Your Legacy ...

How are you known?  If you were to be described by your co-workers in a candid conversation, what kinds of things would they say about you?  Would it be the same kinds of things your family would say, or perhaps better, or perhaps worse.  Does your community even know who you are, or like me, do you sit in obscurity barely known by the neighbors on both sides of you, let alone by a wider more public audience in whom you have expressed little interest.  What we do, is so often consumed with activity we feel is essential to our survival, that any “spare” time is usually spent in veins of entertainment.  Well at least for me it is.  I class entertainment time, spent with my family, as “down” time where my stress is relieved.  But few would know that except my family who also participate.  None of this adds up to the actions of my life creating a legacy of any note.  And as I look around me, I wonder, am I alone in this behavior, or do I mimic the countless members of my community, or my nation, who seem equally content not reaching out to me, as I am apparently content, leaving them alone.  We each pursue our own lives, believing that is enough.  It has become the expected, the norm, the natural.  To disrupt this thinking, is to invite the unknown.

What would happen, if I began taking the time each early evening to go up and down my street and begin knocking on a single door each evening, to simply check in with my neighbors.  To introduce myself, to offer any assistance I may be of help with, to invite them to open up with me, and begin sharing who we are with each other.  I am certain not all my neighbors would like me.  Even more would not appreciate being taken away from the normal activities they engage in, to be diverted to a neighbor who just wants to get to know you.  Some might call the police, afraid of my actions as they are so far out of the norm.  Some would likely slam the door in my face and ask me (not so politely) to never return.  Most would probably figure I was probably one of those horrible persistent missionaries nobody likes; and treat me accordingly.  Even if this was not my purpose.  If I was not a nagging missionary, then the next most likely thing for me to be would be a sales-person, trying to make money off our encounter.  That is nearly zero percent effective.  But if neither of those, I get classed with the criminals.  Our neighborhood is not one of great wealth, it is one of great need.  And if I am not trying to bring Jesus, or make money, I am likely trying to steal the little stuff you have, because I believe the little stuff I have is even less.

This is me, trying to get acquainted with my neighbors.  Or at least, what I believe would happen.  But then, I cannot say for sure, because I have never really tried it.  To really try it, would require I get up off the sofa (or in my case, the reclining chair that makes my back feel comfy), and do something.  And what would be my motive to do so?  Fame?  Am I looking only to be known, so that I could create a legacy for when I die, in which the little community that surrounds where I live might actually miss me; or say nice things about me.  Salvation?  Am I looking to prove to God, that His investment in me, His decision to love me enough to save me, was not misplaced.  Am I looking to earn a place in His kingdom, to satisfy the idea of being known for my works and therefore meet the minimum requirements of entry into heaven.  There are a number of texts that seem to espouse this idea.  Love?  Can’t say I have an over-abiding passion for any of my neighbors, or community yet.  Most of my love seems directed at me, or perhaps my family.  So how could this become the motive that rules my life, to the point where it rules my actions.

Matthew in his gospel to the Hebrews, zooms in on just such a set of texts.  They come from the mouth of Jesus Himself.  Picking up in chapter sixteen and verse 24 it reads … “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”  Pay special attention to the sequence of these proscriptions.  The very first idea is an interest in following Jesus, a response to the great transformative love of Jesus.  The ability of Jesus to heal you, not just your body, but in your soul, to free you from the sin you now embrace, and make your life something different, that is, something way better, than it is today.  Without this interest, why bother with the rest.  Next is the concept of absolute submission.  Submission not to some random guru, or to a random philosophy or idea, and particularly not to the idea that “you” can fix your own problems.  This is submission of who you are, to Jesus Christ alone who can fix who you are. 

The denial of self, is the recognition that what you like, is probably not the best.  What you like, leads to why you do what you do, and your motives are a long way from being in harmony with God, and in harmony with the law of God.  Your motives, are why you sin at all.  Your actions, are only a symptom of your motives.  It is the who you are underneath, it is the what you like in the core of your mind, that is the problem in what you do, and why you do it.  “You” cannot just fix that.  But Jesus can, if you but submit to Him.  You will note in this sequence of events Jesus has yet to discuss action.  First there is love, and a response to love.  Second there is a transformation of who you are through submission to Him.  Now thirdly in the sequence is finally something to do with actions, in the taking up your cross.  That cross is not meant to show an instant death.  Nope, it is worse than that.  It means as you become more like Jesus through submitting your will, your desire to Jesus, you begin to reflect Jesus more and more strongly.  This reaches a point where when others look at you, they see Jesus shining brightly through you.  And how did the world react before at this revelation – they immediately tried to torture and kill it.  If you are that vehicle of the love of Jesus, you should start planning that there is a “cross” in your future.

