Living with your head up

The Bible opens with a simple, yet profound, statement of faith.

In the beginning God created…

It offers no logical explanation, no complex philosophical argument, no scientific thesis. It simply makes a statement of faith.

In the beginning God created…

It’s profound because it tells us that we are not the centre of the universe, but we are the focus of attention. God’s attention. God did the creating, we are the created, but that doesn’t mean that we are insignificant creatures n some vast expanding universe.

As the story unfolds we discover that everything God made was good. The sky was good, the oceans were good, the animals and plants were good and humanity was good too. God was pleased with what he made. And as for humanity, they were given the job of looking after everything else that God had made.

Now fast forward.

Sadly humanity has made mistakes, big mistakes. Taking destiny into their own hands they have broken the bond of relationship with God. They’ve gone solo and the world is suffering as a result. Selfishness and greed creep in and the environment begins to suffer because of humanity’s failures.

Fast forward to the time of the prophets. Men and women who’s job it is to call the people back into a relationship with the God who loves them, who created them, and cares for them.
Enter Micah, one of those prophets. A question gets asked:

With what shall I come before the Lord… shall I come with burnt offerings... with thousands of lambs… with rivers of oil?

This, after all, is what the people of Israel had been doing for years.

Here come the answer:

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with the Lord your God

Today is Micah Challenge Sunday. Picking up on these words, today is a day to focus on the challenge to meet the Millennium Development goals. A day to remind ourselves that we are not alone in the world and that we are not the centre of this universe in glorious isolation, but that we are part of a bigger family.

Fast forward to the days of Jesus. Cue the story of the rich man and his bigger barn.

Is Jesus saying that it’s wrong to be rich? I don’t think so. Is he saying that it’s wrong to look forward to a long and happy retirement? I sincerely hope not!

There are those here this morning who are wondering how long it would take me to mention the rugby. Well here’s the mention. Perhaps, just as Brain Ashton, the head coach of the victorious England team, talks about playing rugby with your head up, looking around and seeing the bigger picture, perhaps the failure of the rich man in Jesus’ story is his failure to live a “head’s up” life.

Fast forward to the early 21st century. Cue your story and my story.

Today as part of our celebration we’re also reminding ourselves that we are part of bigger family. Part of a family that deserves to enjoy creation’s provisions wherever the family finds itself.

Perhaps the challenge we face is learning to live a “heads up” life in our time.

There’s much about which we could be selfish. But the challenge that Jesus brings to us is a simple one. It’s often summed up in these words:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, soul and mind. Love your neighbour as yourself.

In other words: Love God, love others like you want to be loved.

The truth is some people are good at one and not the other, but we’re called to be good at both.
You can love everyone around you, you can give everything you have to meet the needs o the poor, but unless you love God the eternal context is lost.

And you can love God wholeheartedly, but unless that spills over into your love for others, it’s an empty religious philosophy.

Love for others, according the Bible, arises best out of our relationship with God, won for us through the death of Jesus on the cross.

This then is the challenge:

Live a heads up life.

Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with the Lord your God.