Love Like That: Mindful

Last week we introduced our new sermon series Love Like That. We are going to spend today and the next four Sunday’s talking about what we can learn about relationships and loving others from the example of Jesus. We were in Ephesians 5:1-2 and you might remember The Message paraphrase of this passage. “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”

Loving like Jesus is possible, but only through the help of the Spirit in our lives as we are continually transformed and growing in our relationship with Christ.

This morning we are going to start with the idea of being mindful. Let’s start with the definition of mindful, to ground us as we get started. There are two definitions I found:

1. conscious or aware of something.

2. focusing one's awareness on the present moment, especially as part of a therapeutic or meditative technique.

Both of these definitions have something to say to us this morning. I want you to imagine for a moment a situation where you were surprised by something or someone you didn’t notice. Ever had someone walk in a room and say something to you while you jumped out of your skin because you were startled? Part of this idea of being mindful is being aware of what is going on in the present moment and not being so singularly focused that we miss what is going on right in front of us.

In his book, Dr. Parrott mentions something that he does with just about every class he teaches. I also had a professor use this same illustration in a class many years ago. He shows a video of some people passing a basketball and asks them to count how many times the ball is passed. They then watch the video. He then asks them after the video is over how many times the ball was passed and just about everyone can answer that. He then asks them how many saw the gorilla? They all think he’s lost it, no one noticed a gorilla in the movie. I didn’t when I saw the video either. They then watch the video a second time and sure enough, there is a man in a gorilla suit that walks right through the video in plain sight but because they were so focused on counting the passes they missed it completely.

So when we talk about being mindful, there are three words that will help us remember what we are talking about. Observant. Focused. Attentive.

I tend to be a very observant person when it comes to many things. Ask my wife, it frustrates her sometimes how much I notice. However, there are still so many things I miss. Cindy will ask me if I saw something and I’ll have no idea what she is talking about. You see, we all have blindspots in our lives. We all miss things, even sometimes when they are right in front of us. As we think about this idea of being mindful, the first thing for us to remember this morning is that:

Everyone Wants to See Clearly

We all want to see where we are going. I want you to close your eyes with me for a moment and imagine with your eyes closed getting up and trying to find your way to the front door without opening your eyes. Don’t do it, just imagine. I can just picture people tripping over chairs, running into the wall, tripping over each other, and many of you ending up hurt or on the floor. You would not have the ability to use your eyes and sense of sight to observe what’s around you and how to get out to the door. Even with our eyes open, we miss things. We miss people. We all have blinders on for whatever reason, be it we are so focused, or so busy, or whatever.

Turn with me to Luke chapter 4. One of the things about Jesus during his ministry on earth is that he healed blindness.

Luke 4:16–22 NIV

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

Our Jesus does not just heal physical blindness, but also our spiritual blindness, praise God?!?! Let’s look for a moment at a couple of times that he does this.

Luke 24:13–16 NIV

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

Luke 24:30–32 NIV

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Jesus opens our eyes to Him! He also wants to open our eyes to how he is working among us and through us, but we have to be willing to allow Him to remove our blindness. Eliminating our “blindness” is a huge key to loving like Jesus.

Jesus shows us how to see

Jesus doesn’t just heal us of blindness, but he shows us how to see. Let’s look at how Jesus shows us how to see. Turn with me to

Luke 19:1–9 NIV

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.

Now you are probably wondering how on earth this passage shows us how Jesus sees. Let’s look a little closer. Jesus is in Jericho… Jericho was a desirable place to live. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, hoping to just get a glimpse, since Jesus was coming that way. Remember Jesus drew a crowd wherever he went, so it is likely that he had many people around, including many religious leaders.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” This is where we can draw an example from Jesus. Jesus observed that Zacchaeus was in that tree and made a point of letting him know. Not only did he let him know, he had a conversation and showed Zacchaeus that he cared. We see what happened as a result. How many of us would have walked right by and not even noticed him? I would venture to guess many of us. We all walk by people that we do not notice. What if we were more mindful of those around us as Jesus was? Now, let’s talk for a minute about this guy Zacchaeus.

INFO: ZACCHAEUS -

Name means “righteous one”

Chief tax-collector

Roman employed

Hated by Romans and Jews

Tax-collectors were extortionists - they could charge whatever they wanted and as long as Rome got their cut they could keep the rest.

In Mosaic law, if a thief voluntarily confessed his crime: He had to restore what he took, add one-fifth to it, and make an offering to God. If he stole something he could not restore: He had to repay 4 times. If he was caught with the goods: He had to repay double.

But Zaccheaus stood up and said to the Lord; Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.

Jesus said to them, today salvation has come to this house. Because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. Because Jesus was mindful, Zacchaeus’s life was transformed that day. As a Rabbi, however, Jesus should not have talked to Zacchaeus, let alone have dinner with him is his home, as tax collectors were excluded from Jewish society because of what they did for a living.

What keeps us from seeing

The answer to this is our own agendas, concerns, and priorities. The things that keep us focused on ourselves, often to the point that we do not notice what is in front of us. We miss so much living this way.

Philippians 2:3–4 NIV

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

We are to focus on the interests of others instead of our own. It isn’t that our agendas are always a bad thing, but we cannot let them get in the way of being mindful of those around us. Our agendas, concerns, and priorities can cause us to have blinders on that we get too focused on number one and not for others. Let’s take a quick look at

Luke 10:29–35 NIV

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

The priest and the Levite were either too focused on themselves or on what they had to do or their position that they could not stop to help. Instead it was the Samaritan, the hated Samaritans who helped, even offering to pay more if necessary. He was more concerned about the man than himself.

It is significant that it was a Samaritan who helped and not a fellow Jew. HISTORY: The word Samaritan speaks of the people of the district of Samaria in central Palestine. They came from intermarriages of certain Israelites with the colonists from Babylon and other parts of Mesopotamia and Syria. These colonists had been placed there by the Assyrian kings Sargon II and Esarhaddon, after the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been conquered and the stronghold at Samaria fell to the Assyrians. It resulted in thousands of Israelites being deported away, never to be heard from again, and colonists being chosen by the Assyrians and placed in Samaria along with a governor. The Jews considered them half-breeds who forsook God and they were hated.

So what do we do with this? How can we be more mindful? It is vital if we really want to love like Jesus. Here are four keys for us this morning to consider as we wrap up this morning:

Key #1: Ask God for wisdom.

James 1:5 NIV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Key #2: Help people learn to go beyond the surface.

Practice observing people this Sunday.

Key #3: Encourage one another to tell specific stories of seeing with Jesus’ eyes.

We can learn from each other and encourage one another by telling our stories of how we are seeing with Jesus’ eyes. How is it changing us? How are we seeing people and observing things differently?

Key #4: Pray for Christ-like compassion for yourself and the body.

BENEDICTION: May the beauty of God be reflected in your eyes, the love of God be reflected in your hands, the wisdom of God be reflected in your words, and the knowledge of God flow from your heart, that all might see, and seeing, believe. Amen.