God loves

Valentines Day is on the calendar today, and all thoughts turn to love.  We need to tell the world, to tell all people, they are loved.  God loves.

Here are some thoughts from Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, written in her monthly message April, 2018 (https://www.livinglutheran.org/2018/04/god-loves/):

During a recent chapel service at the Lutheran Center, Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director for Global Mission, shared his favourite Bible verse with us: “Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

Jesus was in Jerusalem in the upper room praying with his disciples, modeling selfless service as he washed their feet, and preparing them for his glorification that would take place on the cross.

“He loved them to the end.” To his bitter end on the cross, but to the end of so much more—to the end of the deadly grip of sin, to the end of everything that would try to mar the image of God borne by every human being, to the end of death.

And Jesus loved them, 12 flesh and blood human beings who carried all the “stuff” people carry—passion and humour and courage, fear and doubt, the need to be seen and affirmed, great faith and quaking uncertainty. Jesus did not love the concept of disciples or the theory of people— Jesus loved them, Jesus loves us.

Jesus loved. How does one describe that? At my cousin’s wedding, the priest noted in his sermon that human language is too small for God. All the poetry in the world can’t express the love for one’s beloved or for a new baby or for family. All of the hymns ever written or sung can’t convey the love we have for God. Neither can words convey how much God loves us. It’s almost incomprehensible how much we are loved by God. It is too much to take in. But it is true.

This is the message that the Lutheran movement still has to speak to the rest of the world. God loves us. God means well for us and for the world. God’s love is deep and constant. And God’s love is not sentimental. The Incarnation was not a whim. Emmanuel, God with us, was a deliberate immersion into human brokenness in order to bring about healing and wholeness. “For while we were still weak … while we still were sinners … while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son …” (Romans 5:6-10).

---

God loves us. God means well for us and for the world. God’s love is deep and constant. And God’s love is not sentimental.

---

The Lutheran movement presents an alternative face of Christianity to the world. Too often the image of Christianity seen in popular culture is of a judgmental transactional God demanding perfection from an imperfect people, a people who, in desperation, work harder and harder to save themselves. Rules for purity are erected—pure theology and pure morality. Stark lines are drawn defining who is in and who is out. Faith becomes work. Righteousness is our righteousness achieved by ourselves.

Grace—God’s love freely given—is God’s work. It is not our doing. It is a gift. It is freedom. This is not for a minute to deny the truth of our sinfulness or that God does judge us and finds us falling seriously short. Grace doesn’t give us a free pass, nor does grace gloss over the reality of suffering and evil in the world. This grace, this freedom, makes it possible for us to realize the love of God in Christ in the world and in our own lives. And no human can set bounds on God’s grace.

Jesus loves his own and loves us to the end. Jesus doesn’t expect us to do the same—Jesus makes it possible for us to do the same. Therefore, we have nothing to fear and nothing to lose when we reject the notion of racial supremacy, when we welcome the stranger, when we confess that God alone is first. We can tell that story.

Salt and light....a responsibility

Matthew 5:13-16:     Salt and Light 

A Responsibility

The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes. It tells us that those who are poor, those who are hungry, those who weep, those whose hearts are pure, those who work to establish peace, those who suffer for the cause of justice -- they are all blessed in the kingdom of God.

Then the Sermon on the Mount speaks of the necessary response of the blessed. What is our responsibility? Jesus says: 'You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world'. All who are blessed are called to be responsible. To be Christian, to be in the kingdom of God, is a great responsibility. 

After the Beatitudes, Jesus tells the disciples of their responsibility in society, in the world. The focus of God’s action is the world -- not simply the Church or Christians. 'Let your light shine before people that they may see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven.' It is about our deeds in the world.

The Kingdom of God is about this world, and about our life and witness in the world.  It is about politics, about economics and about culture.  It is about our environment. It is about peace.  How are we to fulfil our responsibility in the society in which we live?  Jesus said: You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world.

First, Christians are to be the salt of the earth. When we want to stress a person’s worth we often say that he or she is 'the salt of the earth'. In the ancient world, salt was highly valued. The Greeks called salt divine. Salt performs two important functions. It is the commonest of all preservatives. It keeps things from going bad. For millions of people in the world, salt still has this purpose. In the second place, salt gives taste and flavour to food. Food without salt is bland.

Our task is to be the salt of society:  preserving, reconciling, adding taste, giving meaning where there is no meaning, giving hope where there is no hope. It is about the quality of life.

To be the salt of society means that we are deeply concerned with its well-being. We preserve cultural values and moral principles and make a contribution to the development of cultural and social life. We add taste and flavour to the common life. Because there are Christians in a city or in a village, its people should be able to praise God for the harmony and fellowship, joy and happiness which Christians bring to the common life.

