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Integrity of Christ

Lately I have been wondering a lot of things, but mostly about an issue with ourselves and our culture. It seems that we have come to a place in our world and maybe we have always been there, but recently it has been more prevalent in my mind. It’s not just that its political season, but there is an overwhelming movement in ourselves and by ourselves I am being very broad; culture itself is moving towards a place where commitment means very little. In our culture we say things like:

If my marriage fails then that’s ok because I can always get a divorce.

or

I didn’t necessarily lie, I just didn’t tell the whole truth

We are moving further and further away from the Integrity of Christ and it’s dangerous. So dangerous that in fact we will not see the damage coming until it’s too late. We will repent when we are caught, but only because we are caught not because it was wrong. Today is Palm Sunday, a day of short celebration for Jesus coming to Jerusalem and yet the moment that always hits me in the gut is not the Palm Sunday Road, but on what happens that night. This is how it is told by the Gospel of John.

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table,[a] took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet,[b] but is entirely clean. And you[c] are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants[d] are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread[e] has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he.[f] 20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” (John 13:1-20, NRSV) 

What a powerful moment for the Disciples to experience with their Master and Friend. What an incredible for us to ponder for the rest of our lives in the context of following Jesus and living with each other. Jesus in this moment teaches us the utmost important priority that He has and that we are called to have.

  1. Jesus shows what really matters. The relationship that we have with God and our neighbor. Relationship is the utmost important when it comes to following Jesus
  2. It’s not about us, and it never will be. It’s about uniting with Christ in transforming the world in His sight not our own. His will is always better than ours. Our will and our limited thinking is the easier way to go, but it far lesser than His.
  3. Finally, this may be a crucial one. Jesus never did anything for the sake of just doing it, there was always a purpose and that purpose was never about Him, but about furthering God’s Kingdom. Everything He did furthered the Kingdom of God.

Let’s let that sink in.

Relationships matter. Your neighbor matters. What you do matters.

Don’t live your life by making decisions that don’t matter. Every bit of success that you achieve in this world is meaningless if you are furthering the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is the only thing we are asked to be a part, and please get that, Jesus invites us. He doesn’t force us like any other deity, he invites us, he wants us.

Money will fade.

Possessions will break.

The Kingdom is forever.

Let’s invest in what matters.

In closing for today I would like you to watch this video; I apologize for the watermark on the video:

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For Good

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, NRSV)

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Sitting Outside

I really like working in the community in which I serve. Let me be clear in what I mean. I love to once a week work remotely at a location in the community of Fort Worth. It always brings a feeling of blessing. Today I am sitting outside Central Market in Fort Worth. Each Thursday I come to a remote location from at 4:00 pm to work for awhile outside the church, but also invite students to come by if they want to hang out.

It’s a win win for me because I get to experience the beauty of God’s creation, connect with the community and connect with youth at Arlington Heights UMC.

Today as I sit outside Central Market I am reminded of the fact that Jesus did this a lot.

Rarely did Jesus stay in one place for an extended period of time, but kept connecting with people in all communities of the region he lived in at the time of his ministry. Jesus and the Disciples were constantly moving from place to place with the sole purpose of connecting people to God’s Kingdom. Not only that but Jesus would be teaching to His disciples or hundreds sometimes thousands of people of this important connection.

I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time in the office, maybe I’m spending too much time there.

Maybe I need to be going from place to place connecting people like Christ did.

It’s worthy of reflection at least.  We will see where it leads me and where it leads us.

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What are We Becoming?

22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves[a] in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

I love this passage and advice from James, the brother of Jesus. Today I present to you this passage, but also this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character.  Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshiping we are becoming.”

So what are you becoming? What are we really doing in our lives?

What are we really becoming?

 

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Didn’t Pivot

Jesus calls us to abide in His love. To abide means to accept, but it’s more than that because in that acceptance we live in that love, we extend that love because being in it and of it. The love becomes a part of us.

So if we are not doing this more often then are we abiding in Christ’s love?

Additionally in the video they saw that Sara deserved to have this homerun. Effectively we are Sara and we in life didn’t pivot just right and because of that we are broken. Jesus responds to that brokenness in all of us and gives us a home run of our own. He gives us His love.

The coolest part though is that if you don’t abide in that love and share it Jesus doesn’t take it away. It’s still yours, and there is nothing you can do or cannot do that will cause Jesus not to love you.