BIBLETALK

Recently on Facebook, several friends shared an insightful article from Shane L. Bishop. Below are my thoughts that repeat and embellish the things he shared as Thanksgiving is upon us.

First, there is a lot to love about Thanksgiving. We don’t buy each other gifts. There is no name exchange. No credit line increase is needed either. All you need is food to cook, food to share, and food to clean up. Simple. Also, the narrative about Thanksgiving in America is generally standard. Bishop wrote, ‘I am glad we don’t have fictional stories on Thanksgiving.  No one wants to hear about the Thanksgiving Puritan riding in a magical Buggy pulled by anti-biotic and steroid free turkeys who travel all over the world on Thanksgiving Eve delivering unusually appreciative children cans of canned, gelatinous cranberry sauce and tossing in corporately sponsored can openers. Thanksgiving is about turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, your Nana’s special dish and desserts made of pumpkins, cherries and pecans. It is about family, friends and football but most of all it is about taking time to remember. Thanksgiving is where we have conversations with people long since gone who sit in empty chairs in the houses of our childhoods. We smile at them and they smile back. We used to sing a song at church called, “Count Your Blessings” and for me, Thanksgiving is a time to do just that. “Count your blessings, name them one by one.”’

So here are my 10 ways to make the day more memorable – and what I believe will make the day all if can be for me – and for you.

1. Stay at the table.  Set a timer for an hour. No one leaves. Start the meal with everyone at the table and ask everyone (all ages) to share 2-3 things that makes the day so special and things for which they are thankful. My kids know it is coming – so they are usually prepared. But when you start it, it makes the day about the joy that giving thanks will bring – even before you eat your mom’s special cranberry sauce.
2. Keep it human. No phones at the table. Keep them in your back pocket or in the living room. Spend that time with people around the table – not on Facebook. I’ve been the worst offender of this in the past. But this year, no phone for me. Now, sometimes our memories and our joys are in sharing reels or funnies that make us all laugh. Bishop suggested punishment for an unmuted phones and even carrying it over to the following year. I’d say, just make it all about the humans around you.
3. Give thanks. Don’t say the prayer you say in the assembly. Make the prayer full of all the things your humans have just said for which they are all thankful. Don’t time it. Don’t make it short and sweet. Let the potatoes cool a bit. You can always put them in the microwave. Bishop said to do it “Heads bowed, eyes closed, [and] holding hands.” I couldn’t agree more.
4. Remember those who are missing. Every year, there are always those we love that we lose. Speak out their names. In my own grief of losing people I love, I realized that this was the hardest part for me. “Thank you Lord for Jon” were the hardest words I remember saying when he was gone. But when I remember, not only do I place their lives and their love for me (and all of us) on the altar of remembrance and gratitude, I declare again to the God that I adore that I believe their soul is forever in His care – and implicitly affirm that we all will meet again.
5. Share your memories. Tell your favorite Thanksgiving stories. Bishop said to talk about “The year of the huge Thanksgiving blizzard. The year when it was like summer outside and everyone went on a walk. The big family football game of 1972. The sweet potato casserole debacle of 2001. When the dog ate the turkey.” We have done the same – but it always pours over into other family legendary memories that need to be spoken again and again because it shares the soul of family life: togetherness.
6. Talk. Bishop wrote, “Laugh, Count Your Blessings, and tell the people around you just how much you love them.” Silence is golden – except at thanksgiving. Sometimes the rules of politeness and no interruptions can be broken – especially when it is your children lighting up with the joy of thanksgiving. You teach them more by letting them “give thanks in all things” rather than “waiting their turn”. My opinion. But, talk is where thanksgiving is expressed, not in the restriction of rules.
7. Serve. It’s a family thing for us. Even our adult kids have learned that they bring something to the table – and they help clear the table and clean dishes. If everyone helps, everyone gets more time together. Don’t leave mom in the kitchen alone. She doesn’t need to be the only one serving – maybe we need to serve her for her long life of serving us from the cradle? Further, if your table is full this year, be sure to remember those whose table is not – and perhaps find a way to make it more abundant for others just like God has done for your table.
8. One don’t. I like what Bishop said: “Don’t talk politics. If anyone does, construct them a home-made political button denoting the opposite party and touting the name of their least favorite president of all time. Make them wear it all day.” And if they do, “no pie.”
9. Accept everything. Nothing will ever be perfect. Your crust won’t brown just the right way. The turkey may be dry. They may not have your preferred drink to go with the meal. So what? You are with the people that the Lord has shared in your life. Bishop said, “No matter how things go, at least you [will not be] a turkey.” And for that matter, don’t be a ham either.
10. Remember the Source of all Good. Even the wise man said, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come” (Ecclesiastes 12:1). So, make the day, the weekend, and rest of your life, about enumerating all things we so easily forget – and for which we keep forgetting to give thanks. Tell God “I thank you.” Tell God “I praise you.” Tell God “I love you.” How else can you truly experience thanksgiving until you can? “My soul, bless the Lord, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. My soul, bless the Lord, and do not forget all his benefits” (Psalm 103:1-2). So, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1Thessalonisans 5:18).

