Showing posts with label love of neighbor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love of neighbor. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Saturday, October 27, 2018
After Pittsburgh and Pipe Bombs...What?
Racism, xenophobia, antisemitism: convenient lies that people choose to believe in order to “explain” why things aren’t as they “should be” in their lives. They're the sinful cesspool into which people dip their cups to both slake and feed their resentments, fears, and pretensions.
When these hateful, irrational lies get injected into the mainstream of a culture, sick, deluded people use them to justify violence like shooting up schools, churches, concerts, and synagogues. It becomes thinkable for some to send pipe bombs to people they don’t know, they don't like, and toward whom they harbor bitter feelings.
I’m sick and disgusted by it all, aren’t you?
We DO need prayers at this time. But they must include more than just petitions for healing for the injured and comfort for the grieving.
We need to pray that all of our leaders of all political persuasions will not add to the stew of resentments, ineffectual policies, and spinelessness before the power of lobbyists waving campaign contributions that have led us to where we are today.
We need to pray that we will become kinder and gentler in our civil discourse. Free speech is and ought to be guaranteed in our country. But when, because of our lack of self-control, violence enters accepted daily speech, we encourage violence.
We need to pray that people will enter authentic relationships with the Prince of Peace and the Author of love, Jesus the Christ. The cheap political moralism "preached” in many Christian pulpits is not of God and not the gospel. The gospel is the good news described by Jesus in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Every human being is a sinner in need of the freedom from sin and death that only Jesus has won for us through His sinless life, His sacrificial death, and His resurrection.
The gospel tells me that I am no better than my neighbor, that we both are loved and valued passionately by God, that we both need to repent, that we both need to entrust our lives to Jesus for a grace that takes me as I am and leads me to become what God will make of me fully in the resurrection.
And this Gospel incites me, a sinner saved by God’s charitable love (His grace) and not by my "virtue" or "goodness," to love my neighbor as I love myself.
Prayer that we will live in authentic relationship with Jesus and that God will help all disciples of Jesus to share His gospel with others is the most practical thing we can do personally to address the lies that lead to so much violence in America.
I agree with those who are tired of hollow, idle, meaningless expressions of "thoughts and prayers." If you're going to pray, mean it. And if you pray in Jesus' name, don't be surprised when God makes it clear that you need to be part of a solution, not just a trafficker in sanctimonious cliches.
In the end, to overcome the sickness of hatred and violence that seems to be part of our everyday lives, it's our souls that must be transformed. And that transformation can only happen through the faith in Jesus Christ and His gospel.
This is our most desperate need at this hour.
[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Is this a Christian way to pray? Yes!
Below are reflections from my quiet time with God today. I met God at Psalm 58 in His Word. To see how I approach quiet time, see here.
I follow a Savior Who calls me to take up my cross and follow the same path He took through this world. He underscored the Old Testament law that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
If my anger at unjust rulers or my quiet act of voting is ever in response to my self-interest, I’m in the wrong. Always.
If my anger at unjust rulers or my voting is in behalf of the lowly, the poor, the powerless, the overlooked, the despised, the abused, the underappreciated, the endangered, the held-down, my anger is righteous.
But the very first thing we need to do with our righteous anger is take it to God. When we do that, He can lead us in discerning how best to express and live out indignation born of holy love.
Respond: Lord, today, do not forget the victims of violence, discrimination, and harm meted out against them by the abusers of earthly power. And don't let me forget them, or to pray for them, or to act and speak for them. Bring all tyrants into submission to You. Help me to live, not self-righteously, but in utter submission to You, the Lord, Who saves me not by my merit, but by Your charitable grace given to all who repent and surrender to Jesus. I surrender again now. Grant that all that I do and say will reflect Your imprint on the deepest parts of my soul and life. And let me share the saving good news of Jesus, the gospel of new life for all who believe in Jesus, with someone today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Look: “Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions! Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short...The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.” (Psalm 58:6-7, 10)
Psalm 58 is an example of what the scholars call an “imprecatory psalm.” To imprecate is “to invoke or call down (evil or curses) as upon a person."
Those outside the faith or casual Christians who read imprecatory psalms can be horrified, even offended. They see these psalms as arguments against the transforming love of God that Christians claim is at work in believers or even as arguments against God Himself. “How could a person filled with the love of Jesus pray such things?” they wonder.
