The Art of Loving

The Art of Loving

1 John 4:7-12

            If ever there was a life lived in love it was the life of Mother Teresa.  She gave herself in loving service to those who needed love regardless of their physical condition, their social condition, their financial condition, or their spiritual condition.  While she did write about love, and talk about love, she also lived love, leaving us an example of how to live. 

            John says God loves us.  That’s a given.  God made each of us, and God loves each of us.  When we accept the gift of God’s grace, God’s love is poured into our lives, filling us to overflowing, until that love becomes a never-emptying fountain, spilling out onto everyone we meet. 

            “Beloved,” John says, “let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”  The only way we can demonstrate that we love God, is to love God’s children as God loves them.  How do we do that?  Our love can—must—be hands-on love, love in action.  We are Christ’s hands and feet, and we provide loving service to our brothers and sisters in Christ’s name.

            This was the essence of Mother Teresa’s life.  She loved—not out of any concern for herself, but because God’s love was such a strong force within her that she had no choice but to love.  Mother Teresa said, “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.  It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.”  She knew the force behind the action, and the force behind the giving must be love in order to count for anything.

            God blesses us with so many good things that we overlook many.  Food, clothing, friends, family—all these and more are poured out on us so freely that we forget to thank God for them.  Our life routine becomes so full of blessings that we don’t stop to remember where they come from.  The common, ordinary things that happen to us each day give us opportunities for thanking God.

            From the time I began preparing to teach I was told that the surest way to understand a concept was to teach it.  If I could pass knowledge on to someone else, I had learned it.  The same goes for loving.  The only way we can repay God’s love for us is to pass it on.  Our love doesn’t have to be demonstrated in some large, overwhelming action.  Mother Teresa again: “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

            God smiles on us constantly.  Sometimes those smiles come in good times, as God shares with us the joyful moments of our lives.  Sometimes those smiles come when we have made mistakes, and God smiles at us as a parent smiles at a child who has fallen short of the mark.  Sometimes those smiles come when our hearts are so full of grief and sorrow that we believe nobody loves us—but God does.  God wants us to pass that love—those smiles—on to others who need them as much—if not more than we do.

            One more quote from Mother Teresa: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”  True, true, true.  So often we allow our judgmental nature to get in the way of our loving.  How can we love people if we find fault with them?  Judging others is the opposite of loving them.  If God judged us as severely and as frequently as we judge God’s children, we’d be in serious trouble.  Instead, God loves us, and loves us, and loves us—with no end to that love.

            Larry Bosh says, “It is always the right time to realize that God loves you.”  And it is always the right time to pass that love on.

What Is Life?

What Is Life?

Matthew 10:37-39

            You may remember the movie, Zorba the Greek, a 1964 film with Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates.  Later (1969) it was made into a musical.  Perhaps the most memorable part of the musical is the song, Life Is.  The key line is “Life is what you do while you’re waiting to die.”  A little morbid, perhaps, a little cynical, but there’s truth in it.  Life happens—or as Robert Balzer said, “Life is what happens to you while you are making other plans.”

            There’s a funny email that made the rounds a few years ago.  A senior citizen was explaining his day.  He started on one project when he noticed something else that needed doing.  While he was collecting the items to do that job, something else came to his attention that must be done first.  Something else interrupted that task, and something else interrupted that task, and…until at the end of the day he was exhausted, but hadn’t accomplished anything.  “Life is what happens while you are making other plans.”

            Many times our lives seem to be following that path.  We feel like we’re working hard, but nothing gets done.  At the end of each day we’re exhausted—really wiped out—but the stack of work has not diminished.  Frighteningly, it seems to have grown larger than when we began the day.

            The Peace Corps appealed to older citizens to volunteer with these words: “If you’re not doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is.”  All too true.  Like the man who can’t seem to finish a task without being distracted by something that needs doing more urgently, like the times in our lives we’re so bogged down that work accumulates like bricks stacked in a doorway, we get sidetracked in the detritus of the day and overlook the opportunities for real service.