Hope this helps. So, let’s all get busy giving some thanks!

by Don Hooton

I was recently asked what the Bible says about tithing. And it seemed a good idea to answer that with the next question of how much then should Christians give? So here’s my answer.

Many are shocked that the New Testament never commands Christians to tithe because of how often  modern churches still teach tithing, command tithing and often recommend to members exactly what their tithe should be. To be clear, however, the New Testament does teach that Christians should give liberally. So, the short answer to the question is simple: Giving, yes! Tithing is a no, because, tithing is not the New Testament standard for giving.

In the Mosaic Law, one of the gifts that Israel gave was the tithe. “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord: it is holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 20:10). A tithe was a tenth of some asset being considered (c.f. Genesis 28:22) that would be given for purposes of God. The first mention of tithing is Genesis 14:18-20 when Abraham gives a tenth of the spoils of war to Melchizedek, the priest of God. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were commanded by God to give a tenth of their produce and livestock to support the Levites, who had no inheritance in the land (Numbers 18:21-24).

Tithing was for patriarchs as means to honor God. However, tithing was a covenant command for Israel – that God commanded of them. The books of Romans, Galatians, and other New Testament passages make it clear that Christians are not under the law of Moses – which of course means that instruction demanding tithing was for the Israelite, not the Christian. That does not mean that Christians are lawless. The Apostle Paul said, we are “under the law of Christ” (1Corinthians 9:20-21; see also James 1:25; 2:8). While the Mosaic Law leads Israel to Christ (Galatians 3:23-24).  Certainly what was written in the past remains valuable in our instruction (c.f. Romans 15:4).  But these aspects of law demands around the tithe was for Israel. Never in the New Testament do inspired Apostles command the church to tithe.

Those who argue for tithing by pointing out that Abraham and Jacob both tithed prior to Moses (Genesis 14:20; 28:22) will say that tithing supersedes the law. However, there are other practices, such as circumcision and sabbath-keeping which pre-date the Law and they too are not binding on us.  If you look at Abraham’s and Jacob’s tithing, you will see that God did not command them to tithe; Further, there is no indication that this was their regular practice. On one occasion after a victory in battle, Abraham tithed the spoils from that battle, but nothing is said regarding his other possessions or his regular income (Genesis 14:20). Jacob’s example was a conditional vow before God where he promised he would give a tenth if God would keep him safe and provide for him (Genesis 28:20-22). That’s hardly a good example to follow in giving!

Tithing was an involuntary tax on Israel. The church is not a theocratic nation. In the Old Testament, the Law commanded both required and voluntary giving. As a required command, the tithe was gathered from every Israelite family to fund national worship and help the poor (c.f. Leviticus 27:30-33, Deuteronomy 12:17-18; 14:28-29). Charles Ryrie’s book, Balancing the Christian Life, suggests that these passages include several different “tithes” so that the total was not a mere 10 percent, but more like 22 percent (page 86). Hence, if those Old Covenant commands command Christians, then is it not possible that the percentage we should command would be over a fifth of our income!

