living an alternative lifestyle

Ilya Repin. A Fisher-Girl. 1874. Oil on canvas. The Irkutsk Art Museum, Irkutsk, Russia.

Romans 12:9-21

For Sunday, August 28, 2011

Romans 12:9-21 is not the way the world lives. The world lives by the world's rules which might be summarized like this:

• Look out for #1
• Enhance your own standing
• Leverage personal power

This passage, which lays out imperatives in view of the indicatives of the gospel of grace, suggests an alternative lifestyle:

• Cultivate love
• Extend love
• Watch the world be redeemed

Firstly, in this alternative lifestyle we cultivate love. Verses 9-13 speak about cultivating love in our own thinking. Rather than looking out for #1 we're supposed to look out for #'s 2 thru 12 and beyond. Cultivating love means a sincere commitment to hating evil, devoting ourselves to one another, and practicing hospitality. When we first moved to Russia, the fact that people could show up at our door unannounced at any time of day or night and expect hospitality was . . .  difficult. Yet once we let go of control, and let love flow, it was actually great fun. As the Doobie Brothers put it, "Love the ones you're with."

Secondly, in this alternative lifestyle we also extend love to others (vv. 14-16). We extend love by blessing those who persecute us, empathizing with both the happy and sad around us, and by looking down the pecking order rather than up. It's liberating and empowering, as I can attest from my albeit woefully inadequate experience.

Lastly, in this alternative lifestyle we watch love redeem the world (vv. 17-21). Suddenly, there are fewer eye for an eye kerfuffles; self awareness break out all over place; and enemies are killed with kindness.

That the world will be redeemed is made certain by the gospel of which this passage is a part. The only question is this: will we be counted among those who have been overcome, or among those who overcome? Let us not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Love is the Mark of the Christian

Francis Schaeffer

1 Corinthians 13

For Sunday, January 31, 2010

Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany

I've always admired Francis Schaeffer as an apologist and minister of the gospel for two reasons. First, he was able to see cultural patterns and make sense of them. But secondly, and more importantly, he understood a crucial point. As he put in in a fantastic booklet by the same title, "Love is the mark of the Christian."

This is the message of 1 Corinthians 13. "If I speak in the languages of men and of angels, but don't have love, I am merely a blanging gong or a clanging symbol."

As a drummer, I'm am well-acquainted with clanging cymbals, particularly when struck at just the wrong time (like just before the quiet piano solo). The Corinthian church was a clanging cymba. It was all about status. It's like contemporary churches that are more concerned about the expansiveness of their budgets than the expansiveness of their redemptive presence in their communitity.

The Apostle Paul, the author of this book, goes on in vv. 4-7 to get wonderfully specific about the characteristics of authentic love . As he summarizes in v. 7: "It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

In our ministry, are we protecting the interests of our colleagues and those entrusted to our care? Are we trusting God's ability to bring a positive result? Are we hoping for the best even when present circumstances might seen to indicate otherwise? Are we persevering despite opposition, hurt, or misunderstanding?

I know from personal experience how hard it can be to do this especially when conflict arises between people you thought were your friends. Yet I also know that as I protect, trust, hope, and persevere, that God's healing touch not only redeems me but moves to redeem everyone else around me.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Take a moment today to love your spouse and your kids. Take a moment to love your pastor and your church. Take a moment to love your colleagues. What greater thing today could you do for someone else much less than for your own soul?

what is this thing called love?

Claude Monet, 'Banks of the Seine'

1 John 3:16-24
For Sunday, May 3, 2009
Fourth Sunday of Easter

John, the beloved disciple, was closer to Jesus than anyone, even among Jesus' most intimate circle of Peter, James, and John. Is it any wonder then that John writes so frequently about the power and significance of love? He knew what it was to be loved by Christ. He was Jesus' best friend, and learned firsthand what love really is: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ layed down his life for us (1 John 3:16)."

If we have been truly loved then we cannot help but pay this forward to others: "And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." John's follow-on question brings this into crystal clarity: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?"

John says that love expresses itself not in words but in actions and in truth. He goes so far as to say that the way we know we are really Christians is by the actions and truth by which we live. Does your heart ever condemn you? Then let your loving deeds and your commitment to live the truth give you rest in God's presence. You aren't perfect, but you are authentic. Well done!

How would you like to receive from God anything you ask? All you have to do is obey his commands and do what pleases him. What does he command? "Believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us." As you believe, and as you love, you will then experience the blessing of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. "And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."

What is this thing called love? How desperately our family, friends, and spheres of influence need a living and breathing answer to this question. Let the Spirit within you be your guide.

goodness and lovingkindness

Klee, "Tunisian Garden"

Fourth Sunday of Easter - April 29, 2007
Psalm 23

This was the first passage of Scripture I learned as a little boy. It's wonderful to come back to it to take inventory of my soul. When I couldn't hang on to anything else, the words of this Psalm saved me more than once. I remember reading this passage to a friend who was in deep psychological trouble, and remember it calming him remarkably.

Today what strikes me is the promise of v. 6: "Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life." How I long to leave goodness and love in my wake. To know that I can in the grace of Christ and the power of the Spirit is of tremendous encouragement. Even amidst difficulty, confusion, and pain, I smile in this.

The events of the last two days at Virginia Tech point to the truth of the gospel as expressed in this Psalm. Violence and death may follow some, but we fear no evil, because in the candlelight of a community prayer vigil we find our shepherd with us still.