Congregate vs. Segregate

I know there is a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of men and whose goodness and mercy have always followed the American people, and I know He will not turn from us now if we humbly and reverently seek His powerful aid. (Grover Cleveland)

Who rules your heart at this moment in time? If you quickly respond, "Why, God, of course!", then you are among the many who believe they are motivated and governed by the one who made all things. Yet, I have to ask you again to consider for just a moment who it is who really is ruling your heart at this very moment. Chances are you might just say it is this god we refer to as 'fear', or perhaps that other god of 'greed'. A few days back I wrote of a man who traveled hundreds of miles buying up every hand sanitizer he could find on the shelves, all with the intent of selling them on what has become today's 'black market' - online! To his extreme disappointment, he was not able to 'offload' what his greed loaded upon him. He is now forced to donate them, as he is under investigation for price gouging! He listened to the god of greed, hoping to make the quick buck during a very difficult time in our country. If we are honest here, his 'rule' by which he was living at that moment was probably not 'goodness' or 'mercy'.

But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their sinful self. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they wanted to do. We get our new life from the Spirit, so we should follow the Spirit. We must not feel proud and boast about ourselves. We must not cause trouble for each other or be jealous of each other. (Galatians 5:22-26)

The affairs of men need to be 'ruled' by something other than our own fear or greed. Whenever we allow either of these to taken on the 'rule' of our lives, we are bound to find ourselves in some pretty unsavory spots in life. Fear has a way of making us do things we otherwise would not have considered 'reasonable' - like buying up an entire truckload of toilet paper. Greed eventually will find us surrounded with 'stuff', but shutting out the very thing we need the most - each other. We cannot live well if fear or greed are our motivating force. We must remember we serve a great big GOD and stop listening to those little gods that keep telling us to live outside of trust, hope and peace. Those who find themselves stockpiling the toilet paper and hand sanitizer, stealing face masks from hospital receptacles, and clearing off grocery store shelves of all that food they wouldn't normally eat (like boiled peanuts), will find themselves 'well-stocked', but very unfulfilled.

My BFF and I made a pact of sorts - to look out for each other. If I am somewhere and notice they have something she NEEDS, I send a quick text or just pick it up for her and her dad. She does the same for mom and I. This is how it should be - looking out for EACH OTHER, not just for ourselves. I am doing the same for my kids and their families during this time - not because they cannot look out for themselves, but because we ALL need each other. Christ didn't ask us to 'segregate' - he asked us to 'congregate'. Do you know the difference? When we segregate, we isolate. Even if we are asked to 'quarantine' for a period of time, that 'social distancing' we are supposed to be doing is really for the purpose of helping to minimize the spread of disease, not to ensure the survival of the fittest! To congregate means we will come together in rather large groups - something we are asked not to do right now due to the spread of disease. Yet, it doesn't mean we stop looking out for those we would normally gather together with - congregating may have stopped, but caring for each other has not! Just sayin!

Caught or Taught

Do good wherever you go. After a while, the good you do will come back to you. 
(Ecclesiastes 11:1 ERV)

From the time I was a kid, I have heard the "golden rule" preached in many different forms, but as many times as it has been "preached" or "taught", it doesn't really "ring true" until I see it demonstrated in the life of another. I think this is how Jesus taught - he showed his love - he didn't just talk about it. He could have said his love was never ending, but until Peter realized his repeated and consistent mess ups didn't affect how much Jesus loved him, he really didn't understand the "rule". He could have smitten each every one of those who spat upon him, beat him, or even shot words of ridicule his way as he went to the cross, but he chose to forgive them, modeling for us how monumentally huge his love is for us. The "rule" is caught more than it is taught!

Looking again at our passage, notice that it never implies we do good to get good. It reminds us we just do good wherever we go. In turn, we will reap what we sow - but we don't sow with the ultimate intent of reaping in this case. We sow because it is the right thing to do! Jesus taught it this way:

- If a man needs a loaf of bread, don't give him a stone - meet the true need of his stomach's ache and in it you will meet the need of his heart's ache, as well.

- If he needs a coal to light his fire, don't send him away because of the inconvenient hour at which he seeks the coal. Invite him in, heap coals into his pot and send him away warmed and with what he needs to care for his needs.

- If he cannot see his way to your door to seek forgiveness for an offense, make a pathway to his door. Extend yourself beyond your comfort zone and don't allow any distance to become too great to bring reconciliation.

- If a man cannot see his way free of a burden he bears, come alongside him and lend him the hand to bear that burden - no matter how far that takes you out of your way. 

Our passage doesn't say we get an instant blessing from having done a little good in this world, but it does promise us it will "return to us" somehow. If not in the here and now, it will someday. Just be faithful. Jesus modeled the "rule" - he didn't just preach it. Maybe our greatest hope is to begin to model what we believe and have been taught! Just sayin!