G. F. Hawthorne writes (New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3:854): “Since the tithe played such an important part in the OT and in Judaism contemporary with early Christianity, it is surprising to discover that never once is tithing mentioned in any instructions given to the church. Jesus mentions scribes and Pharisees who tithe …, but he never commanded his disciples to tithe. The writer to the Hebrews refers to Abraham paying tithes to Melchizedek and Levi paying his tithe to Melchizedek through Abraham …, but he never taught his readers to follow their example. Paul writes about sharing material possessions to care for the needs of the poor … and to sustain the Christian ministry …. He urges and commends generosity … but never once does he demand, as a command from God, that any specific amount be given.”

Christians should give generously. However, that generosity is based on the compulsion of your own heart rather than a percentage. In the explicit context of giving for the benevolent needs being collected for Christians (2Corinthians 8-9), Paul writes, “Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver” (9:7).

And generosity grows out of grace. Grace (as a system) is totally opposed both to legalism and licentiousness, which are two sides of the same coin. Legalism and licentiousness both operate on the principle of the flesh. Legalism is an attempt to earn standing with God through human effort which leads to pride and condemnation. Licentiousness repels restraint and lives to satisfy self. Instead, God’s grace is His unmerited favor for people He loves and saves in Christ’s sacrifice. So, if we act with grace in our giving, it will not be random and irresponsible; it will not be “leftovers”.

Giving with grace is following God’s example in Christ (2Corinthians 8:9). Christ gave up all of what He had, His privileges, to become human flesh and live in squalor rather than the splendor He rightfully deserved to make the human race rich in things that matter most (5:21).

Giving with grace reminds us about our stewardship. “You are not your own, for you have been bought with a price …” (1Corinthians 6:19-20). All that we are and have belongs to God, not just a tenth. I am merely the manager of His resources. As a good manager, I use the Owner’s resources to further His work (see Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-37; 11:27-30 for some examples).

Giving with grace comes back to our inner motives to first give ourselves to Christ (2Corinthians 8:1-4). The Macedonian believers had an abundance of joy (8:2); gave of their own accord (8:3); begged to help (8:4); but, because they gave themselves to the Lord first (8:5), they had both the readiness and desire (8:10-12, 9:2) and by their example, Paul  exhorted the Corinthians to maintain this cheerful disposition and give without grudge or guilt (9:7).

Of course, if the gift you received from the person whom you had saved was a penny candy as they drove away in their high-end vehicle and their high-end clothes, you might be riding the struggle bus between axioms of “it’s not the gift – but the thought that counts” or  “it’s not the size of the gift, it’s the size of the heart that gives.” So sometimes, as Christians, we should give pause and consideration to how much we give the Lord because you see, God is generous. He gave to the world a Savior because He “so loved the world” (c.f. John 3:16). And this was Paul’s point regarding giving to the church at Corinth: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2Corinthians 8:9). As God’s people who are to be like Jesus, we are to be generous givers.  Also, God is ready to share. He has supplied us with all good things and in turn, He wants us “to be generous and ready to share” (1Timothy 6:18).

Further, if we regulate all of our giving to a percentage, it becomes a wrong-headed emphasis. I’ve even heard some say that 10 percent is God’s money and 90% is mine. When in reality, 100% belongs to God. Why could he not want us to channel 90% into His work and live on 10%. Tithing can be a bad rut. And further, it results in inequity. If a man with a family of five makes $20,000 a year and tithes, he has $18,000 (apart from taxes) to support five people. If a childless couple makes $100,000 a year and tithes, they have $90,000 (apart from taxes) to support two people. That would be burdensome to the man with five mouths to feed, but ridiculously easy for the couple. Paul reminds Corinth to give with “as you are prospered” (1Corinthians 16:2) and Luke says that they gave according to their ability (Acts 11:29).

