So, to return to an outline of the SOTM I suggested several posts ago —
When is it?
It’s the dawn of the Kingdom promised by the Law and the Prophets. Therefore, it’s time to turn back toward God (to repent) and to anticipate the coming of the Messiah and the outpouring of the Spirit. And when the Kingdom promises come true, it will be the poor in spirit, the meek, etc. who find themselves blessed. God’s promises are sure.
Who are we?
We are the light of the world, the salt of the earth. We are the people through whom God has chosen to reveal his light to the world in hopes that the entire world will be saved. If the world doesn’t see our light, it’s because we’ve hidden it.
To change metaphors, if God isn’t giving the increase, it’s not God’s fault. We must not be sowing the word. We must be hiding God’s light shining through us under a basket.
Who are we to become?
People marked by the Golden Rule, who live together as a colony of heaven or beachhead in enemy territory, demonstrating to all a better, more joyous way to live. We are the people who work out our disputes by refusing to hold grudges, refusing to take vengeance, and instead reconciling, even if it means turning the other cheek.
We are the people who refuse to objectify women or our enemies. Rather, we are intensely aware of the humanity and the feelings of others, so much so that we are concerned to do nothing that gives offense. In fact, your feelings matter to us as much as our own.
Therefore, we do good for those outside the Kingdom just as we do for those inside the Kingdom. But for those inside the Kingdom, we have a special awareness of their needs and so make especially certain they are met.
We conduct ourselves by these standards because this is who God is. God loves the saved and the damned, the righteous and the evil. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son to die for us, and we follow his example of sacrificial, submissive service to others.
And we conduct ourselves by these standards because doing so changes the church from a social club and an escape from the world into a beacon of light that draws the lost toward God’s family, inviting others to see and be persuaded.
And we are no truer to God’s nature than when we baptize a convert or when we take communion together. Each pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and reminds us of our commitment and mission and teaches us how to live each day. And as we’re transformed by these sacraments, our light shines all the brighter.
Of course, the sacraments are only transformative when we let them point us toward Jesus. When we use them to point toward how much smarter than everyone else we are, we’ve made ourselves the object of our worship.
Jay, you speak of sacraments, but there are NO sacraments in the Way of Jesus. A sacrament is an act which IN ITSELF creates merit. I repeat, there are NO sacraments in following Jesus.
According to Merriam-Webster http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sacrament
What am I missing?
Jay,
What is your opinion of those who claim Matthew 6:1-18 forbids presentation worship? I think it’s grasping at straws to outlaw drama as worship. But I wanted to see your opinion.
RJ,
Worse that grasping at straws. It’s grasping at imaginary straws. I mean, Jesus is obviously condemning hypocrisy, not drama as a means of teaching God’s word.
Far more pertinent would be the early chapters of Ezekiel. For example,
God had Ezekiel perform a 390-day long dramatic piece — performance art — to teach a lesson. It must be okay. (And this is just the beginning of Ezekiel’s teaching through drama.)
Thanks Jay,
Even in the NT, the angels of Heaven performed a drama-skit in Revelation!
Out congregation has VBS where funny-skits are done by the adults and older kids to the younger kids that also teach Biblical lessons, but to have this done in front of the whole congregation would be sacrilege and sinful, when all we’ve done is switched out the audience. It is contradictory that we must make it fun for the kids, and yet not allow it for the adults if done by the same people for the same reasons. That does’t make me in favor for funny skits, as I would rather us teach our children in the serious mode, than switch back and forth due to our own measures and if this is learning, then allow if for the adults. If it is wrong for the adults, then it should be wrong for the children as well, for the same reasons. This is another case of us calling things sinful due to our own judgments and predications.