prayer

Hope Through the Trials (Sermon March 9, 2014)

Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11

There are some days where there it seems as if the sun is moving in fast forward. You know those days, the ones where you have a doctor appointment, an interview, a paper to write along with a book to read, and about when you think you have gotten caught up you have three reports to run and five last minute clients that need your attention immediately. Then after work just when you might think you could catch a break you have supper to cook, laundry to wash, and a toilet to fix at home. So I just explained your typical Tuesday, I won’t mention the typical Monday because that would be too traumatic for us. The point is we are busy. From the fifth time we hit the snooze button until we finally get to bed around midnight we are running. Busy is the term most of us would use to describe the way we feel any given day. Even those of us that are retired seem to be busy.

We are stretched as a culture, stretched between our jobs and family, stretched between school activities and community events, and stretched between various tasks at home. We feel stretched thin, nearly to our breaking points, and then just one more thing happens and we snap. We yell at a child when all they wanted was a cup of water, we refuse service to a client and let them know what we really think, and our spouses see the side of our personality that we try so hard to keep hidden. Usually the breaking point is able to be mended, but there are times when real damage is done, words are said that cannot be taken back, and sometimes someone ends up with a frozen steak resting against an eye.

These days where we are stretched to the breaking point and beyond are the days where our disciplines kick in and our true character is shown to those around us. How we respond during the trials of our lives are the things people remember the most. That is why today’s passage is so encouraging. Jesus was tested, He was tempted just like we are, and He had to face trials as we do every single day of our lives. I find that little bit of information quite refreshing, knowing that God understands what a bad day feels like and there is a way to move forward. Scripture even says in Hebrews 4:15. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested a we are, yet without sin.” Jesus understands that we have bad days; He understands being stretched, and being brought to a point where we just want to scream. He was tested or tempted in every respect as we are.

After John baptized Jesus, Jesus was lead by the Spirit to the desert, where he fasted for forty days and nights. While out in that deserted placed the tempter came to test Jesus, after forty days it says that Jesus was famished. Jesus has a real need, he has not eaten for an extended amount of time and there are rocks just sitting there. They are shaped in such a way that they look like loaves of bread and the very thought makes one’s mouth water and stomach to growl. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Just think about that for a while. This temptation is one that we are faced with all the time. It is the temptation to satisfy our needs quickly. It is only bread you might say. It is not a big deal, but the tempter is encouraging Jesus to use a means to gaining what he wants and needs illegitimately.

This temptation is the most common temptation. There is a hierarchy of needs as humans. Food, water, shelter, and others some are greater needs some are lesser but if one is missing we tend to do whatever we can to obtain it. Now most of us could not turn the stones into bread, but we do have other means. We have little cards in our wallets that can magically give us whatever we want. With just a swipe we can have a steak, or new shoes. The temptation of using credit to obtain what we need could lead into a temptation for us to use it to gain what we want, illegitimately. Eventually the bill will come and we will be faced with reality. You are hungry and you don’t have cash, just swipe the card and you will have what you need.

So many people in our community have become victims to this vicious cycle, I know it all to well myself. What we once thought of as a safety net has become a snare that keeps us from really being free. You might say that Jesus using his divine power and you using a credit card are not the same thing but they are similar. With every action there is a reaction, this applies not only in physics but also in relationships and life. If we try to get what we need through illegitimate means, there are consequences.

“Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…’” This second temptation we may have a hard time relating to, because not too often do we find ourselves standing on a pinnacle contemplating a jump. Many of us have gotten involved in risky behaviors though. How many times have we woken up late and sped to work praying earnestly, “Please don’t let there be a cop.” Or have you ever written a check and hoping that you had just enough time to make a deposit before the check cleared? We tend to proceed with actions expecting God to bless us, when maybe true obedience was something else. “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” We have each tried to reason with God, “If you do this then I will do that.” This is a temptation that we easily fall into and often it is the very thing that causes us to lose faith in God. We pray for something and it doesn’t work out the way we hoped, so we assume God either doesn’t care or that he doesn’t exist. But in reality when we enter into those types of activities we are not trusting God, but instead we are jumping off a building expecting nothing bad to happen.

