The Reflection of God's Love

2 Kings 17:13-15 (NLT): The Reflection of God’s Love

Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah: “Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees—the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”

But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the Lord their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the Lord’s command not to imitate them.

The Old Testament is rife with a consistent message to its people: Follow the commandments of God and be blessed; reject his commandments and suffer. The problem, however, is that we often attribute our suffering to God’s punishment. This is not the case, however. Our poor choices result in our suffering.  

If we look carefully at the text and analyze the original authors’ intents, we surmise that it is not God’s punishment that creates our suffering but our poor choices. Like the ancient Israelites and Judeans, we are God’s chosen people. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, therefore, we are brought into the New Covenant with God. And like the ancient Israelites and Judeans, there are times when we fail to choose God’s way of love. Instead we substitute our own poor choices -- vengeance, hatred, gossip, judgment, and dishonesty. The rotten fruits of our deliberate poor choices separate us from God’s grace.

Thankfully, the story does not end with our choice to sin. The story, instead, continues with God’s choice to forgive us when we turn to him. That forgiveness happened 2,000 years ago when God became man in Jesus Christ, taught us the way of love, and carried that loving example to Calvary. When we are steeped in our stubbornness, follow the ways of a wayward culture, or refuse to love our neighbor, we build our own wall blocking the blessings that God desires to give. All we need to do, however, is take an honest look in the mirror. What do we see? Does the mirror show the image and likeness of God? Or does the mirror reflect something that needs transformation? The choice is ours.

Heavenly Father, we pray for the grace to always turn toward your love. We are human and susceptible to error. Take away our stubbornness, guide us in your right path, give us hearts to forgive and love our neighbor as you forgive and love us.

We pray in Jesus Christ’s name, amen.

Have a blessed week!

Stan

Being Great Givers

Matthew 5:42 (NABRE): Great Givers

Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

When I was leaving South Korea in 1993 to return to the US, I remember exchanging cash for American Express Travelers Cheques. That company used to have an advertising slogan: “Don’t leave home without them.” Well, I thought it wise to take their word. So I bought $200 worth of cheques and kept no cash. When I arrived at a remote airport outside of Seoul, I had to purchase a one-way airline ticket to Japan. No problem, I thought. However, the teller took only Korean won or American dollars. I had those cheques and nothing else. Three people behind me, a man stepped forward and paid my ticket in exchange for $125 in travelers cheques. The man was an angel of God in my eyes. Little did I know, however, that in turning over the cheques to the man, I forgot to sign them. They were useless to him without my signature. After I arrived home, I received the cheques in the mail with a letter asking for me to sign and return them, which I did in haste. That man’s generosity remains an example of self giving that I will never forget.

In this verse from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us about giving. And giving isn’t limited to just handing over our money; it is about handing over a piece of ourselves. We are called upon daily to look around us and step up in line for the needy person who is sometimes too shocked or confused to ask. Figuratively, this may be a friend in need of a listening ear. Maybe we are called to serve others by giving up our free time so they can have a minute to breathe. Our moment of giving may not equal $125 of our cash, but our small act of love might mean the world to the person who needs it.

Let us keep our eyes open for the moments where we are called to self give, to serve, to offer up our love for the sake of someone else. And as we “give to those who ask” and turn toward those in need, we will notice an infection of love in the wake of our example.

Loving God, we pray for the grace to be great givers. Let the example of your Son shine in our hearts as we offer ourselves to those around us in need. We pray in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

Have a blessed week!

Stan

Family Ties

Mark 3:32-35 (NRSV): Family Ties

A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

We are heirs to the kingdom of God. How can this be? Is it due to the traditions we follow, our service in the church, the Christian organizations that we support, or our participation and attendance at church services? Jesus clearly explains that it is neither. There is no club, organization, creed, volunteerism, or oath we can take to make us heirs to God’s kingdom, to bind us as brothers and sisters in Christ. Our familial bond with Jesus is simple in definition but costly in commitment: We must follow Jesus’ way, truth, and life of love.

