Posted in 2 Chronicles 22, 2 Chronicles 23, 2 Chronicles 24, tagged commitment, Joash on November 16, 2008|
We are in 2 Chronicles 22-24 today. We have looked at several stories out of 2 Chronicles in the last year, and now we come to the story of King Joash, although it just as much the story of Jehoiada, the high priest during this time. Let’s get oriented.
Background: A tale of two women
After her son was killed, Athaliah, the queen mother (a very powerful position) decided to kill off the Davidic line – including her own grandchildren (22:10)!
Posted in Luke 14, tagged commitment, discipleship, repentance, wealth on October 5, 2008|
Luke 14:25-35
“Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
So therefore, any one of you who does not give up all his own possessions, cannot be my disciple.
Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile.’”
When I hear this passage, it reminds me of how Jesus is so very different than we are. We think – “Wow! Look at the big crowd!” Isn’t this the ultimate mark of success today; to draw a crowd?
But what does Jesus do? Jesus turns to them and tells them “give up everything and if you can’t, don’t even try to be my disciple.”
Jesus simply isn’t interested in casual, nominal, half-hearted followers. He wants people who will give up everything for him and the kingdom of God.
Crowds are great (don’t get me wrong) but it has to be a crowd that understands and accepts what Jesus requires. Lets look at what Jesus requires in this passage.
He mentions . . .
Three things we must give up to follow him
1. Our family – v. 26 – “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters . . . he cannot be my disciple.”
He pretty much covers it all – parents, spouses, children and siblings.
The word “hate” certainly stands out. What does this mean? Well, in Matthew 10:37 he says it this way – “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” To hate our family means that we love Jesus more than our family.
So Jesus is saying in comparison to our commitment to and love for him, it will appear that we hate our family.
What Jesus is saying is that:
Jesus calls us to give up our family for the sake of the kingdom. Jesus comes first.
2. Our own life – the rest of v. 26 says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate . . . even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
Again, the idea is that in comparison to our love for and commitment to Jesus, it will look like we hate our own life in this world.
Jesus calls us to give up our very lives for the sake of the kingdom. Jesus comes first.
3. Our possessions – this comes from near the end of the section, in v. 33 – “Any one of you who does not give up all his own possessions, cannot be my disciple.”
To give up means to forsake or to renounce; to let go of. “Possessions” or “all that we have” – means all that we own, anything that is ours – property, houses, cars . . . whatever we own.
Jesus calls us to give up all our possessions, for the sake of the kingdom. Jesus comes first.
So as we can see from these examples:
We have to give up everything to follow Jesus
v. 27 sums all this up – “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
Crosses are instruments of death. It was the electric chair of the ancient world. You take up an instrument of death, for one reason, to kill something. In this case, to kill your worldly life.
Family, possessions, your own life, all have to be on the altar. All are crucified for the sake of the kingdom. Whatever God asks for, we will give.
This is a total and complete giving up of everything for the sake of the kingdom. If you think this is extreme . . . well, it is! Which might well lead us to ask . . .
Why do we have to give it all up?
Jesus repeats three times – v. 26, 27, 33: if you don’t give all this up, you “cannot be my disciple.” He doesn’t mean, you know, you can’t be in my club. A kind of hoop you have to jump through. He is saying, you are not able to be my disciple.
The answer is that the demands of the kingdom are so strenuous, so absolute, unless you pursue it above all else, unless you “seek first the kingdom of God,” unless you give up everything, you will fail; you will wash out. In the words of vs. 34-35: “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The kingdom requires everything of us, and so we must be willing to give everything. Otherwise we will not be able to follow Jesus.
Next, we look at the two parables that are sandwiched in the middle of all this teaching, which sum up . . .
Jesus’ challenge
The point of both of these illustrations is the same. Don’t start something you can’t finish, whether it be a tower or a war. Before you start, make sure you have what it takes to come through on the commitment.
What’s going on here is that Jesus notices that it has become popular to follow him, and so he says to the crowds – “Have you counted the cost?” “Are you sure you want to be my disciple? Because it will take everything you have.”
