MANIFESTO- Week 5: ANGER

How many people here would confess that you have experienced an episode of what you would consider road rage? You had an irrational exaggerated response to some rather typical driving experience. My brother had an almost unbelievable episode of Road Rage. Seveal years ago now, he is driving along in Lynchburg, VA...

Side Note: you need to wonder the people in a town that names itself "lynch" burg. They might as well have named it "We'll kill you burg." Anyways...

He realizes that his exit is coming up shortly, so he has to get over. Flips on his signal, nobody immediately gives him a spot, in fact, the guy beside him kind of tightens up with the car in front. JP sees a little room to slide in and very quickly pulls into the right lane. It was tight, but he really didn’t cut the guy off. But of course, the guy goes crazy. He’s honking his horn, you can see he’s yelling and screaming. JP takes his exit, the guy takes the exit, JP turns, the guy turns the same way. JP says I think this guys is going to do something crazy here. So JP quickly pulls into a parking lot, slams on the brakes, throws it in park, and jumps out of the car so fast the other guy doesn’t even have time to stop his car. JP is immediately on his car. Slamming his hands down on the hood, screaming at the top of his lungs. At this point the guy has, as you might suspect, a look of absolute horror on his face. That look of, "I thought I was gonna go road rage crazy on this guy, but this guy is at a whole different level of road rage crazy." He pulls off, in real hurry, JP is still jumping up and down like rabid animal. He gets back in the car, smiles, and simple says, just says something like "Hey, I I just figured I’d out crazy him before he ever got a chance to go crazy on me."

Now I can’t say I recommend that at all- as a pastor, or as a driver, or just as a human being. But I have to say that it sure worked to diffuse a situation before it ever really turned into a really bad situation. But let me give you this advice- before you become that guy or that lady who is ready explode, who is ready to fly into a fit or road rage, or worse, a fit of rage and anger unleashed on spouse, your kids, your parents, your friends, before it comes to that, you need to diffuse your situation. You need to deal with your anger before it get outta control. Before it gets you into a situation that you can’t back out of. Before it cause you to say something you can never take back, before you do something that can never be undone. Many lives, countless lives, have been changed forever, because of a fit of anger and rage. Don’t let it get to that point. Don’t wait until its too late to say I have to do something about this issue that lives inside of me. Let this be your wake up call.

Here's the thing- Every one of us had this monster lurking somewhere inside of us. All of us are going to get angry- it's a part of life. The question is, what going to happen with that anger. You’re the lady who if you get cut off in traffic, you are screaming your fool head off- I’ve seen you. I’ve been the instigator of that eruption. I made a bad move driving recently, like all of us have. I cut a lady off, and if she hadn’t been paying attention, I would have caused a wreck. But luckily she was. I did the whole “sorry” look and wave through the window, but I’m telling you, if this lady had been exposed to gamma radiation, she would have gone totally hulk on me. I couldn’t hear her, and I’m no lip reader, but I understood VERY clear who she thought I was and where she thought my head was, which would be impossible, and where she thought I should go to spend eternity, and none of it was very flattering or nice. It was very clear, she did not like me as a human being. She did not have a simple neutral stance towards me. I was worse than a worthless human being. Nothing was too bad for me- no name, no indecent act, no final outcome for my life could have possible been bad enough. All because I made an error while driving.

Maybe you are just way too image conscious and are way too good at image management to do that. Somebody cuts you off in traffic, and you wave, and you says, oh, you be more careful next time. But without really thinking, your mind goes through this little fantasy, and I’m not sure how it plays out in your head, but at the end of the escalations of anger it results in you physically harming or killing that person. You like that show Ally McBeal, the one where she always had these vivid scenes from her mind play out onscreen. You keep that happy face on, or that blank look on you face, but in your head, you have this horribly vivid fantasy life where anybody who makes you mad ends up dying some horrible death. You have actually pictured yourself slamming into them with your car, or even choking them to death. I’m not going to ask anyone to raise their hands or anything, but I know some of you can relate to that extreme sense of anger, I know, because I have experienced it. I have caught myself thinking horrible thoughts, and if I’m to be honest, practically murderous thoughts, because of little things that have made me angry. Thoughts of doing things that far outweigh what has been done to me.

That’s what unchecked anger does. That’s what lurking below the surface. Someone cuts you off, and you want to smash into their car. Someone calls you a name, and you want to choke the life out of them. The response you have in your mind or in reality, far outweighs what has actually been said or done to you. Jesus wants to get at this lurking issue. That HULK living under the surface, is who Jesus wants us to deal with.

