“Jesus said, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose””

            Isaiah 55:9 ⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

            We can read about the attributes of God, Yahweh, our Father in heaven, the Almighty, the Creator, Savior, Christ, Emmanuel; but do we believe them?  So many people throughout all of the history of man have tried to re-create God in their image or try to create gods to govern over the unexplained elements of our lives.  The unexplainable baffles our mind and so we try to explain it through our imagination, science, religion, or ourselves. 

            All manmade gods eventually erode and turn to dust, science can’t prove anything but cling to their theorems and imagined and sometimes flawed theories, and we all try to make ourselves greater then what we really are.  Life is a conundrum we fail to explain on our own; on one hand God has given us some of the answers; on the other hand we want to define life ourselves.  And the problem is all of the experts on life can’t agree.  Science says they have discovered the truth and then twenty years later they discovered a truth to replace the flawed truth they thought they knew before.  Philosophers put a wrench in our lives by telling us there is no such thing as truth, and can’t figure out if what they said is true or not because to them truth doesn’t exist.  Do we have faith in those who are of conflicting thought, or do we have faith in the one mind that has never been conflicted, Yahweh.

            Philippians 1:12–14, 27–30 ²⁷Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, ³⁰engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

            Are all churches trying to be a church?  Sometimes it is hard to tell as each church is made up of several personalities that are basically scientists, lawyers, philosophers of opinionated desires and agendas.  Paul tells us to stand firm in one mind.  What does that mean? Should we choose the smartest person, or maybe the coolest person, the most popular person, or the pastor and all conform to that mind we choose?  Or, is it the mind of Christ that we should listen to and be like Him?  After all Christ chose us.

            1 Peter 2:21 ²¹ For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

            In John chapter 17 Jesus is praying to the Father and asking that the Father make us one with Him.  This is to be one in spirit, one in faith, and one in the gospel of forgiveness and salvation that we should be of one mind with our Lord. 

            When we come together to worship, when we come together in ministry, outreach and even in-reach, even when we come together for Christian socializing we should be of the mind of Christ, one baptism, one Spirit, one God in Heaven.

            Ephesians 4:4-8 ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

            We have so many different denominations because we are not of one mind with God rather we are one mind with our different desires, and agendas.  So what would we look like if we strived to be of the mind of Christ and build on our collective faith in the gospel?  How will we grow together to know the mind of Christ, and how much joy can we expect if we let Christ lead us to be of one mind with Him?  It is time for us to improve on the good things that God has already given us, it is time to build up in the joy Christ is waiting to pour out on us.  It is time to use Christ’s imagination and discover how great it is to come together more often in His name.

            Philippians 1:12–14, 27–30 ¹²I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, ¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. ¹⁴And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

            Paul thought being a prisoner because he was standing up for Christ was a means to rejoice as it furthered the Gospel. Rather than stifling it like those who imprisoned him wished it would Paul’s imprisonment advanced the gospel.  Christ knew Paul would suffer, He also knew Paul would not back down from the faith that Christ had built up in Him.  Isn’t this awesome, Christ has faith in His own work through those He continually calls.  This is good news for you and me as Christ has also called us.  Christ has faith in us too.

            Christ did the hard work through His blood, sweat, tears and death on the cross so that He can extend Himself into each person whom He is calling.  It is awesome because Christ calls everyone even though we do not always listen.  But even here there is good news Christ does not give up on anyone so that we do not have to give up on Him. 

            Matthew 20:15–16 ¹⁵Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’

            We might think we choose Christ, but actually Christ chooses us through His great generosity, and it is in His hopes that we do not begrudge Him of this gift.  He has paid the price with His body and blood and then gives His gift to us freely as He chooses.  Awesome!  Right?  We have a savior who chooses us to be with Him in eternal life and relationship, this is really Awesome.  Amen.