Gaining the Mind of Christ

Prayer

What Comes to Mind?

In my daily time of solitude, I’ve been making my way through the Old Testament, and right now I’m in 2 Kings, which goes through the history of the kings, of both northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. But in the midst of telling about the various kings I came across this strange little story in 2 Kings 13, where it talks about these Moabite raiders who would enter Israel every spring.

Once they did so while a group of Israelites were burying a man, they see the band of raiders coming, so they throw the man’s body into the tomb of the prophet Elisha. The story says that when the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

That’s it, that’s the whole story. And to be honest, my first reaction to that story was just to gloss over it, almost dismissively, because it seems too unbelievable, too fanciful. A dead man being thrown on the bones of a prophet and he comes back to life!

Then I realized that my reaction said a lot more about me, and my skepticism, and what I think and believe about God and who he is. Because, as I reflect on it, of course God can do such miracles - the power of his Holy Spirit even in the skeletal remains of one of his prophets. And it reminded me that my mind needs to grow in understanding of who God is.

And this is one of the key element of growing as disciples, or followers, of Jesus. Last Sunday we began our Advent Sermon Series, Why Jesus Came - we’re looking at the central Christian doctrine of the Incarnation, of Jesus, God himself, becoming human. And asking the question of why, why did Jesus, creator of all, the infinite, eternal God, humble himself to become a finite human being.

We started our examination with the quote from C.S. Lewis: The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.

We talked primarily about what Jesus came to earth to enable - what does it mean that we are to be a son of God, a child of God? And that one of the things this does for us is that it gives us a whole sense of a new identity, rooted in relationship, family relationship, being able to know God as Abba, father, and ourselves as his beloved children.

Over the next three Sundays, including today, we want to talk about the process of that, of how Jesus enables this to happen. So that it’s not just about our identity as children of God, but what it means to actually become like God. That we would bear family resemblance. Like Father, like Son.

I told the story last week of Taylor - now Cameron - becoming the newest member of the Cox family. Well, Cameron’s old behaviors (cursing, flipping desks, peeing) were not going to work in this family. That’s not how you act in the Cox family. Cameron has had to learn a whole new set of behaviors, attitudes, a new way of thinking - so that he could truly be a part of this family.

Likewise, to be a son of God, a daughter of God, means that we have new ways of being, thinking and acting to embrace. That’s going to be our focus - how Jesus enables that to happen.

Over the next three weeks, we’re going to talk about three essential spaces that this takes place, how we are enabled to become sons and daughters of God. Jesus enables us (thank God!) to become sons of God, but it doesn’t happen automatically. Rather, we have to create spaces in our lives for it to occur - we’re going to talk about those spaces, and how they all play a necessary role in opening us to the power of the Holy Spirit in us, to shape and form us to become like Jesus. These three spaces come courtesy of Lisa Johnson, ECO’s Executive Director of Leadership Formation.

The first space is Public Teaching, idea of facing front. We put ourselves in places where we can be taught, we can study the Scriptures, learn about who God is and what it means to trust and follow him. This is more about information. It’s also the space where we learn about the next two spaces.

The second space is Divine Encounter - this is where we create spaces to come face to face with God, so we can know him and open ourselves to him, so we can abide in Jesus. This is the soul-to-soul connection, where the spiritual disciplines that we’ve been talking about come into play, those soul-training exercises.

Finally, the last space is what Lisa Johnson calls Transparent Forming, these are the spaces where we come face to face with each other, formation of our hearts. It is, as she describes it, where we build trust with each other enough to be transparent, intimate and accountable for the purpose of growing into maturity in Christ.

In Luke 1, we find all the stories that lead up to the birth of Jesus in Luke 2. Over these three weeks, we’re going to take different stories from Luke 1 to look at all three of these spaces, starting with the “Public Teaching” (I’m just going to refer to it as Teaching), and the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Luke 1:5-20...In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

So, we have this elderly couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth, who are descendants of Aaron, the first high priest. So, Zechariah is part of the priestly division of Abijah, and in the rotation of duties, his division has their turn to serve at the temple, and Zechariah is chosen by lot to go into the holy place and burn the incense before the altar of the Lord. This was a great privilege, one that a priest would get to do maybe once in their lifetime.

Now, we also learn the important detail that Zechariah and Elizabeth are faithful and righteous Jews. Sadly, Elizabeth is barren, and they have no children. And they are, as Luke writes, very old. And this should immediately bring to mind another couple from the Old Testament who faced the exact same dilemma (Abraham & Sarah).

So, Zechariah is in the temple, in the Holy Place, by himself, burning the incense before the Lord. There’s a crowd of worshipers praying outside. An angel appears before Zechariah - and he is gripped with fear. But the angel has wonderful news for Zechariah, his prayers have been heard - and Elizabeth is going to bear a son, whom he is to name John (John means, “Yahweh has shown favor’).

But it’s not just the news of having a child, but this child is going to be special, he’s going to do amazing things - he will bring back many of the Israelites to the Lord, he will go on in the power of the Holy Spirit (like Elijah) - to, catch this, “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” In other words, he will go as a precursor to the Messiah. The Messiah, the promised Savior is coming!

