What Next?

(a sermon for May 12, 2024, the 7^th Sunday of Easter, based on Acts 1:1-11)

It stands among the most dramatic scenes found in holy scripture: Jesus’ ascension into heaven, in which he is carried out of the disciples’ sight into heaven on a cloud.  It’s perhaps the quintessential moment of farewell in all of human history, one that underscores the glory of God’s awesome presence, the commissioning of the disciples and his promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit. 

And for those eleven disciples of Jesus – this rather motley assortment of fishermen, tax collectors and societal outcasts – it was the end of a long journey begun some three years before, following an itinerant rabbi named Jesus: a journey filled with great signs and miracles, the remarkable good news of a Kingdom come from God, and then an excruciating death followed by an impossible, utterly preposterous and yet undeniable resurrection from the dead!  They’d seen the risen Christ, these disciples; they’d shared a meal with him, they’d received his blessing and heard some last-minute teachings from their master.  But now, after all of this, their story – that is, the disciples’ story – was seemingly coming to an end. 

Or was it… given what Jesus had just said to them about being his “witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” was this just the beginning?

That’s why it just makes perfect sense to me that after it was all over, even as they were still “gazing up toward heaven,” perchance to catch one last glimpse of Jesus before he completely disappeared from their sight, that the disciples would already be saying to one another and even to no one in particular…

“…what next?”

One of the great joys that are mine as a grandparent are those moments when Sylvie and I get to share music together.  I love listening to music with her (And by the way, you know you have young children in your life when the song stuck in your head at the end of the day is not a much beloved hymn or even a classic 60’s rocker, but in fact, “Hop Little Bunny, Hop, Hop, Hop!”); but even more than listening to music with Sylvie, I love listening to Sylvie listening to music!  The other day, I’m in the car with her, we’ve got tunes playing, and sometimes it’s just a phrase or two, sometimes it’s the whole song (because she is a very gifted child, after all!), she’s singing along! But the best part for me is after the song is done; lately, you see, when the song is over, you can hear her in the back saying, “what next?”  In fact, it happens after just about every song…

What next? What next!  So excited about what the next song’s gonna be, the next song she gets to hear, the next song she gets to sing!  It’s like in that split second between songs on the playlist, this little girl is totally filled up with joy, excitement and utter anticipation of the moment to come! And as I’m listening to this, I’m thinking to myself, oh, that it were always like this: our days ever filled with new and endless possibilities, so much so that we can’t help but say, “What next?”  What’s gonna happen now?  What big adventure is about to begin, and what kind of wonders will there be to discover? I can hardly wait to find out!

Of course, as card-carrying grownups, we tend to lose that joyous sense of anticipation, don’t we?  These days, when we hear or speak the words, “what next,” we’re more inclined to feel a sense of dread than one of excitement: another car repair? A messed up medical bill? Broken pipes at the camp?  Good grief, what next… and how much is it going to cost me?  Or maybe, especially in these days, the question arises out of our concern about the direction that the world is headed; or else it’s simply regarding all the changes we end up having to face in life that leave us feeling at the very least apprehensive!  To put it simply, for us adults “what next” is a perfectly normal – if not entirely joyful – response to the impending course of our life’s journey!

And so it was for the eleven as they lingered there in the moments just following Jesus’ ascension, still staring up to the sky; slack jawed, awestruck and, frankly, pretty much scared to death!  

And like I said before, this is a response we can understand! Remember that even now, even after everything that had happened to them with Jesus, the disciples still didn’t understand.  They’d already asked Jesus that day – again (!) – if this was to be the time when the kingdom would be restored to Israel, meaning that they still held the point of view that “the kingdom of God” could be garnered and measured politically.  And even after Jesus explains to them – again (!) – that it was not for them to know how or when God will act, but it was their purpose to serve as his empowered witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” – in other words, telling good news to all at home, abroad to strangers, and far, far away to those on the edges of life, spreading the word and being about the work of ministry in his name; with the power of  Holy Spirit, by the way – even then, they’re, well, flummoxed!