Jesus is then taken to a high mountain and shown all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. The devil says to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” This temptation is one that we so often face especially in the corporate world. Power and wealth are very attractive. If only I were to do this I could move up a step. If only I turn a blind eye to this action, I could gain more money. If only I vote this way I could have it all. Power and wealth have tempted us all at some point. We may not have been tempted to the same degree we may not even know that we have been tempted. We may think this is only a problem for politicians or company executives but it can happen to us all.  When I worked in the lawn care business we had to meet certain production goals to have the weekend off. The temptation was to cut corners to get more lawns done in less time, many would just spread fertilizer on the lawns and neglect to go back over the lawn to spray the weeds, but the customer paid for both. This is similar to the first temptation but instead of our needs it focuses on our desires.

Jesus was tempted by needs, desires, and our methods. He needed food and all he had to do was say a word and the stones would turn to bread. He had the power to fulfill his need but to do so would be an illegitimate use of the power. He was tempted to force his acceptance as messiah by jumping from the roof of the temple testing that God would protect him and the people would be amazed, but to do so would be unethical and an illegitimate use of his power. He was tempted to gain become the King of Kings and Lord of Lords at that very moment if only he would bow a knee, but to do so would not truly satisfy the mission set before him. Every day we are stretched thin and are tempted in these very same ways. Each is focused on our own selfish needs and desires at the expense of someone or something else. If we were to succumb to the temptations there would be a consequence to the actions, consequences that we did not intend but they happen just the same. But when we are stretched thin we are not always thinking clearly and that is when unlike Jesus we miss the mark and sin.

This passage reassures us that God understands our condition but it also tells us how to combat the temptation and train our bodies and spirits to face the various trials of life. We now need to hit the rewind button and go back to the beginning of today’s passage. What was Jesus doing in the desert? He was fasting. A fast is something that many people do not understand. In simple terms it is abstaining from something for a time, to focus on something else. Many see a fast a way to convince God to do their wills, but that is putting God to the test. I want us to look at it in a different way.

Let us remember back to the days when we were first developing our relationship with our spouse, I apologize for those that are not married but I hope you can follow along. Remember the activities you would do together? The time spent with each other? You would sacrifice an evening out with your friends at the drop of a hat, just to spend time with the one you hoped to marry. You would spend your last dollar to give them a gift that would express your devotion to them. You may skip a meal so that you could get off work earlier so you could spend more time with the one you love. You would stop doing some activities so that you could afford to invest in them. You sacrificed something and invested that into a relationship. We sacrifice without any question, because they are more important.

That is a fast; it is sacrificing something to build the relationship. It is giving up a meal so we can spend that time nourishing our relationship with God. It is giving up something that brings us pleasure for the moment so that we can instead gain that pleasure from God. Is it difficult yes, but it is worth it. The sacrifice does not force God into doing something, but it instead opens our spirits to hear from Him in a deeper way.

Now let us look again at the passage. Jesus went out into the desert and fasted for forty days and nights. Many will say that there is special power in this number, citing that Moses was on the mountain with God forty days while he received the law from God. Or that Elijah spent forty days in the cave, or that it rained for forty days on Noah and his family in the ark. I will not dispute or confirm the special-ness of the number forty. That it occurs so often in scripture is important enough, but what is forty days? It is over a month. It is a significant amount of time. Time is the key word. In our culture where time is in short supply this is significant. Waiting and listening, conversing with God and listening for the inner voice to speak is a discipline that we so often neglect. This unhurried ability to wait is what causes us so often to fall into the snares of the temptations around us. We feel there are pressing matters and we must act now! But what if we were to just wait, listen and seek for the right timing. Many very bad decisions could have been avoided if only we would have waited. Wait. For many of us in our busy culture wait is one of those four letter words that we do not use. We are a people of action, and to wait is just not in our make up. But Jesus spent forty days waiting, fasting, and praying. In the waiting he was tested; obtain your needs, your desires, and take matters into your own hands. Through the waiting Jesus was able to confront those tests with wisdom and integrity. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God… Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test… Worship the Lord you God, and serve only Him.”

