Yesterday we saw Jesus saying the way we treat a hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, or imprisoned person says something about our desire to join his kingdom.  What is the consequence of this story?

The story makes it clear that Jesus’ kingdom is based on generous sacrifice.  Our motivation for compassion and care is not to be someone else noticing, or that we’ll get thanked, paid back or will otherwise benefit.  It’s not even entirely about the other person’s benefit.

It’s simply the right thing to do, and it’s the overflow of a relationship with God in Jesus.

The deck-building neighbour I described on Monday was also married to a great neighbour.  She was a nurse, and one day she came over to check on my wife, who’d fallen asleep laying on the grass resting from gardening.  This was part of that nurse’s vocation, it’s not just a job to help people in need, it’s actually part of who she is, and what she is called to do.

Christians have the same kind of vocation to love our neighbours, with friendship, words, and also our actions not because there’s something in it for us, but because it is who we are as citizens of the kingdom of God.

Sometimes this isn’t as easy as checking on a friendly neighbour – not everyone finds visiting prisoners easy, it can be scary.  Serving the thirsty can mean travelling places we’d rather not see.  Helping those with no clothes can be awkward!

But this is how Jesus challenges us to dispay kingdomliness.  He calls us to overcome our fears, prejudices, anxiety  for the sake of his kingdom and its values.

Q: List the six needs Jesus wants his followers to meet:

  • The hungry
  • The thirsty
  • The stranger
  • The naked
  • The sick
  • The imprisoned.

Who do you naturally have the most compassion for?  Who do you find most challenging to show compassion for?  Why?

Remember, we meet for coffee every Wednesday night at Starbucks in the Chapters Store in Ajax, in Durham Region just East of Toronto.  Maybe we’ll see you there?

Ryan Sim - July 17, 2013

Wednesday - Change It - Originality

Sermon on the Mount

I know a PHd student who asked this question on Facebook: "How do you cite Facebook?" Researchers like her live and breathe citations. It's critical that they learn how to quote someone properly. There are whole books written about referencing sources properly. Good teaching in Jesus’ day was the same. Rabbi Hirschel says this. Rabbi Hillel says that. At best, a good teacher might come up with some creative parallel, paradox or new insight into those ancient words. But to say something original, that was risky. Maybe you could get away with it at end of your career, or maybe after you'd died, people would say it about you. The Jewish people have such a long history – to make up your own stuff was as if you thought you were better, and could ignore the past. If you did, people would ask, "Who is this guy?" In this case, he was Jesus, a carpenter from a small town. He never went to the advanced schools of Judaism. Lucky he was literate. He was not where you’d expect original, profound teaching to come from. You might expect teaching that was original and trite, or profound and dated, but not original and profound at once. Yet, everyone, even his enemies, saw this profound, original teaching in Jesus. They said the same as these crowds. “He teaches as one with authority” meaning he wasn’t quoting the great teachers of the past, like other Jewish Rabbis always did. He just taught, and people recognized his words as good and true, despite his lack of citations. He hadn’t followed another rabbi, he just gathered a school of students around him. He doesn’t need to cite, because he is the source of all truth. He is called the "Word" of God - the "Word" being a Greek concept of the truth with personality. Question: How is Jesus different from other teachers in your life? What did he teach that no one else said before, or has ever improved upon since? We meet for coffee every Wednesday night at Starbucks in the Chapters Store in Ajax, in Durham Region just East of Toronto. Maybe we'll see you there?

Related Topics: Authority, Jesus, Originality, Teaching | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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