Weird - Value

Big thanks to Jeff for talking about weird relationships last week. Last week was a bit busy but very cool for us. We had a lot of fun. Thanks for all of your prayers and words of encouragement. Micah and Katie are great for each other. We’re all very blessed.

Our main passage today is Hebrews 2:1

We’re heading into yet another study on being weird. Honestly now, I hope that you’ve been getting weirder…at least thinking a bit weirder. Please consider it a step forward if you’re at least thinking a little bit differently when life happens around you.

Normal would simply be allowing life to go on as if everything is fine and everything is good and nothing needs to change. If you’re at least thinking, “Wait…is what I just did, or said or thought…normal as the world sees it…or is there something more…something weird…something that might help me see reality through God’s eyes?”

Believe me, even thinking little weird thoughts about life is not normal today. And I’m not saying that as a complaint or even pointing the finger at anyone because I’d be the first person to point the finger at.

Life is tough. Amen?

But when we can see reality, life as God as defined it (which is probably the best life we could ever image)…whether that be through our time, our money, our relationships as Jeff talked about last week, we’ll experience more of that “Life to the fullest” that Jesus talked about.

I think deep down, most of us have had that feeling that there’s more than what we’re seeing or recognizing. And when we have those inclinations, it is good to think about them or dwell on them awhile…even doing that is weird.

So today the big question is, “What do you value?” Now biblically speaking we could say…what does the world value vs. what does God value. Normal would be what the world values....weird would be valuing the things God values.

Now, if you think about this question, it becomes a deep question. And here’s why.

What we value in life will heavily influence our thoughts, our words and our actions. Ultimately it will steer our hearts.

Value - Be weird with what you value.

We place value on things don’t we? We place value on things…and this value determines how we make choices, how we spend our time, what we value influences how we go about relationships, how we spend our money. I mean this is simple to think about but profound in how it affects us.

A bunch of us could go into a store today to buy one item. Some of us would look at that item (that either we wanted or needed), and we’d say, “Yes, I’ll pay that much for that item.” Value…we’ve placed value on that item…what we’re willing to give so we can have it.

Some of us, however, might walk into that store, look at that item and say, “Nope, I’m not paying what they’re asking.” We’re not willing to give what we have for that thing…we don’t value it as much as the cash in our wallet.

We do this in all areas of life. We really do.

I think most of us want to say we value God and His way of life for us. I think that’s what we want to say.

What you value in life steers your heart.

Now, we all know our intentions are to do the best we can in life. To hold true to God’s ways. To please Him. To follow Jesus. We all want those things in our lives and sometimes we think we’re not doing too bad. Right? I think we’re all like that. We have great intentions. And then something happens…or a bunch of somethings happen…(good or bad)…that pull our eyes off of the main thing for just a little bit…and then....you know where that goes.

I saw this illustration last week and immediately connected with it because it had happened to me.

Who here has ever been to the beach…ocean beach?

Yeah? Played in the waves? Boogie board? With the family? Yeah you go and go and go…and play and let those waves beat your body till you’re tired but its so fun! You know you’re getting sun burned but you can’t really tell because the water feels great! 30 minutes can go past without a thought. Its just constant action and fun. And then you stand up to walk to your towels.

And you don’t see your towels. In fact the hotel or condo or anything recognizable is not in front of you. And for a few seconds you can’t figure out where you are…until someone from the family says...”Look, our stuff is way back up there!”

It’s definitely a weird experience when it happens to you and you’re not paying attention.

What’s happened? You’ve drifted away from your original place.

We’re going to go to our main passage for the day. It is super simple and it will be plain to all of us. And yes, it is about being weird....being different than the world around us.

Hebrews 2:1 LEB

Because of this, it is all the more necessary that we pay attention to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.

The context here is this. And if you read through Hebrews 1-2 and even further, the summation is this - If Jesus is real, then this changes everything. And because of that, we’d better pay attention and stay close to Christ…and not drift away from Him or His plan of life. Keep following Him …don’t take your eyes away. Hold on to Him always. Learn more from Him. Keep moving forward in Him.