Excuse me?  Power?  Witnesses? The ends of the earth!? Really?!  I mean, Lord, we’re not you; there’s so much we don’t know, much less understand; and besides, have you noticed, Lord, that we haven’t exactly distinguished ourselves as disciples up to this point?  But whatever their protests, it didn’t matter, because now Jesus was taken out of their sight, and with their master and teacher having ascended to heaven, the disciples were left to face an uncertain future, an improbable mission and one immediate question:

What next?

Of course, we know what happens next, but still you have to wonder, if at the time, any of those first followers of Jesus ever, in their wildest imagination, could have ever believed that their “first, halting efforts at bearing witness” to Jesus could have led to his good news resounding in every corner of the globe!  You wonder if they had any inkling at all of the enormity of the task before them or of the price they would have to pay for the sake of the gospel, or if any of them have possibly imagined the power and wonder of the Holy Spirit working in and through them?

What’s interesting, you know, is that the Greek word for “witness” used in this passage is actually better translated as “martyr,” which in our understanding has become synonymous with dying for one’s faith. But as it was originally understood, however, to be a martyr meant first and primarily to live for faith; living wholly and completely for the sake of this good news of the resurrection.  So you have to wonder what it was about those eleven disciples, that even though they felt lacking in just about everything they needed, they nonetheless and immediately focused their entire lives on being witnesses of the risen Christ!

And lest you think we’re just talking ancient church history here, understand that our text for this morning is not only the story of the disciples; it’s our story as well, yours and mine.

 Like those early disciples, you see, we too are living “between the now and the not yet,” a time after the resurrection of Jesus Christ but before his return in glory; living amidst the kingdoms of the world but awaiting the fulfilled promise of God’s kingdom coming in its fullness.  The Book of Acts is actually the beginning of that story, the story of what happened next: taking us from the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and continuing up through Paul’s imprisonment in Rome for the sake of his new Christian faith; but even then, that’s not the end of the story. 

There was a woman in the church I served in Hallowell who was one of those rare individuals who always had a good and spiritually uplifting word, no matter what was happening in her life or ours.  One day she came through the line to greet me after worship, and she said to me, “Now, Michael if you really want to understand what faith is all about and what the church should be doing, then you really need to read the 29^th chapter of Acts!”  She said this with such conviction and joy that I couldn’t help but be filled with curiosity; so imagine my surprise when I got home, opened my Bible with great anticipation and discovered …there is no 29^th chapter in the Book of Acts!  What she was reminding me was that the story of our faith, the mission of the church, the tale of our own witness is ongoing, and that God is, in fact, writing the 29^th chapter of Acts through our lives as disciples of Jesus Christ!

We are called, you and me, to continue the story as witnesses of the risen Christ through the power of his Holy Spirit so that the life changing news of God’s love can be told “to the ends of the earth:” understanding that today the end of the earth can be a place as far-flung as a third world nation, or, as close as the hearts of those around us who have desperately sought to find their life’s fulfillment everyplace except in God’s presence and love. 

Simply put, friends, we are called to be missionaries!

Now, I know that to our post-modern ears this term “missionaries” might come off sounding a little old-fashioned and that the days of Christian missionaries are long past, but in fact if there’s ever been a time in which it’s crucial that the world hears this good news of Jesus’ light and life, and the peace and love embodied in God’s kingdom, it’s right now.  As followers of Jesus, we are as such his witnesses, the teller of his tale; now, more than ever before, you and I are called not to passivity where our faith is concerned, but to activity!

And if that seems to us an overwhelming task, if we’re the ones shaking our heads and wondering “what next,” it’s good to remember that Jesus was not looking for greatness in those first disciples, but rather faith! Because truthfully, for all of their doubts and rough edges, what the original eleven had going for them was a true and authentic faith in God. And that’s the thing that will set us apart, too. 