So, the real question about what we are able is whether ten percent is even “generous?”  I suppose if I made a million dollars each year, one hundred thousand given might not seem “generous” to some but if my annual income was twenty thousand dollars, two thousand might seem more generous in relative terms. So what is generous giving? People ask if giving 10 percent of my income to the Lord’s work is generous? If not 10 percent, how much should I give?

Don’t think, “How much do I have to give?” but rather, “How much can I give?” We should not wait for someone to pressure us with a need; we should look for needs that we can meet (2Corinthians 8:4). We need to start giving where we are at, and not put it off until someday when we’re rich. The Macedonians gave in the midst of a great ordeal affliction and out of deep poverty (8:2). Jesus commended the poor widow who gave all she had to live on, but He was not impressed with the large gifts of the rich, because they had much left over (Mark 12:41-44).

So in this church, you are not asked to tithe because the New Testament does not command it. All we ask is that, like the Macedonians, that we give ourselves “first” to the Lord; give with grace freely and give happily. We won’t use pressure or gimmicks to get people to give. If you believe in the work of this church, then give generously as God has prospered you, out of love for Him. However, do not assume that because we don’t use pressure we don’t have needs. I believe it is legitimate to inform the church family about needs so they can give wisely. We have needs: to meet our monthly budget; to get some better office equipment; to pay for ongoing maintenance – and above all – to provide for evangelism here and in other places. As we respond to God’s grace by giving generously, the needs will be met.

The famous John Wesley quote fits well: “Get all you can; Save all you can; Give all you can.” Because as the New Testament says to us, God has; and Jesus has.

by Don Hooton

More than one hundred million people watched last Sunday’s Super Bowl in which the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in an intensely close game. No doubt the Chiefs celebrated their win (Heard Mahones was going to Disney!) – and the Eagles probably flew away in disappointment even though they had worked hard to make it to the game’s greatest event. The game is about winning.

And on Tuesday, our nation celebrates romantic love on Valentine’s Day. Roses, chocolates, gifts and cards (and lots of cards). I mean, who doesn’t remember all the cards we used to share in school? Still, most are shared to shower rightly on the objects of our love the gifts that we believe reflect love. Admittedly, today’s practices are fraught with other things that I don’t applaud – but to banner your love for the love of your life is certainly something we should be doing (Song of Solomon 2:4).

But I digress.

In contrast to the SuperBowl culture of victories and rushed days to shower Valentine love to many, Tracey and I heard last week real SuperStories about real love at Florida College Lectures from https://sacredselections.org. They shared victories and they exchanged notes of love and adorations. But these stories are not about the applause of people perfection or the trophies of candied hearts. Instead, these are stories of the vulnerability and fragility of women who carry a child they know they cannot raise. Sacred Selections is the cause that David and Dana Carrozza started to help place these children in the homes of Christians. It is a beautiful story of redemption, love and unending mercy. Kids loved – not because they are icons of athletic prowess or paper Valentines, They are Super-loved kids.

The apostle John wrote: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1). Eyes should open to see the depth and magnitude of God’s love for people He now calls, in an extraordinarily redemptive way, His children. We were children deserving wrath (Ephesians 2:1-2). But now, we are children who have His love, grace and mercy (2:3-8). How is that? How did we become children of like that?

We were adopted. Paul said to the Galatians: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (4:4–5). In ancient Jewish culture, there were no clear processes for adoption. If a man died, his brother automatically became the head of his household, so adoption was never a needed process. What Paul has in mind, likely, is adoption as Rome practiced it. But redefined by God. Roman adoption was rarely to provide a more suitable environment for the adopted; Instead, it was to provide to the adopting family a suitable male heir – particularly among noble orders of senators and equestrians. Most say it is hard to determine how common it was among the lower classes and also, girls and women were seldom adopted, regardless of class. It did not serve the adopted – it served the adoptee.

But when Paul tells us we are adopted – He shows that God gifted us in adoption. He said, “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:15-17). We are chosen to be given glory, to be given grace, to be given love, to be given an inheritance that would never be taken away.

I read of one man who shared about his own adoption to parents: “They knew nothing about me when they chose me. Unlike biological children who inherited their genetics from their parents, my parents did not know my parents or anything about my story. They chose me as I was, where I was.”

