When we stop seeking you, God, we start serving ourselves.

I’ve seen it again and again.  Person after person marginalizes you.  And before long, they marginalize those around them.

We simply do not love neighbor when we do not first love you.

When we write you out of the Story everyone suffers.

Especially you.

[image]

LORD, I’m angry.

These people want me to fail.

They constantly complain about me.

They stab me in the back a thousand times.

I’m about to return the favor.  I’m about to plunge the knife in their backs…

But I won’t.

You see all they’ve done.  You hear all they’ve said.

LORD, may you treat them as they’ve treated me.

Let vengeance be yours, not mine.

[image]

Summer Celebration – Lipscomb University – July, 2010

In a recent article for Christianity Today Ed Stetzer surveyed multiple studies of the Christian faith in America and then provided these concluding thoughts:[1] “Mainline denominations are no longer bleeding; they are hemorrhaging. Increasingly, they are simply managing their decline. For evangelicals, the picture is better, but only in comparison to the mainline churches. Southern Baptists, composing the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., have apparently peaked and are trending toward decline. The same is true of most evangelical denominations…. There is little doubt in my mind that the cultural expression of Christianity in America is declining. True, Christianity is losing its “home-field advantage” in North America.” There is little doubt that Christianity in America is facing significant challenges and that fewer Americans are embracing the Christian faith.

Twenty years ago I was part of that massive group of “unchurched” Americans.  I was far away from God and from church.  Yet God used a high school senior named Gary Cox to lead me to faith in God and participation in church.

So, on the one hand many of us recognize that we Christians aren’t doing even a mediocre job in leading people in America to faith in God.  On the other hand, as my story illustrates, we know it is possible to lead people to faith.  And, I think, most of us want to see that possibility become reality.  We want the hurting people in our communities to know the joy of faith in God.  We want to bring an end to the decline Stetzer writes about.

That is what makes Matt. 5-10 such an important season of Jesus’ life to explore.  These six chapters may be the most important six chapters from Jesus’ life for those of us who no longer wish to see our country being one of the unchurched nations in the world. 

Matt. 5-10 begins with a vision.  It’s a vision which many of us share.  As Matt. 5 opens, Jesus dreams a dream.  Jesus sees us who follow him as salt which can remove and prevent decay in the lives of people around the world.  And, Jesus sees us who follow him as light which can dispel darkness around the world.  Here’s how Jesus puts it: You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.  (Matt. 5:13, 14-16 TNIV)  In Matt. 5 Jesus gives his vision: “Imagine being salt and light.”  Jesus believes we and our churches can be so salty and so full of light that people around us will “glorify your Father in heaven.”  That’s how Matt. 5-10 begins. 

Notice how this section ends.  At the end of Matt. 9 Jesus urges us to pray for the Father to send out people to be salt and light: The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  (Matt. 9:37-38 TNIV).  Jesus urges us to pray for the Father to send people out to be salt and light.  Then in Matt. 10, Jesus answers that prayer.  In Matt. 10 Jesus actually sends us out to be salt and light: Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness…These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions… (Matt. 10:1,5 TNIV).  Jesus begins Matt. 5-10 by urging us to imagine ourselves as salt and light—agents who can lead lost, lonely, and hurting people to faith in the Father.  Jesus ends this section by sending us to be salt and light.  In Matt. 5 we get the vision: “Imagine being salt and light.”  In Matt. 10 we get the commission: “Go and be salt and light.”   

But how do we get from that vision to that commission?  How do we turn that possibility into reality, especially in a changing culture like ours?  That’s what Matt. 5-9 is about.  In Matt. 5-9 Jesus presents all that is necessary for the dream to be put into action.   Specifically, in Matt. 5-7 Jesus gives us instruction.  Jesus instructs us on the kind of character and lifestyle we and our churches must have if we want to be salt and light.  Also known as the Sermon on the Mount, this instruction is the clearest teaching in the Gospels of the kind of people we need to be in order to be salt and light.  In Matt. 5-7 Jesus instructs how to be the salt and light. 

Then in Matt. 8-9 we find demonstration.   Jesus demonstrates how to be salt and light.  Jesus lets us tag along as he interacts with lost, lonely, and hurting people and becomes salt and light in their lives.  Jesus models the kinds of practices which we and our churches can do that will lead people to faith in the Father. 

But before we dive into Jesus’ demonstration, there is a mindset we must embrace, because it sets the context for everything else in Matt. 8-9: 14Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (Matt. 9:14-17 ESV)   John’s disciples ask, Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”  John’s probably referring to the common practice of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays.[2]  And he wants to know why Jesus’ disciples don’t fast on Mondays and Thursdays. 

To answer, Jesus borrows imagery from Is. and Ez. in which God is described as a bridegroom. 

Here, Jesus describes himself as a bridegroom.  He imagines his ministry as a wedding, a time of joy and happiness.  Thus, he says, now is a time for feasting, not fasting.  As Matt. 8-9 will make clear, now is a time of celebration because people are being healed, forgiven, and freed from evil spirits.[3] But eventually, when the bridegroom is taken—a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion—then it will be a somber time, a time more suited to fasting. 

Then Jesus uses this wedding imagery to address a larger issue. [4]   A key ingredient of weddings in Jesus’ day was wine.  When you hosted a wedding, you provided wine.  So, having described himself as a bridegroom, and his ministry as a wedding-like celebration, Jesus now talks about wine.  He says that if you put new wine, which is still in the process of fermenting, into an old wineskin, that wineskin may burst. In Jesus’ day people would sew animal skins together to make a container for liquid like wine.  Once filled with wine, the container would expand as the wine fermented.  But once these skins stretched to their limit and hardened, they could expand no more.  Taking one of these old and inflexible wineskins and filling it with new wine would cause it to burst.[5]

Why does Jesus raise this issue of wineskins?  His comment comes in the context of growing conflict between himself and the religious leaders.  Jesus is busy in Matt. 8-9 demonstrating how to be salt and light, but the religious leaders keep criticizing him: 

• For example, in Matt. 9:1-8 Jesus restores mobility to a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, but the teachers of the law respond by muttering, “This fellow is blaspheming!” 
• In Matt. 9:9-13 Jesus establishes friendships with people far from God but the Pharisees respond by critiquing him for eating with sinners and tax collectors. 
• In Matt. 9:27-34 Jesus drives an evil spirit out of a man but the Pharisees snap, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.” 
• And here in this text about wineskins, we find even the disciples of John, one of Jesus’ greatest supporters, wondering about Jesus’ methods.

To use Jesus’ imagery, we could say that the religious establishment is not satisfied with Jesus’ wineskin.  The wineskin is the external expression of Jesus’ ministry.  It’s the words and actions Jesus is using to demonstrate how to be salt and light.  That’s the wineskin.  And the religious leaders don’t like what they see.  They don’t like Jesus’ wineskin.  Why?  Because it doesn’t look like the wineskin of their traditions and customs.  They are used to doing religion in a certain way.  And here is Jesus doing it in a different way.  In fact, Jesus’ wineskin, his way of being salt and light, looks so different that they have been accusing Jesus of abandoning the Bible.  Earlier in this section Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets…” (Matt. 5:17).  Jesus says this because that’s what he has been accused of doing.  Jesus’ way of being salt and light is so revolutionary that that the religious leaders accuse him of abandoning the Bible.

And in the face of this controversy, Jesus says, “It’s time for a new wineskin.  What I’m here to do for lost, lonely, and hurting people is so revolutionary, it calls for a new wineskin.  It’s not going to look the way religion’s always looked.  It’s got to be given new expressions, forms, and practices. 

And this statement provides the foundational key for us becoming the salt and light we long to be.  Because the truth is that we American Christians have strayed from Jesus’ way of being salt and light.  We and our churches have developed our own customs, our own habits, our own ways of doing church, and ministry, and outreach.  And some of these have actually gotten in the way of our being the salt and light Jesus envisions and commissions in Matt. 5-10.