The Rev. Thomas Tewell says this very well when he writes that “what characterized the early church and will characterize us is authenticity.  God is looking for authentic people, people who are real and ring true. They are the kind of people that other people would like to be.  God is not looking for people who are so heavenly minded that they’re no earthly good, but real people who can follow Jesus Christ and serve God with authenticity and joy.”

To put this another way, for us to be true witnesses of the risen Christ does not necessarily mean that by our faith we are pulled into the big events of life, but it most certainly means that by our faith we are drawn into the everyday, seemingly small things of life in a big way.  Someone once said that “life is what happens to you while you’re waiting for the bus,” and I think that’s true.  So often you and I find ourselves overly focused on the bus that’s coming and where it’s headed – the “what next” of our very lives, as it were – when all along, the very thing we’ve been seeking has always been right there at the bus stop!  What we’re talking about here is our own spirituality in the midst of the here and now, and in and through all the moments of life, both large and small; that’s the stuff of real, authentic faith, and this is what shines forth from us to be seen by others. 

It’s pretty simple, actually: when people see a joyful, winsome and sincere love for the Lord in us, they want to know more; and that is where the good news of the gospel gets told and is shared from family to friends to community, and even, perhaps “to the ends of the earth!”  But it all begins with our being a witness precisely in the times and places where we dwell!

Basically, it all comes down to faithful living at the most basic and preliminary levels of daily life; but where this world is concerned, that in and of itself is pretty radical behavior.  The poet Wendell Berry actually says it all: “When they want you to buy something they will call you.  When they want you to die for profit they will let you know.  So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute.  Love the Lord.  Love the world.  Work for nothing.  Take all you have and be poor.  Love someone who does not deserve it… live resurrection.”

That’s good advice for all of us who are on this walk of the Christian life: LIVE RESURRECTION… so that the good news can be told.

Thanks be to God who by the power of his spirit, calls you and me, here and now, to be his witnesses.  

AMEN and AMEN!

© 2024  Rev. Michael W. Lowry.  All Rights Reserved.

 

A Faith That Conquers the World

(a sermon for May 5, 2024, the 6^th Sunday of Easter, based on 1 John 5:1-6)

And so, just to recap:

“And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love; yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love!” [Peter Scholtes]

Like we were saying before – right here, last Sunday, in fact (!) – as Christians we are all about the love!  Indeed, Jesus’ commandment for us to “love one another” [John 13:34] is not only basic to everything we understand to be true about our Christian faith, it is the very ethos of who we are as believers and as members of the church.  And after hearing all about that last week in our worship, I’m absolutely sure (or, reasonably sure, at least; actually, now that I think about it, I’m kinda sure…) that we all left here last Sunday with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, assured of all the love we’ve received and have been boldly willing to share with others.

Or, maybe… if you’re like me after I’ve written and preached just such a message as the one we shared last Sunday, we spent some time reflecting upon the ways we may have fallen short in this all-important call we’ve been given to love one another!  To wit, friends, it’s one thing for you and I to love the people who are easy to love; but what about loving the people who are, shall we say, difficult to love?  What about those people with whom we have minor (or, for that matter major!) disagreements, or those who have hurt us to one extent or another; how do we love them in the way that Christ calls us to love on another?  Or how about those who have sought to love as we have been love, but who have consistently and even angrily rejected that love; so often that after a while we just want to give up the effort?  And then there are those whose behaviors and life-choices are so regrettable and – well, let’s just say it; even reprehensible – make it difficult for us to tolerate them, much less to love them. 

Yeah, yeah…we know… “let us love one another, because love is from God;” [1 John 4:7] but it turns out that even for those of us who ought to know and understand and yes, even try, love on just about any level is not always as easy as all that!  Bottom line, writes Canadian pastor and author Catherine Faith MacLean, is that so often “we disappoint one another.  We are not as strong as we hoped.  We show up but forget the words of [that song, “they’ll know we are Christians…”] …we lean on each other, but the energies run thin… time sucks the vigor; lassitude eats the momentum [and] the get-up-and-go gets up and goes away.”

