WHOSE WE ARE part 4 "What We Have"
This is part four of the series, "Whose We Are" based on Wesley's Covenant Prayer. Please see an earlier post for the complete prayer.
Matthew 8:18-22
Philippians 2:1-11
"Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing."
Have you ever discussed the question, "If there was a fire, what three things, besides family members and pets, would you take with you?"
Several years ago, for a rural Marion family, that question became a reality. It was a bad fire, and what wasn't burned was ruined by smoke and water damage -- furniture, clothing, family pictures -- almost everything they owned was gone.
Can you imagine finding yourself reduced to living out of a motel room with only the clothes you were able to pull on and a few other things you could grab as you rushed out the door?
Jesus didn't have a lot, himself. If he followed the advice he gave his diciples when he sent them out to minister on their own, he traveled light -- no purse, no weapons, and just the clothes on his back.
In this passage from Matthew, we learn that Jesus didn't even have a home, a place to call his own. He also didn't have the luxury of getting around to obedience and ministry when it was convenient for him. His time was not his own, and the time was urgently, NOW!
Philippians tells us that Jesus emptied himself, turned his pockets out, so to speak, and left it all behind. He laid aside his equality with God to take the form of a slave, someone of the lowest social class who didn't even own himself. And he died a slave's death on a cross -- for us.
What did Jesus have? He had the love, approval and abiding presence of his Heavenly Father as well as a humble, loving and obedient heart. And for his humility and obedience, the Father exalted Christ and declared his equality with God.
Our Heavenly Father, in God's love for us, desires no less for us: to have the same humble, loving and obedient heart and to have the same understanding of the sense of urgency of Christ's mission, the "follow me now" imperative -- to be like Christ.
God wants us to have such a love and regard for every human being that we see them as a gift from God to be treasured and not to be dehumanized to feed our own egos. Our Father wants us to have more than just the things and values of this world upon which to build our lives. Our Father desires that we fully experience the joy of a purpose-filled and abundant life that comes from following Christ.
"Let me full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing."
This part Wesley's prayer asks us to trust God with our possessions, our relationships, our finances and everything we believe will make us feel full and satisfied. It's putting them all in the hands of our Heavenly Father and putting humble, loving obedient service to God and to others above all things.
It leaves us with something, or rather someone who is still there long after the things of this world is gone.
A day or two after the fire, I was in the Marion Hy-Vee having coffee when the family came in to do some shopping. They stopped to chat with friends, and they shared this amazing story. The only picture that was hanging on a wall to survive the fire was a framed picture of Jesus which hung in their entry hall. Most of what they had in this world was gone, but they still had Jesus! Not just a picture of Christ, but Christ in them and with them. That was what was most important to them.
Our Heavenly Father wants no less for us -- to have Jesus in us and with us.
Jesus.
What we have is Jesus.
Matthew 8:18-22
Philippians 2:1-11
"Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing."
Have you ever discussed the question, "If there was a fire, what three things, besides family members and pets, would you take with you?"
Several years ago, for a rural Marion family, that question became a reality. It was a bad fire, and what wasn't burned was ruined by smoke and water damage -- furniture, clothing, family pictures -- almost everything they owned was gone.
Can you imagine finding yourself reduced to living out of a motel room with only the clothes you were able to pull on and a few other things you could grab as you rushed out the door?
Jesus didn't have a lot, himself. If he followed the advice he gave his diciples when he sent them out to minister on their own, he traveled light -- no purse, no weapons, and just the clothes on his back.
In this passage from Matthew, we learn that Jesus didn't even have a home, a place to call his own. He also didn't have the luxury of getting around to obedience and ministry when it was convenient for him. His time was not his own, and the time was urgently, NOW!
Philippians tells us that Jesus emptied himself, turned his pockets out, so to speak, and left it all behind. He laid aside his equality with God to take the form of a slave, someone of the lowest social class who didn't even own himself. And he died a slave's death on a cross -- for us.
What did Jesus have? He had the love, approval and abiding presence of his Heavenly Father as well as a humble, loving and obedient heart. And for his humility and obedience, the Father exalted Christ and declared his equality with God.
Our Heavenly Father, in God's love for us, desires no less for us: to have the same humble, loving and obedient heart and to have the same understanding of the sense of urgency of Christ's mission, the "follow me now" imperative -- to be like Christ.
God wants us to have such a love and regard for every human being that we see them as a gift from God to be treasured and not to be dehumanized to feed our own egos. Our Father wants us to have more than just the things and values of this world upon which to build our lives. Our Father desires that we fully experience the joy of a purpose-filled and abundant life that comes from following Christ.
"Let me full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing."
This part Wesley's prayer asks us to trust God with our possessions, our relationships, our finances and everything we believe will make us feel full and satisfied. It's putting them all in the hands of our Heavenly Father and putting humble, loving obedient service to God and to others above all things.
It leaves us with something, or rather someone who is still there long after the things of this world is gone.
A day or two after the fire, I was in the Marion Hy-Vee having coffee when the family came in to do some shopping. They stopped to chat with friends, and they shared this amazing story. The only picture that was hanging on a wall to survive the fire was a framed picture of Jesus which hung in their entry hall. Most of what they had in this world was gone, but they still had Jesus! Not just a picture of Christ, but Christ in them and with them. That was what was most important to them.
Our Heavenly Father wants no less for us -- to have Jesus in us and with us.
Jesus.
What we have is Jesus.
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