Did God Really Mean That? – September 29, 2024

Philippians 2:1-5, Luke 11:1-14
September 29, 2024

Again, I want to thank Kari for filling in for me last week, and giving you all the good word.  Patty and I had a wonderful time at our 50 year High School Reunion last weekend.  I can’t begin to tell you how great it was!  All I can say is that if anyone tried to tell me they had the greatest High School class ever, I would just laugh quietly to myself.

Anyway, I loved Kari’s sermon!  I listened on Monday.  (That was my Sabbath this week!)  And as I suspected she would, she made me think.  In fact, as I watched and listened on my computer, I opened up my word processor right next to the Facebook feed, and I started to type, even as she was speaking. And just as the Holy Spirit makes things “jump off of the pages of the Bible,” some of the things she said, “jumped off of the page at me.”  …Well, sort of.

One thought that really stuck with me was the one I’m using for my sermon title today.  “Did God really mean that?”  I love the “God Speaks” posters that were around a number of years ago.  You’ve seen them, I’m sure.  They were simple signs, black with white writing.  And they had messages from God.  I have one of them up on our sign this week.  It says, That “Love thy neighbor” thing.  I really meant that!  – God.

Well, Kari asked the question – rhetorically, of course – “Did God really mean that?”  Did he really mean we have to do all of those things Jesus said?  Do we really have to love our enemies?  Do we really have to follow all of those commandments?  Some people think that, as Christians, we’re not subject to the Ten Commandments any more.  But that’s not what Jesus said!  He came to tell us that, yes, God really did mean all those things!  In fact, he said, “I have come not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  And it’s important that we remember that!  The law is still God’s perfect plan for how his people should be!  And it’s what makes this life the best it can be, which is what he wants for us!

I had us look at the Lord’s Prayer today.  And the part I want to focus in on is the part where we say, “Thy will be done.”  We say that every week.  I heard you say it earlier!  I’ve pointed that out before.  But I want to ask again, do you really mean it?  And did Jesus really mean it when he taught us to pray that way?  “Thy will be done.”

I like Luke’s version of that prayer.  In Matthew’s Gospel, it’s included as part of the Sermon on the Mount.  It comes when he was instructing the people on the proper attitude of prayer.  Do you remember?  “Don’t pray on the street corners like the hypocrites, in order to be seen by others.  Pray to your heavenly father in your secret place.”  But in Luke’s Gospel, it’s portrayed a little differently.  And that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen in both of these places, by the way.  This is a good prayer!  It certainly makes sense that Jesus could have used it in both of these settings!

But Luke tells us that Jesus was “praying in a certain place.”  As you know, Jesus often went apart from the rest and spent time with God in prayer.  Well, when he was done praying that day one of the disciples asked him, “Lord, can you teach us how to pray.”  I think they saw the benefit Jesus got from prayer.  They saw how it renewed him, and how it strengthened him.  And they wanted that for themselves!  That was the context in Luke when he taught them this prayer.

As Kari said last week, the Christian life is about continually renewing our faith, every day!  And that jumped off the page at me, too!  Because Jesus did that!  And he taught his disciples to do that!  And he shows us the importance of doing that, too!  He calls us to renew our faith every day in prayer.  And in teaching us this famous and most often used prayer, he calls us to seek God’s will for our lives, every day!  And yes, Jesus really meant that!

I also had us look today at these amazing words Paul wrote to the Philippians. The Church in Philippi was one of his most beloved congregations.  He said to them, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind.”  And it’s hard not to read this whole thing!  But he told them at the end what he meant about “having the same mind.”  He said, “Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus.”  Do you get that?  As Jesus’ followers, we are to seek to have the mind of Jesus himself!  And yes, Paul really meant that!

I hope you see that all these things that “God really meant” are not easy!  Kari portrayed that continuing renewal of our faith as a discipline, almost as a struggle.  And I don’t mean a dour, self-persecuting kind of struggle.  People don’t like that!  That’s not the “struggle” of faith.  What I mean by that is making a true, concerted effort to follow things that are not always easy to follow!  Faith is not always easy!  And if we ever feel like it is easy, we may not be taking it seriously enough!

That “love thy neighbor” thing – that God really meant – can be hard!  That “If you love me you will keep my commandments” thing, can  be hard.  But Jesus meant that, too!  And if it’s not an effort to do those things, maybe we’re not doing them so well!  Something I’ve said for years, is this.  “If we don’t feel a tension between our faith and the world around us, we may not be taking our faith seriously enough.”  Do you get that?  “If we don’t feel a tension between our faith and the world around us, we may not be taking our faith seriously enough.”

That “continuing renewal of our faith” is so important!  And it’s a matter of constantly thinking about “The mind that is in Christ Jesus.”  And it’s a matter of constantly re-minding ourselves.  Sometimes we can be involved in a lot of things!  Can’t we?  We can have a lot on our minds.  We can be “multi-tasking,” as the modern expression goes.  And sometimes when I’m in that mode, I can concentrate on a lot of things, but other things can get “forgotten” – like, “Did I eat lunch today?”  That kind of thing!  Does that ever happen to you?

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon that first time, their computer had a similar problem.  (Yeah, he’s talking about space again!)  Their computer was designed to process a set number of things every second – their speed, altitude, distance, as well as monitoring all their systems.  Well, the crew started getting computer alarms as they got near the surface of the moon.  And it freaked everybody out!  The problem was that their computer didn’t have much computing power.  Your cell phone has way more processing power than the computer they had that day!  And I mean way more!!!  This watch has more power than they had!

So their computer wasn’t able to perform all the tasks it needed to do in the time required.  So it was not doing some of those tasks at the end of that list.  And it was letting everyone know that.  Fortunately, the ground controllers knew that it was performing the essential tasks, so they could continue and land.  (Being the “space cadet” you know I am, I love that as a reference!)

I say it because sometimes our minds are so full of things we’re thinking about, that some of the things at the end of the list get forgotten.  And we have to make decisions as to what things are essential to process, and to think about, and to do.  And we need constant reminders about which things are important!  And we need constant vigilance!  Because sometimes the things of God end up being too far down on that list of tasks our brains are processing.  We need to remember, again and again, that all those things God calls us to do as his people are priorities, and we need to remember that God really meant all that!

So how about you?  I know I need those constant reminders!  And it’s my “job” to be a spiritual person!  But I need those reminders!  And I think you know you need those reminders, too.

Remembering those things over and over – even daily – is a good thing to do.  And so today, if you’re thinking, “I’ve heard him say these things before.”  Then good!  I’ve achieved my goal!  But if you’re thinking, “I don’t need to hear this again.”  Then I’ve failed!  Because all of those things that God calls us to do and to be – he really meant them!  And it is good to be reminded of them!  And it’s important that we renew them every day!

Prayer

Eternal God, may our faith truly be new every morning.  May we keep the things you call us to do and to be at the forefront of our thinking, this day and every day.  May we know that you truly want the best life for each of us, and may we have the courage to follow your guidelines to that life.  For these things we pray in the name of our Savior, and our best example, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.