My list of Jesus' words that convince me

Here is my (not) short list of words of Jesus that convince me that he is worth following. (“Convince” come from two Latin words that mean “conquer with.” So these are words with which I have been “conquered”):

• “If you only love those who love you, what makes you different from anyone else?”
• “Come you me, you that are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
• “Do you want to be made whole?”
• “Blessed are the poor in spirit, the grieving, the humble, those who hunger and thirst for things to be put right, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are mistreated for doing what is right.”
• “I am the Resurrection and the Life. The one who trusts in me will never die.”
• “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not religious observances.’ For I came not to call those who have it all together, but those who have lost their way.”
• “I have compassion on the crowd.”
• “What will it profit someone if they gain the whole world and lose their soul?”
• “Treat others the way you want them to treat you.”
• “Truly I say to you, as you have done to the least of these, you did it to me.”
• “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
• “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
• “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

The Words of Jesus as Gospel

In October 2001, Paolo Ricca, then leader of the Italian Baptists, presented a wonderful two-day conference on telling people the "evangel," or good news. In his talk on what our message is as Christians, Ricca invited us to think about what convinces us to follow Jesus ourselves. He cited the four things about Jesus that convinced him: Jesus' words, his life, his death, and his resurrection.

It was the first of these that surprised me. In all I had heard and read on the subject over the years, I think Ricca was the first to suggest the words of Jesus as a key element in the Christian message. When you think about it, that's pretty surprising!

Ricca gave his short list of the words of Jesus that convinced him:

- "Love your enemies."

- "The last shall be first, and the first last."

- "Call no one on earth your Father, for you have one Father - the one in heaven."

- "This person, too, is a descendant of Abraham."

- "Truly I tell you that even in Israel I have not found such great faith."

What is your short list of the words of Jesus that you would highlight in explaining the good news to someone? I'll post my list tomorrow.

The Words of Jesus: A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord

Phyllis Tickle has edited this book that consists of the sayings of Jesus - all 203 of them - from the four gospels and the book of Acts. What a brilliant idea! Jesus said that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. I read a few pages a day every morning over several weeks, and now find myself turning over in my mind different sayings of Jesus and listening to them afresh.

Now I'm digesting Ms. Tickle's introductory essay in which she describes how the two-year project affected her. One of her discoveries was that she moved from seeing Jesus' words as objects to be studied and analyzed to letting them reach out and take her into to them.

The power of Jesus' words in real. They are not usually "inspirational," but something much more intense, uncomfortable and exhilarating. Phyllis Tickle attributes that to Jesus' burning concern, his consuming divine love for each of us.

Five things you would tell a new follower of Jesus

Yesterday on his jesuscreed blog, Scot McKnight raised this question:

If you could tell a new follower of Jesus the five most important elements of following Jesus, what would they be?

Here is how I answered:

1. Forgive all who have hurt you.

2. Seek forgiveness of all whom you have wronged.

3. Let your memory and imagination and attitudes be transformed by the Gospel of the love of God in Christ.

4. Pray (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, submission).

5. Do all this together with others.

I also appreciated comments by others mentioning casting out all idols and one’s finances in order.