Scripture standout: Luke 6:27-38: "Love for Enemies 27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.Judging Others 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Morning thoughts: I couldn't stop highlighting that passage from Luke, it's all good — and such massive, complicated and not-so-easy to execute marching orders. It could almost be a list, or a prescription, for life. Today I am going to print this out and post it somewhere so I can remember what I'm supposed to do on this planet:
1. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.
2. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
3. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.
4. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.
5. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
6. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
7. Do not judge
8. Do not condemn
9. Forgive
10. Give
Bottom line: Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.
Result: Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.
I thought this was timely, too. It is All Saints Interfaith Forum Eve. I've been helping assemble this event for a few months now, and I think it is all going to pan out beautifully. We have a pastor, a dean, a rabbi and an Imam! Never thought it would happen. The topic is "Religion in Society Today: Is Moderation a Bad Word?" Some great questions have been generated, and today's Forward Movement devotional speaks to that thought:
"The challenge for so many American Christians, in a time when the fabric of civic life seems frayed beyond repair, is to translate this sense of individual commitment to Christ into a similar and (from Jesus’ viewpoint) equivalent commitment to the well-being of their neighbor and their neighbor’s neighbor—a sense that to live in Christ is to live in and for one another. Love your God with all your heart and soul, he said, but love your neighbor as yourself. However individual and distinctive one’s own experience of Christ might be, it is a deep biblical conviction that no Christian stands alone—and that to live in Christ is to live in community with others. Or as a wise priest once put it to me, there is no such thing as a solitary Christian."
The Deed/The Day: I could just cry! So, my deed today was to just ask. Nothing big. I just asked, through a Facebook message, if this restaurant owner would be interested in helping Chuck. He said he would be happy to put Chuck's name on any "mistake orders," deliver it and make lots of mistakes! Then, I get an email from a neighbor who is encouraging her son's Boy Scout troop to help Chuck. It is humbling and amazing to see what happens when you step out and ask. I am an introvert at heart. I do not like to sell things, ask people for money or pin people down on things. It's just not my nature. Sometimes asking feels this way — the thought seems embarrassing, daunting and aggressive. That is so not the way I roll. Then you hear successful salespeople or marketing gurus say things about how people just want to be asked, or it doesn't hurt to ask and yada yada. How true, I guess!
(And just for the record, open-mindedness DID win out over. Congratulations to Alvin Brown on becoming Jacksonville's first African-American mayor and prayers that he can unite this city and help it move forward!)
(And just for the record, open-mindedness DID win out over. Congratulations to Alvin Brown on becoming Jacksonville's first African-American mayor and prayers that he can unite this city and help it move forward!)
No comments:
Post a Comment