For many followers of Jesus, we no longer understand what it means to fast. For many of us we do not know how to wait. For many of us we pervert the fast into methods of control and means of power. But a fast is to wait, to sacrifice, and to give oneself for the benefit of others. It is disciplining ourselves so that when the trials come we can face them without sin, not because we are that good, but because we love God and know that he loves us. It is in this waiting, meditation, contemplation, fasting, and listen that we find the answers we seek the wisdom and light springing from the very spirit of God.  It is in that place we can find acceptance of the situations around us, and the strength to face the challenges that threaten to break our stretched lives apart. Jesus knows the trials we face because He has faced them. He knows the pains we feel because He too has felt them. He knows and is the way through and forward. Let us now wait with Him as he waits with us during His own fast. Let us draw on His strength as he faces his trials and as we face our own. And let us know that God does know us, He knows our pain and our weaknesses, He knows our desires and our needs, and He loves us. Let us rest in His love and accept that through our relationship with Him we will find all that we truly need.

Illumination on the Dark Path (Sermon March 2, 2014)

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:16-21

Today more than any other our faith is challenged. It is challenged in the realms of science, as things once believed as being miracles are understood as basic medicines. If you read through history what was once known as Jesuit Powder, was thought to be magic due to its ability to relieve the fevers of the plague. This magical powder was expensive and hard to find in the dark days of historical Europe, but today it is not nearly as magical or miraculous when some of us take it daily for small aches and pains or our low dose aspirin to prevent a potential stroke. Our faith is challenged and it is thought to be some sort of fairy tale told to children to get them to behave. It seem as if our current era of history is faced with the most unique challenges because those before have never had to fight a foe so cunning as the contemporary man.

History would prove us wrong if we were to really look into it. Sure the advancing technology of today provides greater access to knowledge that was once only available to those able to afford higher learning, but in every era of history in every culture the gospel met there have been those that possessed higher learning. The Magi of ancient Persia were not merely stage magicians but were the most educated people of their day, with knowledge of herbal remedies, the movement of the stars, and mathematics. The same could be said of the Gaelic Druids, or the Greek philosophers each group offering a different challenge to those that went to the ends of the earth to present the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Peter faced these wise men of the world when he went out on his missionary journeys; journeys that tradition says took him to the very streets of Rome where he was crucified upside down for the sake of the Gospel. “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…” When we hear the word myth our minds wonder to the realms of Hercules or the great, lost city of Atlantis, we see them as elaborate and fictitious stories craftily spoken in the epic presentations of Homer. A myth is a story or legend that portrays a lesson or a commonly held belief, by definition the scripture we hold very dear in our faith is mythology. Now relax the muscles of your backs because I know you all just tensed up thinking that I just said that scripture is fiction, but that is not at all what I said. A myth is a story that portrays a lesson or belief. Peter is saying that we did not follow cleverly devised myths; in saying this he is saying that he is telling a story to portray a lesson, but that the story of Jesus is different than other myths.

To those he was speaking to the accounts presented to them by this man seemed just as far fetched as the travels of Achilles, Ajax, and Odysseus, the difference was that Peter saw these things with his own eyes, a feat that Homer could never claim since he was blind. “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made know to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” At best the stories relayed to us by Homer are questionable because he did not see the things of which he wrote about. Although archeologists have been able to locate the city of Troy using his writings the descriptions given of the characters were exaggerated by the imagination of a man that was using words to express images he could not see to people with full sensory capacity. Peter could see though, and that is why he says we did not follow cleverly devised myths, but were eyewitnesses.