This is not about self-mutilation; or trying to get to the sleep of death as quickly as possible, so you can fast forward to the return of Jesus.  This is about how the world responds to perfect love.  This is about how those who refuse the love of Jesus react to the love of Jesus.  They hate it.  As does their master, the devil who also hates it.  The world does not reward you for your love, it punishes you for it.  “No good deed” … on steroids.  The world crafts a cross with your name on it as quickly as it can.  The world attempts to take from you whatever you have – whether that is career, or wealth, or reputation, or legacy.  Satan has no use for those who submit themselves to Jesus, so he does everything in his power to keep this from happening.  He distracts as much as he can, makes you believe there is no time for this, or any reason for this.  You should “like” yourself just as you are.  You should insure “you” are taken care of, before you try taking care of anyone else.  These lies of Satan are effective, and exist within the church, to great effect.

But for those who simply look to Jesus for the strength to bear this cross, they reach the final stage of the sequence, they begin to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.  It is at this point where the love of my neighbors has nothing to do with Fame, or Legacy, or Salvation – it has only to do with a love that burns within me to see my neighbors have a better life, and my desire to see that happen, and do what I can to insure it.  It is only after my transformation is something fully in the hands of Jesus, where I care less about me, and more about others (not just my family, but also including them).  If I attempt to take the actions ahead of the motives, I am bound to fail miserably.  The sequence is the roadmap to success.  My attempt to take shortcuts, or ignore the submission part, is the recipe for abject failure on every level.  The common sense of man, is never a greater wisdom than what God asks, even when that does not make sense to us.

Jesus continues in verse 25 saying … “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”  My survival is actually not important.  The survival of my family is actually not the most important thing in my life, or should it be in theirs.  I know this reads like heresy, but hang with me.  My survival is not in my hands.  In Truth, it has never been so.  I survive, or I die, at the will of Jesus, and so does my family.  This earthly life is not really the most important thing there is in my existence.  In fact, it is the sucky part.  My eternal life is really the only thing that matters, or should matter to me and my family.  Recognizing that Jesus always has been in control, is the recipe for having a full life now.  Since my life has never really been in my control, the obsession I have with actions designed for my survival can no longer be my obsession.  I can learn to trust Jesus more for my survival, because Jesus has always been in charge of my survival no matter what I thought I was doing to sustain it.  Since Jesus has always been the reason behind my family’s survival, I can learn to trust Jesus with their survival and assume less, that I am somehow the only reason for it.  It has been, it always will be Jesus, who sustains me, my family, and all life.  Not just in this world, but in the world to come.  The recognition of this fact, allows me to prioritize differently in the here and now, and keeps the fear out of my head.

Knowing my survival is in sure hands; knowing that this life is not even the most important thing; combines to allow me to take the actions that are in harmony with the will of God, without fear.  I can prioritize Jesus first, and if it costs me my life, then so be it.  There is nothing more important than Jesus then.  And no other place to look to find life in any case.  That is freedom.  That is a liberation in how you live both now and later.  It is adopting the philosophy and knowledge of heaven, back here, in the here and now.  Jesus then poses a question to show us the gravity of what is at stake with our priorities.  He continues in verse 26 saying … “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  All our efforts to survive; all our efforts to excel in our careers, to find the wealth we all seek; what good is it?  What good is our wealth, knowing our death comes.  You can’t take it with you … is a truism that will one day confront us all.  While we may believe that wealth in the here and now will make our lives better, in truth it only adds burden, and solves nothing next to the life we could have in the world to come.

Really think about it for a moment.  Assume you were suddenly made a billionaire.  Yes, you could immediately buy anything you wanted.  You could live any way you wanted.  But then, how would you ever know you were loved from that moment on.  Many would profess their love to you, but how many would do so, because of the billions they believed you might share with them.  You could eat anything you wanted, or liked, all the time.  But then, how healthy is the diet you aspire to?  Would turning you loose in Whole Foods kill you from an overuse of a few particular foods instead of the widest variety you could find.  And could you ever eat in peace again, knowing if you suddenly became sick or died (perhaps from poison), your wealth would transfer to someone who loves you less than they profess, and loves your money almost exclusively.  You could travel anywhere in the world you wanted.  But how many security people would you have to hire to keep you safe?  Could you trust them?  Could you enjoy the rest of your life knowing privacy was no longer something you could afford, and still be safe from the criminals looking to cash in on your funds?  Having wealth seems like a dream, and perhaps it could be, but it also introduces problems you may not have ever considered, and risks you did not think possible before.

