Overcoming Evil with Good

Charleston names another place where where a heinous act results in earthly lives being suddenly cut short.  Jesus says:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  JOHN 10:10

Any time we do not honor another human being, the thief has come. 

Jesus came with honorable intention, stepping into the mess of humanity, bringing God's love and restoration to a hurting world.  

In the New Testament, St. Paul writes about love in action, calling those who follow Jesus to live in the same way:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  ROMANS 12:9-21

WOW!  Slow down and re-read each sentence!  

Living this way is so contrary to human nature.  It is only by knowing the love of Jesus that one can even begin to function in this way.  Oh yes, it's not so difficult when we are minimally infringed upon.  It is another matter as the issues become larger.

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi has been in the forefront of my thoughts.  Just imagine how wonderful the world would be if all people lived the way this prayer reads!

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; 
to be understood as to understand; 
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; 
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.  

If each and every day,
we lived in honor of
the one who created life,

living for the good of another 

instead of self gain, 

knowing others are doing the same,

we would all be living LIFE TO THE FULL!

Fragrance Diffuser

They're quite popular, coming in a variety of scents, colors, and styles.  Fragrance diffusers are intended to make the air smell good and create the desired mood in that space.

Paul writes: 
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.  2 Corinthians 2:14

The diffuser can only disburse
that which it is drawing in!

Jesus invites us to abide
He says, dip your life into mine
Take in all I have to offer
Soak it up!

When the fragrance is empty, the sticks can no longer diffuse.  What a lesson that becomes for us! In order to diffuse the fragrance of God, we must be constantly connected to the source, soaking it in to share it with those around us.

The source of grace and mercy is Jesus!

When the sticks are dry, there is a trace of fragrance that remains...  It doesn't permeate the air in the room, it is soaked into the wood and you have to hold them close to detect any remaining fragrance.   

Jesus said, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  JOHN 15:4 

Have you soaked in the Word of God,

the grace and mercy of God,

in such measure
that it just emits from you,

without effort?

Imagine the people around you...  

In what way are they breathing in God's goodness and love, just because of who you are? 

My prayer today is to soak it up and be saturated in such measure that God's love is at the forefront of my mind, knowing His enduring love for me, and His desire for every person to know this for themselves too!  May all who know the love of God through Jesus be diffusers of His knowledge in every place!

Absolutely Everyone!

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  MATTHEW 7:7-8

Jesus is teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven.  If we take this out of context, there are times we
might wonder if God really does answer prayer.

David writes in Psalm 37:

Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,    when they carry out their wicked schemes.  PSALM 37:3-7



Jesus is saying...
ASK, beg, call for, crave, desire, require that God reveal insights about His Kingdom...
SEEK after these insights, searching for the less obvious deeper understanding...
KNOCK, literally rap on God's door, imploring him to share his thoughts and wisdom... 

Jesus is saying that
absolutely everyone
who earnestly asks, seeks, and knocks 

will discover God himself and His wisdom.   

Will everyone receive the answer they are hoping for when asking about their own desires? While we may hope for this, and sometimes conclude that God isn't answering if it doesn't come through just so...  the opportunity is there to gain deeper understanding.

Whenever it's difficult to make sense of circumstances, I look to Jesus.
On the night before his crucifixion, he instructed the disciples: Pray, that you will not fall into temptation.  

Then he moved about a stone's throw away, knelt down and prayed.
     "Father, if you are willing, take this cup of suffering from me; 
      yet not my will, but yours be done."  LUKE 22:42

We know this prayer was answered.  The cup of suffering was not removed, and yet God's will was done.  Jesus fulfilled the work he came to do.  He fulfilled God's will perfectly.  

It is much easier when God's will aligns with ours, and much more difficult when our desires aren't aligning with what's happening...  

And so I pray:
Good and gracious Lord, your ways are not our ways.  You tell us that we do not have because we have not asked.  Especially when it is difficult, when in times of trouble or tragedy or disaster, may we A.S.K. you first.  May we pray for your wisdom, to see how your will continues to be fulfilled, particularly when the immediate circumstances may not seem that way.  As we pray, may we seek where and how you might call us to be in it.  We give thanks for your longsuffering-patience and your everlasting faithfulness and your love that extends through eternity.  We pray this in Jesus name, AMEN.

Run for Your Lives!

There's danger ahead...
Retreat! 

Instead of retreating to safety,
Jesus repeatedly stepped into the mess.

The disciples were asked: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” on multiple occasions, to which Jesus replied: 

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means:
   ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  MARK 2:17

What if we understood
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
as Jesus calling us into the mess
instead of retreating to safety? 

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.  MARK 8:34-35

Ever since Baltimore erupted in late April, I have been trying to gain a greater perspective about the underlying issues.  I really believe we live in the land of equal opportunity, however, not everyone has equal advantage that provides equal access to the opportunities.  The disparity between the Haves and the Have-Nots is growing.  

Focusing on issues regarding children and families...

I just read some startling statistics from the National Center on Family Homelessness reporting

1 in every 30 U.S. children are homeless!  

The U.S. Census reports there are approximately 321 million people
45 million people living in poverty.
Over 146 million Americans (45%) are considered "poor" or "low income"
57% of America's children live in homes that are "poor" or "low income"

32% of all working families are considered "the working poor" 
and don't earn enough to make ends meet

Does this bother you?

The things Jesus did when he was walking this earth are the same things that he calls "his body" to do, not retreating to safety.