In other words, it’s hard; but here’s the thing and here’s the challenge for us: at just about the point when you and I figure we’ve done the best we can here and surely no one can expect us to love further or any more sincerely than we have up till this point so why can’t we just let it go (!), here comes this hard and fast admonition of John from our text for this morning: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  For the love of God is this that we obey his commandments.”   Turns out, you see, that to love God’s children equates to loving others – all others – but (and here’s the rub, friends) loving others equates to loving God; and loving God equates to believing in the Christ who has come to save us all, and who has given us his commandment to love one another as he has loved us!  And obeying those commandments brings us full circle once again to those words from 1 John: “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.”

To put this in a slightly more straight-forward way, courtesy of Judith Jones of Luther Seminary, “Loving God, loving God’s children, and keeping God’s commandments form inseparable links in a circular chain… [this is the] interwoven reality” of our faith in God through Jesus Christ.  And, might I add, this is our hard and fast reminder that for us as believers, love – the kind of love that is not simply expressed in words but demonstrated through action – this kind of love is paramount… no matter what.

I’ve been thinking this week of a time very early on in my ministry when the church I was serving was preparing for its annual Christmas fair, which was one of the big events of the year for that church, and which was led by one of the stalwart ladies of the church.  Now, this woman was truly one of the warmest, kindness and most self-sacrificial members of that congregation, and I remember her very fondly; but I also remember that she ran that Christmas Fair with an iron fist; and I’m not exaggerating when I say that none of the rest of the women (or the men!) working on that fair dared cross her!  But suffice to say that as the time drew closer to the day of this fair, let’s just say that temperatures were rising steadily amongst the people of that particular fellowship of Christians! In my office at that church, there was this big, old overstuffed easy chair in one corner of the room; and what I remember is that all that week, one by one, all these people working on the fair would “drop in” to say hello, steam fairly well coming off their foreheads, plopped down in the easy chair and started to… vent. (As I recall, it usually began with a long and sustained silence, followed by some variation of, “That… that woman!”) 

Suffice to say that things were getting pretty tense there at the “congo church!” But finally, toward the end of the week, one of the ladies – my organist, in fact, and a former pastor’s wife herself – came in for her turn to “vent,” and after she’d done so, since as a young pastor I was pretty uch flummoxed as to what to do next, I asked her, “So what do we do about this person?  How do we fix this?”  And I’ll never forget her answer: she shook her head, smiled a bit, and after a deep breath, said simply, “We love her…  we just love her.”

And of course, she was absolutely right.  This wasn’t about managing a personality conflict or at worst, staging some sort of “Christmas Fair Coup!”  What it was about was showing forth the evidence of our love in a time and situation when it was not easy and not at all convenient!  The Christian community, you see, this body of Jesus Christ of which you and I are a part, is bound together through love and faith; these two things are inseparable, and they apply just as much to the relationships we have with one another as it does to ways we seek to be in the world!  And it all comes down, I think, to this connectedness of our loving God, loving God’s children, and keeping God’s commandments!

In fact, it seems to me that one of the central issues of our day is whether or not we are able to keep those connections alive.  The question is this: even in our disagreements, can we, will we still love one another? Can we continue to see one another as children of God? Do we love God enough that we will no longer accept all the hateful and divisive discriminatory ideology that appears to have a dangerous grip on not only our political rhetoric these days but also on the moral and cultural landscape!  I guess what I’m asking here is if that which is born of God, that is, LOVE, will conquer all.

Because it seems to me, friends, that in these days our world, and our very lives depend on it.

It depends on you and I loving God, loving God’s children, and keep God’s commandments.  In the words of 1 John, “And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith [and] who is it who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

You know, one of the things I find particularly fascinating about this text is that even as John is strongly emphasizing the importance of believers loving the children of God, he also makes clear that God’s “commandments are not burdensome.”  It is important to point out here that the community to whom this epistle was addressed (likely the Christians at Ephesus) was in the midst of a crisis: a crisis of faith and of doctrine; unsure of what they actually believed, and confused about what they were to do with that.  And John’s message is pretty basic and actually as relevant as it ever was: “You know who you are and you know whose you are… so focus on living your faith instead.” [Judith Jones] And know that these commandments… God’s call to love his children; they’re not burdensome, but freeing.  In the end, says John to the Ephesians and to us, it’s how you love, the way that you love – all based in your believe in Jesus as the Christ who has been born of Gode – that exists at the very core of your faith; and that is a faith that will conquer the world!