To be part of the family of Christ is to commit ourselves to God’s will. And God’s will is expressed in Christ’s two great commandments -- to love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. Ah, there’s the rub: Loving our neighbors as ourselves is a challenge that will cost us our lives.  Let’s contemplate a few examples to see living Christian charity.

In 2006, after a horrific school shooting in Nickel Mines, PA, members of the Old Order Amish community -- the same that lost their 5 children and grandchildren in the shooting -- reached out in forgiveness and support to the shooter’s mother. The Amish bishop told his congregation, “We must think evil of this man.” Through grace and commitment to faith, the Amish community forgave the killer and expressed love and sympathy to his family.

One night in 1993, Oshea Israel, a teenager in Minneapolis, Minnesota, got into a fight, which ended when he shot and killed Laramiun Byrd. Laramiun was the only child of Mary Johnson. Fighting the hate and resentment in her heart, Mary eventually went to the penitentiary to visit the man who murdered her son. And through her faith and God’s grace, she forgave Oshea. Years later they not only became friends, but Johnson and Oshea became family. Johnson describes Oshea as her now “spiritual son,” even walking him down the aisle at his wedding.

Consider the smaller moments in our lives where people have wronged us. How has our resentment become an obstacle to love and forgiveness? Everything in Jesus’ life example is shown in his love and forgiveness of all -- this example is his way, truth, and life. And in this week’s gospel, Jesus points us to his way of love. It is a way, moreover, that bonds us to Jesus as his brothers and sisters, as heirs to the kingdom of God.

Heavenly Father, we pray for the grace to forgive those who trespass us as you forgive us our trespasses. In Jesus Christ we pray, amen.

Have a blessed week!

Stan

On Being Called

1 Samuel 3:10 (NLT): On Being Called

And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

I often ask God in prayer where he wants me to go and what he wants me to do. They are questions that seem easy enough to answer, for they define the basic structures of life -- place, action, and service. Looking back, it is clear that God’s voice changes as our lives change. There is, however, a steady connecting thread that bonds each stage in our lives with God’s will.

As a formative youth, school was always a challenge for me. I never liked it. And due to difficult circumstances, I did not have the formation and structure that I needed for success. This, in turn, influenced my poor choices as an adolescent. But in the thick of my bad choices, there were professionals in the school system who were there to mentor, guide, and listen. These wonderful people cared about me, and it clearly showed through their understanding and service to a troubled teen. At the time, however, I did not realize that their service was forming my own vocation as a teacher. I say vocation and not career on purpose, for a vocation is “an occupation to which a person is specially drawn”; a vocation, in other words, is a calling.

After high school, I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. And it was during those years of service that I learned the value of education. In the service, education fostered rank and promotion. The lack of education brought stagnation. Within my first year, I enrolled in night college classes. And in them, I experienced the hard work and hunger for learning. I felt called to learn and tenaciously took classes wherever I was stationed.

Upon entering college full time, I met many professors who became my mentors. Their knowledge, kindness, humor, enthusiasm, and professionalism not only formed my mind and study habits but reaffirmed my heart’s yearning to become an educator. It was in college, that I began to understand that my calling was to be a teacher, to give back that positivity and compassion to my students.

Over the past 21 years, God has given me the grace to embrace his call as a classroom teacher, even during the mute years of my spiritual life when I was not listening for his voice. More than this, God has blessed me to serve as a husband to my beautiful best friend, Dana, and a father to four wonderful children -- Wes, Andy, Lily, and Luke.  

Our calling is not always a melodious song of celebration; it is sometimes speckled with the dark dirge of suffering or pain. But even in our pain we can find blessings if we open our hearts to God with the words of Samuel, “Speak, your servant is listening.”

Looking back on our lives, as rocky or smooth as they may be, where has God called each of us? Let us consider the vast landscape of our life experience. How have we listened, responded, and carried forth on God’s call? Are we listening as God’s servants now?

Heavenly Father, please speak, for your servants are listening. Let our lives be a radiance of your love and our hearts be the magnet that draws others to you. Each day you call us in everything we do, give us ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to love. In Jesus Christ we pray, amen.

Have a blessed week!

Stan