Last week I ended with a challenge- read Matthew 5:21-48. Jesus is dealing with 6 issues that effect every single life, every one of us. He deals with anger, lust, divorce, lying, revenge, and enemies. I encouraged you to go where you needed to go this week. To focus on that issue that you need to deal with. I called this deep religion. Religion that cuts to the heart of the issues. Today and next week I want to deal with two of these issues. That’s all I have time for, then we’re on to other things. Today, as you may have guessed, we’re dealing with the guys who lives in us and is ready to smash and even kill if he got play out his little mind-game fantasies.

Let me ready you want Jesus says...

Matthew 5:21-26 21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother[b]will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,[c]' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Jesus starts- don’t murder. If you murder someone, you’ll end up before the judge, and things won;t go well for you there. That pretty obvious. Jesus says, let’s go deeper. Don’t be angry with your brother. Doesn’t say you brother isn’t a jerk. Doesn’t say anything about what was done and if anger might or might not be justified. All it says, don’t be angry with your brother.

Let's make this clear as we start- not all anger is wrong. In fact, anger is a normal part of life in our world. Not all anger is wrong. You’ll often hear that not all anger is wrong. The bible teaches us in Ephesians, "in your anger do not sin." More, we know that one of the key characteristics of God in the bible is his wrath- his anger, or wrath, towards evil, wicked, singful things. Ther is muchinteh world that is worng and should make us angry. We can thus be angry about these things and not be in sin.

I beleive the key word here is that little "with." Don;t be angry with your brother. Don't focus your anger at that personal level. That's when relatioshisp start to break down.

COunselors will distinguish between eposodic anger and dispostional anger. There are episodes in life that should anger us. We are angered so that we might respond immediately to do something.

But someone who has an angry dispostion is in a who other category. this the person who is just living with teh seed of anger, bitterness, rage and malice growing within.

If you’re angry with you brother you’ll be subject to judgment. If you say to your brother Raca, you might literally get brought before the judgment council. Anybody here every say RACA to anyone- I haven’t, I think we’re all good. Case closed. Well, not quite. How about idiot, moron, imbecile, numbskull, dolt... Anything insult that basically says, you are a stupid person. Anybody ever say or think anything like that about another person- well, that’s not good Jesus says. But let’s go even deeper yet.

Anyone who says to another person, you fool, is in danger of the fire of hell. Wow, it doesn’t get much worse than that folks. Whether you believe in a heaven and hell, and I personally do, that’s about the worst possible punishment we can imagine or wish upon someone. Jesus pretty much trumps any other punishments here. Call someone a fool, you’re in danger of hell.

Which seems a bit harsh in the way we use the word fool The meaning of fool is a bit deeper, as you may have guessed. In the Old Testament wisdom literature there are numerous warning against the fool. The fool is the one who denies God and basically does everything wrong. If there is a way to screw up, the fool, in the OT, will find it. Thus, it became known as the worst insult, the worst possible thing you could say about another person. To call someone a fool was to show utter and complete contempt for a person. They are not just dumb, they are worthless, vile, reprehensible, contemptible. Fools deny God, they insult God, they mock God, they want nothing to do with God. A fool, wants hell- they want nothing to do with God or to be in a relationship with God. Calling someone a fool is like saying “Go to hell.”

Anger can be OK if it’s a righteous anger. Anger directed at a person is bad.
Insulting a person is even worse.
But getting to that place where you have nothing but contempt for another human being, where we want them to go to hell, that is the worst place to be. In fact, when we wish that for someone, Jesus is saying, we are the ones in real danger. When we are that contemptuous, we are living apart from God, we are in a living hell.

Have you ever meet someone truly, truly, deep down, in the marrow of their bones, angry and contemptuous? They have nothing but rage, anger and contempt? Contempt for school, for work, for family, for the church, for the system, for world, for everyone they meet? Haven’t you got the sense, that the one they might hate the most is actually themselves? they they are in a living hell because they’re anger and contempt has literally driven them from God, from his grace, from his love, from his peace, from his beauty, from all pleasure, from all joy, from all peace, from all that is good and right and noble?

Jesus has harsh words about anger and the one who is steeped in anger because being that person, being in that place, is a living hell. It is an awful place to be. And Jesus doesn't want anyone to be stuck there. And some of you are there. Someone you know is there. Someone you love is that lost in their anger. But there is hope. Jesus is inviting us to go deeper. to go to him, to let him begin to root out the rage, to weed out the anger, to free you from the contempt that drives you away from all that’s good, and to that living hell.

