love

Everybody Talks

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 89:1-18; 147:1-11, Hosea 8:1-14, Acts 23:23-35, Luke 7:18-35

Right now, somebody somewhere has something bad to say about you. Don’t sweat it: you’re in good company. When John the Baptist abstained from bread and wine, people said he was possessed by a demon. When Jesus ate and drank freely with everyone including tax collectors, people called him a glutton and a drunkard. Neither was true, but that didn’t stop people from talking. One way or another, the same thing happens to all of us.

Wise people realize praise and blame are all the same. Whether someone compliments or criticizes us, we should try to hear it with the same dispassionate ear. Other people’s words should neither inflate nor crush our sense of self. We don’t outright ignore what others have to say, because they may have a point – but they may also have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

While it’s hard not to take such things personally, let’s remember that whatever we do, whether we do it well or poorly, God loves us through it. God’s love for us does not depend on our failure or success, and does not fluctuate with public opinion. Of course we try to live as we believe God wants us to, but when we fall short – and we will fall short – God does not punish us by withholding love. To the contrary, God continues to pour love on us so we can begin anew. Conversely, because God always loves us completely, doing well does not “earn” us more love.

Many Christians can talk about loving others, but find it immodest or vain to talk about loving themselves. If God loves us, who are we not to? Feeling loved by God is how we learn to most fully love others. It’s human nature to criticize other people for the things we don’t like about ourselves, but the more kindly we learn to see ourselves, the more charitably we see others. When we recognize and embrace the divine spark of love in ourselves, we can more easily see it in others, and love them because God loved us first.

Comfort: God loves you. Always.

Challenge: At the beginning and end of every day for the rest of the month, remind yourself out loud that God loves you.

Prayer: God, thank you for loving me, and creating me to love. Amen.

Discussion: Which of your own flaws irritate you most in other people?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group or follow @comf_and_chall on Twitter. You’ll  have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Jesus Wept

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 51; 148, Job 29:1, 31:24-40, Acts 15:12-21, John 11:30-44

Anyone who grew up attending Sunday school has almost certainly been asked, at some point, to select and memorize a favorite Bible verse to share with the class. If the teacher isn’t savvy enough to exclude it, there’s always the one kid who picks John 11:35. In many (most?) translations, it’s the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.”

When did Jesus weep? He wept when his friends were mourning the death of Lazarus. They kept insisting that he would have survived if Jesus had only gotten to Bethany sooner. Why did Jesus weep? We could suppose it was because Lazarus was his friend too, but Jesus had known for days that Lazarus was dead – and that he would bring him back from the grave. The story might suggest he was weeping in solidarity with his friends, but when the scripture says Jesus “was disturbed and greatly moved,” the original Greek points not to sadness but to indignation. Could it be that Jesus wept because he was frustrated and infuriated that after all the time he’d spent with them, those closest to him still understood neither who he was nor the life God offered through him? A Jesus who weeps because he grieves with us is a comforting image, but in this case it just isn’t so.

The weeping of an angry Jesus may at first seem disappointing or even unsettling. On reflection, what seemed like a humanizing, relatable moment may begin to feel like condemnation. Upon further consideration though, how can we not be touched by the idea that God deeply desires a relationship with us on a level that is so primal our inability to conceive of it frustrates Christ to tears? At one time or another all of us have been frustrated, also sometimes to tears, by a loved one who just seems lost. We want them to be whole and well. Christ loves us so much that he doesn’t just want to cry with us, but to help us understand how God’s love can lift us from this vale of tears to a place of peace.

Comfort: God’s love for you – for each of us – is beyond measure.

Challenge: Sometimes it is also beyond understanding.

Prayer: Merciful and Gracious God, thank you for the love you give me. Even when it is greater than I can understand – greater than I can believe I deserve – I remain grateful. Amen.

Discussion: Even death could not separate Lazarus from the love of Christ. Do you ever feel like you’ve stepped outside the boundaries of God’s love?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Burning Love

/ JJS / 1 Comment

Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 51; 148, Joshua 4:19-5:1, 10-15, Romans 12:9-21, Matthew 26:17-25

Who are your enemies and what are you doing about it?