            Jesus knew how easily that could happen.  He wasn’t really anti-family although his words make him sound that way.  Instead, he was saying, “Don’t get so wrapped up in the small stuff that you miss the important stuff.  Your first task is to follow me, wherever that may lead.  Don’t worry about the opportunities you might have to give up, or the work, or the relationships.  Take the cross I give you and life will be rewarding.”

            Taking up a cross in the first century Roman empire was no small matter.  Crucifixion was the cruelest form of death the Romans could think of.  The person suffocated, agonizingly, over several hours, each breath coming harder than the last until death brought a welcome end to suffering.  Crucifixion branded the person as a common criminal.  It meant being stripped naked before being tied or nailed to a cross.  Corpses were left on the ground without burial.  When Jesus said, “Take up your cross,” he was saying, “If you’re not doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is.” 

Jesus still says, “Try to save your life and it will be worth nothing.  Give it to me, and no matter how long or short it may be, every moment will count.”  We don’t have to worry about death by crucifixion if we choose to serve Jesus, but there are other crosses.  There is the cross of lost relationships, the cross of lost employment, the cross of lost income, the cross of lost status.  Any and all these may happen if we choose to follow Jesus.  When we commit our lives to his service we may have to give up other things we hold dear.  Much of this world doesn’t trust those who put their relationship with God first.

Ah, but the rewards!  The rewards far outweigh the losses.  Life can be what happens while you are making other plans—what you do while you’re waiting to die. Or you can let God do the planning, and lead a life of service under the weight of a cross that will seem lighter each day.

Where Are You Looking?

Where Are You Looking?

Hebrews 12:1-2

            Satchel Paige, who pitched in the major leagues until he was 47, is famous for saying, “Don’t look back.  Something might be gaining on you.”  Paige had a lot to look back on.  Probably the greatest pitcher baseball has ever known, he didn’t begin his major league career until he was 42, relegated before that age to pitch in the Negro Leagues.  Like so many of his contemporaries, as well as African-American athletes before him, his race denied him the big-league career he should have enjoyed.  Sports fans were denied even more, because we missed so many outstanding performances by so many talented athletes.

            Paige could have been resentful at what he had been denied.  He had every right to be.  Instead, he chose to look ahead.  He chose to heed Soren Kierkegaard’s words: “Life can only be understood by looking backward, but it must be lived by looking forward.”  Hear Paige saying, “Don’t look back.  Something might be gaining on you.”

            Paige couldn’t help but be aware of his past, so we know he must have looked back.  What he would not allow was to let his life be determined by what had been denied him.  He may have looked back, but he didn’t let those backward looks define what he did with the rest of his life.  Too many people allow their past to control their future.  As Will Rogers said, “Never let yesterday use up too much of today.”

            When we understand our past we can use the lessons we have learned to make our present and our future what we want them to be.  While we cannot control all the elements of our lives, we can shape those lives the way we want them to be.

The author of Hebrews understood this.  Chapter eleven is often referred to as the “faith” chapter.  In it we read abbreviated accounts of many of the heroes of the Hebrew Scriptures and how they relied on their faith to see them through difficult times.  Then the author switches channels abruptly. 

“Therefore,” he says, “get rid of the baggage that ties you down.  Don’t look back with anger, or fear, or worry—or any other negative emotion.  If you do, something is sure to be gaining on you.  Instead, run your race.  Run it well, taking in stride all the obstacles that may present themselves.  But keep looking forward.  There’s where your attention must be riveted, there’s where your concentration must be.”

And what should we be concentrating on?  Jesus—because as Charlie DeLeo has said so beautifully, “All of our hopes and our dreams for a better tomorrow can be found in the blessings that God has provided for us today.” 

