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Thursday, 9 November 2017
Matthew 22:34 but when the P’rushim learned that he had silenced the Tz’dukim, they got together, 35 and one of them who was a Torah expert asked a sh’eilah to trap him: 36 “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” 37 He told him, “‘You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’[Matthew 22:37 Deuteronomy 6:5] 38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’[Matthew 22:39 Leviticus 19:18] 40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.”
---
Scholar William Barclay noted that there were two schools of thought among rabbis. Some believed “there were lighter and weightier matters of the law…great principles which were all important to grasp.” Others “held that every smallest principle was equally binding.” * When asked, Jesus was clear about that—he saw some principles as far more vital than others, central to understanding God’s will. Loving God and loving your neighbor are the greatest
commandments, Jesus said, pivotal expressions of God’s will.
• Christians “get it wrong” when we defend any other idea we see as “truth” in ways that keep us from loving God totally, and our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus clearly taught (as reported in all three Synoptic gospels) that any other truth or orthodoxy has value only as it leads us to more fully love God and neighbor. Have you ever seen “truth” presented in ways that were unloving to neighbors, and ultimately even to God?
Ø Jesus said that everything the Bible teaches, all the truths we know about what God wants, “depend” on the two commands he quoted. How would you explain to someone else what makes these two commands so essential? Can you recall any instance when some belief you held led you to be unloving, maybe even without realizing it at first?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to truly love you with all my heart, all my mind, all my being. And as an outgrowth of that, help me to love my neighbor as I love myself, to live my life in accord with your great commandments. Amen.
* William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Mark (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, p. 294.
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James Cochran
James Cochran serves as the Director of Counseling Ministries. He is a licensed professional counselor and completed his graduate studies at University of Missouri – Kansas City. His professional experience includes counseling in a private practice setting, conducting mental health assessments in an emergency room, and developing programs for non-profits. James’s defining passion is helping people become who God created them to be. Resurrection has been James’s home church since he was in elementary school.
A short list of things Jesus didn’t say:
“Love God, and love people who think like you do. Don’t worry so much about people who think differently.”
“Love God, and love people who look, talk, and believe like you do. Everyone else should be treated as second-class”
“Love God, and invest in societal structures that promote division, tribalism, and the advancement of people just like you. I’m really only interested in making the world a better place for you anyway, not all those other people, so work hard to gain systemic advantages over people who are different.”
An even shorter list of things Jesus did say:
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” Matthew 22: 37-40, CEB
In the Luke version of this story, Jesus goes on to talk about who my neighbor is. He makes it pretty clear that my neighbor is exactly the person I wish it wasn’t.
I like to think of myself as a reasonably humble and open-minded. When I hear this command or the story of the good Samaritan, I probably give myself a pat on the back. But if I’m honest with myself, I need to acknowledge that I have huge blind spots created by my worldview.
You see, even if I have the most progressive, open-minded worldview imaginable I am still a human being who finds comfort in that which I understand. Consequently my beliefs begin to take the shape of those things I understand, and I have a harder time related to things I don’t understand. Eventually, there are entire groups of people and communities who I see as “other.”
This is why Jesus’s words are both instructive and frustratingly difficult. I think Jesus understood our inclination to sort into groups of people. By narrowing down all of Scripture to two instructions, He takes away all of our excuses. When instructing me to love my neighbor as myself, He adds no qualifiers or conditions. There is no “unless” or “except.” Just love your neighbor as yourself.
If pressed, I could give you a pretty long list of people I really wish weren’t my neighbor. Some are people I know well, others are public figures, but all are people who I’ve tried with varying degrees of intentionality to place outside of my neighborhood. If pressed further, I could probably give you a list of Very Good Reasons why these people shouldn’t be my neighbor. Maybe I could even point to certain Scriptures.
But not matter what I do, it won’t pass the litmus test that Jesus lays out here. There are no conditions under which these people won’t be my neighbor, and no context in which I am not still called to love them as myself. If I use Scripture (or anything, really) to convince myself otherwise, Jesus is telling me that I’m missing the point.
So I think I’ll make that list of people who I wish weren’t my neighbor. I suppose I must also consider what it means to love these people as I love myself. I can’t imagine the process is especially easy, but I’ve always believed the Gospel is a story that moves from "less free" to "more free." To whatever degree I can live my life according to these commands, I hope to find that freedom.