In fact, these psalms demonstrate how important it is for believers in the God revealed now to all people in Jesus to be utterly honest with God about what we’re thinking and feeling. He knows all about us and our “moods.” In Psalm 139:4, we confess to God, “Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.” It’s futile to think that we can conceal from an omniscient God the kinds of sentiments to which imprecatory psalms give expression. God wants us to be completely honest with Him, as is appropriate for someone who is your best friend.
I like the suggestion made by Eugene Peterson, famed as the Bible translator who gave us The Message, and his friend Bono, lead singer of U2, in a short video from their conversation on the Psalms: The imprecatory psalms give Christians a faithful way to cuss. When we lay our anger before God in ways modeled by these psalms, we lay ourselves open to God’s correction and transformation. When we pray in this way, we may sense God telling us, “I understand your feelings…” And then, “I will take care of it. Remember that vengeance is mine.”
Or, “Are you being entirely fair?”
Or, “Does your own life measure up to the same standards by which you’re condemning so-and-so?”
Or, “Let me orchestrate events to bring about a positive resolution.”
Or, “Here are the words I want you to speak publicly to this situation.”
The third thing to be said in favor of imprecatory psalms is that their perspective can sometimes reflect God’s perspective. When we see injustices perpetrated against others, our anger toward the doers of injustice matches God’s anger toward them.
There is such a thing as righteous anger, anger born of God. Those who misuse or abuse earthly power of any kind to perpetrate injustices against others, who take refuge in the laws of this world rather than in God and His gospel will, at the final judgment, stand naked in their misdeeds rather than be covered by God’s grace given to all who trust in Christ.
The apostle Paul writes, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7). In the imprecatory psalms, we find a model for acknowledging injustices and asking God to bring justice about, whether that justice comes in this world or in the one to come. Imprecation in our conversations with God is one aspect of a healthy faith.
Listen: In Psalm 58, David is specifically railing against the injustices of rulers. He cries out to God to defang these rulers, to cause them to vanish. When that happens, he says, the righteous, those who depend on God for life and holiness, not themselves, will be glad, dipping their feet in the blood of the evildoers.
Tough talk. Not the kind of talk believers might express when they’re talking to their unbelieving barista at Starbucks. But if we bring such sentiments before God, God will understand. God will hear it as prayer and respond.
Think of the bloodthirsty tyrants in the world today. Take Vladimir Putin, who has murdered, jailed, and confiscated the property of his political opponents at home, invaded Ukraine, ordered the bombing of innocent civilians and medical convoys in Syria and Chechnya, poisoned opponents granted asylum in democratic nations, stolen his country blind, tampered with democratic nations’ elections, and been an enabler for Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime in Syria. If anyone deserves to be defanged and to vanish from the earth, it’s Vladimir Putin, this evil man. That’s why I go to God each day and ask for his peaceful removal from power. I also pray that his henchman will be removed from power.
I pray similar prayers regarding other bloodthirsty rulers.
I pray that those who abet the bloodthirsty will be given God’s wisdom and an openness to that wisdom or, barring that, that they too will be removed from office.
I pray, as Scripture teaches Christians to do, for all leaders, that God will help them to rule not with their own wisdom, but with the wisdom of God Himself.
Political activity has its place. Personally, I try to be an informed citizen, I vote, I send emails to government leaders, I make political contributions. As a pastor, I feel it would, except in the most extreme of circumstances, be inappropriate to be politically active: I don’t want people to confuse my political preferences for the Gospel I am called to proclaim.
But I also am part of a Christian tradition, Lutheranism, that encourages believers in Christ to be involved in the world for the sake of others.
And this is a key point: for the sake of others. When the Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was killed by the Nazia, his cause wasn’t Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or Bonhoeffer’s social class, or even Christians. Bonhoeffer acted against Hitler’s despotism because he was appalled by the treatment of Jews and others in his country and elsewhere. Christians know that we have eternal life with God; no worries. This gives us freedom to act and vote to protect others, not ourselves. God is always protecting us. “...whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Romans 14:8)
Whether it’s in our prayers or in our voting, Christians should never be about their own interests, but about what is in the best interests of their neighbors, Christian and non-Christian alike, those living today and generations yet unborn.