Here’s one piece of evidence to consider:  In January of this year, Church Relevance collected studies of the fastest growing churches in America from 2004-2009.  Based on these studies, Church Relevance put together a list of the Top Ten churches which consistently experienced high levels of growth over this 6 year period (I’ve inserted the founding date of each church (based on the church’s website)):

1996 – Crossroads Community Church (Cincinnati, OH)

1988 – Lancaster County Bible Church (Manheim, PA)

1996 – LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK)

2001 – Church of the Highlands (Birmingham, AL)

1980 – Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA)

1993 – Woodlands Church (Woodlands, TX)

1988 – Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC)

1990 – Community Bible Church (San Antonio, TX)

1998 – Bay Area Fellowship (Corpus Christi, TX)

1995 – CedarCreek Church (Perrysburg, OH)

Notice that all of these churches are 30 years old or younger.  There is no church above 30 on the list.  Why does age seem to hinder consistent and significant growth?  It has to do with our wineskin.  We in established churches have developed our own wineskins, our own ways of being salt and light.  And sometimes those ways are so different from Jesus’ way that when Jesus tries to pour his wine, his salt and light ways, into our wineskin, it just doesn’t work.  Jesus’ way of being salt and light requires new expressions, forms, and practices.

This is especially true given the radical changes taking place in our culture.  Here in America we are witnessing two “cultural revolutions.”  One cultural revolution is the shift from Christian to non-Christian.  One of the most comprehensive studies of the spiritual lives of Americans presents these findings (2008):[6]the number of Americans who report being members of Protestant denominations now stands at barely 51%; From 1972 through 2006 those with no religious preference have increased from approximately 5% to over 15%.  Our culture is shifting from a Christian one to a non-Christian one.

A second cultural revolution is the shift from Modern to Postmodern.  “Modern” and “Postmodern” are different worldviews, different ways of thinking about life.[7]  

1. Modernism believed that reason, not religion, offered the best hope for understanding and explaining life.
2. Modernism believed in human autonomy.  It said that humans are independent from God, do not need God.
3. Modernism believed in the positive progress of human history.  Through reason, science, technology, and effort humans could create a bright future characterized by prosperity and peace. 

But this Modern way of thinking about life is being replaced by a Postmodern way of thinking about life.  In my book Preaching to Pluralists I use seven characteristics to describe Postmoderns. 

1. The most dominant characteristic is pluralism.  Pluralism is the belief that there is not just one Truth, but many truths.  As a result, postmoderns are turned off by what they view as the intolerance and exclusivity of Christianity.
2. A second characteristic of the postmodern culture is its anti-institutional bias.   That is, postmoderns are not interested in the institutional element of Christianity—the church.
3. Pragmatism is a third quality.  In terms of spirituality, they are primarily interested in having a better life before death, not in securing a better life after death.
4. Fourth, postmoderns are uninformed about basic Christianity.  Because they are growing up in a non-Christian culture and not pursuing a faith within Christian institutions, they know little about the Christian faith.    
5. A fifth characteristic concerns their spirituality.  Postmoderns may not be Christian.  They may not be in church.  But they are interested in spiritual matters. 
6. Sixth, Postmoderns are experiential.  When it comes to their spirituality, they do not care if a place offers the correct doctrine about God.  They care more if a place offers a stimulating experience of God.
7. Finally, Postmoderns are relational.  Of those who do darken the doors of a church, many say they are looking for some kind of community. 

And here’s the challenge: most established churches developed a wineskin, a way of being salt and light, that fit a Christian culture filled with people who had a Modern worldview.  But that Christian culture is turning more toward a non-Christian culture.  And that Modern worldview is being replaced by a Postmodern worldview.  As a result, our wineskin needs reinvestigation.  We may, more than ever before, need to set aside our customs, our comforts, and our habits and embrace the new expressions, forms, and practices of Jesus. 

Last summer I read Barbara Kingsolver’s New York Times Bestseller The Poisonwood Bible.[8]  It is the tragic story of a Christian who refused to set aside his own customs and embrace the ways of Jesus.  The narrative takes place in the early 1960’s and focuses on a Georgia Baptist preacher and his family: Nathan and Orleanna Price and their girls Rachel, Leah and Adah (twins), and Ruth May.  Nathan moves his family to the Congo in order to lead the Congolese to faith in the Father.  Nathan ends every sermon in the Congo with these words: Jesus is bangala!  Bangala was a native word.  Pronounced one way, the word means “great.”  Pronounced another way, the word refers to a poisonwood tree which will, in the words of one of the story’s characters, “make you itch like nobody’s business.”  What Nathan means is “Jesus is great!”  But because he pronounces the word wrong, what he actually says is, “Jesus is poisonwood!”  And the novel reveals how, even though Nathan wants the Congolese to believe Jesus is great, Nathan actually makes Jesus poisonwood to them. 

How?  It has to do with Nathan’s wineskin.  The way Nathan goes about being salt and light actually makes Jesus unappealing to the Congolese.  Nathan assumes that what worked in Georgia will work in the Congo.  He makes this assumption about everyday kinds of things.  For example Nathan started a garden in order to demonstrate to the tribe’s people how to grow food.  Just as he had in Georgia, he planted his garden on a flat plot of land.  But one tribesperson urged him to create large mounds on which to plant the seeds.  Nathan refused.  At the first torrential rain, all of Nathan’s seeds washed away.  The tribespeople knew that to grow crops in the Congo, seeds must be elevated.  But Nathan was unwilling to consider that what worked in Georgia wouldn’t work in the Congo.

Worse, Nathan did the same thing in his ministry.  For example, when the Price family first arrived, the tribe welcomed them with a feast, a feast that cost the tribe a great deal.  The tribe’s leader asked Nathan to say a word at the end of the feast.  Nathan immediately started preaching about Sodom and Gomorrah.  At the end of his remarks he grabbed one of the tribe’s women—all of whom wore no clothes on their tops—and he condemned her for her nakedness.  What Nathan failed to realize was that none in the tribe considered going without a shirt to be immodest.  They did consider it immodest to show one’s legs.  But Nathan allowed his wife and his girls to go around the village in pants that revealed their legs.  Nathan couldn’t fathom that what worked in Georgia wouldn’t work in the Congo.

And at his first Sunday service, Nathan urged all the tribe’s people to follow him to the Kwilu river to be baptized.  Nathan envisioned hundreds of them in white clothes being baptized into Christ in the Kwilu river.  Upon hearing the invitation, however, the tribe’s people were alarmed.  Why?  The Kwilu river was filled with crocodiles and children had been devoured in that river.  Still, week after week Nathan urged people to be baptized in the Kwilu river.  Jesus is bangala Nathan kept preaching.  He wanted them to believe Jesus was great.  But his way of being salt and light was ultimately making Jesus poisonwood.

There is a sense in which some of our customary ways of being salt and light may be as unfit for a post-Christian and Postmodern culture as the customary ways of a Georgia preacher are unfit for the Congo.  There is sense in which in some of our attempts to be salt and light, we may be leading people to conclude that Jesus is poisonwood instead of concluding that Jesus is great.  Like Nathan, we may need to reinvestigate our wineskin.  We may need to confess that our ways are not the revolutionary ways of Jesus.

Fortunately, it’s not as complex as we may fear.  It is hard.  It is daunting.  But it is not complex.  Ultimately what it takes is a return to the simple and ancient practices of Jesus, those he demonstrates so well in Matt. 5-10.  As we survey those chapters, we see five revolutions, five changes we may need to consider if we truly desire to be the salt and light Jesus envisions.

First, Jesus’ words in Matt. 8-9 about wineskins call us to move from our customary ways of ministry, created for a Christian and Modern culture, to a more contextual way of ministry that takes into account cultural changes.  It calls for a more incarnational approach to ministry. Jesus’ example in these two chapters reminds us to be open to new ways of thinking about and approaching outreach.  Many of these I cover in my book Preaching to Pluralists.    

Second, Jesus demonstrates character.  We see the power of character in Jesus’ interactions with people in Matt. 8-10.  In Matt. 8:2-4 Jesus interacts with a leper: 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”   Notice what Jesus did.  He touched the man.  He not only drew close to him.  He touched him.  He showed great compassion.

We see the touch of Jesus’ character throughout Matt. 8-9:

• When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.  He touched her hand and the fever left her…(Matt. 8:14-15 TNIV)
• While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died.”…After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up… (Matt. 9:18,25 TNIV)
• As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”…Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored… (Matt. 9:27, 29-30 TNIV)

For Jesus, it was rarely enough to just say something.  Jesus also wanted to do something.  Jesus touched people.  In every encounter in Matt. 8-9 Jesus becomes the good news the people so desperately need.