That pesky Golden Rule

This is what our Scriptures come to teach: in everything, in every circumstance, do to others as you would have them do to you. (Matthew 7:12 VOICE)

Most of us recognize just how truly hard this command actually can be in "real life". It is as though we want to say back to Jesus, "Yeah, but you don't know that other person as well as I do!"  We want them to hurt as bad as we are hurting, or at least a fraction of it! We don't want them getting off "free" of any accountability for their wrong actions. We don't want them to be "pain free". We think there has to be SOME consequence for their bad behavior! The thing Jesus was trying to get across to us is that we wouldn't want God to have that attitude with us - so we shouldn't have that attitude with others.

If you came up in church, you probably remember hearing this passage referred to as the "golden rule" somewhere along the line. I even have a ruler I got somewhere with this passage printed on it! Living it out in our daily walk is a whole lot different than seeing it on a ruler or plaque on the wall! We have to put "feet" to those words and turn them into very practical and personal actions and this is where it gets very, very hard. The "simple rule" becomes much more difficult when "that jerk" who just got on your last nerve is sitting across from you at the diner! Now it gets "real" and the moment defines us.

I have had to ask for more "rewrites" of how I am defined than I honestly care to admit to, but in the interest of being totally transparent here - it has been a lot! My "defining moments" just didn't go as well as I might have wanted them to, but thank goodness I don't have to "live with" that definition forever! God can rewrite how it is I am defined as much as he can do it for you. Someone once quipped that as long as everyone could just live by that one "golden rule", we'd probably be all right as a society of people - as long as the right person was the one starting the chain of actions in the first place! In nursing, they often say we are supposed to take care of our patients as we would our own mother. If you don't like your mother, that could be a problem!

The principle is quite simple - the actions we reveal are not to be dependent upon the actions (or inaction) of another. We are responsible for us - not the other guy. We model the behavior - then we count on God to do the rest. It may mean we don't see the "consequences" of their wrong actions, but that is okay because we can trust God to do what needs to be done - he hasn't failed us yet and he isn't about to! Another way to look at this is that we don't know what has already happened in that individual's life, nor do we know what is right around the corner, or even a little further down the road. We know about now - the opportunity we have while we are together at this very moment. Our actions are all we can have control over - so when we respond as we'd have liked to be treated rather than getting all uppity or wigged-out about something, we are setting God up to do whatever he needs to do in that person's life. If we think about it that way, we might just be more inclined to return good for evil, love for hatred, and forgiveness for lame stuff people do! Just sayin!

Doing doesn't always guarantee getting

Even when people don't know they "know" scripture, or that they may be quoting the Bible when they say something, people can be heard sharing tidbits of God's Word with others.  Ever heard anyone recite the "golden rule" without really knowing it was from the Book of Matthew?  The "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" kind thing gets said in many ways, but the "source" of the quote is seldom known.  It was Jesus himself, reminding the crowd who had gathered to hear him preach that their life is made rich when they live by a standard of maybe just a little bit higher than what they see modeled around them in some member so society.  Some might "model" it is okay to return not so kind actions when the actions done "to" them have not been very kind themselves.  I love it whenever I see those who have just the opposite reaction, turning to another in love rather than judgment, giving what they have instead of hoarding it all to themselves in times of disaster, etc.  This behavior models what Jesus had in mind - doing for others, not so they will do for you, but because it is the way we should model God's love!

Do for others what you would want them to do for you. This is the meaning of the Law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets. (Matthew 7:12 ERV)

A lot of times we think "what's in it for me" if I do this for that guy?  What we "get" out of our actions may just be a deeper sense of connection with Jesus when we choose to act upon what we know to be right rather than what we feel! It is hard to no react to the way we feel sometimes - because we "want" to ring someone's neck when they do something hurtful to us - but Jesus wants us to model turning the other cheek, not judging them for their behavior, and remembering to let God take control of the circumstances.  It is what he has spent a great deal of time talking with the "hillside crowd" about in the Sermon on the Mount.  He has shared many relationship principles, but probably none so hard as doing something out of a genuine heart of wanting to bless another individual rather than to always get the blessings yourself.  It is more common to exist in the "you scratch my back - I'll scratch yours" kind of focus.  After all, society tells us we have "rights" and we need to have those "rights" met.  

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but Jesus never said our "rights" outweighed the requirement to treat others with kindness, respect, or love. In recent days, we have seen mass murder at military recruiting stations, shootings in movie theaters, criticisms of one political candidate against another, continued unrest in regions of our world where war just doesn't seem to be without end, and the list goes on.  Lots of people, proclaiming some set of "rights" in the absence of considering the "rights" of another.  The one "right" Jesus wanted us to remember is this "right" to be living examples of God's love. We have the opportunity to model behavior which is free of judgment, slow to get angered, committed to relationship, and persevering in its focus - so others might see God in a world hurting so badly for some sense of "right" in a place where "wrong" is so prevalent!

