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Relationships Mark 11:7-10 & 12:28- 34
1) Introduction: Over the past few weeks we've talked about Developing Eternally Significant Relationships... The first word of our Mission statement tells us what our job is… to develop, to grow, to work. Drop “evel” and a “p” from “developing” and you’ve got “doing”. The second word tells us where we are to do this, within the context of eternal life. The third word tells us why, because we are significant, made in the image of God. And our last and possibly most confusing word is relationship… The ultimate goal of it all! And yet relationship is confusing... trying to figure out human beings. We are all over the maps, the emotional maps, physical maps, sexual maps, intelligence maps, wisdom maps... We need special maps just to figure out how many different ways we are all going. a) Human Beings are built for relationship, but each of us approach relationship differently… b) Much of our significance on this earth is found in who we love: i) Our spouses (or future spouses), our children, and the relationships we have with people at work, or at school, or even at church. ii) Yet all of these relationships are limited in some way; they still are dependent on what we do or how well we act. They tell us a lot about ourselves, yet there is something more! c) Relationship is what makes us Human… but WE UNDERSTAND SO LITTLE ABOUT IT – See Mark 11:7-10 (the Palm Sunday Fiasco). Even when Jesus showed up he couldn’t get people to understand who He really was and what He was going to do for us. i) Think about it, are we any less fickle then the crowds that were waving palm branches and screaming “Hosana” to Jesus, excited about the plans they had for what He was going to do for them? ii) And who by the next Friday were either in hiding or screaming for his crucifixion? iii) Palm Sunday is one of the most obvious proofs that we really needed the immense forgiveness of Good Friday and the outrageous hope of Easter Sunday. (1) For relationship to work we need to be changed. (2) We need to think and act very differently. 2) JESUS DEFINES RELATIONSHIP. Mark 12:28- 34 In Mark 12 a conversation between Jesus and a teacher of the law is recorded. It occurs during Passion Week. Jesus had just handled some incredibly tough questions by religious experts who were trying to trip him up. One of these people, a scribe, an expert in the law was amazed by Jesus’ answers. As we look at this passage I think we'll get a better clue about the way God wants us to experience relationship. READ Mark 12:28- 34We'll start with that last statement... So many human beings "are not far from the kingdom of God." And so many of us are not far from relationships with others... It's hard to bridge the gap. So many of us have so much relationship baggage, stuff that keeps us from getting close to one another and God… some give up, some try harder… but all of us struggle! a) A relationship based on human achievement, of simply trying really hard won’t get you far. People blow it! i) Relationship in the human sense is not mechanical! Does just going through the motions get you anywhere in a relationship? ii) "I am giving you these flowers because this book I scanned on relationships says I have to!" How far will that get you? People want relationship… we want to understand and be understood… that’s really what makes us happy! b) Jesus begins His definition of relationship by putting first things first! Relationship has to be focused on what is really there. He answers the most important question with the most important answer, 29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. This is the most basic information a human being needs for relationship! This statement is found in Deut. 6:4... it's the Shema, a statement that is still spoken today... God is, as He Himself said when asked by Moses asked at the burning bush (Exodus 3:13,14) What’s your name, who should I tell them you are? And 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.'" It all starts with realizing that GOD IS! He created us, knows us, and wants relationship with us! Amazing! So first we need to KNOW HIM! A.W. Tozier said, “To know man, we must begin with God! i) But people are superficial… we like to focus on our own opinions and views of the world…it’s all about me is the mantra of the day… and that puts all of our relationships in jeopardy! ii) Our understanding that God is, and our determination to make sure that we have relationship with and continue to go deeper in our knowing of God, affects every relationship we have. GOOD RELATIONSHIP STARTS WITH GOD! iii) So often we just shuffle our relationship baggage from hand to hand instead of handing it over to the God of relationship! c) Jesus continues and tells us what we are to do to make this happen. Relationship starts with God; and in verse 30 we see how this capitol R Relationship is to look in our lives. Jesus takes the Shema and quotes the next verse, really the obvious outpouring of the truth of the Shema. Deut. 6:5... 