Righteousness

^{Matthew 5:20} Jesus said "For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

^{John 19:30} When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” Then bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

^Romans5:1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We fulfill Jesus' command through faith in His ability to declare us righteous.

Honor God with your body: shout out to 503strength.com

It's a simple yet sometimes difficult question to ask yourself: "do you honor God with your body?"

^{1 Corinthians 6:19} Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

I use to think that "living a Christian life" was all about drawing lines and boundaries and it was ok to get as close to the line of sin as possible without going over and actually doing something wrong. Thats why I always use to ask the question..."well where do you draw the line?" The question always came up in reference to bodily actions, mostly drinking alcohol and sexual purity. "What's too much?" "Is it really THAT bad?" and "Define drunk."
This all turned around when it was pointed out to me that what those questions really are asking is "How close can I get to sin without actually sinning, or sinning too bad." Looking at Paul's encouragement in Corinthians and thinking about the fact that God calls us to be holy as He is holy, the question to ask instead is "How holy, pure, and honoring to God can I be?" There are 2 things to realize about this: (1) you can't make yourself holy and pure through your own personal effort and (2)  in Christ we are holy, blameless, pure, without blemish and "honor God" is not a commandment to earn favor, but a response to the fact that we already have been bought and made new.

Adding in a little extra: this extends to health and fitness, like the people here http://503strength.com/

Isaiah 9: God's Chosen People Expanded in Jesus

²The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
a light has dawned
on those living in the land of darkness.
³ You have enlarged the nation
and increased its joy.
The people have rejoiced before You
as they rejoice at harvest time
and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
⁴ For You have shattered their oppressive yoke
and the rod on their shoulders,
the staff of their oppressor,
just as You did on the day of Midian.
⁵ For the trampling boot of battle
and the bloodied garments of war
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

 This passage, speaking about what Jesus would make happen with His birth and life, talks about how God has enlarged the nation of Israel and how God's people rejoice greatly. The nation of Israel, God's chosen people, is enlarged in Jesus to include more than was acceptable to the religious leaders of the first century. Israel, representing God's chosen people comes to include Jews and non-Jews alike, those who were accepted by society and those who were rejected, rich and poor, male and female, anyone willing to accept the gift Jesus offered.

^{Galatians 3:28} There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.

Dare to be used by God

^{Ephesians 3:20} Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

 Reading through scripture, we read time and time again how God uses less-than-likely candidates to change the world. One example of this is King David, God chooses the youngest son, a grandson of a Moabite + Israelite marriage and a shepherd in order to become the King of Israel (and a bit of a famous one.) Throughout scripture, God chooses the unlikely to do great things. Looking at Jesus' geneaology we see misfits and mess-ups who God chooses to bless and use in order to bless the entire world.

Do we dare to ask God to use us in the same ways? Would you be willing to ask God to use you in unimaginable ways? For a long time I would have said I was willing to die for my faith, I think many would. Perhaps the more difficult question is...are you willing to live for your faith? I want to live a life that echoes the words of Isaiah when he encountered God.

^{Isaiah 9:6} Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah 9: A light has dawned

For Jews living in the first century, it was common for someone to quote one sentence of scripture in order to invoke the entirety of a passage. It was a rabbi training method for the older Rabbi to say one sentence and expect the student-apprentice rabbis, the disciples, to be able to quote what was immediately before and after that sentence.So when the angel says "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11)to the shepherds,  any Jew reading or hearing the story would harken back to Isaiah 9

²The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
a light has dawned
on those living in the land of darkness.
³ You have enlarged the nation
and increased its joy.
The people have rejoiced before You
as they rejoice at harvest time
and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
⁴ For You have shattered their oppressive yoke
and the rod on their shoulders,
the staff of their oppressor,
just as You did on the day of Midian.
⁵ For the trampling boot of battle
and the bloodied garments of war
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,

and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

Verse 2 speaks of a hope for people living in darkness. Imagine yourself living in a windowless room your whole life, where the only light came from an old light bulb situated in the middle of the room. Your entire life would be viewed with the aid of dim light, and that alone. But if one day, you were brought out of the room, outside into bright sunlight, there would be a bit of fear and a period of adjustment, but after you'd experienced the light, it would make no sense to go back to living in the darkness. Jesus came to offer this same hope and this same light.

More on names

^{Genesis 17:1} When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. ² Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
³ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

In the beginning we see God gave Adam the job of naming the animals. By giving something its name, you not only give it an identity (how you and others will know it) but you also claim a sort of stewardship over it. Think of parents naming a child, a family naming their new dog-this sense of stewardship was even greater 2000 years ago. Names in Jewish culture had great significance. It is common in scripture for God to give people new names, after interacting with them. We see this with Abram in Genesis 17, Jacob in Genesis 22 and many other times. A really interesting example of the power and meaning of names is in the book of Daniel.