But we are so different today, in fact, we have things all upside down.
We have everything backwards
We have domesticated Jesus so well, that we can’t even hear his radical call anymore. We have tamed Jesus and turned him into his opposite. Instead of us giving up everything for the kingdom, we have Jesus giving us everything we want including, our desires for our lives, family and all the possessions we would like to have.
What a spiritually bereft generation we are a part of! We are so trivial, so self-centered, so spoiled. We ask, “What can Jesus do for me?” “How can Jesus make me happy?” You know, what’s in it for me?
We want to be Christians, but without the cost. We want to call ourselves faithful, but without the cross.
But life is not about us, and Jesus is not about meeting our selfish desires and promoting our self-serving dreams.
What does Jesus say to us?
. . . we, the crowds of us who gather around him today? Well, Jesus doesn’t change. He says the same thing today that he said to that crowd of old:
“If you cling to family, life, and possessions above me, you are not able to be my disciples.”
“It is only when you give up everything for me, that will you be able to be my disciple. Only then, will you be able to finish what you have started in your life with God.”
May we hear and respond to Jesus’ challenge to us today. William Higgins
Posted in 2 Chronicles 17, 2 Chronicles 18, 2 Chronicles 19, tagged commitment, discipleship, the world on March 1, 2008| 1 Comment »
Today we begin looking at the story of Jehoshaphat. We will see what we can learn from this. Lets begin by getting oriented. Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of the southern kingdom of Judah, the son of Asa, of the line of David. He ruled for 25 years. His story is told in 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 17-20. We will focus on 2 Chronicles 18.
The Story Begins
. . . and it begins well in chapter 17. We will look at this briefly to set the stage. First we see a picture of . . .
1) Jehoshaphat the faithful. He walked in God’s ways – “The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. . . . (He) sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments. . . His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord” – 2 Chronicles 17:3-6.
Not only was he faithful – he was a reformer. He led the people to be faithful as well (like his father Asa).
Next we see portrayed . . .
2) Jehoshaphat the blessed.
These are all tokens of God’s blessing in this context. This brings us to our focus today:
Jehoshaphat’s Unrighteous Alliance
King Ahab, the king of the northern kingdom of Israel was a very wicked man, who opposed Yahweh. He certainly did not walk in God’s ways. You will remember him from the stories of Elijah. His wife was Jezebel, the infamous queen. There was nothing righteous about Ahab.
Yet in chapter 18, we find that Jehoshaphat enters into a partnership with him.
The result of all this is that Jehoshaphat proclaims – “I am as you are, my people as your people. We will be with you in the war” – 2 Chronicles 18:3.
But first, Jehoshaphat wanted to inquire of the Lord – 18:4. Perhaps some hesitation on his part? And then we have one of the most interesting stories in the Bible, which we can’t get into in detail, but with regard to our focus –
Despite his misgivings(?) Jehoshaphat goes forward with the plan. After all it was 400 to 1!
Ahab proceeds to imprison Micaiah. But just in case, he disguises himself and also encourages Jehoshaphat to wear his royal attire, thus making him the target of the enemy.
And sure enough, the enemy all came after Jehoshaphat thinking he was Ahab and he barely escaped death. God intervened to help him. Though disguised, Ahab is killed and Israel is defeated. And finally, Jehoshaphat slinks back to Jerusalem, humiliated by his bad decision.
Jehu’s Rebuke
Once back, the Lord rebukes him through his prophet Jehu, whose father, by the way, had rebuked Jehoshaphat’s father – King Asa. Jehu says, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” – 19:2. In other words, he should not have made a partnership with an evil king, who was God’s enemy. It forced him to comprise his faithfulness to God – being away from his job of leading Judah, helping the wicked; participating in the persecution of a true prophet – Micaiah.
He received mercy: Jehu says, “Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asherahs out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God” – 19:3. He was rescued on the battlefield and was allowed to continue as king.