---
"Humility before God: essential for all lasting reformation"
Friday, 10 November 2017
1 Peter 5:1 Therefore, I urge the congregation leaders among you, as a fellow-leader and witness to the Messiah’s sufferings, as well as a sharer in the glory to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is in your care, exercising oversight not out of constraint, but willingly, as God wants; and not out of a desire for dishonest gain, but with enthusiasm; 3 also not as machers domineering over those in your care, but as people who become examples to the flock. 4 Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive glory as your unfading crown.
5 Likewise, you who are less experienced, submit to leaders. Further, all of you should clothe yourselves in humility toward one another, because
God opposes the arrogant,
but to the humble he gives grace.[1 Peter 5:5 Proverbs 3:34]
6 Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the right time he may lift you up.
---
Peter called on early Christian converts (and us) to find the freedom that comes from humility with each other and trust in God. Too often, we’re tempted (like many church reformers at some
point in their life) to link the idea of “reform” with “We have to do everything my way.” But Peter said “no” to that idea. Relate to each other humbly, he wrote, and trust your anxieties to God.
Ø Do you believe it is possible to act with confidence (in a church ministry or reform movement, your work, your family, or just your own life) out of humility rather than pride? What attitudes or actions does it take to make that a reality? How can mutual humility
smooth dealings between followers and leaders, or between people on different sides of a difficult (but not central to the faith) issue?
• James 3:13-15 named “bitter jealousy” and “selfish ambition” as being the reverse of the humility that comes from wisdom. Have you ever seen qualities like bitter jealousy or selfish ambition damage interactions between you and others, especially if you are dealing with a disagreement? How does humility guard your mind and heart from these hurtful ways of thinking?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, maybe I need a new mental “outfit.” Help me every day, in all my contacts, to clothe myself with humility toward the other people with whom I deal. Amen.
---
---
"One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God"
Saturday, 11 November 2017
Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner united with the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
2 Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love, 3 and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as when you were called you were called to one hope. 5 And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion, 6 and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all.
---
This passage named central truths all Christians hold in common. These are the foundation for God’s new community—a community united, despite its members’ many differences, by their loyalty to the same God. Yet before, during and since the Reformation, Christians have
disagreed (and often divided) for many reasons—from circumcision in New Testament times to the “right” form of baptism or communion in Reformation Europe to slavery in American history and ordaining women among Methodists in the middle of the 20th century. Today, some honest Christians on all sides of the issue argue that the United Methodist church must divide over the issue of same-sex marriage. But, as with all the other issues, we all serve the same God. Many Methodists believe we can disagree on this issue without needing to divide (visit unitingmethodists.com for more information about the “Uniting Methodists” movement).
• Methodism’s founder John Wesley often echoed Ephesians 4. In the introduction to his Notes on the New Testament, he wrote, “Would to God that all the party names, and unscriptural phrases and forms, which have divided the Christian world, were forgot: and that we might all agree to sit down together, as humble, loving disciples, at the feet of our common Master, to hear his word, to imbibe his Spirit, and to transcribe his life in our own!” In his sermon titled “Catholic Spirit”, he asked, “"Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?... Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences." * If more Christians
through the ages had followed Ephesians 4:1-6, as well as Wesley’s counsel, do you believe the church would be stronger and more respected, or weaker? For what reasons?
Prayer: Loving Jesus, guide your people all over the earth. Guide me. As the world looks at your followers, help us to so conduct ourselves that words like “peace,” “unity,” “humility” and “love” will be the main descriptors that come to minds. Amen.
* To read Wesley’s entire sermon on unity, visit www.umcmission.org and search Sermon-39-Catholic-Spirit.
Family Activity: Through portraits of biblical characters and God’s followers of today, the Leawood stained glass window tells the story of God’s transforming love for all people in past, present and future generations. See how many people you can identify and whose stories you can share. Discuss how your life and your family’s life displays God’s love for all people. Gather some family pictures and with words, phrases, drawings, and magazine cutouts design your own artistic expression of God’s love. Find a special place in your home for your family’s creation. Consider a title for it such as “Our family shares God’s love with all!” Thank God for His love. Ask God to help you continue to tell the story of his amazing, faithful love.
---
---
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Mary Haines and family on the death of her aunt Patricia Grey (Twilley) Stone, 10/30
• Nancy Nance and family on the death of her brother Jess D. Paul, Jr., 10/26
• Anne Sanders and family on the death of her cousin Marilynn Roche, 10/21
• Diane and Tom Slezak and family on the death of Diane’s mother Cora Magdaleno, 10/19
Matthew 22:34 but when the P’rushim learned that he had silenced the Tz’dukim, they got together, 35 and one of them who was a Torah expert asked a sh’eilah to trap him: 36 “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” 37 He told him, “‘You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’[Matthew 22:37 Deuteronomy 6:5] 38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39 And a second is similar to it, ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’[Matthew 22:39 Leviticus 19:18] 40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.”