Learn to do right; seek justice.
     Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
     plead the case of the widow.  ISAIAH 1:17 

Upon reading from the book of Isaiah, Jesus says, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." LUKE 4:21

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.  ISAIAH 61:-2

Jesus laid down for people
whom he calls to be the church!

The sacramental church gathers,
she receives nurturing that comes through the gathering and the Word,
she receives a tangible reminder of Jesus' restorative work in the Lord's Supper,

and she receives departing words to live out God's mission on earth.

Where has God called you to

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, 

back out into the world 

to do the work that 

God alone has prepared you to do?

   

Restoring Hope

I remain confident of this: 
I will see the goodness of the LORD 
in the land of the living.  Psalm 27:13

Over the last three days, Baltimore has seen an explosive reaction that began in sanctioned protest and grew into an ugly display of of anger and destruction.

Amid the violence, there was an army of clergy singing through the streets with a desire for good to prevail over evil.  Top religious leaders of Baltimore placed themselves in harms way to end the violence, at one point on their knees in prayer at the corner of North and Fulton.  Rev. Carter said “we must go back to the streets.”  

This action by clergy is reaching out to young people, in their streets, on their turf…  

A reporter said: 

“The clergy are commanding this moment.  
The clergy are going to where they can take charge."  

Over time, a sense of unity began to develop as some who may have been part of the violence joined the prayer group.  This is a generation that has lost its way, said one of the ministers.  This is what happens when a dream is deferred.  

Documented on video we hear the reporter saying: "What do you think of the state of emergency the governor has declared?"  

The clergy respond with compassion: "There has been a state of emergency way before tonight: an emergency of poverty, a lack of jobs, disenfranchisement from the political process. It's been a long time coming."  

The people of God see hope

we see potential

we see beyond the surface

to the despair that resides in the human heart 

Despair...  a lack of hope... comes out in ugly ways - anger, violence, murder.  

People of God, we can speak into lives of people in despair.  

Some are called to the front lines when there is a crisis

(Full video here: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/clergy-marches-against-violence/32606352)

Some are called to the rehabilitation efforts

And some are called to the process of long-term development

I'm not talking about excusing bad behavior and wrongdoing.  I'm talking about knowing that the one who stepped in for us, on the cross of Calvary, stepped in for THIS too!

The people of God know that our creator can recreate the worst offender into one who brings Him glory - just look at Paul, who was formerly Saul.  The process of repair and restoration comes through relationships that champion another person.  With God himself as our champion, we find the strength and the ways to champion another person.  It comes by being FOR another person, not being AGAINST them.  

When we know that we've all come broken and the LORD is the one who stepped in and restored us, we can have the heart posture to step into the brokenness of another person's life and be the light in their darkness.  

Where might the Lord be calling you to walk with another 

and help them become all that God created them to be?

The words of Isaiah 58:6-12 are resounding in my mind:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

Love Your Neighbor

How easily we can focus on the wrong question...  

Jesus was asked: "And who is my neighbor?" 

Jesus replied with a story about a person who had been attacked by robbers who beat him, stripped him of his clothes and left him half dead.  The first two people to come by were religious people, passing him by.  A third person was unacceptable to the religious people, and yet he was the one who stopped to help and went out of his way to care for the injured man.  

The issue isn't who is my neighbor...

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to this man?"

The one who had mercy on him. 

Jesus told him, 
     "Go and do likewise." LUKE 10:36-37

We're called to BE the neighbor!

Frank Laubach once wrote:

What would it look like to be as wide open to people and their needs as I am toward God? 

God working IN me is essential!  First, I need to be wide open to God!  The more fully I experience his mercy, grace and love, the more fully His nature grows in me.  Paul talks about it as the fruit of the Spirit:

...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
GALATIANS 5:22

It becomes a way of living...

BE a neighbor!

Credit for this post goes to my friend Sue, who reminded a group of this important perspective in the midst of a discussion yesterday!

Time in Relationship Builds Trust

Living a life of faith is an interesting journey.  In the 30 years since Jesus captured my heart I've experienced such a wide range of responses to the love and peace that only He brings. 

I believe Jesus' invitation to us is simple: "Walk with me, see life through my eyes, do things my way - always through love, and experience true life for all eternity."  

A wise person once told me that there is no static place with Jesus, you are either growing closer to Him, or further from Him. 

The writer of Hebrews describes faith in this way:
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.  HEBREWS 11:1-2 (MSG)

It is through this faith, we have a perspective on life.  By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.  HEBREWS 11:3 (MSG)

What enables a person to walk through life in faith? 

Trust!

Merriam-Webster defines trust as
  : belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc.
  : assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something 
  : one in which confidence is placed

Relationships take time to develop.  

In the beginning, we see what a person does and hear what they say without understanding their motivations.  By spending time with a person, we begin to understand how they think and what's in their heart.  When someone is always and absolutely FOR US, trust develops.  When you know someone has your back, you're more willing to risk and stretch.  


Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life.  PSALM 143:8




Knowing about a person is different than knowing a person. Time together is the only way to develop the depth of relationship that produces trust.  Learning about a person from another is different that getting to know that person myself.  By spending time together, I can ask questions, gain a better understanding of who they are.  In this space I learn to trust or distrust.  

Will you spend time with the Lord to learn of his love and faithfulness?

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; 

his faithfulness continues through all generations.  PSALM 100:5

The LORD has provided His part of the conversation in the words of the Bible.
The more I spend time with Him, the more I understand the depth of His love.

Spend some time each day in His Word and learn of his faithfulness for yourself!
Don't delay... Just do it!