When Jesus deals with two specific instances of anger in this passage, one about worship and the other about clearing a debt, what we see in both is the word IMMEDIATELY. There is a sense of incredible urgency in this issue. You don't put off dealing with this. You do not say, Hey, I’m going to deal with my anger issue later. Right now I’m busy. If don’t deal with this NOW, there may not be a later. This isn’t like saying you know, I always wanted to learn how to play the accordion. I’ll just wait until later, I’m busy now. That’s fine, do the world a favor and keep putting that off indefinitely. But if you have some deep seated anger issues, you deal with this IMMEDIATELY. This is your wake up call.

I had a wake up call about this about a year ago. I’m a pretty in control guy. But I get angry and can lose my cool like anyone. I’ve been known to throw a tool across my garage or to wish that my car might spend an eternity separated from the grace of God in a place of fiery torment. I don’t thing cars actually have an eternal soul which would even make that possible, but still, I’ve thought it when it breaks down. But my wake up call was one day when I was playing with the kids and somehow, I think I started it, but we started doing imitations of each other. I immediately said, I’m mommy, go practice the piano, your daddy is so hot, stuff like that. The kids immediately jump in and start imitating each other and what was so funny is that they were really nailing it, I mean, dead on impersonations of each other. Then my Karis, my sweet sweet Karis who sometimes seems like this strangely old soul in the beautiful little child's body, looks at me, and smiles, and says, hey, I’m daddy- “If you kids don’t stop that right now I’m going to go ballistic.”

We all laughed, because I know I’ve said that when i start to get angry with the kids. But at that moment, i knew, I may not lash out in fits of anger, i may not even say angry hurtful words, but often enough, I find myself getting angry, and in that rising anger, I would say to the kids, I’m going to go ballistic. I feel like I’m going to lose my temper. I feel the top ready to explode.

And that night I said, you know, I still have anger. There’s a monster lurking down there in me, and you know, I don’t even want to be the guy who has that feeling like I could explode in anger. If if I don’t do it, I don;t want to even feel it. I don’t want to be the dad who doesn’t know how to deal with children that misbehave and has to say, I’m going to lose it. Because really, kids will misbehave. They will need discipline, but it’s in those moments of discipline and correction that they need to see that I’m not reacting in anger, but that I’m reacting in love.

Anyways, that’s my deal. That was my wake-up call. I don’t want my kids to see any hint of rage, anger, contempt, losing control. They need more than a dad who says I don’t want to lose my cool. They need a dad who keeps his cool, and does everything out of love and grace. That’s how deep I want to go.

If you have an anger issue and you know the root of it, then you need to go immediately to that root. That’s what Jesus says in his two examples. If it’s about a person, or something a person has done, go to that person now. Like the text says, go before you even come back to worship. Go and do whatever is possible for you to do to make that situation right. Do what you have to do be free from that anger. If you can pinpoint it, that’s great, that’s actually a blessing, because now you can do something about it.

Maybe you can’t go to that person. They passed away or that situation is long over, you can’t go back or get those years back. Go to God, cast your burdens on him, for he cares for you, the bible says. Tell God what happened. Tell God how you were hurt. Or tell God how you messed up. Talk to God about this thing that has grown inside of you that his beastly and ugly and ready to blow. Tell God to take it away. Not even a hint. Free you from that HULK that rages beneath the surface.

Maybe you’re angry today, and you don’t know why exactly. You’re not sure where it comes from. Then you just need to ask God to do some heart surgery. You just need to pray to God to get in there and do his thing.

Last week I called this deep religion. It’s religion that actually gets beyond religion. It’s Jesus telling us and teaching us that relationships are more important than our outward religious expression. Our relationship with God and with people is what really most important. In fact, Jesus goes so deep in this first issue, that he says I don’t really care about your religion if your relationships are all screwed up. If you have a messed up relationship because of something you did, and if you remember in the middle of worship, you should get up, go, and make it right. That was UNBELIEVABLE in Jesus day. Nothing was more important to religious folks than making their offering of worship. Jesus says, something deeper matters more- your relationships matter more. This is deep religion. This is something you have to deal with if we are going to go any deeper into a life that pleases God, a life that God can use.

I want to end by giving you the chance to do something about your anger IMMEDIATELY. We are going to pray. And if you need to pray this, just follow along in your heart. I'll go slow. Go with me. Then go from here and do what you have to do to deal with your anger.

MANIFESTO- Week 4

Many of us are familiar with the name Leo Tolstoy, most notably the masterpieces, War and Peace, and Anna Karenina. But to be honest, few of are probably familiar with his books. I must confess, I only read the abridged version of War and Peace when it was assigned to me in college- reading the whole book is out of my pay scale. Tolstoy is remembered and studied as one of the greatest novelists of all time, period. And what is so fascinating to so many was his radical conversion to Christianity. That conversion was so dramatic that Tolstoy became known as a Christian literalist- one who literally tried to keep and live our the teachings of Jesus. This lead to his stance against violence, embracing pacifism, giving away his wealth, becoming an wandering ascetic at the end of his life, and even to embrace the title of a “Christian anarchist.”

