Jim White, long-time Christian and Navigator, spoke at church this morning. Instead of explaining a passage to us, or presenting a nice exegesis of a book, he preached the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5-7. From memory. Straight through.

He did this at the Navigators’ Key Man’s conference last year. He explained to us that while Scripture memory is very important, it’s the meditation on Scripture that makes the Word alive in our lives. It’s a compelling sermon, the longest continuous piece of text that we have that came directly from Jesus Christ’s mouth (as recounted by witnesses, of course). It deals with some of the deepest heart issues and the practice of holiness that arises from a foundation built upon the Rock of Salvation. Jesus promises rewards for those who suffer, who are maligned, who are humble, and He indicts us with His emphasis of being holy in attitude as well as in action. He challenged us to “store up treasures in heaven,” and to be fully obedient to His Word.

“Delayed obedience is disobedience.” As I examine the heart attitudes that reign in my life, I know that there are so many areas of unrepentance and disobedience that just hearing the words of God make me fidget. But that’s the beauty of the Word – it’s living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates, even dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow – it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

I don’t really know what else to say. For those who know Christ, do what He says. For those who don’t know Christ, it’d probably be good to get to know Him – He’s “everything we’ve ever imagined,” to quote the movie adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Anyways, back to studying Neuroscience and Physiology.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

- Philippians 2:3-11 (NIV)

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Humility’s been on my mind for the last few days. ‘Tis a difficult attitude to have, and a rather painful lifestyle to embrace. Succinctly stated, humility puts flesh on the phrase, “die to self.” It’s a call to obedience, to laying aside my own preferences and desires and realizing that I am completely destitute.

I really don’t want to be humble. I mean, I really don’t want to be humble. After all, being humble means not boasting, not being lazy, not thinking for myself first, and all sorts of things that I like to do. Most of the time the passing pleasures of this world seem just that much more pleasant than the “supposed” glory of the future.

How much more difficult would this life be without the grace that is given to us in Jesus Christ! It’s by His blood that we can be humbled; it’s His example that we desire to imitate. The world mocks this pattern of thinking, because it can’t ever understand why or how we lay down all we care for to obtain a far richer prize. After all, evolutionarily speaking, self-preservation should be our primary instinct. It’s ridiculous to think that overcoming that innate drive would contribute something good to the propagation of our species.

Yet, kindness and caring for others completely counters that pragmatic view of life. After all, if only the strong should survive in order that we might perfect ourselves, we should be caring about other people, particularly those who are suffering – because natural selection should weed out those who cannot survive on their own. But the hope that comes from believing deep down that we all have an intrinsic worth – far more valuable than riches – that’s what truly motivates us to ever consider others before ourselves.

I imagine that a good doctor ought to be humble – that he/she should be doing nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but considering others better than themselves. This passage indicts my heart, because I know that I pursue my own desires and “do my thing” before I ever want to serve others. But this is the race God has given me, and by the grace of Jesus I want to finish well, that at the end I can say that I ran the race in such a way that I was not disqualified.

If God is love (1 John 4:16)...then…

God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

God never fails.

- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NIV)

Man alive, it’s hard to believe that I’m worthy of such an awesome God sometimes. Every single description strikes at the core of my being, because I am everything God is not. In my flesh, I refuse to think and act in love.

Instead, I am impatient, I am unkind; I envy, I boast, I’m proud. I’m rude, I’m self-seeking, I’m easily angered, I keep a long (and highly extensive) record of wrongs. I love to do evil and hate to speak the truth. I am cowardly, I am suspicious, I am easily discouraged, I am passive. I fail on a daily basis.

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” —1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)

So while there was nothing good in me, God has recreated me – in the process of being transformed into His very Image, because those characteristics of agape are inseparable from Him. Every day, I must die, in order that I may eventually reflect God’s qualities.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophesies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

- 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13 (NIV)

“Then [Lucy’s] face lit up till, for a moment (but of course she didn’t know it), she looked almost as beautiful as that other Lucy in the picture, and she ran forward with a little cry of delight and with her arms stretched out. For what stood in the doorway was Aslan himself, the Lion, the highest of all High Kings. And he was solid and real and warm and he let her kiss him and bury herself in his shining mane.”
- The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis

I really love C.S. Lewis’ imagery of Aslan, the Lion-Savior of The Chronicles Of Narnia. By showing us how Christ may have interacted with a world of talking animals, Lewis gives us a better picture of how He interacts with us in this world.

This passage out of The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader excites me, because that is exactly what happens when we see God.

Let me back up a second and give this quote some context. Lucy is in an enchanted tower, reading through a spell book in hopes of finding a spell that will make some invisible group of people visible once more. As she reads through this book, she encounters a spell that will make her beautiful. In fact, it was “An infallible spell to make beautiful her that uttereth it beyond the lot of mortals.” The magical properties of the spell book allowed Lucy to see what it would be like to be that beautiful. In fact, the vision was so enticing that Lucy said, “I will say the spell…I don’t care. I will.” Even though she had a strong feeling that she shouldn’t, she desired that beauty, a beauty that would alienate the people closest to her and destroy the intimate relationships she had with others.

Lucy managed to escape the temptation of saying that spell, and when she finally found the spell to make visible things that are invisible, Aslan appeared (because He was invisible).

Now, the interesting thing came from Lewis’ description, that for a moment, Lucy looked almost as beautiful as that other Lucy. This look was captured in that moment that Lucy saw Aslan. Seeing the King of kings made her beautiful – within her heart, and as a result, it overflowed to her physical appearance.

I was talking about this a little bit with one of my roommates the other night. God brings out the very best in all of us – our beauty, our strength, our abilities, our talents – because He gave them all to us first, and He delights to develop those things within us. In reflection of God’s character, we also bring out those things in others. Men are stronger for the women they love. Women do all they can to be beautiful for the men that they love. And so it is when we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When we see Him, our countenance reflects the beauty of God. It’s so exciting to find God’s fingerprints on everything, because it gives us hope and courage. This was a bit random, but I hope that this encourages you throughout this week!