If you don’t … you’ll drift.

Ok…drift from what? Drift towards what?

On the beach…we were drifting from the condo. Drifting towards....anything but the Condo.

In life…we often drift from Jesus. Towards what? Anything but Jesus.

Being weird is to keep your eyes on Jesus…so you don’t drift.

If we look at the first part of the book of Hebrews, we find that his readers are “the Christian community” at large…probably those who are Jewish backgound.

Next we see this. The author is reminding the readers that this Jesus they’ve learned about…that they’ve heard about and maybe even witnessed…is really the Son of God. He’s not just an angel with powers to heal or do other miraculous signs. He is the author of creation and He is king over everything. And if that’s true, that should have a major affect on our lives. It should command our attention. It should be something that we place all of our value in.

It looks like these people who the author is writing to learned that and lived like that at one point…but then began to drift when other “versions” of reality crept in to their thoughts and lives. Other ways to “live” life. The world’s version of value cause drift. Value in what? Anything but Jesus as the main thing.

Again, the author wrote…because of this, it is all the more necessary that we pay attention to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.

If we don’t pay attention to Jesus and the things He considered important…we’ll drift away from the life He wants for us.

Value -

Jesus once said this - Matthew 13:44

Matthew 13:44 LEB

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, that a man found and concealed, and in his joy he goes and sells everything that he has and buys that field.

What do you value more than anything else? The world values things differently than those who follow Jesus.

You know, most people don’t make a conscious decision saying, “You know, I’m tired of pursuing God. I think I’ll take a break from His blessings and just drift away for a while.” Most people don’t say or do that. But think about it. On that beach back when I was slowly being moved by the water, away from our condo, was the condo moving? Or was I moving away?”

In life, if we don’t “Pay attention” (as the author of Hebrews talked about) to where God is…he doesn’t change or move…we will be moved by things that we perceive have more value at the moment.

The first shady move by Satan was to get Adam and Eve to forget…drift away from truth. The first question began, “Did God really say...” This one little question caused Eve at first to drift from placing all of her life in God’s hands…valuing Him over everything else…and thinking selfishly…and probably not in a mean way towards God…but just enough to cause a little drift. Sin happened.

Sometimes we’re “led” away with temptation aren’t we. We place a higher value in the things that can trap us. Addictions to all sorts of things that we sometimes label as just “mistakes” or “troubles” rather than sins. They tempt us to make decisions…that cause us to drift.

Sometimes we place value heavily on other people…maybe the wrong people…and that causes drift. Sometimes we allow others to influence us…Paul wrote, “Don’t be misled: Bad company corrupts good behavior.” Sometimes when we value others more than God they influence us…and cause drift in our lives…or we allow them to slowly move us away from God.

Sometimes we just give in to temptation. We know fully what is happening. No surprises. We are completely aware that we are sinning. And then sometimes when we look backwards we try and soften our sin. We say that it’s what we most struggle with. Its just how we are. In those circumstances we consciously drift.

Said another way, sometimes our value lies in the stuff of world…we just love the stuff of the world. John writes to be careful of this method of drift. “Do not love anything of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them” (1 Jn 2:15). John isn’t too subtle there is he? John just called it out…with respect to where we place value.

Sometimes we fake it. Fake it till you make it.

Here’s the truth of that matter…what your heart values it values. Faking something doesn’t make something more true or more Godly.

Where do you place value in life? What you value steers your heart. So what is steering your heart in life right now?

It’s easy to look at scripture and recognize what we need to do…accomplishing that is another story. I know…change is hard. I’ll keep saying this quote because it applies to our lives so well...”I don’t need easy, I just need possible.” Change is not often easy. But it is possible.

