What Am I Doing Here?
I am really pleased that our team working on our Sunday School program that starts in September is putting together a great year that will focus on some of the most important scriptures for our children, and all of us, to know. One of the passages the children will learn about is Deuteronomy 6:4-9. So today’s message is kind of a preview of coming attractions.
July 31, 2011
Deuteronomy 6:4-9, What Am I Doing Here?
Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
[print_link]
[powerpress]
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Recite them, talk about them, bind them, fix them, write them – that is a five-fold emphasis. These words must be pretty important. They were restated by Jesus in the passage we heard from The Gospel of Mark 12:28-34 (NRSV).
“One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33 and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.”
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have Jesus referring to these verses in Deuteronomy about the importance of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Last week we talked about “Who are you?” and our identity as a child of God, a disciple of Jesus, and a part of the faith community. If that is who we are then to me the next question is, “What am I doing here?” The first question is one of being. Today’s question is about what we are to do as a child of God and a disciple of Jesus. The scriptures express the belief that at the center of our being is a spiritual reality that has the power to initiate and create and communicate. This is described in the Bible in three ways as our HEART, WILL, or SPIRIT. When the scriptures speak of loving God with all our heart – we could paraphrase that by saying we are to CHOOSE (that’s the Will) to love God with all our personal power (Spirit) from the very center (Heart) of our life. Spiritually speaking, our HEART/WILL/SPIRIT is the CEO of our life and it makes decisions each moment that affect our whole person.
The most fundamental choice confronting our CEO, our Heart, is to live in intimate, conversational relationship with God, or to initiate and maintain a separate existence – to choose willingness (life with and under submission to God) or willfulness (life apart from God.).
A few years ago I went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to a special Rembrandt exhibit. Rembrandt was one of the great Dutch masters of the 17th century and he was one of my grandfather’s favorite artists. The exhibit consisted primarily of etchings, drawings, and prints with just a few oil paintings. My knowledge of art is rather limited so my interest was not so much in the details of the printing process or the making of lines as it was in observing how Rembrandt interpreted many scenes and stories from the Bible. More than half the works presented were of Biblical scenes. Old Testament stories included Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and his brothers. From the New Testament there were drawings and paintings from the birth of Christ, his presentation in the temple, the holy family’s flight to Egypt, young Jesus in the Temple, Jesus preaching, teaching, healing, encounters with people, and of course many from the passion, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. One could see the Christian story of salvation told in pictures and the words accompanying them – it was quite profound.
As I walked through the galleries I wondered, “How many people looking at this art wonder why Rembrandt spent so much of his life painting these scenes and stories? Who among the crowd strolling through the galleries had chosen life with and under submission to God and who has chosen life apart from God? How many people were looking with the eyes of faith?” This was graphically portrayed in the exhibit where two drawings of Jesus before Pilate hung side by side. In the one on the left there was a crowd of people on the ground in the middle foreground as Pilate is asking the crowd whom he should release. In the drawing on the right there is no one in front of the platform and with the people removed one saw two dark half moons that look like the entrance to a tomb, the implication being – we are now the crowd, what is our judgment on Jesus?
Several times the exhibit displayed Rembrandt’s portrayal of the same scene as done in three different decades of his life. For example, how he sketched the scene of the resurrected Jesus breaking bread with the two disciples he met on the road to Emmaus leaving Jerusalem. The first rendering was quite natural, almost like old friends sitting around a table. In the final one, Jesus is portrayed in a much more ethereal way and the use of light was totally different.
As I neared the end I reflected on the gifted expressions of an artist who gave his heart, mind, strength, love, and soul to his craft and used those abilities to portray Biblical stories of faith and in doing so caused people to come and appreciate his work 350 years after it was done.
Just as Rembrandt put every aspect of his being at the service of his art, we are called to put every aspect of our being at the service of God. Whatever our work may be or even if we don’t work for pay, we are to do what Rembrandt did – put every aspect of our being at the service of God.
To use another image, imagine yourself as a Fortune 500 company, your corporate structure might look something this: The CEO (your heart/will/spirit) who makes the choices sits at the head of the table in a conference room. The CEO is surrounded by five division heads representing research and development (thought), human resources (feelings), labor (body), corporate relations (relationships, social context), and information services (soul).
In an ideal situation for running your life, all your parts (thought, feeling, behavior, social interactions, and soul) are effectively organized around God (the Chairman of the Board) and your corporation’s mission statement of loving God with every aspect of your being and your neighbor as yourself. Ideally, the five division heads cooperate and comply with the will of the CEO. Spiritually speaking, the reality of our lives is we are not functioning ideally; Our CEO (heart/will/spirit) arrives late for meetings with the division heads and is unprepared. R & D thinks it is too costly to pursue the mission statement. Another proposal is presented to declare independence from the Chairman of the Board so a new riskier, get rich quick scheme can be pursued. Human resources is concerned, briefly, about the feelings of the employees, but is quickly appeased at the prospect of higher personal compensation and fulfillment. Labor is in favor of the plan as long as it means longer breaks, getting to sleep in on Sundays, and less work since the current mission statement demands so much energy. Corporate relations – weary of actually have to interact with and relate to other corporations and people – is excited about the opportunity to exploit and use other people without having to care for them. As CEO of the above company, you and I may conclude that we simply cannot run it successfully, the division heads are running amuck, there is a lack of unity and a failure to pursue fulfilling the mission. This is largely the human condition.
