"Cultivating the Mind of Christ!"

Text:  Matthew 5:13-20

Theme:  "Cultivating the Mind of Christ"

5th Sunday after the Epiphany

February 9, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Every Wednesday noon here at FPC, a  growing group of men get together for what is now known as The Nicodemus League.  We share lunch and conversation, and then I have a little segment where I try to give the guys something to nourish their spirits, their minds, and their bodies.  Last week, in an attempt to nourish their minds, I shared some techniques on how to improve concentration.  Interestingly enough, they came from the year 1918.  One idea was to hold your arm out to the side with your fingers sticking straight out.  Then you turn your head and focus your eyes on your fingers.  You then hold the gaze until your fingers stop shaking. It's not as easy as it looks or sounds.

Next week, we'll leave the suggestions of 1918 to improve the muscle of the mind and, instead, see what the 21st century has to offer.  There's a website that has caught my attention called lumosity.com, and it purports to have all these online exercises to strengthen mental agility.  We'll see how that goes.

Speaking of the mind, St. Paul throws out a shocker to the Corinthian Christians.  In our New Testament Reading, he declares:  "We have the mind of Christ."  Hold on just a second!  I am my own person.  I have my own mind, thank you very much.  Jesus Christ may have His mind, and I have my mind.  That's two minds to exercise and not one.   If it were true that I have the mind of Christ and that you have the mind of Christ, that would mean that you and I have a different control center.  We don't have our thinkers anymore.  We have the Jesus thinker. That's as impossible as it is ridiculous; it doesn't make any sense. 

Of course, this is an understandable reaction.  But let's explore this a bit further.  In this morning's Gospel, Jesus, presumably using His mind, says, in the Sermon on the Mount, "You are the salt of the earth," and "You are the light of the world."   Now, salt is a preservative.  In addition to that, it gives flavor; it provides zest, zip, and tang.  You mean to tell me, Jesus, that we preserve the earth and give it zest?  That's what He seems to be saying!

Then there's that bit about being the "light of the world".  Light, of course, dispels darkness; it illuminates things, if you will.  You mean to tell me, Jesus, that we illuminate the world?  That's what He seems to be saying.

So we have the mind of Christ; we are the salt of the earth; we are the light of the world!  So why did I keep scratching my head over these claims as they came jumping off the pages of the Bible this week?  The answer hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks.  Maybe I've spent far too much time rummaging around in my own mind than cultivating the mind of Christ that the Bible claims I have.  Maybe I've spent too much effort on my own mental gymnastics than actually considering what it means to be the salt of the earth.  Maybe I've spent too much time forming opinions, coming up with theories, and putting forth my own ideas -- ideas, of course, on all the timely and pertinent subjects of the day -- that I haven't considered how I can light up the world -- or, at least, my little corner of it. 

We have the mind of Christ!  We are the salt of the earth! We are the light of the world!  The Bible doesn't present these statements as ideals or goals to be reached.  They're not like spiritual "gold medals" in some heavenly Olympics.  It states them as facts!  It sure looks like Jesus has a lot more confidence in His people than they have in themselves. 

And there's the rub.  We spend so much time cultivating confidence in ourselves that we completely forget, or reject out of hand, the confidence that Christ has placed in us!

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste," says the old advertisement for a college fund.  And it's true.  Like so many corn fields along so many county roads in Nebraska, it's either going to be cultivated or it's going to go to waste.

Some years ago, a friend of mine once said:  "My mind is like a bad neighborhood; it's not safe to go in there alone."   Others have described their minds as something like a conference room where their "committee" gets together for a meeting. There are disagreements; screaming and shouting ensues.  No progress is made.  No one is happy.  People today talk about trying to "quiet" their minds.  There's even an iPad app called "GPS for the Soul" that seeks to train the brain in quieting itself.  It purports to "clear out the clutter." 

But if you hand out pink slips and  fire the committee, if you quiet the mind and clear out the clutter, what's left?

We have the mind of Christ!  We are the salt of the earth!  We are the light of the world!

In just a few minutes, Henry Carl Briggs and Charlotte Ann Briggs we'll be baptized, and we get to be here to celebrate it.  I'm reliably told that Henry, upon hearing that Charlotte was going to be to be baptized and he would be too,  exclaimed:  "Well, she's going to go to heaven one day, and I'm going to go along" -- or words to that effect.  Such wisdom from the mouth of a child, a child already showing signs of having the mind of Christ, and of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world!

Jesus finished up today's lesson with a statement that, at first glance, sounds disturbing to my mind.  He says:  "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Here's what's disturbing about it: I'm thinking about it with MY mind.  My mind interprets that as follows:  if my righteousness, or my holiness, or my "living a Scriptural life", my being a "good Christian" and all of that, isn't better than the best, then put a fork in me.  I'm done.  It's all over; I might as well go home.  It's either that, or I'm going to have to strive and work my tail off to clean up my moral messes.  I'm going to have to fret and worry constantly that I'm not living up to a standard (perfection) that is impossible to attain.  That, my friends, I'm here to say, is an absolute waste of time and mental energy.

But what if -- what if! -- I thought about what Christ said with the mind of Christ and not my own?  Then I would know that it was JESUS CHRIST and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS that surpassed that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.  It was He who went to that cross and came out from that grave to fulfill all righteousness for me -- and for you! 

What a teaching!  That's Christianity, folks!  No more disturbance.  This teaching cultivates the mind and energizes it.

Amen.