This sermon was shared on June 30, 2013 at Christ United Methodist Church in Lafayette, IN. 

The next two weeks, our sermons series will be “Keep Calm and Matthew 22:34-40”. Now, I’m urging us to “keep calm” because the words of Jesus in Matthew 22:34-40 are difficult and following his commands can be overwhelming. Let me be honest for a second…I am going to beat us up a bit this morning.

So, if you came to church seeking that warm fuzzy feeling, you’re probably going to be
disappointed. Therefore, I urge you to “keep calm” because everything’s going to be alright.

Before we read this passage of Scripture, let me give a quick summary of what has been happening up to this point. Jesus was fully into his ministry. He had been teaching the crowds through parables/stories and had entered into a series of conversations with some of the religious leaders of his day. First, the Pharisees came and asked Jesus a question about taxes. Then, the Sadducees arrived and asked Jesus a question about the resurrection. The point of the questioning was to trap Jesus, to trip him up so they could find an offense to charge him with. So, that’s where we pick up the story.

Read Matthew 22:34-40

The question posed to Jesus is about the law. Now, the rabbis had counted 613 commands that God-fearing Jews were called to follow. We’re not just talking about the 10 commandments here. Most rabbis held the view that all the commandments were equal. So, the legal expert comes to Jesus and asks which commandment is greatest. Jesus boils the law…those 613 laws…down to 2. Love God and neighbor. Jesus essentially says that loving God and loving our neighbor will sum up all the Law and Prophets. All 613 commands will be followed if we just get these two right. Two things…that’s what were called to do…to love God and love our neighbor.

This morning, we’re going to focus in on that first command of Jesus – to love God.

Now, many of us would proclaim this day that we love God. We say we love God, but, let’s be honest for a second, do our lives really reflect that? Do our lives say that we love God? Can a person tell by the way we eat, drink, walk, talk, work, play, and live out our lives that we are people who love God?

I’ll just be honest…loving God is hard. I fail to love God all the time…everyday. Jesus tried to make it simple…he takes over 600 laws, narrows them down to 2…and I can’t even get the first one right! We Christians love to point out how BAD other people are…and we’re no better…2 things. And, I get tripped up at number 1.

Loving God is hard! Why? Because loving God is more than just believing in God. It’s not just what’s in my head and my heart that matters. We talk about transforming our church, community, and world. Well, if we want to transform the world, we have to do more than believe. Our mission as United Methodist’s is to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” We won’t make disciples and we won’t transform the world if all we do is believe.

So, in our efforts to love God, we have to find balance between orthodoxy and orthopraxy (thanks to author and professor Charles Gutenson for inspiring this thought). Orthodoxy is right belief and orthopraxy is right practice. Many of us believe the right things…but we don’t practice them well. Others practice faith well, but have some questionable beliefs. The key will be finding that balance…where we are doing the right things for the right reasons.

Now, I’m not one for legalism, saying that you have to do a, b, c, in order to be a true Christian.
However, I will say that a little discipline goes a long way. There are some things that I believe will help us grow and stay in love with God. Prayer, studying the Bible, worship, giving, serving, sharing our faith with others are all things that will help us grow in our love of God. We have to be somewhat proactive in our journey of faith.

James 4:8 reminds us that when we draw near to God, God will draw near to us. Does God seem far off and distant in your life? Well, maybe we need to put in a bit more effort. Are we taking steps toward God in our daily lives? Are we making prayer, study, worship, giving, serving, and sharing a priority in our lives or are we making excuses?

We’re busy, I know it! And, it’s not just young people who are busy. I know people who are empty nesters and retired and they are busier today than they were when the kids were home and they were working full-time. We’re busy…and often we’re busy doing “good” things. But at what expense?

Here’s the rub. I think we’re all sick. Our American culture is sick because we celebrate our busyness. We find our importance in our busyness. The busier our kids are, the more things they are involved in, the better parents we must be and the better our children will be. We are convinced that the busier we are, the more important we must be! And, if we believe that…we’ve bought into one of the great lies of this world.

In the midst of our busy, hectic lives, God invites us to “be still & know”…(Psalm 46:10)

When was the last time you were still?

