Next week we will be having a combined service here, followed by a fellowship lunch and ministry fair down in the fellowship hall. This is a golden opportunity for us to hear from our deacons who lead various ministries here and join with them by taking part in one or more of the ministries of this church body.
God calls us His children so that we are a family. He calls us His church so that we are a gathered people, called out from the world into a community that belongs to Him. He calls us a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. Jesus Christ is our King and He rules as Lord of our lives. God’s word also calls us the body of Christ and each of us as members of that body. We work together to build one another up in Christ, and as we live and confess our faith before others in this world we shine as lights and draw others into this amazing community of Christ.
Last week we celebrated our high school graduates. Wasn’t it encouraging to hear from all the dads of these grads as they shared with us and publicly blessed their children before this church family? That was so great! The church is the only place you can go to witness words like that among God‘s people. God has given us the message of life and blessing. He has made us into His family of faith so that we can know and understand the truth and share the eternal hope we have in Christ. We have the gospel! We are people of God! Children of the living Creator of the universe, we are looking forward to sitting with Jesus Christ on the glorious throne of God. Revelation 3:21. Jesus also tells us plainly, “Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.” God calls us to look past this temporal fleshly experience and keep our focus on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Till we get there, we have a job to do. We have a commission to give our lives to. We have a purpose and plan that makes being here worth it!
Greeting:
Today, I invite you to look at your Bible and listen to God’s best for your life. Look at Jesus’ words in Mark and hear it again.
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Here we have an encounter between a certain lawyer and Jesus. Matthew records this as well and says that he was an expert in the law and that this question was a test. Matthew 22:35. Luke 10 records a similar statement, but in a different context. In Luke, the lawyer gives the answer quoting Deuteronomy 6 when Jesus asks him what does the law say. This answer was well known and accepted among all the Jews of Jesus’ day.
Back to Mark’s account. Mark indicates that the lawyer is sincere and that Jesus’ final reply to him recognizes that he is on the right track. “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Today, let’s focus on the very heart of what Jesus says in this text as God’s own Son answers the question: “What is the greatest commandment?”
We sing the song, “Hear O Israel!” Which speaks of who is God and how we are to respond to Him.
Matthew lists 3 areas, All your heart, soul and strength. Mark lists four: all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Also in Mark, the lawyer sums up Jesus answer with three areas: heart, understanding, and strength.
I want this to be a practical lesson in preparation for next week’s ministry fair.
In the middle ages, these words of Jesus were explored and reflected upon in great detail. One author noticed that the soul is the life force and that the heart, mind and strength make up within us differs from person to person. In fact, many people seem to have one of these areas as their central mode of operation, and that the characters in the gospels bear this out.
1. Some people are heart people. The heart is the seat of emotion and feelings. Some people tend to lean on their hearts and seek to interpret things, events, relationships and much of life through their emotions. They might say, “Does this feel right? I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t feel comfortable doing this or that.” Heart people are feelers. They have these antennas that sense the way along and guide them through life. They tend to trust in their emotions and make decisions based on gut feelings. Artists, musicians, actors, poets, etc. tend to be heart people.
In the Bible we see some heart people. King David was a man after God’s own heart and he wrote many of the Psalms. Jesus chose two apostles that seem to be heart people: James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus nicknamed them Boanarges or “Sons of Thunder” because they wanted to call down fire and destroy the Samaritans who were forbidding Jesus to pass through their land. John is called the disciple whom Jesus loved, and later in life John wrote the little letters of 1,2, 3 John and is referred to as the Apostle of love. Jesus knows how to work with heart people.
2. Some people are mind people. The mind is the seat of understanding and thought. Some people tend to lean on their understanding to get through life. They might say, “I don’t think so. Oh, now I understand. You just don’t get it. What were you thinking?” Mind people are head people, thinkers. They use their heads first and like to figure things out. They tend to trust in their own understanding and make decisions based on thinking it through. Being smart is more important to the thinker than being sensitive. Scientists, mathematicians, accountants, lawyers, etc. these tend to be head people, thinkers.