The sacred writer doesn’t exactly say so, but if we are to keep our eyes on the prize, our attention must be focused on the One who ran his race without looking back.  In his letter to the Philippians (2:6-8), Paul tells us how Jesus ran.  Instead of looking back to the glory that was his in heaven, he gave up everything to look ahead, to become human so he could show us how our race should be run:  with humility, obedience, and steadfast courage.

But don’t forget to enjoy life while you’re racing through it.  Jesus didn’t fail to have a good time even as he kept his eyes on his prize.  He took time for meals with friends, for sharing joy with children, and for attending weddings.  As Antonio Smith says, “Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”

Satchel Paige would agree.

"There Will Be No Poor Among You"

“There Will Be No Poor Among You”

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

            God has promised (15:4) that there will be no poor in the Promised Land if the Israelites will “strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God.”  That’s not unreasonable.  God is giving them a land “flowing with milk and honey.”  All they have to do is work the land and it will bear bountiful harvests—if they obey God’s commands.  This is a one-sided bargain.  The Israelites get a fertile land in exchange for obeying God—commands that will assure abundant life for all.       

            In today’s reading, we see how God intends for this to work out.  The liturgy described here is for the Feast of Weeks, one of two Israelite harvest festivals.  This was an opportunity for the Israelites to thank God for the gift of land and for a bountiful harvest.  The liturgy was simple.  It consisted of three parts:  a confession of faith; a presentation of first fruits; and a community meal.

            The confession of faith is a brief summation of Israel’s history.  It begins with the statement that God chose a nomadic shepherd (Abraham) and his offspring (Isaac and Jacob) to be the founders of the nation.  To escape famine, they left Canaan for Egypt, where their son and brother Joseph was in charge of Pharaoh’s food conservation program.  While in Egypt, Jacob’s descendants multiplied exponentially until they became a threat to their hosts.

            The Egyptians felt they had no choice but to enslave the Israelites, which they did with a vengeance, treating them harshly, punishing them brutally, and instituting the cruelest form of population control—genocide.  Israel cried to God for salvation, and God rescued them, “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders.”  God brought them out of slavery, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land.

            After recognizing God’s mighty acts, the presenter offered the first fruits of his harvest to the priest.  In God’s name, the priest accepted the gift.  Notice that the offering consisted of the first fruits.  This was the sacred portion—God’s portion, and the presenter certified that he had not used God’s portion for any other purpose. 

            The liturgy concluded with a community meal.  Although the sacred writer doesn’t tell us, we can assume that all presentations were made at the same time, which means the meal would have been huge.  Everyone was invited—everyone ate.  No one was left out because he or she had nothing to bring, or didn’t own farmland, or was an outsider. 

            The Levites were there, the priestly class, who had no inheritance of land because their calling was to serve God and the people.  They could not raise crops, so they were provided for.

            The sojourners were there, foreigners who lived among the Israelites.  They could not grow crops because the land was a gift from God to Israel.  But God commanded from the beginning that foreigners should be welcomed, accepted, and fed.  No one was excluded because he—or she—was not an Israelite.  The Israelites had been mistreated foreigners in Egypt, and God wanted them to remember their experience and not repeat it.

            The widows and orphans were there, those who could not care for themselves and who had no one to care for them.  The inability to raise crops was not a reason to be excluded from the bountiful harvest God had provided on God’s land for God’s people.

            “There will be no poor among you,” God said.  Then God showed the nation how that would work.  God still speaks today, and says, “There will be no poor among you.”  God shows us how to provide.  Will our harvest be blessed because we obey God’s commands?

How to Get the Most Out of Life

How to Get the Most Out of Life

John 10:10b

            I have a “refrigerator” magnet on the desk lamp in my office.  It says, “Life is all about how you handle plan B.”  Good line!  Gilda Radner expressed the same thought when she said, “Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.”

            When you wake up each morning, no one hands you a script and says, “This is what will happen to you today—what you’ll say, what you’ll do, and what people will say and do to you.  Follow the script and everything will work out.”  Instead, we improvise our way through life, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.  When we start out in the morning we don’t know what the day will bring.  We may start with a plan (Plan A), but we can agree with Robert Burns that, “The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley.”  So…Plan B.