Psalm 58 is an example of what the scholars call an “imprecatory psalm.” To imprecate is “to invoke or call down (evil or curses) as upon a person."
Those outside the faith or casual Christians who read imprecatory psalms can be horrified, even offended. They see these psalms as arguments against the transforming love of God that Christians claim is at work in believers or even as arguments against God Himself. “How could a person filled with the love of Jesus pray such things?” they wonder.
In fact, these psalms demonstrate how important it is for believers in the God revealed now to all people in Jesus to be utterly honest with God about what we’re thinking and feeling. He knows all about us and our “moods.” In Psalm 139:4, we confess to God, “Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.” It’s futile to think that we can conceal from an omniscient God the kinds of sentiments to which imprecatory psalms give expression. God wants us to be completely honest with Him, as is appropriate for someone who is your best friend.
I like the suggestion made by Eugene Peterson, famed as the Bible translator who gave us The Message, and his friend Bono, lead singer of U2, in a short video from their conversation on the Psalms: The imprecatory psalms give Christians a faithful way to cuss. When we lay our anger before God in ways modeled by these psalms, we lay ourselves open to God’s correction and transformation. When we pray in this way, we may sense God telling us, “I understand your feelings…” And then, “I will take care of it. Remember that vengeance is mine.”
Or, “Are you being entirely fair?”
Or, “Does your own life measure up to the same standards by which you’re condemning so-and-so?”
Or, “Let me orchestrate events to bring about a positive resolution.”
Or, “Here are the words I want you to speak publicly to this situation.”
The third thing to be said in favor of imprecatory psalms is that their perspective can sometimes reflect God’s perspective. When we see injustices perpetrated against others, our anger toward the doers of injustice matches God’s anger toward them.
There is such a thing as righteous anger, anger born of God. Those who misuse or abuse earthly power of any kind to perpetrate injustices against others, who take refuge in the laws of this world rather than in God and His gospel will, at the final judgment, stand naked in their misdeeds rather than be covered by God’s grace given to all who trust in Christ.
The apostle Paul writes, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7). In the imprecatory psalms, we find a model for acknowledging injustices and asking God to bring justice about, whether that justice comes in this world or in the one to come. Imprecation in our conversations with God is one aspect of a healthy faith.
Listen: In Psalm 58, David is specifically railing against the injustices of rulers. He cries out to God to defang these rulers, to cause them to vanish. When that happens, he says, the righteous, those who depend on God for life and holiness, not themselves, will be glad, dipping their feet in the blood of the evildoers.
Tough talk. Not the kind of talk believers might express when they’re talking to their unbelieving barista at Starbucks. But if we bring such sentiments before God, God will understand. God will hear it as prayer and respond.
Think of the bloodthirsty tyrants in the world today. Take Vladimir Putin, who has murdered, jailed, and confiscated the property of his political opponents at home, invaded Ukraine, ordered the bombing of innocent civilians and medical convoys in Syria and Chechnya, poisoned opponents granted asylum in democratic nations, stolen his country blind, tampered with democratic nations’ elections, and been an enabler for Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime in Syria. If anyone deserves to be defanged and to vanish from the earth, it’s Vladimir Putin, this evil man. That’s why I go to God each day and ask for his peaceful removal from power. I also pray that his henchman will be removed from power.
I pray similar prayers regarding other bloodthirsty rulers.
I pray that those who abet the bloodthirsty will be given God’s wisdom and an openness to that wisdom or, barring that, that they too will be removed from office.
I pray, as Scripture teaches Christians to do, for all leaders, that God will help them to rule not with their own wisdom, but with the wisdom of God Himself.
Political activity has its place. Personally, I try to be an informed citizen, I vote, I send emails to government leaders, I make political contributions. As a pastor, I feel it would, except in the most extreme of circumstances, be inappropriate to be politically active: I don’t want people to confuse my political preferences for the Gospel I am called to proclaim.
But I also am part of a Christian tradition, Lutheranism, that encourages believers in Christ to be involved in the world for the sake of others.
And this is a key point: for the sake of others. When the Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was killed by the Nazia, his cause wasn’t Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or Bonhoeffer’s social class, or even Christians. Bonhoeffer acted against Hitler’s despotism because he was appalled by the treatment of Jews and others in his country and elsewhere. Christians know that we have eternal life with God; no worries. This gives us freedom to act and vote to protect others, not ourselves. God is always protecting us. “...whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Romans 14:8)
Whether it’s in our prayers or in our voting, Christians should never be about their own interests, but about what is in the best interests of their neighbors, Christian and non-Christian alike, those living today and generations yet unborn.
