How Well Do We Love?

John 18:37 (ESV): Leaving a Legacy of Love

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

A little over a month ago, I attended my second-cousin’s viewing: He was 47 when he passed away of stage four pancreatic cancer. Even though Frank and I lost touch over the years, his passing resonated deep within me, touching a personal place in my heart, reminding me of the short space of my earthly life. Death, when it strikes close to home, often reminds us about what truly matters -- family, love, and friendship.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus answers Pilate’s pointed question about kingship. Jesus says, in essence, that his own kingliness is not that which anyone of the “world” understands. Jesus does not declare himself a king of this world. Instead, he says something that connotes the opposite. Jesus declares himself as a witness to truth. Pilate -- a man of politics, warfare, power, and position -- does not understand truth as Jesus attests. Truth, according to Pilate, is slippery and loosely defined within the context of the moment, factoring in advantage and control. But Jesus himself is the truth. All that Jesus teaches, exemplifies, and preaches is God’s truth. And God’s truth, in a word, is love. This love is a foreign language to the likes of Pilate, for love is a truth that mounts the cross in self-sacrifice for for others -- yes, even Pilate.

When I kneeled near Frank’s open casket to offer a prayer, I noticed something. Propped against his right hand was a homemade cardboard sign in the shape of one of those 1980’s World Wrestling Federation championship belts. It read “Saint Ann’s Tag Teem Champions,” scrawled in what looked like his second-grade hand. When I saw this, it told a hidden story, and the purity of childhood friendships came to mind. From the crooked penmanship to the phonetically-spelled “teem,” I was reminded of childhood simplicity. As children, our love connotes innocence, devotion to others, trust, and unbridled friendships. Through God’s blessings, an enduring love is the truth we forge as our legacy to the world: How well do we love? And from what I gathered at his viewing, Frank loved (and was loved) much.

Jesus tells Pilate plainly: “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” I pray that our ears be open to the truth of Jesus’ life. And I pray that our lives create a legacy of God’s love for all of the people we encounter each day, from the families we raise to the lives we serve throughout the world.

Have a blessed week!

Stan

Where and When Will the Kingdom of God Come?

Luke 17: 20-21 (GNT): God Within Us

Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, “The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’; because the Kingdom of God is within you.”

When the religious leaders look for a concrete answer from Jesus about the end-of-times, Jesus responds with an unexpected answer. His answer reminds the Pharisees that the kingdom of God is not so much about a place and time, for God’s kingdom is in the here and now. The kingdom of God, Jesus teaches, is within and among us. It is not a far-off date or place. And it is not about a prophecy or punishment. The kingdom of God is here and now, present in the love and grace of Christ in our hearts. But we have to open our eyes to see God’s kingdom both within and among us.

I see God’s kingdom in the smile of each of my children, and I hear God’s voice in their laughter. Just the other day, I experienced the reward of snuggling up with my youngest son, Luke, and my daughter, Lily, on our couch. We watched a Christmas movie together. Feeling their nearness and warmth and keeping time with the cadence of their breathing, I paused and thanked God for the gift of them. God’s kingdom is within and among us.

I see God’s kingdom in the loving attention of my wife, Dana. Whenever I come home, no matter how difficult a day she’s had with raising our three children and managing our household -- organizing doctor’s visits, scheduling school events, shuttling to and from places, keeping an immaculate house, nursing sick children, and cleaning up after and organizing for a frazzled, forgetful husband -- she has a welcoming hug and kiss for me as soon as I come home. God’s kingdom is within and among us.

I see God’s kingdom in the children I teach. With each greeting at my classroom door, each smile and wave, each “thank you” and “how was your weekend,” I hear the voice of love, care, and concern. God’s kingdom is within and among us.

Jesus teaches us that God’s kingdom is not a far-off place, hidden in the ether of an unknown realm. God’s kingdom is right here within and among us in the presence of love emanated by those around us. And God’s kingdom is in each of us, too, when we choose to radiate the love of Jesus to those we encounter.

I pray that we all receive the grace to recognize that God’s kingdom is within and among us, allowing God’s love to spring from our outreach and service to others.

Have a blessed week and Happy Thanksgiving!

