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Posts Tagged ‘love’

Acts of Devotion

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , on July 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 12:3a
Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.

Clearly, Mary was moved to this extreme act of devotion. I cannot believe that wiping someone’s feet with hair was a common occurrence even back in those days. But the effect was astounding for the perfume filled the house: all who were there knew what she had done.

Nard was primarily used to anoint the dead in burial. If a family had nard, it was precious and saved for their own burial. Jesus announces that this nard was actually saved for his burial, and in this way, he foretold again of his coming death.

But the point of interest here for me today is Mary’s act of devotion. How does one come to an act like this one? I don’t think we are supposed to conjure these things. [“Oh, what I can do show Jesus I really care!”] No, an act of this magnitude must be inspired by God. The key is the person’s willingness and openness to following through.

In our culture, we can all pretty much talk ourselves out of anything with or without facts. We know about cause and effect and yet some people are still smoking. Some people still take drugs and drink in excess although we know its effects can be catastrophic. And yet, if God were to inspire us to an act of devotion like this one, we would talk it away as being foolish and unnecessary.

Keep me open to your inspiration that I might act with love, authentically.

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Just Say the Word

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 7:7
“Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

The centurion who came to Jesus asking for the healing of his servant had total faith and confidence that Jesus was able to do it. What he didn’t know was whether Jesus would choose to do it.

So often, as I pray for the healing for one person or another, I feel like a little girl in a classroom with her hand up, waving and snapping my fingers, “choose me, choose me–heal my friend, heal my daughter.” It’s like I’m trying to convince Him that my request is worthy.

I suppose there is some support in scripture for persistent “whining,” look at the story of the widow and judge [Luke 18:4-5]. But, of course, this judge was not a godly judge. And then there’s the clever Greek mother [Luke 7:24-30] who pleaded for the “crumbs under the table” so that Jesus might choose to heal her daughter.

But even in his own time, Jesus did not heal everyone. Those He did heal were by His choice and His timing and for the glory of the God and the advancement of the kingdom (that is, the building of koinonia… groups of believers who would live as Christ taught).

In modern times, we have doctors and therapists and practitioners who do what they can to encourage the body to heal itself. They provide altering drugs and change the environment in which the disease or pain lives. But, in the end, the healing is still an act of God. We must grow in our confidence and faith that Jesus can and will “say the word” of healing for our loved ones and ourselves. We must carry our faith and hope to the very end. We must wait for His word despite all circumstances.

And when he does not “say the word” and that healing does not come and there is death instead, we can know that we stood firm in our faith and trust and then our acceptance of His silence will come easier. This I believe.

Oh, Lord, just “say the word” today for Lily B, Sarah W, Janis U, Anne W, Linda D, Chelsea A, and Gerda S.

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Birth Certificate or Driver’s License

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , on July 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…

I am currently reading The Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight who made this comparison between views of salvation.

So often, people think of salvation as a “birth certificate” and once they’re born again, the work is done and they have their “pass” into heaven. But his Jesus Creed, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. [Luke 10:27] takes more than just a “pass.” Hence, the idea of a Driver’s License in which we learn and become better at the skill.

Love is a skill. Love is conscious. Love is intentional. Love is risk. Love is trust. Love is kind. Love is patient. Love is other-oriented. Therefore, love is also humility.

These do not come naturally to us. I think it’s interesting that I Corinthians 13, the great “love” chapter, actually highlights all the things that love is NOT more so than what love is. Perhaps this is because we more familiar with the “nots” of love.

I have two teenagers who have put off learning to drive a car for almost 2 years. They have plenty of friends, a brother, and parents, who have been hauling them around. They have not seen a “need” for a driver’s license. A driver’s license is a scary business. How many of us remember that first day we got behind a wheel? When did we really start getting comfortable as drivers? So often, we take the whole process for granted.

I can see this applying to a lot of Christians (including me). As long as we remain in our safe environments, go to church every Sunday, drop a buck or two in the offering plate, attend a workshop or a covered dish, we’re good. The driver’s license form of salvation requires more of us… of me. I mean, I’ve had my Jesus license for 30 years. Isn’t it time to start driving into some unfamiliar roads and places?