            I think Andy Rooney got it right.  He said, “It’s those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.”  It’s the unexpected moments of joy—and of sadness or sorrow—that fill our lives with meaning.  When I began serving as a division director in a local community college, I read, “I used to be upset by all the interruptions in my job until I realized that the interruptions were my job.”  I know I didn’t quote that exactly, but that’s the idea.  From that moment, the door to my office was always open to everyone—student, faculty member, colleague—anyone who dropped by found me available.  I learned to welcome the interruptions—the distractions, because they were what made the job enjoyable and rewarding.

            Another lesson that changed my workday was a mild heart attack—mild because I missed less than a week of work.  When I returned to the office, I became much more prompt about leaving at the end of the day.  At 3:30 (the time my contract said I could leave), I piled my unfinished work in the middle of the desk, where it sat, waiting patiently for my return the next morning.  I went home with empty hands and a clear conscience, ready to enjoy whatever the evening brought.  The next morning I attacked the pile with fresh energy, fresh insights, and a fresh spirit.  Ashley Montagu said, “The idea is to die young as late as possible.”  I want to do everything I can to make that happen.

            Jesus understood life and how it should be lived.  Life is to be lived to the fullest.  When he said, “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly,” he wasn’t talking about some future life in some paradise.  He was talking about here—now!  This is the life we are to live abundantly. 

When William James said, “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast itself,” he took the same position Jesus did.  This is abundant life.  This is what Jesus’ life was.  His life was spent so our lives would be more abundant.  It’s our turn to spend our lives in pursuit of something that will bring abundance to someone else.

Too many people miss out on abundant living because they wait to enjoy life until it’s too late.  They want to make sure the kids are grown and settled, the mortgage is paid off, the retirement account is full, and all the trials of life are past.  It doesn’t work that way.  “Life,” someone said, “isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass.  It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

It may be a strange image for some of us, but Jesus knew how to dance in the rain.  He was constantly under pressure, teaching his disciples, healing the sick, offering comfort to those in need, sparring with those who opposed him.  Yet he found time for little children, for dining with friends, for wedding parties. 

Jesus calls us to do the same.

The Kingdom of God is like...

The Kingdom of God Is Like…

Mark 1:14-15

            The kingdom of God is a central theme—probably the central theme—of Jesus’ ministry.  He said other things—did other things, but, understanding its importance, he always returned to the kingdom. 

He tried to get his disciples to understand what the kingdom would be like.  He said, “This is the way the kingdom works:  If you want to be great, you have to become a servant.”  Then he showed them what he meant.

He tried to get the crowds who followed him to understand what the kingdom would be like.  He began many of his parables with the words, “The kingdom of God is like…” then used images and metaphors that were so familiar to his blue-collar followers that they couldn’t miss his meaning.

He tried to get Pilate to understand what the kingdom would be like.  He said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” but Pilate couldn’t comprehend.

His final message to his inner circle was an attempt to help them understand what the kingdom would be like.  At the Last Supper he said, “There’s more than enough room for all of you in my Father’s house.  I’ve got to go away, but I’ll return.  You know where I’m going, and you know the way.”  When directionally-challenged Thomas didn’t understand, Jesus said, “I am the way.  I am the truth.  I am the life.  If you do what I’ve been telling you, the way to the kingdom will be clear.”

Mark wastes no time introducing the kingdom theme.  Less than a third of the way through the first chapter he quotes Jesus: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe the good news.”  Immediately—right at the beginning of his ministry—Jesus calls people to come into the kingdom.

How do we find the kingdom of God?  Listen to Jesus. 

“The time is fulfilled.”  The time is now!  The kingdom isn’t something to anticipate happening sometime in the future.  It is here.  “The kingdom of God is at hand.”