We may not have this all figured out, but we can take small steps toward being less focused on some "right" we have and being more like the positive examples of God's love in our circles of influence we are called to be.  I don't have to engage in sin to know sin brings harm into the lives of those who choose that pathway of action.  I don't have to judge them for their sin either, because I wouldn't want them to judge me for mine!  I can love them right where they are at - in the midst of whatever they are doing which may not be all that honorable or caring - because God loved me that way when I was doing stuff very dishonoring to him, myself, and others to boot!  If we keep this in mind, maybe we will do a better job of modeling forgiveness - because we have fallen back upon God's forgiveness time and time again.  

Some may feel Jesus is telling us to "cut someone a little slack" when he says to forgive - but in reality he is telling us to let them go - right into the hands of God.  No one can better reveal a man's sin or wrong action than the Holy Spirit himself!  We may feel like we don't always get treated right when we consistently model right behavior - but we don't know the impact our behavior will have on another somewhere down the line.  It isn't Jesus telling us to act this way so we "get" anything out of it!  It is him telling us to act with kindness, gratefulness, forgiveness, compassion, etc., because it is the right thing to do! Plain and simple - just sayin!

The road to forgiveness

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. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you."

(Luke 6:27-30)

Jesus is speaking these words - the setting or timing of when they were spoken is important to understand.  First, he is under attack from those who should be shouting in joy at his works.  The Pharisees see him "mixing with" common sinners and criticize him terribly, publicly ridiculing him for the company he keeps.  Second, he is criticized for his timing.  He heals on the Sabbath - seen as a "work" by those of Rabbinical teaching.  Their hearts are so "into" the rule-keeping that they fail to see the needs right before them.  Last, but not least, he has just finished the appointment of his twelve disciples - calling them to be his closest companions during the ministry he performed on this earth.

There is one thing I have learned over the years - if we are prepared for the journey, the path is easier to travel.  It is when we are unprepared to travel where it is we are called to travel that we struggle with the pathway we are on.  At the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus deals with one of the most difficult "roads" that any of his disciples must walk - the road to forgiveness.  Why does he begin with this teaching?  I believe it is because Jesus wanted his disciples to know that they'd find themselves walking it over and over again.  He wanted them to be prepared.

Le me just share a few things that I have gathered on my journey in my understanding of forgiveness:

1. It is a journey we'd rather not travel alone, but we often find ourselves as the only ones realizing that the journey is necessary.  We recognize that there is the need to forgive - bring forgiveness into relationship - but we feel as though we are the only ones traveling the road.  Those who may have committed the offense may not even realize that they play a part in the journey.  It is important to remember we NEVER walk the path alone - Jesus is alongside each step of the way - even when the ones involved in the offense are unaware the journey has begun.
2. It is a road that must be traveled frequently - over and over until the journey is completed.  In this chapter, Jesus was asked by one of his disciples just how many times he must forgive.  He posed a question and suggested an answer that seemed quite generous - seven times.  To that, Jesus answered, "Naw, seventy times seven....", and at that, jaws dropped.  Forgiveness is extended over and over - until it is complete.
3. It is an uninvited pathway - we don't forgive just because another asks us to travel that path with them - we initiate the journey, often without anyone else realizing the journey has begun.  This is quite evident in Jesus' words to his Father on the day of his death, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  Those who needed his forgiveness the most did not seek it - in fact, they did not even know they needed it.  Our offenders often don't seek forgiveness - ours is the path to them.
4. It is an unconditional and costly journey.  I have traveled often - usually taking a relaxing cruise to get away.  One of the "amenities" that is offered through my travel agent is the opportunity to buy "trip insurance".  If the "condition" exists that requires the cancellation of my trip (sickness, natural disaster, etc), I am assured a full refund of my entire "investment" into the trip.  Nothing is lost.  This is not the case with the road to forgiveness.  There is no "trip insurance" with the assurance that your "investment" will be fully enjoyed and participated in by all.  There are no "conditions" under which the journey can be "refunded" if the destination is not reached by all involved in the offense.  In other words, we pay the price - others enjoy the benefit - often without realizing the price that was paid.    

So, although it is a difficult road to travel - it is a necessary one.  Jesus began his ministry with his disciples revealing this much needed lesson of life.  Forgiveness begins with me taking the first step.  Forgiveness is possible only because of the first step taken.  Do unto others...we call this the "golden rule" by which we are to relate to one another.  Easier said than done.  It is a difficult path to walk, but the rewards of the journey are astronomical.  There is nothing more binding than bitterness.  There is nothing more weighing upon us than a load of unforgiveness.  There is nothing more costly to us than forgiveness that is not sought, or is not "deserved".  

There is nothing more freeing than unconditional forgiveness - taking the first step.  There is nothing more enlightening than seeing the other person through the eyes of Christ.  There is nothing more rewarding than the steps toward your offender.  A tough journey at that, but a necessary one!  Walk on!