But he also received a word of judgment: Jehu says, “Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord” – 19:2. Sin never pays! The woman he married his son to – King Ahab’s daughter – later, after Jehoshaphat died, killed off the line of David. Only by divine intervention was one saved – 2 Chronicles 22:10-12. All of Jehoshaphat’s male children and grandchildren were killed – save one.
This reminds us, sadly, that we reap what we sow. But, not only that, so many times our sin ends up wounding those we love more than us.
After Jehu’s rebuke, Jehoshaphat got back on track. The rest of chapter 19 he went back to reforming Judah. This is what he should have been doing all along, instead of going to be with Ahab.
Lessons For Us
Jehoshaphat was an ancient king, but he is not so different than us, for we do similar things in our lives. And so we can learn from him.
1. We should not love the world. Like Jehu told Jehoshaphat about his seeking an alliance with Ahab, he should not “love those who hate the Lord.” He was not satisfied with what God had given him, but was longing for something else among the nations around him.
Similarly, John tells us – “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” – 1 John 2:15. We also should not go about longing for what the world has. We should stay true to God.
2. We should not make partnerships with the world. I mean here, serious, committed relationships with unbelievers – dating, marriage, business – whatever. Just as Jehoshaphat allied himself with a wicked king.
Paul says about this, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?” – 2 Corinthians 6:14-16. Believers and unbelievers have different values and commitments. We have different frameworks and directions to our lives.
These partnerships pressure us to sacrifice our faithfulness to God. When choices come along, you may want to keep your commitment to God, but you have to act in a way that works for the unbeliever as well.
As James says, “whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” – James 4:4.
3. The world will not be a true partner to you. We need to learn this. The world will draw you in:
And, when you waver, it will pressure you to conform (like Ahab bringing out 400 prophets to 1). It will use peer pressure to make you stay in line.
But the world will betray you (just as Ahab set up Jehoshaphat by disguising himself and making Jehoshaphat the target of the enemy, not caring if he died).
You compromise your faithfulness to God, but you will get nothing from it.
______________
May we learn from Jehoshaphat, so that we will not make the same mistakes. William Higgins
Posted in 2 Chronicles 14, 2 Chronicles 15, 2 Chronicles 16, tagged commitment, encouragement on January 6, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Asa the righteous
Lets begin by getting oriented. Asa was the great, great grandson of David, the third king of Judah, which he ruled for 41 years. His story is told in 1 Kings 15:9-24 and 2 Chronicles 14-16:14. We will be looking at this latter account.
2 Chronicles 14:2-4 says, “And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment.”
Here we learn here that Asa was righteous. Specifically, he opposed idolatry and he commanded keeping the Law of God. Even though this is fairly early in the history of Judah, they had already strayed from God for a long time. As we hear from a prophet later in our story – “For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law” – 2 Chronicles 15:3.
So Asa was a reformer, leading the people back to God. Because of his obedience, v. 6 tells us, God gave him peace. Verses 7-8 go on to say that Judah prospered, and Asa had a good and sizeable army. So things were going well for him. But, then came
A Time of Testing
Zera, the Ethiopian came up from the south against Judah with a million man army and 300 chariots. This was much larger than Asa’s army and more technologically advanced.
As Asa prepared for this, he prayed – “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you” – 2 Chronicles 14:11. This is a beautiful prayer of trust in God.
And God answered Asa’s prayer. God completely defeated the Ethiopian army, and they carried off much plunder.
Azariah’s Words
Just after this, the prophet Azariah spoke to all Judah and said, “The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you” – 2 Chronicles 15:2. Asa aligned himself with the Lord, not with idols, and so in his trouble, when he relied upon the Lord, the Lord was with him.
Azariah goes on to encourage Asa in righteousness. “But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” – 2 Chronicles 15:7. And Asa responds by becoming even more faithful to God. As we see in Chapter 15:
So this is a really good story of someone relying on God and responding to God to do what is right, as well as leading others in this. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end here.