Peter saw something that changed him, he saw something that caused him to leave the comfort of his home to give an account of this to people he did not know. What did he see that caused such a radical shift in the life of a simple fisherman? He saw the embodiment of all knowledge shining before him.

Peter wrote this letter to followers of Jesus throughout the known world. We do not know if these believers were Jewish or Gentiles, but we can gather that these believers have an understanding of both cultures. These believes know of the mythology of the Hellenistic world as well as the history of the Hebrew people. He is also speaking to people that have already heard him give an account of the life of Jesus. The event that Peter speaks about today is the day Jesus took him, James, and John up on a mountain to pray. While they were on that holy mountain they saw Jesus standing talking to Moses and Elijah while Jesus was illuminated as if he were the sun.

This one event caused Peter to look at the world from a different perspective. Moses in the Hebrew culture is the lawgiver; Wisdom came to mankind from God through Moses. It is said that when Moses was with God his face shone, and as time passed it would become dimmer. This dimming light caused Moses to wear a veil over his face because it was a distraction to those around him. Because of this account light became a symbol to represent knowledge and wisdom from God. Throughout all of Jewish history even to this very day the first five books of the bible are considered the most important because the very person that spoke to God, whose face the light of God enlightened, wrote these books.

Elijah is also a very important figure in the Hebrew culture. Elijah is considered the greatest Prophet of God, because he was a man that did not taste the sting of death but was carried away in a chariot of fire, or light. According to tradition Elijah will return just prior to the coming of the Messiah or the Christ, bringing with him the new age. The books of the prophets are considered the second most important section of the Hebrew scriptures, because they were written by men who were directed by the Spirit of God to highlight areas of the Law mankind allowed to become dim.

These two figures represent the totality of Jewish wisdom, the Law and the Prophets. On top of that Holy Mountain Peter saw the representatives of the totality of his faith conversing with Jesus. The lawgiver whose face would shine and the prophet who was carried away in a chariot of light were standing before him, speaking to Jesus who was the one filled with light. Before his very eyes he was seeing all wisdom and knowledge being encapsulated into the man Jesus. To him this very event was telling him that the light that shone in the face of Moses the lawgiver was the light of Jesus, and the chariot that carried away the great prophet was Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of all knowledge and wisdom of God, making the teaching of Jesus greater than and fulfilling the teaching of all that was before.

This is powerful. All the laws point to Jesus, all the oracles of the prophets’ point to Jesus, every myth, story, and person in his history pointed to Jesus. Jesus the man he saw perform miraculous signs, the one that healed his own mother-in-law who was laying on her death bed, could do these things because Jesus is the very essences of God, the light in the darkness. Peter is telling those who will listen that all knowledge and power come not from clever stories devised by man, but from Jesus.

This leads into the second portion of today’s scripture. “So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as a lamp shining in a dark place…” Prophetic messages, like myth, hold an often-misunderstood meaning in our minds. When one thinks of prophetic utterances we immediately think of people who can speak to us about the future, or a holy fortuneteller. This, of course, is part of the office of a prophet, but is not the totality of what they do. A prophet is a speaker of truth, a light bearer to those that would prefer to live in the shadows of a lie. Remember that Peter was saying that Jesus is the source of all knowledge and wisdom of God, that Jesus is the very Word of which all the writings of the Law and Prophets speak. So let us then look deeper at the prophetic message that is more fully confirmed.

The phrase “lamp shining,” is to cause things to become visible, made known, appear, appear to be, and shine. The “dark place” is a place, passage, task, position, possibility, or people without light, gloomy and miserable. So this prophetic message could say, “You will do well to be alert for a passage to become visible through the gloomy, unknown, and miserable situations.” I do not know about you but that to me says that life sucks and Jesus can help us through it. That if we diligently seek Jesus that He will allow the wisdom to shine through and give us a direction to walk.