And at the end of everything when you face your death – was being a billionaire worth more to you, than having an eternal life where a mere trillion dollars is like carrying two pennies in your pocket.  Imagine being able to eat anything, and have every bite be like a new symphony of taste, better than the meal before it.  Imagine being deeply loved by so many you lose count of them all.  Imagine being able to travel not just anywhere in this world, but anywhere in the ever-expanding universe, not just in a crude private jet made out of parts that fail, but at the speed of thought and intent – 100% safe every trip, and at every destination.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg where it comes to life in the next world.  We have not even touched on the proximity to Jesus and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and the endless creations Jesus has made and will make. 

Jesus then reminds us that these events, and these conditions of life are in fact coming.  He continues in verse 27 saying … “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”  Jesus will return with His angels.  In the Glory of His Father, not as a simple baby born in a manger once again.  When He returns, He will be revealed as the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  His love will be His glory.  His benevolence the reason He is glorified.  When this event happens your second life, the life after this one will begin.  The legacy of who you were will be washed away, in the dazzling brilliance of who you are meant to become.  The universe will be laid out before you.  Your possibility limited only by your own now perfect imagination, and perfected motives.  It is that reward that will accompany the next visit of our Jesus to this world of darkness.

So how do you read the phrase “then He shall reward every man according to his works”.  The traditional interpretation focuses your mind on the word “works”, as if that one was somehow bolded. It is read as if your entry into the kingdom depends upon what you have done.  Let us focus on this interpretation just for a moment.  The same series of texts has already outlined how what you will have done, what your legacy looks like to Jesus, will have been molded, changed, by your interest in Jesus, your submission to Jesus, your reflection of who Jesus is, through you, and finally your following of Jesus.  You will have taken the steps Jesus wanted you to take, not the ones you had in mind for yourself.  This same series of texts from the mouth of Jesus, lays out the entire roadmap for heaven, not just a threat couched at the end of it.  This is not about what “could” be denied to you because you did not live up to the actions you were supposed to do.  This is about REWARDS not punishments.

Now re-consider a second look at the same verse.  What if you focused on what Jesus said at the top of the phrase as if the word “rewards” was somehow bolded.  “He shall reward every man according to his works”  Perhaps the triumphant return of Jesus to this world signals a new life, a new purpose for you.  Perhaps His reward for you is based on who you are then, on the uniqueness of your transformed likes, dislikes, interests, aptitudes, and needs the kingdom of heaven has for one created exactly like you.  You are a unique creation throughout all of time.  You are one of a kind.  There is no replacement for you.  You are intended for a purpose only you can fulfill.  If you reject Jesus, reject His love, reject His transformation, and work your way to hell through constant rejection – heaven and the universe will have to go without the contribution you might have made.  But that is not the focus of this text.  The focus is upon rewards based upon the unique composition of who you are.  Your legacy is not meant to look backwards at the second coming of Christ.  It is meant to look forwards.  Your legacy is not about who you were, in a world embraced in darkness.  It is about who you will be, who you were always intended to be, in a world bathed in the light of God the Father Himself.  Your transformation is meant to the introduce the changes in you that will make you ready for just such a new world.

That is an entirely different perspective, but no less centered, in keeping the focus upon Jesus – the certain only mechanism to see you achieve it.  Notice these rewards (whether perceived as threat for inaction, or as reward according to who you will become) do not occur randomly at the return of some guru, or some demon in human form claiming to be Moses, or Elijah.  They only occur when Jesus Himself returns with His angels, in the Glory of His Father’s brilliance.  The whole world will see that at once.  The whole world will know it at once.  It will not be hidden, or broadcast on some news outlet.  You will see it for yourself.  And the person returning will be Jesus, not an imposter, but the real Jesus.  This is what your legacy was meant to bear witness to.  This is what the transformation of your life, through the love of Jesus you find yourself fully submitting to, was meant to prepare you for, and put you in harmony with.  Let us create a legacy, that is grounded in our personal submission to Jesus.  Let our actions come from what is transformed in that process.  And let it ever point forward to this wonderful event, leading others to center their eyes ever on Jesus, and what is to come.  To focus on our works, is to look the wrong way.  To focus on Jesus, is to see it occur in you.

 

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished? ...

