Love everyone, even them

• From the Gospel this Sunday: This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:12-14)
• From the First Reading this Sunday: In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. (Acts 10:34-35)
• From the Second Reading this Sunday: Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. (1 John 4:7)

We have one instruction from Jesus; love everyone.  This is what Jesus requires of us to be his friends.  We owe Jesus a debt for saving us from our own sins.  But instead of collecting on the debt, he invites us to be his friends.  It immediate seems difficult.  We immediately ask, “Everyone?  Including those who hate us? Those who harm us, or kill innocent people, or say evil things about our faith?”  It would appear that is exactly what Jesus taught his disciples. 

Two gun violence incidents in the news this past weekend put this teaching to the ultimate test.  A man with a gun in Menasha, Wisconsin opened fire at random people on a recreational trail.  His victims included a mother and father and 11-year-old daughter, and an unrelated adult man.  The father and daughter died, as did the unrelated adult, and the gunman.  The mother was wounded and moved her other two children to safety.  Another incident involved two armed men who attacked a blasphemous anti-Islam exhibit in Texas, wounding the security guard before being killed themselves. 

In Menasha, Wisconsin:

Jon Stoffel, who was killed along with his daughter, Olivia, on the Trestle Trail Bridge this past Sunday, uttered his last words to his wife, “Forgive the shooter.”  The family of Adam Bentdahl, the 31-year-old man who was killed, said, “We still need to keep loving people and living our lives. … Our prayers go out to the other family who lost their father and daughter, and mother who is struggling for life along with the man who took his own life.”  Truly this is the witness of people who love others, as Jesus has loved them.  To forgive someone who has harmed us is hard enough, but to forgive and pray for someone who has killed your child must be extremely difficult.  It defies logic for a dying man to forgive the person who killed his child, or a family to forgive the man who killed their adult child, at random.  In fact, it may be impossible without the Grace of God.  It takes the power of God’s love, alive in us, to allow us to reach this level of love and forgiveness. 

In Texas:

An anti-Islamic group sponsored a blasphemous exhibit of caricatures of the prophet Mohammed.  It should not be a surprise to anyone that this provoked anger among Muslims.  This does not excuse the violent response of two men, who shot at the building, wounding a security guard.  There is no love expressed in a blasphemous caricature of another person’s religious figure.  The response was equally reprehensible.  Violence against blaspheme does not end the insult, but only fuels further insults and hatred for the religion.

In the Occupied territory of Palestine, 1^st Century AD:

According to the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is summoned by a Centurion, a leader of the occupying, abusive, Roman Empire.  The Centurion invites his friends to hear Peter.  An angel speaks to Peter telling him to go to the centurion.  When Peter sees the faith of the foreigners, and the power of the Holy Spirit working among them, he understands that they too, are friends of Jesus.  Even though the Romans were the hated occupying force, Peter and the Centurion are friends through Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, they are connected in a community of faith. 

Jesus gives us a choice.  Love, and be his friends, or remain a captive of the debt for our sins.  Through our human sinfulness, we have accumulated a debt that we cannot repay.  We are slaves to our sins.  If we accept the command to love, we become children of God.  The first letter of John says we are “begotten by God” (1John 4:7) if we love.  As children of God, and friends of Jesus, our debt is wiped away.  If we accept the challenge to love others as Jesus loves, we are freed from our debt.  It is not easy to love those who hate us.  Whether it is someone from a different religion, someone who insults our religion, an occupying army, or a gunman who kills a child, we must love as God loves, and forgive as he forgives, if we want to be free.  

Are you a family member or hireling?

John 10:12 “A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them.”

1 John 3:1  “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.”

There is a difference in attitude between the person who will one day inherit the herd of sheep, and the person who receives a day’s pay for a day’s work.  The hired person may give everything that he can to the employer, but the owner’s children would be expected to give more, because they benefit more.  The greater the benefit is, the greater the expectations. 

The second reading, from the first letter of John, and the Gospel for this Sunday describe the mission of the Church.  Christ is our shepherd; he offered his life to us so that we could be free.  He alone is our shepherd because only he can lay down his life and take it up again.  Only he can offer his life freely for us.  In the reading from the letter of John, we are reminded that we are children of God.  We are no longer hired help, but children of God.  We are then called to participate in the work of Jesus.  In one analogy we are sheep, in the other we are children, and therefore co-heirs with Jesus.  But if we are co-heirs, we must also be participating in the family business.  In this case, the family business is “shepherding” the flock. 