We are also called to be the light of the world. The New English Bible translates: ‘You are the light for all the world’. It means we are to be light in all aspects of the world’s life. It also means we are to be light for all the people of the world. It takes us out of our preoccupation with the welfare of the Christian community alone.

Prophesizing about the Messiah, Isaiah says:

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

those who dwell in a land of deep darkness,

on them the light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2)

This prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus said: 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'. (John 8:12) Again he said: 'While I am in the world, I am the light of the world'. 

Jesus Christ is the true light of all the world.  He has lighted a light in the life of each one of his followers. We are called to rise and shine.

We are to be torch bearers in a dark world. Don't try to hide the light which God has lit in our lives. Rather' we should shine so that others may see our good deeds and see God.  Shining does not mean self-propaganda, self-publicity, self-glorification, but bearing fruit in our life, bringing life and light to others. It is about our deeds in society -- in politics, in culture and in social life.

The Bible does not give us a programme for political action, but it gives us a picture of God and his purposes for his creation.  In the Beatitudes we see a God who comforts those who mourn, a God who satisfies the needs of the poor and the hungry. To be a light is to follow this God, struggling to bring about social justice in our society, to safeguard human rights and to work for peace and reconciliation.

RESOURCES:

Salt and Light by T. V. Philip http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1528

 http://www.loopkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/EL-2-13-11.pdf

Bring back compassion - bring back the Golden Rule

The "Golden Rule" is found in many religions and cultures and the basis of morality.  It's time to bring it back to the forefront.  It is what brings us together; it makes us neighbours.  It brings compassion.

The following are some ideas expressed by Karen Armstrong during a TED Talk (Check it out: https://www.ted.com/talks/karen_armstrong_let_s_revive_the_golden_rule/up-next?language=en#t-573096)

There are 2 expressions of the Golden Rule:  the positive (do unto others…) or the negative (don’t do…)  This brings compassion and is the oldest known version from Confucious. 

Karen explains this as:  Look into your heart and see what causes you pain – and then refuse to inflict that pain on anybody else.  Compassion works.  “All day, every day”  according to Confucious – puts others in the centre and not yourself.  Compassion then means action.

Bring back the Golden Rule.  Bring back the compassionate. 

 “I feel an urgency about this. If we don’t manage to implement the GR globally, so that we treat all peoples, wherever and whoever they may be, as though they were as important as ourselves, I doubt that we’ll have a viable world to hand on to the next generation.  The task of our time, …, is to build a global society… where people can live together in peace.”  Karen Armstrong, 2009

Answering the call... on being genuine

"Follow me!" This week we hear a call to follow Jesus - and to be in genuine and real relationships with the people around us: bearing each other's burdens, caring for each other and especially the vulnerable, holding onto each other through thick and thin, always with the hope and promise of God’s grace. Sometimes that call will take us far from home and sometimes it will take shape among the persons right around us. How do you live your call in your life? What does it mean to you?

Come to worship this Sunday (or listen to the message online) and hear from youth and young adults how they have answered the call and what it looks like in their young lives. You will be inspired!

They showed us unusual kindness.

January 18-25 is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  The worldwide celebration is both the seed and the fruit of this striving for ‘unity in diversity’. This year’s theme calls us to move from shared prayer to shared action.

An excerpt from the service prepared for the Week and from the website weekofprayer.ca

....We ... pray for unity among Christians and reconciliation in the world. Divisions among Christians have existed for many centuries. This causes great pain and is contrary to God’s will. We believe in the power of prayer. Together with Christians all over the world, we offer our prayers as we seek to overcome separation.

The resources for this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity have been prepared by different Christian Churches in Malta. The history of Christianity in this small island nation dates back to the time of the apostles.  According to tradition, St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, reached the shores of Malta in the year 60 CE.  The narrative describing this eventful and providential episode is conveyed to us in the final two chapters of the Acts of the Apostles.  

This text signals the beginning of Christianity in Malta - a small country made up of two main inhabites islands, Malta and Gozo, as well as other islets - at the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, halfway between the southern tip of Sicily and Northern Africa.  This biblical land lies at the crossroads of civilizations, cultures and religions. 

(As an island nation, boats are an important part of Maltese life.  The Scripture reading in this service describes a perilous sea voyage by the Apostle Paul.  A boat is also symbolic of the sometimes tempestuous journey Christians make together towards unity.)  

Our prayers and reflections ... during this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, are centred on the hospitality shown by the islanders towards those who had just been shipwrecked: “They showed us unusual kindness” (cf. Acts 28:2). May the love and respect we show each other today as we pray for Christian unity be with us throughout the whole year.