The Bible shows us some head people, some thinkers. Solomon, collector of wise sayings, proverbs, and riddles was a thinker. Jesus chose at least two mind people or thinkers as apostles: Thomas and Philip. Thinkers like empirical evidence and have a hard time trusting what they can’t understand. In John 14 when Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Philip asked Jesus, “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” In other words, “Let me see the evidence so I can understand.” And remember Thomas who missed seeing Jesus resurrection the first week? He told the others, “Unless I see the nail prints in his hands and touch the wound in his side, I will not believe.” Jesus supplied both Philip and Thomas with the empirical evidence they needed. Jesus knows how to work with head people.
3. Some people are strength people. Strength has to do with action and movement. Some people aren’t thinkers like the mind people, they are not feelers like the heart people, they are doers. Workers. They tend to be more concerned about getting things done than sitting around figuring it all out, or feeling their way through things. They might say, “Let’s get going! What’s going on? Where’s all the action? There‘s nothing to do around here? What are we suppose to do? Let’s just do it!” Strength people are doers. Ready, fire, aim. They may also be talkers. They love to take on a big challenge and their biggest fear is boredom. They tend to be workaholics.
The Bible has its share of strength people in it too. Nehemiah was a doer. He could work and govern like nobody’s business. Ezra was a thinker, when he saw the sins of the people he pulled out his hair. Nehemiah saw the sins of the people and pulled out their hair. Jesus picked two strength people as Apostles. They were brothers, fishermen, Andrew and Peter. When Andrew met Jesus he went to get Simon saying, “We’ve found the Messiah!” Philip, who was a thinker met Jesus, talked with him and went to get Nathaniel and listen to what Philip said, “We have found him whom Moses and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Philip had it figured out.
Peter, the other strength apostle, was in a boat on time in the middle of the night and he and the other apostles saw Jesus coming to them, walking on the water. The heart people are scared to death, the thinkers can’t figure out what’s going on, but Peter, the doer, has to do something, so he hollers, “Lord, if it is you, let me come to you on the water!” Peter just has to DO something! He’s not thinking, he’s not feeling, he’s acting!
Once when there was a huge crowd out in the wilderness following Jesus, he told his disciples to give them something to eat. Philip, the thinker, looks around and figures out that there are 5000 people here and that it would take a years wages to feed them. That’s a thinker. Andrew, the doer, runs and finds a boy with some food and brings him to Jesus.
Mary and Martha are the classic heart and strength women in the gospels. Mary sits and drinks in Jesus words as Martha works in the kitchen until Martha decides Mary needs to DO something instead of just sit and listen to God’s Son.
This brings up the point of the lesson today.
Churches are made up of heart, mind and strength people today too. What happens when you get a church filled with all these differences?
The danger is that the heart people, the feelers, will look around them and notice that no one else is moved with compassion and emotion like they are. They may think, “No one else is spiritual around here. No one cares enough to weep at the Lord’s supper, or feel the spirit moving in the songs or weep over the needy or hug the visitors.” If it weren’t for me, this church would fall apart.
Also the mind people, the thinkers, look around and notice that no one grasps the deep meanings within the scriptures. They may think, “No one else is spiritual in this church. No one understands the doctrinal truths of the Bible or comprehends the Bible with any knowledge or depth at all! If it weren’t for me, this church would lose its way and fall apart!
The strength people, the doers, look around and notice that everyone else is just thinking or feeling but not getting anything done! They may say, “Where’s the obedience of faith in this bunch!” People don’t show up on time, if they show up at all they don‘t even check to see what they are supposed to do and have to be constantly reminded of their jobs. And If it weren’t for me, nothing would get done around here and this church would fall apart!
Jesus knows how to bring all these heart, mind and strength people together and He knows that the first thing we all need to do is this: love God. Heart people, give all your feelings to God, mind people, give all your thoughts to God, strength people give all your works to God.
By doing this first, you will find in Him the power to do the second commandment, and that is to love your neighbor as yourself. As we love God first, we find that God uses our differences to build each other up and grow a church that looks like Jesus.
The heart people help supply the warmth and sense of loving spirit in the church. They do well to be the greeters and work in building relationships in the church.
The mind people help supply the understanding of scripture in the church. They do well to be the teachers and build the biblical instruction in the church.
The strength people help supply the service and ministries in the church. They do well to lead and administer the workings and services of the church.
