Striving for perfection...

I've been reading and reflecting on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. This morning's reading included this passage from Matthew 5:43-48:

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 

There are a number of scriptures where we are admonished to be perfect; my question became "what does this passage teach me about the perfection of Our Father and how I should be perfect?" After re-reading the passage and giving it some thought, here is my conclusion:

Jesus is talking about loving people, even it they don't love you back. Our Father in heaven sends sunshine and rain on everyone one, regardless of whether people acknowledge Him as the source and thank Him for the gift. In fact, he does so even when people are evil and persecute Him! He shows no partiality when it comes to love. Even when they strike out at him and crucify Him, Jesus cries out from the cross: "forgive them for they know not what they do."  Jesus is our model of perfect love.

So I strive for perfection when it comes to love. In my own strength, this is an impossible task... but with God, all things are possible. 

Come Holy Spirit and love through me in ways that I cannot love on my own. Help me to love those who have hurt or disappointed me. Help me love those who cannot or will not love me back. Help me to love as you love. Help me to be perfect.

Be reconciled

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift." ~Matthew 5:23-24

 I'll confess that I've always read this passage and thought about people who have wronged me... But it says if someone "has something against you" -- It's not if I have something against my brother... as a believer, I am to forgive... what I believe is being addressed here is if I have in someway offended or hurt someone else. 

Today I'm headed to my HS Reunion, as well as visiting with some family. My prayer is this:

Lord, please bring to mind anything I need to apologize for and help me to reconcile the relationship... and, as you work in and through me, to reconcile others to yourself.

My Public Defender

Today I was thinking about the Public Defender who has been assigned to the Colorado Theater Massacre suspect. How difficult it must be to be required to defend someone who is without a doubt guilty of some crime!

As I thought about this, the thought came to mind: This is who Jesus is for us. He is our Public Defender speaking on our behalf and when we have been declared "guilty", still we are set free because He has already paid the price.

Thanks be to God!

Giving in each season of life

On Mondays I meet with an elderly friend. We usually read a book together, but most importantly we share fellowship and pray for one another. I look forward to my weekly visits where I find encouragement and often am challenged to think more deeply about matters of faith.

My friend is a retired missionary and accomplished pianist. She has traveled the world sharing her gift of music. Now, playing the piano is a challenge and often she struggles to call to mind things that she taught for over 50 years. For example, today she commented that I was speaking "allegro" (a musical term for "fast.") I asked her the word for "slow" and it took her longer than she thought it should to finally remember "adagio". It is moments like this that my friend says "I have nothing more to give." She feels useless as she sees the gift she's shared for so many years fading away.

 It is not unusual for people to begin to feel this way as they age, but this feeling is not unique to the elderly. We all have gifts that God has given us and talents that we've gained through training and hard work. These gifts and talents can become our identity and our foundation can be shaken when something hinders us from giving in the way we have in the past.

I remind my friend that we all go through seasons in life where the way we give needs to take on a new form. It is important that we focus on how God would choose to work through us today, rather than mourning over the fact that we can't give in the way we did yesterday. As long as we are on this earth, we can trust that God has a perfect plan for how He would like to work in and through us to bring honor to His Name and to draw others unto Himself.

We must remember that our identity is in who we are not what we do. We are God's children and, as such, we are of great value to Him. In each and every season of our lives, He has a plan and a purpose for us. We must learn to listen to the Holy Spirit's leading as He reveals the new way we can give of ourselves for His service today.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
    but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

 ~ Proverbs 19:21

The purist of motives

There is a blog called "Single Dad Laughing" that I sometimes read. Spiritually, Dan identifies himself as an agnostic [he was raised in the Mormon Church]. There are times, like today, when I read his blog and pray that he will make a connection between his experiences and the Amazing God that I know.

Today's SDL blog challenged me to think about my faith and how it is represented in the world. I'm going to share a few paragraphs and you can read the entire blog here. Just to give you a little background, Dan recently went hiking with some friends and ended up in a crisis that required a Search and Rescue Team to come to his aid [His 5 part blog about his experience can also be found in his blog page... in this particular blog he is sharing his decision to begin training to become a Search and Rescue Team member.]

