Sunday Service | Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Week 7: November 1, 2020
Today, we had our first service with people back in the room! That’s right, our community gathered at limited capacity together in the sanctuary for the first time since March. We all stayed distant, had our masks on, and it was so good to be with others in the room as well as online watching the livestream. To reserve your spot for next Sunday’s service at 10:30, click here: https://theanchorfellowship.com/visit-in-person/
Brian issued a challenge to us as we face the 2020 Presidential Election this week to look for the true King & his Kingdom. It’s an upside down Kingdom, primarily about weakness and serving instead of power and authority. As believers, we call Jesus “Lord,” and that is a title under which we submit when we follow him. And this Kingdom’s main mission is loving others--both our neighbors and our enemies--which includes casting our vote this week.
April leads us through that main mission by looking at Matthew 22.34-40, as we continue looking at how to become emotionally healthy and mature followers of Christ, who give the gift of loving well to others as emotionally mature people. Loving well, as we will see in this passage, takes a specific kind of maturity.
Matthew 22.34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Jesus is being tested here. The “Law” that the expert is referring to here is Moses’ Law, composed of over 600 commandments that God gave his people. He asks what is most important, and Jesus gives two answers: love God & love your neighbor as yourself.
Both answers center upon love. We know this; we are familiar with it, but still we need practice to mature. In karate, everyone--from beginners to black belts--practice the same moves over and over again, because the basics are what help you know what to do when you move on to more advanced moves.
Jesus reveals God’s heart and his intention here as love. He says the whole Bible rests upon this. It’s God’s whole purpose with us and for us.
1st: Love God with Everything You’ve Got
Not just thoughts or emotions, or actions only--everything that defines you, turn it to God.
Note: this doesn’t just happen, it takes commitment and work.
2nd: Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
Following Jesus’ example, who never separated these two commands.
Jesus was remarkably present with people, and this was in direct correlation to God. Loving God and ourselves leads to loving others.
This is our job.
“Love is to reveal the beauty of another person to themselves.” This requires connection with God, 1st loving him and being present with him. This kind of love is a spiritual experience, because, like Jesus, we don’t separate these two ideas. Loving God and loving ourselves is connected to loving our neighbor.
How do we grow into these kinds of people?
First, consider the barriers or limitations that we face:
We aren’t loving God with everything we’ve got
We struggle to love ourselves
We are immature in our relationships (with God and others), which can look like:
Looking to others to take care of us
Manipulating
Complaining
Self-focused
Can’t handle conflict
All of these can keep us from loving other people well.
Martin Buber describes healthy and unhealthy relationships this way:
“I am thou” relationships that see each other both as imager-bearers of God. This leads to healthy connections with others.
“I it” relationships use others instead of seeing the value in others. This is an unhealthy connection with others.
To see one another in “I am thou” relationships is a gift we give to the world. Jesus models this by seeing the uniqueness of others in every interaction he had. He is our example.
We love our neighbors out of the overflow of loving ourselves. We cannot overlook by familiarity this part of the verses we read: “love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus engaged in the work of connection with God and with himself in love. How we love ourselves matters in being able to love our neighbors. Loving ourselves and seeing ourselves as image bearers is essential.
We run out of steam when we love just to love, out of duty. If we neglect or are critical of ourselves, uncertain of our value, unsure of our purpose--there is work to be done in us before we can truly love our neighbors.
The Lord made us on purpose, with purpose. We have to love ourselves. Invite the Lord there. Because there is an order that Jesus speaks of and models for us:
One on one time with God
Which enables him to know himself, his value, and his mission
Which THEN allowed him to be present with others
Ask yourself these questions in this order:
Am I loving God?
Am I honoring and valuing myself and my purpose?
Can I be present with others?
Learning these things is how we mature. Take some time today to sit with these three questions:
1: What do you need or want to say to God today?
2: What is God saying to you?
3: What do you need to say to yourself today?
Love is important. Jesus desires for us to love well. To do this, we must turn to the Lord to fill us. We also have to be aware that if we love others in order to find our purpose and identity, it won’t work.
A final question to sit with for this internal work:
What is a step that I can take today to put myself, my insecurities and disappointments, to put it all in the hands of Jesus?