I follow a Savior Who calls me to take up my cross and follow the same path He took through this world. He underscored the Old Testament law that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
If my anger at unjust rulers or my quiet act of voting is ever in response to my self-interest, I’m in the wrong. Always.
If my anger at unjust rulers or my voting is in behalf of the lowly, the poor, the powerless, the overlooked, the despised, the abused, the underappreciated, the endangered, the held-down, my anger is righteous.
But the very first thing we need to do with our righteous anger is take it to God. When we do that, He can lead us in discerning how best to express and live out indignation born of holy love.
Respond: Lord, today, do not forget the victims of violence, discrimination, and harm meted out against them by the abusers of earthly power. And don't let me forget them, or to pray for them, or to act and speak for them. Bring all tyrants into submission to You. Help me to live, not self-righteously, but in utter submission to You, the Lord, Who saves me not by my merit, but by Your charitable grace given to all who repent and surrender to Jesus. I surrender again now. Grant that all that I do and say will reflect Your imprint on the deepest parts of my soul and life. And let me share the saving good news of Jesus, the gospel of new life for all who believe in Jesus, with someone today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]
Thursday, December 03, 2015
A good ambition to have...
...is to aim always at doing good for others and not getting caught at it...and not giving the good we do a second thought, as if to say, "What a great person I am."
Our giving should be a reflexive response to what a great God Who loves and saves those who trust in Christ to live as human beings made in God's image, has done for us.
And it should be done as anonymously as possible, so that the beneficiaries of the good we do won't be made to feel they owe us and we won't get puffed up, failing to remember that "every good and perfect gift"--even those gifts for which we've used every ounce of our brain and brawn to earn--comes from God, not from us.
I pray that God will help me to live with such un-self-conscious gratitude and generosity.
The best Christian person I know is also the most generous person I know, who, at the very designation of "best person I know" comes at me with firm denials.
But then, you wouldn't expect a person who routinely lives with gratitude toward God and generosity toward others to be conscious of how exceptional they are.
If they were conscious of their exceptional characters, they couldn't be notable for their gratitude and generosity. In other words, if you think that you're "all that," you're clearly not.
The key, I suppose, is to keep turning to Christ in "daily repentance and renewal," giving Him carte blanche to change us from the inside out and to live in our attitudes, actions, and thoughts. (We need to become, in Martin Luther's phrase, "the Holy Spirit's workshop.") When that happens, the Holy Spirit lives more firmly in us and we fulfill the picture of gratitude and generosity Jesus paints in these words from His sermon on the mount:
Our giving should be a reflexive response to what a great God Who loves and saves those who trust in Christ to live as human beings made in God's image, has done for us.
And it should be done as anonymously as possible, so that the beneficiaries of the good we do won't be made to feel they owe us and we won't get puffed up, failing to remember that "every good and perfect gift"--even those gifts for which we've used every ounce of our brain and brawn to earn--comes from God, not from us.
I pray that God will help me to live with such un-self-conscious gratitude and generosity.
The best Christian person I know is also the most generous person I know, who, at the very designation of "best person I know" comes at me with firm denials.
But then, you wouldn't expect a person who routinely lives with gratitude toward God and generosity toward others to be conscious of how exceptional they are.
If they were conscious of their exceptional characters, they couldn't be notable for their gratitude and generosity. In other words, if you think that you're "all that," you're clearly not.
The key, I suppose, is to keep turning to Christ in "daily repentance and renewal," giving Him carte blanche to change us from the inside out and to live in our attitudes, actions, and thoughts. (We need to become, in Martin Luther's phrase, "the Holy Spirit's workshop.") When that happens, the Holy Spirit lives more firmly in us and we fulfill the picture of gratitude and generosity Jesus paints in these words from His sermon on the mount:
"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing..." [Matthew 6:1-3]
Monday, November 30, 2015
Saturday, November 14, 2015
It looks brand new!
Today, the one-time call committee--Lutheran churches elect call committees to interview and recommend candidates for pastorates when they have openings--at Living Water Lutheran Church surprised me.
Shocked me, is more like it.