Another Test
Sometime after this another test came to King Asa. 2 Chronicles 16:1-3 describes this:
Was this a stroke of genius?? Not really. In the first test Asa relied upon God. In the second test Asa turned to a pagan king for help. Before, we find Asa putting treasures into the Temple. Now, we find him taking these and giving them to Ben-Hadad.
The Words of Hanani
Another prophet, Hanani, confronts Asa: “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. . . . You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars” – 2 Chronicles 16:7-9.
This was a massive failure for King Asa. It may look good from the perspective of world politics, but it was a failure as a leader of God’s people. It was also a failure practically. He was seeking to be free of war through this, but ended up getting a promise of war for the rest of his reign.
Hanani confronts him with this and Asa is furious. Instead of repentance he puts Hanani in stocks in jail and is cruel to others.
The End
Finally, the story ends on a sour note. “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians” (perhaps more like magicians or witch doctors) – 2 Chronicles 16:12.
So his lack of reliance on the Lord continued till his death. Such a good beginning, such a bad end for King Asa.
Three Lessons
1. A warning: God wants to help us, but if we forsake him, he will forsake us. This comes from the words of Azariah. “The Lord is with you while you are with him . . . but if you forsake him, he will forsake you” – 2 Chronicles 15:2. Asa began right. He relied on the Lord and was delivered. But then he forsook the Lord. He relied on his own plans and wisdom, and the results were devastating.
If you forsake the Lord and rely on yourself, your wealth, your wisdom, your plans – anything other than the Lord . . . don’t expect God to step in and help you in your time of trouble. The warning is clear – if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
2. A promise: God eagerly seeks to help those whose heart is true. Hanani told Asa,– “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose hearts are fully committed to him” – 2 Chronicles 16:9 ESV/NIV.
This is beautiful promise to us. God is looking all throughout the whole earth. For who? God is looking for those who are fully committed to him, who rely on him, who seek him, who are with him. Why is God doing this? To give them strong support in their difficult times just as God helped Asa in his first test. This is a powerful promise and word of encouragement.
3. An invitation: Become fully committed to God. Perhaps you are struggling in your commitment to God. Receive this invitation – seek God; give yourself fully to God; rely on God.
As you hear this story of Asa, learn from it! Don’t be like Asa when his heart was not fully committed to God and he relied on himself and received the consequences. Be like Asa when he removed the idols. Remove your idols – whatever you rely on instead of God. Give yourself fully to God. Then when you seek him, you will find him. Then God will find you too, one whose heart is true. And God will strengthen you, establish you and give you peace.
William Higgins
Posted in Matthew 23, tagged commitment, discipleship, Jesus, righteousness on September 19, 2007| 1 Comment »
Last week, we talked about Jesus our Savior. But for many Christians today that’s as far as it goes, because they go on and live their lives according to whatever they think is best or according to whoever they choose to listen to. But as scripture teaches us Jesus in not just our Savior,
Jesus is also our teacher
In fact, as Jesus says in Matthew 23:10 – “you have one teacher, the Christ.” In other words, Jesus is telling us that he is our one teacher; he is our true teacher. This means that
Posted in Mark 12, tagged commitment, loving God, serving God on August 12, 2007|
Today I want to pick up a theme we touched on in January when we looked at the Shema. And we begin by looking at Mark 12:29-30:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord alone is God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
This is Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Would you say it with me?
Alright, let me remind you of two things about this –
Call for commitment to God
1) God wants every part of us. We are to love God with our
This covers every part of us, both our inner person and our strength or body. God claims all of us, not just part of us. Everything within us and everything else.
2) God wants all of every part of us
God wants every part of every part of you.
But . . . what we actually do is usually far short of what God demands. What we actually give God is, often, just a part of ourselves. We do this in different ways. We have what I call –
Strategies of commitment avoidance
These are ways in which we hold back on giving ourselves fully to God. We will look at several examples of these.
1. We give God the stuff that doesn’t require sacrifice. Honor my parents? Sure! That’s easy. They are good and noble people. But love my enemies – who harm me, slander me, threaten to kill me? No way!