We are not only followers, we are leading others to Jesus.  The best way that we can experience the love of Jesus is through participating in his work, which is the love and care of the world, especially in the faith community.  Sometimes we are the sheep, hearing the call of the Shepherd through our fellow Christians.  Other times we are echoing the call of the shepherd, and helping others to find him.  Often we are the voice of the shepherd calling others to the one flock. 

How closely do we follow the Shepherd? 

Do we hear his voice in our faith community? 

Do we echo his voice in our lives to draw others in? 

They shared everything in common…

This past Sunday, we heard a reading from the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 4, verses 32-35).  It described a very beautiful first century experience of Church that could only have been enabled by the Holy Spirit.  People would sell all that they had and lay it at the feet of the Apostles to be distributed to everyone.  There was no needy person among them.  The Apostles spoke with power about the resurrection.  No one claimed possessions for him / herself; and they held everything in common. 

One observation, and some questions about this:

• Observation: By the time the events of the early Church were recorded in Acts of the Apostles, the sharing and mutual solidarity is being referred to in the past tense. 
• Question 1: Are there any groups of Christians who live this way today? 
• Question 2: What does this reading challenge us to do today?

The mutuality and sharing of the early Christians probably was not practiced for very long.  It slowly become apparent that Jesus was not coming again very soon.  But, there was a belief that he could come at any time.  People had to provide for their families and the community, which meant that they could not just sell all their property and live off the proceeds.  It was still held up as the ideal way of life.  Even today we acknowledge that all we have comes from God.  Our possessions, our gifts, and our time are all to be at the service of our Lord.  In a sense we spiritually lay all that we have at the feet of the Apostles. 

There are Christians who live this way of life today.  Many religious orders (religious brothers, monks, religious sisters, nuns) are made up of members who keep nothing as their own.  Their salaries go to their religious community, and they receive money for living expenses, education, and health care.  One example is Fr. Larry Abler, O.F.M. Cap.  He is a member of the Capuchin Franciscans.  When he moves from one assignment to the next, he only takes what can fit in his car. 

The challenge for us today is to put all of our resources to the use of the Church that Jesus Christ established, and fulfilling our obligations to care for children and aging parents.  There are many ways to do this, but they all begin with some basic steps. 

1. The first bill that we should pay each week is our contribution to our parish.  The Old Testament guideline is a tithe, 10% of our income.  Maybe we could start with our first hour of pay each week.  Our annual salary divide by 2,080 would be 2.5%. 
2. Every minute of every day should be dedicated to God.  Would Jesus drive the way that we drive?  Would he approve of how we talk to our children or parents?  How would Jesus want me to spend my time?  
3. The final suggestion is perhaps the most difficult to figure out, but the most rewarding to do.  Find the talent that each one of us has.  What am I or you, or our fellow parishioner good at?  When we know our gifts, and put them at the service of the Kingdom of God, we return, with the help of the Holy Spirit, 10 times what we receive.  

A Conqueror Rides a Horse, a Prince of Peace Rides a Donkey

Jesus chose his symbolic actions very carefully.  The prophet Zechariah is quoted in the John 12:15, “Fear no more, O daughter Zion; see, your king comes, seated upon an ass’s colt.”  A warrior king comes thundering in on horseback, armed and seated high above the people.  Contrast that with the prophetic vision of Jesus, seated at the level of the crowd, trotting in on a donkey. 

All the images of Palm Sunday, the Lord’s Passion, the Resurrection on Easter are our main focus, but this detail, a Prince who is humble, and at the level of the people sums up Jesus’s life for us. 

We need more leaders like the Prince of Peace, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.  Even though Jesus teaches with authority, displays power over the natural world, and evil spirits, he remains vulnerable to us.

If we are truly disciples we need to constantly ask: 

• How do we lead from a position of service and vulnerability?  
• How do we embody peace?

Would you let a dream die to be happy?

We are taught and shown examples of people who dreamed big and succeeded.  We are often shown examples of people who gave up on dreams too soon.  I once read in Think and Grow Rich about a gold miner who gave up on his mine, someone else bought it and struck it rich.  Should “never give up” be our motto?  I had a day of Serendipity on 3/18/15. 

