What Did I Learn This Year?
INTRODUCTION – This message probably should be titled “What Should I Have Learned This Year?” or, even better, “What Should I Learn Every Year?” Learning requires interest and intensity. Negatives such as pride, selfishness, and anger need no such effort and are clear evidences of our sin nature.
- WE NEED TO LEARN MERCY
Matthew 9:9-13 – Mercy is the withholding of deserved punishment. In this passage, Jesus was surrounded by crooked collaborators with the Roman oppressors. Instead of immediately condemning and punishing these men, Jesus spoke of and demonstrated mercy. We do not lower our standards (God does not); however, we should grow in mercy instead of running with the unmerciful mob of mudslingers. Do we exercise authority with the mercy of God the Son or the smug superiority of the Pharisees?
- WE NEED TO LEARN MEEKNESS
Matthew 11:28-30 – Meekness (Biblical meekness) has been well-defined as strength under control. The imagery of these verses is particularly vivid: any ox could easily crush any of us. Instead, the power of the ox is harnessed for great good. How do we use our strengths? Do we seek attention or try to make others feel inferior? Do we see only our strengths and ignore our weaknesses? The command of Jesus to “learn of Me” reminds us that meekness is vital.
- WE NEED TO LEARN CONTENTMENT
Philippians 4:10-12 – When Paul wrote these lines, he was at least in his fifties and had been a Christian for more than twenty years; it took him more than a year to learn about contentment! When times are good, we need to be thankful. For example, when prayer is answered, let us linger in gratitude instead of hurrying to the next thing. When times are bad, inexplicably bad, let us trust. Through both good and bad, may we honestly evaluate our greatest areas of discontentment.
- WE NEED TO LEARN OBEDIENCE
Hebrews 5:7-8 – These words are about Jesus’ suffering just prior to and on the Cross. Some cults contort verse 8 to teach that God the Son is lesser than God the Father. Remember that a text without a context is a pretext for a prooftext. In other words, never isolate a verse (or part of a verse) from the rest of Scripture. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is fully God. Some within the church make the error of separating the human nature and the divine nature of Jesus by suggesting that in His human nature He “learned obedience.” Such thoughtless theology overlooks the perfect union of the human and the divine in Jesus. What verse 8 is telling us is that Jesus demonstrated His obedience by actually obeying God the Father. There is no question of inferiority or subordination, nor is there any dodgy division in the unique nature of Jesus. Rather, we are being instructed in the centrality of obedience to the Christian life.
CONCLUSION – The painful and powerful work of Jesus on the Cross provides the opportunity for each one of us to call upon Him as Savior. Once we are part of the family of God through faith in Jesus, we begin to understand that we have much to learn. Because our God is infinite, we will always have more to learn.