Rights, Rulings and the Mind of Christ

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."

Philippians 2:5-7

This past couple of weeks it has been really strange living here in Germany, reading and watching news reports from America. In the USA the hot topic has been the Supreme Court Ruling about same-sex marriage.  For a while that seemed to be the subject of every other posting on Facebook.  I have wondered, “Should I make some comment about this?”  Two things have held me back.  One is the fact that no one here in Germany, not even the Americans I know here, has raised any concerns, asked any questions or made any comments about this ruling. Second, the purpose of this blog is primarily devotional in nature – to cause people to pause and think about life from the perspective of Scripture, through the prism of law and Gospel.   My solution is this – to comment on all of this through a devotional thought.  How should our faith inform how we as believers speak to the world, to each other and to our neighbors about this or any other issue?  . 

Here are a couple of thoughts to reflect on.  First, we all need to be careful. There seems to be more than enough self-righteousness coming from all sides of this issue.  Speaking words of judgment is all too easy.  I have seen it in my own reactions.  That’s why the words of Jesus have been troubling my conscience these past two weeks.  “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”  (Matthew 7:1-5) Every time I have gone to make some comment on the issue of the day, this text has troubled me.  Is there a log in my eye?  This morning God showed me the answer.   As I went out to walk Molly, our new neighbor headed out of her doorway to go to work.  As we walked down the street, I asked her where she worked.  “At the hospital,” was her answer.  So my immediate question was, “Are you a nurse?”  She laughed, “No, I am an Eye surgeon.”   Now she wasn’t wearing a nurse’s uniform.  My only reason for assuming she was a nurse was that she was a woman.  As she walked on I thought, “Wayne, how sexist was that?”  It was a great reminder.  I do have logs in my own eye – too many of them.  We need to be careful about the log in our own eyes before we going poking around in someone else’s eye. 

The second thought is related to the first one.  Have you ever noticed that the people who seemed most drawn to Jesus were the very people condemned by the “religious leaders” of His day?  He ate with tax collectors.  In the home of a Pharisee Jesus honored the prostitute who washed His feet with her hair.   In addition, have you ever noticed that our Lord’s strongest words of condemnation were spoken to the “religious leaders?”  He spends a whole chapter calling them “scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites;” a whole chapter pointing out that their self-righteousness was standing between them and God.  Their self-righteousness “shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces.”  (Matthew 23:13)  What strikes me is that our Lord’s goal with both of these groups was to love them.  If He was hard on the Pharisee, it’s because He is a God who does not desire the death of a sinner but that He turn from His ways and live.  If he seemed easier on the tax collectors and other sinners, it was because they already had so many condemning voices in their lives.  Think of John 8 when they brought Jesus the woman caught in adultery.  He challenged them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” When they had all left, He then said to her, “Neither do I condemn you.  Go and sin no more.”  Notice He did not condone her sin.  He simply forgave her.  That’s His goal.  That’s what He does for us.  He loves and forgives us.  Is that not what He calls us to do… to love and forgive as we have been loved and forgiven?

That brings me to my last thought.  In this whole conversation you hear a lot of concern about rights – marriage rights, gay rights, religious freedom rights.  I have heard myself express this concern for “my rights.”  I know people’s rights are important.  Believe me I love the freedoms and rights I have as an American.  However, protecting “my rights” is not the mission to which God has called me.  I have a Lord watching over me, no matter what happens to me and “my rights.” As a believer I am called to love my neighbor as myself.  God wants me to be very concerned and protective of the rights and dignity of others.  St. Paul calls this having the mind of Christ.  “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”  That’s what our Lord Jesus did for us.  He gave up His rights. Think of the foot washing. By all rights one of the disciples should have washed His feet.  Yet knowing He had come from God and was going back to God, He got down on His knees to wash their feet. The next day He emptied Himself to die on a cross for our sins.  The He rose again that we might have the right to become the children of God.  He came not to be served but serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.   We don’t’ need to worry about our rights.  After all, In Jesus, we are just passing through this life on our way home to our Father.   He sends us to pass by this way for one purpose - to love everyone we meet… to share with all of them His invitation to join the journey home.