Blog of John Ortberg
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December 22, 2006
Love your neighbor
In the ancient world, was it better to be born a girl or a boy" It was better to be born a boy. One historian writes:
  • Exposure of unwanted female infants ''the practice of just abandoning them until they would die outside somewhere'' was legal, morally accepted, widely practiced by all social classes in the Greco-Roman world.

    This is a letter that I just read this week. It was written during the first century by a Roman husband to his wife. Apparently, she was pregnant. This is what he writes:

  • Know that I am still in Alexandria. I beg you to take good care of our baby son. If you are delivered of a child before I come home, if it is a boy, keep it. If it is a girl, discard it. You have sent me word, "Don't forget me." How could I forget you" I beg you not to worry.

    This is a guy who thinks of himself as a good husband , loves his wife.

    There's a new community that remembers that Jesus treated women differently. He taught them when no other rabbi would teach a woman. He valued them. He included them in His community. He thought that all of life was sacred. Jesus, when asked what was the greatest commandment, said:

  • This is the heart of the whole deal. ''The fundamental commandment in Judaism was from Deuteronomy 6:4, the shema'': Hear O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is one. Him shall you love with all your heart, your soul, your strength. ''Deuteronomy 6: 4-5'' and ''Mark 12: 29-30''

    Then Jesus adds to it, as a sign of His great authority, the second great commandment found in Leviticus:

  • Love your neighbor as yourself. ''Leviticus 19:18'' and ''Mark 12:31''

    All of life is sacred. All of life is to be revered. Little girl babies as well as little boy babies were prized in this new community. They were not discarded.


    • By: John Ortberg - December 22, 2006 - Public
    Category: The Greatest Commandment
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    December 22, 2006
    Service as the Mark of the Kingdom
    Roman culture was strictly hierarchical in ancient times. People were divided quite rigidly into classes. There was the Roman Senate at the very top, but just under that was the Equestrian class. These were people of great wealth and power. You belonged to this class if you were prominent enough to receive a horse out of public funds.

    Beneath that was the Decurion class. These people were still wealthy, but not as wealthy as the Equestrians; however, they had some power in local government. Beneath that were the Citizens. They had less wealth, but had some rights as Romans. Paul, as you may remember, was a Roman Citizen. Below that were those who were called "Free people." These were people who had been Slaves, but somewhere along the line had acquired enough resources to buy their freedom. They were still not Citizens. Slaves occupied the lowest rung on the ladder.

    Everything in their society reinforced this kind of caste system. Clothes showed what class you were in. I know that in our culture, it's hard to imagine a culture where clothes reflect someone's status, but in that culture they did. ''That was a joke. Not a very funny joke apparently . . ..'' In ancient Rome, only Citizens were allowed to wear a toga. The Decurions and Equestrians could wear stripes on their togas to show their status. If you were a slave, you wore a tunic¨you didn't get to wear a toga¨just as a reminder that this was your class.

    Much of Roman life was arranged around Guilds that had wealthy patrons from the Equestrian class. The guilds frequently held festivals. If you went to a meal at a festival, the Equestrian class was served first, and after that, the Decurion class. Of course, the best food went first. Next the Citizens would be fed, and then Free people would be fed. If you were a Slave, and if there were anything left, you would get the dregs. That's the way that it worked. That was life.

    But there was a new community, and they said to themselves: Jesus didn't really deal with people like that. Jesus said that He, the Son of Man:

  • Came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for all. ''Mark 10:45''

    So, you're a Slave, and you go into a house where the church gathers, and an Equestrian kneels down and serves you food. You start to cry. You're a Slave. You've never been served your whole life long, and now you're being served by an Equestrian. You're getting the best food. You look in his eyes, and you're weeping; and he's weeping, because he's never experienced the bond of common humanity or serving someone. There's never been a community like this! Jesus has gone on the road. Nobody's ever seen anything like this before.


