What Are We Producing?

Fifty2 Sunday’s – Listening 4 God

        In Sunday's sermon, the minister spoke about how our vocations can be an act of service to God.  The word "produce" was what I heard and that took me into the scriptures.

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         Since God told Adam and Eve to be "fruitful and multiply"- it is reasonable to say that God is concerned with productivity and not just procreation.  The ease of existing in the Garden of Eden ended with the fall; Adam was told that by the sweat of his brow he would eat (Genesis 3:19) and Eve would experience pain in childbirth (Genesis 3:16).  One could say the challenges associated with living definitely increased for Adam and Eve - but it did not change the directive they had received from God.

        It would be a tendency of modern times to reduce the conversation about what constitutes being 'fruitful' to a discussion of quantity versus quality.  The successful, accomplished person and those who have accumulated the most in worldly wealth are seen as the most productive.  We associate certain characteristics and attributes with the likelihood of such achievement.  In the work world, Type A personalities when compared with Type B, are thought to be more ambitious, organized, time-oriented and presumably productive.  [Take a test if you want to know if you are Type A or B?].  While there is no escaping the fact that most of us have to work in order to live - the sum total of our lives is not our job, the accumulation of possessions or wealth.  

        In the Bible, a word search using "produce" or "productivity" - reveals numerous verses about agricultural situations as well as those that speak to the quality of a person's life and the fruit their life is producing.  Consider the following:

• Matthew 3:8 & 10: "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”  ...  "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”  (NIV)
• Mark 4:20: "Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”  (NIV)
• John 15:2: "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  (NIV)
• Luke 6:43: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit." (NIV)
• Mark 8:35: "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever      loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”  (NIV)
• Matthew 16:26:"What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”  (NIV)

        We all know this world's wealth and goods do not go with us to heaven, so if we are spinning our wheels only to produce and achieve what this world has to offer, we may be disappointed to find out it does not translate to eternity.  Therefore, the wise person will focus their life on producing "fruit that will last" (John 15:16a). 

Now and Later On

Fifty2 Sundays ~ Listening 4 God

        Quite likely 'relationships' are a common sermon theme for the month of February, especially with Valentine's Day coming up.  Sunday's sermon was the first in series that will continue all month.  As the minister established the basis for the sermons to follow, there were plenty of scriptural references and insightful comments regarding the differences in the physical, emotional and relational characteristics of  men and women.  Furthermore, there were plenty of reasons to laugh throughout the sermon, which made space for the more serious points-as we all know-relationships can be full of challenges. 

     It is easy to forget-that this life is not a model for the afterlife; it is unlikely that the things that characterize life now will be the same in the eternal future.  Here and now, we are a byproduct of our history and heritage and all the things that make up our lives; where we live, our family and friends, our education and work and the many other life experiences, (etc.).  These may greatly influence who we are, what we do, but really, they are separate and apart from our spiritual identity.  Our spiritual identity, as Paul wrote, is in Christ, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).  What follows are a few scripture references as to how things are to be later on.

• When Jesus returns: "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever.  Therefore encourage one another with these words" (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).

• Our bodies will go through a transformation: "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.  The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body" (I Corinthians 15:42-45).

• We will enjoy eating: Jesus prepared a meal on the beach to eat with his disciples after his resurrection (John 21:9-14).

• We will move about freely: "A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.  Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!”  (John 20:26).

• There will be no marriage: “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven" (Mark 12:25).

• Gain knowledge and understanding: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (I Corinthians 13:12).

• Enjoy a new creation & forget the past: "See, I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind" (Isaiah 65:17).
• "...a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea" (Revelation 21:1).

• We will be judges: "Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world?  And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?  Do you not know that we will judge angels?  How much more the things of this life!” ( I Corinthians 6: 2 & 3).

• We will enjoy a new order: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

            In summation, today quickly becomes yesterday as tomorrow becomes today…life here and now will someday end for each of us and the everlasting future will happen.  In the meantime, let us “… not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (II Corinthians 4:16-18).                      

Amen.

Requirements, Responsibilities, Expectations or What?

Fifty2 Sunday's ~ Listening 4 God

           The sermon title was "What God Requires" and the biblical texts were Micah 6:1-8 & Matthew 5:1-12.  Both are frequently cited passages of scripture, as the minister noted, Jimmy Carter in his inauguration speech cited Micah 6:8 that asks "What does the Lord require of you?"  

         There are some people who feel that God (or Christianity) is all about do's and don’ts, rules and expectations - which are like requirements.  When something is 'required’, the implication is that there is no other option but to comply.  We all have requirements to fulfill at home, in school, with our work and as a member of society.  There are little escaping requirements in life - as Benjamin Franklin said, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain [required], except death and taxes".  

         God tells us in Micah 6:8 to "act justly”, “love mercy" and "walk humbly" and in Matthew 5:3-12,  Jesus described how to live a blessed life. Are these requirements, responsibilities, expectations or something else?  Certainly, they may be all of these - or perhaps they are an expression of God’s love, mercy and grace toward us. 

        God acts in advance -as exemplified by how He "made us alive" even "when we were dead in our transgressions" (Ephesians 2:5).  Likewise, our fulfilling a requirement, a responsibility or striving to please God-is an expression of our love and gratitude for that which we have already received as described in I John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us”.