On Loving Others

"The Holy Spirit has put you in charge of these people . . . God himself thought they were worth dying for."

Acts 20:26

This week, I've been working on seeing people how God sees them. As you can imagine, this is going great!

...Not.

If you're like me (a human) you probably struggle to see people in their best light. we're quick to judge people for cutting us off in traffic, being rude in line at the grocery store, taking too long at the DMV, etc, etc, etc. All kinds of things get us irritated with the people around us.

I've started praying something simple each day: "Lord, give me Your eyes and Your heart. Give me a mind and a heart to do Your work. Show me Your heart. Let me see people how You see them."

I pray this in the morning and get in my car. I have this thought fresh in my mind when I start my day, but it doesn't take long for my mind to wander and completely forget this goal.

I find it's especially hard to see God's love in those closest to me. It's easy to look at a stranger in the car next to me at a red light and think, "Wow. God loves them so much." But when those nagging habits come out in my family members, it's easy to get frustrated and focus on that. I never seem to remember to look with God's eyes at those closest to me.

But let me share that verse again: "God himself thought they were worth dying for."

Wow. "Remember, when you see these people, God died for them. God loved them so much that God went to the ends of the earth, even to death, to show that love."

The New Testament indeed preaches a universal gospel. This library of scripture is no longer a story of a chosen people called to slaughter cities and take the survivors as slaves and concubines. Jesus preached and his earliest followers continued preaching a universal gospel - one where every single person is loved by God.

No more do we see a tribal god who knew before they were formed in the womb only his own people. Now, we see a God who created and knows and loves the whole world.  

Further, Jesus told us that every person we see is not only loved by him, but like HIM.

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Matthew 25: 34-40 

Actually, he said that every person we serve IS him.

Mother Teresa famously served the poorest of the poor in India. When people asked her how she did it, she responded, "This is Jesus in his most distressing disguise."

When we feed those who are hungry, we feed Jesus. When we welcome those who are strangers among us, we welcome Jesus. When we clothe those in need of clothing, we clothe Jesus. When we visit those who are sick and in prison, we visit Jesus. When we serve those in need, we serve Jesus. When we love anyone, we're loving Jesus.

And when we turn any of these away - we reject Jesus.

Every person we see is Jesus. Every person should be treated as if they are the God of the universe.

Wow.

Started with a goal to "see others as God sees them." Then realized "everybody is Jesus."

Guess I'll have to work a little harder to overcome that road rage.




Ways to serve Jesus right where you are:

• Make blessing backpacks for the homeless. Click here for some ideas of what to include.
• Volunteer at your local food kitchen or homeless shelter.
• Renew the practice of bringing a casserole to welcome new families to the neighborhood. 
• Clean out your closet and donate gently used clothes, coats, and shoes to a local clothing agency. 
• Visit people in hospitals or nursing homes.
• Visit people in prison. Or, if you're worried about safety, sign up to bake cookies! Click for more information.
• Call your representatives to tell them you want legislation that feeds the hungry, welcomes strangers, clothes the naked, cares for the sick, and treats those in prison with justice and kindness. Click here to find your representative in the House. Click here to find your Senators.
• TITHE. Whether it's to your local congregation or to your favorite charity, reclaiming the Old Testament practice of tithing the first 10% of our income to the work of the Lord is a powerful way to affect our world for good. Check out my favorite charity here. They partner with local organizations to help Syrian refugees, hurricane victims in Texas and Puerto Rico, low-income schools, and more - and because they're run completely by volunteers, 100% of donations go to those in need.

The Abundant Life: Ananias and Sapphira

A man named Ananias—his wife, Sapphira, conniving in this with him—sold a piece of land, secretly kept part of the price for himself, and then brought the rest to the apostles and made an offering of it. Peter said, “Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field? Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wished. So what got into you to pull a trick like this? You didn’t lie to men but to God.” Ananias, when he heard those words, fell down dead. That put the fear of God into everyone who heard of it. The younger men went right to work and wrapped him up, then carried him out and buried him.

Not more than three hours later, his wife, knowing nothing of what had happened, came in. Peter said, “Tell me, were you given this price for your field?”

“Yes,” she said, “that price.”

Peter responded, “What’s going on here that you connived to conspire against the Spirit of the Master? The men who buried your husband are at the door, and you’re next.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than she also fell down, dead. When the young men returned they found her body. They carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

By this time the whole church and, in fact, everyone who heard of these things had a healthy respect for God. They knew God was not to be trifled with.

Acts 5:1-10 (MSG)

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Recently, I read a book entitled Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism (authored by former Anglican Bishop John Shelby Spong). The thrust of his argument was that modern scientific inquiry and wider, less tribalistic morality was causing us to rethink how we look at the Bible. There are two options. First, we take it literally, discounting science and worshipping a God who commands slaughter of many people throughout the text - fundamentalism. Or, we revere the Bible as a work full of rich symbolism and metaphor (which is likely the way that early Christians viewed at least the gospels) that leads us to an experience of the divine - a progressive approach. 

As I read the above passage in my scripture study recently, I found myself thinking, "What the heck am I supposed to learn from this? That our God is the kind of God who will kill anyone who lies or fails to donate money to the church? Wow." It struck me that this was against the God of forgiveness and grace found in other parts of the New Testament and preached by many Christian churches today. Where is grace? Where is the forgiveness brought about by Jesus? Shouldn't these new Christians, of all people, have an understand of the radical grace given by their God? Or is grace a lie? Is this God a killer, or one who came "that you might have life, and have it abundantly"? 

