S5 E3 - Be A Bee

Bee's a pretty incredible. The female honeybee is capable of stinging a predator or what she considers dangerous, but not to protect herself - to protect the colony. Her act is self-sacrificing and selfless. She lays down her life for others. 

That is the nature of love. It puts the needs of others first. That is the kind of love Jesus demonstrated for us - laying down his life for us. It's the kind of love we're called to have for others. Don't just boast of great love, show it to others. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 5 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Let’s grow together! 

 We’re getting the taste of an early spring here in Danville, Kentucky – which is amazing considering the month-old snow is just now nearly completely melted everywhere. But as I look into the forecast for the next ten days, all of our highs are well into the 50’s, with several days dipping into the 60’s! We even have one day that is supposed to be a high of 67 – that’s nearly early summer weather! Even this winter loving boy is excited for spring to come, and that’s saying something. Soon we will not only see warmer weather, but with it the return of many other things – beautiful flowers, lush green leaves, and of course the buzzing of bees. I was just watching a documentary of sorts on honeybees this week, and per usual I was absolutely blown away at the magnificence of God’s creation. I was particularly fascinated about the stinger of a honeybee. For starters, not all honeybees have the capability to sting – only the females can do so. Secondly, the design behind the stinger is beyond impressive as well. When the stinger is sunk into its target, it detaches itself from the rest of the female bee and begins to pump venom from the venom glands and venom sac through two lancets. These lancets, when placed under a microscope, have backward facing barbs that dig further into the skin as a pump valve and small muscle work the lancets back and forth. It’s the most incredible little poison machine, and despite the gigantic size advantage we have on the bee, their sting can cause us an incredible amount of pain. Now, I wouldn’t know, because I’ve actually never been stung before – which is just as unbelievable after 34 years of living around them. But here is the catch about the honeybee sting – when the stinger detaches from the female bee, it leaves a gaping wound on her back end – exposing her inner organs which frequently will even begin to fall out. In fact, most bees actually die after they sting as a result of this. Which leads one to think – what kind of self-defense mechanism is this? Isn’t that pretty self-defeating, to sting in order to protect herself but in doing so dooming herself? Well, that’s just it – the female honeybee does not sting in order to protect herself. No, instead the sting is intended to ward off predators in order to protect to rest of the colony. She does not have her own personal interests in mind, but the best interest of the community around her in mind. In other words, it is a self-sacrificial move. The bee willingly lays down its life in order to love, serve, and protect the rest of her family. When you put it that way, it should change the way you look at the bee sting – and it should perhaps change the way we look at ourselves. 

There is quite a bit we can learn about the Lord and discipleship from the life of a bee, but this little factoid hit me right in the face in ways that no one could miss. Let’s look at just a few spiritual truths together – about love, about the Lord, and about the way we are called to love, serve, and protect one another. 

First, about love. To begin with, much like the actions of the honeybee, love is not concerned only with one’s own personal interests, but rather first and foremost with the best interests of others. Paul would say in his ballad of love recorded in 1 Corinthians 13 that love does not insist on its own way. In other words, it is selfless. Again, Paul would explain further elsewhere in his writings, such as when he stated in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.” In our actions day in and day out, the way that we think, live, act, and speak should display this kind of love towards others. That the motive behind the things we do is not self-seeking but has the best interests of others in mind first. We live in a way that truly serves the needs of our families, our churches, our friends, our neighbors, and our communities – even if it comes at a cost to ourselves. But at what cost? 

This is what we learn from Jesus, secondly – even at the cost of our very lives. Just as the female honeybee is willing to lay down her life in order to love, serve, and protect the colony – this is exactly what our Lord did for us at the very cost of his life. Time would fail us to list every passage which spoke of the life-giving savior, but let’s just consider the following few. Jesus would state in John 15 the following: “This is my command: love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” Self-sacrifice, even at the cost of one’s life, is the greatest form of love anyone could show to another. And that is exactly the kind of love Jesus has shown to us, even as undeserving recipients of such love. Romans 5 details this for us, beginning in vv. 6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We have no right to question the love of God in light of the cross of Christ – he has clearly demonstrated it for us. And what our Lord has done was not by coercion, not against his will, and not foreign to his motivation. He told us in John 10:17-18, “This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again.” 

So, what does this mean for us as disciples of Jesus? Well, if we would remember from just previous to now, we read that Jesus commands us to love one another just as he has loved us. In the exact same manner, motive, and capacity to which Jesus has demonstrated his love for us is what we ought to be willing to show towards others. That means that we are even willing to lay down our lives in order to love, serve, and protect one another. This is what John would teach in 1 John 3:16-18, “This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.” What are you willing to do in order to love and serve others? I think if we’re all being honest, we are all guilty of boasting of great love. We might claim, “I’d even die for you” – and yet on the other hand, we’re frequently not even willing to sacrifice much lesser things for the sake of one another. If I’m not willing to sacrifice my time, resources, liberties and things of like manner for the greater good of others, what would make me think I’d be willing to sacrifice even my very self? This what John is exposing in our lives – don’t just boast of great love, actually demonstrate it towards others. Start with the smaller things and be faithful in laying down your time, laying down your resources, laying down your liberties, and laying down things like these for others. Then, as we grow in our love, maybe one day we can truly embody the same kind of love for others that Jesus has shown to us.  

This week, put the needs of others first. Love others even at your own personal cost. Look to Jesus in the example he left for us and look to his creation for the ways it reemphasizes these same principles. Be it spring, summer, winter or fall – resolve in your mind to be a bee. 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 5 episode 3 – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped every Friday, so be sure to tune in next week.  Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating or most importantly share it with someone else – it would help to reach others that I never could alone.  And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.