And that my friends it what makes us superKids. God has showered us with such unconditional love that we have not earned to receive such accolades or trophies. God has chosen us to know a love without condition, a mercy without judgment, and a joy without end. You don’t have to win any SuperBowl to be a superKid. You don’t have to return the favor of an exchanged valentine card to get one.

As Tracey and I sat in the presentation of the amazing good Sacred Selections does (and I am sure there are others), we had had tears in our eyes. These families who sacrifice all to share love for one – or more – is a life changing truth. They know little about these little ones they adopt – but they do. They know little about the genetics the children will inherit – but they still do. They set aside the fear of such unknowns and embrace the reality of love shared – and they chose to adopt – not knowing.

But God? He knew. He knew me. He knew you. He knew we were neither good or righteous – but God sent His Son and “proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6). And when He knew us – He still chose us in Christ. That is a super kind of love that knows no holiday and no contest. It is the Way of the One who is our Father and Elder Brother who loves us with SuperKid Love.

by Don Hooton

I just read about five young men who went on mission to preach the good news of Jesus to the unreached Huaorani people in 1956. On Tuesday, January 3, 1956 Jim Elliot and four other missionaries (Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Nate Saint) landed on a small strip of land in the jungles of Ecuador. On Friday, January 6th, three Aucas—one man and two women—approached them with whom they exchanged greetings. The men showed the natives rubber bands, yo-yos, and balloons, and they even took the man up in the plane. On Sunday, January 8th, however, they were due to radio in at 4:30 p.m. but all there was – was silence. When no message came, a plane was sent and then a rescue party. Four of their bodies were recovered—all lanced to death in what seemed an ambush. The fifth was never found. Their martyrdom shocked the world. And in 1956, TIME ran a ten-page story.

The men’s wives, all in their twenties, followed their husbands’ passion and went to Ecuador. With extraordinary bravery they returned to the very people who had killed their husbands and showed forgiveness and love. The Huaorani were amazed. And in response, one of them said, ‘We acted badly, badly…’ ‘until they brought us God’s carvings. Now we walk His trail.’ (as quoted in “Through the Gates of Splendor,” written by Jim Elliot’s widow, Elizabeth).

Yet, it is Jim Elliot’s words that have long been quoted and echoed in lessons about commitment and sacrifice. At just 22-years-old on October 28, 1949, six years before the fated day in Ecuador, Jim Elliot wrote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” And in less than just 7 years, he would show himself – no fool.
When Jim Elliot’s diary was found by the rescue party, these were his last written words as he waited for the Aucas Indians to come:

“I walked out to the hill just now. It is exalting, delicious, to stand embraced by the shadows of a friendly tree with the wind tugging at your coattail and the heavens hailing your heart, to gaze and glory and give oneself again to God—what more could a man ask? Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth! I care not if I never raise my voice again for him, if only I may love him, please him. Perhaps in mercy he shall give me a host of children [i.e., converts] that I may lead them through the vast star fields to explore his delicacies whose finger ends set them to burning. But if not, if only I may see him, touch his garments, and smile into his eyes—ah then, not stars nor children shall matter, only himself” (Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendour. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1957, 256).

Such people inspire me.

Are we inspired by American soldiers who sacrificed their lives on foreign soil to defend the defenseless or to uphold a pursuit for freedom? Do the heart strings of our souls vibrate with the rhythm of our allegiance when the national anthem is played – even at gravesides of veterans – or police? Do we stand amazed by the lengths to which people have gone in their lives to reach extreme after extreme of difficulty and still tread onward uphill and through every shadowed valley? Should you not honor those to whom belong honor?

Yet, how does our heart feel when men and women fly to foreign lands to share the gospel of Jesus? Do we shout our “Hallelujah!”s or do we coil into despair?

First-Century Christians were relentlessly gentle in their bravery and fierce in their love. They preached the gospel even when they were flogged and beaten only to “rejoic[e] that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name. Every day in the temple, and in various homes, they continued teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah” (Acts 2:41-42).

