Lent 1 - Of Rocks and Boulders

Text: Genesis 22:1-18

Nationwide Insurance offers their customers something they call Vanishing Deductible.  With the vanishing deductible they allow you to knock a hundred dollars off your deductible for every year of safe driving.  Perhaps you have seen their commercials.  There are several of them. The one that is likely the most familiar has their pitch man sitting on a park bench with a woman.  There is a large boulder hanging over their heads.  The pitch man describes the policy – the longer you go without having an accident the smaller your deductible becomes.  While he is talking, the boulder shrinks down to the size of a pebble and drops into his hands.  The two smile, look at the camera and then they sing the nationwide jingle together.

Vanishing Deductible – a clever idea that makes sense.  It rewards the best drivers for their good driving and encourages bad drivers to do better. A perfect little incentive program for Nationwide customers.

We like incentive programs.  People appreciate them in their insurance company – after all, I am sure that’s why Nationwide does it.  Employers use them to get their employees to perform better, to sell more, to be more productive.  Our kids respond to them, so we use them at home to get them to do their homework or to clean up their rooms.  The better you behave, the greater your reward.  Sounds a lot like how we view our religion. 

Now, deep down we know that we are saved by grace through faith.  But that doesn’t stop us from believing that God owes us a reward somewhere along the way.  Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad.” And he identified that as “his religion.”  I think that whether we like to admit it or not, that is our religion too.  We want to be rewarded with good when we do good.  We will acknowledge that we deserve bad when we do bad.  So then how do you explain Abraham?

Hebrews 11 identified Abraham as a hero of faith.  He believed God and responded to His promised by leaving his family and moving to some distant and unknown land.  Genesis tells us that Abraham believed God (Genesis 15:6)  Paul the apostle quotes this verse twice, once in Galatians (Galatians 3:6) and in Romans (Romans 4:3)  And so God gave to Abraham a promise.  Abraham was an old man – 75 years of age and God promised him that he would have a son, and that he would be the father of a great nation, with descendants that number as the stars in the sky.  Most 75 year old men would probably think this was insane but God kept his promise – 25 years later.  Abraham became the father of the promise at the ripe old age of 100 years old.

So, did Abraham receive a reward as incentive for good behavior?  Did his boulder shrink and become a pebble?  No.  Not if you read our text.  In fact, Abraham’s boulder – his burden seemed to get bigger, to get heavier and harder to carry.  We are told that the Lord decided to tempt Abraham.  And it all had to do with that promise.

God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation.  The Lord had fulfilled that promise – Sarah his wife gave birth to a boy, they named him Isaac.  But then God deliberately contradicted that promise.  God threatened to take away that promise by threatening to take away his son, Isaac.

Has something like that ever happened to you?  You are God’s people.  You have received his promise.  All of the promises of the scriptures are opened up before you, every last one is your inheritance.  But does it seem as though at times God has taken them back?

Consider the promise from Psalm 91.

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge — 10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. 14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. (Psalm 91:9-15) 

These verses are a promise from God – angels who lift you up so that you don’t strike your foot against a stone – we might be more inclined to say “stub your toe”.  I don’t know about you, but there are times when my toe throbs. 

But maybe it’s not your toe.  Maybe it’s your liver, or pancreas, or gallbladder.  There’s an infection, gall stones, cancer.  Or maybe it’s not an internal organ that hurts.  Maybe it’s your hip, your pocket – where you keep your wallet.  A series of events occur that makes your wallet lite and your “vanishing” deductible starts to grow.  Maybe it’s not just one boulder. Maybe its an entire avalanche of boulders. 

So… how about it?  Has God taken away his promises?

I guess it all depends on who you ask.  The devil would say yes.  The devil wants you to believe the definitely he has.  The circumstance happens.  You are trying hard to figure out why and how and Satan steps is to fill in all the details.  “It’s you.” He says.  “It’s all your fault.  You thought you were doing good, but you weren’t.  You went and messed everything up and now God is mad at you.”  And so you feel guilt.  Despair.  Hopelessness sets in.  And the devil loves it. 

The other thing the Devil would have you believe is that God is just plain lying.  God said he was good.  God said he was protecting you.  He wasn’t.  He never intended to.  This is blasphemy.  It says that God’s word is not true and that we cannot trust him. 

Either one is dangerous.  Either one can be spiritually fatal – and the devil knows this.  When we blaspheme God and call him a liar we give up on our faith – we decide that God is not good and that there is no point.  Despair is just as dangerous.  We assume that God is angry, there is no appeasing that anger and therefore there is no hope.  Blasphemy, there’s no point. or despair, there’s no hope.  It is the devils strategy to use both to remove from us our faith.

