Living Christ’s Love

Luke 8:16-18 (ESV): Living Christ’s Love

No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.

His essay was honest. It outlined how and why he abandoned his faith. The essay carefully outlined, moreover, the reasons why he became an atheist. He was sick of feeling inadequate in the eyes of God, for his tradition taught him such. He was open and devout but faced with the soul-crushing draw to despise other faith traditions, to disdain those who believe differently. And he was fed up with trying to make sense of a loveless, discriminating deity. All of this and more he spelled out in his personal narrative essay. My heart broke knowing his faith fell victim to a close-minded, inaccurate system of catechesis -- a tradition teaching God as an intolerant, judgmental tyrant.

A student sheepishly approached me. He wasn’t sure how to ask but did in a quiet, hopeful manner: “Mr. Blackburn. Can I speak with you? My faith tradition asks me to pray five times a day. I would like to do this but have been reluctant in school for obvious reasons. Can you help me?” With excitement, I worked with the student to find a quiet place for his prayer. His face radiated with appreciation.

Atheism and Islam are two traditions that many Christians would condemn or avoid. How we respond to these children of God is a significant part of our mission as people of Christ’s love. Let us choose the path of Jesus, the path of welcome, inclusion, and love.

The light of the gospel, the light of Jesus inside of us, must be displayed so that people will be drawn to his light. Our faith should be recognizable by our love. All hidden things, our Lord reminds us, will be revealed. Those who have and bear the Good News are rewarded. Those who do nothing, however, to bear the love of God to others will lose the little they do have. It is a profound message: Love others no matter what. Let God take care of the rest.

I pray that our week bring us the opportunities to live Christ’s love to others, no matter the circumstances. Amen.

Have a blessed week.

Stan

The Toxicity of Small Talk

Hebrews 4:15-16 (NRSV): The Toxicity of Small Talk

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The crowd is thick with people murmuring in hard-to-decipher words. It starts when we sit down, waiting for the event to begin. The conversation turns toxic; the subject is others’ shortcomings. I promise myself that I will not participate. But I end up nodding and smiling, too much of a coward to offend my friends, colleagues, family, or acquaintances. I have a few techniques I use: I get quiet but silently agree. Sometimes I ask stealthy questions, questions that I can pass off as benign if challenged. But I know, like stones thrown in ridicule, their real purpose is to offend, condemn, and criticize. And then the cycle begins: I stop, realizing the wrong and feeling guilty about my contribution to the calumny. But I really don’t stop because, if I look deep within my heart, I know I’ll do it again.

The author of Hebrews reminds us that we are sinners in need of God’s grace and mercy, a forgiveness and strength that are freely given: “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Although I get discouraged, fall time after time, sin again and again, God’s word reminds me that this is the reason for Jesus embracing the human condition. He, too, faced temptation. Jesus knows, therefore, the struggle we face. His victory is ours, too, if we embrace it. What I mean is simple: We will fail every time if we try to pick ourselves up without the mercy and grace of God. God’s love, however, never fails. All we have to do is approach it, ask for it. God’s love, mercy, grace, and healing are ours. And it is my hope that we build up others in love, resisting the easy temptation to do otherwise.

Have a blessed week!

Stan

The Goodness And Loving Kindness Of God

Titus 3:4-5 (RSV): The Goodness And Loving Kindness Of God

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy.

About eight years ago, my then seven-year-old son wanted to go Christmas gift shopping. His elementary school sponsored an event run by the PTA in which small gifts were available for a few dollars each. We gave our son some money and let him shop. He took time sifting through all of the displays, careful to think about the meaning and purpose of each. Although I saw what he chose for my wife and others, I did not see what he chose for me. I discovered that surprise on Christmas morning, however.

After opening all of his Christmas gifts, my son walked over to a few small boxes and presented them to my wife and me. She opened her musical jewelry box with a smile and embraced him with a kiss and a thank you. Then it was my turn. As I unhurriedly peeled back the Scotch tape and Christmas-wreath paper, I uncovered a small porcelain nativity set.

“Do you like it, Dad?” my son asked.

“Are you kidding me?” I hitched, “I love it!” I had to fight back the tears. My son’s gift remains perched on my garage workbench where I am reminded of his innocent, loving gesture -- where I am reminded, furthermore, that he remembered the importance of Jesus in my life.

Even though we gave our son the money, took him to the gift shop, and guided him along the journey, his choices, thoughts, and intentions infused each gift with love and meaning.

There is nothing we can do to earn God’s love. Titus reminds us that God “saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy.” We cannot go out and buy God with our acts of virtue in this world. Often I fail to remember that every act of goodness I try to do is a result of God’s grace. Love is something I cannot fabricate; it can only come from grace. But even though God gives us this wealth of grace, it is our decision about how we use it. Do we squander it by falling into self-absorbed living? Or do we choose God’s loving kindness and invest it in acts of love toward our neighbor?

