Open my heart LordHelp me to feel your loveOpen my heart LordHelp me to feel.
Blessed are the rich, for they own the best stuff.
Blessed are the sexy and glamorous, for everyone desires them.
Blessed are the powerful, for they shall control the realms of the earth.
Blessed are those who get everything they ever wanted; they alone will be satisfied.
Blessed are those who are famous, when you are pursued and stalked by the paparazzi. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is eternal branding on Instagram.
- Diane Butler Bass
Jesus’ message is counter-cultural and personal at the same time. I may think that I am too small to transform the world, but I can let Jesus transform me. And so I pray scripture.
This week's passage is part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, found in Luke 6:20-49. He opens the sermon with these words, a very different set of blessings than we see in our celebrity culture:
You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all. God’s kingdom is there for the finding. You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry. Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal. You’re blessed when the tears flow freely. Joy comes with the morning.
Some days I feel like I have lost it all. Jesus tells me that I am blessed, and his kingdom is there for the finding. And so I keep praying the sermon, watching for phrases that stand out for me today.
Later in his Sermon, in our passage for this week, he says, Love your enemies.
I stop, wondering who my enemies might be… perhaps those who annoy or frustrate me..something comes to mind.
I keep praying Jesus’ words, hungry for what he wants to say to me.
It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.
I stop again, wondering if I do the very things that annoy me in others. Oh, I do, I now see.
The kingdom is there for the finding. Thank you, Jesus.
Will we let Jesus transform us? If we let Jesus transform us, I wonder if we can transform the world? Which world do we want to live in and pass on to the next generation?
Here is Sunday's scripture passage:
Luke 6:35-38; 41-47 (MSG)
“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it.
Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst.
Our Father is kind; you be kind.
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way.
Generosity begets generosity.”
“It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt?
It’s this I-know-better-than-you mentality again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your own part.
Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
“You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.
“Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you?
These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.
When my spiritual director suggested I pray the psalms, our loving God soon gave me a new meaning for “enemy “... and a place to go for protection from my enemies.
The psalms are filled with enemies, and although I may not have enemies in the same way the people and kings of ancient Israel had them, I have them in my head. Those Falsehoods Experienced as Reality, that Rev. Donna spoke of during Lent, are everywhere…and they are heavily armed.
Remembering Donna’s teachings, I'm referring to unhealthy fear, of course, not the healthy fear that causes us to take action to protect ourselves against speeding cars and food poisoning. When Jesus advised us not to worry, I'm pretty sure he wasn't referring to healthy fear.
I wonder if the very human Jesus experienced unhealthy fear and worry? If so, where did he go for protection? Where do you go for protection?
Perhaps Jesus prayed Psalm 27. On Sunday, we will sing and read some excerpts from Psalm 27:
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple.
For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
be gracious to me and answer me!
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”
Your face, Lord, do I seek.
Do not hide your face from me.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
If we seek his face, the Lord who loves us and is always present with us and our fear, hides us in his shelter.
I’ve been thinking this week about one of God’s promises to us - his promise to be always near. It’s an amazing promise, really, this idea that no matter where we are or what we are doing, he is always with us, always present…with all of us at the same time!
You might remember one of the songs we sang last week - it mentions his presence four times!
You are holy, you are whole.
You are always ever more
than we ever understand.
You are always at hand.
Blessed are you coming near.
Blessed are you coming here
to your church in wine and bread,
Raised from soil, raised from dead.
You are holy, you are wholeness;
you are present.
Let the cosmos praise you, Lord!
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, our Lord.
What is God doing when he is present with us, I wonder? Why does he want to be present with us? How does this promise make you feel? Have you ever wanted to be with someone all of the time? If so, why?
Our scripture reading for this week (Romans 8. 22-28 MSG) also mentions God’s presence:
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
I hope to see you on Sunday (at 10AM in the Dogwood Room) for worship on Sunday - in the presence of our Lord.
The Last Supper- John August Swanson
On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus shared bread and wine with his close friends…a symbolic Passover meal, and yet one like no other. With a new metaphor they didn't yet understand, he tried to explain (again), that his love was so great, he was giving his body and blood - his life.
“Do this in remembrance of me”, he said.
We will do this on Sunday, and read about human love from the letter of Paul to the Corinthians 13. 1-7 (MSG)
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Paul is pretty clear here that nothing is as important as love…not what we say, what we believe or what we do.
Why is love so hard for us? Can we ever love enough?
Can we ever love like God does? Can we grasp the size of God's love for us that he would die for us and then continue to love us despite our failure to love?
Come and experience the Lord's compassionate mercy at his Table on Sunday, as we gather for Holy Communion and Worship. (10AM in the Dogwood Room)
Open our hearts Lord
Help us to love like you
Open our hearts Lord
Help us to love
- Jesse Manibusan
