Tag Archives: Loving Like Jesus

Good Shepherd, Bad Shepherd

Eastertide

April 24, 2021

Scripture Reading:

John 10:11-18
‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’

Why would a good shepherd lay down his life for the sheep? Sheep are the source of the shepherd’s and his peoples’ livelihood. They provide wool for clothing, skins for tents or water pouches, and meat and milk for food. Nothing was wasted. The shepherd’s protection was essential. Contracted services do not share the same vested interest. I cringe as I write this materialistic view of the story. The farmers and shepherds of the first century would have fully understood Jesus’ point. If the shepherd and his friends had a desire for lamb chops whenever possible and he chose to slaughter every lamb whenever their gluttonous hunger needed to be fed, they would eventually have no sheep.

So, what would be a good analogy to deliver Jesus’ message today? As I write this, there are $1.4 million people in the USA who are living in poverty or with incomes below a living wage. Most of them work, and some work at two or more jobs. Our success as a nation is gaged on how we treat and deal with the working men and women who are the foundation of our economy. As the rich get richer and those numbered among the poor increase, we are on the same trajectory of decline that other great nations, like Rome, faced before their falls. Greed fed by power lost them kingdoms. It is ironic that Rome, too, allowed its infrastructure to decay and did not rise to the challenges of pandemics or climate change, like drought and volcanos.

Christ calls us to follow him as he works to create a world ruled by love where all people’s skills and talents are needed to make the world operate smoothly. All people must have basic needs met and must be afforded opportunities to become the people God created them to be. Disaster strikes when our greed gets in the way of that happening.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when our greed overcomes our common sense. Direct us in the way we should go to build the Kingdom ruled by love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Abiding in Christ

Eastertide

April 23, 2021

Scripture Reading:
1 John 3:16-24
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Christ’s commandment is to love one another. We demonstrate our love for Christ by the way we love and care for others. While we may say we love others, do our lives and our actions support our words? I am deeply concerned about the amount of negative energy being cast about in our world regarding people we may not understand and who have little or no impact on our lives. Why do we feel the need to make them outcasts? Jesus would be sharing a meal with them, getting to know them, loving them. Why do we suspend a boy from school for wearing a pigtail or cut a girl’s hair for wearing it in its natural fullness? Why do we think we have the right to require anyone to conform to our expectations of their gender identity?

I will never forget when I got off the plane in Sweden with my choir, and we all headed to the restrooms. To my surprise, there was only one restroom, no designation of women and men. We all stood in one long line, which moved amazingly fast compared to what we females were accustomed to. Each stall was fully enclosed and contained a stool and a urinal on the wall. We did share sinks for washing our hands and mirrors for checking our hair and makeup or shaving. I was sold and wished all facilities were like that.

Negative reaction to others makes me concerned about whether those with the negative reaction have not experienced the amazing and full love of God as they search for their worth by denigrating others. If that is the case, we, as the Body of Christ, need to examine and upgrade the work we do to share the love of God throughout the earth.

Prayer: Lord, abide with us and help us abide in you so that the love we share for others reflects the purity of your love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Addressing Poverty

Eastertidei

April 22, 2021

Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:16-24
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? What are our biases? Do we think when Jesus said the poor will always be with us* he felt that is the way it should be or was he stating a need to alter our priorities for a time? A reading of Matthew 25:34-36 indicates God calls us to alleviate the problems caused by poverty. It is most likely true that society will always have some with more wealth than others and that the poor describes those on the bottom rung of the wealth ladder. Our society seems to relate poverty, not having enough of the necessities of life and no hope of attaining them, to being poor. They are not the same thing. Some people choose to live frugally because worshipping wealth has its own evils to address. Proverbs 10:15 states, The wealth of the rich is their fortress; the poverty of the poor is their ruin. I hear in today’s world that many families are just one major illness or catasrophy away from financial ruin. That is not only true of the poor but also the middle class and the wealthy.

I think 1 John above tells us that everyone needs to have enough of the necessities of life and that we have some responsibility in making sure that happens. That indeed may take the role of literally feeding and clothing people. It may also include advocating for fair and just treatment of all people.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see a brother or sister in need and not refuse to care for them.  Amen.

*See Mark 14:7

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love

Eastertide

April 20, 2021

Scripture Reading: Acts 4:5-12
The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is
“the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
   it has become the cornerstone.”
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.’