    • By: John Ortberg - December 22, 2006 - Public
    Category: The Request of James and John
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    December 22, 2006
    Timeline After Jesus - Through 325 Years After
    There's a book by a sociologist named Rodney Stark. Its subtitle is:
  • How the Obscure Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religion in the Western World in a Few Centuries.

    According to the best historical estimates, in the year 40 AD¨remember Jesus started with a small group of 120 followers when He was going up to Heaven¨maybe 1/1000th of 1% of the population of the Roman Empire were followers of Jesus. Think of a number that small. By 350 A.D., just a few centuries later, 56% of the Roman Empire was Christian. That's a growth rate of about 40% per decade. That is staggering!

    How did it happen" How did that tiny 1/1000th of 1% have such an impact on the world" Was it because they were better at arguing about religion" I don't think so. Was it because they had more resources and more money than anybody else" Clearly not. It was because the presence and way of Jesus in their midst created a community like the world had never seen. These words from the Book of Acts are kind of a summary of the description of the early church:

  • They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching ''to the way of Jesus , to the way of Christ'' and to the fellowship ''They gathered to learn; they got to know each other; they got real; they confessed.'', to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe by what God was doing in their midst. They became so generous there were no needy persons among them. ''Acts 2:42-47''

    And then they enjoyed the favor of all the people. Eugene Peterson translates this:

  • And people liked what they saw. People looked at the church, and they liked what they saw.

    • By: John Ortberg - December 22, 2006 - Public
    Category: Timeline After Jesus - Through 325 Years After
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    November 30, 2006
    Loving the least of these
    Another place where you will meet Jesus is in people. Jesus talks about it in Matthew 25. He says
  • The day is coming¨the Judgment Day is coming¨when the human race will stand before God and God will say to a lot of people, "I was hungry and you didn`t feed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was in prison, and you didn`t visit me. I was naked and you didn`t give me any clothes," A lot of people will be confused by this, and they`ll say, "No. That never happened. When did we ever see You like that" If we`d seen You like that, we would have done something! And then God will say, Whatever you did not do for the least of these," ''Matthew 25: 31-45''

    Of course, to God there are no "least." To God, everyone matters. But we all carry around in our own heads a little list of the "least:"
    Folks who are poor,
    Folks who are needy,
    Folks who have been the victims of injustice,
    People who are treated unfairly,
    People who grew up without the advantages that a lot of us in this room grew up with.

    We can start thinking, We have merited what we got, who we are, what we`ve achieved and what we possess. We start thinking, I`ve worked hard. Why couldn`t the "least" have worked" We get so confused.


    • By: John Ortberg - November 30, 2006 - Public
    Category: Jesus with the Rejected in Society - Foreign, female, prostitute
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    November 30, 2006
    Loving all kinds of people
    Frank Laubach recommended a great prayer. You can use it at work, you can [use] it at home, and you can use it anyplace where you are around people. It`s this question:
  • Can I help you" Can I help you"

    Before you say this out loud to another person, say it in your mind. Really look at the person tomorrow. Talk to God and start with the little prayer to Jesus:

  • Jesus, what are you trying to do in this person`s life" Is there a way that I can be a part of that" Can I further your work in this person`s life" Could I encourage them" Could I listen to them" Could I speak bold truth to them" Could I love them" Could I touch them" Jesus, could I help you in what you are doing in this person`s life"

    You can do that. This is not rocket science. You can do this! Then maybe to that person, you will ask that question out loud:

  • Can I help you"

    Maybe there will be some people for whom you will love doing this¨people to whom you`ll love asking this question. Maybe there will be some people you dislike, and you`ll think,

  • Maybe I ought to avoid those people, because tomorrow is Jesus` day and it would be good for me not to be around them at all.

    Actually, it would be a real good thing for you to be around some of those people. That`s what Jesus says. Jesus specializes in loving enemies.


    • By: John Ortberg - November 30, 2006 - Public
    Category: Jesus with the Rejected in Society - Foreign, female, prostitute
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