INVOCATION.... d365.org (Meredith Shaw)"In our search for love and in our desire for love we might sometimes ask, "Where does love come from?" The answer is elusive, and the origins of love remain something of a mystery sometimes, even as we experience it. But believers start by making this assertion: Love comes from God. God is its source and its keeper."
SATURDAY, July 20, 2013 "Define Neighbor"
Luke 10:29-37 (MSG)
Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?” Jesus answered by telling a story..... “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”Define loving our neighbor.
Three words come to mind.
UNACCEPTED.
Our neighbor is the Samaritan in our midst.
The ones our society labels unlovable or unacceptable:
The AIDS patient, the lesbian couple, the drunk or addict, the homeless.
Refugees, Arabs or Muslims.....
The list can go on and on.
Our neighbor is rarely EASY to love.
 |
| Since Luke's sermon from last Sunday was on the Good Samaritan text.... |
Loving neighbor is a physical, get-dirty love.
It is perhaps bloody, hands-on work,
Not a Sunday offering with white gloves love.
It is an inconvenient and uncomfortable act of love,
The 'go out of my way' type of service.
UNEXPECTED.
We are expected to love family and friends.
Mercy within our Christian community iholds no surprise.
But true love of neighbor comes in unexpected times and places,
God bursting forth in all God's Unexpected-Surprising Glory!
Who is your neighbor? Who is mine?
Open our eyes to see,
Hidden in the unexpected places,
Neighbors waiting to feel the loving touch of God
Through our hands.
BENEDICTION... d365.org
(Meredith Shaw)
Imagine a stream running over its banks.
The waters cannot be held back
And will not be contained.
Tell out the good news.
"Warn" everyone.
God's loving flood is coming.
God's loving flood is coming.
FRIDAY, July 19, 2013 "Everything-Love"
Luke 10:25-28 (MSG)
Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?” He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?” He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.” “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”
"Love. Love. Love.
All you need is Love."
So the Beatles sing.
The Biblical teacher tries to twist the lyrics.
He wants an easy shot at life.
He wants to challenge Jesus.
But the answer is simple.
The answer is love.
But... not just any kind of love.
Complete love.
Love that comes from heart and soul,
Mind and strength.
Everything-Love!
How do we love completely?
How do we love from the tip of our toes
Through our fingers and soul?
How do we love with passion and prayer,
service and sharing?
How do we love our neighbor as self?
Everything-Love comes
When we remember the source of all love:
God.
God is Everything-Love.
THURSDAY, July 18, 2013 "Freeways"
Colossians 1:13-14 (MSG)
God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.
Our world is a complex place, Lord. It's easy to feel caught in the depths of information overload,
Relationships gone awry, or the dark of disagreement and discourse.
We feel trapped in the middle of an LA freeway interchange,
Unsure of which path to follow and
Life rushing past at high speed.
We make poor choices and wonder what lies ahead
In the maze before us.
But it shouldn't be that hard, Lord.
You made it so simple:
Love. Forgiveness. Redemption.
Your sacrifice took care of the hard part.
Now our job is to live into that love.
To practice that forgiveness for all,
To take our redemption beyond our lives
To a world still caught in the middle of the freeway.
WEDNESDAY, July 17, 2013 "Glory Strength"
Colossians 1:11-12 (MSG)
We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.
I confess I jumped a little ahead yesterday to include parts of these verses in the Scribble message. I was wrapping things up, figuring the d365.org writer would finally get to the Luke lectionary reading and the familiar Good Samaritan parable. Pause. Re-wind. Patience!
What in the world is 'Glory-Strength'? It doesn't come from weight lifting or body-building, nor is it the strength of Super heroes. Glory-Strength comes from within, powered by hearts in tune with God's love. Glory-Strength is what carries people through tough emotional periods, those times when we on the outside just shake our heads and wonder, 'How do they do it?' This is the power granted through the Holy Spirit to live in primitive conditions, endure persecution, or stand up for truth when the world is screaming otherwise. It is the strength that drives refugees hundreds of miles across borders or fortifies a parent who sits at the bedside of a dying child.
Will physical exercise make me Glory-Strong? Only if it involves getting down on my knees daily in prayer and study. Only if it involves a little sweat on behalf of the Message. And only if it is powered by a source of love: God. Hmmmm... time to lift some Spiritual weights.
TUESDAY, July 16, 2013 "Wisdom from Love"
Colossians 1:9b-10 (GNT)
We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in your knowledge of God.Through love, the Spirit-God fills us with wisdom. Not book learning knowledge, not even the wisdom that comes with age and experience. This is God-Smarts....the wisdom that comes from living in the presence of God. Paul goes on to write of four outgrowths from such wisdom: good works, deeper understanding, resurrection obedience, and joyful gratitude. Do these form a rubric to grade our achievement? Thankfully, no, but perhaps a little self-assessment could be in order. But first, always first, remember to start with love and love's source: God.
Colossians 1:3-4 (CEB)
We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. We’ve done this since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all God’s people.
"Bless be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love." The words of an old hymn go through my mind when I consider Paul's opening words to the church at Colossae. Paul is expressing love for a church community he has never visited, but 'knows' through their actions of love for others. Likewise, we are bound together today with unknown and unseen people the world over through our faith in Christ.
Last spring as I worked for CHRPA in Tucson, Arizona, I found myself entering many unfamiliar homes. Yet I couldn't help but feel a bond with the residents when I saw a crucifix on the wall or a small altar tucked in the niche. Many of these homes were Hispanic Catholics of a different denomination from myself, but believers and lovers of God. There was a unity I sensed among us, often returned on their part when I would comment somehow and share my faith with them.
Would our faith be more vibrant, more real, if we treat everyone we meet as a child of God? If our FIRST thought is to say to ourselves, "This person loves God just as much as I"? May we continue to knit ourselves together, using yarn of many colors, and bind our hearts in Christian love. We are diverse Christian believers but our love comes from one source: God. May we remember to act within that truth.
"Four Letters. Four Words."
Psalm 25:4, 6-7, 10 (GNT)
Teach me your ways, O Lord; make them known to me....
Remember, O Lord, your kindness and constant love
which you have shown from long ago.
7 Forgive the sins and errors of my youth.
In your constant love and goodness, remember me, Lord!...
With faithfulness and love he leads
all who keep his covenant and obey his commands.
LOVE.
Love this. Love that.Love him. Love her.
The word is tossed carelessly around,
without regard for its power and truth;
One word with so many layers of meaning,
so much force within its four letters.
Perhaps the Greeks were so much wiser:
Four words for the four letters.
EROS.
Sensual, sexual physical love.
An almost magnetic draw.
A private, intimate love bound by commitment and promise.
STORGE.
Family love.
The first love we come to know.
Mother to child; Father to son,
Brother to sister.
The nurturing love that binds the family together.
PHILIA.
Brotherly love.
The love of close, but unrelated, friends.
Love that transcends the family to widen the circle.
A love we choose to practice with another.
AGAPE.
Self-less love.
Love for one we don't even know.
Constant, abiding, faithful love.
Transforming, forgiving love.
Inclusive love.
GOD is the SOURCE of all LOVE.
The intimate relationship can have the magnetism of eros,
An early family introduction through storge,
A church-community practicing philia,
And finally God leads us to agape:
Love at its fullest.
Agape is God-Love in all its glory and light.
Agape is tough, sometimes painful, love.
Sacrificing love.
Christ-love.
FOUR letters.
FOUR Greek words.
ONE constant source: GOD.
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