Peter ends this section by saying that prophecy does not come by our own will but comes by men and women being moved by the Holy Spirit. How then does this light dawn in our lives? In many ways Peter is telling the believers that we must follow Jesus, to take on His lifestyle of worship, prayer, and service. Because it is in prayer and worship that we will begin to see hope through the misery to begin our service.

The spiritual practices of Friends, the meetings for clearness and the times of holy expectancy point to this, the waiting on the Lord in our meetings for business are times where we wait together for the Spirit of God to shine through a situation so that we can move forward through the passageway that was once filled with the gloomy darkness of uncertainty. The problem is that often we do not want to wait; often we feel we have waited too long already and decide by taking the path that seems right in our own minds. Often we assume we already have the knowledge. By doing this we run the risk of following the cleverly devised myths of man. The question also is raised how do we know when the way forward is from God? That comes the study. Through study we gain the knowledge of both man and God, and we discern through scripture and especially through the teachings of Jesus who is the Word of God

This lifestyle is not easy, in fact is one of the most difficult aspects of life. There are challenges all around us that distract us from this way of truth. Just this week as I attempted to center and prepare for worship, my mind dwelled on the conflicts in Ukraine. My heart cries for these people because I lived among them for a short time. Part of me wants our government to do something, to go defend the people, and part of me wants us to stand back and instead promote peace in other ways. This has become challenge to my faith, and a distraction on the pathway God has been leading me down. But in this miserable gloominess God has been teaching me and shining His light through the darkness. I have become more aware of the injustices that I myself have perpetuated, and have been lead to confession and repentance. Just as Peter was an eyewitness to the majesty of Christ, I have been an eyewitness to the hope that God can shine into the darkness. I can bear witness in my own life and in the experiences of the meetings I have participated in that God will provide the way forward if will allow Him to work through us. Though the future may seem grim, though it may seem as if there is no reason to carry on I stand before you saying that we have never had a greater opportunity than we have today to be bearers of truth and light in our world today. The dawn is coming and the bright morning star is rising in our hearts, so let us be ever more diligent to become a people loving God in worship, embracing the Holy Spirit in Prayer, and being obedient to our callings as we live the love of Christ with others.

Hope beyond our Failure (Sermon February 16, 2014)

Scripture- Matthew 5:21-37

The Sermon on the Mount for me is one of the most difficult sets of scripture to speak about. I say thing because I am fairly confident that among the verses I have failed the God that I love more than anything multiple times. I would venture to say that as I read these sixteen verses we have each cringed just a bit, because Jesus does not sugar coat his words instead He is about as straight forward as one can be. We could spend an entire month on these verses, contemplating and reflecting on them not only on Sunday morning but every morning, afternoon, and evening without really getting a thorough explanation. Each paragraph has a wealth of words riding on the very breath of God that cut deeply into our souls like a sharp cold wind piercing through our winter attire.

I stand knowing that the moment I begin to speak I am the greatest hypocrite when it comes to living these words out. I stand yet I know that there is something that we each need to hear. The number one reason so many people turn their backs on the church and the community dedicated to encouraging a relationship with God is because so many people with in the community are hypocrites. We scoff at this statement saying cliché things like where else should they be trying to lessen the sting of such harsh words. The reason people reject God in many cases are because the people. The odd thing is the number one reason people often begin their journey with God is also because of people. People that have taken the time to build a friendship with them, people that have met them at the level they were at and then walked with them as they struggled to come to term with the love of God.

We could look at these sixteen verses and pick out the sin and hypocritical aspects of our lives or could just acknowledge that we each have fallen short and at this moment realize that we need to turn, to repent, to run the other direction from certain activities we participate in because those activities are grieving the Spirit of God that is wooing our souls at this very moment.

Today instead of focusing on the singularity of these spiritual debilitating activities, I would like us to look deeper at how each of these are connected, and what the root of the issue is. Anger, murder, adultery, dishonesty, divorce each has a root in the exploitation or dehumanization of other.  Each of these sins are centered on an unhealthy and prideful self that is focused on lifting oneself higher instead of blessing the community around them.

