The Kingdom of And and Asbury
God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus are moving in the World
Today’s Monday Morning With Jesus is a little delayed. My son is off school this week, so I’m not getting up ahead of him in the mornings. I still have things that need to be done, but now they get backed up. It’s nearly 2 PM here, and I’m just starting.
Lent begins in two days. The Asbury, Kentucky, outpouring of the Holy Spirit is on its twelfth day. Things are moving across the country and the world from both the adversary and God. Which side are you on?
The sermon yesterday concluded a series on The Kingdom of And. One of the opening songs had a line, “And they will know us by our love.”
"Praying Hands" by C Jill Reed is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
34“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34–35 (NASB95)
Those are red letters. Jesus wants us to “…have love for one another.” How do we show that? How do we “work it into our schedule?” We make time for the things we think are important.
The scripture for the sermon is a long one but a good story.
25And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
27And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
29But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.
31“And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32“Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33“But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
34and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35“On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’
36“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”
37And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
Luke 10:25–37 (NASB95)
The All Caps section quotes the Old Testament, which informs Jesus’ words on how we are to love God, our neighbor, and ourselves.
4“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
5“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
7“You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
Deuteronomy 6:4–7 (NASB95)
15‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
16‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the Lord.
17‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.
18‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:15–18 (NASB95)
Deuteronomy suggests we should put all our being into loving God, but we should also be just to our fellow man regardless of who that person might be. Fairly. Don’t tell lies and slander other people, and don’t hate them because we put sin upon ourselves if we let that be our motivation for taking action. Love should be our motivation, not opposition to others. That last line strikes home for me, and may be a tough nut to crack on my part.
The sermon highlighted verse 29, where the lawyer asks Christ questions asked, “And who is my neighbor?” That’s a great question, but most of us won’t like the answer. The simple answer is everyone is our neighbor. The parable suggests that only the person who helps us is our neighbor. That’s not the point. The person who “…showed mercy…” is our neighbor. Those who show mercy, which means if we show mercy to others, we will gain mercy.
1“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
3“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?
5“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:1–5 (NASB95)
What do we want? Justice or mercy? Does what I want for myself match that which I give to others? If not, I will get what I give, not what I want. So, I should look at what I give, and if I don’t like it for myself, I need to change. I need to change. Other people don’t need to change. I need to change. This change is in my own best interest, loving other people. I want mercy, so how do I show mercy?
The sermon shifted to the last line from verse 37, “…go and do the same.” Or, as pastor Lee stated, “Go and do likewise.” I like that turn of phrase better, but the NASB uses what it uses. So, how do I show mercy?
As I sat and we sang through the last songs, I began to think about Asbury and our congregation. Apparently, the way the Asbury outpouring began, eighteen students stayed after a service to pray and wouldn’t leave. More and more people returned to the chapel until it was again full and remained full from then until this writing. I felt drawn to return and pray at the rail for that same outpouring in our little congregation. I won’t lie. I was relieved no one asked me what I was doing. As I write that, my realization is that relief was misplaced. I was relieved the Holy Spirit didn’t answer my prayer and drive people to return to our sanctuary. The Holy Spirit found me unworthy of that effect, and I was relieved. It makes me ashamed and sad to reflect on that now.
The other thought that came to me is that where two or more are gathered, Jesus is in our midst.
19“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
20“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
Matthew 18:19–20 (NASB95)
I am 100% certain there are two or three in our congregation that warrant Jesus’ presence. That means Jesus is in the room each and every time we gather on Sunday. It doesn’t matter what my opinion is about anything at that point. Jesus is there. What implication does that have for me, for us, and the world?
What is going on at Asbury College in Kentucky? An outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God is moving in the world. We don’t need to be or go to Asbury to experience this. We need to get on our knees and ask God to let us join in it. The Kingdom of Heaven is not of this flesh, of this world. It is a spiritual kingdom. We are creatures of spirit. We can connect and be there. We can be with two or three and have Jesus in our midst while alone at home. It is not good to stay that way, but it can start that way.
I urge you to stop and pray the Lord’s prayer right now. God knows. God will do what is needed. God will move in the world as it is good, right, and true for Him to do, and we can participate if in no other way than prayer for those who are being His hands and His feet.
He who has ears, let him hear. God bless you, and Godspeed.