How many of us have said, “Man, I wish I had more time to pray” or “I really want to read the Bible more” or “I wish I had time to help with ______”. Now, how many of us would be honest enough to say that when we say those things it’s just lip service because we really haven’t taken any steps to block out time to pray, to read, to help??? And, we really don’t intend to either…

Now, this isn’t about making us feel guilty…well, maybe just a little…but, I’m going to be honest with you…If we truly love God, we will desire to draw near to God. If you have that desire…take steps to fulfill that desire. You see, if we truly love God, we will do whatever it takes to find the time to do the things that will help us love God. John Wesley would encourage us to sleep as little as humanly possible so we can maximize our time with God!

Do you have to pray, go to church, read the Bible, give your time/talents/treasures, and share your faith to love God? Nope. You really don’t have to do these things. Will these things help us love God? Absolutely! We get what we give…we reap what we sow…

Countless times throughout my ministry, I’ve been asked the question, “Why does God seem so
distant?” I generally answer that question with a smart-alec response of “That’s funny. I’m pretty sure God’s asking why you seem so distant.”

These things, prayer, worship, reading, giving, serving, sharing, it’s not about legalism, but relationship. We all know that relationships take effort. Think about marriages and friendship…they take effort and hard work. If we are going to be in a loving relationship with God…we need to make an effort. We can’t just say, “I believe in you” and then expect to have a perfect life because we sporadically come to church, pray, give, etc…Even if we do these things, we won’t have a perfect life. But, we will have a fuller life!

I guess the question is, do we love God or do we just kinda/sorta like God? Do we follow God on Twitter and like Jesus’ facebook page or do we really love God?

We say we love God, but do our lives reflect that? I’ve been thinking about this question all week during VBS. We had a fantastic week. An incredible number of children, parents, grandparents, and other volunteers were here…learning about God’s great love for us and the importance of prayer, study,worship, giving, serving, and sharing. Look at the food they brought in and the money they raised…they were learning and putting it into practice. But, VBS is over…now what happens? Are we reinforcing these lessons through our daily lives or are we teaching our kids that kind of commitment is reserved for one week out of the year?

If we love God the way Jesus calls us to love God, God will be our top priority…our first and greatest love…all the time!

Here are some ways to gauge if God is number one in our lives?

Is God number one on our calendar – or does something else win out? Do we spend as much time with God as we do at the gym, at the pool, at the ball diamond, at our favorite coffeeshop/bar/restaurant?

Is God number one on our bank statement – now, let me say this, I know people get irritated that we talk about money in church…it’s a touchy subject, I know. But, Jesus talked about money more than he did about heaven or hell…indicating our use and abuse of money says a lot about our relationship with god. So, is God number one on our bank statement or do we find ourselves giving more to our car payments, starbucks, barberry, apple store, Verizon, or whatever. Maybe it’s not the amount that indicates whether or not God is number one…after all, God only asks us to give 10%. But, is it first or does our giving to God come out of what’s leftover? Obviously, your rent or mortgage payment will probably be larger than your tithe. But, do you give to God first or is it an afterthought? I will say this, if our wireless plans and cable bills are larger than our giving – it might indicate a problem with our priorities. Okay…I’m just jealous because I’m still using a flip phone.

But, that leads us to our stuff. Is God number one with our stuff? How do we view our possessions. Are the blessings from God, meant to be used as a blessing to others? Or are they simply ours? (Stories about a family welcoming us to use their “stuff” – aka pool – whenever. Offer to help someone use their Harley).

Is God number one in all areas of our lives? All of this leads us to this question…How do we grow in our love for God?
1. Pray- set aside time each day to pray…get up early, stay up late, block out time at lunch
2. Study- set aside time each day to read the Bible (or blogs/websites/books)
3. Worship- make church attendance a priority. Worship on your own (sing, listen, etc)
4. Give- Your time/talents/treasures. If you tithe, step beyond a tithe. If you don’t tithe, step
towards tithing. No matter how large or small, make regular giving a priority.
5. Serve- We’ll talk about this more next week…but find ways to use your time/talents/treasures to bless others…
6. Share- Your faith…invite someone to church. Do your co-workers, neighbors, family members know you go to church? Do they know where you go to church? Have you invited them to church? Well, what are you waiting for?