And just in case we miss the point, Matthew includes this description of Jesus in Matt. 9:35-36 :35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  (Matt. 9:35-36 TNIV).  Matthew uses these words as a summary of Matt. 8-9.  For Matthew, this is how Jesus demonstrated salt and light: by showing compassion.   It was the power of his character which elicited faith in people.

We also see the critical role of character in Matt. 5-7.  This Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ summary of the kind of character it takes to be salt and light.  Jesus understands that it is not enough to tell good news, we must be good news.  The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ description of the kind of character we must have in order to become salt and light.  Imagine the impact a church could have in this changing culture if it focused on being a Sermon on the Mount community.  In my book Rebuilding Relationships I focus on this call.

Jesus’ compassion in Matt. 8-9 reminds us that being salt and light is not simply about telling good news but about being good news.  Jesus heals, restores, and serves people in these two chapters.  His example reminds us of the power of being good news.  It shows the impact of character.  In a non-Christian and Postmodern culture where people may not be interested in what we say to them, they will be open to what we do for them.  When we are good news, people respond better when we tell good news.  In this changing culture, we need to focus once again on imitating Christ’s character and move from simply telling good news to being good news.

Third, in Matt. 8-9 Jesus demonstrates closeness. Jesus leaves the safety of the mountain where he’s gathered for the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) and draws closer in Matt. 8-9 to those who most need his salt and light.  In Matt. 8:1-15 Jesus draws close to three people: a leper, a centurion, and a Jewish woman.  A scholar named Frederick Dale Bruner suggests that we can picture these three people—a leper, a centurion, and a Jewish woman—in terms of how far each is from the center of the temple in Jerusalem.[9]  As we consider the temple in Jerusalem, we can imagine concentric circles.  

• At the center is the Holy of Holies, the place where God resided.  There, only one person, a Jewish male, could enter one time each year. 
• Next is the Holy Place, a space where only Jewish males could enter. 
• Next is the Court of Women.  Women were welcome in this space, but could go no closer. 
• Then, there is the Court of Gentiles, the only place in the temple where Gentiles were permitted. 
• Finally, there is Jerusalem and then outside Jerusalem. 

Bruner suggests we can imagine Jesus being at the center, the Holy of Holies—after all, he is God—and each of these three people—the woman, the centurion, and the leper, being at various distances from that center.  But Jesus leaves the Mount and draws close to each of these three—people believed to be successively farther and farther from God.  Jesus practices closeness.

But because many of our churches originated in a Christian and Modern culture, we’ve tended to rely on a certain way of being salt and light called “attractional” or invitational.[10]   Here’s what “attractional” outreach looks like:

• “Drawing in”—the goal is to draw in as many as possible from the outside world;
• “Starting where we feel at home”—outreach begins by getting outsiders to come to the place we feel at home;
• “Seating”—the goal is to fill as many seats in the church building as possible;
• “Come to us”—we ask those in need to come to us for help;
• “How many people come to our church services?”—this is one way churches measure success.  They count the number of people who come to church services.

There are examples of attractional ministry in Scripture.  For example, in John 4 a woman who has met Jesus at a well outside of town invites her fellow towns-folk to “come and see” this Jesus.  In addition, if a church is healthy, it will be naturally attractive.  Some attractional outreach is still effective.  But in our post-Christian and postmodern culture, there will be some who will not be attracted to Christian events.

That’s why we need to supplement our “attractional” outreach with “missional” outreach:[11] 

• Attractional outreach is drawing in—missional outreach is sending out. 
• Attractional outreach is starting where we feel at home—missional outreach is starting where they feel at home.  It is Christians leaving their “turf” and going to places where non Christians feel at home;
• Attractional outreach is seating—missional outreach is sending.  The goal is to empty as many seats as possible by sending Christians into the lives of non Christians;
• Attractional outreach is come to us—missional outreach is go to them;
• Attractional outreach asks “How many people come to our church services?”  Missional outreach asks “How many people does our church serve?”

Just like Jesus, we cannot remain on our Sermon on the Mount and just invite people to come to us for what they need.  We have to leave that Mount and go to them.  Jesus’ example calls us to shift from our attractional strategies in which we tell people in our community “if you need salt and light, come to us and we’ll give it to you” to a more missional practice in which we tell our community “since you need salt and light, we’ll go to you.”  If we want to be salt and light, we’ll need to practice more closeness: a move from attractional to missional.  We’ll need to learn to spend time where non Christians are.  We need to get out of our Christian ghettos and rub shoulders once again with the irreligious.

This practice ultimately calls us to move from a focus on evangelistic programs with canned speeches and answers to a greater reliance upon people:  relationships and learning to be salt and light within the context of friendships.  In this changing culture, we need to focus once again on imitating Christ’s closeness and getting involved in the lives of people far from God, moving from attractional to missional and from programs to real people.

Fourth, in Matt. 8-9 Jesus demonstrates conversation.  Jesus shares the story of the kingdom.  Throughout Matt. 8-9 there are references to Jesus’ preaching and to the power of his word:

• In Matt. 8:13 Jesus speaks and a paralyzed servant is healed.
• In Matt. 8:16 Jesus drives out spirits with a word…
• In Matt. 8:32, Jesus commands “Go!” and demons flee from two men.
• In Matt. 9:1-8 Jesus’ words bring healing and forgiveness.
• And in Matt. 9:35 Matthew writes this summary statement: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom…

Thus, one thing Jesus demonstrates in this section is the practice of conversation.  We learn that being salt and light involves telling good news.  In fact, when Jesus sends us out in Matt. 10 he says, As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’” (Matt. 10:7 TNIV).  One of the ways we act as salt and light is through conversation: telling the good news about Jesus.

Jesus’ example calls us to reconsider how we tell the story of the kingdom in this new culture.  Because of our legacy in a Modern and Christian culture, we’ve tended to focus on sharing pixels, very small pieces of the story of the kingdom.  We could assume that people already had the big picture in their heads and just needed guidance on some of the details.  But now in this non-Christian and Postmodern culture in which some know nothing at all of the Christian story, we’ll have to focus again on sharing the image, the big picture of the Bible.  Through this ancient yet new wineskin, we too can have a revolutionary impact on people around us.  On my website, www.chrisaltrock.com, under the Story button, I provide some examples of how to share the story, how to share the whole image rather than just the small pixels.

Finally, Jesus’ demonstrates the importance of community.  In Matt. 10 Jesus sent disciples, not a disciple.  He sent a community.  Mission was to be done in community.  And these disciples were to invite new people into a community.  They were not merely inviting people to Jesus.  They were inviting people into Jesus’ community.

This calls for a revolution from “me” to “we.”  Mission is not just about “me.”  It’s about “we.”  It’s not something “I” do.  It’s something “we” do together.  The Modern world with its individualism and optimistic view of humanity tended to focus on outreach that was individual and done 1 on 1.  But the postmodern world, with its hunger for relationships and its awareness of the need we have for each other, will be best reached by community.

At Highland we are attempting to practice this revolution by means of an emphasis we call “Thru You.”  Let me briefly walk you our brochure…

[2] Ben Witherington III, Matthew Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary (Smyth & Helwys, 2006), 200.

[3] Warren Carter, Matthew and the Margins (Orbis, 2005), 223.

[4] Witherington, 201.

[5] Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Eerdmans, 1999), 301.

[6]  “U. S. Religious Landscape Survey 2008” The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, http://religions.pewforum.org/. 

[7] Michael Goheen & Craig Bartholomew, Living at the Crossroads (Baker Academic, 2008), 23.

[8] Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible (HarperPerennial, 1999).

[9] Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew Volume 1: The Christbook (Word, 1987), 299-310.

[10] Based on postings by Steve Hays in response to “Attractional vs Missional Services” http://mattstone.blogs.com; “What is a Missional Church?” Friend of Missional http://www.friendofmissional.org; Chad Hall “Missional:Possible” Leadership (Winter 2007), http://www.christianitytoday.com; Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch The Shaping of Things to Come (Hendrickson, 2003).

[11] Hays etc.