Intent is difficult to define.  What we perceive about any given event is then influenced by our own mind-set at the time.  If we witness someone crossing the street, and at the time we are coming from a joyful place, where things are going well for us, our world seems full of potential, and our dreams are right around the corner – we tend to associate good or at least neutral “motives” or intentions with the scene of someone crossing the street.  However, if we have just been burglarized, our security shattered, our wealth threatened – the person crossing the street may well be in the midst of a get-away.  It is the same person performing the same action, but how we “judge” or evaluate that identical action is not influenced by the person, but influenced by where our own mind is at the time. 

It is not that dissimilar when someone does something nice for us.  We may think the gesture comes from a place of love in the heart of the giver.  This is particularly true if our own heart longs to show love to others.  But we may also think the gesture is done for an ulterior motive, we become suspicious of what we will be obligated to do if we accept it.  We begin to resent the person for placing us in an uncomfortable situation – looking ungrateful if we refuse, or being obligated if we accept.  The negative evaluation of the identical gesture can lead us so far, as to begin to avoid the giver, or worse begin to take pre-emptive or retributive actions against them.  It is sad to say, but a heart that loves only itself, or itself above all others, tends to see “good deeds” through the lens of selfish motives.  We accuse others of the behaviors we are familiar with … because we see them in ourselves.  We come to believe that others are incapable of “good deeds” because we too are largely incapable.  But in typical fashion, we deny the transference, and convince ourselves, this is just being “practical” in our world.

How a “gift” is received is a reflection of the heart of the recipient – it is not a statement about the motives of the giver.  To offer something freely, regardless of how it is received, perhaps in spite of how it is received, is a reflection of the heart of the giver.  Christ offers us the “gift” of freedom from sin.  But in our sin, we judge that He is just trying to take away from us, something that we hold dear.  He may be trying to take away our “fun”, and leave us with the “drudgery” of obeying the law.  Yet Christ continues to offer us this “gift”.  When we begin to realize, that there is no more precious a “gift” that He could have offered us, the realization is a reflection of change in our own hearts.  His “gift” has not changed, our responses have.  We may have at first rejected what He offered, and even been resentful that He would put us in the uncomfortable situation of – looking ungrateful if we refuse, or being obligated if we accept.  We may have gone so far as to avoid Him as the giver, or worse to take pre-emptive or retributive actions against Him.  But He loves and offers just the same.  And when once we accept, He transforms how we think about the same “gift”, forgiving us completely for what we might have done against Him and His “gift” in the past.

If our Savior must endure this rejection, this improper judgment of His motives, this devaluation of the most precious “gift” in all of history as He works to redeem you and me – can we seriously think our minor good deeds will not undergo the same phenomenon as we attempt to reach out to those around us?  Peter understood this phenomenon.  He had witnessed it first hand as Christ healed the lame man, opened the eyes of the blind, and raised Lazarus from the dead.  The beautiful gifts of Christ, were judged by the religious leadership of His day, to be the acts of Satan, because those actions did not conform to the authority of the church.  Having seen this, Peter is keen to share the foreknowledge with the early Christian church, not only about what to expect, but about continuing to return good for evil in spite of how it is received.

Peter continues in chapter 3 of his first letter to the church beginning in verse 14 … “But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; [verse 15] But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”  Offending an oppressive authority carries a substantial risk.  A citizen of North Korea who openly insults the “precious leader” is likely to see his life forfeit as a result.  The same is true in religiously based totalitarian states; offer offense to the dominant religious thinking or ideology and lives are lost as a result.  It was no different under Roman rule, perhaps only that it might have been worse.  Insulting Kim in Korea is a rule everyone can understand.  In Rome, that could apply to a host of people.  Insulting Islam in a predominantly Muslim country is a rule everyone can understand.  In Rome, there were a myriad of religions that came in and out of favor, each particular “god” having its own set of rules and regulations.

Peter has just given wise counsel in our last study about the secret to living a long and happy life.  In a nutshell, he offers that it may be as simple as keeping your tongue in check.  When you speak, avoid malice, mischief, and speak with the love that comes from the inherited blessing of working in conjunction with Christ for the redemption of the lost.  He states in the above verses, that even after following that advice, there may be those who continue to judge you harshly, and threaten your very existence.  But the consistent response of returning good for evil, will drive your oppressor to wonder “how” you are able to respond this way.  Peter then offers, that this event, is what we longed to see.  Stand ready to give an answer of the reason for hope within you, in both meekness and respect, to the one who asks.  It is not in returning equal violence and equal evil for what is done to us, that our oppressor begins to cease his actions.  His heart remains untouched.  But when he is offered love for evil, his heart must understand this, and in so doing can become changed.