Here’s what so important for us- no work had more effect on Tolstoy’s life and belief more than the very text we are studying, Matthew 5-7, the sermon on the mount, or what we are calling our Christian MANIFESTO. If one of the greatest minds in the world thought these were the greatest words every written, then we might want to consider them. In his last great novel, Resurrection, published in 1900, Tolstoy tells the story of Prince Nekhlyudov, who is openly recognized as a a portrait of himself. Towards the end of the novel Nekhlyudov re-reads the sermon on the mount, and his life is forever changed. For in the words of the sermon he finds not exaggerated and impossible demands, but rather, a new order of human life, attained for us in Jesus Christ, and attainable by us when our lives are in Jesus Christ. He writes...

“That night an entirely new life began for Nekhlyudov, not so much because he had entered into new conditions of life but because everything that happened to him from that time on was endowed with an entirely different meaning for him. How this new chapter of his life will end, the future will show.”

That is what I am praying will happen to all of us- a conversion of the same magnitude of Prince Nekhlyudov. That our lives would be endowed with an entirely new meaning and purpose and hope for the future because of what Jesus offers us and teaches us. Tolstoy got what Jesus was offering to us- not just a new list of rules, not just new conditions, but an entirely new way to live. A way of life that STARTS by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. A way of life that continues in obedience to Jesus Christ.

Let me state it this way- the life and faith described in the MANIFESTO is on one level not attainable, but neither is it unattainable. Yeah, I just contradicted myself. First, when we come to the demands of this sermon, love your enemy, do not look on a woman lustfully, and so on, we have to conclude, that we can’t measure up. We can’t do this perfectly. We will find the moral demands of the message so demanding that we throw up our arms in despair. Many have done just this when trying to fulfill the sermon on their own strength. It can lead to defeat, despair and depression.

And it’s almost like in that moment of despair the light bulb turns on and we say oh, that’s the point- we can’t, Jesus can. I’m not perfect, Jesus is. Jesus can do this. That’s why Jesus says first, come to me, then I will help you live this way. I will be with you every step of the way as you begin a life-long journey to live like this. Jesus is the source of our life and faith, the Sermon is course of our life in Jesus.

Jesus is the source, the sermon is the course. Say that with me...

Jesus is the source of life. He is he living Word the bible says, he shows us God, he opens the door to a relationship with God. When Tolstoy got this, it changed everything, it was like a light turned on and everything from that day was filled with new meaning and purpose and power. His whole perspective had changed to a Kingdom of heaven perspective. Countless other men and women have experienced this transformation. For some its radical, it’s almost instantaneous. For others, we are in it for the long haul, it’s one step, one degree, one bit at a time. But when it happens, things are different.

That’s why it so important to keep in the flow of the MANIFESTO and to embrace this a a progression. After today we are deep into the MANIFESTO, so this is the last time until the end that I’m going to be doing a recap. Now this is easy to remember:

First, the invitation to be a part of the kingdom of heaven.
Then the ironic blessings of the kingdom of heaven.
Then the influence of the the kingdom of heaven.

Just before chapter 5, Jesus begins his public ministry and it is characterized by one big idea- “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repent, turn, open your eyes, open your ears, open your mind, the kingdom of heaven is standing right in front of you, so close you can touch it. Jesus is saying- I am the source- turn to me, come to me, and you actually come into a new way of being, a new life. It’s life in me. It’s where I rule and reign. It’s the kingdom of heaven! That’s what it means to repent and put our faith in Jesus. We come to him as the source.

People came to him, and kingdom things happened in their lives- healing, hope, wholeness, freedom. So the followed him, and then he began to teach them, Matthew 5:1-2 they went up the mountain, Jesus sat and began to teach, the first thing he teaches- who is blessed? The great news- it has nothing to do with your age, race, sex, economic demographic, IQ, profession, or lack of any profession. In fact, who is blessed- it’s just about everybody you didn’t expect. It’s everyone that the world says are losers. It’s everyone who can say, Jesus, you are the source. The blessed announcements are amazing. LEARN THESE...

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Get these ironic blessing of the kingdom in you so that your perception of the blessed life can be endowed with new meaning!

