Small Things Done with Great Love

Little things done with great love will change the world. It is a concept borrowed from the life of Mother Teresa; the idea that the little things we do are what make a real impact rather than the big things we do on occasion. It is the idea that the real heroes of our lives are not just those who in moments of bravery act selflessly, but those who act selflessly day-by-day.

In the mundane get-by-world there are a thousand little decisions we make every day about our responses to others. Responses that communicate love and value or communicate disappointment, disillusionment, and dissatisfaction. It is that moment when grace and mercy call us to reflect on the way we disappointment with our own short-comings and to recognize that any grace and mercy we extend is just something we loan because we will inevitably need it back.

Jesus’ example reminds us that he first loved us. That was why he came to give his life as a ransom, a task which first meant living a mortal life in which he died to himself every day on his way to the cross and to perfection. His everyday little deeds made him perfect, that we might be forgiven. See how little deeds done with great love did indeed change the world?    

Well! Aren't We Just So Spiritual

It has become a popular buzz-word like phrase to say: I am a spiritual person not a religious person. When I first heard it I liked the phrase  because the real definition of religion means what we do regularly, and spiritual spoke to me of being a person led by the spirit of God. Sadly, it soon became clear to me that what people really meant was some kind of private warm-fuzzy emotions associated with supernatural events and religious cultures. There is nothing wrong with that except that it really obfuscates (confuses) the subject. (I couldn’t leave that one alone). 

When I said that I was a spiritual person, what I meant was that I was living my life by the Spirit of God rather than something else (religious practice, carnality, etc). The concept of being spiritual meant that I was trying to live my life so that I would be full of love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. These are what the Bible call the evidence of being spiritual or the fruit of the Spirit. The list does not sound very supernatural but the evidence does speak for itself. If you live like that no one will be surprised to find out that you are a spiritual person even if you never talk about supernatural beings or events. 

So what evidence do those around you see of your being a spiritual person? 

The Loads and the Burdens

Many are familiar with the story of the loaves and the fishes but few are acquainted with the loads and the burdens and it may be every bit as important to our spiritual well-being as the miracles but for many of us would be tantamount to food multiplying if they knew this lesson (or at least the multiplication of your time).  What am I talking about? I am talking about healthy boundaries and knowing when to say, yes, and when to say, no. How do we as servant-hearted people know what is healthy service and what is too much?

The answer for us is in Galatians 6, where the Apostle Paul tells us bear one another’s burdens but then he advises but everyone must carry their own load. Its not always that clear to us what the Apostle means because words like burden and load are so fluid in our society. But it goes something like this, loads are the everyday responsibilities that we all need to take care of ourselves. If you do not eat, if you do not get dressed, get up for work or any of those normal activities that everyone has to do, that’s your problem, not mine. On the other hand, if you have suddenly become disabled, had tragedy befall you, or had some kind of crouching burden put on you, the call on the community of Christ is to help you get out from under that overloading burden until it either passes or life can be readjusted to make the new life situation less overwhelming and less crushing.  

Now, when we are helping those whose life has suddenly been crushed by tragedy or sudden illness it may be that the best way we can help is to take care of some of those daily loads that are otherwise normal so that the person in the tragedy can process their burden. So then I can step in and cook meals, run to the grocery store, mow the grass probably easier than I can go to the doctor, go to the lawyer or anything else like that. I come alongside in those moments and I do what I can to ease the weight of the burden. Chances are I cannot fix the problem but I can make it easier for you to get through it. 

So, if your friend, neighbor or family member is crushed by the extremes of life then we are called to bear their burdens just as Christ bore our burdens at Calvary. But if those same persons can’t seem to live without you, I have good news. You are not the Messiah; that would be Jesus Christ, and since he does not rescue them from life’s load, neither should you.

Pan Theology

They just released new statistics that our economy was flat for the first quarter of 2014, and that sent the media into a frenzy. Whose fault is it? Is it the president? Is it congress? Should we blame the Republicans or the Democrats? People are wringing their hands and wondering, what is going to happen to us. Maybe you are one of them. It didn’t take long until the questions started about the end times, the end of the world, and what my view is about them. Actually, I am a bit of a “pan” theologian on the end times. I am convinced that it will all “pan-out” at the end. 

You see, even if Jesus does come back tomorrow I do not even know if I am going to make it to tomorrow. My appointment with Jesus could be today. So I have never put much stock in worrying about the end. Matthew 6.34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Worry is like borrowing trouble. So I decided to stop worrying and do what I knew I was supposed to be doing. When Jesus returns I want him to find me doing is being faithful to my wife, faithful to do my job, faithful to share Christ with my neighbors. I want to be found being faithful. So I try everyday to live in such a way that it does not matter if Jesus comes back today, tomorrow, or in twenty years .My responsibility is to be faithful. Then it wont really matter when he returns. Every picture in the Bible of the final judgment depicts a scene where people are measured by what they do, rather than by what they say they believe. Granted what they have done has grown out of a response to what they believed, but the concern is always that they be found faithfully doing what they were told to do. 

My challenge to you this week, is that you can articulate a great faith by living a great faith, so that whenever you live your last day on the earth that the Father might say to you, Well done, good and faithful servant.  

Success!

One of the most fundamental issues of life is success. How do we define it, how do we achieve it, and how do we measure it. And then, what do we do when we succeed or fail. It is all too easy to over-spiritualize the discussion and to say that we don’t need success or to call it an idol, but the truth is that we all need to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant.” If God thinks we need to hear that, my bet is that we really do need confirmation and a measure of success. The Psalmist wrote that hope deferred makes the heart sick but a dream realized is a tree of life.

So how do we measure success? Well, Jesus once indicated that his measure for life was to do just what the Father in Heaven was doing. That sounds simple but it is really profound. The measure of Jesus life was to do just what the Father was doing. Now we might be tempted to think, well Jesus doesn’t sack groceries, see patients, or teach school kids math, but a very wise man named Sam Logan once said it this way: Find out what God wants you to do– and do it!

There is nothing more empowering to your life than that. It removes what you are doing, from under the microscope of other people’s opinion and puts us into the place of disciple of Jesus. What every disciple of Jesus needs is to sense that when they lay their head down at the end of the day, they did at work, school, and with friends and family, just what God wanted them to do. That is success. What does God want you to do today?

Too Busy to Really Live?

Its funny how we equate organization with planning. Many of us have well organized lives that are packed with activities. A wise person once said, “Activity suggests a life full of purpose.” The truth is that well organized activity is just busyness, while a life full of purpose is one grounded in people, values, and goals.

What do you value most? Who is most important to you? What are the goals in life that you most desire to achieve? For me those things center around my faith, my family, and my friends. The complicated part for me is that all of those intersect heavily with my work life as a pastor, so I have to be intentional not to let the activity of my job become a replacement for those people and things that I say I value most. What about you?

How does what you value most translate into your daily schedule? What goals are you actually working on in those most important, most valued areas of your life? I have to plan my life according to what I say I value most or what I consider important will get swallowed up in activity. In the words of John Wooden, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” What are you planning?