But the devil is not the only one at work.  You see, the Devil does not control these things.  If he could the devil would attack us all the time.  But he does not.  Why?  Because he can’t.  The devil is restrained and held back by God.  The devil can only attack us when he has God’s permission.  Luther reminds us that a devil he is, but his is God’s devil.  And God uses the devil for our good.

Job was a man of God who was tested and tempted to despair.  But Job believed God. “   For I know that my Redeemer lives,” says Job, “and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” (Job 19:25-27 ESV)

God records this event from the life of Abraham for us for our encouragement.  Here we see Abraham and his faith and his righteousness and we see that the Lord tested him.  And in spite of this testing the Lord was still faithful.  He did not withdraw his promise, far from it.  And neither has God withdrawn his promise from us.  God remains faithful and true and we can trust him fully and completely and know for certain that he will care for us. 

You see it is God’s will that we know and understand that our salvation comes purely and entirely by God’s grace and by his mercy.  Our joy can only be complete when we trust God alone to care for us.  But we  are so tempted to put our confidence in our own righteousness.  We are so tempted to believe that God will work with us through an incentive program.  And so we put our trust in ourselves or in the things and people that adorn our lives.  These things take the place of the Lord.  He wants us to see how weak these things are.  Our relationships, our possessions, our own power and knowledge.  These things can’t save us.  But so often we trust them to be our hope and our consolation.  God tests us and in this testing he helps us see just how weak these things are.  In the end, we have greater joy in him. 

We also see and can be encouraged by Abraham’s response of faith.  Abraham believed God.  He placed his hope and his trust in God.  Even when God tested him and even when God’s command contradicted God’s promise Abraham still believed and he still obeyed. 

“God said he would give me a son.  I have Isaac.  God has said he will make me into a great nation.  He will.  God has said I should sacrifice my son.  I will obey.  Because God is faithful and he keeps his promises.  When I was old he gave me this child.  He created life out of the dead womb of my wife.  God has kept his promise to me in the past, he will do it again.  Even though I do not understand, yet I will believe.”

We can see this faith in the words Abraham spoke.  “I and the boy will go over to worship and we shall return.”  “The Lord will provide for himself the lamb of sacrifice.”  In spite of the contradiction, Abraham believed God.

Finally, through our suffering we are taught to see Jesus.  When we believe God and receive his righteousness we suffer, but this suffering is not unlike that of our Lord. 

In our gospel text Satan carried Jesus away to the top of the temple and urged him to jump.  “God has promised to bear you up so that you won’t strike your foot on a stone.  How about it? Jump.  See what happens.  See if God’s angels come.  God gave a promise; let’s see if he really meant it.”

But Jesus didn’t budge.  Jesus was tempted with the same temptations we face.  The temptation to call God out, to see if he will really keep his promises, the temptation to call God a liar.  Jesus was tempted with the same blasphemy Satan uses against us.  “Jesus, Shouldn’t God’s deductible vanish?  Shouldn’t God increase your power to match your righteousness.  Jesus look at how good you are!  God could make you fly!”  Jesus put that temptation to rest. “It is written you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”  Jesus withstood the temptation for us.

Luther says that nearly all people are tempted by despair, and the godlier they are, the more frequently they are attacked with this weapon of Satan. Almost reverse the equation doesn’t it?  Imagine the size of the boulder over Jesus head!  Yet not once did he give in.  And then for our sake, when that boulder fell, when that mountain dropped on his head Jesus was crushed beneath its weight. 

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.  (Isaiah 53:5 ESV)

When you find yourself suffering, broken or injured, remember Jesus.  Remember his suffering.  Remember what he has done for you.  You are baptized.  You have been preserved for heaven and this promise will not lie. 

Times of suffering and temptation come in the life of every Christian.  It happened to Abraham, it happened to Jesus. It happened to all of the apostles.  It will happen to you.  This does not mean that you are alone.  This does not mean that God has abandoned you or that he has abandoned his words of promise.  He has kept them before.  He will keep each and every one of them now.  You will receive the blessing that is promised.  So don’t lose hope.  Don’t despair.  Know your God.  Trust your God. 

I leave you with these words from Isaiah.     

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

            The LORD is the everlasting God,

                        the Creator of the ends of the earth.

            He does not faint or grow weary;

                        his understanding is unsearchable.

            He gives power to the faint,

                        and to him who has no might he increases strength.

            Even youths shall faint and be weary,

                        and young men shall fall exhausted;

            but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;

                        they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

            they shall run and not be weary;

                        they shall walk and not faint.

(Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV)

Epiphany 6 Mark 1:40-45 "Don't be wishy washy"

You and I live in the era of the wishy washy.  We love people who can’t make up their mind.  The undecided, the unopinionated.  It’s true!  We most value and respect those who have no idea.  Politicians court the vote, not of their constituents – but of those “undecided” voters who occupy that middle territory.  Harvard researchers tell us that women are most interested in men who can’t make up their mind about whether or not they are interested in them.  And when it comes to religion, faith and opinions about God, the agnostic is respected… or those who would call themselves “spiritual but not religious” as thought that were a thing that you could be.  “I don’t know God.  I don’t know if he exists.”  Or “I believe there is a god and he must exist somewhere but there are so many people with so many different ideas – they can’t all be wrong, so instead I’ll just believe all of them.”  We think these people must be smarter than we are, that they must read more, take in more information, consider more points of view so, in spite of a complete lack of coherence in their world view we repsect them.  Our culture respects them.  They get the most hits on YouTube, the most Likes on Facebook and why not, they agree with everybody and disagree with no one.  They are completely wishy washy.

Because we so highly value this wishy washiness in people, we have a bad habit of projecting this same value onto God, onto Jesus.  We think that Jesus doen’t have an opinion – about us, about people, about who we are and what we do.  But he does.  Jesus is far from wishy washy.  Far from murky and undecided.  He knows exactly what is right and what is wrong.  Crystal clear in his thought and opinion and purpose.  And he wants us to be as well.  Spiritual but not religious?  Jesus would have none of it.  He wants crystal clear believers with crystal clear understanding of him and his revealed will in His Word.  And he wants us to pray with a crystal clear focus and bold, believing prayers.  He does.  And it makes him angry when we do not.  Jesus is far from wishy washy.  And he has no respect for wishy washy believers.  In fact, they make him angry.   You can read about it in the Bible.  Here are a few example:

First there is James 1.            

Ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8 ESV)

Consider also the passage from Revelation

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  (Revelation 3:14-16 ESV)

And then there is Ahaz, the wishy washy King of Israel.  God told him to ask for a sign as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven, and Ahaz, putting on a false sort of humility said this: “Far be it from me to ask for a sign from God.”  If God tells you to ask for a sign you should not be wishy washy.   God was annoyed.  Isaiah his prophet was annoyed.  Isaiah said, “Is it not enough to wear out men that you also have to wear out God?”  And God went ahead and gave a sign anyway.  (Isaiah 7:10-13)

And then there is our Gospel text that we read for today.  The healing of the leper in Mark 1.  Now, on first glance we can’t quite see it, but it is there.  A wishy washy leper and a far from wishy washy response from Jesus.

The leper comes to Jesus with a request, a prayer.  Not unlike our prayers, and probably not unlike the prayers of Ahaz.  We don’t want to ask too much.  We don’t want to assume too much.  And so, when we come before God we are wishy washy.  “Lord, if you really want to.”  “Lord, if it’s not too much trouble.”  “Lord I really shouldn’t be here praying to you like this, but if you could find it in your heart to help me…  if you could spare just a moment…” Wishy Washy!  Wishy washy, doubting, undecided, and spineless prayers!  We feel pious in our doubting.  But we are not!  We are in fact sinning.  And it makes God angry.

Jesus was angry with the leper for his wishy washy prayer.  He responds to the man in a way that we would find surprising.  Shocking, even. 

Our text reads:

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once.

Our text says that Jesus was “moved by pity”.  Now this sounds good and it fits with our usual view of Jesus.  But there is a problem; there is an alternate reading.  Most of our Bible translations, the ESV, NIV, RSV and others are translated, not from one manuscript but from a comparison of thousands of manuscripts.  Literally thousands of copies of the text.  Each one hand done, some are partial, some are ancient, some are a bit newer.  They don’t all agree 100%.  There are minor little differences here and there.  And one of those little discrepencies occurs here in these text, and at a pretty crucial point.  Most texts say that Jesus was moved by pity - splagnistheis.  But all the manuscripts don’t say that.  There are some, and those some are generally pretty reliable, that say not that he was moved by pity, splagnistheis, but that he was moved by anger, orgistheis!  So which one do you go with?  Our translation, and most translations opt to go with pity.  But perhaps anger makes more sense.  Especially in light of what follows. 