A smart CEO calls the Chairman of the Board for a private meeting and confesses, “I love working for you, I’m excited about our mission statement, but I need your help running the different components of this company, it’s beyond my ability to do it alone. Please help me, sit by my side and mentor me – as I try to carry out your wishes.”
How well are you managing your Fortune 500 Company? How well are your different department heads performing? One character in the Old Testament who had problems with rebellious department heads was David. At various times in his life, his thoughts, his feelings, his body – got him in trouble. In Psalm 16, however, he expresses beautifully the key to running our company with a glad heart and a joyful soul. David said in Psalm 16:7-9, “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure.” Note how many aspects of the self are explicitly mentioned: the mind, the heart, feelings, the soul, and the body. The key to running our company with a glad heart and a joyful soul is stated in verse 8, “I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Keeping Jesus, the Chairman of our Board, always in front of us and beside us, our “division heads” are more likely to perform their jobs the way we want. Imagine if you called a meeting of all your “division heads” (will, thought, feeling, body, social interactions and soul) to remind them that the mission statement of your company is to love God with your entire being and your neighbor as yourself. Give them an evaluation of how well this has been accomplished in the last week and then tell each of them how they can help in achieving the mission more successfully.
For those in our midst who are football fans, there was good news this week that the NFL owners and players finally reached a new collective bargaining agreement. It was inspiring to see Patriot’s owner Bob Kraft being so instrumental in the sides reaching an agreement, even as his beloved wife Myra was in the last days of her struggle with cancer. In the last few days teams like the New England Patriots have begun having practice again and there has been lots of payers moving, being traded, and signed. Imagine for a moment Patriot’s Coach Bill Belichick, calling you on the phone and asking you to play for the Patriots. Naturally you are shocked and stunned by the offer, it is too good to be true given your physical condition and personal limitations – like needing a calendar to be timed in the 40 yard dash or the inability to lift a weight much heavier than a 2 liter bottle of soda. Delighted by the offer, especially considering what pro athletes are paid, you sign a contract, and your name is now on the roster.
When you report to Foxboro on the first day you are overjoyed at getting all kinds of food and equipment provided for you, there are people to meet your needs, the locker room is spacious, well appointed, and comfortable, and there is a jersey with your name on it. Coach Belichick introduces you to your position coach, who sits down with you and gives you your schedule for the week. You are shocked and saddened to see that you will need to be in the weight room in Foxboro for lifting at 6:00 a.m., five days a week, no excuses. There will be an exercise program geared just for you. This will be followed by meetings filled with thoughtful study of a playbook thicker than the Bible and hours of video breaking down your opponents as well as precise analysis of each player’s performance on every play of the previous practice or game. Your blood pressure starts to rise and a cold sweat breaks out on your forehead as you consider what this all means for you. These meetings will be followed by practice outside, regardless of how hot, cold, wet, or windy it is and at practice men who are bigger, stronger, and faster than any people you’ve ever seen in your life, so much so that they look like a whole other species, will be trying to hit you into next week. Are you ready for some football?
Some people who don’t care for sports look down on athletes like football players, however, they can teach us something. The Patriots players and coaches demonstrate incredible discipline, toughness, and commitment all to gain the slightest edge on an opponent that might lead to victory in a football game, which in the universal scheme of things is meaningless. They are tremendously invested physically, emotionally, and mentally in what they are trying to accomplish.
When it comes to following Jesus, there is a temptation that we may respond as the person in this imagined encounter. We are introduced to Jesus and regardless of our personal limitations and shortcomings; Jesus invites us to be a part of his team. We come to church and there are people to provide things for us and to serve us, the sanctuary is spacious and comfortable, worship is kind of nice. This is good. Then, just like the Coach, Jesus sits down with us and shares his plan for getting us in spiritual shape by training each aspect of who we are. This requires discipline and commitment, but Jesus will be at our side every step of the way and he will give us the guidance we need and joy while we do it.
The temptation we face is signing the contract with Jesus and thinking that’s it. That’s all I have to do. There is so much more to it than that. Football players understand that signing a contract means committing yourself to listening to the coach, trusting the coach to teach you what to do so you can be the player the coach believes you can be, following through on what is expected so you can maximize your contribution to help the team win. A football player wouldn’t last with the Patriots if his approach was, “This is a beautiful, comfortable locker room, I like being in here with the great stereo and the flat screens TVs, I’ll just stay in here and hang out with the guys.” You wouldn’t last three minutes. Coach Belichick wants you in the weight room, running sprints, reviewing film doing what coach wants – or you’re out the door because the mission can’t be fulfilled in the locker room, it is ultimately fulfilled on the field.
Patriot’s quarterback Tom Brady said to reporters on Friday morning, “it feels like we have a lot of work to do. The reward for all of us is doing something that we love to do. I think all of us players, all of us, coaches, we love doing this. We love playing, we love being out here. We love being with our teammates.”
When it comes to following Jesus, can we say the same thing? We are to organize our life around God in much the same way a Patriots player or coach has organized his life around football or an artist like Rembrandt organized his life around his art. We do this neither by white knuckled obedience, nor by putting more pressure on our heart and will to do the right thing. Instead we become more like Jesus as we allow him to make a “friendly” take-over of our Fortune 500 Company. As we keep Jesus before us, beside us, and within us, he will lovingly help us bring each aspect of who we are in line with our mission to love God with our entire being and our neighbor as our self.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.