My heart breaks a little every time I see a social media post or other media linking Christianity to hate or privilege or prosperity. I find myself not using the word Christian instead choosing to use Christ-followers. I recently read an article, sorry I cannot cite it, that chastises those of us who are giving up on that word of identity. We do need to own who we are and whose we are.  If that is the case, we need to be who Christ calls us to be and do what Christ calls us to do. Every word and every deed playing out in our lives needs to reflect the image of God in us, the truth of God with us, and the hope of Christ’s vision of a world ruled by love. Micah 6:8 describes this attitude well:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God?

Justice and kindness both have the quality of balance. Justice denotes equality and equity. Kindness* sometimes translated mercy, extends to the lowly, needy and miserable a hand up to bring them in sync with the fulness of life. Humility is the fulcrum that makes justice and kindness possible.

Prayer: Lord, help all know we are Christians by our love. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2617.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Reality-Equality-Equity-Justice

Eastertide

April 19, 2021

Scripture Reading:
Acts 4:5-12
The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is
“the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
   it has become the cornerstone.”
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.’

Good health is a luxury for those who cannot afford medical care or food or clean water or time for rest. We were created as an interdependent world where the well-being of one raises the well-being of all. During the COVID pandemic, we see the disproportionately negative impact the virus has had on those who fundamentally enable others to continue their routines—shop clerks, bus drivers, janitors, and sadly grave diggers. We must recognize and correct the inequities in our society, assure that all have access to affordable quality health care, and earn a living wage. In times such as these, our call to do justice echoes throughout the land.

O Christ, the healer, we have come
to pray for health, to plead for friends.
How can we fail to be restored
when reached by love that never ends?

In conflicts that destroy our health,
we diagnose the world’s disease;
our common life declares our ills:
is there no cure, O Christ, for these?

Grant that we all, made one in faith,
in your community may find
the wholeness that, enriching us,
shall reach the whole of humankind.*

Prayer: O Christ help us become healers as we do justice for all your people. Amen.

*First, fourth, and fifth verses of O Christ, the Healer by Fred Pratt Green see at https://hymnary.org/text/o_christ_the_healer_we_have_come

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zone

Eastertide

April 18, 2021

Scripture Reading:

Luke 24:36b-48

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. –Luke 24:44-48

The history of God is a cohesive whole recorded by God’s followers as it occurred in the development of cultures, societies, and nations over time. I do not think God would have created beings made in God’s image had God not intended for them to excel when they set their hearts to the right. Jesus’ example tells us that serving God would require a lot of intentional, righteous work. Jesus also assures us that he will be sharing our burdens and strengthening us for that work.

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. John 14:12-14

Our challenge as people of faith is discerning what is right and what is just for ourselves and everyone. Such efforts can only be successful if we make an effort to step out of our comfort zones and see the world through the eyes of others.

Prayer: Lord, open us to understanding the lives of all your children, finding our common threads, and seeking to understand our different perspectives while we grow together in the love of God. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Simply Love

Eastertide

April 17, 2021

Scripture Reading: Luke 24:36b-48

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. –Luke 24:36-43

As children, my sister and I sang a duet of a song titled, It Is No Secret What God Can Do. The song was sung by everybody from Jim Reeves to Elvis Presley to Mahalia Jackson and my sister and me. I thought of that song when I read the above scripture. It may not be a secret what God can do, but for many, at least at times, God’s capabilities are undiscernible. I found it interesting that the disciples could believe in ghosts but not in a man resurrected, one they could touch and feel. We humans, I fear, try to make life more complicated than it is or needs to be. Jesus’ message was simple and straightforward, love God and love one another. The source of abundant life for all people is the very Creator of the world. Can we at least recognize God might know how he created the world to work well?

I awoke this morning to the news of another mass shooting, this time in Indiana. A reporter interviewed a man who had just learned his relative had not been killed or injured. The man was greatly relieved but noted he was among a group of people who had lost family members, and though overjoyed that his relative had survived, he mourned with those who had lost a brother or sister or child or parent. He added, “Why can’t we just love one another?”

The chimes of time ring out the news, another day is through
Someone slipped and fell, was that someone you?
You may have longed for added strength your courage to renew
Do not be disheartened, I have news for you
It is no secret what God can do
What he’s done for others he’ll do for you
With arms wide open, he’ll pardon you
It is no secret what God can do

There is no night for in his light you’ll never walk alone
You’ll always feel at home, wherever you may roam
There is no power can conquer you while God is on your side
Take him at his promise, don’t run away and hide
It is no secret what God can do
What he’s done for others he’ll do for you
With arms wide open he’ll pardon you
It is no secret what God can do*

Prayer: Creator of all, help us to love one another as you have loved us. Amen.