Let’s be honest…The 4th of July is Thursday. How many of us are more excited about maybe taking the day off, firing up the grill, lighting our citronella candles, and blowing stuff up than we are about these 6 things? I love fireworks too! But, am I as excited about God as I am about blowing stuff up on Thursday?

If we don’t get serious about these 6 things, we have no shot at transforming the world for the glory of God. We might as well not even talk about buildings and fruitful congregations if we aren’t ready to get serious about prayer, study, worship, giving, serving, and sharing.

Listen, I know we’re all busy and it’s not that we don’t want to do these things…we just struggle to figure out how to fit it into our already busy lives.Here’s a simple way to stay in love and grow in love with God- challenge150.com. We’ve set up a website that you can visit every day, starting tomorrow morning, where we will take a 150 day journey through the psalms. The site will guide you through a time of prayer, reading a Psalm, and provide some reflection questions. You will be invited to comment, creating an online dialogue. Now, some of you may not be web surfers. So, start tomorrow by reading Psalm 1…and continuing reading a psalm a day until
you’re done with the book of Psalms. It’s easy…it’s right there for you…you can do it anytime…late at night, early in the morning, on your lunch break, at the ball diamond (if you have one of those fancy, non-flip phones) There should be a bookmark in every worship guide- that is so you have one to remind you to join us on the journey…and on your way out, grab a second so you have a tool to invite a friend to join us on this journey!

As we grow in our love for God through prayer, study, worship, giving, serving, and sharing, we will find it easier to follow the second command of Jesus…loving our neighbor. Next week we will explore how we express our love for God by loving our neighbor.

It was a Friday night in Noblesville, IN. Emily and I were at the Klipsch Center for a Dave Matthews Band concert. While we were there, I found myself thinking about the church. Here are some of the thoughts about the church that came into my head during the Dave Matthews Band concert. These are in no specific order…

1. We don’t say “thank you” enough. When DMB took the stage, Mr. Matthews began by thanking everyone for coming out. Then, after every other song, Dave continued to give thanks to those in attendance. And, every time he said “thank you”, the crowd went nuts. Of course, the crowd went nuts when he spoke gibberish too…so??? How often do we say “thank you” in our churches? No matter how often you think you say “thank you”, it’s probably not enough. The frequency and the ways we express our thanks are crucial. Are we expressing our thanks in ways that are genuine and meaningful?

2. People have the capacity to friendly, peaceful, loving, and kind. The atmosphere inside the Klipsch Center was incredible. People were excited. People were being “cool” with one another. It was a very hip and happening scene. it seemed like everyone was happy to be there…and they were happy that you were there too, whether they knew you or not. How do we, as Christians, live out friendly, peaceful, loving, and kind lives?

3. People have the capacity to be jerks. Leaving the Klipsch Center helped reveal the worst in people. The same people who had been friendly, peaceful, loving, and kind quickly turned into monsters of “parking lot rage.” Again, the question is how do we, as Christians, live out friendly, peaceful, loving, and kind lives? You see, most “church folk” are friendly, peaceful, loving, and kind within the walls of the church. But, do we live that out when we leave? Trust me, I’ve been in plenty of church parking lots. And, I am fully aware that church folk are no different from the folks at the DMB concert who can quickly transform from nice folks into monsters. I’ve seen church folk (pastors included) be complete jerks (myself included). So, we have some work to do.

4. People can and will sing, raise their hands, and dance (well, I’m not sure if you can call the hippie shake dancing). And, when I write “people”, I mean all people (yes, even men will sing, raise their hands, and dance). Listening to the crowd sing along was an impressive thing. Hearing the voices from the lawn and pavilion joing together with the DMB created a glorious chorus. And, I thought to myself, “Isn’t this what church should be like?” Part of the issue is that most churches need better lighting. And, by that, I mean that churches probably need less lighting. At a concert, the stage is bright, but the crowd is largely in the dark. When we feel that it’s harder for others to see us, we feel freer to fully express ourselves. How many of us rock out in the car, the shower, or when no one else is home, but are totally reserved if we think someone might be watching? Seriously, you should see me dance when no one is home and the blinds are closed! But, for some reason, in the church we want to see everything. So, I would suggest that we try and pull the lights down during times of singing and prayer. See if it impacts the way people engage. Pull the lights up for the sermon…the pastor needs to be able to see if people are “with” him/her. But, other than that, keep the lights low!

