intro to the way of the Way

The way of the Way. I have been brewing over this all Summer and it's becoming a blur in my mind, something I say, but do not understand. The thing is, all catch phrases end this way (WWJD? You made your bed, sleep in it. She has cooties. Etc.). I didn't really want to make a catch phrase. I read a book by Eugene Peterson called The Jesus Way and it realized itself in my mind, the idea that what we do matters and how we do it matters. I am convinced that both of these things are extremely important to God, though not, perhaps in the way that we think. The Way we follow and the way we follow it matters most generally because God loves us and we, in return, love Him and want to do what he would have us to do, how he would have us to do it. I am also convinced that sitting here and talking about what we should do , how we should do it, why it matters, and the whole thing falls dismally short of doing anything at all. I want to touch on all of this today, hopefully we can get through the ideas and start putting them into action.

I am at a loss to describe this idea of the way of the Way any other way, so try and stick with this. We have a heavenly father. And each one of us is his favorite child. He loves us more than we can understand, knows more than the smartest of us know, is greater that the greatest of leaders, stronger than the world powers.

Tell me, what do you think of when we talk about God the Father?

Look at our list: God most high, Almighty, Redeemer, Father, Lord of hosts, God of eternity, I Am, God of seeing, God of the covenant. Now, do have a picture in your head? It's a big one, this picture of God, so take your time. Now, with that in mind, read this:

Romans 8:37-39 (NASB95)
³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.¹

And what is this love?

1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)
⁹ God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. ¹⁰ This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.²

Now, stay with me. God, this almighty I Am, Eternally Most High, he loves us, so much that he sent his son to die so that you could join the family. And nothing will be able to separate us from that love. You are God's favorite child. He adores you. When you score a goal, he cheers. When you pull over to help change a tire, he beams with pride. When you roll your eyes as you consent to answer a midnight request for help, he assumes it is time for an attitude adjustment. When you deliberately look at that web site that no-one else can see, he cries. When you preach the truth and live a lie he hurts. When you repent, He holds open his arms and reminds you that nothing can separate you from his love.

Now, this has a point, one other than the miraculous and often overlooked or understated GOD LOVES YOU, REALLY, A LOT, MORE THAN YOU KNOW. You may have heard your father say something like, “I don't care if you want to or not, you are going to” mow the yard, or whatever it was you didn't want to do at that moment. Well, I hate to tell you, but your dad is a liar, at least a little. He does care if you want to. Now, it won't affect anything if you don't want to, not for you. You're doing it either way. But he wants you to want to. In that way, he cares. He wants you to understand that mowing is not that big of a deal, that it would really help this man that loves you so very much if you would just do it, do it without being told, do it gladly and consistently. You get it? The same is true with our heavenly father. What we do matters, and he expects us to do those things that are right, but how we go about doing them matters, as well.

Let's look at the rest of this passage in First John:

1 John 4:7-21 (NLT)
⁷ Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. ⁸ But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. ¹⁰ This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. ¹² No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. ¹³ And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. ¹⁴ Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. ¹⁶ We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. ¹⁷ And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. ¹⁸ Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. ¹⁹ We love each other because he loved us first. ²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? ²¹ And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.³

This passage encompasses the greatest commandment explains it, lays it out for us. Why do we love? Because he first loved us. Whom do we love? God and, because of that love, one another. It is how we live without fear. It is how, through confessing God's love - shown to us through Jesus - we abide in God and he in us. And we have the Spirit that gives us confidence. That's what it says, right? I mean love is really the key to the Christian life, for without love we are a big, loud, clanging nothing.

So, what is this way of the Way? Sometimes eliminating some things helps, so I have made a short list of some things that it is not. I have given you the list of verses that I want you to look up on your own, but here is the list:

• The way of the Way is not abandoning all rules in an attempt to follow Christ or with the excuse that we are “just” following Christ (Matthew 5:17-20)

• The way is not to hobnob with the greats and leave the others on the side to fend for themselves while Satan, the roaring lion, comes along side and devours them (Matthew 9:10-13, 1 Peter 5:8, Luke 15:11-32)

• The way of the Way is not one of earthly greatness, of kingship. It is serving the only great and honorable King (Mark 10:35-45). We have to have a King or we fall apart and and along the Way we have a king to follow, the King of kings (1 Timothy 6:11-16), who will serve us through His servants as we serve others in His name and under His kingship.

• The way of the Way is not one of judging those around us. It says that God's Word will judge them. We can present the Word to people, but it is not ours to judge. Who knows what God has in store for others. They may not find the Way until later, after their lives have wavered, to better show the love and grace and glory of God, and to better serve others through their own life and re-birth. (I feel like I have to put in something about discernment, so that I don't get as many critics. We are to discern the fruit of others, to know truth and lies and distinguish between. But we are not the judges of mankind. A person full of deceit and evil can be re-born. God can use anyone to do His will and can save anyone from their sin. It is not our job to judge them, but to introduce them to the Savior and allow Him to do His work.) (John 12:44-50)

• It is not a, I look holy, I look good, I am a king. The way of the Way is God's way and He looks inside, at the heart (Luke 11:37-39, 1 Samuel 16:6,7).

