Bible verses:
Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Mark 12:28-31
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard
them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him,
“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Deut 6:4-5)
31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Lev 19:18) There is no commandment greater than these.”
Matthew 22:34-40
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Deut 6:5)
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Lev 19:18)
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Opening prayer
Heavenly Father, we come to you now with a yearning for Your Presence in our lives. We seek the transformational work of the Holy Spirit, so that we may become more and more like You. We pray in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sermon
In the passage we just read this afternoon, one of the teachers of the law, who was a Pharisee, came to Jesus and asked Him, “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” This Pharisee asked that question to test Jesus, but at the same time probably had a genuine curiosity as to how Jesus would answer the question. The Pharisees divided the Law into 248 positive commandments and 365 prohibitions. These 613 precepts were imposed on their followers as their obligation. Recognizing that they could never keep all the precepts, they were constantly debating what commandments were the most important and therefore really had to be kept. They could not come to an agreement among themselves, but concluded that somehow as long as their good deeds outweighed the bad ones, they would stay acceptable to God.
Jesus’ reply was simple and powerful. He said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these commandments.”
Today, I am going to ask you an important follow-up question. How do you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind? What does it mean to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind? What does it mean to say “with all your heart” and “with all your mind”?
Many in the church talk about giving the Lord our undivided attention, commitment, and devotion. They say that there can be no holding back or incompleteness in our love and devotion for the Lord and that we need to pour out all that is in our hearts to love the Lord. What they are saying has a grain of merit, but is not entirely right. In John 2:24-25, we read that Jesus would not entrust Himself to people, because He knew what was in their inside – in their hearts and minds. What is in a man’s heart? In Matthew 15:18-20, Jesus said that the things that come out of a man’s heart are what defile him. The things that come out of the heart are evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. With such evil hearts and minds, what good would it do to be totally devoted and committed to the Lord? Does it do us any good to love the Lord with all of our evil hearts?
Time and again, the Bible tells us that first and foremost, we must be transformed with the renewing of our mind, with a change of our hearts. Romans 12:2, it says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Deut 30:6, Romans 2:29, and Col 2:11 talk about circumcision of the heart by the Lord -- by Christ. Deut 30:6: “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” Our hearts must be circumcised, with excision and repentance of all that is evil within us. Our hearts must be transformed by the Lord, so that we may indeed love Him with all our heart.
What does this transformation look like? The answer is found in Philippians 2:5. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (KJV). Our transformation consists of doing away with our own evil hearts and replacing them with the heart and mind of Christ Jesus. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus tells us, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” When we are transformed with the renewing of our mind, we become gentle and humble like Jesus Christ.
First, let’s consider Jesus’ gentleness. In describing Jesus’ gentleness, Isaiah 42:2-3 says, “He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice.” Because Jesus is gentle, He is careful not to let even one of the little ones to stumble (Mat 18:6). Because Jesus is gentle, even though He is righteous and just and punishes the guilty, He is also compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, and forgiving (Exodus 34:6-7). Because Jesus is gentle, even when He was oppressed and afflicted, He did not open His mouth like a lamb taken to the slaughter (Isa 53:7-8). Because Jesus is gentle, even on the cross where He was nailed and mocked, He prayed for forgiveness of the mockers (Luke 23:34). Because He is gentle, He is able to accept and embrace us who are weary and burdened with a heavy yoke (Mat 11:28). He takes the burden of our sin, He forgives us and accepts us. Being gentle means to forgive and to accept to the utmost.
In Numbers chapter 12, we read about Moses’ meekness or gentleness. He was “very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” (KJV)(Num 12:3, KJV). Why was he described as such? He had been criticized publicly and challenged by his own brother Aaron and sister Miriam for marrying an Ethiopian woman. Moses chose not to defend himself, but the Lord spoke up on behalf of Moses and against Aaron and Miriam. He even punished Miriam, so that she came down with leprosy. What was Moses’ response when this happened? He cried out to the Lord on behalf of Miriam so that she might be healed and made whole again. That is why he was described as very meek and gentle above all the men upon the face of the earth. Being gentle means to be forgiving even in circumstances where it seems impossible to forgive.
Second, Jesus’s humbleness, His humility is summarized in Phil 2:6-8: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Jesus’ humbleness was best demonstrated by His obedience to Father God. Because Jesus was humble, He obeyed by coming to the world that He was sent to. Because Jesus was humble, He obeyed by being made in human likeness. Because Jesus was humble, He was obedient to a most shameful death on the cross. Even though Jesus had all powers and authority in heavens and on earth, He chose to be humble and to be obedient to death on the cross!
When we become transformed with the renewing of our mind, there will be within us the mind of Christ Jesus, who is gentle and humble. And our humbleness and gentleness will define our relationship with God and with men. On the one hand, humbleness defines our obedient, loving relationship with God. With humbleness, we will be obedient to God our Lord and keep His commandments. And that is how we will express our love for God with all our heart and with all our mind. In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commands.” Again, in John 14:21, He says, “Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me.” With humbleness, we will be obedient to God and keep his commandments, thereby expressing our love for Him.
On the other hand, gentleness defines our forgiving, loving relationship with our neighbors, with other men and women. We will be so gentle, so forgiving, so that even the least among us might not stumble on account of us. We will be gentle and forgive our brethren even seventy-seven times (Mat 18:22). I John 4:10-11 teaches us that because God so loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice, it is only proper that we ought to love one another as well. Furthermore, I John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” According to I John 3:14, when we forgive and love our brothers and sisters, we get a confirmation that we have passed from death to life. That is why Jesus says the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.
The commandment in Romans 12:2 is “Be transformed with the renewing of your mind.” It is a commandment given in the passive voice. It is a commandment given in the passive voice, because it is not something we can do on our own. We cannot transform ourselves on our own. The commandment is given to us in the passive voice, because it is the Lord who transforms us, it is the Lord who renews our mind, and it is the Lord who circumcises our hearts. All we have to do is to ask and receive what the Lord does in our lives.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you want to have the mind of Christ Jesus in you? Do you want to be humble and gentle like Him? Are you ready to be obedient to God’s commands and to be forgiving to your brothers and sisters? Do you really want to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and to love your neighbors as yourself? Then ask. Cry out to the Lord for His transformational power to take effect in your life. As you ask, trust in the Lord’s promise in Mat 7:7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Let us pray.
“Heavenly Father, thank you so much for giving us your Son as an atoning sacrifice for us. Because You did not spare even Your Only Begotten Son, we trust that You will always give us what is the best. We cry out to you now that You will circumcise our hearts, renew our mind, and transform us, so that the mind of Christ Jesus resides in us. Make us gentle. Make us humble. We want to be gentle and humble like Christ Jesus. We want to be loving and obedient to you. We want to be loving and forgiving to our neighbors. We pray in the precious Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment