Passion of the Christ: Restored Hearts
Jesus is passionate about restoring our hearts and relationships. To truly walk with Christ we must allow Him to reorient our perspective about the image of God and allow Him to establish a depth of relationship for us within the family of God.
The Image of God
“If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest.” ―Corrie ten Boom
Matthew 12:9-14 (NIV)
9Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 11He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
The world as we know it is out of balance because of the sin that has entered into it. The dysfunction hits no closer to home than in our relationships. However, it has not always been this way. The original design for love, life, and happiness was found in the relationship that mankind originally maintained with God, and is the one to which He wants to restore us. Though God cares for all of His creation, humanity has a unique place within it because we were made in the image and likeness of God. The perfect model of harmonious relationship is found in the Trinity, where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exemplify the life of fruitfulness to which He calls us as a product of our love for one another.
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:26-28 NIV)
The Family of God
"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction." -Antoine de Sainte-Exupery
Matthew 12:46-50 (NIV)
46While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
The Church is to be a spiritual family.
What does authentic spiritual family look like?
There is a difference between your nuclear family and the distant cousins that no one talks about and you only see every few years at reunions. There is a different level of familiarity, intimacy, and commitment to a common cause. Though the family at large may feel bad when a distant relative falls on hard times, it is a very different responsibility that the mother, father, brothers and sisters have to help out (I Timothy 5). It is the same spiritually. We often want to be so non-committal that we ourselves belong solely to the universal body of Christ. While this is true, it plays itself out very differently than the unattached and unaccountable mentalities with which we want to live.
The Israelite nation was subdivided into tribes, clans, families, and individuals through which they received their inheritance. The reason so many of us feel like spiritual wanderers is because there is no attachment that we have to people that we call spiritual family. We like this though, because there is no church government when we sin (I Cor. 5), no personal accountability, and really no responsibility. We are free agents who are able to live as independently and selfishly as we want while really making no lasting, sustainable impact for the Kingdom. It's the American way. All over the world, people outside of the West take great honor and shame from what is derived from their family line. We remain infants (I Cor. 13) in our character, capabilities, and calling, because we do not realize that God works all of these things out in a family context (i.e. - mom and dad telling you what you are good at, brothers and sisters provoking you to excel). We are spiritual orphans who live like illegitimate children. Much of this comes because many of us have not seen healthy family dynamics, and we perpetuate the cycle of dysfunction spiritually and relationally.
What are some of the challenges to living like a family?
Managing expectations is the key to healthy, godly relationships. No one should live with a sense of entitlement, but one of thankfulness. No one is obligated to fulfill all of your desires, only God's (Romans 14, 15). When we live with this mentality, it helps us to live free of offense, with gratitude. It is then that commitment becomes a joy, not a burden.
If you are living without authentic, transparent relationship with other believers, you are living in a delusion that can inevitably lead to destruction.
Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; whoever builds a high gate invites destruction. (Proverbs 17:19 NIV)
I know that I've spoken to many of you about this before, but, in the church, offense so often comes from unmet expectations. People today are in a prolonged college mentality and are disappointed, because they are used to a developed campus life where relationships were handed to them. We remain lonely as we pursue solo careers rather than marriage, independence rather than sharing life decisions or the spotlight with anyone else. As you get older, you must embrace the fact that you have to fight for relationship. You are able to go where you want, when you want, to do what you want when you are a child. When you have responsibility, you must plan what is important to you. Spontaneity can be an idol. The idea of things being "organic" can create a happenstance attitude towards the relationships that you cherish.
B and I plan family time and date nights, because it is a priority to us. The church is God's family, and we schedule times together, not because they are merely contractual relationships, but because they are a priority to us. We want to live alone to have our space but then suffer the effects of isolation as we come home at night. Offense in the Christian community comes when desires for relationship aren't met, but the truth is we need to renew our minds. At no other time in history have people lived such isolated and independent lives. In no other place in society do we have the freedom to schedule our lives as we do in college, with the mentality of putting in the minimal amount of effort while getting maximized results in return. You reap what you sow, and sowing is work.
Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (John 21:18, 19 NIV)
For those of us who think we can do without the priority of God ordained relationships within the church, this is what the Bible has to say:
An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18:1 NIV)
A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment. (Proverbs 18:1 NKJV)
How much time is literally stolen in offense, wasted time talking about the time that you don't have together, rather than enjoying the time that you are staring at one another face to face. (Rollan shared insights from his and B's early dates). It produces a cycle to which we are literally blind and perpetuates a rejection mentality. It is the same in relationships in the church.
Where can I build that family?
People say that I don't have relationship with others who I only see at church activities. I say this sensitively, but we are missing the point of these family gatherings. In God's eyes, church and small groups are the place to build intentional and deep relationships with other believers that continue to spill over into everyday life. This is the very definition of biblical fellowship, a shared life. We need to reorient our thinking, which has become subversive to any type of organization, and is. at its heart, anti-institutional. One of the greatest places to build the family unit is over the organized dinner table each night. It fosters stability, love, and an expectation of unity; that though we go our separate ways during the week, there is always a place where we come to worship God together and call home.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47 NIV)
It is the independent and self-centered spirit of our culture that resists groups. Jesus taught, discipled, and trained his followers to turn the world upside down in groups. Even the Sermon on the Mount was like a Sunday sermon or small group where people came to be trained. That was discipleship. Any time Jesus spoke was discipleship. It wasn't just a personal counseling session. This is an American, not a historic Christian mentality. We must recognize the difference. Relationship should build as a continuation of these corporate gatherings, not in place of them or at the exclusion of the overflow. We must renew our minds about the gathering of the brethren to fully experience God and His people once we leave those moments.
“Any religious person who says he does not really need human friends because God is his Friend is calling God a liar because He's the One Who says we also need human friends." ― Mark Driscoll, Real Marriage: The Truth about Sex, Friendship & Life Together
He has founded his city on the holy mountain. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, city of God: (Psalm 87:1-3 NIV)
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. (Hebrews 3:12-14 NIV)
As far as God is concerned, it means something when we gather together as the church. As far as B and I are concerned, when we show up at church, it is a highlight, because our life is the church. We love the people God has joined us with, and it is never simply obligatory or time wasted. It is time for us to see those that we love and for those we love to form bonds to go deeper with one another. We are to be the church.
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27, 28 NIV)
The truth is that life is going to get busier, not less as you grow, have different responsibilities, and transition into different seasons of life like grad school, marriage, children, job promotions, eventual empty nesting, and retirement. God's Word and priorities are to be an anchor to your soul, keeping the ship at bay and remaining consistent throughout each of these seasons.
(Rollan shared an analogy concerning the maintenance of a car in the midst of changing seasons in Chicago: You may need to winterize the car, but you never stop putting in fuel, changing the oil and filter, or balancing and rotating the tires. They are universal principles that take you through all seasons of life.)
Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you. (Psalm 119:89-91 NIV)
Practical: 1) Set apart time each day this week to study the nature of God so that you might emulate it in your church community. A good resource is the book, Shared Life, by Donald Macleod. 2) There are so many opportunities over the summer for us to enjoy the city together at festivals, the beach, etc. Find one person within the church with whom you will connect on a deeper level over lunch, dinner or coffee. 3) Join in Jesus' common purpose and invite a friend to next week's service so that they too may experience this shared life.
Second City Church- Passion of the Christ Sermon Series 2013