According to Saint Paul, you should be stepping up to meet their needs. In Romans 12 he says “bless those who persecute you” and “do not repay anyone evil for evil” and goes on to quote Proverbs: “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Paul tells us: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

In the middle of all this he says: “never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God.” Think about that for a moment: when we avenge ourselves on our enemies, we crowd out God.

Do we really live as if we believe, as Paul teaches, evil will be overcome by good? Not in the sense of the good guys outgunning, outlawyering, or outthinking the bad guys, but in the sense of good showing mercy to evil? Whether we are advocating for public policy, going about the business of the church, or conducting our personal lives, Christians can’t – with any integrity – cry for punishment of wrongdoing without equal enthusiasm for doing good to those who wrong us. We’re not talking about giving aid and comfort to enemy forces so they can destroy us, but leaving room for God to mete out any wrath on His own terms and timeline. Does that sound potentially dangerous? Well, Christ doesn’t command us to be safe; he commands us to love.

Do we fear our enemy’s repentance? Jonah (of “and the whale” fame) didn’t want to offer mercy to the people of Nineveh because they were his enemies and he was invested in hating them. He was miserable when they repented. Shouldn’t our Christian desire be that even our enemies find salvation? When our vengeance preempts the Lord’s wrath, it also preempts His mercy. Woe to anyone who has to own up to either of those.

Who are your enemies?

Are they next door? Overseas? Thirsty? Hungry?

And what are you doing about it?

Comfort: Foregoing revenge does not make you weak; it makes you faithful.

Challenge: In the news an social media, watch for examples of either/or, us/them thinking and talk with friends about how to overcome such thinking.

Prayer: Gracious and Merciful God, grant me the patience to put aside my ego and self-righteousness so I may do good to those who persecute me. Amen.

Discussion: What wrongdoing, personally or generally, do you have trouble forgiving?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

You Don’t Know Me

/ JJS / 1 Comment

Today’s readings: Psalms 46 or 47; 149, Isaiah 45:14-19, Colossians 1:24-2:7, John 8:12-19

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Judgment: to some degree, we’re all guilty of of it. At our best we can take a mental step back and move beyond it. At our less-than-best, we’re capable of doling out some pretty shabby treatment. Why do we judge? Sometimes it’s out of fear. Other times it’s because we see traits reflected in others that we don’t like in ourselves. Once in a while it’s because we need to believe someone did something wrong — usually defining “wrong” as something we haven’t done or been caught doing — that caused their illness, death, poverty, unemployment, public shame, prison sentence, or other problem. After all, the unacceptable alternative would be to admit that under the same circumstances we might have the same outcome, rather than convince ourselves we are saved by our virtue. Continue reading →

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Advent broadcast … or do we?

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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As we embark on the the fourth and final week, I want to acknowledge I’ve received some questions about the Advent themes and the “traditional” order they’ve fallen in. For some people and traditions the themes of Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy are familiar, but the expected order is different. For others the actual themes themselves may vary.

It’s all OK.

Traditions like Advent wreaths, candles, and the season itself don’t exist for our slavish dedication. They are rituals we have created to periodically remind ourselves of certain aspects of our faith. The point of them is not whether the pink candle is for Joy or the fourth week is for Peace, but to help us reflect on our need for Christ to enter our lives and the world.

Maybe mixing it up is a good thing. When people ask whether I get tired of reading the same scriptures every year, of hearing the same story of Jesus being born,  or of celebrating them same seasons over and over, my answer is always: “No, I don’t, because even though the stories don’t change, I’m in a different place in my life and faith journey, so I am always hearing and learning something different.” Mixing up the weeks of Advent provides another opportunity for fresh perspective, while at the same time providing a familiar and comforting framework.

In a couple days our readings will include the Magnificat, the words of Mary as she praises God for using her as a vessel to redeem her people. Mary’s prayer speaks new messages to me every time I read it. It doesn’t change, but I do. For some people though, it will be the same every time, and that’s fine. They made need a slight change to hear new meaning, and an unexpected difference in the order of themes or a fresh Biblical interpretation like The Message may provide the catalyst.

So if your regular broadcast of Advent has been interrupted, I hope that has helped you see, hear, feel, consider, and learn new things. Christ enters the world in unexpected ways. Expect that.