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.' i) How much of us are we to put into our relationship with God? What word echoes over and over again in that verse… ALL! All your Heart! All your Soul! All your Mind! All your Strength! (1) All your Heart! All our love! (2) All your Soul! All our passions! Passion not in the trivial sense of daytime TV, but the passions that speak of who you really are. (3) All your Mind! All our thoughts and ideas… they’ve got to be put in line with what we know about God! (4) All your Strength! All our actions! ii) Jesus doesn’t leave anything out… Do you realize how the world would look at us if we actually did this? Now I think that we can! This isn’t just a beautiful spiritual sound bite! d) And then Jesus tells us how we are to make this Capital R Relationship flow out into all our relationships. Now here's where Jesus really makes a new connection... the reality of God is supposed to affect our relationship with those who are made in the image of God. ' 31a The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' These were two thoughts that had never before been put together. i) If we have put all our Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength into loving God, what do you think will happen to the relationships around us? ii) If all that “yourself” is is related to your relationship with God I believe we will find peace in loving others… and we aren’t doing by human achievement! We are doing out of the power of our relationship with God! (1) We aren’t looking for what we get out of it… (2) We are just allowing our love to be what it is! 2) MAKING RELATIONSHIP WORK! So for relationship to work I think we need to go back and really look at what Jesus was saying here... He says of this statement 30b …There is no commandment greater than these." Did you notice that all of these statements are considered to be ONE commandment! The Great Commandment… a) That's relationship... When two or more people become one. You find yourself doing things with people without having to think about it. You work as one. i) There are signs of this; especially as Christians we have this. (1) (John 13:35) By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (2) If we actually implement this commandment, people will KNOW! We need to ask ourselves, "Is my relationship with God evident in the relationships around me?" (3) Our world speaks of the Golden Rule, “love your neighbor as yourself.” A lot of people believe that this is the sum of all religion… But when I look at the world I see evidence that we are not as good at practicing it as we are at saying it. ii) C.S. Lewis,” wrote “you can’t get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first. We are called to put God first and let the rest fall into place!” We are called to put God first and love! iii) Convictions not acted on, die; truths not followed, fade; lingering can become a habit; and we can either go in or go further away. iv) Remember, OUR ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE ISN’T BASED ON WHAT WE DO; IT IS BASED ON WHO WE ARE. We are people made in the image of God! People loved by God! And people truly in love with God! Waving palm branches isn’t what it is about. 3) BEING TRULY HUMAN REQUIRES THAT WE EMBRACE A TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD/JESUS. a) And it’s our relationship with God that makes all other relationships work! b) You never take for granted someone that you've just fell in love with... we need to fall in love with Jesus. Maybe some of you are, maybe some of you were, and maybe some of you aren’t there yet, but each of us are meant to be passionately in love with Jesus. And we are to take the gifts He has given us and use them with that same passion. Jesus wants us to be a people passionately involved in our relationship with God and with the people around us. i) To know ourselves, and to more successfully love others we need to know God. We need to set aside our baggage and find time for God! ii) It means setting ourselves aside and really love people! That means getting messy, touching lives, reaching out, caring… iii) It means getting involved at church and with this body, not just sitting here on Sunday. iv) It means loving! And sharing, both the stuff we've been given, but even more importantly the message we have been given. Through faith in Jesus people can have eternal life! (1) We need to do this with all our heart, soul, mind and strength! Using all our gifts to the fullest potential. (2) Our relationship with God compels us to do these things! c) And all of this occurs because God is in us… His Holy Spirit empowers us! This is something that is so easy to forget… and I think it’s the main reason Christians today don’t look much different than everyone else around them. i) We fall into the trap of thinking that we’ve got to somehow find the strength to make it through… We think we have to find: (1) The strength to overcome our fear of talking to others about Christ… (2) The strength to serve Christ in what we do, working with kids, caring for people around us, giving… (3) As a pastor it’s easy to go here and if I/we fall into this trap there are only two ways out, drop out or burn out! ii) God wants to USE YOU! And He has given us all that we need to complete our task, HIS SPIRIT IN US! So let’s quit waving Palm branches and get to work!
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