Then, third, the influence of the kingdom of heaven- it’s what we talked about last week- it’s like salt and light. It’s like salt that gets in us and saves us from rot and flavors us for life. It’s light light that goes our from our lives, revealing the kingdom, revealing life, revealing Jesus. It’s you. When Jesus gets into you and saves you, you become part of his saving mission to get into people lives. WHen Jesus gets into you, you become light to shine in all the dark places of our world. It’s amazing what Jesus offers us here. He says you blessed freaks and geeks, you blessed people of mine, you are going to be the ones to change the world. You will change the world, but first, you must understand that I am the source. I am the source of the kingdom of heaven.

Now, Jesus is gonna get into it. Invitation- Ironic blessings- Influence. Now the Importance of the law as it will show us the course of life. Matthew 5:17-20...

17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

What Jesus has said is so radical, so transformative, so paradigm shifting that it runs an immediate and present risk. The risk of missing the whole point. Life is like that sometimes- we call it missing the forest for the trees. We have a way of getting wrapped up into the bit and pieces sometimes, and incredibly, we can then miss the whole point. Jesus knows this. He knows that what he has done by offering an open invitation to experience the kingdom of heaven, to become a part of the kingdom of heaven, can be radically misunderstood. So he wants to make two things very clear to us- his relationship to the law and prophets (17-18), and our relationship to the law and prophets (19-20).

What is Jesus’ relationship to the law- he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. the law showed the people how to live in a relationship with God. The prophets told of the day when God would come in the flesh to redeem his people. This is what Jesus does. He is the fulfillment of the law in that he lived by the law without fault or failure. People looked at jesus, they said his life looks very different than ours. They concluded, that because they were trying to follow the law that jesus must have abandoned the law of God. But it was just the opposite- jesus was saying my life looks different from you NOT because I don;t do the law. Rather, it’s because I’m the only one whose truly keeping the law. I’m the one fulfilling the law perfectly, unlike anyone else ever has or could. Thus, he is the fulfillment of the prophets- the promise that God would send his messiah, his son, the one who would offer us salvation and offer us life.

What is our relationship to the law and the prophets? When we are in a relationship with Jesus, then by default we have some relationship now with the law and prophets. The law and prophets still teach us the course of a life in relationship with God, and with our neighbors. What is our big quote for the day- Jesus is the source, his message is the course.

Many of the people listening to Jesus had gotten so wrapped up in the trees, that they forgot the forest. One group in particular, the Pharisees, got so wrapped up in the letters of the law that they began to add their own laws to make sure they kept the laws. They lost the spirit of the law Jesus would say later in his ministry. They forgot the forest.

What is the forest- it’s remember the whole point and purpose of the law. The law was given to the people of God to guide them in how to live in relationship with God. Let’s go way back to the start- Remember, the people were enslaved. They cried out to God for freedom, for salvation, for deliverance. God heard their cry and called Moses to lead them into the promised land. They got to the promised land. The people cried out again, feed us, give us water, teach us how to live, and so God called Moses to Mount Sinai, and he gave him the first laws, the ten commandments as we call them.

What is the context now of the law, what is the forest? - it is given by the God who has established his love for his people and his desire to be in a relationship with them. How do the commands start- I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, you shall have no other gods before me. God is saying understand this- I have come into a relationship with you. You are my people. I am your God. I saved you from slavery. I’ve provided for all your needs. You’ve cried out for me to tell you what to do, how to live, how to have this relationship with me. And I’ve listened. First law- real simple- no other gods. Just be faithful to me. Be faithful to our relationship.

It’s all about relationship. The law is given to those in relationship with God. In the same way that we give our own laws to those with whom we are in relationship. I have rules for my children. Why? Because they are my children. Because I Iove them. I give them rules not to be an oppressive killjoy, though they sometimes think I am. I give them laws because they are my kids and I love them more than I love myself. I make them eat right and go to bed because I love them. I make them learn to read because I love them. I give them chores to do because I love them.

What happens when they break the rules? Do they cease being my children? No. Do I love them a less? Maybe, I mean my love is unconditional, but it can be temperamental. But really, I don’t stop loving them. They are my kids. I am their father. When they break the rules they don’t stop being my kids. They’re just not living into the relationship in the best way.

Jesus tells us, don’t lose the forest for the trees, but also, don’t lose the trees for the forest. I’m not destroying the law, I’m fulfilling the law. And through me, I want you to live by the law as well. In fact, I’m going to explain and tighten up the spirit of the law now.

We need to see the parallel here: God gave Moses and the people the law after he had established his relationship with them. he had proven his love, proven his power. Proven himself. the people ASKED to be directed in how to live in the promised land and in relationship with God. He answered them. he gave them the commands.