1.  I was thinking about the Gospel for this Sunday, John 12:20-33, which says among other things that unless a grain of wheat dies, it will not bear fruit. 
2. That morning I was listening to the Joy Cardin show on NPR.  Her guest that day was Tracey Cleantis, author of The Next Happy: Let Go of the Life You Planned, and Find a New Way Forward.  
3. What a great secular insight that reinforces a Christian message.  Sometimes we hold onto dreams over which we have no control, or that are unrealistic.  This gets in the way of our happiness.  It may be that the part of us that is invested in that dream has to die, in order to have a happy life. 

Reading and hearing those two ideas refocused me on “dying to myself” during Lent.  What are my dreams that I need to let go?  I looked back at some of the dreams that I had 20 years ago.  One example, “Run for political office.”  Wow, am I happy that dream did not come true.  I still wish that the political positions that I support had greater voice in local and national politics.  Maybe those things don’t get in the way of other people’s happiness.  But, the constant travel, campaigning, listening to boring speeches, giving boring speeches would have seriously distracted from my happiness. 

Other dreams were more difficult to let go.  Ms. Cleantis’s dream in her book was to have a biological child.  She spent 10 years pursuing that dream before deciding that the healthiest thing to do would be to let the dream die, grieve the loss of the dream, and move forward.  Many of the dreams that I have let die in the past, or am considering letting die are very dear to me.  Maybe mine are not as large and personal as that one portrayed in the book, but they were and are difficult to let die none-the-less.  The big question for me for the rest of Lent is:

In my personal life, and in my professional life,

Can I die to myself, to live the life of Happiness that God has planned?

Can I trust that God has a better plan, and God is just waiting for me to let go of my own plans to move forward? 

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” (John 12:24,25)

The 10 Commandments are about Freedom

Exodus 20:1-17:  The 10 commandments begin with God saying, “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.”  The commandments that follow are the rules and laws of a freed people.  What a great symbol of our Christian moral life.  Now that we have been freed from sin, how shall we live? 

 

The laws and commandments of God go beyond these 10.  One could include all of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament, or consider the Law of Love where Jesus summarized the whole Law as Love God with all your heart and Love your neighbor as yourself.  All of these moral laws exist to keep us free from the slavery of sin.  They are like guardrails, or warning signs on treacherous roads.  They are the way that we avoid becoming slaves again. 

It is as if God agreed to pay off our all our credit card debt, and all of our national debt, and then said, “here is how to stay out of debt.”  Who in his right mind would choose to go back into debt after being freed from debt? Who would become a slave again after being freed?  Apparently many of us human beings would, because we do it over and over again.  Over and over again, God comes to our rescue, freeing us from the slavery of sin, and reminding us of the way to avoid slavery in the future. 

Jesus is the perfect human.  He is without sin, and lives as God intends us to live.  We are the most like God when we live as Jesus did.  Therefore, we are the most free when we follow the Law of love and freedom embodied in the 10 commandments. 

As we continue our Lenten journey, may we work at being free by following the 10 commandments. 

If Christ is Your Witness, You are Acquitted

If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?  The answer comes from the Coptic Christian martyrs who were killed recently by I.S. terrorists, many of them could be heard saying their last word, “Jesus.”  We need no evidence, and no other witnesses, only Christ Jesus. 

St. Paul reassures us of this in his letter to the Romans.  In Romans chapter 8 verse 31, St. Paul reminds us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  And also in verse 33, “Who will bring a charge against (us)? It is God who acquits us.”  Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ intercedes for us.  He pleads for us and requests pardon and mercy that is granted by the Father.  He has the right to do this because he has paid the penalty for our sins.  He died, and conquered death to acquit us at judgment. 

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, (Mark 9:2-10) we hear about the Transfiguration of Jesus.  God reveals to us a deep truth about Jesus.  He wears a dazzling white garment, which reveals his purity and glory.  He speaks with Moses and Elijah, revealing that he is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  Peter wants to stay there, but Jesus presses on with the mission.  He pushes on to Calvary where he will fulfill the Law and the Prophets for all time. 

Someone may ask you, “If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” 

You could answer, “I would not need evidence, just one witness, Jesus!” (You may want to make sure that Jesus knows who you are; for that, check Matthew 25:31-46.  For more on Matthew 25:31-46, see my blog post “Judgment Day.

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