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times…” Jesus begins with the basic laws of the Mosaic Laws. It was said… this term does not mean that they have had everything wrong, but that they have not gone deep enough. Murder is the taking of a life. This has been interpreted in various ways because taking a life very serious. This one command has been translated as murder or killing which has vast differences in interpretation. One term, kill, is very broad covering the unintentional taking of life, death due to battle, abortion, revenge, or even the rendering of justice. Where the other, murder, is more directed to the intention taking of a life by the hands of another. It was said… there are vast interpretations to this command against killing, which is why in ancient times as the Hebrew people began to settle into the land of promise they established cities of refuge. These cities were set aside to protect individual from the vengeful retaliation of others in case of unintentional death. Why were cities like these established? I would venture to say they were established to protect the life. When a society is bent on repaying death with death, blow with blow, wrong with wrong we lose our humanity. We become locked in a never-ending cycle of retaliation and revenge those on the opposing side are no longer seen as brothers or equals but instead as lesser beings, not quite as human as us.

There is a grave danger when we fail to see the humanity in others. Women in most cultures have been seen as lower than men as a result they have been mistreated, often they were seen as the highest valued livestock. Then among women in these cases there were the wives and the concubines that also had greater and lesser status, one being greater than the other and valued more, while each being dehumanized. This dehumanization is the root of the slave trade of history as well as in current times, yes there are still slave today, more slaves than there where in the darkest days of American history. It is estimated that there are 27 million people today living in slavery. A slave is person that has been dehumanized in the eyes of others and since they are less than human people can justify the exploitation of their life.

This cycle of exploitation begins with misplaced anger. Anger is a dangerous emotion. Anger if not held in check can build into hatred. Hatred then can lead into actions that are based not on truth but emotional opinions meant to exploit and dehumanize others. But Jesus was angry, we quickly say to ourselves, so surely it is not all bad. I agree, emotions are not wrong; it is what we allow our emotions to do that cause us to lose sight of God and enter into the darkness of sin. Jesus was angry with the venders in the temple, he was angry because these venders were exploiting others in the name of God; they were taking advantage of a situation for their own gain. They saw the people coming to worship not as humans but as a means to their own financial gain. Jesus had a righteous anger, an emotional response with the goal to humanize the exploited.

Our anger is not always held in check, our anger is not always experienced in disciplined manner. Sadly some of the most undisciplined exhibitions of raw emotions are performed among those that claim to love. The people today neglect church because often those in church dehumanize and exploit those around them. It is hard to see at times, because we have become so accustomed to our own actions, we have justified our actions to such a degree that we are no better then the Pharisees whom Jesus called whitewashed tombs of bones.  We focus on our own agenda, we hold grudges, we neglect apologies and we do so because we were right. The problem is that being right in an argument has no value unless we honor the humanity of those around us.

Jesus went so far as say, “… [If] you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.” These words are spoken of not just anger but the undisciplined expression of our speech in the heat of an argument. It speaks of the exploitive nature of our language and the inability to disagree agreeably. How often we fall into the trap of our passions where we speak before we think and end up with our feet firmly planted in our mouths. How often do we fail to listen to what is being said and jump to a conclusion starting our next statement before we even hear a response? How often do we ask the wrong questions, which lead to responses that keep us from honoring and promoting the spark of God within an individual. When we fail to be disciplined in speech, when we fail to control our emotions, we will be found dehumanizing those around us, and in the process we may be quieting the very voice that God is using to direct the next step He is encouraging us to make.

Anger, adultery, divorce, murder, and our word each of these sections of this sermon delivered by Jesus revolve around honoring those around us, putting everyone on a equal status as equally human and equally loved by God. How well are we doing? Daily I catch myself failing to live up to the name I claim in Christ. I fail because often I am living in my own power. We cannot love the way God loves; we cannot honor others the way God desires us to honor in our own power. That is the essence of our sinful nature. We cannot do it because we are selfish by nature. We want the glory and honor ourselves. That is why in the story of Eden our first parents ate of the tree. They desired to be equal to God, masters of their own destiny, they wanted to be god.  Immediately they began to accuse and dehumanize each other, Adam blames Eve and Eve deflects to another. “I am not the problem,” they say, “but it was this lesser being you put here.” Dehumanization.