---
Scholar William Barclay noted that there were two schools of thought among rabbis. Some believed “there were lighter and weightier matters of the law…great principles which were all important to grasp.” Others “held that every smallest principle was equally binding.” * When asked, Jesus was clear about that—he saw some principles as far more vital than others, central to understanding God’s will. Loving God and loving your neighbor are the greatest
commandments, Jesus said, pivotal expressions of God’s will.
• Christians “get it wrong” when we defend any other idea we see as “truth” in ways that keep us from loving God totally, and our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus clearly taught (as reported in all three Synoptic gospels) that any other truth or orthodoxy has value only as it leads us to more fully love God and neighbor. Have you ever seen “truth” presented in ways that were unloving to neighbors, and ultimately even to God?
Ø Jesus said that everything the Bible teaches, all the truths we know about what God wants, “depend” on the two commands he quoted. How would you explain to someone else what makes these two commands so essential? Can you recall any instance when some belief you held led you to be unloving, maybe even without realizing it at first?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to truly love you with all my heart, all my mind, all my being. And as an outgrowth of that, help me to love my neighbor as I love myself, to live my life in accord with your great commandments. Amen.
* William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Mark (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, p. 294.
---
James CochranJames Cochran serves as the Director of Counseling Ministries. He is a licensed professional counselor and completed his graduate studies at University of Missouri – Kansas City. His professional experience includes counseling in a private practice setting, conducting mental health assessments in an emergency room, and developing programs for non-profits. James’s defining passion is helping people become who God created them to be. Resurrection has been James’s home church since he was in elementary school.
A short list of things Jesus didn’t say:
“Love God, and love people who think like you do. Don’t worry so much about people who think differently.”
“Love God, and love people who look, talk, and believe like you do. Everyone else should be treated as second-class”
“Love God, and invest in societal structures that promote division, tribalism, and the advancement of people just like you. I’m really only interested in making the world a better place for you anyway, not all those other people, so work hard to gain systemic advantages over people who are different.”
An even shorter list of things Jesus did say:
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” Matthew 22: 37-40, CEB
In the Luke version of this story, Jesus goes on to talk about who my neighbor is. He makes it pretty clear that my neighbor is exactly the person I wish it wasn’t.
I like to think of myself as a reasonably humble and open-minded. When I hear this command or the story of the good Samaritan, I probably give myself a pat on the back. But if I’m honest with myself, I need to acknowledge that I have huge blind spots created by my worldview.
You see, even if I have the most progressive, open-minded worldview imaginable I am still a human being who finds comfort in that which I understand. Consequently my beliefs begin to take the shape of those things I understand, and I have a harder time related to things I don’t understand. Eventually, there are entire groups of people and communities who I see as “other.”
This is why Jesus’s words are both instructive and frustratingly difficult. I think Jesus understood our inclination to sort into groups of people. By narrowing down all of Scripture to two instructions, He takes away all of our excuses. When instructing me to love my neighbor as myself, He adds no qualifiers or conditions. There is no “unless” or “except.” Just love your neighbor as yourself.
If pressed, I could give you a pretty long list of people I really wish weren’t my neighbor. Some are people I know well, others are public figures, but all are people who I’ve tried with varying degrees of intentionality to place outside of my neighborhood. If pressed further, I could probably give you a list of Very Good Reasons why these people shouldn’t be my neighbor. Maybe I could even point to certain Scriptures.
But not matter what I do, it won’t pass the litmus test that Jesus lays out here. There are no conditions under which these people won’t be my neighbor, and no context in which I am not still called to love them as myself. If I use Scripture (or anything, really) to convince myself otherwise, Jesus is telling me that I’m missing the point.
So I think I’ll make that list of people who I wish weren’t my neighbor. I suppose I must also consider what it means to love these people as I love myself. I can’t imagine the process is especially easy, but I’ve always believed the Gospel is a story that moves from "less free" to "more free." To whatever degree I can live my life according to these commands, I hope to find that freedom.