Now, just a note about the translation here: in our world and culture, this idea of “conquering the world” sounds more than a little domineering and definitely suggests having power over others. Truthfully, in this instance I like how the New International Version of scripture speaks of overcoming the world, but I will say that whatever the translation, what John seems to be saying here is that rather than subduing the world, our faith in Christ would serve to have us be released from the grip that the world has on our lives.  To quote Nikki Hardeman, “when we believe that Jesus is the Christ, we are freed from the weight of [the world’s] expectations and given the freedom of walking with Christ just as we are… [and freed] to love others as Christ would have us.”  See that connectedness again?  To love God is to love God’s children, and that is to keep God’s commandment of love, which does conquer all!

And ultimately, that is no burden at all… but a blessing.

I’m reminded of a friend of mine from high school who struggled all through those years: he made passable grades but never great ones; he managed to get into college, but there were those who wondered if he’d be able to cut it once he got there.  But it turned out that in college he positively thrived!   Dean’s list almost every semester; he excelled on just about every level of college life, and it was incredible to watch it happen!  And some people were surprised by this, but there was, in fact, a simple explanation: my friend knew what he wanted to do with his life; he’d found his passion (which was music), and so all the studying and hard work and sacrifice was no longer burdensome for him, but a joy!  And that made all the difference, indeed.

And so it is with a life of faith girded by the love of Jesus Christ… and it’s real, it matters and it’s not at all burdensome.  Catherine Faith Maclean says this beautifully: she says that “the depth of [our love] is measured in something beyond our sight, beyond our energies, [with] a longitude that stretches way beyond our days and latitude that reaches beyond our ken… it’s love for God that motivates us beyond our imperfect, fragile, human faithfulness.  When I’m drained it is love for God that energizes me… it’s love for God in which I rest [and] in which I worship… [and it’s] love for God that takes me into and beyond my work, beyond what I can do and see.”

“For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments.  And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world.”

May it be love that guides us today, beloved, and in all the days that come.  May it be love that gives us joy in the good times of life and living, and may it be love that sustains us in times of trouble.  May it be love that challenges us to be more than we think we can be, and occasionally better than we are.  And may it be love that shows forth God’s love that will overcome the world.

Thanks be to God and the love he gives to us in Christ Jesus.

AMEN and AMEN.

© 2024  Rev. Michael W. Lowry.  All Rights Reserved.

 

Unabashedly Christian, Unabashedly Caring

(a sermon for April 28, 2024, the 5^th Sunday of Easter, based on 1 John 4:7-21)

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God.”

That’s what it all boils down to, friends: LOVE.  A love, personified in Jesus Christ, that brings us into relationship with God; a love that forges a “connection of kindred hearts” among us as brothers and sisters in faith; a love that binds us all together as the Church of Jesus Christ.  Truly, when people ask us who we are and what we’re all about as this gathering of people we call the church, this is what we tell them; that we’re all about the love! 

And I’m here to tell you this morning that I’m eternally grateful for that; that both pastorally and personally I’ve long been and continue to be very thankful for the presence of Christian community – this family of faith – that has always brought so much love into my life.  That said, however, I have to be honest and confess that there have been times for me when the Church, that is, this fellowship of kindred hearts of which we’re all a part, can easily be compared to the young man who wrote the following letter to the love of his life: “Dear Mary,” he wrote, “dear, sweet Mary… I would swim the deepest river for you.  I would climb the highest mountain.  Oh, my sweet, sweet Mary; I would walk over burning coals just to be at your side!  All my love; all my devotion – XOXOXXO – Jack.