My daughter has finally started driving practices. She is fearful of all the other drivers. She still drives very slowly. She is very cautious. When we start using our Jesus license, we will be the same way. But, in the end, we must build up our speed. We must trust what we know. We must integrate all the rules with the pleasure of it. We must teach others to drive. And that’s the scariest part of all.

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Who Sent Me?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , on June 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 7:16
Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me…”

I’m not exactly sure why this phrase stuck in my mind. Well, that’s not the complete truth either.

Bottom line? I have been convicted somewhat that my writing is still motivated by that part of self that wants to be seen and heard…. to be appreciated, to be complimented, to be known.

The other part of self wants the words to be from “the one who sent me.”

Twins. They look alike but they have different goals and their fruit, the results, are dissimilar as well.

I believe each life has purpose: whether it is to touch a person who has lost feeling, to speak a truth to someone who was lost, to help someone rise again who has fallen, to love the loveless, to hold on to those who have let go, to nurture the weak, to enlighten those in a dark place, to right the wrongs, to hope for the hopeless, to stand when others have collapsed, to be open where others are closed, to honor the Truth.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go and tell this people…” [Isaiah 6:8-9a]

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Nothing to Lose

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 21:2-3
He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.”

The hard part of giving is struggling with our desire to keep the stuff. At least, that’s one of my issues. I grew up fairly poor. My mother was a widow who somehow managed to raise two children on less than $10,000 a year. And yet, she always provided food on the table, invited people to our table who were less fortunate than we were, and always had cut flowers in our home and on her desk to give cheer and hope to others.

She gave out of what she had: her love for beauty, her time, her enthusiasm, her hope.

Although I have managed to attain a middle class lifestyle, I find myself holding too tightly to the things that come with it. I am afraid of being poor again. And I know that fear betrays my confidence in God to take care of me. I am ashamed to admit it and even more afraid to say it: will I be tested through an unexpected loss?

The poor widow in Jesus’s story understood that she had nothing to lose, things could only get better.

This past weekend, my brother’s apartment was robbed. They took everything that had street value: all of his electronics, movies, music, jewelry (including his wedding ring), and other miscellaneous valuables. He is being stripped of so many tanglibles and like Job, he wants to know why. I have no answers.

But it is a wake up call for me. I am being challenged to simplify my life. If I can let go myself, then it may not be needful to wrench the stuff away. Oh Lord, forgive my stubborn holding on to the ephemeral things of life. Give me courage relinquish “stuff” and cherish, instead, relationships, love, joy, hope, transformation, and Spirit.

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Warnings

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 21:11
And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

Jesus, like many of the earlier prophets, spent much of his teaching time warning people of what was to come, from his own death to the end time. I don’t believe the point of his warnings was to generate fear but a desire for change.

Prophets, futurists and fortune tellers alike base their predictions on what has been and what is now. They look at the trajectory. But the future can change if we change! We must pay attention to the warnings and the possibilities and if we want a different future, we must act.

With all of our wars, pestilences, famines, storms, and pollution, our earth’s trajectory is destruction. When looking at that “big picture” it is overwhelming and yes, even frightening. What can I possibly do to change this path?

If people’s hearts can be healed by love, then the earth can be healed in the same way. I know it sounds so corny, but truthfully, if we are not in relationship with our environment as well as our society, caring for them as we care for our own loved ones, who will? Koinonia (community) is not just the people, it’s place.

I am so small in this, but today, I will think on and do the small things that I can. I will bless my neighbor. I will bless my family and I will bless the earth, so lovingly given by God.

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Born of God

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 6, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 1:12, 13b
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God … born of God.

This is the gift of Christ Jesus, to have the flame within ignited by the Spirit of God. We are born… or reborn… this is the root of the saying, “born again.”

As I mentioned before, we all have the light, but our personal light needs to be linked to the Source.

And once that happens, as Paul tells Timothy (2 Timothy 1:6), “… I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you…” We do this through the personal devotion, koinonia [community], and connecting with the flame of others.

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