How Does Jesus Love?

Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse 

Recently, I have been watching Jesus love.  I watched him love a tax collector, a person reviled by Jewish culture. I watched him cure the daughter of a Roman oppressor. I watched him take the hand of a blind man, lead him away, and then rub spit in his eyes.

I have listened to him too. I heard him encourage and bless a woman who took a risk of faith, believing that she would be healed just by touching her robe. I heard him talk about the Kingdom of God, where we love our enemies, and live generously and graciously.

All week I've been hearing him remind me, "Our Father is kind; you be kind." (Luke 6.36 MSG)

And remember when we, together in worship, heard about Frank and Rhoda?  Not only did Jesus heal Rhoda, a crippled woman, but he refused to allow her to be blamed or shamed for coming to receive healing on the Sabbath. 

He leads us kindly and gently, teaching us with every part of him how to love…showing us the Jesus Way.

In Worship this week, we will read from Paul's letters, as he teaches his churches that watching how Christ loved us can show us how to love.  Then, having watched him, we can imitate him and walk the Jesus Way too.

Ephesians 5 1-2 MSG

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behaviour from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

From Colossians 3

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

I hope to see you there, but no shame or blame if you can't make it.  Maybe you'll be away showering the world with the love of Christ!

What Happens to us When We Worship Together? Can We Be Transformed?

 

Consider 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 MSG

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

Every week, as we gather in the Living Room of Love, Rev. Donna reminds us that God is always there first.

We enter the chapel, greet each other, and leave the world outside. We turn to face God as Moses did. Wow…really?  Can I honestly say that I am doing justice to this opportunity every single week? 

No, I cannot. Sometimes I find it difficult to leave outside whatever I am thinking about. Sometimes I am worried that I'll sing the wrong note or say the wrong thing. 

But I do want to do the very best that I can.  Because I know that if I put my heart and soul into worship, I just might be transformed by it. 

How about CVC, is the group transformed?  If we put our hearts and souls into worship and show up for each other, perhaps St. Paul is suggesting that the group will be transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

In Worship this week, we will read more of what St. Paul wrote about this group, this body of Christ, to the church in Corinth. 

 1 Corinthians 12:12b-13 (MSG)

Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells, but no matter how many parts you can name,   you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives.  We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

Colossians 3. 15-17 (MSG)

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing.  And cultivate thankfulness.

What Do We Do While We Wait to See God?

Earlier this week, I prayed the scripture about Zacchaeus waiting in the sycamore tree to see Jesus, and about his conversation with Jesus (Luke 19:1-10).  

Putting myself in the story, I had a conversation with Jesus that went like this: 

Jesus said, “I found you!  I see you!  I love you! Will you let me restore you?”

“How?” I asked.

“Follow me.” Jesus said. “Do what I do.” 

On Sunday, Rev. Donna is going to say more about what we Christians do while we wait to see God.  Here's a bit of what we'll be reading together:

from  I Corinthians 13 MSG

We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. 

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Ephesians 5 1-2 MSG

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

So while we wait, we receive God's love. We keep company with Jesus. We observe how Christ loved us…not cautiously but extravagantly.   And we love like that.  Worth repeating.

I hope to see you on Sunday.

Susan