“P.S.  I’ll be over on Sunday, if it doesn’t rain!”

It’s one thing, you see, to talk about love; quite another to actually mean it and let that affirmation move our very lives. In the end, merely elaborating on the depth of our devotion is insufficient.  Words of devotion, while beautiful and often very welcome, can also be annoying, even offensive, when they are not accompanied by action.

And so it is within the church of Jesus Christ.  The fact is, we in the church have an abundance of good words with which we talk about love, and we’re not afraid to use them: in songs and stories, “poems, prayers and promises” we regularly tell out our devotion to God, as well as expressing the depth of our affection for those around us; and well we should, as the confession and affirmation of love is an essential part of our worship and of our life together.  There’s no question that we church folk are great at “talking the talk,” but… there’s still the matter of “walking the walk;” and the question is, where love is concerned do our words and our deeds match up?  In other words, do we truly “love one another as we have been loved,” or is it that there’s oftentimes a “disconnect,” as it were, between what we say about love and what we do? 

And make no mistake, friends, that’s a big question; in fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that how we answer says everything about the caliber of our faith, the effectiveness of our shared ministry in this place, and the utter distinctiveness of an unabashedly Christian community that at least seeks to be some small embodiment of the kingdom of heaven; a people girded by faith and led forth in perfect love expressed in unabashed caring: reaching out to one another boldly, extravagantly and without fear.

In one sense, I know that what I’m saying here is pretty obvious; of course, to be a Christian means to care about, and for, others; and yes, as the song goes, “they will know we are Christians by our love.”  Moreover, all praise be to God, in this place we’re a church that embraces that mission as something not only important but crucial; it never ceases to amaze me that no matter the situation, when it comes to outreach, the people at East Church always seem to come through in a big way!  We volunteer, we raise money, we make contributions, we bake casseroles, we send cards, we help out as we can. As your pastor and a member of this church family, I can tell you with all certainty, friends, that as persons and as a people, we care… because we love!

And yet… I have to wonder how many opportunities for true caring you and I have missed along the way; how often we’ve actually held back from doing the right thing, the loving thing; times when we did know of a problem or a concern, and even knew what should be done about it; but in the end we couldn’t… or maybe just didn’t.  Do not misunderstand me here; I do not wish to denigrate what we do, nor would I suggest a lack of caring or compassion on anyone’s part.  But I would suggest to you that for us to truly care, to “love one another” as we are taught and commanded in our faith, means for us to do so without hesitation or fear; and well, oftentimes that can be a challenge.

Kenneth C. Haugk is the Founder and Director of Stephen Ministries, an international lay caring ministry, and the author of a book that as far as I’m concerned is essential reading on this subject, “Christian Caregiving:  A Way of Life.”  Haugk, who I actually had the opportunity to meet some years ago, actually begins his book with an exhaustive list of reasons that people don’t reach out to others in Christian love: personal embarrassment, for one thing; there are people who can easily talk to you about anything under the sun – sex, politics, you name it – but when it comes to talking about spiritual matters, one’s faith, religion or one’s relationship with God, immediately they become very self-conscious and things get awkward real quick!  And conversely, there’s the concern that your reaching out to someone in Christian love might embarrass them, and you wouldn’t want to do that; so you simply back off!

And Haugk goes on from there: another reason people don’t reach out is caution: you know, you don’t want your caring words to be perceived as “pushing your faith down anyone’s throat.” Or maybe they had, shall we say, a bad experience in a previous attempt at caregiving; and so now they’ve vowed never, ever again “to get involved.”   And then there are those who simply don’t feel like they have sufficient knowledge or training to help somebody in the midst of their crisis or need; bottom line, and we all feel this way sometimes, we don’t want to say and do the wrong thing and make the situation worse!