The group, which now calls itself the "Blame Us Committee" got my car, cleaned it, and detailed it as a birthday gift.
It looks brand new!
Thanks so much to all of this group...I really appreciate it.
Shocked me, is more like it.
The group, which now calls itself the "Blame Us Committee" got my car, cleaned it, and detailed it as a birthday gift.
It looks brand new!
Thanks so much to all of this group...I really appreciate it.
God told me to go to McDonald's...Well, sorta
God didn't exactly tell me to go to McDonald's.
But He did tell me to view every person in need as Jesus.
That means that, out of gratitude for God's undeserved gifts of forgiveness and new life for all who repent and believe in Jesus, I'm called to love others as God has loved me.
And I'm to do it with practical gestures, not just hollow words.
A few weeks ago, I was in Columbus' Short North district for a concert. Before the show began, we decided to walk along North High Street, in a stretch once blighted, but now filled with new bustle and vibrance. But, while there, I encountered several people who asked for money to eat.
At the time, contrary to my usual practice, all I had was a twenty. I usually only care a few ones.
To my embarrassment, I was loathe to part with the twenty.
And, of course--or, at least it's an "of course" to me, every time I was approached by one of these folks, I kicked into rationalizations for why I shouldn't give them any money.
"How do I know that they won't use the money on drugs or booze?" I asked myself.
"How do I know if this these people aren't lazy and this is just their way of generating income?" I wondered.
Well, of course--there's that phrase again, I don't know if the people I encounter on city streets or at the lights of freeway off ramps aren't druggies, boozers, or users.
And even if they are any of those things, there's a good chance that they still get hungry.
Besides, those words of Jesus were haunting me: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one the least these, you did not do for Me" (Matthew 25:45).
So, I prayed. "God," I asked. "How can I be responsive to these people, without judging them, leaving that to You alone?"
Then, it occurred to me that I could honor such folks' professed request by giving them a gift card to a fast food place that doesn't sell alcohol. Voila: McDonald's.
Yes, people can sell the cards I give to them and use the cash to buy drugs or drink. They can ditch them, too.
But I'm not responsible for what people do with the gifts from God that we share with them. I'm only responsible for what I do with God's gifts to me.
Everything else is up to God.
So, I bought some gift cards from McDonald's as a way to be obedient to the God of love Who, through Christ, has changed from His enemy to His friend. I plan to keep a few of the cards with me all the time.
You never can tell where life with God may lead you. Maybe even to McDonald's.
But He did tell me to view every person in need as Jesus.
That means that, out of gratitude for God's undeserved gifts of forgiveness and new life for all who repent and believe in Jesus, I'm called to love others as God has loved me.
And I'm to do it with practical gestures, not just hollow words.
A few weeks ago, I was in Columbus' Short North district for a concert. Before the show began, we decided to walk along North High Street, in a stretch once blighted, but now filled with new bustle and vibrance. But, while there, I encountered several people who asked for money to eat.
At the time, contrary to my usual practice, all I had was a twenty. I usually only care a few ones.
To my embarrassment, I was loathe to part with the twenty.
And, of course--or, at least it's an "of course" to me, every time I was approached by one of these folks, I kicked into rationalizations for why I shouldn't give them any money.
"How do I know that they won't use the money on drugs or booze?" I asked myself.
"How do I know if this these people aren't lazy and this is just their way of generating income?" I wondered.
Well, of course--there's that phrase again, I don't know if the people I encounter on city streets or at the lights of freeway off ramps aren't druggies, boozers, or users.
And even if they are any of those things, there's a good chance that they still get hungry.
Besides, those words of Jesus were haunting me: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one the least these, you did not do for Me" (Matthew 25:45).
So, I prayed. "God," I asked. "How can I be responsive to these people, without judging them, leaving that to You alone?"
Then, it occurred to me that I could honor such folks' professed request by giving them a gift card to a fast food place that doesn't sell alcohol. Voila: McDonald's.
Yes, people can sell the cards I give to them and use the cash to buy drugs or drink. They can ditch them, too.
But I'm not responsible for what people do with the gifts from God that we share with them. I'm only responsible for what I do with God's gifts to me.
Everything else is up to God.
So, I bought some gift cards from McDonald's as a way to be obedient to the God of love Who, through Christ, has changed from His enemy to His friend. I plan to keep a few of the cards with me all the time.
