As our car pulled up in front of the church, the Lord gave me the scripture I must preach: Matthew 5:13-16, but generally including chapters 5-7. but the message would not come. This was a test! I could play safe and preach the message I had prepared, or I could step out in faith and possibly be a fool and have nothing to say once I started. Right now I am listening to a sermon about Abraham being called to a place he didn’t know, and he just went. I guess I felt like that. As I thought about the general message in those chapters, it is a rather harsh message! I prepared my heart for a harsh message, but it turned out that this message was still about self image as one called according to God’s purpose. The general message was that God calls his people to a higher standard than other people, and equips us to meet that standard.
"You have heard it said . . ., but I say to you . . ." is repeated over and over for various laws in Chapter 5. God calls his people to a higher standard. At the end he compares the one who does what he says to the wise man, the one who does not do his words to the foolish man in the story of the house on the rock or the house on the sand. What seems foolish to the world turns out to be wise in the end. If you would walk two miles when you are required to walk only one; if you really are truthful regardless of the consequences; if you don’t cheat on taxes, or at least seek and use all available loopholes, but pay all happily and willingly; if you refuse to join in gossip; if you let homeless people into your home, bring street people in to feed them; if you pay your employees the highest wage possible, pay your suppliers the highest reasonable price, and charge the lowest possible cost for your product, with the purpose of blessing people; if you do these things you will be considered unwise in the eyes of the world. But God calls his people to a different, a higher standard. This requires a different view, a heavenly view rather than a worldly view.
When I was preaching, it came to my mind that there is an apparent discrepancy between 5:14-16 and beginning of chapter 6. The one says you should let your light shine before men so they can see your good works, Chapter 6 begins by saying don’t let anyone see your charitable acts. What is the difference? I heard myself saying. I had no idea what the answer was, but as I continued speaking, the answer came from my mouth! We know it cannot be a contradiction, and we also know it means what it says. So what is the difference? One says let people see, the other says don’t let people see.
Obviously the works must be different works. What is the difference between the good works of chapter 5 and the charitable works of chapter 6 that must not be seen or rewarded by others?
Another clue is in the word reward. The good work is a work that the world will not admire nor reward. It will not be considered wise or prudent by the world. We are called to a different, a higher standard than the world. We are talking generally about Heavenly View vs Worldly view. Good works will be regarded as good by the heavenly view, but not by the worldly view. Many of the ‘charitable acts we do are mostly so we can feel good or others will admire us for our generosity, etc. These are the works of chapter 6. We should still do them, but in secret so there is no acknowledgment by the world.
How about the other work? The night before, I had a baffling dream in which there was a man in a group who was generally rejected by the group. He was berated, demeaned, ridiculed and generally made sport of. In the dream I came and stood beside the man, becoming a friend and supporter for a time, speaking for him. I became rejected and ridiculed by the group for this, but it changed the man and his ability to function in the world. I could not figure the meaning of the dream, nor was it revealed by God when I asked. During the past few days as we visited businessmen and pastors, we heard story after story of people who were ridiculed for obeying what they felt God was telling them. They were called fools, stupid, unwise and other worse things. They lost friends and supporters.
I experienced the same thing the first time I quit work. With the exception of only two or three friends who were a bit more crazy than I, every one of my friends told me I was making a big mistake. When we really surrender to God’s standards, we will be so treated by the world, but the fruit will be revealed and the world will see this ‘crazy’ or ‘stupid’ work and marvel that God would lead a person in such a detailed, specific way in life. God calls us to a higher standard, a standard of listening, hearing, and obeying the voice of God as he leads us in life.
The second time I quit work, those that were aware of it didn’t say anything. I suppose it’s because they already know I am totally crazy and expect craziness rather than wisdom in my choice of actions! But I know if I had not been obedient to the ‘voice’ inside of me, I would never have experienced the miracled I have experienced, such as the paralyzed lady standing up and walking on that first Friday night. I don’t need to speak only about miracles I saw last year, or years ago, I have fresh testimonies coming all the time. But only if I obey!
My favorite story about this is the time I was in Hawaii and a friend asked me to pray for his knee. To make a long story short, I felt I should hit the knee, and eventually I choose to obey this stupid move, and wound up and hit him hard. He jumped back, angry, and when he paused for breath, I asked how his knee was. It was healed! If I prayed for that knee three days straight, fasting and praying continuously, I would not have experience the miracle that happened in seconds when I choose to obey.
The good work we are to let shine and be seen is the work that seems strange and crazy and brings criticism, but is in fact led by the Holy Spirit. As Jesus says in chapter 7 the fruit will reveal if it is good or not, from God or not. Sometimes fruit is long in coming, long in becoming ripe, but it will be seen eventually. We must dare to step out and swim against the flow of popular opinion and worldly wisdom.
There you have it - 7 days of looking at HEAVENLY VIEW, some of it old teachings repackaged with a new focus, some of it entirely new for me, known only as I heard myself speak it to the congregations!
No comments:
Post a Comment