God wants even what seems too difficult for you to give
2. We give God the stuff that makes us look good. Be honest? Well it’s hard, but sure, I’ll get a good reputation out of it. But when God asks me to share my faith with my coworkers? No way! That would embarrass me. They might disapprove of me or make fun of me.
God wants all of you, even if it causes you shame.
3. We give God the religious stuff and keep the rest for ourselves. Sure, I will go to church and say a prayer now and again. But order my private life according to God’s will? You know, let God control who I date, who I marry, my sex life, what career I have, how I run my business, what I do with my money. No way!
God wants control of your private life.
4. We give God the stuff that doesn’t take much faith. Yes, I will serve God here and there. But serve God when it means leaving my family, friends and home for a time overseas or somewhere else, or leave for ever? Not a chance!
God wants you to love him even when it stretches you to the breaking point – beyond what your faith can think or imagine.
5. We give stuff to God when the giving is easy. We give of ourselves when the circumstances are conducive. Sure, I will give some offerings. I’m doing pretty well now. But give sacrificially, when I have trouble paying my bills? No way. Or another example – sure, I will praise you when my life is easy and comfortable. But praise you when I am sick, disabled or poor? Certainly not!
God wants all of you all the time, not just when it is convenient or easy for you.
6. We give God the bad stuff in our lives – our problems, our crises, our needs. Sure God, take all this and fix it for me so that we can keep on living my comfortable life of complacence and half-hearted commitment, just like I always have. But give God my career, my resources, my creativity, my best time and focus. No way!
God wants our best, not our leftovers.
I said “strategies,” but really these are all one strategy. All of these have in common that we give a part instead of the whole. And we hope that that will be enough; and God will be happy with that! We think that we can appease God by giving him a part of us and not the whole of us. But God wants it all!
But you say, pastor . . .
Is God demanding too much?
Well think about it. God is only asking for what is rightfully his, for what God makes, God owns. Psalm 95:5 says, “The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” What God makes is rightfully God’s. And this applies to us. V. 6 goes on to say, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” God has made us and we are his. And so, as the verse says, we are to give ourselves fully in worship and submission to our Maker.
God made us and it is only right that we give ourselves fully to God.
Also, God is only asking from us, what he has already given to us in Jesus – everything. Romans 8:32 says, “God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all.” Thankfully God didn’t hold back with regard to us and leave us hanging. God’s commitment to us is complete. God gave us everything in Jesus. And we should give God everything in return.
Think about in from another perspective. If we are holding out on God we are still in control. If I set the terms, if I tell God what he can have and what he can’t have in my life, then I am still in control – even if I give over most of myself to God most of the time. I am still in control!
Half hearted commitment isn’t commitment. To be committed to God means to give God everything. That’s why he asks for it all.
Finally –
Let Jesus be your example in this
Jesus was like us in all things (except sin). Hebrews 4:15 tells us that he knew human weakness, limitations and temptations. But he gave every part of every part of himself to God.
May God give you the strength and courage to overcome your fears, so that just like Jesus you give yourself fully to God.
William Higgins
Posted in Deuteronomy 6, tagged commitment, God, loving God, serving God, wealth on February 11, 2007|
We are continuing to look at the Shema this week, the name for Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Last week we talked about how v. 4 of the Shema teaches that there is only one true God. And since there is only one true God we should beware of the lure of false gods, who seek to take away our allegiance with their promises of help and hope when, in fact, only the true God can truly meet our needs.
Today we want to look more at verse 5 and loving God.
1. What it means to “love” God
In America we usually think of love as an emotion. Then we apply this to God. To love God then means that we
In the Scriptures, however, loving God is about loyalty that issues in obedience to God. In Deuteronomy love of God and obedience to God go hand in hand.