A few verses later, in verse 43 our translation reads, “And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once.”  Again, there is something lost in translation.  Jesus did “sternly charge”, and he did “send him” away, but there’s more.  Those words have some bite to them in their original.  The word for “sternly charge”(embremaomai) means “to  rebuke, to speak harshly” or maybe  “to give him a good dressing down” kind of like a drill sergeant chewing out a new cadet.   And the word for “send away” (ekballow) might be better translated to say that “he threw him out”!  “Sternly charged and sent away”?  Maybe it was more like this:

“Get out of my sight!  What’s wrong with you coming in here and making some wishy washy request – if you want you can heal me!  Of course I want to heal you! Don’t you know that already!  Here give me your leprosy and get out of here.  Go tell the priest, but don’t tell them you got it here.” 

Maybe that is more along the lines of what Jesus said.

You see, doubt is a sin.  Wishy washy prayer is a sin.  Prayer that is tied to an asterisk is a sin.  “Maybe you will answer, maybe you won’t.  Maybe you are God, maybe you aren’t.  Maybe I am worthy to ask, maybe I am not.”  That’s not faith.  That’s not prayer.  It’s sin.

The Large Catechism says this about our prayer:

So God has briefly placed before us all the distress that may every come upon us so that we might have no excuse whatever for not praying.  But all depends upon this, that we learn also to say, “Amen”.  This means that we do not doubt that our prayer is surely heard and that what we pray shall surely be done (2 Corinthians 1:20)  This is nothing else that the word of undoubting faith, which does not pray on a dare but knows that God does not lie to him. (Titus 1:2)  For he promised to grant it.  Therefore where there is no such faith, there cannot be true prayer either.

It is therefore an evil deception on those who pray as though they could not dare from the heart to say “yes” and positively conclude that God hears them.  Instead they remain in doubt and say, “How can I be so bold as to boast that God hears my prayer?  For I am but a poor sinner.” And other such things.

The reason for this, they do not respect God’s Word of promise, but they rely on their own work and worthiness, by which they despise God and accuse him of lying.  Therefore they receive nothing.

Remember the passage from James!  Ask with faith.  Have no doubts!  Remember the resurrected Jesus and his interaction with Thomas – “see here my hands, place your hand into my side.  Stop doubting and believe.”  That is God’s word to you.  Don’t doubt.  Don’t be wishy washy.  Be confident.  Be sure.  Be bold.  Jesus hears your prayer.  He answers your prayer.  He will listen.  He will hear.  He will grant to you your request.  Stop doubting and believe.

The prayers recorded for us in the psalms are brimming over with confidence.  Here are a few examples:

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. (Psalm 145:13-17 ESV)

O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. (Psalm 139:1-6 ESV)          

When Israel went out from Egypt,  the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.  (Psalm 114 ESV)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. (Psalm 46:1-3 ESV)

Don’t you see who God is?  Don’t you see what he has done for you, for his people in the past?  Don’t you see how he has always taken care of you?  Don’t you see how he moved mountains to protect those he loves?  How he has done and is doing things far too wonderful for you to even begin to understand? Don’t you see how he has power even over the wind and the waves, the earth and the sea, the princes and powers of this world?  And he loves you.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

            “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

                        we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39 ESV)

The leper in our text came to Jesus and prayed.  But he prayed a prayer laced with doubt, uncertainty, a prayer that didn’t know God and didn’t believe God.  If you keep reading into the very next section you will quite a contrast.  A paralytic too weak even to walk, who needed to be carried.  So his friend put him on a stretcher and carried him to where Jesus was teaching.  Jesus was in a house and this mans friends couldn’t get the stretcher in to the house to see Jesus so they climbed up on the roof.  And they started to dig.  They dug all the way through that roof until they had an opening large enough to let the man down.  And they did.  They lowered the man gently down through that hole in the roof until he was right before Jesus.  And do you remember what happened next?  Do you remember what the text says?  “When Jesus saw their faith!”  Faith!  One reading filled with doubt and uncertainty.  The very next filled with faith!  This is faith.  This is what faith is and what faith does.  It believes.  It is certain.  It will not be deterred.  It will not be held back!  It keeps coming… keeps digging… keeps pushing… until faith has laid its prayer at the feet of Jesus.  And Jesus hears.  He listens.  “Your sins are forgiven” says Jesus.  “Get up.  Pick up your bed and go home”  says Jesus. 

Jesus says the same to you.  Your sins are forgiven.  You are washed in the blood of the Lamb of God.  You are clean with his righteousness and holiness and you are healed and made whole; not for your sake, but for the sake of Jesus.

Amen.

