We are working our way down the proverbial yellow brick road
in our Wizard of Oz themed message
series, exploring the Jewish Shema
prayer. The crux of the Shema prayer
is to listen to God, love God, and leave a legacy of love for God. So far in our
journey we explored what it means to love God with all our heart (choosing to
live God’s way as opposed to our own) and soul (experiencing integration while
living in our mortal bodies connected to the eternal nature of God), and this past
week we considered what it means to love God with our minds.
God gave humanity the gift of reason. As the Scarecrow might
say, some of us use it more skillfully or artfully than others, but we all are
created with the ability to think. I believe God wants it this way so we can
work out and wrestle with what it means to live in, and for, God. That is not
to say this means we must understand everything, because there is definitive
mystery in creation, but our ability to reason helps us to work out our salvation
while also accepting things on faith.
In the Wesleyan tradition, reason serves as one of four
major points for how we comes to experience life with God. This is called the
Wesleyan Quadrilateral. Scripture always leads the way, for in it is contained
everything needed for salvation. Scripture is followed by tradition (the
history of God’s intervention and interaction with humanity), and experience (a
personal sense of God’s involvement in our own life) as we think about the
truth that God’s love is available to all. I think it is safe to say that it is
one thing to know this, but quite another to live that way.
In Romans 12:2 we read that we experience transformation by
the renewing of our minds. This is such an important thing to consider, because
it calls us to change the way we think. Let’s face it, the natural human
inclination is to think first of self. If we take seriously Jesus’ teaching to
love God first, then this means we must change that inherent thought pattern.
Easier said than done, though, right? One of the reasons this is true has to do
with a fairly universal defense mechanism in our brains. Our minds run
constantly while processing information and stimuli in our environments. We
only get limited facts, though, so our brains must fill in the gaps to complete
the picture. Many of us will fill in those gaps with worst case scenarios as a
way to steel ourselves against potential disturbing outcomes. It works as a
defense mechanism by setting us up to prepare for the worst and hope for the
best. What if we were to change this, though?
I imagine Jesus wants us to flip our natural way of thinking
on its side so we hope first for the best and prepare secondly for the worst. I
think Jesus wants us to take seriously the promises of Scripture that he is
with us until the end of the age, and nothing can separate us from the love of
God. If we renew our minds by thinking about God’s promises first, and respond
accordingly to the love we receive through Christ, then we truly are
transformed! Modifying the way we think will have a direct impact on the way
that we live, as well as interact with, God and others. So when we read the
instructions in Colossians 3 about setting our minds on things in heaven as
opposed to earth, we will be reminded that we are joined with Christ in his
death so we can enjoy his life. That, my friends is what our soul seeks
(integration) and will soothe a troubled heart, so even when the going gets
tough, we can keep going with God.
I hope you plan on joining us Sunday as we conclude this
series exploring Your Lion Strength.
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