Samuel Shoemaker puts it this way: “Eternal life doesn’t begin with death; it begins with faith.”  We don’t have to wait for the kingdom—we shouldn’t wait for the kingdom.  It’s all around us, waiting for us.  Jesus didn’t come to prepare us for the kingdom.  He brought the kingdom with him. 

“Repent and believe in the good news,” Jesus says.  “Realize you’ve been heading in the wrong direction.  Turn around.  Be sorry enough to quit doing the things that separate you from God.”  As Shoemaker says, it’s a matter of faith.  Believe the kingdom is accessible now. That’s the good news.  Is there any better news?

Tony Berrington says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is the reign of God and the rule of God in our lives, which actually means the personal presence of Jesus.”  Jesus says, “I am here, and so is the kingdom.  Follow me and I’ll lead you into it.”

In the early years of Christianity, new believers made their confession of faith with the words, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”  It’s a simple statement, but one packed with meaning.  If Jesus was Lord, then nothing or no one else was—not Caesar, not worldly goods, not family or friends.  Nothing could stand in God’s place. 

The same is  true today.  The kingdom of God is…Jesus is Lord.

Acts of Kindness

Acts of Kindness

Matthew 25:34-40

            “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”  This is attributed to Aesop, teller of the famous fables.  It’s the moral of the story about the lion and the mouse.  The lion spares the mouse’s life.  Later, when the lion is caught in a net, the mouse gnaws a hole big enough for the lion to escape.  The story also proves that kind acts don’t depend on size or strength, but can be performed by anyone.

            In my ethics class we discuss the difference between manners and morals.  One student said that people with manners can be immoral, and people who are moral may not necessarily have the best manners.  Great answer!

            The Bible is clear that acts of kindness involve morals and manners.  Paul (Galatians 5:22-23) includes kindness in his list of fruit of the Spirit.  It’s right there with love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness.  When we perform acts of kindness we’re following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

            The most telling Bible words about kindness come from Jesus (no surprise there).  In his description of the final judgment, Jesus gathers on his right hand those who have served him well.  He welcomes them into God’s kingdom for the acts of kindness they have performed for him.  The vast majority of those in the right-hand group will never have seen Jesus face-to-face.  How can they have served him, they ask?  Jesus answers, “Because you did it to one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.”

            Remember these words.  Tape them to refrigerators, bathroom mirrors—any place you look each day.  We are called to serve Jesus by serving those around us—that’s the key to the kingdom.

            Remember also the words of James M. Barrie.  The creator of Peter Pan said, “Always be a little kinder than necessary.”  God doesn’t call us to kindness as an insurance policy to get into the kingdom.  God calls us to be kinder than necessary because that’s what God does.  God pours blessings out on us—so many we don’t see some of them until we look back.  When we slow down and turn around we can see God’s activity in our lives.

            God also expects us to be kinder than necessary because that’s the example Jesus set.  Jesus looked at the people waiting to hear him and had compassion on them.  They were “like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36.)  It may be difficult for us to see ourselves standing in Jesus’ place, but isn’t that what we are called to do?  We must show the same compassion Jesus showed because there are still sheep looking for a shepherd.  As a shepherd is kind to the sheep, so must we be kind to those around us.

            “How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it,” George Elliston says.  Our kindness can’t just be a once-in-a-while action.  It’s a way of life.  We practice kindness day by day until it becomes a habit.  We perform kind acts because we are kind—kind as Jesus was kind; kind as the Holy Spirit leads us to be kind.

            Is it easy?  Not at all.  We see from Jesus’ disciples how difficult it is to be kind.  Not until Jesus ascended and the Holy Spirit arrived did they begin to pour lovingkindness into the world.  It was the Spirit of God working through them that made kindness possible.

            Is it necessary?  Of course!  Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 make it clear.  The kingdom belongs to those who give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, to those who welcome strangers and clothe the naked, to those who visit the sick and prisoners.  No amount of personal piety will unlock the kingdom.  Only our service will get us in.