Babies

At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:25-30 NASB)

Our God revealed His greatness to "infants" or some translations of the bible say "babies."

Here is the thing about babies, and I'm sure you're well aware of this...they are fairly helpless. They can't do anything on their own. They are absolutely dependent on outside help to be fed, changed, and loved. They look to mom and dad for all their needs.

That is a humbling place to be and it is completely counter-culture. We still believe at some level we can achieve something outside of God's help. Haven't you heard "You do what you can and let God do the rest? My question is: where is that in the bible? My bible has Jesus quoted at saying "Apart from me you can do nothing." That's a pretty interesting statement. When I began to research that from John 15, I realized that Jesus meant ... if we want our fruit to remain--if we want the works of our hands to LAST, we can't do it without Him. We can do something and it may be here for a season but it's not going to stand the test of time. It won't endure to the end.

We need God.

So lately in the church I hear a lot of messages about "working hard" and "discipline."

Now, let me just say right off the bat, I believe in a high work ethic and I try to be diligent and thorough in my work.

 However, I don't think I would ever teach a message that would make "working hard" the emphasis. When  I do that, I am addressing the  OUTER things and symptoms of something deeper. I would rather have people changed from the inside out. I would rather look at people's motivation.  Working hard and being disciplined are best when they come out of a place of conviction and revelation. If you are convinced and passionate about God, you will work hard for the kingdom. If you start with hard work and discipline, you will get harsh religion and legalism--an emphasis on works rather than on faith and love. Or worse...you might work hard to please men and only because other people are watching you and what people expect you to do. ummmm-- NOT what we want church to look like. The fear of man is all about religion--looking good on the outside.

If we want to see real transformation in people's lives from the inside out, people need to  have an encounter with the Jesus who says "Come to me all of you who are are weary and heavy laden..." Jesus describes himself as meek and humble...gentle even. When I started going to church 25 years ago, I didn't meet many gentle people when it came to things of God. I met people who were interested in 1) being right 2) correct theology and 3) following the rules. I rarely heard anyone talk with real affection about Jesus.

If we emphasize the OUTER behavior rather than the heart, we will get religious people who don't understand the reality of God. We will produce people who are fairly proud and interested in pleasing other people by their good works.  If we take a look at Jesus and are motivated by who He is and what He is like, we will see Christians who are also loving and gentle and motivated by pleasing God as a response to His love.

What motivates you and me to do what we do is key. If we are not motivated by who Jesus is, we can easily make room for pride. God says he resists the proud but gives grace to the humble(James 4:6) In fact, God hates pride. When we emphasize all we can do apart from God, we can easily look down on others who are not doing enough.  In a list of things God hates he listed "haughty eyes."(proverbs 6:17)

Is it any wonder that God hates a proud look or countenance? We, who have so little, believe we have achieved so much and puff ourselves up with our acheivements, with our credentials, with our correct theology, and with our awards. God, on the other hand,  who made the heavens, earth and all things, comes to us in restrained gentleness. He does not come pompously or in grandiosity. He came to this earth in weakness as a baby, as a child, as a teenager, and as a man. He limited Himself and hid his great strength so that he could reach us and be with us and show us how to live.

This great God is truly like no one else. That's why I love Him. That's why I'm captured by His heart and his goodness.

If there is a message I would preach from the front...it wouldn't be  "work harder" or have discipline...it would be "see God for who he really is."  This is the greatest investment of your life and time--to see this beautiful God with all your heart. To know you need Him. He invites you to come and lay your burden down. Learn from Him in his gentle way. He doesn't push or pry or manipulate. He invites and welcomes and accepts us as His sons and daughters.

But it takes a humble heart. You have to know that you are needy. That's what babies are like... needy and dependent. God can do something with that.

Michah 6:8

Micah 6:8

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord
                require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness  and
                mercy, and to humble yourself  and  walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 AMP)
Loving kindness, mercy and walking humbly.

This doesn't actually sound like the world we live in.

We live in a world where we have to "make things happen" and "fight for what you want" and we are encouraged to be "go getters."  Maybe it's a little different in the UK but the USA is all about the moving and shaking.  Making your voice heard. Sometimes in our going and getting and moving and shaking, we can run over people.

Most of you know this scripture in Micah 6:8.  We had a song we used to sing with these words when I was in high school...a beautiful catchy song with an echo and I still love it.

I was sitting in church on Sunday when the confession was made and there are parts of the Anglican confession taken from this scripture. As soon as I heard it, the words went into my heart and spirit. I couldn't stop crying as we continued to worship.

A lot of things have been piercing my heart these days. As part of my sabbatical I decided to take my mornings with God. And God has His finger on various parts of my life. Sometimes it's just good fellowship and sometimes I feel like He is showing me more of my life that has to change.

He wants to transform me.

So I'm sitting in church weeping and it hits me. And as I have continued to meditate on this scripture, it keeps hitting me.

You see, I am not the most kind person you ever met.  I don't think that is the adjective people use most to describe me. It was not something I grew up with very much. Some of you are laughing because you know it's true. I don't have a gentle style.  I have an intense, challenging style, and my aim has always been to be authentic. However, I  have had a tendency, especially in the past, to be forceful or strong about my opinions.  Sometimes that is ok, but here's where I'm beginning to "get it" so to speak.

When I need to confront something that I see is wrong or not working well...I don't have to push my opinion or my will. Here's why.

God has called me to do what is right according to this scripture. That means that my example needs to be good. If I want to teach anyone the right way, I'd better be living it. I need to make my life a model. That means I don't respond in the same spirit as the rest. I can respond with truth and love even when I'm being mistreated. So my example must be right.

Secondly, I have to love mercy and kindness.  That means the manner in which I do what is right has to be loving and kind towards people.  It is all about helping other people grow into maturity, not about me winning an argument or proving my point. And God is not going to fall off the throne because I wasn't able to make people "see the light" so to speak. God has to move on people's hearts. I may be persuasive and I may win an argument but I may have either 1) lost the relationship or 2) not convinced the person in their hearts of what is true. So what would be the benefit of winning? I will have lost anyway.

Thirdly, I can walk in humility because I live my life before God.  I am free to serve others and to humble myself and my opinions and ideas before other men because I don't have to prove anything to anyone. And I am not responsible to make others see truth. I am responsible to God and to trust in Him that He will do it. I can humble myself because I know and trust God. And He is worthy of this behavior.  He is worthy of my service. He is worthy of my humility and so I can serve you in my desire to serve Him.  That's what He wants and He deserves it all. It becomes a much easier thing when I realize that in loving and humbling myself to you I am loving and humbling myself to Him.

Maybe you know all this but it felt like it went that much deeper into my heart this last week.

Do what is right-- be an example more than SAY what you think!

Love mercy-- be gracious, and compassionate towards people--it's not about you! It's about people growing and they are more likely to grow when we love them kindly!

Humble yourself before God-- He will make a way! He will do it. I can humble myself to the God who holds all things together. I don't have to protect myself or prove anything to any man. My God is with me.

This all equals FREEDOM.

I guess this is revolutionary because if we get a hold of this, we will have fewer church splits, fewer broken relationships, fewer offenses, and more unity as we grow together.  There  would be a lot less division if we could live Micah 6:8 and carry it around as a mantra.