I like numbers. I was a math major in college. Numbers have a soothing way of being orderly in a world that can be very chaotic. I get along well usually with engineers, scientists, and other people who think technically. So if you are more of a social or emotional person, please be patient with me. Know that I love you, but know that you are dealing with a numbers person. For some time I’ve been thinking about how the first few garden variety positive whole numbers have to do with faith. So let’s start at the beginning shall we. 

There are at least six ways to know Jesus

Zero  - nothing without God there is nothing

One - There is one God

Two - The two natures of Jesus: Human and Divine, the mystic union of physical matter and spiritual essence

Three - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One God in three persons perfect unity, The trinity gets its own Sunday

Four - The four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and also the four fold form of worship: Gather, Word, Meal and Sending

Five - The five books of Moses, the Pentateuch, The Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy

Six - What about six? Honestly this number has tripped me up for some time. I have always been a little freaked out by it, because of the mark of the beast: 666. Is there something bad about the number six? How relieved I was when studying the texts for this Sunday it occurred that six was a number core to the message. You see there are six ways that Jesus can come to us in our lives.

Today is Christ the King Sunday. Today we remember that Jesus will come back to Earth and judge as a righteous king. Jesus will judge each and everyone of your according to your actions. To determine if you are worthy of entering into the kingdom of God. Are you an unjust sinner? Or are you a righteous follower of God? I cannot be that judge, none of us can judge or know who is saved and who is not. Only Jesus can judge. But know this, you will be judged. Everybody will be judged, and nobody is above God’s righteous judgement.  

Are you worthy to enter heaven? When you stand before God almighty, how will you measure up? Well there’s good news. You are saved by grace through faith and not by your works. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ, then you will be saved. You don’t have to worry about death, evil, or sin. All you have to do is have faith and believe that Jesus is real, and worship him. So what does that mean, exactly? To have faith in Jesus. Thankfully today in Matthew 25 Jesus gives us specific instructions for what it means to believe in Jesus. And as a math person, I love the fact that there are exactly six ways you can believe in Jesus. So let’s take a look. 

One - I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. Who is hungry? A hungry person is Jesus. Believe it! So give them food. The other night we were putting the kids to bed. Everyone had brushed their teeth, put on their jammies, and was tucked in bed. Then one kids says, “Daddy I’m hungry.” It was soul crushing. I had a glass of red wine with my name on it. The remote was all queued up for binge watching TV. But it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that we had already had dinner, and the child didn’t eat. A hungry person is Jesus. So if you believe in Jesus, you feed the child. This is the way. 

Two - I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. We adopted a dog. We did this, large part, due to some social pressure from some of you. You know who you are. We love our dog. And my wife asks the kids everyday. Did you feed and water the dog? Water the dog? What does that mean? If I just pour water on him, he’s not going to like that! But if the dog is thirsty you