Many more people are fed up with church in general.  Dan Kimball has written a book entitled They Like Jesus But Not the Church.[i] In it, Kimball reports that many today find Jesus attractive but not the church.  They feel that the church is too politically motivated.

And, in his book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything Christopher Hitchens writes about the ills of all institutional religion.[ii] He states that religion is “violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children.”

There’s a lot of hostility these days toward religion in general and toward the church in particular.

This is nothing new, of course.  Even in Jesus’ day there was ill-will toward religion.  Mark, one of the four biographers of Jesus’ life, focuses on this ill-will.  His Gospel includes 10 occasions during which Jesus and religious leaders got into conflict. This summer, we’re using these 10 conflicts to reflect on the difference between being religious and following Jesus.

Our series begins with conflict #5 in Mk. 3:1-6: 1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. (ESV)

Mark reveals in verse 1 that this conflict takes place in “the synagogue.”  Jews believed that synagogues were miniature versions of the Temple.  Like the Temple, the synagogue was a physical place where Jews gathered to meet God.  Unlike the Temple, the synagogue had no altar for animal sacrifices.  Like the Temple, the synagogue had an ark or a sacred container.  Unlike the Temple, the ark in the synagogue contained only scrolls on which were written the Old Testament law.  The synagogue likely came into existence when the Jews were forced from Israel and dragged into exile in Babylon.  Without access to their Temple, the Jews were forced to create substitutes.  Thus, the synagogue was born.[iii] And it is in one of these synagogues that this conflict takes place between Jesus and the religious leaders.

Mark tells us in verse 1 that “Again he entered the synagogue.” The word “Again” tells us that Jesus has previously been in a synagogue.  This isn’t Jesus’ first visit.  The word “Again” points back to Mk. 1:21: “And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.”  It appears that in chapter 3 Jesus has returned to the synagogue he first visited in chapter 1.[iv] And during both visits to this synagogue, Jesus encounters people in need.  When Jesus showed up, the synagogue was a place where people in need also showed up.  They knew that if Jesus was in the synagogue, there was the hope of getting help.  We might pray for the same to be true of Highland—that it be a place where Jesus shows up and where people in need can truly find help.  In chapter 1, the man in need in the synagogue has an “unclean spirit.”  In chapter 3, Mark tells us that the man in need in the synagogue has a “withered hand.”

“Withered hand” probably refers to a disease common in the ancient Near East in which parts of the spinal cord would become inflamed and paralysis would occur in one or more groups of muscles.  Here, apparently, the man’s hand has become paralyzed and withered or atrophied.[v]

Someone else is also in the synagogue that day: the Pharisees.  According to verse 2, the Pharisees watch Jesus “to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath…”  Notice that Jesus’ enemies do not doubt that Jesus can heal.  Ultimately, these religious leaders believe Jesus’ ability to heal came from Satan (Mk. 3:22,20).[vi] The debate will be whether Jesus is permitted to heal on the Sabbath.

The word “Sabbath” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to cease” or “to desist.”  The Sabbath day was rooted in the fact that on the 7^th day of creation, God “ceased” from his labor (Gen. 2:2).  The Sabbath is mentioned in all five of the books of the Pentateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  That shows just how central the Sabbath was to Jewish law.

And by Jesus’ day, the Sabbath was even more central, especially to the Pharisees.  The Pharisees determined that the Torah contained 613 commandments (248 positive and 365 negative).  Having identified these 613 commandments, their next step was to “make a hedge” around these commandments.  That is, the Pharisees wrote additional commandments that would keep Jews from even getting close to violating the actual commandments of the Torah.  One of the best known examples of this was the 39 acts which the Pharisees decided would be prohibited on the Sabbath.[vii] They were not satisfied with the Bible’s generic commandment to do no work on the Sabbath.  They created a list of 39 specific things you could not do on the Sabbath.  And clearly, they believed that healing a man’s withered hand fell into the category of acts not permitted.

Jesus is aware of all of this.  He knows the Pharisee’s legalistic views on the Sabbath.  He knows, according to verse 2, that they are collecting evidence against him so that they might “accuse him.”  This phrase is a technical legal term. The Pharisees are gathering evidence so that they might take Jesus to religious court.  But rather than play it safe, Jesus asks the man with the withered hand to get up and “come here.” Literally, Jesus tells the man to “rise in the midst,” or “stand in the middle.”  People in the synagogue would have been seated on stone benches around the walls or on lying on mats on the floor.  Jesus asks the man with the withered hand to stand up in the middle of everyone.[viii] Jesus wants all eyes to be on this man and on what he’s about to do for this man.

With all attention riveted on him, Jesus then asks the religious leaders: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?”  Jesus says that there are only two options lying before everyone in that synagogue: “do good/ save life” or “do harm/ kill.”  The words “save life” are code words in the Jewish debate about the Sabbath.  Almost all Jewish groups, including the Pharisees, believed that the prohibition against work on the Sabbath could be set aside if a person’s life was in danger.  In other words, “saving life” was always permitted on the Sabbath.  But notice what Jesus does with the phrase “save life.”  Jesus equates “save life” and “do good”:   “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?”  Jesus seeks to reframe what it means to “save life.”  The Pharisees would argue that the man with the withered hand was in no mortal danger.  His life was not being threatened by his withered hand.  Therefore, they believed Jesus should wait until the Sabbath was over before healing the hand.[ix] The Pharisees downplay the man’s condition.  His withered hand is a small thing.  It doesn’t endanger the man’s life.  In the mind of the religious leaders, this situation doesn’t count as a situation of “saving life.”  It might be “doing good.”  But it’s not “saving life.”  They downplay the man’s condition and the need for Jesus to heal the hand.

But Jesus magnifies the man’s condition and his act of healing the hand.  In “doing” this “good” thing—in healing the withered hand—Jesus believes he is “saving life.”[x] In the mind of Jesus, “doing good” is “saving life.”  Jesus magnifies the impact of this healing.  Jesus is not merely restoring a hand.  He is saving a life.  What the Pharisees view as insignificant and as something that can wait, Jesus views as significant and as something that cannot wait.  In healing the hand, Jesus believes he is saving a life.

This statement of Jesus’ in verse 4 is probably intended as a reference to the way in which Jesus viewed his entire ministry.  In Mk. 1:14-15 Jesus proclaims that “the kingdom of God is at hand.”  What Jesus is doing with this man and with his withered hand is not merely restoring physical health.  When Jesus heals the hand, he is helping usher in the kingdom of God.[xi]

In contrast, Jesus implies that it’s the Pharisees who are violating the Sabbath because they are about to “do harm” and “kill.”  Here’s what the Pharisees do on the Sabbath according to verse 6: The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. The Herodians were simply people who supported the Herodian Dynasty.  The New Testament is full of the Herod family.  For example, there was Herod the Great.  Herod the Ethnarch, or Archelaus, was his elder son.  Herod the tetrarch, or Antipas was the younger son.  Herod the king, or Agrippa, was the grandson.  The Herodians were supporters of this Herodian dynasty. [xii] Normally, the Pharisees and the Herodians would be enemies.  But today, on the Sabbath, they conspire against Jesus, one who threatens the power, prestige, and position of both groups.  On the Sabbath, they begin working to kill Jesus.  They violate the Sabbath.

I’d like to apply this text by contrasting two types of photography.  The first type is one you may be familiar with: telescopic photography.  Telescopic photography makes small things appear big. For example, telescopic photography allows us to take things in the night sky that are very small and enlarge them.  Here are three examples:

• This is an image of a spiral galaxy called M51.  It is 30 million light years from the earth.  It’s so small that we cannot see it in the night sky with our eyes alone.  Yet telescopic photography makes that small thing appear big.

• This is an image of two emerging galaxies called NGC 2207 and IC 2163.  Though light years away and infinitely small to our eyes, telescopic photography has made these galaxies appear large.

• Finally, this is an image of the planet Saturn.  Using just your eyes, you’d be hard pressed to find this tiny dot in the sky at night.  But telescopic photography makes small things like this appear large.

There is another type of photography, however, which does the opposite.  It is called Tilt-Shift photography.  Telescopic photography makes small things appear big.  But tilt-shift photography makes big things appear small. It uses changes in focus and lens position to make something life-size appear miniature.  Here are three examples:

• This is an image of the football stadium where the Nebraska Cornhuskers play.  It’s a massive stadium filled with thousands of people.  Yet this immense arena has been made to look like a miniature model through tilt-shift photography.