---
"Humility before God: essential for all lasting reformation"
Friday, 10 November 2017
1 Peter 5:1 Therefore, I urge the congregation leaders among you, as a fellow-leader and witness to the Messiah’s sufferings, as well as a sharer in the glory to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is in your care, exercising oversight not out of constraint, but willingly, as God wants; and not out of a desire for dishonest gain, but with enthusiasm; 3 also not as machers domineering over those in your care, but as people who become examples to the flock. 4 Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive glory as your unfading crown.
5 Likewise, you who are less experienced, submit to leaders. Further, all of you should clothe yourselves in humility toward one another, because
God opposes the arrogant,
but to the humble he gives grace.[1 Peter 5:5 Proverbs 3:34]
6 Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the right time he may lift you up.
---
Peter called on early Christian converts (and us) to find the freedom that comes from humility with each other and trust in God. Too often, we’re tempted (like many church reformers at some
point in their life) to link the idea of “reform” with “We have to do everything my way.” But Peter said “no” to that idea. Relate to each other humbly, he wrote, and trust your anxieties to God.
Ø Do you believe it is possible to act with confidence (in a church ministry or reform movement, your work, your family, or just your own life) out of humility rather than pride? What attitudes or actions does it take to make that a reality? How can mutual humility
smooth dealings between followers and leaders, or between people on different sides of a difficult (but not central to the faith) issue?
• James 3:13-15 named “bitter jealousy” and “selfish ambition” as being the reverse of the humility that comes from wisdom. Have you ever seen qualities like bitter jealousy or selfish ambition damage interactions between you and others, especially if you are dealing with a disagreement? How does humility guard your mind and heart from these hurtful ways of thinking?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, maybe I need a new mental “outfit.” Help me every day, in all my contacts, to clothe myself with humility toward the other people with whom I deal. Amen.
---
---
"One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God"
Saturday, 11 November 2017
Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner united with the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
2 Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love, 3 and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as when you were called you were called to one hope. 5 And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion, 6 and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all.
---
This passage named central truths all Christians hold in common. These are the foundation for God’s new community—a community united, despite its members’ many differences, by their loyalty to the same God. Yet before, during and since the Reformation, Christians have
disagreed (and often divided) for many reasons—from circumcision in New Testament times to the “right” form of baptism or communion in Reformation Europe to slavery in American history and ordaining women among Methodists in the middle of the 20th century. Today, some honest Christians on all sides of the issue argue that the United Methodist church must divide over the issue of same-sex marriage. But, as with all the other issues, we all serve the same God. Many Methodists believe we can disagree on this issue without needing to divide (visit unitingmethodists.com for more information about the “Uniting Methodists” movement).
• Methodism’s founder John Wesley often echoed Ephesians 4. In the introduction to his Notes on the New Testament, he wrote, “Would to God that all the party names, and unscriptural phrases and forms, which have divided the Christian world, were forgot: and that we might all agree to sit down together, as humble, loving disciples, at the feet of our common Master, to hear his word, to imbibe his Spirit, and to transcribe his life in our own!” In his sermon titled “Catholic Spirit”, he asked, “"Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?... Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences." * If more Christians
through the ages had followed Ephesians 4:1-6, as well as Wesley’s counsel, do you believe the church would be stronger and more respected, or weaker? For what reasons?
Prayer: Loving Jesus, guide your people all over the earth. Guide me. As the world looks at your followers, help us to so conduct ourselves that words like “peace,” “unity,” “humility” and “love” will be the main descriptors that come to minds. Amen.
* To read Wesley’s entire sermon on unity, visit www.umcmission.org and search Sermon-39-Catholic-Spirit.
Family Activity: Through portraits of biblical characters and God’s followers of today, the Leawood stained glass window tells the story of God’s transforming love for all people in past, present and future generations. See how many people you can identify and whose stories you can share. Discuss how your life and your family’s life displays God’s love for all people. Gather some family pictures and with words, phrases, drawings, and magazine cutouts design your own artistic expression of God’s love. Find a special place in your home for your family’s creation. Consider a title for it such as “Our family shares God’s love with all!” Thank God for His love. Ask God to help you continue to tell the story of his amazing, faithful love.
---
---
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Mary Haines and family on the death of her aunt Patricia Grey (Twilley) Stone, 10/30
• Nancy Nance and family on the death of her brother Jess D. Paul, Jr., 10/26
• Anne Sanders and family on the death of her cousin Marilynn Roche, 10/21
• Diane and Tom Slezak and family on the death of Diane’s mother Cora Magdaleno, 10/19
---
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©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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- Or download this week's printable GPS.
©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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