4 Bridges to Nowhere Part 4

[HKHaugan]

Bridge 4

Remember the first three bridges to nowhere:

First, find. Mt.10:39 “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” In Matthew an identity is found (Gk., euron) that then is lost. Bridge One.

Second, save. Mk.8:35-36 “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” In Mark each moment of life seems saved (Gk., sosei) then lost. Bridge Two.

Third, keep. Lk.17:33 “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” In Luke a lifestyle is hung onto (Gk., peripoiasesthai) but then lost. Bridge Three.

Those three bring us to the fourth bridge to nowhere, love misplaced:

Jn.12:25 “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” In John a life is love misplaced (Gk., philon) and then lost. Bridge 4.

There's something a bit different about this bridge. It talks about the love (Greek 'philos') of life in this world and the need to hate (Greek 'mison.') it. You are immediately drawn to the two great commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul , mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself (Mt.22:37, Deut.6:5). The 'love' word used in Matthew is the Greek 'agape,' God's love. Here in John is the word 'philos.' While 'philos' usually refers to brotherly love and friendship, John expands it to mean 'following your desires.' It's about misplaced love. (It seems like John is saying we have replaced 'agape' with 'philos.' We'll touch on that later when we talk about a passage from the first letter he wrote after his Gospel.)

Whatever you love, adore, cherish (give your mind, heart and spirit to) in the world, becomes an idol you worship. It will demand obedience to its rules, both written and unwritten. Sokomon caught this idea when he said, “This only I have found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone after many schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29).” Simply, God made us upright but we complicated it.

Here is where the choice tones of Jesus begin ringing the true chords of clarity over our worldly mindset and where the clashing sounds of the culture are found drifting off key from the way the image of God was originally scored,

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much (Lk.16:10).”

Each moment itself is little but connected to a goal, a purpose, their individual quality determines how great the goal becomes. When you go to a movie or a play the quality of the end product you see on the screen or stage is found in the attention to minute by minute detailed attention invested. Months and months, sometimes years, of collaboration on a project between an author, director and cast are spent 'getting it right.' The most recent screen production of “Les Miserables' is a case in point. You may hear an actor say “It was grueling. I poured my life into this project but I loved every moment. It was worth it.” And that on something that lasts only a couple of hours to gain an audience's attention.

Oh, that we would grasp the same intensity in the planned sacrifice of Jesus' detailed human life, His hours on the Cross, His burial and instantaneous Resurrection and the moment by moment love He poured into His project for us. It was a moment by moment life, perfectly detailed, looking forward in faith, loving His Father and His purpose. And now, all this, available to us by the gift of the Holy Spirit. But, on to John.

1John 2:15-17 gives us John's picture of misplaced love. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world---the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does---comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” The interesting thing about this passage is the fact that John uses the 'agape' word, God's love, for love of the world. Reading more of John, his Gospel, three epistles and Revelation, you get the feeling he felt the depth of God's love and it consumed him to the degree he wants to expose how man has truly misplaced every kind of love but that only 'agape' can transform., That includes the other three Greek love words, 'stergei,' love of family, 'philos,' love of friends and 'eros,' love of pleasure. If you have any kind of affection and place it in the Lord's hands it will always be directed with His love through His Word. However, apart from God, being aligned with the world's principles that make you feel good in any moment, that will displace love's eternal quality.

Now back to 'the little things that make the big things.' The key here is the moral choices we make from one moment to the next and the action that follows. Each next moment is a little thing that leads to an identity, security in the moment and a lifestyle, all of which are 'big things.' What is good and what is bad in each? Will we love the good and learn to hate the evil? Those are the only two options available in building an identity, a next moment and a style of life that is ongoing, productive and 'pearls of great value.' In other words, when we 'arrive' will they last? That's the nub of the question. When the tires hit the road will they have traction that lasts? That is what stands before us on the moral battleground in the mind, heart and spirit in every next moment that faces us.

Three questions face us right where we are at this time in our history:

First, who or what will be the right as opposed to the wrong as the basis for taking us through those initial choices? We know that there is more understanding outside of us than inside. We need help. We seek to learn and we'll do it one way of the other. We look for personal examples to follow. We gather experience. It means we ultimately have to believe in a person and a process. Are they proven by truth, time and experience? If that process ultimately ends without an answer that brings life beyond the grave, all our strivings are meaningless (Eccl.1:2). The Resurrection of Jesus is our heavenly perspective in an earthly context.

Second, will the result of our choices be a witness of God's love? Jesus is the prime example when it comes to making choices and decisions. The path He chose started with His Father and His will. Because He loved all the people He made, He chose to obey His Father and limit Himself to the confines of a human body. He chose to be born as we are born in this world. He chose to be limited to faith in His Father and His Word to set the pattern for a lifestyle that not only honored His Father but in a believer's life would honor Him in the same way (John 17:1). He did it perfectly in 'agape' love.

Third, when all is said and done will God get the glory? Jesus' lifestyle was a lifestyle of faith from one moment to the next while He was on this earth. Every word, every teaching, every miracle and every relationship He had was lived in faith that would honor His Father in every next moment. His mind thought the truth, His heart was filled with love and His Spirit filled every moment. He was and is and will be the complete sublime and 'stand alone' human being. He is the normal human who is recovering all of us from our subnormal condition. He is the visible glory of God. We have been created to be an image of His glory; personal, relational and spiritual witnesses of and to His glory. And that in every next moment as we look forward together in His name. That we pray.