You never can tell where life with God may lead you. Maybe even to McDonald's.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
"I think we're smart enough to converse"
Lecrae, a committed follower of Christ and a great recording artist, has taken some heat for trying to engage in useful dialogue about the broader issues involved in what has happened in Ferguson, Missouri.
Like him, I can't claim to know the facts of the specific case, but I believe the reaction indicates that there is a broader issue to be addressed.
Prayer and the humble pursuit of unity and understanding are goals that we all can embrace, especially as Christians who seek to love our neighbors, white and black.
Like Lecrae, I have no political agenda. (Politics seems irrelevant to this entire issue, really. It's more a matter of our wills, minds, and hearts.)
Before recording this video, Lecrae, undoubtedly already exhausted from a recent tour, had spent long nights trying to convince young people not to use violence in protesting the wrongs they perceive. For that alone, he deserves a fair hearing.
I long ago came to love this man's music. But, increasingly, I love his heart for Christ and for his neighbors, his courage, and his integrity.
Like him, I can't claim to know the facts of the specific case, but I believe the reaction indicates that there is a broader issue to be addressed.
Prayer and the humble pursuit of unity and understanding are goals that we all can embrace, especially as Christians who seek to love our neighbors, white and black.
Like Lecrae, I have no political agenda. (Politics seems irrelevant to this entire issue, really. It's more a matter of our wills, minds, and hearts.)
Before recording this video, Lecrae, undoubtedly already exhausted from a recent tour, had spent long nights trying to convince young people not to use violence in protesting the wrongs they perceive. For that alone, he deserves a fair hearing.
I long ago came to love this man's music. But, increasingly, I love his heart for Christ and for his neighbors, his courage, and his integrity.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Everybody Matters...
from the the tiniest embryo to the most decrepit elderly person, from the wealthiest person with the whitest skin to the poorest one with red or yellow or black or even white skin.
Incidentally, no political statement is being made by me here, although this powerful graphic was shared on Facebook by Democrats for Life of America.
Incidentally, no political statement is being made by me here, although this powerful graphic was shared on Facebook by Democrats for Life of America.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Miracle at a Speedway Station
Today, several members of Living Water Lutheran Church in Springboro, Ohio, hit the bricks to share God's love in a practical way, giving away 168 bottles of cold water to total strangers in less than an hour.
One member brought her grandsons. When one of the boys saw an elderly man filling up his gas tank at a Speedway station, he asked his grandma if they could share a water with the man. I'm convinced that the young man was responding to a prompt from God's Holy Spirit, because when he and his grandmother had given the water to the man, he was deeply touched.
"Are you the kind of church that prays for sick people," he asked. "Every week," he was told.
He then asked if they could pray for his wife, suffering from a terminal illness, and who he hoped to bring home before she passed. The group of three began to pray, right there by the pump at the Speedway station.
As it happened, a veterinarian, whose office is near the station, saw the praying group, walked over from his office, and asked if he could pray with them.
It's been my experience that when we dare to reach out to others with the love God has given to all the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus, scenes like this happen. Just think what happened in that short interchange of strangers, a miracle at a Speedway station:
One member brought her grandsons. When one of the boys saw an elderly man filling up his gas tank at a Speedway station, he asked his grandma if they could share a water with the man. I'm convinced that the young man was responding to a prompt from God's Holy Spirit, because when he and his grandmother had given the water to the man, he was deeply touched.
"Are you the kind of church that prays for sick people," he asked. "Every week," he was told.
He then asked if they could pray for his wife, suffering from a terminal illness, and who he hoped to bring home before she passed. The group of three began to pray, right there by the pump at the Speedway station.
As it happened, a veterinarian, whose office is near the station, saw the praying group, walked over from his office, and asked if he could pray with them.
It's been my experience that when we dare to reach out to others with the love God has given to all the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus, scenes like this happen. Just think what happened in that short interchange of strangers, a miracle at a Speedway station:
- The comfort of God came to a man carrying a world of hurt and grief.
- A little boy learned to respond to Jesus' call to love others as we love ourselves.
- The group of us on this outreach learned again that God uses those willing to follow His lead to spread the message of His love in our communities and in our world.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
But How Do I Love My Neighbors?