5. People will invest and devote their time and money to things they are passionate about. The amount of money people shelled out for the DMB concert demonstrates they are “all in.” You don’t spend that kind of cash on tickets, gas, camping, food, and beverages if you “sort of” like DMB. The way the crowd sang along indicates that the folks gathered had invested a good deal of time listening/learning these songs…so much so that they knew every word and sang with a great deal of passion. The way we use our time and money says a lot about what we are passionate about. Does our use of our time and money indicate that we are passionate about God and the church?

6. We are too worried about silence. I can’t tell you how many conferences I’ve been to where pastors and worship leaders have encouraged people to create seamless transitions in worship. Silence has become a bad thing within the walls of many churches. We want to fill every space with noise…whether music or speaking. We have become uncomfortable with silence. Maybe our consumeristic nature and desire to be entertained plays a role in this? If things fall silent, even for a moment, we squirm in our seats…we look around to see if something has gone wrong. And, yet, silence can be such a beautiful thing. In our hectic and busy world, a few moments of silence can become precious. The DMB concert reminded me that silence is okay…not only that, it’s good! Between songs, Dave didn’t try to entertain the crowd with his witty banter. He didn’t try to quickly and seamlessly transition between songs. The band simply paused, let the moment sink in, and then proceeded into the next song. And, it was awesome. The silence allowed one to reflect on what had just happened. The silence built anticipation for what was coming up next. There is great power in silence.

7. The band was extremely well prepared and on the same page. In the church, it is important that those involved with worship leadership are well prepared and on the same page. While it is important to let the Spirit move, I have found that we are best prepared for the Spirit to move when we are well prepared. Now, this doesn’t mean that we pull off seamless, excellent, and entertaining productions from week to week. What it means is that things are thought out, passionate, and connected.

8. Pastors, worship leaders, and church leaders can learn a great deal from going to concerts and observing. I walked away from the DMB concert realizing that I need to make an effort to go to more shows…and not just “big” artists, but on the local level as well. There is something to learn about church within these environments.

What have you learned about the church in non-church environments?

Over the past week, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the “The Greatest Commandment.”

The more time I think about Jesus’ call to “love God” and “love your neighbor as you love yourself”, the more overwhelmed I become.

Why am I overwhelmed? Because I realize that it is difficult to truly follow the great commandment.

I fail to love God and neighbor on a daily basis.

Today, I was deeply convicted by the ways in which I fail to love God and neighbor. You see, I’m convinced that they way we “love our neighbor” is a reflection of our love for God. Therefore, if I fail to love my neighbor, I’m failing to truly love God. So, here are some ways I suck at following God:

– I like to point out how lousy others are at loving God & neighbor. Just read my blog and you’ll see the evidence! In light of others narrow views, I’m quick to point out how open and accepting I am…

– I judge my neighbors based on their education level, style of dress, choice of music, choice of beverages, socio-economic level, parenting style, possessions, their weight, their political leanings, their favorite sport teams, and the list could go on an on…

– I get jealous of my neighbors who have Harley’s and smartphones…and in my jealousy, I begin to judge them all over again…

And, trust me, this is the short list.

For me, loving God isn’t difficult because of the vast array of difficulties, trials, and temptations I’ve faced in life.

Loving God becomes difficult when I understand that loving God isn’t only about me…it’s deeply connected to my love for my neighbor.

So, my quest is to better love my neighbor…starting with the ones right around me and extending to my neighbors all around the world.

 

Many of you are most likely aware of the fallout after the ridiculously insensitive tweet made by John Piper shortly after news of the horrible tornado left a trail of destruction in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, this has become a regular pattern for Piper and others in his camp (Driscoll and other neo-Calvinist/Reformed types). Tragedy strikes and these guys play the “God is trying to get your attention and change your sinful ways” card. Certainly God has better things to do…and more compassionate ways of convincing people to follow.