They learned love and sacrifice from their Savior and King. He inspired the good in the news they shared: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1John 3:16).

What can we give in 2023? “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Taking the lead from a book called “Compassionate Creator: Becoming Human For Me” by Bruce Morton, we will take a look at the entrance of Jesus the King into the world in which He was born. Paul reminds us that “at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 6:6) and to the Galatians he wrote, “when the fulness of time came, God sent His Son..” (4:4). So, there is value in understanding, along with the written text, the events and the environment that led to God sending His Son into the world.

Secondarily, the study will also reveal how vastly different was the birth of the Son of Man compared to the gaudy scenes of popular religion. The scene of Joseph, Mary, the infant Jesus, wrapped in beautiful clothes, with animals, shepherds, angels and wise men all surrounding the manger to worship the Christ Child. The scenes, repeated over and over as if they are historically true, have contributed to the hindrance of people understanding the true message of that King.

So just how common was Jesus?

Was Jesus a man?

In the four Gospels, there is ample evidence that Jesus was fully human since He was born to a human mother (Matthew 1:25), He experienced hunger (Matthew 21:18) and thirst (John 19:28). Jesus also experienced temptation (Matthew 4:1) pain and suffering (Matthew 16:21), and He died (Matthew (27:50).

In fact, three words the writer of Hebrews uses indicate his understand of Jesus when he wrote: “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).

So, we should not dismiss what we have in common with him – that He was “like his brothers”. In fact, the writer says, “in every respect.” This comparison is to all the things of the context – namely that we face death, and fear death, and that he has set us from those things that he shared with us.

Had Jesus only been fully God, then He never would have had these human experiences. However, Jesus was more than a mere human.

Did He claim to be more than a man?

The New Testament records several instances in which Jesus affirms, or at least does not deny, that He is God. In a few cases, He identifies Himself as divine outright. In John 10:30-33, Jesus says He is one with the Father God, which causes the devout Jews to want to execute Him for blasphemy. They say what His words imply: “You, a mere man, claim to be God?” (NIV); “make yourself God” (CSB; ESV). The context demands we consider Jewish history – the very thing that prompted their response. When God first appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Moses asked God for His name. And God gave Moses an interesting reply: God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). For generations following this interaction between God and Moses, the Israelites revered the name of God (“I AM”) as a precious title that was not to be slandered or given to anyone or anything other than God himself.

Now read again John 8:49-58. Jesus made two remarkable statements. First, he claimed to be eternal and to have existed before Abraham! But more importantly, Jesus called himself by the ancient title ascribed only to God Himself, “I AM”. The Pharisees knew exactly what Jesus meant by this. From their perspective, Jesus said specifically, “I am God”. How do we know this was their interpretations of His words? We know it from their reaction. They responded by attempting to stone Jesus for claiming to be God (an act of blasphemy they considered worthy of death). And then, in Mark 14:61-63 (NIV), Jesus is on trial for His life and is asked, “Are you the Christ, Son of the Blessed One [that is, God]?” He answers, “I am,” and then calls Himself the “Son of Man,” which is a title used for an exalted heavenly figure in the Old Testament on Daniel’s visions (Daniel 7).

Was Jesus God?

Because these are not our experiences and outside our own frame of reference, they are often degraded to the impossible and a difficult concept for us to understand. It would be easy to understand if Jesus were merely fully human but not divine. We could also more likely accept it if Jesus was fully divine but not human. And, if all humans were fully human and fully God we would easily understand it. However, no one is fully human and fully God except Jesus so we lack a frame of reference that helps us to understand this concept.

Because of this uncommon experience, some have theorized different views of the incarnation. One is called Kenosis Christology where it is explained that the incarnation involved Jesus leaving his divinity behind for a while and living solely as a man. Though, If there was ever a moment when God the Son stepped aside from his divinity then he was never God in the first place. How then could it be said that the Word became flesh? (c.f. John 1:1,14). Other theories of the incarnation presented for its explanation—sometimes labelled Monophysitism or Eutychianism—both try to preserve Jesus’ divine nature by having it operating inside his humanity. To say that God the Son never stopped being God, however, does not mean that his divine nature was lurking inside his human nature—as if baby Jesus was secretly sustaining the universe from somewhere inside his skull. This is to confuse the natures of Jesus.