Jesus confirms this connection in John 14:15. He says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
John says this – “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” – 1 John 5:3
So love is certainly not just an emotion. It has to do with things like:
all of which lead to obedience. It’s a choice we make to do what God says. That’s why we can’t say, ‘I don’t feel like loving God today.’ You choose to love God day in and day out, whether you feel like it or not, by walking in his ways.
2. The Shema calls us to complete love of God
This comes out in the words used in Deuteronomy 6 – “heart,” “soul,” and “might.” This covers every part of us, from our inner person to our physical strength.
Actually, when the Shema gets repeated, the descriptions of the parts of us change:
Different parts of us are mentioned, with different words and in different orders. The point, however, in all of these is the same – we are to love God with our whole person, with every part of us, however you want to say that.
But not only are we to love God with every part of us, we are to love God with all of every part of us. V. 5 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”Not a portion of each part of us, but all of each part of us.
You can’t say it more clearly. The Shema calls us to complete love for God.
3. The greatest temptation is to try to love Yahweh and another god
It is often not choosing between Yahweh or another god, but between serving Yahweh alone or Yahweh along with another god or gods. A little background here. In a world where there were many gods/idols, you need several gods to get all the help you need; to cover all the bases.
What this means is that you have to give a part of your devotion to all of these gods, in order to get what you need. Many gods equals many loves.
This is why the Shema is the way it is. V. 4 teaches us first of all that there is one only true God, who can care for all of our needs. Then v. 5 calls us to love the true God will all of our heart, soul, and strength.
Since there is only one God, there is need for only one love on our part. We don’t need to divide our loyalties to this god for this thing and other gods for other things.
This was the constant temptation of Israel – to serve Yahweh, but also another god. They believed in Yahweh but would sneak along another idol for a particular need, where they weren’t sure Yahweh could take care of them.
But we do the same thing, for instance with wealth. God can take care of us, but I will also pile up a load of wealth – just in case.
But as Jesus so clearly teaches us, you can’t be loyal to two gods at once. “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” – Matthew 6:24. You have to choose. If you don’t you will just end up despising your heavenly Father.
——————-
So I like to say the Shema in my prayer times and in corporate worship, to remind us that we have one true God. And to call us to give our whole selves to this God, who can care for all of our needs. It is a kind of pledge of allegiance for followers of Jesus.
William Higgins
Posted in Deuteronomy 6, tagged commitment, God, God's name, Jesus on February 4, 2007|
Let’s begin by all saying these verses together – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” – Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Today we are looking at a very important text, which in Jewish tradition is called the “Shema,” from the first word – “hear,” which in Hebrew is “shema.”
1. The importance of the Shema
When a passage has its own name, you know it must be significant – you know, the golden rule, the ten commandments. And this passage is indeed important
The central importance of this passage was recognized, in that it was said twice a day by devout Jews (with other texts that call the people of God to true loyalty); once in the morning and once in the evening.
Early Jewish Christians, and I do not doubt Jesus himself, would have engaged in this practice as well. It is a continual remembrance of the true God, and a call to faithfulness. It is a practice that I would like for us to use as well, at least from time to time in our worship services.
Next, a question –
2. What does “the Lord is one” mean?
Next week we will ask the question, ‘What does it mean to love God . . .?’ from verse 5. But today we look at the first part in v. 4 – “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
Alright, let’s break this down and look at it, and I will ask you to bear with me as we work through this.
First of all, literally it says, “Yahweh our God, Yahweh one.” Notice that the personal name, “Yahweh,” is replaced by “Lord” in our translations, out of reverence for the divine name. It shows up in our English translations as the word “LORD” in all capital letters. So when you see this it means “Yahweh.”
Also, note that there is no verb in the original. It has to be supplied. Without getting into the details, the best solution is to insert “is” in the last phrase – “Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.” [See – Notes on the Shema]
So we have “Yahweh/God is one.” But what does this mean? In later church history this caused much speculation about the nature of God, or how God is put together. Speculations that go beyond what the Scriptures have to say.
In Scripture, there is a much more basic concern. In the context of Deuteronomy 6, Yahweh is presented as Israel’s one & only God. The point is that Yahweh has an exclusive claim on Israel as their only God.