Anyway, today, Team Piper put out a blog to explain how many simply misunderstood his remarks. Poor Piper. People read his first tweet and were immediately outraged. And, rather than wait for his follow-up tweet, his “haters” immediately hit the social media realm to proclaim that Piper had reached new levels of ass-dom. Again, poor Piper.

So, Team Piper made the decision to pull down both tweets because of “unfair criticism” and a moment of clarity when they realized that maybe not everyone processes these events the same way Piper does (let’s be thankful for that!).

What strikes me is the lack of humility in the explanation. Now, maybe they have updated the blog post, but when I read it I did not find any statements of remorse for posting things in an insensitive manner (let’s be honest…if you need a second tweet to make sense of the first one, it’s probably not wise to post it…unless you’re prepared for some fallout).

Whatever happened to simply saying, “I’m sorry”? Piper can sit back and pat himself on the back and say, “I’m right! You’re wrong. This criticism is unfair.” However, there comes a time when you need to let the ego get bruised a bit. Now is the time. Simply say, “I’m sorry!”

Don’t explain how you were misunderstood. Don’t explain how the criticism is undeserved. Just say, “I should have practiced better judgment when posting something so shortly after the horrible destruction that took place. Therefore, I am sorry for any harm my comments may have done.” Man up and apologize!

For readers who are unsure of my theological views…No, I don’t think God caused this (or any) natural disaster. I guess you could narrow down my perspective to this…Shit happens. Yet, God is good…and God can work in the midst of the rubbish of life. If something awful happens to you or a family member, chances are that it has nothing to do with the sin in your life. If that were the case, we’d all be in a load of trouble.

If you were in some way offended by this post, I am deeply sorry!

It’s inevitable. It’s going to happen sooner or later. Most likely, it will happen sooner rather than later. At some point in your lifetime, Christians will make you mad. I say this as a Christian, knowing that I will make you mad sooner or later (again, most likely sooner).

Unfortunately, we Christians will make you mad…we will make each other mad…not because we are too loving, too giving, too accepting, too merciful, too peaceful, too compassionate, or too forgiving. I’ve yet to meet someone who believes differently than I do who says that Christians are just too kind!

No, instead we Christians will make you mad because we are too judgmental, too closed, too selfish, too arrogant. I know that I am guilty of these things. Even now, as I type this, I am probably being too judgmental and arrogant.

This weekend, while driving the extremely boring stretch of 1-70 between Columbus, OH and Indianapolis, I was reminded of the ability of Christians to easily drive others towards anger and bitterness.

The first offense that made me mad dealt with billboards. First, I saw a billboard that simple read, “Hell is Real”. My first reaction was, “Well, that’s debatable.” Let’s be honest, we Christians do not agree on hell. Some of us are all too happy to send others to burn in a lake of fire while others of us don’t believe in a literal hell at all. Generally, my idea of hell is having to spend time with people who spend money on billboards that read, “Hell is Real”.

As I continued to drive, I witnessed another billboard. This one read, “Avoid Hell. Repent. Trust Jesus Today.”

Some of you are probably wondering why this billboard made me mad. Well, as a Christian and as a pastor, I do want people to trust Jesus. I believe that the Way of Jesus is the better way to live out our lives on this earth. And, I desire that we all might love God and love one another. So, the idea of trusting Jesus…I’m okay with that.

However, I get so mad when I see hell used as the motivator to “trust Jesus”. As soon as I read the first two words, “avoid hell”, I could feel myself tensing up.  I had just spent the weekend talking about how our concept of God is often too closed and that God is bigger than our narrow definitions. So, reading “avoid hell” just got under my skin.

It’s the old “fire insurance” method of evangelism. “Do you know where you’d spend eternity if you die tonight?” Well, in my case, my family is well aware of my desire to be cremated and my ashes spread around the Heorot Pub & Draught House in Muncie, IN. So, I guess that’s where I’ll go. Rather than offering hope, offering life and love, we are offering up an “out”.

