Sunday, October 25, 2015

1 John 2:9-10 (NRSV): Act in Love

1 John 2:9-10 (NRSV): Act in Love
“Whoever says, ‘I am in the light’, while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling.”

My frustration with closed-minded people sometimes gets the best of me. These moments most often result in my counting to ten and internally reviewing my lack of charity.  But there are many times people act and behave in ways that run counter to my worldview. Those are trying times for me, however, especially when the issues at hand are close to my heart.  My frequent thought is the following: Why do I find it so challenging to love this person? The self-reflective answer is in my need for renewal. This renewal, moreover, is in the light of Jesus Christ.

“The darkness,” according to John, is a cause of spiritual blindness, and many Christians suffer from it. Like a fog, it covers our consciences when we become desensitized to our feelings of hate and sin and no longer seek repentance and reconciliation with the offended person and, in turn, God.  This is the darkness of our fallen humanity; it is what the Early Church Fathers termed concupiscence. Christ, as John reminds us, atoned for that darkness on the cross. He is our light, the example of love and self giving that we must follow. Loving one another, as John writes, is living in this light, and this light give us “no cause for stumbling.”

It is only through Christ’s light in us that we can combat this evil instinct of hate and instead embrace the charitable way of Jesus, a way that connotes loving all people, even if we find their behavior irritating and off-putting.  Love, in this sense, may take the form of hope, hoping for that person’s good; prayer, praying for that person’s conversion; and petition, petitioning God for the grace to be like Christ to that person and to shine a light on their darkness. Loving the difficult-to-love, most importantly, will require change in us, too.  A renewal that only the presence of Christ can make, but we must invite Him in.  I, self-admittedly, need to extend this invitation daily.

May you all be blessed and encouraged in the love and peace of Christ.  

Stan

Monday, October 19, 2015

John 12:24-26 (GNT): Dying to Self

John 12:24-26 (GNT): Dying to Self

“I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal. Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am.”

I am tempted daily to make choices that both serve and provide a comfort to me. For instance, when my family asks favors, my children make requests, and my neighbors need me, my subconscious reaction is to think first about how it will effect my day.  Life choices tend to revolve around “me.”

In the above verses, Jesus foreshadows the necessity of His own death: “If [the grain of wheat] does die, it produces many grains.”  Christ dies so the fruit of humanity can be reconciled with God and grafted to Him. Implicitly, Jesus addresses His listeners and readers, too. The faithful in Christ must die to the self-serving allurement of this world. The allurement of this world, in my example, lies in the emphasis of self.  When we die to the ideology of worldly thinking, like the elitist mindset of the Pharisees and chief priests of first-century Palestine, we gain eternal life in Christ. Jesus is not telling us to forget the life we live in this world. He is telling us, instead, to imitate Him in living it: Mercy, unconditional love, self-giving, forgiveness, welcoming the marginalized, and service to others are ways in which we can imitate Christ. For Jesus states that “Whoever wants to serve me must follow me.”

My thinking and living must be transformed, then.  Although my thoughts gravitate toward self will, self comfort, and self satisfaction, the answer lies in the life of Jesus. He provides the road map to living. Through His example and grace, we can all imitate and live a life guided by loving God and neighbor.

May you all be blessed and encouraged in the love and peace of Christ.  

Stan

Monday, October 12, 2015

John 13:34-35 (NRSV): We are Known by our Love

John 13:34-35 (NRSV): We are Known by our Love

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Sometimes I equate witnessing my faith to what Walt Whitman writes in “Song of Myself”: “I sound my barbaric yawp from the rooftops of the world.” In essence, I want to scream and shout, fill giant LCD screens in Times Square, and paint the sky with aeronautical smoke displaying that I am a follower of Jesus Christ.

Witnessing our love for God is a good thing, but our t-shirts, wristbands, and bumper stickers can sometimes function as the phylacteries, long garments, and tassels the Pharisees wore in the square when they prayed in public (see Matthew 23:5), externals that call attention to ourselves rather than God.

Jesus, however, in the beginning of the Book of Glory in John’s Gospel, tells His disciples something different: We are known by our love.  According to Scripture, the true testament of being Christ’s followers is how much we love God and neighbor, and in this passage, Jesus emphasizes our love for neighbor. The phrase “love one another,” for example, is repeated three times in these verses alone.

As I put away the bells and whistles of excited advertisement, I ask God to grant me the grace to love the person in front of me more, even when it is a difficult task. For as Christians, we are known by our love.

May you all be blessed and encouraged in the love and peace of Christ.  

Stan

Monday, October 5, 2015

Mark 10:15 (NRSV): Simplicity of Faith

Mark 10:15 (NRSV): Simplicity of Faith

“Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

In first-century Palestine, children were seen as parental property, voiceless beings expected to show devoted obedience.  Although marginalized, Children then were no different from children today -- impartial, innocent, and full of trusting love.  An adult, on the other hand, adopts a critical, callous point of view of the world.  In an adult-like manner, we question, doubt, and readily claim our self righteousness in matters of faith. But Jesus demands that we receive the kingdom of God as children. We must, therefore, slough off the facade of egotism and pride and open our minds and hearts to the truth of the gospel: God loves us so much that even while we are steeped in our own sins, Christ died for each of us (Romans 5:8). Receiving the kingdom of God as a child means having humble faith, loving God with an innocent heart, and loving our neighbor with impartiality.  When we live as children of God, looking up to Him with total dependence and trust, we “receive the kingdom of God.” I pray that our lives reflect Christ’s love and light to others.

May you all be blessed and encouraged in the love and peace of Christ.  

Stan