As amazing as this announcement is, Zechariah can’t believe it. He responds in doubt. His response reminds me of my response in reading the story of 2 Kings 13. “How can I be sure of this?” We’re old! In this moment, Zechariah forgets what he knows about the Bible - and what he knows about God, and the promises of God. He can’t fathom that such an incredible thing could happen.

You have to love the angel Gabriel’s response - “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.” In other words, I got this directly from God himself (face-to-face). And because Zechariah did not believe, he is struck mute, and will not be able to speak until this great miracle happens and John is born.

To help us see why this story is helpful for us in looking at this essential space of Teaching, I want to share a quote from A.W. Tozer, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

What a great insight! What we most naturally think about God, our first thought, the most instinctive thought because it’s so deeply ingrained within is, is the most important thing about us. Because it reveals what we truly believe about God, about who he is. And what we really think about God is what will drive our actions and attitudes - how we pray, our willingness to obey, to serve others.

So, the question is, what comes to your mind? Like Zechariah, there are times when my first thought is skeptical, I have a hard time knowing, truly knowing, the power and wonder and glory of God. Your first thoughts might be hesitation, a little bit of keep distance, perhaps afraid God is going to ask too much of you, or you tend to see God as the cosmic judge, the big police officer in the sky just waiting to point out everything you’re doing wrong.

My guess is that for some of us, not much comes to mind. We have a vague, indistinct view of God. That we can’t talk about him in the same way you might immediately talk about a close family member or dear friend, those thoughts come quickly and clearly to mind.

This is exactly why this space is so essential, creating places where we are learning the Scriptures, we’re getting a clearer picture of who God is, his character - that he’s not sitting up there pointing an accusing finger - no! He’s longing to embrace us as his children, fill us with his grace and peace. This what Jesus came to enable, for us, as his children, to know the Father as our Father, to make God known to us. John 1:18 - No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

What does this require? Consider what God does to Zechariah, who doubted God’s word to him, had trouble receiving, trusting this amazing good news that he sent an angel to deliver (which doesn’t happen every day!). He makes him mute, unable to speak, until everything comes to pass.

Now this is important to remember, this is not about punishment - though it is an act of discipline from a loving Father to one of his faithful children. But it serves two purposes - one, it’s a sign not just to Zechariah, but to everyone (When Zechariah went in to burn the incense, he could speak. Now he’s walking out and can’t speak. It’s clear he’s had an encounter with God - and of course the birth of John nine months later confirms it). So that’s the first thing, God providing a sign for Zechariah and his people - he’s about to do something great.

But it also serves as a teaching opportunity for Zechariah. By making Zechariah mute, he is put in the position of being able to only to watch, observe, to listen. He’s been given the opportunity to practice silence - a lot of silence!

To be silent and simply watch in awe as everything God told him through angel Gabriel comes to pass - after so many years of going childless, praying and praying - now Elizabeth will conceive and give birth. To be quiet and reflect on all the things God revealed about who this child is going to be - all the amazing things God is going to do through John, bringing back the hearts of the people to him, how he will prepare the way for the Messiah, the promised King, to come.

And in that silence, as he quietly watches and contemplates, He is learning more about God, who our God truly is - his view of God is getting bigger and bigger. He was already a faithful, righteous man - but how much more now, as His mind being transformed, as his awe and wonder of God just grows and grows, as he learns firsthand about God’s goodness, his power, his faithfulness.

It shouldn’t surprise us, the first thing he does when God gives him his speech back - the crowds want to know that the child’s name will be. So, in Luke 1:62-64 we read: When they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. He breaks out in praise of God.

One of the things we’ve set as a measurement for our church - how we know we’re becoming the kind of church, the kind of people God is calling us to be is this: that our minds would be captivated by the reality of God and his kingdom. That we would be absolutely enthralled by Jesus, his steadfast love, his lavish grace, his power and glory, his mercies new every morning, his brilliance - on and on.

And this begins by making sure we are cultivating this first essential space, space to be taught, to learn, to have our minds renewed, constantly growing in our understanding and knowledge of who God is and what it means to trust and follow him. So what comes into our minds when we think about God are thoughts that fill our hearts with joy and delight.

And this requires two things - one, putting yourself in places to be taught, and two, how you engage that teaching. Of course we’re talking here about Spiritual Disciplines, habits we form in order to nurture these things within us.

I hope, first of all that involves Sunday mornings - this is a time of teaching. Certainly our Wednesday night Spiritual Formation Group is another opportunity. But there are lots of things you can consider doing in the personal spaces of your life - daily time in Scripture, so essential. Make a commitment to reading good Christian authors, maybe a book a month.

But the other part of this that’s so essential, is the reflecting, the meditating. To let that new thinking and realizations simmer, slowly sink in so that they become the first things we think about when we think about God. This is exactly what happened with Zechariah in his time of silence. My prayer walks are one of the places this happens for me. Turn the radio off in the car. Put the phone away. It’s so easy to read and then just let that thought come and go. But find those truths God is teaching you and chew on them for a while. This is how our minds are renewed, how our hearts are formed - how we become like Jesus. Which is exactly why he came, to enable us to become sons of God.