Heavenly Father, let our thoughts, choices, and intentions sow your love in this world. In Jesus Christ we pray, amen.  

Have a blessed week.

Stan

Why the Wise Seek Jesus

Matthew 2:10-11: The Wise Seek Jesus

The magi were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The Feast of the Epiphany marks the end of a beautiful stretch in the church calendar. It is the feast of the magi, the “wise-men,” the three pagan kings who travelled from the far-off regions of Persia to seek the new-born Jewish King. These Persian kings were experts in astrology; they were scholars rich in wisdom and respected by all. And it is their journey to Jesus that marks the end of the Christmas season. After today, church employees and volunteers will dismantle and put away the crèche scenes, give out the remainder of poinsettias to willing parishioners, and return our churches to their ordinary decor. That the Christmas season is at its end is reason to reflect on its reverberating meaning and message.

A writer from Word Among Us explains that the magi “[f]irst, saw a star and chose to follow it all the way to Jesus. Second, when they found Jesus, the magi knelt down to worship him and pay him homage. Third, the magi went home changed.” The wise kings chose to follow the star, even though they were not first-century Jews seeking a messianic king. They were, instead, outsiders with exceptional wisdom. And it was this grace-induced wisdom that they allowed to guide their choice. The magi remind us that true wisdom always seeks Jesus. The star of God’s grace shines above us each day. We just need to look, follow, find, and offer our best gift of self. The magi exemplify this.

The American writer O. Henry’s short story “The Gift of the Magi” reminds us, too, what true wisdom seeks and finds. The story’s protagonists, Jim and Della, a young married couple struggling financially, seek to give each other a Christmas present. In their self-sacrificing love, each gives up their most prized possession for the other. Ironically, Jim sells his prized watch to buy his beloved Della a pair of decorative combs for her beautiful, long hair. Della, in like gesture, cuts off and sells her hair to buy Jim a chain for his highly valued watch. At the end of the story, the narrator presents a didactic point to his reader:

The magi, as you know, were wise men — wonderfully wise men — who brought gifts to the newborn Christ-child. They were the first to give Christmas gifts. Being wise, their gifts were doubtless wise ones. And here I have told you the story of two children who were not wise. Each sold the most valuable thing he owned in order to buy a gift for the other. But let me speak a last word to the wise of these days: Of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are the most wise. Everywhere they are the wise ones. They are the magi.

As we prepare to look one last time at the manger before it is put away, let us be reminded of the beauty of self-sacrifice, the wonder of wisdom, and the gift of truth and grace that God gives us every moment of every day. And let our choices be that of love.

Have a blessed week!

Stan

New Year Smiles

James 2:13: Remembering to Smile

For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

From A Tree Grows in Brooklyn chapter 30 by Betty Smith:

She saw a girl named Joanna come out of her house a few doors away. Joanna was taking her baby out for an airing in its carriage. A gasp came up from some housewives who had stopped to gossip on the sidewalk while going to and fro about their shopping. You see, Joanna was not married. She was a girl who had gotten into trouble. Her baby was illegitimate-bastard was the word they used in the neighborhood-and these good women felt that Joanna had no right to act like a proud mother and bring her baby out into the light of day. They felt that she should have kept it hidden in some dark place.

. . . .

It was the signal for the other women to start throwing stones. One, droller than the rest, threw a ball of horse manure. Some of the stones hit Joanna but a sharp pointed one missed and struck the baby's forehead. Immediately, a thin clear trickle of blood ran down the baby's face and spotted its clean bib. The baby whimpered and held out its arms for its mother to pick it up.

A few women, poised to throw the next stones, dropped them quietly back into the gutter. The baiting was all over. Suddenly the women were ashamed. They had not wanted to hurt the baby.

They only wanted to drive Joanna off the street. They dispersed and went home quietly. Some children who had been standing around listening, resumed their play.

Joanna, crying now, lifted the baby from the carriage. The baby continued to whimper quietly as though it had no right to cry out loud. Joanna pressed her cheek to her baby's face and her tears mixed with its blood. The women won. Joanna carried her baby into the house not caring hat the carriage stood in the middle of the sidewalk.

And Francie had seen it all; had seen it all. She had heard every word. She remembered how Joanna had smiled at her and how she had turned her head away without smiling back. Why hadn't she smiled back? Why hadn't she smiled back? Now she would suffer -- she would suffer all the rest of her life every time that she remembered that she had not smiled back.

I pray that we always remember to smile even when we question whether we should. For the person in front of us is loved and cherished by our great God, so much that he died for them as he did for each of us. We never know the mountain of suffering that a person’s facade covers. And I pray that we be agents of Christ’s love to all we encounter, especially the Joanna’s of the world. Amen.

Have a blessed week and New Year!

Stan