• This is an image of ancient pyramids at Tikal National Park in Guatemala.  They are several stories tall.  But through tilt-shift photography, these pyramids appear to be a miniature plaything.

• Finally, this is an image of the San Francisco skyline.  But tilt-shift photography has made this massive city look miniature.

Telescopic photography makes small things appear big.  Tilt-Shift photography makes big things appear small.  And the difference between these two photographic methods is the same difference between Jesus and religion in this morning’s text. Religion makes big things appear small.  Jesus makes small things appear big. The “thing” at issue is the healing of the man’s withered hand.  The Pharisees make the thing appear small.  To them, it’s something that can wait.  It’s not big enough to warrant setting aside their religious traditions.  Jesus, however, makes the thing appear large.  To Jesus, this is about saving life, because doing good is the same as saving life.  To Jesus this one healing is an example of the entire kingdom of God breaking into human life and the beginning of the transformation and re-creation of everything and every person.  The Pharisees take this truly immense thing, and through distortion and shifting of position, make it appear small.  But Jesus takes what they view as small, and magnifies it, and shows it for the enormous thing it truly is.  Jesus allows us to see the genuine scale of the healing.  It’s about saving life.  It’s about the in-breaking of the kingdom of God.

Religion always magnifies this question: What is legal?  And it always minimizes this question: What is loving? For the Pharisees, love only trumps law when a human life is in mortal danger.  Otherwise, law always triumphs love.

And that is the real danger of religion.  Because you can excel at being legal while at the same time fail at being loving.  Author John Ortberg writes about this.[xiii] Ortberg says that most Christians today measure spirituality in ways that make the Pharisees the winners.  Here’s what I think he means: we emphasize the legal issues.  We magnify getting people to know the right rules and to obey the right rules.  Getting the right name on the church.  Teaching the right doctrine in the pulpit.  Doing the right things in the worship service.  Wearing the right clothes.  Memorizing the right passages.  Voting for the right people.  Listening to the right music.  Yet, we can do all of this and still wind up being arrogant and prideful.   We often treat spirituality in ways that make the Pharisees the winner.  The question is almost always “What is legal?  What is orthodox?  What is acceptable?  What is prudent?  What is safe?”  And in so doing, we minimize the other question: “What is loving?”  We take this big thing—showing love—and make it appear small.

Jesus, on the other hand, seemed to almost always ask this question: What is loving? Love was the fulfillment of the law.  Love was the true intent of God’s teaching.  In fact, love was the true meaning of the Sabbath.  What the Pharisees viewed as small and insignificant, Jesus made enormous and larger than life-sized.  For Jesus, the spiritual life is always about love.  In Jesus’ eyes, you’re not mature if you know and do everything legal.  You’re mature when you know and do everything loving.

It’s like we are walking around with tilt-shift glasses on.  And when we look at the thing—doing the loving thing—through our glasses that big thing appears miniature.  It’s not that important to us.  It’s insignificant to us.  But Jesus swipes off our tilt-shift glasses and replaces them with telescopic glasses.  Suddenly, that small thing—doing the loving thing—appears enormous.  We can’t see anything but that.  Now, simply doing good, simply doing an act of love, becomes tantamount to saving a life.  It becomes tantamount to ushering in the kingdom of God.

I glimpsed this the other day when an email arrived.  It was from Marka Bennett, a Highland member.  The email told of a boy named Matthew.  Matthew had lost his leg in an auto accident in Memphis in 1998.  He was treated for a long time at LeBonheur.  The Close Encounters Sunday School class at Highland met and adopted Matthew and his family during this difficult time.  The class couldn’t do much.  They prayed for Matthew and his family.  They took Matthew’s family some meals and some snacks.  They’d sit with Matthew or his family in the hospital.  Small stuff.  Little things.  These things were so small that when a letter from Matthew’s mom arrived recently at Marka’s house, Marka didn’t even recognize the name.  She sorted through the graduation pictures in the envelope and was mystified: who is this and why did they mail me these graduation photos?  Then, Marka found the letter inside.  It read, “Hello, Mrs. Bennett: I didn’t know if you would remember Matthew or not. He was the little boy that lost his leg in an auto accident back in 1998. He stayed for a long time at LeBonheur…and Highland Street Church of Christ and you[r class] kind of adopted us because we were stuck there for so long. I just thought you’d like know that he is graduating high school with a GPA of 3.8!  He is a pretty smart guy.  We often think of you.  Sincerely, Deana Jones.”  At the time, it seemed like a small thing.  Some prayers.  Some food.  Some company.  But twelve years later, this letter arrives.  Matthew’s a high school senior.  He’s got a 3.8 GPA.  He’s graduating.  And besides the aunts and the uncles and the grandparents to whom Matthew’s mom mailed graduation letters, Matthew’s mom just had to send Highland a note.  Because to her and to Matthew, what Marka and Close Encounters did was no small thing.  They didn’t just do some good.  They saved a life.

In the big scheme of things, our teens and many adults this week did a lot of small things at Work Camp.  It was just paint.  It was just carpentry.  It was just some home repair.  USA Today won’t carry that story.  CNN won’t lead with that news item.  But you ask the homeowners.  They’ll you truth.  I learned of one who just wept with joy when a crew arrived at her house.  What those teens did this week was no small thing.  They didn’t just do some good.  They saved lives.  They ushered in the kingdom of God.

I don’t know about you.  But that’s enough to make me want to become irreligious—to forsake religion and just follow Jesus.

[ii] Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Twelve, 2009).

[iii] “Synagogue,” New Bible Dictionary Second Edition (Edited by J. D. Douglas et.al) (IVP, 1962),  1153-1155.

[iv] Robert H. Gundry Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross (Eerdmans, 1993), 149.

[v] R. K. Harrison, “Disease,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Fully Revised, Volume One: A-D (Eerdmans, 1979), 958.

[vi] Gundry, 153.

[vii] “Pharisees,” New Bible Dictionary,924-925.

[viii] Guelich, 134.

[ix] Gundry, 150.

[x] Gundry, 153.

[xi] Guelich, 136.

[xii] Gundry, 154.

[xiii] John Ortberg, “Your Spiritual Growth Plan,” Leadership (Winter, 2010), 78-83.

You enjoy the company of those who treat people right–those who

tell the truth,

refuse to spread gossip,

act neighborly,

keep their word,

serve the poor,

and stand up for others. 

Those are the kind of people you strengthen and encourage.

I wonder–do you enjoy my company?

[image]

Song #24 on the list was John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane.”  He wrote the song while waiting for a delayed flight at the airport.  It captures the pain that travel causes when travel separates us from people whom we love.  Let’s listen to the first part of the song: “All my bags are packed I’m ready to go; I’m standin’ here outside your door; I hate to wake you up to say goodbye; But the dawn is breakin’ it’s early morn; The taxi’s waitin’ he’s blowin’ his horn; Already I’m so lonesome I could die; So kiss me and smile for me; Tell me that you’ll wait for me; Hold me like you’ll never let me go; Cause I’m leavin’ on a jet plane; Don’t know when I’ll be back again; Oh babe, I hate to go.”   Sometimes traveling takes us away from people we love.  It disconnects us from very important human connections.  It’s a pain most of us have felt.  And that common experienced helped “Leaving on a Jet Plane” to be one of the top 40 travel songs. 

There was an ancient list of songs similar to the Travel Channel’s list of songs.  Thousands of years ago, during some of the most important journeys which the Jews undertook, the Jews compiled a list of their own travel songs.  These songs were so timeless and beloved that they were recorded, collected, and sung by generation after generation—much like some of the songs in the Travel Channel’s list.  We know these ancient travel songs as Psalms 120-134.  Today we begin a series on these ancient songs.

There are four important things to know about Ps. 120-134. 