The mission of the Church and of individual Christians can be summed up in three simple phrases:
*Members of Living Water Lutheran Church will recognize the similarities of this distilled list to what we're describing as the building blocks of the mission and ministry of the Church and of individual disciples of Jesus:
- Reach Up (Love God, in response for His grace given in Christ)
- Reach Out (Love our neighbors through service and sharing the Good News of new life in Christ)
- Reach In (Love those in our church family and submit to God to grow in our faith in Christ)*
*Members of Living Water Lutheran Church will recognize the similarities of this distilled list to what we're describing as the building blocks of the mission and ministry of the Church and of individual disciples of Jesus:
- Love God
- Love neighbors
- Love fellow disciples
- Share the Gospel
- Grow in Discipleship
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Will Spanish Prosecutors Indict Former Bush AG Gonzales and Others?
Spanish prosecutors, currently involved in prosecuting terrorists once held at Guantánamo, are reportedly planning on seeking indictments against former Bush attorney general Alberto Gonzales and five top aides for torture they say happened at the American facility in Cuba.
I've talked before about what I think of torture from my perspective as a Christian. See here and here, for examples of that. Also see here.
This entire matter is a sticky wicket involving grave charges and national sovereignty. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds.
I've talked before about what I think of torture from my perspective as a Christian. See here and here, for examples of that. Also see here.
This entire matter is a sticky wicket involving grave charges and national sovereignty. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Liberated from Navel Gazing
This morning I read this about Christ's death on the cross and resurrection:
For years, I've known an elderly man who visits and prays with the sick from his church. He's not a pastor, just a a Christian set free from slavery to selfish priorities.
The happiest people I know are those who have been liberated from navel gazing. They're free to be human, free to connect with God and others.
I pray that someday, I'll be one of those kinds of people. If I do, it won't come through my steely resolve, but through the power for living that comes from Christ.
And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. (2 Corinthians 5:15)A thought that strikes me when reading that passage is that one of the reasons Christ died on the cross is to set us free from slavery to self, from the tyranny of always thinking about me. We no longer live just for ourselves. We live for the one who died and rose for us. Through Christ, we live too for all those other people for whom Christ died.
For years, I've known an elderly man who visits and prays with the sick from his church. He's not a pastor, just a a Christian set free from slavery to selfish priorities.
The happiest people I know are those who have been liberated from navel gazing. They're free to be human, free to connect with God and others.
I pray that someday, I'll be one of those kinds of people. If I do, it won't come through my steely resolve, but through the power for living that comes from Christ.
Friday, May 16, 2008
"We are Christians too"
That's the title of this post by a Jordanian Christian. I think that his surmise that most of us in the US automatically equate Arab and Muslim is accurate.
Stereotyping is a handy way to turn other human beings into cardboard cutouts, debasing their humanity. It also lets us avoid the pesky demands of actually thinking. In any case, stereotyping people is a clear violation of Jesus' command that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (Read here to see the command in its context.) As Christians, that's our call whether our neighbors are Muslims, Jews, atheists, Buddhists, or Christians.
But to dismiss the commitment of others who confess Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives because they belong to a different ethnic group or because many members of that ethnic group profess a different religion is at the least, misinformed. Sometimes, it's hateful, certainly a sorrow to Christ.
Now, in fact, I must confess that I too have made the same automatic connection between Arab and Muslim, for which I ask God and my Arab sisters and brothers to grant me forgiveness.
Stereotyping is a handy way to turn other human beings into cardboard cutouts, debasing their humanity. It also lets us avoid the pesky demands of actually thinking. In any case, stereotyping people is a clear violation of Jesus' command that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (Read here to see the command in its context.) As Christians, that's our call whether our neighbors are Muslims, Jews, atheists, Buddhists, or Christians.
But to dismiss the commitment of others who confess Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives because they belong to a different ethnic group or because many members of that ethnic group profess a different religion is at the least, misinformed. Sometimes, it's hateful, certainly a sorrow to Christ.
Now, in fact, I must confess that I too have made the same automatic connection between Arab and Muslim, for which I ask God and my Arab sisters and brothers to grant me forgiveness.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Wow!
On Monday, the congregation I've recently begun to serve as pastor, Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Logan, Ohio, hosted a blood drive. The congregation was actively involved in it in countless ways.