Jesus has proven himself to the people. He has brought to them the power of the kingdom of heaven. he has invited them to enter into a relationship with himself. the people listened, they followed. They asked how to live. Jesus begins to teach them. He begins to show them how to live out of this new paradigm, this new relationship.

Jesus is going to hit 6 things that had immense relevance to his people. These are six areas of live to which there were laws attached. They might be far removed from us because we have advanced so much as a culture and as people. Still, he deals with these archaic things of:

• Anger and murder
  
• Lust and marital infidelity
  
• Divorce
  
• Oaths and lying
• Revenge
• Finally, making peace in a war-torn world
  

Oh, wait a second- these are some of the most timely and relevant issues facing all our lives! Jesus wants us to begin to live like him because it makes a most immediate and practical difference in our lives. These are not arbitrary and irrelevant rules. This is about changing lives at the deepest possible level.

Counselors today talk about Deep Psychology, or depth psychology. This was the school of thought developed by people like Sigmund freud and Carl Jung. In the most basic definition, depth psychology says that our psyche is made up of conscious and unconscious parts. I order to understand our behavior and cognitive approach to life, we much get deep into this unconscious or sub-consious. But more, there is healing power found in uncovering and reveal our deeper, sub-conscious level motives.

In a similar way of thinking, but this is something else entirely, Jesus is going to push us towards a king of deep religion. A religion that goes so deep it’s gets in us, it changes us from the inside out. It changes not just what we do, but who we are. Not just out outward, but the inner heart and motivations.

This week- no fun, fancy tight ending. Rather, I'm intentionally leaving it messy. You need to read the six sections of Matthew 5. Then wrestle with it. Which one is touching your life, or the life of someone you love. Focus on that section. Work it out...

MANIFESTO- Week 3

DISCLAIMER: my manuscripts are written with the intention of preaching. There will be spelling errors and grammatical mistakes! But I hope you'll still enjoy!
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Malcolm Gladwell has written some great stuff. I just read his latest book, “Outliers: The Story of Success.” Every hockey player will want to read the first chapter- it will blow your mind! What is an outlier? It is defined as something that is situated away from or classified differently from a main or related body. 2. A statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample. Hold onto that first part- “classified differently from a related body.”

He begins his book with a story, and one particularly fascinating to me- for it tells the story of a town not far from where I grew up in Pennsylvania. In 1882 a group of 11 men left Roseto, Italy for New York. They landed and migrated west until they found work in a slate quarry near Bangor, PA. The follow year 15 more Rosetans joined them. by 1894 some 1200 Rosetans were applying for passports- entire streets in Roseto were left abandoned, whole communities were virtually transplanted to PA.

The Rosetans were buying up land in the rocky Hillside of PA. They called their little town New Italy, but eventually just started calling it Roseto, since nearly everyone was from Roseto. Soon there was a vibrant Church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and schools. The people built homes and raise animals, opened shops, bakeries, garment factories and the like. Walking down the street in 1900 you would have thought you were in Roseto Italy. Few would have heard about Roseto if not for Stewart Wolf.

Through a serendipitous series of events Wolf came to study the town and people of Roseto for for one almost off handed, but remarkable observation- nobody from Rosetos under the age of 65 ever seemed to have heart disease. Wolf investigated and discovered that sure enough, the death rate in Roseto was 35% lower than to be expected. There was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, little crime, no one was on welfare, no one got ulcers. The people were living to a ripe old age, then simply dying of old age. They thought it had to do with the diet. They soon discovered that the people of Roseto did in fact have a remarkable diet. 41% of the average persons calories came from fat. They had switched from olive oil to lard, thin crust to bread dough, enjoyed meats and deserts in copious amounts! If anything, the only visible problem was obesity! These folks should have been dropping like flies.

But as they studied the townspeople they began to take note of some differences in life in Roseto- people were always visiting each other and bringing food. Many homes were filled with three generations represented under one roof, crowded by our standards. Nearly the entire town celebrated Mass together every week. They noted 22 civic organizations. There was an egalitarian ethos in the area whereby the wealthy did not flaunt their wealth, the needy were brought into the norm, and everyone respected their elders. The people of Roseto were healthy for not other reason, that they could observe, than they were from Roseto.

Roseto was an Outlier. It did not fit the mold. It was outside the main body. It opened the eyes of the medical field to begin looking not just at an individuals health, but the health of a community, and the role of the community on health.

Let me propose to you, piggy backing on Gladwell’s paradigm, that we as Christians, both individually, and as a community of believers, are called by God to be Outliers. To be in the world like everyone else is in the world, but in some significant ways we are to different, unique, set apart.

