* Review: Where We Began
? We are studying the ways in which we shrink (in our own minds) the person of Jesus, from the robust, loving God that He truly is.
? Last week we learned: That the great "I Am" is calling you and is always with you in the moment (Exo 3:1-15)-I Am Who I Am.
* No one or anything else defines God. He defines himself.
* He defines Himself as The Present One or the One Who Always Is.
* He is not the Was-ing-One or the Will-be-One but the Is-ing-One.
* Fully present to redeem and love in the now.
* Jesus fulfills this in John 8:58 and then redeems us as the great I Am.
* So I Am now walks with me and lives inside me, guiding and providing.
* No thin Jesus.
? The next thing that causes us to have a tiny Jesus in our lives, is our lack of understanding of His great love for us (Exo 34).
* We studied it a couple of weeks ago.
* Moses learned that the glory of God is His love: he gracious, compassionate, abounding with love, slow to get angry, maintaining love for thousands, forgiving ...
* John says, We beheld Jesus’ glory full of love and faithfulness (John 1:14).
* Jesus fulfilled this at the cross. We God’s glory the most.
* What is your need, your hurt, your hidden sin?
* He loves you now and wants to meet your need.
* Rom. 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
? This morning we realize how much we compartmentalize our life with Christ restricting him from the rest of our lives and thus creating a very thin Jesus.
* For most we here the words of the great hymn "just as I am..." but we quickly learn that it is not ok.
* Lobby but no further.
* Like a person who saw the welcome sign in the store window and now gets dirty looks for bringing their dog in the grocery store.
* But if I can’t bring me, I’m the only me I got.
* Love the Lord With All You Are and Have (Mark 12:28-31)
? The scribe’s question:
* The scribe was an interpreter of the law (a religious lawyer). This could have been a Pharisee or Sadducee. They had 613 individual statutes to classify and integrate. The basic distinction was lighter and weightier. Generally the nature of the demand and the propitiation demanded if not honored determined the weight of a command.
* It was generally understood that moral life, especially love was more important than sacrifice.
* Others had attempted to summarize the law: Hillel the Elder (40 BC- 10 AD).
(Lane).
* So the question was, what does God ultimately want?
? Jesus starts as does Deut 6:4-9 with the Shema: Hear, O Israel...
Deut. 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
* The command to love stems from the uniqueness of God-He is One and He is Personal (Our God).
* This was prayed every morning and evening since the 2nd century BC.
* His united integration of being demands our united integration of being.
* Because the whole person is the object of God’s love and because God is whole he demands whole love.
? More obvious than the parts is the obvious repeated all (holes)
* holistic
* To seek God for his own sake, to have pleasure in him and chase after Him.
* This love that dictates the whole direction of our life and places our whole personality into the service of God love.
* Holism is a Christian discussion.
? The ancient Hebrew psychology was one of overlapping constructs.
* Heart: The center of inner life (thinking, feeling and wanting (will).
* Soul: life or vitality or one’s being (I am a living soul).
* Strength: inner (passion, intensity) and physical might.
* Mind: Jesus adds mind, which once again would include thinking and feeling (perhaps distinguishing from the heart being the core of a person’s will).
* It is obvious that these are overlapping constructs that bleed together like a wet watercolor painting. Without great distinction.
? The decision is obvious: we are to love God from the inside out with all that we are, holistically in every area of our lives.
* We use the expression "Hardcore." They eat, drink, breath surfing, skating, snowboarding, football,
* No monolatry
* Ultimate concern or agenda of your life.
* Disciples and women were examples of imperfect people who wanted Jesus. Dinner at sinners.
* Christian mugs, cars, etc.?
* But What About All of Me?
? What do I do with the parts of me that don’t fit into a spiritual agenda?
* Sports, hobbies, pleasure & fun
* Friends
* Physical and sexual side
* Intelligence that seems to disagree with religion (science)
* Business
* Dark side of me: sin, shameful thoughts and behavior
* Hand and fingers.
? Religion is often treated as a club where we learn the "party line" (right word or thing) and hide whatever is not approved. In so doing we don’t bring all of us to love God but compartmentalize and hide (Mark 12:38).
Mark 12:38 As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."
? We take various tactics.
* Pharisee-hide.
* Sinner-don’t come to church.
* Split our lives (sacred, secular, sinner).
* Falsely assume that anything in me but the spiritual or religious stuff is the "old self," and become a holier-than-thou person, who is split from normal living.
In an attempt to live supernaturally we live unnaturally.
? Anything less than holistic devotion is less than this command.
* Luke 18:9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ’God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
Luke 18:13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ’God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
Luke 18:14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
* Zacheus.
* What Can I Do To Be a Holistic Lover of God?
? Bring all of yourself to God. Each part of you and don’t hold back.
* Woman with the perfume.
* Depart from me... (Peter).
* Demonized.
? Let God and His Word sort out our lives without hiding or judging. We are not suggesting that all behavior is ok, but hiding or pretending are not ok either.
* Peter.
? Let us beware of judging (Mark 12:38-40).
? Learn from examples of integration.
Mark 12:41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Mark 12:43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on."
* Whole-hearted love.
* Mary in the Garden. Full acceptance without performance creates a space for relationship to grow.
*
* Taking It Home
? Read the passage in Mark and compare this with Deut 6:4-6.
? What is the same and what is different?
? What is context of Mark and why is Jesus teaching this?
? What is your personal reaction to this?
? How does your reaction relate to having a robust relationship with Jesus or a very narrow relationship?
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