Suffice to say, it’s not always easy to be a caring person, and in a day and age where people tend more and more to “keep to themselves” with their troubles, to be distinctively and unabashedly Christian about the way that we love and care for others becomes even more of a challenge.  It requires risk and openness, the courage to be bold, and the willingness to accept some level of sacrifice on our parts.  But for you and me as people of faith, this kind of love is essential.  As our text for this morning has said it, “everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. [But] whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”   And if that’s not direct enough as to make us feel totally uncomfortable, notice how at the end of this passage, John goes another step further:  “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate a brother or sister are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” 

Incidentally, I how the Message translates the next verse: “The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people.  You’ve got to love both.”  No ambiguity there, friends! In other words, it’s not merely some lofty ideal for you and me to aspire to be caring Christian people; any more than it’s ever an option for a church to engage in caregiving on a part-time basis.  To be unabashedly Christian is to be unabashedly caring… always;  and the challenge for you and me, even with all of our fears and reluctance and supposed inabilities, is how we make that caring real in our lives.

So how does it happen?  How do you and I start to live lives that are “unabashedly caring” and worthy of the love God has given us?  Well, I think it begins with understanding that it’s not solely or primarily about what we do, and most certainly not about the fact that we are the ones doing it, but it is most especially about why we do it; and why we do it is Jesus Christ.  You see, at the core of our faith is this truth that about 2,000 years ago, God identified himself fully with our humanness, and “sent his Son into the world to live and breathe, to suffer and love, to minister and care – and finally to die” and rise again.  This was how the church – our church – was established, and it’s through that church that Jesus continues to extend his ministry of love and care for people.

To quote Kenneth Haugk once again, “the love of Christ is powerful and dynamic.  It is not just a good feeling; it is the basic motivation for all Christian caring… as the message of God’s love grips Christians, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, who moves clay-footed Christians to use our God-given gifts for others.  He makes cared-for Christians into caring Christians.”  Or, as 1 John puts it, “We love because [God] first loved us.”

Because God is love, and because God loves us, even here and now, God’s love is being perfected in each one of us; so “we may have boldness on the day of judgment;” and so that we have “no fear in love, [because] perfect love casts out all fear.”  Because of God’s love within us, we can move beyond our hesitancy to act with caring; we can get rid of the old notions of propriety and deservedness and judgment that also tend to hold us back from doing what we know, deep down, is the right thing to do.  Because of God’s love within us, we can be bold enough to act; knowing that the Lord will be doing incredible things in our midst as we do.

That’s the other thing we need to remember, friends, as regards this call to love; that while each one of us as Christians are called to be caregivers in this life, it is always God who is the curegiver.  I think that this is another misunderstanding that holds us back; the idea that if we can’t fix it, and if we’ll most certainly find ourselves in over our heads if we try, then maybe we just shouldn’t!  But that would be missing the point, you see, of what it is we are called to do as caring Christians. You and I, we’re like gardeners, really; preparing the soil, if you will, and getting the garden ready for what needs to grow; yet all the while waiting for God who ultimately provides all the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual growth that needs to take place for that garden to flourish! 

That’s who we are: you and I who seek to follow in the way of our caring Savior; you and I who are tasked with the often challenging but ultimately good work of establishing the kind of relationships that build up people in need.  We are called to carry the good news of Christ’s unconditional acceptance and his hope-filled gospel of forgiveness and abundant life; we are here to lend an ear, to hold a hand, to give words of encouragement, to cry a few tears… and sometimes to even reach into our pockets so that we might help in other ways.  We care because we love, and we love because we have already been loved; and because of that love, we can trust in the ways in which we care, understanding that God has already gone before us, providing the hope, the peace, and ever and always, the cure.

Maybe what we do does end up seeming rather small in the divine scheme of things; but what’s equally true is that even the most casual of words and the smallest of actions, there is the potential for us to be unabashedly Christian and unabashedly caring; and in that we’re given great empowerment to open hearts and lives to the incredible and healing power of God the Father, his loving Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

And, beloved, make no mistake; that’s the stuff of miracles!

So let us go forth and make some miracles today; and as we do, may our thanks be to God!

AMEN and AMEN!

© 2024  Rev. Michael W. Lowry.  All Rights Reserved.