Our first week I ended with what I thought was a very profound statement designed to make you think. I said that just about the WORST thing anyone could say to someone who claims to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus is, you are just like everyone else. That is fundamental betrayal of what God is trying to do in our lives. That totally missed the the point of being blessed to be a blessing. That totally missed the point of what God has be doing ever since he called Abram. He told us we are to be a blessing to the world. Like Roseto, set apart and different in a way that is good. He has been calling people to be different, to be set apart, to be holy, to be Outliers.

But what exactly does that difference look like? How are we to be Outliers? How to we relate to the main body, the world? How are we set apart, and what should set us apart? People have been trying to figure this out for literally centuries.

Let me give you another lesson from another writer, Reinhold Neibuhr. He wrote a book that has framed this discussion for over half a century now. His book, Christ and Culture, took a serious look at the way Christians have understood and interpreted their place, their role, in the world.

He sets up a framework with the two extremes: At one end he places the extreme Outliers- the “Christ against Culture” approach. This is the extreme form of Christian separatist movements. Into this camp he would place such movements at the monastics, who lived separately from much of the world. Post reformation he would place in this group the anabaptists, the Mennonites and Amish. Basically, these are groups of Christians who by design or over time withdrawn from much of what we call the dominate culture around them, and create their own culture and society.

At the other end we find the “Christ of Culture” camp. Perhaps we’d call these guys the “Inliers” totally a part of the system. In this group being a Christian, or a part of the church, is so intertwined with the dominant culture, that one would hardly be able to distinguish between the two, nor should they even really try, because the culture is in fact the church, the people of God. This camp is associated with the mainline churches, or perhaps we might say, though it’s now a very loaded word, liberal church.

In between he has three camps- “Christ above Culture,” close to the Christ against Camp, but sees a place for more integration. In the middle is “Christ and Culture in Paradox.” This camp says I can see value in both a separate church culture, and in integrating with the world. I have to hold that in a paradoxical tension. The next, and the one the Niebuhr is biased toward, and the one he wants us to be biased toward, is “Christ the Transformer of Culture.” The fully devoted Christ follower is called to make a different in the world by have and transformative effect. We are called to a ministry of reconciliation in the world. We are the body of Christ, the ambassadors of Christ. Neibuhr stacks the deck in favor of this position.

But after a half century of analysis and discussion we can readily see how subjective this paradigm is to our cultural experience. In fact, we see that we must all see ourselves, and the church, on the spectrum. For example- when is it that many Christians withdraw from society and come against culture? When the dominate culture is against the church. Why did the anabaptists withdrawn from the world? It has something to do with their beliefs and interpretation of the bible, but practically speaking, it has more to do with the fact that they were being hunted down, persecuted and killed. I’ll speak for myself to say that if the authorities were trying to kill me for my beliefs, I may tend to withdraw from the culture.

But now let’s look at the other end, what happens when some Christian value or ideal becomes integrated into public life? Do we say, well, it’s a value of ours to withdraw from culture, so even though the culture is pretty good, let’s just leave because that’s what we do. No! When we see the church making a profound difference within the dominate culture we can celebrate! When the culture says let’s care for the needy, the church should say right on! When the culture says let’s support honest pay for an honest day of work, let's figure out how to structure the economy that way!

The point is this- and this is what most everyone agrees on now- Neibuhr is right- we have to transform the culture. Let’s just all embrace that title. But now let’s give some space and grace to understand that the way we will transform culture is going to look very different for different people, in different places and at different times. Some will be called to be integrated into the culture, transforming things from the inside out. At the same time someone might stand just outside what we would call the dominant culture, proclaiming an alternative culture and way of being and doing things. Maybe it’s not about labeling or avoiding the extremes. Maybe it’s about agreeing that the best way to transform the culture and the world around us is to approach it from as many angles as possible. Is there a place for the Christ follower in politics? IN most every case, yes! Is there a place for a house of prayer set up on the edge of the culture for people to nurture a relationship with God in quiet? I sure hope so. Will different Christ followers lean toward different expressions? I sure hope so! Can the blessed life in Christ look different for different people? Of course.

This is what it boils down to- we do the stuff Jesus does when we become the people Jesus invites us to become. Jesus will now make this abundantly clear. He wants us to become a certain kind of people that bring transformation where we go. The kind of people he wants us to be- salt and light.

Let me read out passage for today...(Matthew 5:13-16)
¹³"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Salt and light make a difference in people’s lives and in the world. Salt and light are necessary regardless of the time, the culture, the economy. Men and women, young and old, rich and poor, they all need salt and light. And everything that salt and light touches is in fact transformed.