Okay, back to the issue at hand…I have never been a fan of avoiding hell as a motivator for a relationship with Jesus. The ministry of Jesus seems to focus more on bringing a bit of heaven to earth than where we’ll spend eternity. Jesus was concerned about the least, the last, and the lost among him at that very moment. Jesus seems more concerned about whether or not we are feeding the hungry, providing for those in need, caring for the poor, the orphaned, and the widowed today. Jesus appeared to be more concerned with whether or not his followers were choosing to bring heaven or hell to earth today. In fact, I believe he even mentioned that the way we respond to those in need is closely related to our eternal destination (read Matthew 25:31-46 for more on that).

So, I got mad because this billboard totally ignores the heart of Jesus’ ministry…that we might live today in a way that honors God and all of creation. There should be so much more to trusting Jesus than simply avoiding hell. However, billboards like this simply reduce the beauty of the way down to a choice about eternity…heaven or hell.

I stopped to fill up the car and grab a quick bite to eat before continuing my journey. After filling my belly with some ridiculously unhealthy junk food, I decided to listen to the radio. As I scanned through the stations, I landed on a news report that was talking about Ellen Degeneres.

I stopped because I really like Ellen (I write that as if she’s a great friend, maybe I should just say that I really respect Ellen). She is simply a very good person. Her heart and concern for others is simply amazing. Not only that, she seems like a lot of fun! I mean, she’s married to a cast member of “Arrested Development”!

I figured I was listening to an NPR station. However, as the details of the story concerning Ellen continued, I quicklly realized I was listening to a conservative Christian radio station (I’m pretty sure there are only conservative Christian stations…I’ve yet to hear a moderate to liberal Christian station). The report featured “information” from the Family Research Council indicating that recent slips in sales at JC Penny’s is most likely related to their relationship with spokesperson Ellen Degeneres. At this point in my life, I shouldn’t be surprised to hear garbage like this spewed by certain Christian groups. Yet, my jaw still dropped. The report went on to say that they believe that JC Penny’s endorsement of the “gay lifestyle” be hiring Degeneres and using same sex couples in advertisements. The report claimed that sales had lowered because “families were rejecting JC Penny’s because JC Penny’s had rejected families.” All I could say was, “Seriously?”

I was mad.

I was mad because I get lumped in with Christians who are too preoccupied with hell. Seriously, I think some get a strange “high” from letting others know they will “burn for eternity”.

I was mad because I get lumped in with Christians who go out of their way to point the finger of “blame” at people like Ellen…a woman who embodies that message of “love one another” so well. At this point, have we not figured out that there are bigger, more pressing issues than our views on sexuality? Have we not figured out that some of the ways we have dealt with issues of sexuality actually create more distance between the Church and the people God loves (which is everyone, by the way)?

Now, some will justify the billboards, saying that one is “loving others” by trying to steer them clear of hell.

Some will justify the attack on Ellen, saying that she is “living a sinful lifestyle”…well, aren’t we all???

As a Christian, my call is to love God and to love others. I fail everyday…To be honest, it’s generally hardest for me to love other Christians…the ones I feel misrepresent the Way I so love (of course, I’ll be the first to admit, I know many on the “other side” feel I am misrepresenting the faith too).

As a Christian, my call is to lead a life of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness, and self-control.” I fail everyday…I fail to do all of these things.

As a Christian, my call is to feed the hungry, offer a drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, care for the orphan and the widow, love and care for the least among us. I fail everyday…my belly is overly full while others starve. I will consume a $4 beverage today, while someone goes without clean water.

Yet, I find hope in the Way of Christ. It’s not a hope that I might slip through the cracks and avoid hell. It’s not a hope that God will cut me some slack because I’m not gay.

It’s a hope that says there is a better way than this. It’s a hope that says “all people are of sacred worth.” It’s a hope in a God that calls us into so much more than avoiding hell. It’s a hope that a God of love truly loves all. It’s a hope in a God that calls us all to love one another…regardless of race, political party, denomination, sexual preferences, socio-economic position…It’s a hope in a God love that calls us to lead lives of love.