Torn between God’s way and the world?
If you are normal you might feel torn between the ways of the world we live in and trying hard to live in God’s way. It’s hard because the values of the two are so different.
The world’s way is focused on what we can get for ourselves and the assumption enough is never enough. If some is good, more must be better. In the world we are taught to win at someone else’s expense. God’s way that Jesus teaches is the opposite. Share what you have, care for the poor, feed the hungry, forgive, don’t get even. Love your enemies, and so on.
As soon as we hear things like that we like to protect what we have. One of our favorite tricks in that department is to limit what it means to follow Jesus to things that look religious. So we will tell ourselves all we really need to do is say we believe some things about Jesus without it ever impacting how we live our lives. If that is how we live our faith we often find that it falls flat and we may even start to feel like hypocrites.
Following Jesus is not just about what we believe. It is also very much about how we live. Jesus leads us to live differently than the ways of the world even though we live in it. It’s not our job to change the world. It is only our job to try to be faithful to God’s way of love.
Jesus is not anti-wealth. Jesus is anti-selfishness. It is not a sin to be wealthy. The sin is being wealthy and indifferent to those in need. Wealth brings responsibility with it – to care for those who struggle to simply have enough to eat and make it through each day.
Sometimes we make following Jesus too complex and heady. 1 John 4:7-8 says “Love one another. Love is from God. Whoever loves knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God.” What is confusing about that?
When we care for the poor and hungry, Jesus says we have stored up wealth in heaven. This tells us that for Jesus real wealth is not defined by what we keep for ourselves. Rather it is defined by what we share. It is measured in the lives we touch and lives we get to save when we try to be faithful to God.
It feels good to save lives, to feed hungry children, to help single parent families and the elderly on low, fixed incomes have enough to live. God has given us countless opportunities to make a difference, to matter, to share what we have.
Jesus is right. Living in God’s way by aggressively loving others does make you rich with a wealth we can never lose even in the worst economy. If you’re looking for ways to make a difference and touch lives, click on the “what we do” tab on our website and see where you might fit. Or you can shop for the food pantry wherever you live. If you live in our area, you can bring cans of beans and peas for our partner’s food pantry at Cross. You can let go of the pain of someone who hurt you, you can pack life saving food for people in Haiti who still hurt. There are lots of ways we get to love, ways we choose to live in God’s way even as we live in the world. All we need to do is say “yes” and choose from the countless opportunities we have to show what love looks like.
Pastor Tom
Recreation and Re-Creation
Summer is such a good time, especially since it’s so short. I enjoy spending as much time outside as I can. We get to play outside, hang out and enjoy God’s creation, which includes each other. Sometimes when it comes to matters of faith we get the idea that it has to be all serious and dour, that we can’t grow in faith while having fun, laughing and enjoying things. I don’t think that’s true at all. Laughter and fun adds a powerful dimension to our lives.
We often associate summer with recreation. Did you notice that recreation and Re-Creation are spelled exactly the same? I’d suggest one of the ways God works the miracle of new life in us is in and through recreation – through play, whether its golf, fishing, gardening or any of the other things we do this time of year. As we enjoy and participate in God’s creation we can be reconnected with it and become re-created ourselves.
Recreation and re-creation of course is not just for us or about us. It is also something we get to share. We receive and we give. Either one alone can feel lopsided. If we just receive we can become self absorbed. If we only give we can start to feel empty. We need to do both in order to have a balance.
One of the ways God brings about re-creation in us is when we serve others whether it’s in foodpacks, bringing food or working at our SOS food pantry or serving with our partners at Cross in Milwaukee, teaching children and helping them grow in faith and love. The important aspect of all these things is to avoid a sense of obligation or duty. These are not things we are required to do. They are what we get to do.
God wants us to have fun. God wants us to laugh, to feel joy, to get excited, to play. It helps us put things in perspective, that life is not all about work or cleaning; it’s not all drudgery and chores. Life is intended to be enjoyed. All the ways we serve are intended to bring us meaning and purpose, to give us back more than we put in. And that is the miracle of being re-created. We are transformed, set free and filled with amazing power as we feel God’s love flowing through us.
This summer enjoy time away and wait for God to speak to you as you enjoy God’s creation. Find time and ways to serve others too and expect God to speak to you there. It’s not either or. For a full life we need to give AND get. As we do we get to experience re-creation.
May God bring you a taste of new life as you play and serve.
Pastor Tom
Why Memorial Day is Important
For some people Memorial Day has become just another three day weekend. For others it is an important day. Memorial Day began as a way to honor those who gave their lives in service to our country. While we do not observe national holidays in the church, that does not mean Memorial Day is unimportant. It is very important. As Christians we are called to be good citizens, to support our country and to pray for our leaders.
Memorial Day matters because it leads us to remember the great sacrifice military personnel have made to create and defend the many freedoms we enjoy. In this nation we have not lived under the tyranny of a totalitarian state, we have the right and privilege to agree or disagree with positions of the government and the party in power, freedom of religion and many other choices. We have more freedoms than I could list here. Since freedom is normal for us we don’t notice it. Freedom is one of those things we only tend to notice when it is threatened or gone.
Freedom is not free. Real freedom comes with a high price. As we approach Memorial Day, remember those who sacrificed so much to create and defend the freedoms we live with. Freedom is hard because we are not required to do anything with it. The down side is if we do not use our freedom well, we may as well not be free. Perhaps one way we can show our gratitude for their sacrifice is to use our freedom well, to promote justice and peace in this world.
Enjoy Memorial Day. Use your freedom well. Remember those who have sacrificed so much for our nation and the freedoms we enjoy.
Pastor Tom
Empty Tombs or Empty Hearts?
Easter morning people shouted out Christ is Risen! We heard the story of the Mary and some of Jesus’ disciples going to the tomb to find it empty, and later Mary seeing someone in white telling her Jesus was not there, that he had risen. We sang hymns proclaiming the joy of God’s victory over death and setting us free. Then Monday comes and many of us go back to “normal”. All this leads me to wonder if today we experience an empty tomb or an empty heart.
We are used to having proof and evidence for most things in life so it makes sense that we would apply the same principals of proof to matters of faith. That is where we can get stuck. Faith can’t be proven, it can only be felt. If we insist on proof of an empty tomb, we end up with an empty heart.
When our hearts feel empty we often try to fill them by doing more or getting more stuff. One store now promises to buy back whatever gadget we buy when the next thing comes out. The pace of life is so fast it can leave us feeling out of breath and forever behind. The result is it can feel like we have lost part of ourselves. One person told me, “I work so hard to get a life I feel like I don’t have a life”.
Have you lost your life trying to get a life? What is at the center of your life; an empty tomb or an empty heart? If we spend our time trying to get the next thing it is easy to start feeling empty inside. In John 10 Jesus said, “I came to bring you life and to have it abundantly”. This does not mean God wants us to be rich. Jesus never promised we would be wealthy or life would be easy but he does promise it will be abundant with meaning and purpose. It’s a life that comes when we don’t live just for ourselves, but live for the sake of loving others.
Jesus rose from the dead to lead the way to freedom and new life – a life that is not defined by what we have in our wallets or what we drive, but a life defined by how much we love, how much we share, how much we bring healing and hope. This is how we participate with God in emptying the tombs of meaninglessness and despair and find our hearts filled with meaning, love and peace that never fails us.
May your tombs be empty and your hearts full!
Pastor Tom
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