Salt had two primary qualities for which it virtually changed life in the ancient world- first, it halted decay, and second, it added flavor. It is hard for us now to imagine the almost magical power of salt when it was discovered that it could actually keep meat from rotting. Until then, it was hand to mouth. But with the discovery of salt, all of the sudden what was once doomed to rot, was now preserved. The Romans used to pay their soldiers in salt, which is why to this day we call it a salary- same root word. They started salting their vegetables, which is why we call it a salad. And when someone is comes to Jesus, and gives their life to him, when we come to him and say Jesus, I have sinned, I have done wrong, I feel like a rotten person and I can’t seem to save myself, we come to Jesus and he offers us... a salt lick. No, salvation. Our lives are saved once they are in him. Like a chunk of rotting meat, the decay is halted, and our lives are saved. We experience salvation. Isn’t that wild- I’ll bet most of you never thought about it that way.

Not only does salt preserve, it adds taste. It adds flavor. It brings spice to life. And that the awesome side effect of having our lives in Jesus, not only do we have salvation, but now we are all so savory! We taste good! I remember as a kid hearing my mom say I could just eat you up! I thought that was so weird. Then I had kids, and now there are times when I literally want to eat them! They look so good to me, they make my mouth water, I’ve actually bitten my kids on occasion! That’s how the world should see us when we are being like salt in the world. We should look that tasty and good!

And so Jesus is saying that all of you can bring a quality of preservation into the rot of this world. We can bring flavor into the bland existence of so many who are looking for life. But let me add this observation- too much salt starts to become a bad thing. There are few things worse than an over-salted meal. There are times when we get too wrapped up with other Christians and in only church stuff. It is possible to be too salty. When that happen, it’s time to dissipate the salt again.

And that’s one of the most amazing properties of salt. You put fresh water and salt water together and what are you going to get- salt water. It will penetrate and permeate everything. Thus we must constantly be pouring ourselves out in fresh ways, in untouched and untapped areas. And when we do, we can’t help but bring the salvation and flavor of life in Jesus.

Light transforms as well. In fact, it the very nature of light to change things. I learned about the power of light through caving. I used to take students to a cave all the time. What I discovered is that students were less afraid of crawling underground in in dirty tight, cold places, than they were afraid of the dark. As long as you had your light, you were fine. But when I would have them turn off their lights, they would freak out. My favorite object lesson was simply this- to have them turn out their lights. To be consumed with the darkness for a few minutes, then I’d light a match. It was amazing the transforming power of the light. One tiny little match, and I would instantly have everyone's attention. You could not help but look at that light. It was salvation, it was hope, it was a way out. It meant everything. And that’s the power of the light- darkness has to flee. It can’t overcome the light. Even a tiny light, in a dark place wins the battle.

They other lesson I loved from caving, was the final revelation of light. After a few hours of caving, coming out into the daylight, the students would then see for themselves what I knew all along- they were filthy! After crawling around all that time they would be covered in mud from head to toe- they were gross.

And now what I’m NOT saying is that everyone without Christi is dirty and gross. I’m saying that when Christ’s light shines on us, we see ourselves for what we truly are- we are in need of cleansing. We need to be washed clean.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Jerusalem, the holy city, is perched on a hill. It cannot be hidden. And that’s the point of the location. It is to be a beacon of light to the world. You don;t light a lamp and cover it up- you raise it up, you want the light to penetrate all the darkness. Light a match lit in the dark, it will draw people in. And once people are in, when the are in the presence of the light, they will naturally see their need for cleansing. They will see that they need to cleansing and forgiveness of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Jesus closes this thought by saying in the same way let you light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Jesus begins his message with the blessed announcements. These describe for the the essential character of the fully-devoted Christ follower. Then he moves into these metaphors which describe our influence in the world. And when we are the kind of influence on the world that Christ calls us to be, when we are as salt and light, the world around can’t help but give glory NOT to us, but to God in heaven.

We should pause on this progression long enough to be awed by it’s brilliance. We come to Jesus, we sit at his feet, we give our lives to him, and he transforms our character. We become poor in spirit, we mourn the death and pain in the world, we humble ourselves, we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are made merciful, pure, peacemakers, we are even persecuted for our pursuit of the kingdom. With transformed hearts and lives, with Christ in us, we are different kinds of people. We are like salt. we are like light. What does salt and light do- we transform everything we come in contact with. We save what is lost to decay. We flavor what is bland. We penetrate the darkness. We attract like moths to a fire. We reveal what really is.

We’re gonna have some fun to close this one- the ushers are going to hand out some glow sticks. Please resist the urge to break them! We are going to turn out the lights. We’ll pause for a moment and let the darkness consume us- then I’m going to say a prayer and we’ll break out sticks. The band will play a song, and we’ll let our lights shine!