^{Daniel 1:6} Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. ⁷ The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

Their original hebrew names reffered to the God of Israel, but the Babylonian king had them named to relate them to the Babylonian gods. Turning Hananiah "God who is gracious" to Shadrach "command of the moon god." Mishael "Who is like God" to Meshach "Who is what Aku [name of a god] is?" and Azariah "God has helped" to Abednego "servant of the god Nebo."

What someone calls you, and how someone refers to you is important. I believe as God renamed Abram, renamed Jacob-He has also renamed us. Notice Abraham and Jacob did not leave their interactions with God unchanged, neither should we. When we meet with God we are changed, sometimes we are even given something to mark that interaction,like Jacob's limp, or we may simply choose baptism as this sign. The beautiful thing though, is that in Christ we have new identities, and just like for these men thousands of years ago- that change has power.

The Divine Name

^{Exodus 3:13} Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

First of all, its kind of a goofy question that Moses asks. Moses foresees a situation where he claims to the nation of Israel that he is a messenger sent from God and the people's response is "What is God's name?"
What is amazing about this passage though is two-fold. On the one hand, God reveals His name to His people. Names had power to ancient Israel, and even as we know today, telling someone your name is an invitation into relationship. Giving your name to someone is an invitation for them to get to know you, to reveal a part of yourself unknown before. It is huge that the Creator God has a name, meaning He is a personal God, not an ethereal force in the universe (Acts 17).

At the same time that God revealing His name to us invites us into relationship, His name itself also reveals there is still mystery in our knowing Him. His name can be translated "I am" "I will be what I will be" even understood by some as "I am the one that exists" "I am who I am" and/or "I shall prove to be whatsoever I shall prove to be." God's name represents a truth: He is personal, yet full of mystery. We should remember that God is not like the force described in Star Wars, indifferent to the world and human beings-instead crazy in love with each of us. We should also remember God is full of mystery- we cannot figure Him out or put Him in a box- He routinely shatters our preconceived notions that would try to limit Him.

What God says about our worth

Bill Johnson points out that something's worth and value is defined by how much someone is willing to pay for it. When we look at the cross and ourselves in light of this, we see that in God's eyes, we are of great worth. We have such value to Him that He was willing to step into human existence, and die to purchase each of us. So if Jesus was willing to purchase us with His own life, how then should we view our own worth and value? It is true that none of us alone can do anything of worth (Jn. 15:5) but in God's eyes we are of great value and great worth. Is it more honoring to God to view ourselves as worthless and without value? or to trust what God says about us and trust in what God has shown us.

^{Matthew 13:45} “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. ⁴⁶ When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had, and bought it.

Often it's been interpreted that Jesus is talking about us selling everything to buy into the priceless Kingdom of Heaven. Of course, Jesus does call us to die to ourselves in order to live in Him; but is it possible that we are the pearl that Jesus has bought? Jon Courson suggests this in his commentary on Matt. 13. Jesus' death on the cross shows us what God thinks about our worth, and what He is willing to pay for us: Himself.

The Power of Words

 ^{Proverbs 18:21} The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Words have power. I hate to admit it but the old saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" just isn't true. Sure, I understand the meaning behind the saying--that is--"don't let people bring you down by what they say about you" but words hurt. This proverb gives a vivid illustration of the power of the words we use. On the one hand we can make words hurt, manipulate people, tear them down and sow death. But on the other, we have the opportunity to use words to give life.

^{John 6:63}The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

The way Jesus spoke gives us the example of what it means to hold the power of life in our words. Words filled with love, spoken out of love, have real power and bring life. 

New Year-New Beginning

^{2 Corinthians5:17} Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Looking back on 2011 there are plenty of things to be thankful for. Think of the hot meals, running water, roof over your head and breath in your lungs--we can start there and generate a HUGE list of blessings we've received over the past year. Looking back, there are also some things that weren't so great, decisions we've made or things we've said, people hurting us, or things we'd wished we'd done. The new year brings new opportunities, a new chance to step into what Paul talked about in his letter to the Corinthians. Jesus' invitation is not a new set of rules to live by, trying to live a good life-its much bigger than that. Jesus' invitation is to do away with the old person, and to be made new, born-again into a new person that is filled with God's spirit and able to live life as it was meant to be lived-to the full.

^John10:10 I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

first chapel service of the semester this week

Love

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a sermon in 1957 commenting on what Jesus said in Matthew 5,

'But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.'... Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies. Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing.

What MLK Jr. is hitting on is the thought that Jesus was giving an un-attainable command. The thought that "love for your enemies is a nice thought, and something to strive for, but not anything that's really practical or we can achieve." On the contrary, as MLK Jr. points out, Jesus wasn't playing. Jesus charges us to live lives that aren't conformed to the world. Instead of getting back at people who hurt you, love them. Instead of only treating your friends as worthy of love, love your enemies as well. The amazing thing about this way of life is that we can trust its how life was designed to be lived. Loving our neighbors and our enemies is where life abundant is found. Another beautiful thing about this way of life is that in Christ, its not our own strength and "try-hard" attitude that will make it happen. Instead, God's Holy Spirit works through us to empower us to love. Am I willing to let God do that through me? Would you be willing to let God do that through you?