Matthew 19:23-30
Jesus makes the statement twice, almost word for word, that it is hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, he says, it is easier for a camel to be threaded through the needle's eye than for a rich person to enter the kingdom. This shocks the disciples because they live in a world, much like ours, where everything is easier for the rich. If it is so hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom, then it must be even more impossible for anyone else to enter the kingdom. Being so insulated by the Christian culture - which is too often a mix of Christian language and worldly values - in which I grew up, I don' t think I fully understand the impact of Jesus' statements. However, those who recognize their poverty would feel the impact. They would realize more fully how the values of the kingdom are so opposite those of the world. In the kingdom humility is honoured over ambition, money doesn't count for much and servants are more important than kings.
It seems like one of Jesus' favourite statements about the kingdom is that the first will be last and the last will be first in the kingdom of heaven. I don't think I fully grasp how different the values of the kingdom are. I think I have adopted too much of the worldly values and applied them to the kingdom. I think I have ignored the clear teaching of Jesus because it is so hard to believe in light of everything else the world is teaching. I wonder where I am missing the teaching of Jesus and the treue values of the kingdom because I am seeing them through the lens of the values of the world.
Showing posts with label values. Show all posts
Showing posts with label values. Show all posts
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Monday, October 20, 2008
turning the world upside down
Matthew 5:1-12
Jesus spends a lot of time on mountains, it seems. A mountain is the setting for Jesus' sermon here - in Luke a very similar sermon is given while on the plains (kind of like the Jewish prairies?). I'm not doubting that Jesus actually preached this sermon on a mountain but I think that Matthew has an agenda in pointing out the location. Because Matthew is writing to convince a Jewish audience that Jesus is the promised Messiah, he wants them to draw a clear parallel between the Law given to Moses (on a mountain) and the new Law given by Jesus (also on a mountain). This is made more pronounced by the fact that Jesus deals directly with some of the laws and traditions that belonged to the old covenant between God and humans ("you have heard that it was said... but I tell you...").
Jesus begins the process of turning the world upside down by giving a blessing to the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry, etc. All the people who traditionally would be looked down on. All the people who "aren't going to make it" according to the rules of this world. In a world that celebrates power, wealth and resiliency Jesus reminds us that the values of God and His Kingdom are very different.
What does this mean for me? It reminds me that I have made God according to my own ideas and imagination. I see God as one who "helps those who help themselves" (even if I would never say that) rather than as one who blesses the poor in spirit and the meek, giving them the kingdom of heaven and this world for an inheritance. This tells me that I have allowed the values and the philosophies of this world shape my own values and priorities and it is through these false values that I filter God's revelation to me. The danger is that I will start to put my energy, time and resources into people who might be able to someday measure up to this false ideal and standard of success rather than pouring my time, energy and resources into people who are meek, poor, hungry and mourning. The other danger is that I will celebrate and hold up in high esteem those who meet the false standard of success and who have inherited the kingdom of this world with all its empty rewards rather than those who have truly inherited the kingdom of heaven. God, help me to read your word and see your character for what it really is and not as filtered through my own ideas and values. Make the glass through which I see you a little bit more clear.
Jesus spends a lot of time on mountains, it seems. A mountain is the setting for Jesus' sermon here - in Luke a very similar sermon is given while on the plains (kind of like the Jewish prairies?). I'm not doubting that Jesus actually preached this sermon on a mountain but I think that Matthew has an agenda in pointing out the location. Because Matthew is writing to convince a Jewish audience that Jesus is the promised Messiah, he wants them to draw a clear parallel between the Law given to Moses (on a mountain) and the new Law given by Jesus (also on a mountain). This is made more pronounced by the fact that Jesus deals directly with some of the laws and traditions that belonged to the old covenant between God and humans ("you have heard that it was said... but I tell you...").
Jesus begins the process of turning the world upside down by giving a blessing to the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry, etc. All the people who traditionally would be looked down on. All the people who "aren't going to make it" according to the rules of this world. In a world that celebrates power, wealth and resiliency Jesus reminds us that the values of God and His Kingdom are very different.
What does this mean for me? It reminds me that I have made God according to my own ideas and imagination. I see God as one who "helps those who help themselves" (even if I would never say that) rather than as one who blesses the poor in spirit and the meek, giving them the kingdom of heaven and this world for an inheritance. This tells me that I have allowed the values and the philosophies of this world shape my own values and priorities and it is through these false values that I filter God's revelation to me. The danger is that I will start to put my energy, time and resources into people who might be able to someday measure up to this false ideal and standard of success rather than pouring my time, energy and resources into people who are meek, poor, hungry and mourning. The other danger is that I will celebrate and hold up in high esteem those who meet the false standard of success and who have inherited the kingdom of this world with all its empty rewards rather than those who have truly inherited the kingdom of heaven. God, help me to read your word and see your character for what it really is and not as filtered through my own ideas and values. Make the glass through which I see you a little bit more clear.
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