You Be Jesus!

1 Kings 3:16-26

Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, "My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me. 18 The third day after my child was born; this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

19 "During the night this woman's son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son — and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn't the son I had borne."

22 The other woman said, "No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours."

But the first one insisted, "No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine." And so they argued before the king.

23 The king said, "This one says, 'My son is alive and your son is dead,' while that one says, 'No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.'"

24 Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: "Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other."

26 The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!"

But the other said, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!"

God made us different (1Cor 4:7) and He made us with differing gifts (Rom 12:6). In the church these differences are meant to benefit the whole of the church (1 Cor 12:7). While each gift is necessary and is of great value that value should never have someone acting without love towards another in Christ because they don’t see things the same way or because they don’t have the same gift (1 Cor 12:21).

In the opening Scripture passage, there was a pretty contested argument that was brought before the king. Solomon gave both parties an opportunity to speak their mind and tell their side of the story. It seems obvious that both sides spoke with great conviction as to their impression of the facts.

In this particular story someone was telling the truth and the other person was lying. To the king who was listening to the story it could have been either person. But what ultimately revealed the person in the wrong was their willingness to let the body be split in two.

 In the Church we often see things in different ways. As I mentioned earlier God made us to differ one with another. We were never meant to be mindless robots and neither were we meant to be “lorded over” by leadership. According to Jesus, leadership should always be “servant leadership” meaning that the leadership is not trying to solely serve its own purposes, agendas, or pocket books.

 The problem exists when our opinions are unable to be moved by the needs or consideration of others. Unfortunately I am sure we all know of instances where those in the church would rather split the body in two than give in to preserve unity in the body. We are sometimes like Kevin in the following story:

        A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, Ryan, 3. The boys began    to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'

Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Okay Ryan, you be Jesus!"

 We are like these children that are more concerned with getting our own way then being like Jesus. “Why don’t YOU be Jesus?” We ask the others. Perhaps we ask, “Why do I always have to be Jesus? Why can’t I get my way for once?”

But it is not about who gets their way, but how is the body of Christ better served? If your idea serves the most in the body and/or has the greatest potential to grow the body that is what should be our primary concern.

It was the Apostle Paul who became one of the greatest examples of sacrificing his life, his desires, and his needs for the good of the Church. It was he, inspired of God, who wrote:

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Eph 4:1-3

If you think about how much he could have complained about how it seemed he was carrying far too much of the burden of the church, about how he had been left to make his own defense without the help of others in the Church, and how so-called brothers in the Lord tried to defame his name and ministry, it would make you wonder how he could ask for others to bear with one another in love and how they should make every effort to keep unity and peace.

If it was me, I would probably want to complain about how unfair my situation was and how unfairly I was treated, but Paul doesn’t give us that sort of “way out” of acting in love, in humility, in gentleness, and peace.

Notice what Jesus says:  “Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them” (Luke 6:31-32).

He doesn’t say, “Treat them the way they treated you,” as if we have an excuse when someone seems to treat us poorly. No, we are to treat everyone in love – even those we disagree with. The life of the body is more important than being right or getting your way.

Notice what happened in the original story:

      The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, "Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!"

But the other said, "Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!"

27 Then the king gave his ruling: "Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother." 1 Kings 3:26-27

The king entrusted the life of that body to the one who was more motivated by compassion and love for that small body. That’s because the attitudes of love, compassion, protection for the purpose of allowing that body to continue to have life and grow was the deciding factor.

I think this story does represent this spiritual application for our time:

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement (we just read through the Scriptures) give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Rom 15:4-7

Through the Scriptures God gives us endurance and encouragement with the prayer that will give us all a spirit of unity amongst us in the Church. Unity brings praise to God and it also witnesses to the world that Christ is really in us:

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:20-23).

How will the world believe that Jesus came into this world and that God loves them? It is when we as a Church act in complete unity. The in-fightings do NOT glorify God. Rather the Scriptures warn:

The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Gal 5:14-15

 

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Col 3:12-15

Whatever the disagreement may be over may we as God’s people be motivated by love and unity than us getting our own way. Sadly, in the time that I have pastored I have seen churches split over some of the silliest things – I bet you’ve seen it too. But can we agree that preserving the life and the unity of the body has the greatest priority.

2 Chron 30:6

At the king's (Hezekiah) command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read:

… If you return to the Lord, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him."

10 The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and ridiculed them. 11 Nevertheless, some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. 12 Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord. 2 Chron 30:6; 9-12

Lord, I pray that Your hand would be upon the churches in our area that are facing decisions that the enemy would like to use to split bodies and even kill some. I ask that You would help each one to look away from self-interest to what is best for the body and may there be a spirit of unity in our congregations that the world might see You in us and come to faith. I ask this in Jesus name, amen.