Epiphany 5

It is amazing to notice the things that people will do when they're motivated. People go to all kinds of great heights just to accomplish some test that they have in mind Some people are motivated by money. NBC has just brought back the television show fear factor. Contestants on that show need to submit themselves all kinds of dangers and indignities all for the sake of money. They throw themselves from tall buildings perform death-defying stunts and eat and drink absolutely vile things - bugs rodents and animal organs. On hope of winning $50,000. That seems to me like a small sum of money to eat and drink some the things that the people on that show eat and drink but apparently there is no shortage of contestants willing to sign up to do such awful things Today is Super Bowl Sunday. The New York Giants and the New England Patriots will take to the field in the hope of winning football glory. In the spirit of competition players will play through pain and injury all for the hope of winning the game. Call in the spirit of competition. Some people are motivated by love for another person perhaps a spouse or family member. Parents will work long hours will sacrifice and surrender personal comfort and health and well-being all for the good of their children.  Fathers will risk their lives to keep the kids safe, mothers will give up everything that they had to provide for their children. Different people are motivated by different things. What motivates you?   I do it all for the sake of the Gospel says the apostle Paul that I might share with them and its blessings. The apostle Paul was motivated by the privilege and the blessing of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.   If you read the book of acts and know anything about the life of the apostle Paul then you know that he was one was definitely motivated by the gospel. He submitted himself to numerous beatings he was imprisoned in jail he was shipwrecked on one occasion he was even's taking outside the city and Stoned  he was left for dead and when his followers came to get him he picked himself up off the ground he brushed himself off and walked back into the city to continue to preach  the gospel   Call describes that motivation for us here in a text he says that he's become all things to all people. He says,"1 Corinthians 9:19-23 19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.   As Paul writes it is evident that he is motivated by love. Obviously love for God love for the Gospel and love for the church. That is to say love for the community of faith. But there is a greater love here that motivates him met for us might be quite shocking   When it  comes to love and to Christian loving brothely love we here in St. Paul Chuckery  have a good understanding what that means. After all we love each other. We know each other we have grown up with each other. We spent a good amount of time with one another. We see each other at the ball diamond and at the playing field. We cheer for each other's kids in each others grandkids. We are all apart of the same community and so we love each other. When one rejoices we're all happy with him. When one grieves we share her grief. so when it comes to people we know and love is not too much of a stretch for us to understand what Paul is talking about.   Paul made  himself like the Jews  to relate to the Jews. Paul made himself like one under the law to relate to those under the law.  Paul made himself like those who didn't know how to relate to those who were without the law  Paul  made himself week to relate to those were week. As he said he became all things to all people.   But I just misquoted that text did you catch it?  I said that Paul wanted to relate to all people but that's not what he says at all. You didn't just want to relate to that he wanted to Win them. Win them for Christ and win them for the Gospel. The thing that's revolutionary about what Paul says in our text is that he shows all of this love the people he doesn't even know. For unbelievers and pagans. For the nameless faces he saw what he walked down the street. You and I might sacrifice instructor's house for people we know love but for someone we don't even know? It's almost unthinkable. But that's the love and the motivation exhibited by Paul it should be the love and motivation exhibited by us.   But it's not.   We are a family first community. We love our own we care for our own. We protect our own. Are those the only ones God has given us to love those the only ones God has given us to protect are those the only ones God has given us to serve. No.   In fact we should love we should serve we should protect the way that God loves and serves and protects us. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Now we are believers now we are Christians but there was a day when we were not. There was a day when we were unbelievers when we were pagans when we were destined for hell. But God loves us God served us God protected us he did it by sending his son Jesus to die for us on the cross.   The apostle Paul learned his missionary zeal not by looking for it inside himself he didn't find it in his own heart. Instead he found it in Christ. Christ who was born for him Christ who lived for him Christ who died for him Christ was raised again for him Christ who is seated on the right hand of God the father Almighty for him. Christ who will come again on the last day to judge the living and dead. Christ who will come for the apostle Paul but also Christ will come for you   Christ who will come for you but also Christ will come for that unbeliever who has yet to know Jesus  it is your job to find him is your job to find her to tell her what Jesus has done to save her to save him.   To do that we should be like Paul all things to all people. Like the Jews like the Greeks. Like the wise and the educated but also like the fools the weak the underprivileged the uneducated.  We should love them even the way we love our own. why? because Jesus does. Because Jesus loves us.   we will bring up the topic of motivation we can certainly discuss the things that motivate us to do the things that we do. And there're many of them and they are good. Paul the apostle was motivated by the gospel of Jesus christ. Jesus was motivated by love. Minivet love that motivated Jesus that motivated Paul also motivates you. Amen. And now may the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.