• First, these psalms were called the “Songs/Psalms of Ascents.”  Only these 15 psalms are given this title.  The word “ascents” refers to a slope or even to a stairway.^[2]  All 15 of these psalms relate specifically to a journey or an ascent.
• Second, Psalms 120-134 were sung by pilgrims as they travelled to and from Jerusalem for three annual festivals.  Deut. 16:16 called the Jews to travel to Jerusalem each year for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Tabernacles.  As Jews traveled to these festivals in Jerusalem, they would sing Psalms 120-134.[3]  As they ascended to Jerusalem, these songs were on their lips. 
• Third,  one Jewish book called the “Mishnah” states that these 15 Psalms corresponded to the fifteen steps that pilgrims would ascend as they moved in the temple in Jerusalem from the Court of Women to the Court of Israel.  The Mishnah also notes that the Levites would sing these psalms on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, presumably on these 15 steps in the temple.[4]  Perhaps as the pilgrims arrived in Jerusalem and walked up these 15 steps in the temple, they were singing these songs, or the Levites were singing these songs.
• And fourth, the book of Ezra (2:1, 7:9) uses the verb “to ascend” to describe the Jewish exiles returning from Babylon to Jerusalem.  Thus, these songs were also likely sung by the exiles.[5]  As former captives and slaves were released from Babylon and allowed to journey back home to Jerusalem, they sang these songs. 

These songs were sung by God’s people during the most important journeys of their lives.  And the songs serve as a metaphor for the journey of our lives.  They point to what was most important to the Jews as the Jews travelled.  Thus, the songs educate us as to what is most important about the journey of our own lives.

This morning, we’ll spend some time in Ps. 133: 1Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!  2It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!  3It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!  For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. (Ps. 133:1-3 ESV) 

First, the author shows us a picture.  It is a picture of brothers dwelling in unity.  The author is looking at brothers dwelling in unity.  What exactly is he seeing?  There are at least two possibilities.  One possibility is that the author is looking at people of the same family, who normally lived apart, now being reunited in Jerusalem at the religious festival.^[6]   Uncle Joseph and his family who lived north of Jerusalem and Uncle Jacob and his family who lived south of Jerusalem rarely got to see each other.  The distance between them was just too far and their lives were just too busy.  But during the religious festivals in Jerusalem, these brothers, their wives, and the nieces and nephews travelled to Jerusalem and were reunited.  Perhaps the psalmist sees them, embracing at the gate to Jerusalem (“It’s so good to see you!”), expressing amazement at how the kids have grown (“Last time I saw you, you were knee-high to a donkey!”), and walking into the city talking and laughing.  And as the psalmist sees this scene, he says, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity”. 

A second possibility is that the author sees members of different families meeting and getting to know each other at the festival.  The festival was one of those rare times when someone from, say, the tribe of Simeon, would have the chance to meet people from another tribe, say Asher.^[7] It’s kind of like when you go on a cruise or you vacation at a beach.  You end up meeting people from across the country or across the world.  And some of them you connect with and end up eating dinner with and playing volleyball or spades with.  And by the end of the trip you feel like they could be your best friends.  As the psalmist sees people who have never known each other now engaged in friendship and fellowship at one of the religious festivals in Jerusalem, he exclaims: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.” 

For the psalmist, this journey song is the opposite of John Denver’s song “Leaving on a Jet Plane.”  Denver lamented because the journey was going to separate him from a life-giving and meaningful relationship.  The psalmist, however, rejoices because the journey to Jerusalem is going to make possible life-giving and meaningful relationships.  Ultimately, this is a song celebrating our travel companions—those important people we get to know well and travel with in this life.   

Some of you have lived this picture, haven’t you?  There’s that brother or sister who lives in Dallas or Detroit or Des Moines who you just love hanging out with.  And whether it’s on the phone, on email, or in person, they just make the journey of your life better.  There’s that longtime friend from school.  He/she is the one person you can really be “you” with.  No pretending.  He/she accepts you just as you are.  And he/she makes make the journey of your life better.  There’s that spouse who always encourages you, supports you, and thinks the best of you.  And you cannot imagine the journey of life without him/her.  Or there’s that couple you vacation with every year.  And every year it’s just a blast!  Being with them makes the rest of the year bearable.  That’s the picture of this psalm.  Deep and meaningful friendship and fellowship.

But if verse 1 is the picture, then verses 2 and 3 are the interpretation of the picture.  In verses 2-3 the author of the psalm interprets what we are seeing.  He helps us understand the significance of the picture.  And the author interprets the picture in three ways.

First, the author says that this picture of travel companions “is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!”  The metaphor comes from Lev. 8.  There, Moses brought Aaron and Aaron’s sons to the tent of meeting.  The entire assembly of Israelites was gathered around.  And there, in full view of every person, and in the presence of God, Moses washed Aaron and his sons with water.  Then he dressed Aaron in his priestly clothes.  Once Aaron was fully clothed, Moses poured anointing oil on Aaron’s head.  The oil was made of flowers, aromatic seeds and fruits, mixed with olive oil. ^[8]  People would have smelled its refreshing fragrance.  And it would have been poured liberally on Aaron, dripping down the sides of his head, onto his beard, and down to the collars of his robe.  In this way Aaron was consecrated or set apart for the work God had given him.

This metaphor interpreted the picture of travel companions in at least three ways.  First, it said that travel companions are refreshing.??^[9] Just as the scent of that oil would have been refreshing and pleasant to those who smelled it, so travel companions are a source of refreshment in life.  This psalm celebrated the refreshment which family members felt when reunited in Jerusalem.  It praised the refreshment which strangers felt when they met each other at the festival and wound up forever-friends.

Second, this interpretation of oil said that the benefits of travel companions are abundant.  Just as that oil was poured liberally and abundantly over Aaron’s head, so the benefits of travel companions were liberal and abundant.[10]  The song celebrated the numerous good things that came from the fellowship and friendship formed three times a year in Jerusalem.

Third, this interpretation of oil said that travel companions are sacred. ^[11]  The oil on Aaron’s head made him sacred.  The oil showed that Aaron was from God and that his work was given by God.  In a similar way, this song recognizes that there is something sacred about good travel companions.  They are from God, given by God.

Social researcher Robert Putnam writes, “The single most common finding from a half-century’s research on life satisfaction, not only from the U. S. but around the world, is that happiness is best predicted by the breadth and depth of one’s social connections.”[12]  Even science recognizes the truth of Psalm 133.  Our journey is at its most joyful when we have a good travel companion or two.  A strong friendship.  A close companion.  It is the one thing in life that most accurately predicts a person’s happiness.  There is something refreshing about these connections.  They bring abundant blessings.  They are sacred.

We see just how critical friendship is when it’s taken away.  Isolated people are more prone to depression, anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, substance abuse, sexual addiction, and difficulties with eating and sleeping.[13]  You take away travel companions, and the journey of life becomes very difficult.

This travel song offers a second interpretation of the importance of travel companions.  It says that travel companions are also “like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!”  The word “Hermon” refers to Mount Hermon, a nine thousand foot high mountain north of Jerusalem.  Moist Mediterranean air would blow inland toward Mount Hermon and drop a very heavy dew.^[14]   When the psalmist sees the wonderful relationships forming in Jerusalem at the religious festival, he says it’s as if that that heavy dew of Mount Hermon was falling on Zion or Jerusalem.

This metaphor interpreted the picture of travel companions in one primary way: travel companions are invigorating.^[15]  In a dry and arid place like Jerusalem, a heavy dew like that from Mount Hermon would be invigorating and life-giving.  It would revitalize and energize plants and people.  Thus Ps. 133  celebrates the way in which the connections formed in Jerusalem were revitalizing and energizing to those who had travelled all that way for the festival.

People who are socially disconnected are between two and five times more likely to die from any cause than those who have close ties to family, friends, and other relationships.  Friendships and fellowship literally extend life.  Conversely, those who have unhealthy lifestyles (they smoke, or overeat, or have elevated blood pressure) yet are socially connected live longer than people who have healthy lifestyles and have no social connections.[16]  Friendships and fellowship are invigorating and life-giving.  They literally extend our lives.

John Phillips tells the story of an old man who had sons which were constantly fighting.[17] The father called the sons to gather before him.  He picked out the strongest son and handed him one stick.  “Break it!” the father requested.  With a look of contempt, the son snapped the stick in two.  The father handed the son two sticks.  “Break them!” the father demanded.  The son broke them.  The father handed him three sticks.  “Break them!”  Four sticks.  “Break them!”  Five sticks.  “Break them!”  With each additional stick, breaking them became harder and harder.  Eventually, the son could not break the sticks.  The point?  There is strength in connection.  Left to ourselves, we are easily broken.  But when bundled together, we cannot be broken.  There is something invigorating and life-giving about friendship.