Jesus the man was just that—a man: flesh, blood, body and soul. When he worked miracles, he did them the way other humans would do them—through the power of God’s Spirit. As Peter says to Cornelius: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38). But He was acting as a man though He was God. He emptied himself of the right to act as God and instead as a servant and a man, be used by God through the Spirit to work miracles. When we appreciate the radical difference between God and creatures, we realize that we need this different way, the uncommon way of thinking about Jesus coming into the world. It’s less like Him moving from one place to another and more like Him adding an entirely different mode of existence.

Jesus was a man. But Jesus wasn’t just any man. He was God the Son

Based on these sources about the life of Jesus, Jesus claimed to be God more than once. Some of these statements were overt and clear and the claim made Him uncommon among common men. And as we will see in the upcoming lessons, He came in the first century A.D. to announce the good news of the kingdom of God, His kingship and kinship, to save people and make them new again. When He indirectly stated His purpose in statements like “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6) or “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), He was preparing the way for us to see Him as the most uncommon among all of us.

by Don Hooton

Love is not a New Testament discovery although we sometimes regard it to be. At its very core, the gospel is that God so loved the world. Yet, it is in the Old Testament that we learn of the two “great” love commandments to which Jesus refers in Mark 12, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one: And 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.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The command to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which is the basis of the so-called “Golden Rule” of Jesus, is “The Law and the Prophets” according to Jesus (Mat 7:12), not the gospel.

The foundation of any society is based in how the members of that society treat each other. And the society God was building in Israel had love as its foundation: love for God Himself and love for neighbor. In quoting Leviticus 19:18, Paul wrote that “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:10). The Law is good because it teaches what is good. And love is good – and the source of any society’s success. And for the church as its own society within human societies, love must be the norm.

Loving our neighbor is more than being nice. Even in the context of Leviticus 19, God showed the this neighborly love manifests itself in ways we often don’t recognize as love (“reprove”) and prohibit things in which we often feel justified (“gossip”). In fact, love is not passive at all. We can’t  excuse ourselves just simply by being nice when we disengage from people around us; It demands just the opposite. John said it: “Let us love in deed and truth” (1John 3:18). If you love your neighbor you will, “Reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself” (19:17). These two commands—both to love and to reprove your neighbor—seem unlikely together; but in the proverb, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love” (Prov. 27:5), they explain each other.

Furthermore, loving our neighbor restricts us. When God said to them, “You shall not take vengeance” Paul reasoned that “Vengeance belongs to God” (Rom. 12:19). It is true that we can hold back God’s work of vengeance upon others by seeking it ourselves. However, the point God made to Israel is that what makes one refrain from vengeance is not because it trespasses on God’s territory, but because we love our neighbor. Personal vengeance is prohibited because God has called His people to love.

Yet there is more. Not only must loving our neighbor prevent us from seeking revenge, it must keep us from “bearing a grudge.” Grudges are easy to cherish, especially when we believe it is deserved. And while it is true grudge holding does more harm to the holder than the object, the reason it is prohibited is because it is not love. Look at all the things that love prohibits (19:9-18):

When you reap the harvest of your land… Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another. Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight. Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind. Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality… but judge your neighbor fairly. Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. Do not hate. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

So, the heart of the Law and the Prophets, Jesus said, is how we treat each other. There is nothing new about this. Quit using your righteousness as a cover for grudge bearing, revenge, slander, hating, partiality or perverting justice. Quit using self-needs as cover for your defrauding the poor, the foreigner, the deaf or the blind. Learn what this means: Love your neighbor as yourself. It’s not merely a warm hallmark-ish sentiment to moisten your eyes; it is the demand of being made in the image of God.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law…. any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law… Let us walk properly as in the Lord… not in quarreling and jealousy (Romans 13:8-10).