Think About It
Pastor Tom Millner
April 20, 2008
Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew5:3-11, Philippians 4:4-8

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.”

Fear and anxiety often permeate our lives in one form or another. We fear growing old alone, never finding that one just right for us. We fear having too much month left at the end of the money. We worry that we’re somehow not going to measure up to the expectation that God has of us – that He can’t really love ME!

We have a social structure, transcending ethnic cultures, which establish criteria for what is acceptable and what is not. That is, what measures up and what doesn’t. Because we grow up in those structures, we buy into them, believing that the norms for them are the norms to which we must adhere. We fear rejection if we don’t adhere. We even use the Bible as a proof text to support our conditional mentality. We buy the lie that if we don’t do this that or the other in this that or the other way, we will not be loved, accepted, approved. All too often, that’s what we experience, because so often that’s what we expect. We dish out to others the same measure we expect for ourselves. We may call it what we will, but vengeance and retribution are mine, sayeth the proud! There are those who would overlay the vengeful retribution mindset as the template for scriptural interpretation.

Let’s think a little deeper about this.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD."For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

If God is the creator and we are the created, doesn’t it make sense to rely more on the revelation of the creator than on the declaration of the created? Isaiah points this out as he speaks to revelation of God to the people of Abraham’s seed.  Throughout OT history, God acts, humans react, acts, reacts… on an on. In Exodus 20, we read “And God spoke these words: ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery … [therefore] You shall have no other gods before me.” Note the command is given as an expected response to what He had already done for them. This set the stage for the rest of history… God acts with love and mercy, we are to react with love and mercy out of reverence for what He has done out of love and mercy. Note that the scripture does not state: “If you have no other gods before me, I will take you out of Egypt.” Nor does it say “have no other gods before me so that I may love you.”  His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways! You see, Agape love – the love that is from God, is given because He IS love… that’s what He is, that’s what He does. When asked which of the commandments was the greatest, He responded “To love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind, soul… and the second like it … your neighbor as yourself.” If you look at all the 10 commandments, they may be summed as either loving God and or loving each other.  His loving us is not conditional upon our loving Him. He cannot be other than who He is. Let’s not confuse what we might interpret as conditional love with consequences of putting ourselves first (having other gods before Him).  That’s the original temptation that Eve and Adam bought… they would be like God if they took of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They discovered that SIN (putting self before God) kills – that’s not to say that God does the killing, but that the consequences of putting it all on ourselves is death. The Bible is our spiritual roadmap. It tells us where the dangers are. It guides us across the street at the busy intersection of life. Stepping through the intersections on our own has its consequences. It is not God who doles out the consequences; the consequences are the result of our decision… not God’s direction.  In fact, God’s direction keeps us safe from the consequences of our own impulses.

Some time ago, we bought a new condo here in Wilton Manors. We made a covenant with the seller to give X amount of dollars in exchange for that square footage of space in that particular building on that particular site. That’s the way of human contracts. Something for something. You have something that I and you consider to be of value. We agree on the terms of the transfer of this thing from you to me with a value exchange that satisfies your desires and leaves me with a sense of having received value for value. Now, let’s contrast that with a little place in the Kingdom of God.

We intrinsically see the value in an eternity with the Divine. We desire it, but don’t know how to go about acquiring it. We believe that we must exchange something for it… that is, we must pay a price for it… in the belief that if we pay the price, then God will grant the title. That’s our thinking – makes sense, huh? Well it’s not His thinking. You see, what we have to offer in exchange is nothing more to Him than filthy rags (menstrual cloths). What we fail to recognize is that He who owns and is the Kingdom of God has already purchased our place in the Kingdom. That which He exchanged as value for our little piece of the Kingdom was the life of His only Son. We can’t afford that – we’re not God, nor His Son, nor are we (if we had an eternity) capable of reaching a state righteous enough to measure up.

So, here’s the deal. God says; I Am the owner of eternity, the author of all that is. I recognize your need to be rejoined with me like it used to be in the beginning, before you decided to be like me. I know the true value of your place in eternity and I know that you cannot afford it… Therefore, I have paid the price for your place. Because I have paid the price for your place, I request you no longer try to pay the price, but accept the gift and live as one who has paid in full. I ask you to stop what you’ve been doing (trying to buy your way, or distract yourself from the need to own) and let yourself go in me. Because in my way of thinking: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”

What greater price can you pay than what already has been paid? What additional condition do you need to apply to an act of love that is not conditioned on your response? The only exclusion clause that exists is the one you insist upon writing into the contract. Christ died for that clause also! Deal or No Deal?