John the Baptist…when pointing his disciples towards Jesus said this…I must decrease…He must increase. John recognized that he needed to value Jesus more …and more…and more…to the point where there’s no chance for selfish thinking. John knew that a follower of Jesus needs to put their whole life in His hands. Pay full attention to Him…to Jesus. So there’s less and less chance of drift.

When we begin to put more and more of our life in God’s hands we’ll then begin to see what His heart values. Over and over Jesus told His followers, I only do what the Father says to do. I only say what the Father says to say. He valued God the Father that much.

And if that’s the case, then I think we have a method to see the heart of God.

What can help us in this? A list might include…and this is a list that you’re not going to be surprised about…you’ve seen it before you’ll see it again. This will not be an “ah ha!” moment. It might be a reminder moment…but it won’t be something new.

Read the Bible - remember, we’re trying to see what to really value in life. Where to put our energy, our thoughts, our focus. Reading the Bible seems like a good start doesn’t it? It’s like…duh. Yeah…this helps. It is called God’s word for a reason. To begin to see and understand God’s heart, what He values, so you can follow and value what He values, read His Word. I’ll have a suggestion for you in a moment.

The Psalmist writes, “Your word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

God says, “My word does not go out void.” Meaning this isn’t just words. There’s history and legacy and plans and storyline and commands and wisdom and …you get the picture. Read the Bible.

Worship - This might be a bit tougher than reading the Bible for some of us. This really has nothing to do with singing songs. This is a heart posture. Do you value “you” more than God or do you value God more than “you?” Worship is the act of giving up yourself to lift something else or someone else up.

We often have the image of someone bowing to show honor or humility. The heart of worship is when you say, “Its not about me…its about you.” Worship God…emptying yourself of selfishness means you are shifting values…its not about your values anymore…you’re saying to God “I’ll value only what you value.”

Talk to God - Remember how Jesus asked His followers to pray? Pray so its just you and Him. And pray focusing on how Holy and Good he and His plans are.

What do these things do for you when it comes to the idea of value? I think, if you look at these things (Reading His Word, Worshiping Him, Talking with Him) these are ways of you giving up yourself…giving up your ways of understanding the world to understand God’s heart instead…to find out where He places His value.

Let’s say it this way. And this is tough … but really this is what it comes down to. To be weird…not normal like the world…we need to give up our hearts for the heart of God.

What simple thing can we do to recognize what God values?

What did the author of Hebrews write? “ Pay attention to what you’ve learned about Jesus…so you don’t drift away.” My paraphrase....

Do the things Jesus did…not as a “6 easy steps to be a child of God” but do them so you understand His heart.

He healed people because seeing people hurting in this broken world, broken because of sin, saddened Him. It gave Him joy to help and serve. And it showed those people a bit of Heaven…a bit of God being close to them as it was in the beginning.

He taught people because seeing people trying to live without the whole truth affected His heart. He valued truth so He gave it away…he taught and shared wisdom.

He spent time with people because seeing loneliness affected His heart.

He cried with those who were grieving because He wanted to show them that death doesn’t have the hold on them that they thought it does.

He died for us…He valued our lives that much. He gave everything. His values steered His heart. Do your values steer your heart that way?

There’s a two-pronged approach to having the heart of Jesus…valuing the things He values. One is learn about Him. Read the Gospels (Matthew Mark Luke and John) with the approach of watching what Jesus did and said…to see His values. And then pray for the Holy Spirit to change you from the inside out…to recreate your heart to look more and more like your creator’s heart. To change your heart in such a way the the values of this world become less important…less valuable to you....as you see the things God values becoming more important to you.

Look to Jesus. Learn about Jesus. Trust Him. His values came down to two things…Here’s what He did…and I think we can take this to heart.

When asked what the greatest commandment was…he said this.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul…and a second…love your neighbor as yourself. Those are value statements. Value God more than anything…and value others as you value your own life…being willing to give up what you value for the sake of others.

That’s the way Jesus lived…and served…and ultimately its why He died for us.