Peter continues in verse 16 … “Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. [verse 17] For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.”  Keeping a positive consistent, Christ-like love in our speech, has the added benefit of freeing our hearts and minds from the guilt that comes in speaking or doing evil to others.  Those who are consistent in loving others, sleep better.  And “if” we are to suffer because of the wickedness of other men, then let us suffer for our good deeds and good speech – than to suffer for the gossip we spread, and the lies we tell, and the jealousy and judgmental-ism that so often cross the “Christian’s” lips.  To suffer for our misdeeds is only justice; there is no nobility in it.  But to suffer for our good deeds, is to walk the path of patient love that our Savior tread before us.

Peter continues in verse 18 … “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”  Peter reminds us that Christ suffered and died, not only for those who would accept His gift, but for those who would choose to reject it.  He died for everyone, not just for His followers.  He longed to have all the world experience the freedom from sin He offers.  But how an individual responds to Christ is the choice of that person.  Christ died for him.  How he responds is left to him. 

Peter continues in verse 19 … “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;”  The New Testament does not talk much about the prison ministry of Jesus.  There are some interactions between the disciples of John the Baptist when he is imprisoned that are recorded.  There is also the parable Jesus tells of the separation of sheep and goats based in part on how they visited those in prison.  John’s gospel states that many more things Jesus did while he was here, so many that no volume of books could contain the whole of them.  So perhaps Peter here alludes to a personal knowledge that Jesus did indeed visit those in prison to offer them hope.  Or perhaps Peter here is talking about how Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit is able to free us from the prison of sin and self-slavery we have embraced.  In either case, our Lord is highly concerned about our freedom from sin, and often is misjudged by us, throughout the process of salvation.

Peter continues in verse 20 … “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”  Notice that even when the world was judged to be so continually evil that it must be destroyed, the sentence was delayed for 120 years, so that perhaps some of mankind might reconsider and be saved.  Entry into the ark was not forbidden by Noah, it was encouraged.  He preached for 120 years about what was coming, and how mankind might be saved.  It takes very little risk to enter the ark “just in case” Noah is right.  It takes tremendous arrogance to ignore the first-hand accounts of Adam and Eve who lived nearly half the time between the garden of Eden and the flood.  It takes tremendous arrogance to ignore the angel with the flaming sword who stood at the entrance to the garden of evil to insure mankind no longer ate from the tree of life.  There was first hand and physical proof of the existence of a creator God.  Yet not a single soul took the precaution of entering the ark “just in case”.  Only Noah and his family were saved.  The disobedient were set in their course, despite the mercy God continued to extend to them.  And as it was in the days of Noah …

Peter continues in verse 21 … “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: [verse 22] Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.”  Peter compares the flood where evil men died, to the symbolism of baptism, where the evil in our hearts is drowned by our choice to submit and follow Jesus Christ.  Peter qualifies that it is not our actions that save us, but our willingness to be transformed by God, brought into harmony with how God thinks, and loves others.  As we emerge from the baptismal waters, so Christ emerged from the grave.  As Christ is ascended into heaven, and has been given all power and authority sitting on the right hand of God, so He is able to save us from the slavery of sin that would have cost us our lives and existence, and bring us home to Him.

The process of our salvation is founded on the patient love of God.  God allowed time for the people in Noah’s day to hear the message, and have the chance to see redemption.  It was the people of that day that refused to be saved.  The actions of the life of Christ did not return hate speech for hate speech, instead constantly trying to guide the Pharisees and unbelievers to the knowledge of the love of God for man.  It was the Pharisees who refused to ever embrace that love, with only few exceptions.  Peter reminds us that our consistent positive love-centered speech is not always going to be received well.  We will be judged harshly, often by those most in need, and most steeped in evil.  But that should not diminish our showing love to them; instead it should serve to increase it.

The end-game for God is about our redemption.  He was willing to endure tremendous pain and suffering and insult, even death, in order to see us redeemed.  He is willing to forgive everything we have done to Him, just hoping so fervently to see us accept His love, and be with Him forever.  There was no price He was not willing to pay to see the job done.  Nothing He would not endure.  That kind of love is limitless, infinite, and beyond our comprehension.  The best we will ever do is accept it.  We may never come to fully understand it.  Our carnal nature can simply not make sense of it.  Yet it exists.  If evil is to be eliminated, it must be by a choice for something else.  His love provides a reason to seek that choice.  His love provides a method of seeing that choice become a reality.  His love abides with us before, during and after this process takes place.  His love is everything …