 Here are Dan's thoughts as the response team comes to his aid:

"...never did any of them ask how I got into that situation. They only asked themselves how they were going to get me out. They worked as a team and a brotherhood to get me the immediate medical care I needed, and nobody complained about any task they were given, no matter how big or how small. Nobody complained of the timing. Nobody complained of lost wages or time. Nobody complained about my inexperience or my stupidity.

As humans, I think we tend to look at others who are in trouble (whatever the trouble may be) and base our willingness to help on our own judgments of what got them into that situation. If the path that led them to where they are was one of stupidity, laziness, lack of education, or addiction, we often refuse our services.

I don’t know what I was expecting at the top of that mountain. I think I was expecting to have to explain myself and why my situation really did warrant help. I think I was expecting to have to explain how none of it was really my fault and how I was the victim of unknown forces. I think I was expecting to deal with Search and Rescue the same way people deal with others every single day… Fearful of judgmental response.

What I got instead was a glimpse at real love for one’s fellow man. It has been a long time since I’ve seen such a cooperative effort done from the purist of motives."

As I read this, I couldn't help but wonder... Has Dan, who is representative of a number of people, rejected Christ because those who claim to serve Him are doing so with a "judgmental response"? Did one too many people proclaim Jesus' name and then spout forth their own personal criteria to determine whether the individual's situation warranted help?

There are many people in the world today who are waiting for help from a Search and Rescue Team. Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)... He wants us to help him with this mission. People are hurt, lost, thirsty... and we Christians are equipped to come to their aid. The question is, are we willing? and will we come to another person's aid with pure motives and without judgement? It may be that a life is depending upon it.

Special Names

I love nicknames! Do you have any special names that only certain people use? I do and I love it! There's just something about hearing a dear friend or family member call you by a name that you know they chose just for you.

In Revelation 2:17, it says that God will give us a "white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it." I've always imagined that was a special name... the nickname that Our Heavenly Father uses for us when He talks with the Son and the Holy Spirit about us. I don't think that it is a change from "Julie" to "Sarah" or "Elizabeth"... I think it's that special name that only My Father uses.... I imagine it's like Little House on the Prairie where  Pa always calls Laura "Half-Pint".

I like that... can't wait to see what my new name will be! How wonderful it will be to hear it from My Father's lips when I see Him face to face. Joy!

Church: a human institution with a divine commission.

I've recently had conversations with a few different people about the value of attending Church. I know many who have deep faith, but no interest in "religion" (i.e. the church as an institution). Today I received this devotional thought from the pastor of Bowling Green 1st Christian Church (where my parents attend).

In a pointed editorial in Saturday's New York Times, Maureen Dowd... posed a question...  It is a question churches of every hue need to contemplate.  "How do you take spiritual direction from a church that seems to be losing its soul?"

I fear one of the reasons more and more people have opted out of church life rises from a feeling that the church doesn't have relevant answers for today's world.  Young adults have witnessed scandal after scandal that have rocked both Protestant and Catholic Churches.  They've seen churches fight and feud over things like the kind of music to be used in worship.   They've seen people turned away from the church because of their skin color, their sexual orientation, or their poverty.  They've seen television ministes get wealthy and committed small church pastors struggle for survival.  They've heard liberal Churches demonized and conservative churches minimized.  They've seen parents put on saintly faces on Sunday morning only to live like the devil the rest of the week.  "How do you take spiritual direction from a church that seems to be losing its soul?"

While those of us in the institutional church wring our hands and worry about what is to become of the church, it might be good to remember a young man who lived years ago who felt the religious structure of his day had disappointed.  "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you are making it a den of robbers," (Matt. 21:13).  This young man wasn't anti-God.  Indeed he had come from God with a message of hope and grace.  He would die on a Roman cross for his new ideas and God would honor this young man by raising him from the dead. 

I pray those who feel the church is losing its soul won't give up on their quest for God.  And I pray they will recognize the church is capable of reformation and change.  It is a human institution with a divine commission.  When it works, it works better than any other human organization.  When it is filled with those committed to be the faithful hands and feet of Christ, nothing on earth can stop it.  If this is not the case today, may a new generation make it so.

Prayer: Lord, you give us the church as your body in the world.  We confess its flaws and weakness.  We pray for new strength and power to transform that which is corrupt into that which gives glory to you and bears witness to the life of Jesus.  Renew us, we pray, in the name of our brother Jesus. Amen

I ask myself: am I a stumbling block or a stepping stone to others who would seek Christ?