Stan

To Be a Coin in the Purse of God’s Heart

Luke 15:8-10 (CEV): To Be a Coin in the Purse of God’s Heart

Jesus told the people another story:

What will a woman do if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them? Won’t she light a lamp, sweep the floor, and look carefully until she finds it? Then she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, “Let’s celebrate! I’ve found the coin I lost.”

Jesus said, “In the same way God’s angels are happy when even one person turns to him.”

No one is without value in the eyes of our loving God. Every person, no matter their past, is loved and cherished. Each of us matters greatly, so much that God stripped himself of everything to become a vulnerable human being, to live with us, teach us, love us, and die for us. The cross is the greatest reminder of God’s love and the value that each of us holds in his heart.

It is too easy to look around our broken world and find examples of human suffering. Whether it is the streets of Calcutta, the avenues of Manhattan, or the Appalachian dirt roads of West Virginia, we can see the face of human beings reduced to ruin. “How can a loving God allow this?” many ask. But what we fail to remember is the fall of humanity. The first books of Genesis spell this out with clarity and conviction. We have fallen into temptation, rejected God, and lost paradise. Since then, our world has been one in need of unity, love, and renewal. Christ came to set the standard. As people of faith, we are called to spread his Good News with our lives. In many ways we succeed; in others we fail. But our successes and failures do not mean that God loves us any more of less. He loves us unconditionally with his whole life. No matter how hard we try, succeed, or fail, God’s love is the beautiful constant of our lives. Each and every one of us matters. The problem is when we doubt this. Jesus tells a parable in Luke 15:8-10, however, to assuage our doubts.

We are the lost and found coins of the world. Often we are in the purse of our Creator, living life reflecting God’s love to the world. But there are moments when we choose the opposite: We gossip, resent others, seek revenge, act with passive aggression, lie, and reject love. After all, we are only human. But seeking the lost coin, God sweeps his house looking for us, never giving up. When we finally repent -- turning our lives around and asking God for forgiveness -- God and all of heaven celebrate! We are imperfect and prone to sin, but each of us is a shining coin held in the purse of God’s heart. Never forget it!

I pray that we all remember how much our lives matter to our loving and faithful God. And through God’s grace, I pray that our lives sparkle with his love to all those we serve and encounter.

Have a blessed week!

Stan

Loving God is Loving Neighbor

1 John 4:20: Loving God is Loving Neighbor

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

God shows himself in the most unsuspecting ways. We often look around and find imperfections in the world, especially in the people with whom we interact. “I find that person offensive and irritating,” we often say to each other and ourselves. When in the presence of that irritating, oppressive person, we should pause and ask the following question: “In what way is God asking me to love this person?” It is probably one of the most difficult questions to ask, for its answer often scares us.

Sharing work space with a difficult colleague is a challenge. A few years ago, I found myself in that situation. He and I did not have the same teaching or classroom management philosophy, and this made the professional end of our relationship a struggle: We often butted heads with how to approach lessons, manage the class, and teach content. As the year went on, I noticed that I was not the only one who had this problem with my colleague. Other people dreaded working with him, too. As problems arose in our class, I tried to compromise but felt that he refused to meet me halfway. I either had to concede to his way or become someone I was not comfortable being, a person prone to conflict. And I detest conflict. Time passed, and resentment toward my colleague welled up in my heart and psyche. I felt stressed, uncomfortable, and frustrated. What was I doing wrong?

Love in the biblical sense is not the kind of love we gravitate toward in 2018. Biblical love, the kind of love Jesus both teaches about and models, is a love of inclusion, welcome, sacrifice, and service. To love biblically doesn't mean we have to embrace or even like the person; it means we have to hope, care for, and be our best to the people we often like the least. How’s that for a challenge?

In my personal life, as in the example above, I often fail to love as Jesus teaches and models. Instead, I love myself, my own comfort, my preferences, my autonomy . . . my . . . my . . . As you can see, I often love selfishly. I often love, in the way that Linus points out in the Peanuts illustration above, according to vague lip service rather than the specificity of human engagement. I have a long way to go. Thankfully, I worship a God of unconditional love and patience.

I pray that we all let go of the self-centered hurdles in our spiritual love life and follow the advice Jesus gives: We need to love God above all things and, as important as this, to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Have a blessed week!

Stan