So, what is it? What is the manner in which we should follow Christ? Again, I have a bit of a list here, and I want to look up the specific verses, but I encourage you to look up the entire selection of your own this week and get the whole picture that we don't have time for today. And this is a short list. I encourage you to add to it on your own, to make it your own.

• John 15:1-11 (vs 8 shown)

  “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”⁴

  The manner we follow Christ is by bearing fruit. We can follow the rules, but if it has no purpose, no result, no fruit, we are thrown off the Way and someone else steps in.

• Matthew 13:24-30 (vs 30 shown)

  “‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”⁵

  The Way leads through the earth. The manner we walk it is not by tip-toeing and sneaking by. It is together with others, believers and not, showing the love of Christ. What did He do on earth? Did He avoid sinners? (Luke 5:30 etc.)

• Luke 5:14-16 (vs 16 shown)

  “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”⁶

  There are several more of these, speaking of Jesus getting away to pray. He taught His disciples to pray, how to pray. He was God on earth and he prayed “as often as possible.” In Luke alone, the word pray (er(s)) (ed) (ing) is used twenty-six times. The way that Jesus walked on this earth was in prayer, often alone, but also modeled and taught for us to see. We must pray to stay on the Way the way Christ did. Simple enough.

• John 1:16-17 (NASB95)
  ¹⁶ For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.⁷

  The way of the way is full of grace. Though we do not throw the law out as useless, we see that we cannot hope to live it out. We need Jesus, as do all men. We are all in the same boat. We need grace and wse need to be gracious.

• Luke 9:23-27 (vs 23 shown)

  “And He was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.'”⁸

  The way of the Way is with cross in hand. It is being last, putting the needs of others first (Mark 10:31, Luke 10:25-37, etc.). It is walking in the very steps of Christ (1 Peter 2:21) The new testament is full of suffering and trials. James speaks of trials as a blessing leading to endurance and lacking in nothing (James 1). Peter asks us to glorify God in the midst of suffering (1 Peter 4). Paul reminds us that is is worth the small loss to gain the great gift of eternal life with Christ (Philippians 3:8, 2 Timothy 4:7,8, etc.) and so does Christ (Matthew 5:29,30, etc.).

I said earlier that what we do matters to God and how we do it matters to God. I also said that maybe it didn't matter in the way that we think it does. It is not a contest. It is not so that we can look down on other people. What we do and how we do it does not matter to God so that He can love us more or better. He already loves us the most, as much as is possible. And that is your answer. His love. We love because he first loved us. What we do and how we do it (the way of the Way) matters because of this great love showed to us. Because of this love we want to respond in kind. We want to do what God would have us to do and we want to do it in a way that best reflects the love that he has shown us. Check this out:

1 Corinthians 13:11-13 (NET)
¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. ¹² For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.⁹

That is the way of the Way, the manner in which we follow Christ. Faith. Hope. Love. And the greatest of these is love; the greatest commandment is to love (Luke 10:27). This is what is missing in the Pharisees, in much of Christianity today. I go to church each week, I'm a good person, I 'believe' in God. But where is the faith, the hope, the love? Do you really believe, have faith that demands an action? Do you hope for something better than what you have now? Do you love God with all that you are and love others as they are really equal with you, not just theoretically? These are the way of the Way: faith, hope, love. Each week I want to look at a person or a people in the Bible that followed a way and see if it is the Way and in what way they follow the way or the Way. I want to look at the examples laid out for us in Scripture and learn from them. I want us to follow the Way in the way that Jesus would have us to. And I do not want to simply come here each week and talk about it. I mean, we can discuss all these things, say that if we really love God we would do this or that and argue about how much this or that matters to God really, and what our attitude has to do with it. I would even get a kick out of that, a good argument, but I want more. The time comes when talking is just not enough. This is that time. I want to start a Wednesday (or some other) night Bible reading. I am passionate about this Book, about the words of God that it contains, about the way it changes lives when it gets inside of us. I want to spend my life reading it, teaching it, preaching it, revealing to others this revelation of God. It is not a book of the past, but a book of God, our God, and his people, us. I emailed Sarah about it and we will see what comes of that. I know that some of you have a heart for the homeless and hungry. Put it on your calendar and do it. Some of you have a heart for youth. Don't let the past or business drag you down. Get involved, teach or coach or something. Some of you love sports or hunting and fishing or are fitness freaks. Freak out for God. You can do all of these (and many more) for God, just don't get caught merely listening to the words of God and not doing what they say (James 1:22,23). In fact we are urged to do all things as unto the Lord. So do it. Do it. Do it. And this class will hopefully teach us how to do it the way God would have us to, the way Jesus would, the way of the Way.

Please look up all the scriptures each week, make sure I'm right. Tell me when I'm wrong.

1 New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

2 Tyndale House Publishers. (2004). Holy Bible : New Living Translation. (2nd ed.). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

3 Tyndale House Publishers. (2004). Holy Bible : New Living Translation. (2nd ed.). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

4 New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

5 New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

6 New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

7 Tyndale House Publishers. (2004). Holy Bible : New Living Translation. (2nd ed.). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

8 New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

9 Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.