Setting our Minds on the Mission of Heaven - Do People Matter More To You Than The Problem?

How do we bring Heavenly Direction to our Earthly Lives?  How do we think on the things above and not on Earthly things?  How do we busy our minds and hearts with the business of Heaven?  We have been contemplating the answers to those questions as we study this out in the Bible.

So far we have looked at the first two ways we do this:  by Being a Follower of Christ, and by Keeping Jesus In Front of us so that we may reflect Him to the world.

The question I want us to ponder today is are we following Christ and reflecting Christ in how we are interacting with others?  This week I want to ask us; Do PEOPLE matter more than the PROBLEM?

Picture this scenario with me:  You’re frustrated because of a problem that made it necessary for you to call the dreaded costumer service number.  You have been on hold for two hours and now you are having a hard time communicating to the person you are on the phone with what the problem is, much less figuring out a solution.  You can feel the frustration boil up into an explosive anger, you are trying to breathe, but it’s hard as you begin to see red!  At this moment you have a choice...Does the Person on the phone matter more to you than the problem?  Maybe you are more familiar with this scenario:  You come home from a long day having asked your kids to complete a certain list of very typical household chores, as they were going to be at home all day with nothing in particular to do, however, as you walk in you smell the pungent odor of old garbage coming from the trash can that is overflowing even more than it was when you left.  You see that your kitchen sink has vanished completely under the piles of food-encrusted dishes, there is a trail of what can only be described as the aftermath of a tornado all over your living room floor, and you don’t even want to think about what you are encountering in your kids’ bathroom.  Now, at this moment your kids joyfully come to greet you, apparently having just returned from an alternate universe in which chores do not exist.  You have a choice...Do these people matter more to you than the problem?  Maybe your children are angelic, so here is another scenario for you.  You are heartily working at your job, and someone comes in and decides to take every frustration of their day, maybe even their year, out on you.  Somehow you represent all that is wrong in their world and all of a sudden you are encountering a very personal verbal assault against you, and in the injustice of the moment you have a choice, Does this Person matter more than the Problem?  How about this one:  You are having your in-laws over for a holiday celebration and you are in the middle of intense preparation.  You are wanting everything to be perfect, and as you have many things cooking on and in the stove, there is a knock at your door and you find yourself listening to someone who is heartbreakingly deceived about the truth and is trying to sell you on a false religion.  You have a problem of needing to get everything ready for your guests.  What do you do?  Does the Person matter more than the problem?  Maybe you are exhausted from taking care of an infant all day and all you want is a couple hours of sleep, however, a terrified child runs into your room, crying over the horrible nightmares that are back again.  He can’t sleep and is shaking from fear...he is old enough to know how to handle this and to just go to bed on his own, and you are irritated.  How do you react?  Does this little person matter more than the problem?  What about the ones society deems unlovable.  In your hurry to work or to the store you encounter them often, and you avoid eye contact, knowing you don’t have time to engage. Do the People matter more than the problem?  What about those who keep on sinning?  You are so fed up with them falling back into sin time and time again, or maybe someone has hurt you terribly with their sin and you are angry, humiliated, and disgusted.  Do the People matter more than the problem?

We run into scenarios like this everyday of our lives and it is in these moments where we can really see if we are being a follower and a reflector of Christ.  Are our minds busy with the business of Heaven in these moments?

If we are following and reflecting Jesus then we will respond like He did!  He too was exhausted and woken up by those who should have know better, and yet were terrified.  His response was that these little children in the faith mattered more to Him than His problem of no sleep.  He calmed the storm and took the time to teach them.

He too had those who would come at him unjustly to hurt Him.  Spitting at Him, reviling Him, and calling Him all sorts of names.  His response was that if someone slapped you on one cheek, you are to turn the other cheek, if someone demands you walk with them for one mile, you go with him two.  He had those who would lie about Him and falsely accuse Him and He loved them enough to die for them.  He even asked His father to forgive them.

He too experienced those who just couldn’t understand what He was saying.  After spending so much time and energy explaining the things of the Kingdom, His own disciples still didn’t understand and rather than become exasperated, He sat down and taught them again...why?  Because People mattered more than the problem.

He too experienced the pressure of needing to prepare for company and yet there was a woman who longed for the truth.  He chose to sit with her and teach her and explained that she had chosen the one thing that was needed.  She mattered more than the pressure of company.  How many of the untouchables of society did He spend time with, with no regard to His own reputation?  How many did He eat with, sit with, touch, heal, teach, care for, and love?  Too many to count!

What was important to Him in each instance?  The people!  Not His own Person, not The Price it would cost him, and not the Problem he was facing, it was the People!  They have always mattered more to Him than the Problem!  How does He react to them?  He reacts in kindness, with patience, full of compassion, with understanding, and with forgiveness.

As we busy our minds and hearts with the business of Heaven, we will begin to think with the mind of Christ.  The business of Heaven is about the Glory of the Creator, and the Eternal Care of the Created!  Instead of only seeing a problem let’s ask God to reveal to us the person.  Let’s  begin to ask how we can care for that person in the middle of the problem.  May we seek to have the mind of Christ, living everyday in such a way where the PEOPLE MATTER MORE TO US THAN THE PROBLEM!