Finally, the song provides a third interpretation of the picture of travel companions.  It says this: For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.  The song is saying that “there,” meaning Jerusalem, is the place where God’s blessing falls.  And that blessing is this: life forevermore.  As the psalmist looks through the streets of Jerusalem, and he sees people reconnecting or connecting for the first time with each other, he realizes: “That is the blessing of God.”  The blessing of God comes when people enjoy friendships and fellowship.  When people befriend, connect, love, and laugh together, that’s when the blessing of God comes.  And what is that blessing?  Ps. 133 says it is “life forevermore.”  The word “life” can mean “fresh,” “green,” and “renewed.”^[18]  God blesses the journey of our life with freshness, with renewal, with the greenness of aliveness when we cultivate and nurture friendship.

During the nine years of Highland’s journey to relocation, friendships and fellowship have become increasingly important.  We’ve come to value our connections to each other more than at any other time.  One of the blessings of our long relocation journey is that it’s taught us the real value of friendship and fellowship. 

This psalm demonstrates why our teen Huddles and adult Reach Groups are so important.  It’s in those small groups and gatherings where we can really know others and be known by others.  It’s in those small settings where friendships can form and where we gain the blessing described by this song.

In his book The Me I Want to Be author John Ortberg provides this friendship inventory:[19] When something goes wrong, do you have at least one friend you can easily talk with about it?  Yes or No.  Do you have a friend you can drop in on at any time without calling ahead?  Yes or No.  Is there someone who could accurately name your greatest fears and temptations?  Yes or No.  Do you have one or more friends whom you meet with regularly?  Yes or No.  Do you have a friend you know well enough to trust their confidentiality?  Yes or No.  If you received good news like a promotion, do you have a friend you would call immediately just to let them know?  Yes or No.  If you can say “Yes” to most of those questions, let Ps. 133 urge you to continue to cultivate and celebrate those relationships.  Be sure to give them high priority in your life.  But if you say “No” to many of those questions, spend time this week in prayer and thought, making plans to begin some friendships.  Because if you want the ride of your life, it’s going to be found in friendship.

^[2]Thomas, Robert L.: New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition. Anaheim : Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998, 1981, S. H4608

[3] James L. Mays Psalms Interpretation (John Knox 1994), 385-386; Hughes, Robert B. ; Laney, J. Carl: Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2001 (The Tyndale Reference Library), S. 224

[4] Allen, 219; Richards, Lawrence O.: The Bible Readers Companion. electronic ed. Wheaton : Victor Books, 1991; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996, S. 378; Archer, Gleason Leonard: A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. 3rd. ed.]. Chicago : Moody Press, 1998, c1994, S. 499

[5] Allen, 219.

^[6]Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:888

^[7]Smith, James E.: The Wisdom Literature and Psalms. Joplin, Mo. : College Press Pub. Co., 1996, S. Ps 133

^[8]Negev, Avraham: The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land. 3rd ed. New York : Prentice Hall Press, 1996, c1990

^[9]Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown, David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Ps 133:1

[10] James D. G. Dunn and John W. Rogerson, Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible (Eerdmans, 2003), 428.

^[11]Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:888

[12] John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be (Zondervan, 2010), 183.

[13] Ortberg, 185.

^[14]Hughes, Robert B. ; Laney, J. Carl: Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2001 (The Tyndale Reference Library), S. 225

^[15]Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:888

[16] Ortberg, 186.

[17] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms: An Expository Commentary (????, 2002), 537.

^[18]Thomas, Robert L.: New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition. Anaheim : Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998, 1981, S. H2416

[19] Ortberg, 193.

Here is today’s prayer event:  24Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24 ESV)

Whereas much of John 17 has focused on the near-future, this final part of Jesus’ prayer seems to focus on the distant-future.  Jesus prays for our heavenly reunion–that we who follow him might be with him in the place where he has spent an eternity being loved. 

“Father, bring them safely home.”  “Father, lead them back to me.”  “Father, let them live in this place of love.”

Jesus is rooting for me to make it to heaven.  He’s not hoping I’ll slip up.  He’s not holding his breath, just waiting to see me fail.  He’s not shaking his head every time I fall, saying, “He’s never going to make it.”  No, Jesus is spending some of his final breath praying for me and you to make it to heaven.  Jesus is rooting for us.  Jesus is pulling for us.  “Father, whatever you do, please make sure they wind up right here with me.”

Do you tend to imagine Jesus praying for you or against you?  Why?

Close your eyes and imagine Jesus praying (put your name in the blank), “Father, I’m rooting for _______.  I’m pulling for _________.  I want nothing more than for ________ to be with me.  Please make sure _________ makes it to heaven.”

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Here is today’s prayer event:  17Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” (John 11:17-22 ESV)

Jesus’ reputation as a person of powerful prayer precedes his arrival at Bethany.  Martha has witnessed enough of Jesus’ prayers or heard enough about Jesus’ prayers that she has no doubt–if this man prays for her brother to rise from the dead, then her brother will rise from the dead!  Martha has a prayer-request that tops all prayer-requests: rescue Lazarus from death.  And who does she bring the prayer request to?  She brings it to Jesus.

Are you known by others as a person of  powerful prayer?  If someone in your circle of influence had a unusually challenging prayer request, would they bring it to you?  Why?  Why not?

(NOTE: this series pauses on Sundays; spend this day reflecting on lessons learned during the previous six days).

SHARE WITH READERS BELOW A PERSON TO WHOM YOU HAVE BROUGHT CHALLENGING PRAYER REQUESTS AND WHY YOU ENTRUSTED THEM WITH SUCH REQUESTS.

[image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cawilliams/3751306646/]

Chris Altrock – February 28, 2010

Recently, the New Orleans Saints won the National Football Leagues’ Super Bowl.  It is the most important professional football game in the United States.  And the Saint’s win is all the more remarkable given where their road to victory began.  After being founded in 1967, the Saints went more than a decade before they finished a season with a .500 record.  Ten years of games passed before the team managed a season in which they won half their games.  In addition, it was two decades before the Saints celebrated a winning season.  They played twenty years before they had one season in which they won more than they lost.  In fact, in 1980, the Saints lost their first 14 games.  A local sportscaster urged Saints fans to wear paper bags over their heads.  Many of the bags had written on them the word “Aints” rather than the team’s name, “Saints.”  And even after their first winning season, it would be another two decades before the Saints made it to this year’s Super Bowl.  The end of their story is all the more amazing given its humble beginnings.

The same is true regarding the story Paul’s been telling in Eph. 4.  During this Sunday morning series, “Meant for More,” we’ve been exploring the more we are meant for in Christ:     

• Paul has revealed that we Christians are now part of a community meant for more than just this—more than just the ordinary routine of every-day life.  Instead, as Christians we are part of a community that participates in a cosmic restoration process.  We get to join God in putting the pieces of people’s lives and of all creation back together.
• Paul has also revealed that we who have faith in Jesus are now part of a community meant for more than just me—more than just loneliness or relationships which revolve around me.  Instead, as people with faith in Jesus we are now part of a contrast community in which real and deep relationships thrive.
• Paul has revealed that we Christians are now part of a community meant for more than just “us” and “here.”  Instead, as Christians who confess that God is Father of all and that he is working through all creation, we belong to a community that places no limits on God’s love and labor and places no limits on our own love and labor.    
• Paul has further revealed that we who have faith in Jesus are now part of a community meant for more than just religion.  We who have faith in Jesus are part of a community pursuing increased intimacy with and imitation of Jesus Christ. 
• And finally, Paul has revealed that we Christians are part of a community meant for more than just sitting in the stands.  Every Christian has been given an ability to do the work of ministry which impacts people’s lives. 

All of this is ours as Christians.  God has invited us into this amazing community of “more.” 

But that community of “more” is even more amazing given its humble beginnings.  In Eph. 1:11-14 Paul reminds us of our beginning: 11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory (Eph. 1:11-14 ESV). 

For a brief moment, Paul speaks about how he, and others like him, took their first steps into this community of “more”:  11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  Verses 11-12 are about Paul and other Jews who were some of the first to put their hope in Christ.  Paul says that for him and for other Jews, this community of “more” began when they put their hope in Christ. 

