High-Minded Love III

You and I live in a time when people are hungry to feel and experience things. In a movie or television show, the music and special affects are there to make us feel certain things and to vicariously experience what the characters do. In fact, our hunger for emotional stimulation (love, anger, fear, suspense, etc) is to the point of addiction. We want to get "a buzz" from everything we do. I have had people say to me, "I want to feel the Spirit in every worship service." There are several difficulties with that. First, emotions come and go, so there will be times when you will be in a service that is moving everyone else emotionally, but doesn't touch you at all (or the reverse of that). Second, emotions are not always indicators of God's presence. Third, the person often wants me and those who lead worship to create that emotional experience for him or her. That really runs the risk of the worship leaders becoming manipulators and even manufacturers of the presence of God for people (and there are many preachers who will do that). In our discussions about "loving God with all our hearts," I talked about the need to open up and love God emotionally. I love to feel the presence of Christ, but I have never been able to dictate when it will happen for me or for anybody else.

An appetite that seems to be lacking is in the thinking dimensions of our Christian faith. If our emotional love for God is what keeps our faith alive and vital, it is the intellectual love of God that keeps us grounded, growing, wise and resilient. Sincerity and passion are simply not strong enough to hold you and me for the long haul. We need to learn to "think through" things from a Christian perspective and then make wise choices that balance both our hearts and our minds. Sometimes I just want to say to people and myself, "Use your head. Your mind is a gift of God, too."

Psalm 119:97-106

As United Methodists, we have four sources that guide us in our thinking, decision making and actions: Scripture, reason, tradition and Christian experience, of which Scripture is primary. In an "extra", I will discuss the relationship of those sources, but for now, let's talk about the primary one, scripture. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in all the Bible (a whopping 176 verses), written in an acrostic arrangement with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet (22 letters) marking a section of eight verses. In section 13 (Mem), verses 97- 100 read,

"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts."

A major way that we love God intellectually is by the disciplined study of God's Word. One of the reasons for doing this blog is to encourage myself as well as you to regularly study God's Word at a time of the year when we tend to slack off. The first question we should ask at a point of question or decision is, "What does the Bible say?" Desire and sincerity must be balanced with truth. As a teacher said to me once, "You can be sincerely wrong, you know." Those who followed Hitler or those who have followed religious extremists or cult leaders were all sincere, but tragically wrong.

We don't just read the Bible quickly. We take our time. The Psalmist calls us to read (aloud), study and meditate (reflecting on what the Bible says and how it might relate to your life). The yield of Bible Study is rarely immediate. We are strengthened and made wise over time so that God's Word can be applied to a wide variety of situations and challenges we face. I am so thankful for my parents, grandparents, Sunday School teachers, preachers, youth directors and other friends who taught me to love the study of Scripture. They gave me a priceless gift. I hope that you are giving that gift to those around you.

Philippians 1:27-2:18

In this passage, we get opening hints of a problem in the Philippian church that is further explained in chapter 4, verses 2-3. A power struggle is brewing centered in two leading women, Euodia and Syntyche (I like to call them Odious and Cynical). We know from chapter 4 that these have been faithful servants who now have gotten crosssways and are creating division in the Church. Our multi-site arrangement as a church makes us particularly vulnerable to this problem: two main preachers, two locations, two different styles of worship and ministry, two educational ministries. One of the comments the Staff-Parish Relations Committee made to us last year was that St. Luke's is served by three pastors who have complementary gifts but with very little overlap. They said, "You are the perfect fit for what St. Luke's needs, but because you are so different from each other, you will really have to work at communicating with each other and work at helping the church not to create divisions around your personalities." In the Philippian church, the people were faced with opposition from the outside and division on the inside. The old hymn we sing at Annual Conference, "And Are We Yet Alive" sings,

"What troubles have we seen, what mighty conflicts past; fightings without and fears within since we assembled last."

Healthy churches have to work at keeping unity amidst the diversity of styles, backgrounds and perspectives they have in their people. I am pleased to report that the leadership of St. Luke's (staff and administrative committees)are resolved in making sure we are unified and healthy.

But to accomplish that there has to be a certain mindset, a way of loving God together in the way we cooperate with and treat each other. We are to be "like-minded" - same love, same Spirit, same purpose. This certainly does not mean agreement on all perspectives (the excess of "group think"). I like to say about United Methodists, a corruption of Matthew 18:20, "Wherever two United Methodists are gathered together in my name, there is a difference of opinion!" John Wesley's great sermon, "The Catholic Spirit," highlights the many ways in which Christians can disagree (worship differences, communion, lesser belief differences etc,) and still be together. His famous line is "If your heart is as my heart, take my hand." What a great constructive word for our religiously polarized times! Like-mindedness seeks unity in that which is essential and embraces difference and diversity on that which is of lesser importance. Like-mindedness in love, Spirit, and purpose is a guideline for marriages, families, classes, and community service groups, as well as churches.

The mindset taught by Paul is something we must work at: putting aside self-serving ambition and vain conceit (an ever present demonic force)and cultivating humility and preference for the ideas and needs of others (not what comes naturally). The model for this mindset is Jesus, and Paul uses one of the earliest hymns of the Church do get his point across. It is often called "the kenosis hymn" (kenosis is the Greek word for "self-emptying" found in verse 7). God-in-the-flesh did not come "grasping" (a most apt word to describe what most of us end up doing in our lives - grasping for meaning, status, position, affection, etc.) but instead "emptied himself," becoming the slave among us. The "self-emptying" is complete when Christ offers his very life on the cross. This move of living with an "others first" perspective can appear weak and it is certainly counter to our natural ways and our culture. But the cross is not just an example of what Jesus did; it is a pattern for you and me who claim to follow him. The USAmerican way can be summed up in Frank Sinatra's hit, "I did it my way." But the Christian's song is summed up in a song I learned in Bible School as a kid, "Christ's way is my way," and that way puts the welfare of others first. This emphasis clearly reflects Jesus' teaching for us to "deny ourselves...take up our cross daily...and lose our life in order to find it." Which describes your mindset at this moment - grasping or self-emptying? Strangely enough, self-emptying is the strength move of the two.

Once we do that, we tap into the power of the LORD in a whole new dimension. We humble ourselves, deny ourselves and empty ourselves and God, in turn, lifts us up, blesses us and fills us with even more of Himself. As I heard a preacher say once, "God cannot fill a vessel that is already full." We empty ourselves in loving service to God for the benefit of others and then we're ready for a refill. That means we cannot be full of ourselves or still full because we haven't used up what God has already given us.

Paul closes this passage with an encouraging word for the Philippians to continue on their journey with Christ together. Interestingly, he makes the work of salvation something God works on and we work on as well. In the Walk to Emmaus, one of the themes is done in a dialogue in which the receiver of a cross says, "I am counting on Christ" and the giver of the cross says, "And Christ is counting on you." God does the greater work in this, but we are not passive participants. We study, we learn, we grow, we sacrifice, we broaden our love. And God works his purpose in each of us, which is nothing less than an unfolding miracle.

When I do a baptism, I try to consistently pray for the one baptized, that she or he may be a "light in a world of darkness." It is taken from this passage in which Paul challenges the people to "shine like stars in the universe." My drama coach in high school would say to me, "Willie, I'm gonna make you a star." He didn't succeed. But God will succeed with me and with you. In the words of the TV show, "You can be a star...all by the grace of God." Your light is the life you live in Christ that is so very different from the grasping, self-serving, contentious, dog-eat-dog world in which you live. So my word for you today is "shine!"