I enjoyed observing how the people of Saint Matthew and of Logan came together for this great event. It was love in action, full of good humor...and great home-made food!
In addition to seeing Central Ohio Red Cross personnel process the blood donations of 77 people, I witnessed another wonderful thing: 76 people underwent bone marrow transplant screening.
The coordinator of the screenings was stunned. Ordinarily, she told me, she would expect that a number equivalent to 10% of those who donated blood would submit to the transplant screening. But there was a good reason for the response of the people of Logan. Even though they knew that there was little chance that their marrow would be a match, their hearts have been touched by the courageous battle against leukemia being waged by a Logan teen. I'm privileged to be her pastor. Through her, they know that bone marrow transplants can give leukemia patients new leases on life!
Right now, Sarah is undergoing a round of chemotherapy. She's no doubt buoyed by the prayers and love of many people, not to mention her own plucky faith and by the support of good friends and an extraordinary family and church community.
Seeing the response of the people of Logan and Saint Matthew made me offer a prayer of thankfulness that God has allowed me to come here.
I'm also continuing to pray for Sarah and I would appreciate your prayers for her as well.
[For information on how a bone marrow transplant works, go here.]
I enjoyed observing how the people of Saint Matthew and of Logan came together for this great event. It was love in action, full of good humor...and great home-made food!
In addition to seeing Central Ohio Red Cross personnel process the blood donations of 77 people, I witnessed another wonderful thing: 76 people underwent bone marrow transplant screening.
The coordinator of the screenings was stunned. Ordinarily, she told me, she would expect that a number equivalent to 10% of those who donated blood would submit to the transplant screening. But there was a good reason for the response of the people of Logan. Even though they knew that there was little chance that their marrow would be a match, their hearts have been touched by the courageous battle against leukemia being waged by a Logan teen. I'm privileged to be her pastor. Through her, they know that bone marrow transplants can give leukemia patients new leases on life!
Right now, Sarah is undergoing a round of chemotherapy. She's no doubt buoyed by the prayers and love of many people, not to mention her own plucky faith and by the support of good friends and an extraordinary family and church community.
Seeing the response of the people of Logan and Saint Matthew made me offer a prayer of thankfulness that God has allowed me to come here.
I'm also continuing to pray for Sarah and I would appreciate your prayers for her as well.
[For information on how a bone marrow transplant works, go here.]
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Organ Donation: A Christian's Duty?
A few days ago, at a regular gathering of area Lutheran clergy I've begun attending, a colleague shared a moving letter received by a woman who had visited the pastor at his office. The woman was evidently making the rounds among several area churches during what was recognized by many Methodist churches as Organ Donation Sunday.It seems that the woman's daughter died a few years ago and the young woman's organs were donated for medical use. Nothing could assuage the mother's grief, to be sure. But the woman had just received a letter which she hoped might motivate others to consent to organ donation. The letter was from a young wife and mother who had received her daughter's heart. She told this mother she would always be grateful for the gift of life that her daughter's heart had made possible. Obviously, the mother was happy to receive the letter and made her feel that, if her daughter had to die, at least some part of her physical remains could be used here on earth to bring renewed life to another person.
A day after hearing my colleague's account and reading the letter sent by the transplant recipient, I read this in Christian Century magazine:
The Church of England says human organ donation is a Christian duty, in line with the giving of oneself and personal possessions voluntarily for the well-being of others. The church's statement came during discussion in the House of Lords on whether a position on organ donation should be adopted across the 27-member European Union, of which Britain is a part. The church made it clear that it remains firmly opposed to the sale of human organs, but it said that living donors giving organs freely is acceptable when no commercial gain is involved (RNS).Methodist bishop and theologian Albert Outler said near the end of his life, “For forty years, I’ve gotten it wrong. I’ve been telling people, ‘You’ve got to love! You’ve got to love!’ But the truth is that through Jesus, we get to love!”
Maybe organ donation isn't a Christian imperative because we have to do it, but a Christian imperative because we get to do it, an act of love for neighbors we'll never see...at least on this side of the resurrection.
[UPDATE: In the comments, Chris points out that our own Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has long seen organ donation by live donors as an act of love and those of deceased family members as an act of good stewardship. (Stewardship is the management of our time, talents, and other resources, including our bodies, minds, possessions, and money, in light of our faith in Jesus Christ.) See here and here.]
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