But in verse 13, Paul moves from “we” to “you”: 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.  The “you” refers to the Ephesians, and more largely to the non-Jews or Gentiles in Ephesus.  How did they become part of this amazing community of “more”?  Here’s how it began: 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.  These formerly pagan Gentiles were now part of the great community of “more.”  But how did they get there?  Paul mentions three parts of their beginning. First, they heard.  The Ephesians heard about Jesus.  Paul travelled to Ephesus and spoke to them this “word of truth” about Jesus.  It all began when Paul started talking to them about Jesus and they heard about Jesus.

Second, they believed.  Once Paul shared with them the story of Jesus, they wrestled with it, dialogued about it, and processed it.  And eventually, they believed it.  They trusted it was true.  It all began when one morning or one late night their hearts and minds finally decided that this “word of truth” really was true.

Third, they were sealed.  Paul writes that they were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.  In the ancient world, cattle and slaves were branded with their owners seal.  It was a mark of ownership and way of protecting them.  Someone of ill-will might leave something alone if they recognized on it the seal of an important owner.  Paul’s not calling us cattle or slaves.  But he is saying that when the Ephesians heard about Jesus and believed in Jesus, they were sealed, marked, or branded by the Holy Spirit.  God took possession of them.  He took ownership of them.[i]  The fact that Paul calls this Spirit the “promised” Holy Spirit should cause our minds to go back to Acts 2 when Peter preached about how God had promised in the Old Testament to “pour out” his Spirit on “all people.”  Then, later in Acts 2, 3,000 are baptized and receive the Spirit.  Thus, Paul is reminding the Ephesians about the day when they were baptized and they received this Spirit.  They heard about Jesus, believed, and were sealed by the Spirit when they were baptized.  It all began when they got immersed in a pool of water.  This amazing community of “more” began in that humble way: when they heard, and believed, and were sealed. 

The same is true for every one of us who follows Jesus.  Our first steps into this community of more began when we heard, believed, and were sealed.  Do you remember the name or names of the people who shared with you the word of truth about Jesus?  Maybe it was parents, a preacher, or a friend.  For me, it was Gary Cox, a high school senior and Marlon McWilliams, a rural small-town preacher.  Do you remember those days when you started taking seriously what you had heard about Jesus, when you really began considering that it might be true?  For me, it was the first few months of 1984.  The story of Jesus got into my heart and wouldn’t let me alone.  And do you remember the day of your baptism?  Do you remember who spoke the words: “I baptize you into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”?  That’s how all of this began.

With that in mind, listen to how Paul closes Ephesians: To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. (Eph. 6:18-20ESV)  Paul wants to proclaim the good news about Jesus.  He wants to share it with boldness and courage.  He wants that so much that he begs the Ephesians to pray for him as he tells others about Jesus.  As Paul wraps up the letter what matters most to him is his mission of sharing Jesus with other people. 

Why?  Because Paul knows that this is how it begins.  Paul wants every person to participate in this community of “more.”  He wants every person to know the joy of living for more than just this, and just me, and just us, and just religion, and just sitting in the stands.  And Paul knows that this is how that begins: someone has to share the story of Jesus, so that another person can hear, believe, and be sealed by the Holy Spirit.

The reality is that there are millions around the world and thousands in the Mid-South who are not a part of the community of “more.”  And the only way they become a part is the way the Ephesians became a part: they must hear this word of truth, believe in it, and respond to it through baptism, being sealed by the Holy Spirit.  If you have not done that, you are not a part of the community of “more.”  You need to begin this morning by believing in the word about Jesus and responding to it through baptism.  That’s why Paul could think of nothing else at the end of this letter than telling others about Jesus.  Because that’s where it all begins.

But it may be tempting to leave Ephesians and assume that only a trained professional like Paul can help others begin this journey.  We might close the last chapter and assume that only someone like an apostle can share Jesus well-enough for others to hear, believe, and be sealed.  But if we take the Ephesian’s story back one more chapter, we’ll see that this is not the case. 

The very first Christians lived in the city of Jerusalem.  But there came a day when many of them were driven out of Jerusalem.  Here’s how Luke records it: And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1 ESV).  Notice what happens: the apostles—the spiritual elite—remain in Jerusalem.  But average and ordinary Christians get run out of town.  And notice what these ordinary and average Christians do: 19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. (Acts 11:19-21 ESV).  Some of these average and ordinary Christians who had been run out of Jerusalem make their way to a city called Antioch.  They are so average that Luke doesn’t even name them.  These Christians aren’t even important enough to be named.  But in Antioch, these nameless and ordinary Christians share the word of truth with Jews and Gentiles.  And many of these Jews and Gentiles hear the word, believe the word, and are sealed with the Holy Spirit.  Luke says “a great number” of them do.  Then, they form a church.  And it is that church in Antioch which ultimately sends Paul to places like Ephesus where the word is preached and the Ephesians hear, believe, and are sealed.  The real beginning to what Paul has shared in Ephesians is right here in Acts 11: ordinary, unnamed Christians sharing the story of Jesus.

The point is that for every person, the journey into this community of “more” begins in the same way: it begins by hearing, believing, and being sealed through the waters of baptism.  And who does God use to bring about that beginning?  For sure, he uses seasoned preachers like Paul.  But God also uses ordinary and average Christians like us.  Through you God can create a beginning for the people in your class, in your neighborhood, at your work, and in your family.  You can share that word of truth so that the people around you can enter into this community of “more.” 

How?  There are a lot of different ways.  But one way is demonstrated by what we are calling “throughYOU.”  “ThroughYOU” is based on how Jesus himself enlisted people into his community of more.  We’ve handed out a description of it this morning.  I’ll share some of it with you.  In Matt. 5-10 Jesus demonstrates the four simple ways in which God can work through you to lead people into this community of “more”:

1. Cultivate the Character of Jesus.  In Matt. 5-7, also known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us to not merely tell others good news, but to become good news.  His Sermon reveals that we become salt and light through who we are and not just through what we say.  If every person at Highland became a living example of Jesus’ teaching in Matt. 5-7, that alone would attract others to Jesus.
2. Pursue Closeness like Jesus.  In Matt. 8-9, Jesus leaves the summit where he’s retreated with his followers and draws close to people who are far from God.  He touches them, serves them, and befriends them.  Every one of us needs to find ways to get onto the “turf” of people far from God and to draw close to them.  Simply put, more of us need to start spending more time around non Christians. 
3. Initiate Conversations about Jesus.  In Matt. 8-10, Jesus shares good news about himself.  Then he sends his followers to share that good news with others.  Every one of us can initiate conversations about Jesus with people around us.  We need to start talking to people about Jesus once again.  If you’d like some guidance on how to do this, look for the web address on the Sermon Notes section of the Link.  At that address you’ll find three resources to help you tell others about Jesus.
4. Invite them to participate in the Community of Highland.  Leading people to Jesus is not a solo activity.  It requires community.  At some point, you’ll want to invite that individual to participate in the community of Highland.  This community has four primary expressions: ministry, worship, Sunday School, and Reach Groups.   You’ll want to invite someone to participate in one or more these expressions.

These are the four practices through which God can lead people through you to faith in Christ.

We believe there are certain habits which can help you live out these practices.  Those are listed on the handout.  And, during the next year, we’re planning several specific activities to help you live out these practices.  Those are also listed.

Pat Wilemon is long-time Highland member.  For several years Pat and her husband Bud have coordinated the Welcome Center prior to worship at Highland.  Pat is a seasoned Christian with a sincere faith.  But she had never talked at length about Jesus with a non Christian until several weeks ago.  Pat decided to take a step of faith and ask her neighbor to study Jesus’ story with her.  Her neighbor said “yes.”  And a few days ago, Pat shared that her neighbor was thinking of being baptized into Christ.  A new beginning—and it all started when an ordinary Christian started talking about Jesus.  Let’s watch this video of Pat [VIDEO].

What I don’t want, I do have–foes. 

What I do want, I don’t have–friends. 

No one is in my corner.  No one is cheering me on. 

But…  Of course!  What was I thinking?  You are cheering me on.  You are in my corner.  You are my friend. 

I will sleep well tonight because I have finally remembered that You are for me.

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