Similarly, when the Shema shows up in the New Testament, the point is that there is only one true God. Here are some examples from the New Testament. Paul gives us a version of the Shema in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6. He says, “For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’— yet for us there is one God.” In this passage Paul understands “Yahweh/God is one” as “there is one (true) God.”
In Mark 12:32, after Jesus speaks of the Shema, the scribe rephrases what Jesus has just said in these words, “You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.” And Jesus approves of this. The phrase, “God/he is one” is he same as saying, “there is no other beside him,” that is, that there is only one God.
So you can see in these examples that the phrase, “Yahweh/God is one” is the same as saying ‘there is only one true God.’ It can be translated literally as “Yahweh our God – Yahweh is our only God.” Or it can be translated, “The Lord our God, the Lord is our only God.” The point is that only Yahweh is to be our God.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself,
3. What about Jesus?
Just a word here. The apostolic writers were adamant that there is one true God, the Father. But they went on to say that Jesus, the Savior, is God’s Son. They even used the Shema to confess this belief:
So, there is only one God, but they added that Jesus is God’s Son, come in the flesh and is Lord of all. That’s where the Scriptures leave it. And that’s where we’ll leave it for now.
Alright, getting into some application here –
4. The Shema calls us to beware of false gods
It’s trying to get us to understand – “Hear!” “Listen!” That’s why its repeated so often – morning and evening. Remember that there are other gods that want our allegiance! As Paul said in I Corinthians 8:5, “indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’” out there. So we need to beware.
A “god” uses their powers to give us help and peace in exchange for our allegiance, service and honor. We don’t have many literal idols around, or even things that we literally would say are gods. But there are still many gods and lords today.
Once could be your country, depending on your attitude toward it. Do you look to it for your help and security? Do you listen to it even when it tells you to do what is against the way of Jesus? We need to remember Acts 5:29, where Peter said, “we must obey God rather than men.”
Perhaps it’s drugs & alcohol. Do you look to these to solve your problems, or make them go away? Do you sacrifice of yourself and your family to serve them, to obtain them?
Maybe it’s possessions and wealth. Jesus talks about this as a god in Matthew 6:24. And I think it is the most dangerous and alluring god in America. Do you think having more money and possessions, will give you peace and solve your problems? Do you devote yourself to obtaining it, storing it up and protecting it so it will give you security against the future?
A god can be almost anything – a person, our career, popularity or acceptance with a peer group. What do you look to, to provide for you, give you peace, protect you, make your problems go away, give your life meaning? What do you serve? What are you willing to sacrifice for above the true God? There is your god!
What is yours?
The Shema calls you to set any such god aside and give yourself fully to the true God, to trust in God and to serve God with your whole heart.
Finally, since there is only one true God,
5. Only the true God is able to truly give us the help and peace we need
In speaking of idolatry, Jeremiah 2:13 says, “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
The gods, although they seem to promise so much, are broken cisterns; cracked containers that can’t hold water. They can’t truly satisfy us. We end up thirsting to death if we rely on them because they don’t deliver.
Only the true God can give us what we so desperately need. God is the “fountains of living water.” How futile it is that we go around seeking after other gods, giving them our service and obedience, when only the true God can meet our deepest needs.
I would like us to end by standing and saying together a paraphrase of the Shema:
‘Father, you alone are God and we give ourselves fully to you. We choose not to give any part of ourselves to other gods. We commit to love you with all that we have, and all that we are.’
William Higgins
Posted in Mark 14, Matthew 19, tagged commitment, discipleship, Holy Spirit, serving God, testing on October 4, 2006|
I want to share this morning about “Two Essentials for Following Jesus” and I want to begin by pointing out something you already know . . .
Jesus’ way can be hard
Its not always easy to follow Jesus. Some people like to make it sound like being a Christian solves all your problems, (and it does solve a lot). But the reality is that following Jesus can actually make your life harder than it was before.
Christian teaching 