Creation? Only God can do that because only God is our true Daddy.

If you are calling someone or something other than God “daddy” and acting like it, do yourself a favor and let God’s light shine on you. Take the plunge and ask Jesus to help you reorient your focus in life so that it looks outward toward God and people instead of inwardly on yourself. It will be the best decision you have ever made in your life because you will begin to realize how wonderful your real Daddy is and what a joy and purpose there is in serving him by serving others.