*It Is No Secret What God Can Do by Stuart Hamblen see at https://www.google.com/search?q=it+is+no+secret+what+god+can+do&rlz=1C1CHZN_enUS922US922&oq=it+is+&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j46j0l2j69i60l3.2684j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Without Law

Eastertide

April 16, 2021

Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:1-7

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. –1 John 3:4-7

Pilate asked, “what is truth?1” with the inference that truth is relative. What is right, for many, may fall in the same category. The words right and righteousness refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after [the Lord’s] examination), i.e. what is approved in [the Lord’s] eyes2. Truth and righteousness come from the same source and require that we seek the vision of God in all aspects of our lives.

The Greek word, anomia3, translated here as lawlessness, means without law, not against established law. Sin is acting without recognizing God as the author of both truth and righteousness.

Like Pilate, our society is having problems discern what is true and what is right. Perhaps our blindness or confusion results from our failure to gain clarity from the One who defines truth and righteousness. Have we reached the point that we feel we are beyond God’s righteousness? Are we now a people who think we are beyond God’s laws? Jesus identified the most critical laws as loving God and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Families are struggling from the impact of COVID. In the USA, poverty impacts 1.4 million people, mass shootings are occurring across our lands, and families are fleeing other countries because of starvation and violence. Where are the laws of love to address such needs? 

I have always appreciated M. Scott Peck4‘s definition of love as wanting the very best for another, which I think is defined by God and includes all others. We have a living Savior and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show us how to turn away from the distractions that are separating us from God, restoring us to keepers of the faith, ruled by God’s truth and righteousness.

Prayer:

 Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
reclothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence, praise. 5 Amen

1John 18:38
2https://biblehub.com/greek/1343.htm
3https://biblehub.com/greek/458.htm
4 Author of The Road Less Traveled
5First verse of Dear Lrod and Father of Mankind by John Greenleaf Whittier see at John Greenleaf Whittier

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Preemptive Love

Eastertide

April 15, 2021

Scripture Reading: 1 John 3:1-7

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. –1 John 3:1-3

God created the world and all that is in it and called it good. All people are God’s children. I think God chose not to make a puppet theater where God pulled all the strings. God had a great desire for the interchange of ideas and feelings, the same need of parents to reproduce their likeness for the furtherance of human life and the expansion of possibilities. When God created us in God’s image to attain that vision, we were also granted free will to follow the Lord’s path or not. Thus, the anti-God, we sometimes call evil, was allowed a presence.

The world has fallen far short of God’s glory as we become more and more divided. We are being played by evil which is the entity treating us like puppets. Evil tries hard to limit our choices to exclude that which is good and right. We see this when we and society care more about issues that rarely impact our lives while ignoring the teachings of Jesus to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick, reform the prisoner, and welcome the stranger. We pick and choose verses from the Bible that support our biases and promote self-righteousness while patently ignoring the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount or Romans 8.

We are not given the assignment of judging or condemning others. We are charged with loving them. Preemptive love fills the void in people’s lives that evil uses to its advantage. Preemptive love is God’s love, and we as Christ-followers are empowered to share it, replacing something of far greater value than evil could ever produce. After this year of tumult, violence, sickness, and death, perhaps we need to reconnect with God’s preemptive love.

Prayer: Lord, heal our weary souls and enable our witness of God’s love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Changing the World

Eastertide

April 13, 2021

Scripture Reading: Acts 3:12-19
When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

‘And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

Peter’s words sting as I read them, you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. I have wondered what choices I would have made had I been one of those present moving from waving palms of welcome to crying out crucify him, crucify him. Would I have run home and hidden as he trudged toward Golgotha carry the cross, or would I have followed him? Only one of his closest disciples stood at the foot of the cross. The others probably feared for their own lives, but what about Thomas, who said let us go to Jerusalem to die with him. Women were there, but women did not matter among the male-dominant religious or political leaders. Secret followers came out of the woodwork to bury him.

The more critical issue is what I am doing today to fulfill the call to go into all the world and make disciples. I find more and more, my weak witness is defensive rather than welcoming, as actions are taken in the name of God that are foreign to my faith. How do we become the One Body of Christ in the tug-of-religious war in which we now find ourselves?

Peter takes us back to God when he assures the crowd that he did not heal the man. Peter was the conduit for the healing power of God. We, too, are called to be such a conduit. That role demands a closer walk with God and a clear understanding of our purpose, vision, and actions stripped of all self-righteousness and overflowing with God’s righteousness and grace. What happened to all those followers who did not show up at the cross? Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the overwhelming love of God, those initially week-kneed first disciples changed the world. We can do that, too.

Prayer: God grant us the courage to rise above our defensiveness and hesitancies to do our part in establishing the Kingdom of God through love in our world today. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.