We fail all to often. Our community, our world, is falling apart around us running from God and we blame others. The truth of it is that our world is the way it is because we allowed it. We have failed to live up to our name in Christ. We hear news reports and our responses are not in equality but dehumanized exploitive. It’s the gang’s fault, it’s the democrats or republicans, it’s Hollywood’s fault, and it is never my fault. Our schools fail because we allow them to fail. Our neighborhoods have fallen apart because we have allowed them to. We pull back blaming others when I am the problem.

This is why Jesus came. This is why Jesus was born that day in Bethlehem. This is why Jesus gave this sermon and taught His followers on the mountainside, in the fields, and on the sea. He came to meet us where we are, showing us that we have been placing the blame on others that we have been dehumanizing and exploiting everyone around us. But Jesus shows us a different path, which is a different lifestyle. He showed us that the lifestyle cannot be focused on ourselves but must be lived with God and others.

Jesus shows us that the first step, for those of us who claim to be his followers, begins in worship. God is the source of love and true wisdom, He is the breath and Father of life, and we cannot begin to change without first acknowledging and honoring the one from whom our life comes. Jesus made it His custom to worship in the meeting places of the faithful, when He entered a town He would take time to worship with the community at the synagogue, it did not matter if it was a mega synagogue or one that was nearly falling apart He worshiped because worship gives us a right view of ourselves. We are creatures created by God, here for a purpose, to be in communion with our Creator.

Jesus would also withdraw often to a desolate place away from others to pray. He would withdraw to embrace that intimate relationship of love between the creator and the creature. This is embracing the Holy Spirit, or nurturing and deepening our relationship with God. This time of prayer and embracing of the Spirit is expressing our needs, our failures, and our desires to our Lord as well as reading, studying, and meditating on scripture as we allow God to speak to us as well. It is a conversation and an intimate relationship. It is in these times where God will show us how to improve ourselves and where he will provide his strength in our weaknesses. It is during these times of prayer, where we will begin to see where we have shown dehumanizing actions and how to change our ways. It is in these times of prayer where God will direct us and when we embrace His correction He will then send us out to change the world where we are.

Jesus would then engage with the community, healing the sick, answering questions, encouraging the disciples, and teach the masses. It is through the prayer, the conversation with the Father in the Spirit, that He would then begin to serve other. He shows us that in this lifestyle, the lifestyle of the kingdom of God we too will be sent out to serve, and to live the love of Christ with others. It is in this service where we begin to rebuild our communities, reconcile the dehumanizing actions we have allowed to occur, and stop the exploitation of those deemed lesser than us. We share the love of God by feeding the hungry, giving a coat to someone that needs one, repairing the car of the single mother who trying to get to her job so she can feed her children. We live the love of Christ when we meet people where they are, not in judgment because that is a form of exploitations, but in encouragement. Encouraging them by our generosity, encouraging them by our kind words, encouraging them with our tactful teaching and urging to walk the path to Christ.

When we leave the lifestyle of exploitation and enter into this lifestyle of Christ we will begin to see the world change around us. We will begin to see men treating their wives differently, we will begin to see people living not out of anger or lust but out of generosity and respect, we will begin to see the end of exploitation and the beginnings of encouragement.

How often have I failed, how often we as Christians have failed to truly be the people God has called us to be. But Jesus is giving us an opportunity to turn it around, to rebuild the world that we have allowed to falter, to bring in the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. As we enter into this time of open worship, and holy expectancy let us allow God to examine our lives, let us repent of our failures and let us ask God for the forgiveness and strength to change, let us begin to see His kingdom come in our lives so we can encourage and honor those around us with honesty, and humility.