This morning, I read a passage in John. Here, Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work" (John 4:34). Wow. His food is doing God's work. Jesus is saying that he gets nourishment and sustenance from doing God's work, from serving others. Doing God's work, for Jesus, wasn't something draining or energy-consuming, but life-giving. 

And, we are children of God just as much as Jesus. And our faith calls us to live Christlike lives. What if that means that we, too, are to find nourishment and sustenance in doing God's work? Doing God's work will fill us up and give us life abundant. Wow. 

Then, this evening, I was listening to a talk by a local preacher. On a tangent, he mentioned this story in Acts 5. He didn't really teach on it, just acknowledge it's existence. A sidenote to a passage I'd just been reading and questioning. 

And then I realized. Something spoke to my soul, and said - "This story isn't about actual death. It's not about Ananias and Sapphira literally falling to the ground, physically dead. Think metaphorically." So I thought. 

Then - boom. They died not a physical death, but a spiritual death. The story isn't about God smiting people for lying or not sharing. This story is about where we get our food. Ananias and Sapphira weren't contributing to building up the Kingdom like they should have. In their case, it was a financial lapse. Since they didn't contribute the way they could and the way God had asked of them, a part of them died. They lost some of the abundant life, because they were not walking in the way lined by the Light of the World. They died spiritually. 

The lesson for us, is that when we fail to contribute to the Kingdom of God in the ways that God has asked, in the ways that we are capable of, part of us dies. We walk away from God. That's death. The story isn't about God killing people, but about us failing to look at God. Ananias and Sapphira didn't believe that serving God would be all the food, all the nourishment, all the sustenance they needed. Either they were anxious about material needs, or they thought that worldly riches would satisfy the hunger in their hearts. Wrong. Only life with God can fill us up all the way. When we walk with God, we're fed. Inside and out. Our God is the Great Provider.

May we trust the Abundant Giver. May we look to this Holy Source to supply all our needs. May we be free of anxiety, knowing where our food comes from. May we follow Light and live to the fullest. 

Reader Report: A Simple Path

Title:
Mother Teresa: A Simple Path

Editor:
Lucinda Vardey

Publishing Info:
Ballantine Books, 1995

~ ~ ~

I bought this book for about 50 cents earlier this year. And oh, man, was it good. I finished it in only two or three days. So good, so good. The wisdom of this woman is amazing. It is so evident that she spends much time in prayer and tries very hard to know what God wants her to do. This woman takes seriously the counsel given in Matthew 25: "For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visitedme: I was in prison, and ye came unto me." She truly sees the face of Christ in ever person she serves.

This book explains what Mother Teresa calls her "simple path." Throughout the book, this path is taught, as its name implies, quite simply and beautiful. Though we sometimes forget, the gospel path really is "so simple a child can grasp it" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "It Works Wonderfully!"). MOther Teresa reminds us of this through her simple teaching. The path is, as follows:

The fruit of silence is prayer.

The fruit of prayer is faith.

The fruit of faith is love.

The fruit of love is service. 

The fruit of service is peace.

~ ~ ~

And, of course, a few lines from the book that I just fell in love with.

Prayer

• "It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. . . . We need to listen to God because it's not what we say but what He says to us and through us that matters. Prayer feeds the soul" (p 7).
• "We've been made for God and our hearts are restless until we rest with HIm" (p 9). 
• "Without [prayer] . . . we won't reach the fulfillment of our being" (p 10). 

Faith

• "God created us to love and be loved . . . Any negligence in loving can lead someone to say Yes to evil . . . If someone chooses evil, then an obstacle is set up between that person and God, and the burdened person cannot see God clearly at all. That's why we have to avoid any kind of temptation that will destroy us" (p 51). 

Love

• "The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. . . . The only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. . . . There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God" (p 79).
• "As we remember and notice His love for us, we just begin to fall in love with Him because He is so busy with us - you just can't resist Him. I believe there's no such thing as luck in life, it's God's love, it's His" (p 80).
• "Everyone needs love. All must know that they're wanted and that they are important to God" (p 81). 
• "Even in the midst of pain and suffering, God loves [you]" (p 89).
• "Their [the sisters] happiest time is when they pray - they look forward to it, they are eager to pray and to refuel and they are equally eager to come out of that refueling and give away the energy they receive" (p 106). What would our world be like if we all had this attitude?

Service

• "Prayer in action is love, and love in action is service. . . . The point is to do something, however small, and show you care through your actions by giving your time. . . . Do not worry about why problems exist in the world - just respond to people's needs" (p 114). 
• "This is the future - this is God's wish for us - to serve through love in action, and to be inspired by the Holy Spirit to act when called" (p 137).

Peace

• "Knowing our strengths and weaknesses, we turn to the Lord. . . . He has the remedy for everything. . . . If we just turn to Him, He will bring us this inner healing, this spiritual healing so we can make our lives more holy and more pleasing to God" (p 172).
• "We are all meant to return to God - we come from Him and we go back to Him" (p 175). 
• "We are born to be happy - and we can only find true happiness and peace when we are in love with God: there is joy in loving God, great happiness in loving Him" (p 179). 

~ ~ ~

"Christ's love is always stronger than the evil in the world."

"God's love for us is greater than all the conflicts, which will pass."

"We're not always called to be successful but we're always called to be faithful."

*Ending quotes: p 52, p 60, p 153