High-Minded Love VI

So, in light of what we have read from God's Word so far, what does it mean to love the LORD intellectually? It means: 1)allowing our worship (which should be a daily and even moment to moment activity, not just on Sunday morning or something we do at night before going to sleep), our expressions of love, to God to be that which orients our thinking. We begin by rehearsing that we are God's children in relationship with a creator, a Savior, and an ongoing teacher and guiding presence. My best times when out walking or jogging are when I am mentally singing through hymns and choruses (which for me include "This is My Father's World," "I Love You, Lord," "Morning Has Broken", "When Morning Gilds the Skies," "Get All Excited" (Gaither), "Victory in Jesus," "Amazing Grace," "Soon and Very Soon," and "I Woke Up This Morning" (the old spiritual, which will learn together on Sunday), as well as many others. I am not defined by my problems, my calendar or even my celebrations and struggles with people, but rather by my relationship with God and His call on my life. 2) learning and applying God's word in regular study and practice. Another thing I do in walking/jogging is recall key scripture passages and reinforce my memory of them. The old hymn sings, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." We gradually know what the Bible says and it starts to develop a perspective from which we see life and make decisions. 3)connecting our faith to the celebrations and challenges in our daily life. What do you do for a living? You love God (in witness and service) through a certain line of work. Gradually, what we say, do and think about is informed, shaped, and energized by our relationship with God. There are no longer artificial divisions between what is secular and sacred. Our faith becomes as practical as it is spiritual, as the power, wisdom and presence of God are related to our personal and community lives. We also learn to take our faith and put it in terms that speak to those outside the Church. 4) boldly taking on difficult questions, confronting difficult personal and social concerns as well as our own doubts and times where we feel God is distant. A true relationship with God will broaden our thinking as we share God's concern and plan for action for a broken and hurting world. We will be gradually acquainted with Christ's vision for a different world (the Kingdom of God), a different standard of morals (holiness and justice), and a different way for people to relate with each other (agape love). The Church is where we are to be practicing that, so that we are ready to make that alternative way of life present in our world. 5)defending our faith and way of life against the onslaught of competing philosophies that empty life of its sacredness, demean human beings and create unjust and destructive systems. We also develop defensive skills personally so that resist that which calls on our darker sides (our sins and compulsions, our bitterness and our regrets, our cynicism and selfishnes, etc), so that our lives continue to grow in freedom, value and impact for Christ. How's that for a beginning point?

I Corinthians 2:1-16

One of the difficulties in loving God with our minds is that we sometimes want to limit God to what we understand, in other words form God in our own image. Again, there is a whole sermon here on how we tend to do that, which I will not preach here. But Paul here counters that tendency by inviting us to consider what it means to have "the mind of Christ." Paul begins by calling himself (and all of us along with him) a "proclaimer of the mystery of God." We live by faith and are justified by faith and that then seeks to understand. But God is never limited to our understanding. That's why close-mindedness is as much an enemy to our growing faith as it is to our relationships with people whose background and experiences are different from us. As children we were continuously curious - experimenting, taking things apart and trying to put them back together, imagining, and asking an infinite number of questions from parents and others around us. "Loving the LORD with all our minds," invites us to reclaim that child-like curiosity. When I hear people reduce the Christian faith to a set of principles, rules, and certainties, I get uneasy, because there usually isn't much room for the mystery or the freedom of God there.

As Christians, our thinking is formed by a higher wisdom, a wisdom that the world often considers naive, foolish and sometimes downright wierd. We actually believe that our thoughts, words and actions can be informed and shaped by an unseen God. Our wisdom is not just a catalog of lessons learned through conversations with others and "the school of hard knocks", but even more from our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit (our inner teacher and guide). I love the picture Paul gives us here of the Spirit being the great searcher of the things of God. The Spirit is also what searches us to reveal our true character, our gifts, and our places of inner need.

You'll remember that I wrote in the beginning that the divisions between heart, soul, strength and mind were artificial in the Hebrew mind. Here Paul is bringing together mind and soul in a powerful way. Consider verses 12 and 13 for a moment:

"Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these thngs in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual."

We believe that, by the Spirit, God gives us access to a whole new dimension of life, including our thinking. And one of the things that we do when we gather together for worship, fellowship, prayer and mission is to reinforce that new dimension of life with each other.

I must pause, however, and consider some who have taken this line of thinking to excess. You have met them. They are those who are "super-spiritual", where reason is pushed aside and they are open only to "what God tells them." It's almost as if God gave them a mind by mistake. This is a dangerous and often selfish form of spiritual arrogance that can be very damaging. We must find a point of balance. The other excess is rational arrogance, where we allow the world around us to set the parameters around what God does or does not do. We can be both reasonable and spiritual, full of curiosity about our amazing and perplexing world as well as the things of God. We are not called to anti-intellectualism (a growing movement throughout the Church in our day and time) but rather to a Spirit-led intellectualism, what Paul calls "the mind of Christ."

Philippians 4:2-23

If in I Corinthians Paul was advocating for a unity of mind and soul, Philippians invites us to a unity of mind and heart. This chapter is enthusiastic and passionate, and intellectually as honest as it comes. Having a Christian mindset is once again at the center of what Paul writes.

The first call of Paul is for reconciliation among these sincere leaders who have broken relationship. Where is reconciliation needed in your life, your family, and your church? Christ came to reconcile us to God and then our restored relationship with God will push us toward reconciliation with others. While reconciliation is not always possible (it does take two to reconcile) it can happen more often than we think. A passion for reconciliation is part of the Christian mindset. Consider how counter-cultural that is with our "let's fight" world and how we in the Christian Church have been dragged into that kind of thinking with each other.

The second call is to make holy choices. We choose to rejoice in the Lord, to be gentle with others, to put aside worry and instead trust our concerns to God, and choose to receive God's peace. Again, Paul points to God's peace as a major resource, here calling it "the guard of our minds." In Sunday's sermon, we will be talking about that further.

The third call is to postively structure our thought life. Paul writes,

"...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is plesing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

I hate to admit how much of my thinking ends up being the very opposite of these things. How long will we allow that which is shallow and false, dishonorable and sinful, negative, angering and demeaning be our primary mental food? Our whole culture feeds that tendency. We get so stressed out, burned out and bummed out, because we're feeding on mental junk food. Again, in verse 9, Paul says, "...and the God of peace will be with you."

The fourth call is to confident contentment. We should all memorize verses 11-13,

"...for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what is it to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Another translation reads of verse 13, "I am ready for anything through Christ who gives me the strength." We as Christians are not victims and we are not abandoned. The peace of God is there in every triumph and every loss and we draw on it continually. Another hymn I enjoy walking and jogging to is "My Hope is Built." One verse sings,

"When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the vale."

So no matter what life brings, we're able to hold on and even break through, because of the Christ within.

Today, may you "love the LORD with all your mind", centering on Him and his purposes for your life, drawing on His peace, and keeping your mind on the higher things of life in Christ. Then, you will indeed be ready for anything. Have a great day.